The Adventures of Logic Boy and Grammar Girl

Chatterbox

2010-01-18T21:12:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth likes to talk. A lot. I can't always understand what she's saying, but she's pretty good at making herself intelligible.

Right now, she's in love with names. She doesn't really say her own yet (when she tries, it comes out sounding like "Li-bef"). She has been saying the names of her friends and teachers from school pretty frequently, and she likes to talk to and about her brother, who she calls "Wee-yum." He responds to her calling him by looking up and grinning.

She is also figuring out that you have to talk to the person on the other end of the phone. Over the holidays, we got her to say "Hi" to both Auntie Krissy and Auntie Cara, and this weekend, she actually had a conversation of sorts with her Nonie...if "Hi," "okay," "okay," and "Bye" constitute a conversation. I think she believes Nonie is on every phone or phone-like object; she passed the phone at her Grandmama and Papa's house the other day, pointed and said "Nonie!" and she picks up her monitor when she's on the changing table and talks to Nonie.

The Little Dude is finally starting to sleep through the night again. He's never been quite as good at that as his sister was; he will go for 6-8 nights and be fine, then have 3-5 rocky nights. This time, it's accompanied by better naps, so maybe he's settling into a nice pattern.

He is trying desperately to move and has gotten up on hands and knees. Unfortunately, when he gets up on his hands and knees, he goes backwards and then gets ticked off that he's farther away from whatever his goal was. He prefers to lie belly-down and pump his arms and legs like he's doing the skeleton at the Winter Olympics in hopes that somehow all this activity will propel him forwards.

Still here!

2010-01-14T08:59:00.003-05:00

We made it through the holidays successfully. Right before Christmas, we were disappointed to get the news that Logic Sister and her family would not be able to come to Atlanta for a visit since Logic Niece has been very ill. (She is now doing better, but is scheduled for surgery later this month -- prayers, please!) We haven't seen them since their move to Texas and they hadn't yet met William, so...

Logic Boy packed up William and headed out to Dallas for a couple of days before Christmas. Both Daddy and Son had a great visit, and Daddy handled his first solo flight avec bebe like he did it every week.

Our Christmas was pretty quiet. Elizabeth and William aren't at the stage where they want to wake up at 4 a.m. to see what Santa brought, although William still likes to get up at 4 a.m. from time to time to party. Elizabeth seemed to know a little bit about what was going on with Christmas this year: she can say "Santa" and was VERY interested in both her Nativity scene and the Christmas tree. She has been saying "hi!" and "night-night!" and "bye!" to the tree for weeks.

We spent time on Christmas Eve with Logic Boy's parents and grandmother and had a wonderful time. Logic Mom made the fabulous Chocolate-Citrus Cake from December's Southern Living magazine, and it was AWESOME. Even more awesome was the fact that she sent it home with us...yum. On Christmas Day, we had the Random Oenophile and Husband over for dinner, which has become our Christmas tradition. William had a very rough evening, unfortunately, which meant that either Logic Boy or I was up rocking him every 30 minutes or so, but we enjoyed getting to visit with them.

The Grammar Parents came into town on their way back from Peru on January 1 and we had fun with them. Elizabeth is wild about her Nonie, and William had fun sitting on the couch and watching football with his grandpa.

Now we're back into the swing of things with school and work!

These Shoes Were Made for Walking

2009-09-28T08:24:00.002-04:00

Life has gotten more interesting with a walker. I'm realizing (belatedly) that I should probably get her some real shoes. She has a pair of Robeez, and a little pair of tennis shoes I got at a consignment sale a few weeks ago, but other than that, she's barefooting it.

I'm considering going to Stride Rite to get her fitted. My hesitation is the expense -- I can't justify spending upwards of $30 on a pair of shoes she'll wear for a few months at most!

Elizabeth's First Steps

2009-09-04T21:04:00.004-04:00

Elizabeth took her first steps - alone and unaided today! She had started, just yesterday, walking while only holding one hand. But today, she decided to try a new trick! She would take two steps, and fall, take two steps, and fall. She did this about 5 times before she got bored.

Needless to day, we were ecstatic and encouraged her. I grabbed the camera, and I managed to GET A SHOT!!!

By the way, she was saying "Shoe!" the entire time. That's what SHE thought was important!

Still here!

2009-08-27T08:58:00.001-04:00

We are still here! It's just very, VERY busy with school having started for Grammar Girl, and two little ones.

Newsflash - a 13 month old and a 2 month old keep you VERY busy. (Ha! You knew that right?)

God bless you all, and we will eventually post more!

Happy birthday, sweet daughter!

2009-07-16T12:24:00.003-04:00

One year ago today, we welcomed our precious little girl. In some ways it seems like a long time; in other ways it seems like no time at all. Either way, it has been an amazing blessing and a joy to watch her grow and learn and change over the past twelve months!

Welcome, William!

2009-07-04T14:53:00.004-04:00

William Robert Redelle made his grand entrance on Monday, June 29th, at 3:18 p.m.

As labors go, it was relatively brief and easy. I woke up around 1:30 on Monday morning with irregular contractions and couldn't get back to sleep. Elizabeth woke up with teething pain at 2:30 and since I was already awake, I told LB that I'd go try to get her resettled. That lasted until I had a big contraction as E was squirming on my lap. I called for backup and started timing contractions around 3:30. LB came back to bed around 4:00 and I said, "I really hate to do this to you, but these are five minutes apart."

I waited till a quarter till five, then called the doctor and was told to come in to the hospital. LB and I called his mom to come sit with E and took quick showers. I finished packing my bags and folded a load of E's diapers and went over the details of E's routine with my mother-in-law, and we were en route before 6.

When we got to the hospital, they put us in the same LDR suite that we'd been in with Elizabeth. I was only about 2 cm, so the nurses put me on the monitor for a bit and then sent me out to do laps around the second floor. LB walked with me for the first 45 minutes, then after I went back on the monitor for 20 minutes and went to do another 45 minutes, he went to get some breakfast since the doctor wasn't going to come check my progress until I was finished with the second phase of walking.

While I was walking, I had some bigger contractions that made me start to perspire a bit, but nothing that felt terribly strong. We called my mom around 7:30 to put her on alert and told her not to go to the airport until we heard from the doctor whether we'd be staying or not.

I headed back to the room around 9 and the doctor came around 9:45. He checked and I was at 5 cm, so we were officially staying and having a baby at that point! We called LB's mom and my mom to give them the news.

The doctor said with a second baby, I could sit around for four or more hours and make no progress, then go from five to ten and have the baby in an hour. Since my water hadn't broken on its own, he suggested that I might want to get an epidural once I'd gotten a bit farther along and then he'd break my water and things would probably move very fast at that point. I decided to stick with what I was doing for the moment and reevaluate as things went along.

I labored on my own for another 2 hours or so, then decided to get the epidural at 6-7 cm because I was getting tired after having been up for almost 12 hours and not having eaten anything since dinner Sunday night. LB went and got lunch (including the famous chocolate cream pie!) while we were waiting for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and had the epidural in place around 1 p.m. The doctor came and broke my water after that, which put me back at 5 cm.

I started feeling really nauseated, and the nurses said my blood pressure was too low, so they put me on oxygen and put a shot of something in the IV to raise it. I felt better pretty quickly and was able to fall asleep for about an hour or so.

I woke up around 2:30 and was feeling some pressure. My nurses offered to check my progress and I said I was willing to wait another half an hour or so. After about fifteen minutes, I couldn't wait any more, so the nurse checked and I was at 10 cm. She called the doctor, who got there around 3:00 and said that everything was ready to go.

I started pushing at 3:10. Two pushes and eight minutes later, William arrived. His first action when they handed him to me was to pee all over my left side. LB got some beautiful pictures of him. He weighed in at 7 pounds 9.3 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long.

I think that he looks a bit like my dad; he sleeps with his head tilted back and his mouth slightly open like Dad does. He has long slender fingers like a pianist or a surgeon.

Elizabeth met him on Wednesday. She came to the hospital to help us bring him home. Right now, she is fascinated with her baby brother and tries to pat him every chance she gets. She points at him and chirps and babbles.

We're trying to get as much rest as we can, and thankfully both of our sweet children are cooperating with this agenda. Juggling two little ones is a challenge we can meet better with a few good night's sleeps under our belts!

I feel the need...

2009-06-16T21:35:00.002-04:00

The need for speed!

Elizabeth's new favorite game is chase. Whether she's chasing the dog or me or having me chase her, it's all hilariously funny to her. She'll stop mid-chase and dissolve into giggles. She also likes to play a variation on my sisters' and my old game of "Oops, I'm Sorry." She goes one way around the downstairs and expects her co-player to go the other. When she sees the co-player, she bursts out into laughter.

I'm ready to toss all the baby feeding manuals that say that babies prefer bland foods. Elizabeth has decided that nice bland bananas are no longer delicious. When bananas come near her, she clamps her lips shut and turns her head away. She prefers things like black bean soup, applesauce with cinnamon, and corn chowder. We tried her on the corn chowder tonight and she scarfed down almost an entire bowl replete with black pepper and thyme. She looked interested in her dad's asiago peppercorn bread, but both LB and I thought that the bread was a little too chewy for her four teeth.

In New Baby News, my doctor thinks he's probably going to come early like his big sister did. I'm okay with that as there isn't much I can think of to recommend about being pregnant in Georgia in the summertime...provided he doesn't come till after Saturday afternoon. We're having company then and I'm looking forward to seeing them!

Summer is i-cumen in

2009-06-08T20:20:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is officially the final day of the school year. I have a faculty meeting in the morning followed by a luncheon, and then I'll be a stay-at-home mom until the end of August.

I'm excited to spend these last few weeks before William is born having lots of one-on-one time with Elizabeth. She is a ton of fun these days. She has learned to crawl -- FAST -- and thinks that being "chased" by Mama or Daddy around the downstairs is utterly hilarious. She's also learning to eat "real people" food. We went to lunch at Swallow at the Hollow yesterday with her Grandmama and Papa, and she had barbecued pork (no sauce yet), homemade mac 'n' cheese, and a taste of a french fry. She's a big fan of chopped pork like a good Southern girl should be!

She also loves HappyBaby organic puffs and Joe's O's (the Trader Joe's answer to Cheerios). Both these treats have the benefits of being something she can feed herself and something she can drop for Bowden. He has figured out that she drops things now, so every time she is in the high chair, he is right there under it, waiting with bated breath for a morsel to hit the floor.

I think that William might make an early-ish entrance (or maybe I just hope he will!) because I'm starting to nest. I'm checking things off the to-do list rapidly and am cleaning odd things, which I did about two weeks before Elizabeth was born. If he's on the same timeline as his sister, he should be here sometime after Father's Day. Since both grandmothers have said that the week of June 29th is off-limits for his birth (one is going to Texas to help with LB's sister's move and the other is hosting the annual family golf outing that week), he'd make them both happy if he came early!

Welcome niece!

2009-05-05T19:50:00.002-04:00

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their beautiful daughter this morning!

Swimming Lessons

2009-05-02T10:22:00.001-04:00

(crossposted between LB&GG and FC)
Elizabeth is taking swimming lessons. Yes, at 9 months old. I was skeptical, but it's turning into quite the daddy-daughter bonding thing. My wife can't quite do it as she is 7 months pregnant and can't find a swimsuit she likes.

So, that leaves me. Elizabeth deigns to be floated on her tummy. She's not so fond of being on her back, and she's non-plussed when we jump up and down and then go underwater for a second, but she does them. The point is to get her USED to water. She likes it! She also already knows to hold on to the side (by herself!) and will sit on the side and jump in/tip herself over in to the water and daddy's waiting arms when dad asks "Can you be my little mermaid?"

This is FUN to see the bonding and the look she gives of absolute trust in me.

I'm...overwhelmed at that moment.

-Logic Boy

Flickr update!

2009-04-28T14:57:00.002-04:00

Pictures from Easter are up. We'll try to get some pictures of Elizabeth pulling up and standing posted this week!

Well, she thinks it's baby food!

2009-04-28T14:50:00.002-04:00

Now that Elizabeth is nine months old, the list of what she can't have food-wise is pretty short. We're letting her try all sorts of "grown-up" food, and she seems to find almost everything to her liking. LB and I made this soup the other night, and we figured that we'd at least give her a taste. She gobbled down two big spoonfuls before I took my bowl back from her, and when we reheated the leftovers, she ate a big bowlful (minus the scallions and sour cream).

Black Bean Soup (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
3 tablespoons chopped carrot
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
Sliced green onions (optional)
Light sour cream (optional)

Preparation
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, minced onion, bell pepper, and carrot. Cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and the next 4 ingredients (through black pepper); sauté 3 minutes. Add broth, water, and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Cool slightly.
Process till smooth with a stick blender. Garnish with sliced green onions and light sour cream, if desired.

Ready for college life

2009-03-19T10:52:00.002-04:00

Dear darling daughter, as much as we love hearing your chortles and babbles and coos and giggles, we aren't as amused at 3:30 a.m. to hear them as you are. Really. Mama and Daddy don't care how entertaining you find Bear and Lambie in the wee small hours of the morning; it's all right for you to keep that to yourself.

Crawling!

2009-03-19T10:45:00.002-04:00

In most baby books, when there's advice about beginning crawlers, it usually says something like "Put a toy just out of baby's reach and s/he will crawl after it." Elizabeth doesn't seem to care if a toy is out of her reach. If I take something from her and put it out of her reach, or she throws something out of her reach, her reaction is to ignore it and move on to something else.

But she just cannot resist Bowden's toys. When we move them so she can't get them, that's when she takes off crawling, desperate to get her hands on his things. He's quite nonplussed by this turn of events and gives us these hurt looks that seem to say "Do you SEE what she's DOING?!" He knows he isn't allowed to touch her things and he doesn't, so he's having trouble understanding why she won't leave his things alone.

Maybe I just haven't found the right toys for her yet. I should try Petsmart.

Chomp!

2009-02-23T10:39:00.003-05:00

We've started sitting Elizabeth down with us at dinnertime to get her used to eating at table with the family. The other night, she was in her high chair between the two of us and we were both holding her hands as LB said grace.

In the middle of the prayer, Elizabeth yanked LB's hand to her mouth and chomped down full force on his finger. He was hard-pressed to continue praying at that point!

She's learned how to blow raspberries as well. She decided to give LB an object demonstration of her new talent at dinner last night with a mouthful of carrots.

And then when he was giving her a bath, she managed to splash so hard that she soaked him, the counter, and the floor. Time to retire the infant tub.

I'd like to say I didn't laugh, but I'd be lying.

Tooth or consequences!

2009-02-08T20:39:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth got her first tooth this weekend. It's the one on the bottom left in front, and it looks like the bottom right one is going to follow it quickly. We may not know for a while, though, since she doesn't like to let us look at it. She'll open her mouth, then stick her tongue out over her lower lip.

She didn't give us much in the way of teething drama (runny nose, drool, fever, diarrhea) other than a fit of hysterical crying on Friday evening that was solved with a dose of Tylenol and some snuggling from Mama and Daddy.

Learning Curve

2009-02-05T13:30:00.002-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much Elizabeth learns and absorbs. She recently started to clamor to be put down on the floor so she can play independently instead of being perfectly content to snuggle in somebody's arms for hours on end. She is absolutely fascinated by our dog and watches him constantly when she can see him. Getting to him is one of the reasons she's desperate to start crawling. (What she doesn't yet realize is that even when she's more mobile, he's still going to be faster and more agile than she is and will be able to get away quickly.)

On the crawling front, Elizabeth is able to roll herself around pretty ably and get up on her arms, but the only direction she's been able to scoot herself is backwards. This fact irritates her very much when she realizes that she's expended a great deal of energy in going away from her objective instead of toward it.

Yesterday, she was on the floor playing and I was sitting next to her. She saw a toy just out of her grasp and strained hard to reach it, brushing it with her fingertips and trying hard to grasp it. My first instinct was to move the toy into her hands, but I stopped myself. Let her be independent, let her do it herself, a little voice in my head whispered. Instead of putting the toy closer, I put my hand behind her feet and let her push off. She scooted forward and in a matter of seconds was happily chewing on her toy.

I think most parents' first instinct, when they see children straining hard for something that would be so easy for us, is to do it for them. It's hard to watch a child struggle when you know you could make it easier. My lesson yesterday was not to step in and make it easier by moving the objective, but rather to ease the path by giving a little support from the rear. I hope that as she and her struggles get bigger that I can remember that wisdom!

News of our world

2009-01-13T17:17:00.004-05:00

Lunch with Godmomma at E. 48th Street Italian Market:

"I distinctly saw four cannoli on that plate. Where are they?"

"What do you MEAN, you ate them all?! And that I'm not old enough for cannoli?"

"Nooooooo!"

Sorry for the recent lack of updates -- things got a little crazy with the holidays!

Most of our readership (all two of you!) already knows this, but just to make it public: Elizabeth is going to be a big sister in early July! Numero Due is due on July 9th, which is one week to the day before Elizabeth's first birthday. I sincerely hope that Due follows his/her sister's lead and arrives early. We are going to find out and make public this baby's gender in a few weeks, so stay tuned!

As for the holidays, Elizabeth got to share her first Christmas with all her in-town relatives plus her aunt and uncle and cousin-on-the-way from California and her grandparents from Indiana. It was one big party, even though she didn't really get what was going on. She likes red wrapping paper and tried to help tear it off her presents. After Christmas, we went over to Augusta and then on to Hilton Head to spend time with more family and friends.

I hope your 2009 began as well as ours did!

Just how she rolls

2008-12-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth recently discovered the joys of rolling. She started before Thanksgiving with rolling from her tummy to her back, which she did repeatedly until she had an audience other than Mama and Daddy. We were at Noni and Grandpa's house for a week and not once would she deign to show off her new trick. She did it within five minutes of our arrival home, contrary child.

Then she figured out last week that she could roll from her back to her tummy. Very cool. So cool, in fact, that she promptly forgot she could roll from her tummy to her back. Now, she gets onto her tummy, doesn't know how to get back over, and gets mad and yells about it.

She's managed to roll back to front, then front to back, a couple of times, which proves she can do it, but generally one of us has to roll her back when she yells.

The Flickr site has been updated with some seasonal pictures!

Eating from Elizabeth's perspective

2008-11-21T19:55:00.002-05:00

Mom? Mooooooooom? MOOOOOOOOOM?!

I'm HUNGRY!

Right now! Where's the food? Why are we walking to the fridge?

I can see the bottle! I can see it right in your hand!

Why isn't it in my mouth yet? Can't you SEE I'm starving?

Bottle...mouth...yum num num...wait...I'm still mad! You took too long!

Oh...food...num num num num...

Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I'm not asleep! My eyes were closed and I was snoring, but I'm not asleep! Get that back here right now!

Num num num num...num...num....

*snore*

New Milestone!

2008-11-20T08:53:00.003-05:00

This week Elizabeth has learned a few things.

1) When placed on her stomach, she's great at lifting her head and supporting herself on her arms, at least for a litle bit.

2) She's discovered how to flip herself from her stomach onto her back. She can do this repeatedly. She won't do it all the time because, as a child of mine and Grammar Girl's, she has an opinion on JUST when she will do it. But sometimes she does it four times in a row. It is so neat to watch, and she knows we love it when she does it.

3) Santa is a cool dude! We took her to get pictures taken, and I admit to having been nervous about her behavior. She was as calm as ice! Not mad, not sad, not shy, just cool, buddy. Eventually, she warmed up and started smiling at him. Santa was VERY good. I noticed he talked with them, played with them, was Santa even to the adults, and told all the children "I love you." We ended up with two really good pictures. In one, the two of them are smiling at the camera, and in the other she and Santa are smiling at each other.

So, a big week in our world!

Adventures in babywearing

2008-10-22T23:00:00.002-04:00

We're babywearers around here. Basically what that means is that instead of schlepping Her Majesty around in an infant seat, we put her into a sling or a pouch and go about our business with her snuggled up to Mama or Daddy's chest and at least one of our hands free to do other things. (At a recent Koala Mommas meeting, Elizabeth and I tried out a mei tai carrier and I think I'm hooked. Baby carriers are addictive things...like Trumpettes socks and Feltman Brothers dresses. But I digress.)

The reactions other people have when I'm out in public wearing Elizabeth in her sling have been very interesting. Many times, people are charmed by the sight of her all snuggled and sleeping. Frequently, if the observer is a mom with older (high school and up) children, she'll comment, "They didn't have anything like that when I was having babies!"

Actually, babywearing is a very, very old practice, but the only people who were doing it in the late 70s/early 80s were the parents who were crunchy before crunchy was cool. The first baby sling I ever saw was a homemade one that my partner for the eleventh-grade baby project brought in. His mom had used it with all three of her kids, and I thought it was really interesting at the time. Interesting enough that I remember it 10+ years later.

If the observer is a mom around my age, nine times out of ten she'll say "I tried a Maya Wrap/Peanut Shell/Hotsling with my baby, and s/he just HATED it!" I'm not really sure how to respond to this one, because most babies actually do like being cradled in a baby carrier as it's pretty close to the womb environment. Most moms, however, have never seen somebody put a baby in a sling or practiced it, and it does take some getting used to on both parts. I was sweating with nerves by the time I got Elizabeth into her sling for the first time when she was about a week old. She slept through the whole thing. Now I can pop her into and out of it with barely a moment's thought, and she smiles when she sees me put the sling on. The first few times, though, it was imperative that both she and I were relaxed and happy.

I feel like I should offer some help; I felt much more comfortable with various carriers and carries when experienced moms showed me how to use them correctly. On the other hand, I don't want to come off as pushy or preachy. I love babywearing and it's a practice with a lot of positive outcomes for both parent and baby and I do feel pretty passionately about it. Plenty of stores have started carrying baby carriers because they're becoming more mainstream; Target carries Hotslings and some Targets have Maya Wraps. What they don't have are people who are knowledgeable about the arcana of babywearing and can help new babywearers feel more comfortable and enjoy it more.

The other response I've gotten is "Nobody can see the baby's outfit when she's all wrapped up in that thing!"

Can't win 'em all. :-)

Flickr update...

2008-10-15T16:40:00.000-04:00

LB added a couple of new shots to the site.

Meltdown in Reactor E!

2008-10-10T22:38:00.002-04:00

Elizabeth is generally such a laid-back, easygoing baby that it's both shocking and distressing when she isn't. We've learned to recognize some of her growth spurt signs -- eating more frequently, fussing because she can't eat fast enough, spitting up for a couple of days before the spurt starts -- but the big sign is the nuclear meltdown crying jags she has. She cries frantically and inconsolably for anywhere from 20-40 minutes at a stretch and it seems like none of our comfort measures work for longer than a minute or two at a time.

According to the books, the next growth spurt won't be till she's about six months old. I hope they're right!

Family Update

2008-10-02T11:27:00.000-04:00

Dear Elizabeth (or Gloriana as I sometimes call her) has been sick with a head cold which has made her (and her parents) miserable. Last night I came home to find a very tired wife, and a baby who just wanted to be held while she whimpered. I took us all out to IHOP for dinner, and tried to keep watch on them (more or less successfully). I ended up getting Elizabeth to sleep in her car seat. Sitting up was the only way she could sleep and breathe. She was still sleeping this morning when I left, and mother was dozing as well.

The weather is GORGEOUS, and was even cool this morning at 42 degrees. Leaves have started falling, and I'm hoping that perhaps we can go to the Greek Festival this weekend. Gina and I went last year and had a lot of fun doing so. We saw greek dancing, had GREAT greek food, perused arts and crafts, and generally just had a relaxing day. We also made "Big Fat Greek Wedding" jokes. Going this time and taking a baby is sure to get "oohs" and "ahhs".

My hope is to get out this week and take some pictures with my camera, as well as get some tasks finished around the house. A mirror needs to be hung, we need to call a handyman to do some repairs on our deck, and the yard could use some clean-up.

The Sound of Silence

2008-09-22T20:37:00.002-04:00

Not something we're hearing much these days!

Elizabeth had her two-month checkup last week. She's tipping the scales at 11 pounds 10 ounces and is now 23 1/2 inches long. All her little newborn clothes have now been packed up. It was a very strange thing to see clothes that were baggy on her to start with become too small in what seems like a week.

We do have more pictures to post -- they're coming soon!

Elizabeth's Favorite Things (newborn edition)

2008-08-26T20:11:00.003-04:00

1. Aden and Anais muslin blankets. My sisters got us a two-pack of these in San Francisco, and I liked them so much that I searched around for a store in Atlanta that sells them and bought four more. They're soft and light and perfect for summers in Georgia, where it's hot outside but air-conditioned to Arctic temperatures inside. Plus, they function as big burp cloths when needed.

2. Trumpettes baby socks. Cutest socks ever! Elizabeth has the Mary Janes, the Rosies, and the Baby Ballerina socks, and she'll probably have a box of Pixies in the next few weeks. They came recommended from a friend who told me that they're the only socks that really stayed on her daughter, and so far I'd have to agree. Besides...did I mention how cute they are?

3. Carter's wiggle-in bodysuits. Because you don't want to pull things over a baby's head.

4. Graco sweetpeace "infant soothing center". Unlike 99% of baby swings on the market, this one plugs in instead of eating batteries. Its color scheme is neutral and not obnoxious. Although Elizabeth doesn't consider it a great substitute for Mama and Daddy, she'll deign to relax in it while we're eating, and that's worth the money right there!

5. Balboa Baby adjustable sling. This makes getting out of the house with a newborn so much easier! As anybody who's schlepped an infant carseat through a grocery store can attest, those carriers are bulky, heavy, and impossible to get into a shopping cart and have room left over for anything other than a zucchini. Elizabeth rides in her sling around stores and around the house and sleeps through everything...even when Daddy wears it while he's vacuuming!

Slept through the night...

2008-08-19T17:29:00.002-04:00

TWICE!

Midnight to five a.m. two nights ago and 11:30 to five a.m. last night. As an added bonus for me, she went straight back to sleep after the five a.m. feeding both times and didn't wake up again till 8:30-9 a.m.

Getting five hours of uninterrupted sleep = bliss!

Growing pains

2008-08-16T21:41:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth went through a growth spurt this week, and she found it a less than pleasant experience. I gather, from reading baby books and hearing anecdotes from other parents, that babies fuss a lot during growth spurts, and Elizabeth certainly proved that true! We had a couple of days when we just couldn't put her down; she cried inconsolably if we did. Both of us felt so badly for her -- it's rough to see your child sobbing and not be able to comfort her, no matter how hard you try.

It's probably a good lesson about parenting, though. You'll never be able to give your child a perfect world or provide insulation against all painful experiences, but you can always give loving arms and suffer through it with him or her.

We'll update with more pictures soon!

2008-08-10T17:20:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday, Lori from Shooting Star Photography came out and took newborn pictures of Elizabeth. I can't say enough great things about Lori and her work -- she was so nice and easy to work with, and the pictures she took are gorgeous!

Here are some of the shots she posted to her blog, and here is a slideshow of the proofs (available online through the end of this week).

(By the way, she's moving to Birmingham in January or February, so if you have kids and want some great pictures, her website is www.shootstarphoto.com.)

And the winner is...

2008-07-31T21:40:00.004-04:00

Cara -- guessed the correct due date!

The prize is forthcoming.

About the only prize we're interested in around here is a bit of sleep. Elizabeth still has her nights and days turned around a bit, and she likes to get her dad to herself and party hearty at 4:30 or 5 in the morning. (She parties with her mama at 1 a.m.)

My mom -- Elizabeth's Noni -- is going home tomorrow after more than two weeks. She's been cooking to fill our freezer, doing all the shopping, cuddling her granddaughter, and even waking up to feed her at two in the morning. We're going to miss her a lot!

She does sleep...just not at night!

For more pictures, check out our Flickr page: Elizabeth's album.

Elizabeth's Birth Story

2008-07-24T22:01:00.002-04:00

I went to the doctor on Tuesday 7/15 for my regular checkup and had made no progress since my previous appointment, so I felt fairly confident that I wasn't going into labor anytime in the foreseeable future. (And I made plans accordingly. We were going to go see The Dark Knight on Saturday, and I had a whole list of little errands and to-dos around the house before my mom was going to come on the 21st.)

I woke up on Wednesday 7/16 and felt a little bit funny. While LB was in the shower, I was sitting in bed reading, had a couple of sharp-ish contractions, felt a trickle of fluid, and thought Great, I've now developed pregnancy incontinence as I ran to the bathroom. There wasn't a big gush, so I decided to just go about my business and have breakfast, which turned out to be a very good idea.

After LB and I finished breakfast, he was about to grab his lunch bag and head out the door, and I had another trickle of fluid. He reminded me that breaking one's water didn't have to involve a gush and that I needed to go ahead and call the doctor. I called, told the on-call doctor that I thought my water might have broken, although I wasn't having contractions and I wasn't sure, and she said to go ahead and come into the office and they'd check.

We made it all the way to the doctor's office and back to the exam room before the gush happened. The doctor said, "I don't think we need to do the pH swab test -- you need to go to labor and delivery now." En route to L&D, we called both sets of parents. Mine were in Denver, about to head out to Boise for a weekend with my sister, brother-in-law, and his family, so they did a quick change of plans and got tickets for Atlanta. LB's mother was home, but his dad was away on a business trip and couldn't make it back home in time.

In L&D, they did 20 minutes of fetal and contraction monitoring, and they noticed the same thing I had -- mainly, I wasn't having strong or regular contractions. The nurses unhooked the monitors and sent me out to walk the halls for 40 minutes, then come back for 20 minutes of monitoring. LB went walking with me, then went downstairs to get some lunch because it looked like it was going to be a long day at this point. I sat on the birth ball to see if that position could get things started.

When he came back, the doctor had come in for a consultation, and she was concerned that labor wasn't progressing. Once the water breaks, there is an increased risk of infection, and they would really prefer to have the baby delivered within 18 hours of the water breaking. By this time, I was about 6 hours into that 18. She suggested augmenting labor with a Pitocin drip, and it seemed like a better option to me to have a possibly more painful labor than to have to possibly send our baby to the NICU for monitoring and lab work later.

Once they started the Pitocin drip, I had to be on continuous monitoring, so I couldn't get up and walk around. The nurses knew that I was trying for an unmedicated birth, and they were fantastic cheerleaders, suggesting different positions and offering lots of encouragement. LB was a great coach and stayed very calm and relaxed. After 2 hours on the Pitocin, I'd only progressed from 3 to 4 cm dilated, which was slightly discouraging. The nurses told me that things could continue to progress this slowly, or I could be one of those people who "breaks all the rules" and goes very fast.

Upon due consideration, I'll take slow next time, because I went from 4 to 6 cm in 20 minutes flat. LB tells me I spent those 20 minutes gripping an emesis basin like a lifeline and that I told him to leave me alone. (I told him that if that's the worst thing I said in labor, we were in good shape.) At that point, I got a shot of something for the nausea and something to take the edge off the contractions, since they had turned the Pitocin drip up to 10. I was moving around too much for the fetal monitors to get a good pickup, so they had to insert an internal monitor, and that was fairly uncomfortable.

I labored in the rocking chair for a while, and this is the point where things get really fuzzy for me. I remember being in the chair and asking when I could have another shot to take the edge off, and the nurse telling me it would be another hour. At that point, I was starting to get exhausted by the contractions coming right on top of each other, and I knew I couldn't do it for another hour and still have anything left to push, so I opted for the epidural.

About all I remember from that is telling the anesthesiologist that I felt a twinge in my left hipbone and that his cell phone rang twice while he was putting the line in. Once the epidural was in, the nurses checked me, and they said, "Well, you did the hard part on your own; you're fully dilated already." Since the baby's head was still pretty high, though, they decided to let me "labor down" for an hour or so to get her head to come farther down. They turned the Pitocin down and let me rest for a bit.

By this point, my parents and LB's mom had arrived, and since I was resting pretty comfortably then, they all came into the room and sat and chatted about very little for a while. LB was laughing at my need to be a "good hostess" even in the middle of labor. (I say you can't take the South out of the girl.) The doctor came in to do an exam, so everybody stepped out. After the exam, she said, "Let's do a practice push," and LB stepped back in to discover that it was time to go. He sent a quick text to my dad that he wasn't coming back out!

I started pushing around 6:45, and in what seemed like five minutes but was actually 45, Elizabeth came into the world at 7:31 p.m. (20 inches long, 7 pounds 5.6 ounces. So much for the "you're having a big baby" theory.) LB told me the secret he'd kept for 18 weeks and five days -- "It's a girl!" While they were cleaning her up and getting me situated, LB ran out to share the news with the new grandparents. He couldn't decide initially whether to send a text or go out to the waiting room, because he didn't want to leave his family, but I asked him, "Don't you want to see their faces?" That decided him, and he popped out to share the news with them. (The grandparents went and hit up the gift shop immediately for pink things.)

We had time to bond and spend some quiet minutes together as a family once they got everything done, and they were some of the sweetest moments of my life. It felt so amazing to go from a family of two to a family of three!

The grandparents came in with lots of pink things -- a little bear lovey, roses, two beautiful dresses, chocolate chip cookies with a pink bow -- and then we moved on to the postpartum room. While we'd been in labor and delivery, the grandparents had toured the Waters Pavilion at Piedmont, and they decided that we needed to stay there and have the princess treatment. I'd highly recommend it to anybody. It's all two-room suites with a pull-out couch and a full bathroom in the second room, and they serve tea every afternoon.

My left leg was still pretty numb from the epidural, so it took a little while for me to get settled, but I finally got to eat something around 10 p.m. or so (tomato soup and mint chip gelato). LB and my dad ran back to the house to walk the dog and pick up stuff for LB to spend the night, and my mom and I called my two sisters to talk to them. LB came back, my parents left, and we spent the next while just looking at the amazing blessing that had just come into our lives.

Home

2008-07-19T06:31:00.000-04:00

Elizabeth Anne Grace was born on Wednesday July 16th, 2008 at 7:31 p.m.. In a bit of dovetailing, the car pulled out of the hospital parking lot and officially hit the road home on Friday July 18th at 7:31 p.m. as well. Mother, Father, Baby, and Dog are all doing well. (The dog has been QUITE concerned about this fussy little creature.) The whole story from hospital to home will be posted later this weekend with pictures. Right now, the family is settling in on it's first morning home.

God bless you all.

Bets, Round 2!

2008-07-15T22:04:00.002-04:00

1. Boy or girl?
2. Boy's name:
3. Girl's name:
4. Date and time of delivery:
5. Weight:
6. Length:

So far, the majority say boy!

No progress!

2008-07-15T21:57:00.002-04:00

"No progress" from last week, says the doctor.

Except for feeling like a walking watermelon, I feel great. I'm sleeping 7 or so hours a night, I'm able to walk around (slowly), I can go out and run errands provided it isn't too hot...my only complaint is a severe case of impatience.

Oh well. It looks like we'll get to see The Dark Knight this weekend, which we've both been looking forward to seeing.

Possibly Self Evident

2008-07-14T08:56:00.002-04:00

Just a bit of trivia while we wait for the baby.

From the Wikitravel article on the North Pole:

"Most visitors to the North Pole head south next. "

Kind of self evident, one would think.

Still pregnant.

2008-07-13T22:12:00.002-04:00

Doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

Back from the doctor

2008-07-08T22:03:00.002-04:00

1+ centimeters dilated, 50% effaced, and the baby is head-down at -1 station. Thus saith the doctor. In other words, progress, but nothing's imminent.

Her bet is that I don't make it all the way to 25 July, but that I make it pretty close. I think I'll go ahead and make an appointment for a pedicure on Friday!

The Waiting Game

2008-07-07T21:55:00.000-04:00

Once that calendar changed from 36 weeks 6 days to 37 weeks, the waiting game started. The one where I, and I'm sure, every other first-time pregnant woman, analyzes every little twinge and twitch with an "is this it?!" feeling.

So far, it isn't "it." I'm still feeling mostly good, just having irregular mild contractions that don't turn into anything interesting. Most of my "must do before baby comes" list is crossed off, as is most of Logic Boy's list. We're just trying to wait and be patient and not get on the emotional roller coaster of "maybe this is it!"

In other news, one of my former students is now officially a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team! The baby and I will be watching her swim for the gold sometime in August.

Nursery Photos - Almost Done!

2008-06-29T18:24:00.001-04:00

Good afternoon everyone! I thought I'd post a few pictures of the progress we have made with the nursery. At this point, it is almost complete. Drapes are up, the furniture is arranged, clothes and supplies are put away. What is left to complete are to get a lamp shade, mount pictures on the walls, install the phone (ringer off by default), and other minor things.

When it is finally complete, I will post those as well. (I'll also get better at arranging them on here.)

Just Like New!

2008-06-26T02:36:00.000-04:00

Conversations like this are completely normal in our household. I love this comic (http://xkcd.com/), as it is odd, and it makes me think. But today's comic was priceless.

Grammar Girl is 28. I'm 34. We still sit around and think "Kids? No Way! Seriously?" Apparently so, and apparently July 25 is the big day. However, I'm not sure it will go that long. My personal guess is on or about July 15th. I can't participate in the poll officially, but I gotta throw my hat in the ring somehow.

Put your guesses here...

2008-06-19T22:21:00.000-04:00

Now that Bean's arrival is a little more imminent, we thought we'd collect the guesses of friends and family about things like boy/girl, possible names, actual delivery date, and so on. If you want to play, post your answers in the comments section!

1. Boy or girl?
2. Boy's name:
3. Girl's name:
4. Date and time of delivery:
5. Weight:
6. Length:

(There might be prizes later!)

Ultra-Sound and Ultra-Fine

2008-04-10T21:48:00.001-04:00

Well, today was a big day. This was the follow-up appointment to the 20 week ultra-sound, and it's been a day long waited for. At the 20 week ultra-sound, I mentioned the problems with Choroid Plexus Cysts. If you don't remember, the link is here. Well, I did talk about how everything seemed okay, but we couldn't be SURE until the follow-up. Today was truly the "life or death" pronouncement, and happily we found out that the CPC's are gone. The baby is perfectly healthy and fine. The tech and doctor also checked the rest of the brain, the heart, and the kidneys, stating that most babies problems are in those areas. The baby is healthy in all locations and perfectly fine. The doctor said he was happy to "fire" us as patients.

While we had kept busy with other things, this had always been in the back of our minds. Scherza (also known as Grammar Girl) and I admitted to each other that we had both been very nervous. A great weight has been lifted, and it's amazing to realize how much it was weighing us down without even realizing it. The subtle pall of pain, the quiet melody of misery, while not loud, echoes like thunder with its absence. The rest of the day has really been a daze, and frankly I simply spent the night reading a book. Scherza/Grammar Girl spent it watching television.

It's nice to have those simple pleasures.

Oh...and the tech reiterated the sex of the baby to me. *wink*

Busy Saturday!

2008-03-29T18:32:00.000-04:00

Another big piece of furniture arrived for the nursery today: the dresser and changing top. Finally, furniture manufacturers figured out that an entire case piece specifically for changing babies' diapers isn't the most practical thing over the long term, so now they're making dressers that have detachable trays on top for changing pads. When the baby outgrows the diaper phase, the tray comes off and you have a normal dresser.

We spent about an hour or so in the nursery this morning putting together a side table and arranging books on the bookcase. I collected all the various baby and parenting books we've bought or received and put them in there. With the crib and the dresser and a few toys we couldn't resist buying in the room, it's starting to look like a real nursery -- which it will be in about four months!

I still have to make the bumper, crib skirt, and window shades, but once those are put together and the glider and ottoman arrive, the big nursery projects will be mostly completed. I'm hoping to have all of that done by late May/early June, but we'll see what happens.

Our other "lazy Saturday" projects involved house tidying, sheet changing and mattress turning, cleaning out files, and taking a carload of stuff down to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. As Logic Boy puts it, "Your idea of 'doing nothing' just means you get a lot of stuff done at a more leisurely pace." Which is probably true.

And So It Begins...

2008-03-28T19:47:00.001-04:00

Let this be the first post of this blog. Grammar Girl and I are expecting a baby. This has been a hard road for us, filled with infertility, Clomid (the psycho supplement), prayer, waiting, hope, happiness, nervousness, and expectation. Here is where the family happenings will be. The big day is around July 25.

I cannot wait, and yet, I am scared some days, nervous others, excited on yet others. I guess this is normal.

Bean is what we are calling the baby for now. I know the sex, but I'm not telling anyone. Grammar Girl doesn't want to know. That's fine. It's a challenge to keep my knowledge from her, and I hope that I haven't spilled it yet. She knows that I know, and is about the only one not trying to trick me into revealing the sex.

I can confidently say it's a hoo-mon, err, human.

This blog was Grammar Girl's idea, and I am happy to go along with it. This will be our family blog for our family and friends to find updates. I have other blogs, some more private than others. If I know you well, you know my other blogs. There is so much I could put here, and perhaps I, or Grammar Girl will. But not yet. Right now, it's time for candy with Grammar Girl, the Bowden (our dog), and "Bean".

Take care!

--Logic Boy