Before the baby was born, from time to time Peace and Fuzzy would call us up- late on a weeknight, usually- and say one word: RALPH'S! We'd jump into the convertible, pick them up, and drive under stars with the wind in our hair, laughing at stupid jokes and telling stories the whole way, until we arrived at Ralph's and we'd eat fruity water-ice or chocolatey cream-ice in the parking lot.
The landscape has changed since then and we don't leave the house past 8pm, but Peace and Fuzzy still come over to eat chips and salsa from time to time, which keeps us feeling a little like we still have lives.
I don't know whether I mentioned it here or not, but we decided a few months ago to sell my convertible and replace it with a 4-door. It's ridiculous to get a baby in and out of the backseat, and she isn't really safe with the top down (you know, flying debris and little eyeballs and all that stuff). In a serendipitous turn of events, SNG's new boss' husband bought it. I'm sure he'll get lots of great years out of the cherry bomb.

It's really best that we sold it because the car wasn't getting much use (it's had about 2000 miles on it over the past year) and around here, a convertible should be driven. A lot. But I'm sad because I really enjoyed that car.

Today we bought its replacement. The ScoobyDoo has a new sister, and they now need new names.

Say hello to Ruby-Doo and Scooby-Blue!

HAPPY 10-MONTH-DAY, E-BABY!

Sorry there have been no posts in awhile- we were in Chicago last week and this is the first time I've been on the web in almost a week.

I wasn't supposed to be in Chicago last week- I was supposed to be spending the week working on something with a tight deadline but the guy who was supposed to go to Chicago was called to another project, so I had to go. I've still got this week to meet the tight deadline-- except I have to sit in on a class Wed-Fri this week. If you do the math, you'll count two business days to finish two weeks' work. So I probably won't be blogging much this week either.

The Chicago trip was a lot of fun. SNG quit his former job and his last day was the 13th. He started his new job yesterday, so all of last week was free (he was very fond of saying "I'm between jobs at the moment" and told people this at every opportunity). He and e-baby flew out with me and did lots of Chicago-style sightseeing while I was at work all day. They went to Millennium park, the park along the lakefront, the Sears tower and many sweet shops. He had ice cream for lunch the first day, chocolate mousse cake the 2nd day. I think the 3rd day he finally went healthy and had a hot dog or something.

In the evenings we ate heavenly Italian food: first night we had Volare (take-out: it's too swanky for a 10-month old) and the 2nd night we went to a pizza joint for deep-dish cheesy, saucy goodness. E-baby tried pizza crust and it was OK, but her FAVORITE was the linguine fra diavolo from Volare. Who knew, kid's got a taste for the spicy.

Finally, SNG did a little bit of shopping. As you probably know, SNG and I don't follow baseball (and frankly, if there's a ball involved, you can be sure it's a sport I don't follow) but we are a fan of this baseball:




And, um, no, we don't give e-baby Sweet-Tart squeeze candy to eat. That's a "decoy" tube of butt-paste we give her to play with during diaper changing time. She was so interested in chewing on the real butt-paste tube, which, eewe, so we got this as a safer, more hygenic alternative. SNG eats the candy, though, and... eewe.

Another Baby-Related Blog Entry

Next week is e-baby's "10 month conference" at the daycare. This is when the primary teacher sits down with the parents of a baby nearing 10 months to discuss her progress, what competencies she must achieve before she can "move up" to the 1-year old class, and what we can do together to help her reach those goals.

Whoa there, little fillies... did you say move up to the 1-year old class? I mean, sure that's in 2 months but Holy Toledo where did the time go? Where is my little bitty baby that just a few months ago looked like a puffy little pillow of baby softness? Suddenly there's this (completely adorable) little almost-toddler who has a recognizable family resemblance, and a whole library of different facial expressions, living in the nursery where just a few days ago I put down a newborn.

Given that babies only grow up, never down, and given that I can't do a darn thing about how fast the time will fly, I need to embrace the growing up. My only consolation is that she just gets cuter, and funnier, and more interesting than before.

This week's tricks include:

*Weaning herself off of baby food. We've been giving her little bits of finger-food for a few months, and starting about 2 weeks ago, she is uninterested in strained baby food, and more interested in feeding herself. So now those strained peas and powdered oatmeal are being converted into baby pasta sauce, and instead of homemade strained zucchini, she gets pieces of the same veggies SNG and I are eating. And in e-babyland, no meal is complete without banana chunks. I've never seen anyone who loves banana that much. Although really, she loves anything that she can feed to herself.

*Saying bye-bye. She started waving and saying "Bye" when people leave the room. It needs refinement, though. She says it (and waves) after they've gone. Probably something to do with babies' slow reaction time.

*Singing whatever song is stuck in her head. She like to dance to music, and makes up her own songs, but the other day, as she rode in her bike trailer to day care, I actually recognized the song she was singing-- it was a Michael Franti song that was playing in the house right before we left. But where Michael says "Lies, lies, lies" she says "Dah dah dah."

Yesterday my friend Zen and her baby Season came over with a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread from flour than Zen's dad had ground himself (how very cool!) and the girls played in the kitchen together. I think we were both kind of taken aback at how much they are changing and becoming more engaged with the world around them. They were playing together, rather than mostly with their respective mommies, and laughing at each other's little baby-babble jokes. It was so much fun. Season's getting so big and her face is gaining lots of character.

I guess I just continue to be surprised at how quickly everything changes. As soon as I figure out how to handle one baby, one set of quirks, of needs, of dangers, another baby appears with a whole new set of quirks, needs, and dangers. I have newfound respect and more than a little guitly conscience regarding other mothers of small children, some of whom I've quietly chided in my mind for their kids getting on my nerves. Still, it keeps me on my toes.

Part of me hopes that the ten-month conference will reveal that e-baby is the smartest, most competent baby ever known. But another part of me is glad that she will stay in the infant class a little longer. I'm just not quite ready to be through having a baby.

There's never been much question that I eat some weird stuff. I don't even know where to begin with that. Therefore it will come as no surprise that I am on a mission to test-drive various tofu ice cream recipes. Oh wait: I'm test-driving tofu ice cream recipes sweetened with Splenda and fruit instead of sugar and with unsweetened (green-box Silk) soymilk. Because tofu ice cream, that isn't weird enough by itself.

Perhaps one reason SNG and I are such a good pair is that he has noooo problem cooking his own dinner if I make something he doesn't want, and he'll make me something too, in case what I made is too weird even for me to eat.

Why the recent interest in no-added-sugar tofu ice cream? Because Alton Brown said we needed an ice cream maker, and SNG takes Alton's opinion on such matters as law. And because I don't do cow's milk products. And because sheep's milk ice cream just sounds nas-ty.

I'll let you know how the tofu ice cream turns out.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday, Granny!!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!
Originally uploaded by catandtony318

E-baby wore her special Texas-style red white and blue today, in honor of her Granny's birthday. She also took a bike ride to the playground and played on the baby swing. It was most awesome.

In the Kitchen, 4th of July outfit
Originally uploaded by catandtony318

Fruity Darkness: A Tragedy in Three Acts
Act 1
Scene: A local grocery store, produce department
Alphagal, sniffs, prods, and examines various fruits and vegetables as SNG and e-baby wander amlessly, singing along to the in-store music.
Alphagal: Ooh, these grapes look pretty good. But you never eat grapes. The pears are nice, too. But we had pears last week and I made jam so I'm sick of pears.
SNG: ...feel the beat of the rhythm of the night, dance until the morning light...
Alphagal: Oh, HERE we are. Strawberries are buy one get one. Do you think you'd help me eat strawberries?
SNG: Sure, I like strawberries. Do You Like Strawberries, honeybunny? Hm? I Bet You Would if You Tried Them! Ooh, I think I'll chew on your toes now!
E-baby: LA! LALALA! DE! DA!
Alphagal: Well, you'd better be sure because it's buy one get one on 2-quart baskets. And it isn't worth getting just one. They're not half price. It's strictly buy one get one.
SNG: Awoogawooga. Yeah, I'll eat a few strawberries. Just don't get too much stuff! We always get too much and then we end up throwing something away.
Alphagal: Better to have too many fresh vegetables in the house than not enough.
E-baby: Wooooah!
Stranger: Oh, aren't you sweet!
E-baby: MAMA!
SNG: No, honeybunny, don't grab those onions. I don't think you'd like them.
Alphagal: I'm getting the strawberries. And these ranier cherries are on sale so I'm getting 2 pounds of them as well. Will you eat them?
SNG: I like cherries.
(scene)

Act 2
Scene: SNG and Alphagal's kitchen
(the baby is crawling into the refrigerator and pulling things off the shelves as SNG and Alphagal put away groceries)
SNG: Hey! We already had cherries!
Alphagal: I know, but they were black cherries
SNH: But I would have eaten them if I'd known they were here! Why didn't you tell me we had cherries?
Alphagal: Same reason I didn't tell you we have sliced mozzarella-- I figured you could look in the fridge and see it for yourself.
SNG: But they're in the produce drawer!
Alphagal: Yeah? And? Isn't that where produce lives?
SNG: Yeah, but I don't go looking in there for something to eat! You've got to tell me to eat the cherries.
Alphagal: You were with me when I bought them!
SNG: That doesn't mean I know they're there! You have to remind me to eat produce or it'll go bad.
E-baby: (smacking together two jars of jam) Bla! Bro! Bra! Huh! Hee!
Alphagal: Well, we also have the fresh blackberries I picked on our hike yesterday right on the counter and you haven't eaten them yet.
SNG: I didn't know we still had any left! I would've eaten them! You've got to tell me...
Alphagal: They're right next to the sink. Don't you ever look at the countertops?
SNG: No. Hey! There are BLUEBERRIES in here, too! When did we get blueberries? We have too much fruit.
Alphagal: (Gravely) Do you think I should make a cobbler?
SNG: (equally gravely) Yes. It's the only right thing to do.
Alphagal: I can pit some cherries and makes a cobbler of cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, a little splenda and jiffy mix.
SNG: Mmmm I like cobbler.
(time passes)
Alphagal: (peering into oven) This is ready. But e-baby needs a bath and tonight is hair-washing night.
SNG: (Mock fearfulness) Oh no! Not hair-washing night!
Alphagal: And she had a little diaper rash so she gets extra naked time.
SNG: I'll make some salmon and roasted veggies while you take care of that.
(scene)

Act 3
Scene: The next morning. Kitchen is spotless. Baby is trying to open the refrigerator door.
SNG: OH! We forgot the cobbler! It's still in the oven!
Alphagal: OH! Oh WOE IS ME!
SNG: Oh SADNESS!
Alphagal: Oh DARKNESS!
SNG: It smelled so GOOD! How did we forget? I even ate ice cream!!
Alphagal: Me too! Well, soy-cream. And it was a healthy cobbler! Mostly fruit and no sugar. I PITTED CHERRIES BY HAND!
(Aphagal and SNG fall to floor in front of the oven, weeping. Curtain.)

OK, it could have been worse. At least we remembered to turn off the oven, so we could eat it for breakfast this morning. But it wasn't warm from the oven anymore.

My Pumpkin Patch, June 30
Originally uploaded by catandtony318

Here is a picture of my pumpkin patch from this morning. So far they're looking good! I just hope SNG keeps the giant beetles, the deer, the moles and the rabbits out. If you click on the picture, there are a couple more in Flickr.

Elizabeth and the bike, 9mo
Originally uploaded by catandtony318

Saturday was my dad's birthday, and I meant to post this ON Saturday. Better late than never.

Here's to my dad, the guy who taught me how to ride a bike, to go faster, and sometimes, to slow down a little. Good advice for riding or living.

I hope your birthday was all tailwind! E-baby did a celebratory lap around the foyer in your honor.

Nine Months, Ten Thoughts
E-baby is nine months old today. It's kind of a milestone for me that today, while perhaps more symbolic than exact, marks the day that I will have been a mother for longer than I had been pregnant. Which might not seem long to y'all, but it's like a lifetime from my end. Or rather, it literally is a lifetime.

In the interest of being too lazy (busy?) to keep up with things in a baby book, here are ten thoughts running around my brain this month.

1. Nine months on, nine months off... that must be an average. Stuff just doesn't end up where it used to be, and for me, there's still plenty of stuff hanging around in spite of my best efforts. My friends who also have babies? I'm sure they all lost all the baby weight before being discharged from the hospital. Me? I've still got these 5 pounds that don't want to go away.

2. Babies eventually learn to communicate (I know, I can hardly believe it myself). E-baby is beginning to sign to us! She started using the "milk" sign about a month ago, but just to herself while nursing. A week ago, she made the "milk" sign at her water glass when she wanted a drink, but it wasn't so much directed at me or SNG as at her glass. Yesterday, she unmistakeably made the "milk" sign to me when she wanted a drink from her water glass. OK, so it's the wrong word, and while she isn't exactly overflowing with sign language, I can feel that soon the dam will burst and kiddo will be absorbing new signs very quickly. Honestly, I'm more impressed that she made the connection between "milk" and "water glass" since nursing and drinking from a glass are presented in completely different contexts. She wasn't saying "milk" or "water," she was saying "I'm thirsty."

3. Before babies communicate, they learn to understand what you say. E-baby recognizes and understands quite a few words, whether signed or spoken, such as more, eat, banana, melon, hungry, and Cheerios. Well, that last one might just be that she recognizes the big yellow box and gets very excited.

4. Babies can babyproof for you! Everyone says so, but it's true: as soon as they crawl, babies are drawn to the most dangerous thing in a room. Mine likes to hunt dirty shoes and electrical cords. She can move a sofa to get to an electrical cord. She can climb a bookcase to reach a bottle of something poisonous. Babyproofing is less like dog-proofing and more like cat-proofing than I ever knew.

5. There is nothing in the world cuter than a naked baby crawling zipper-zapper after a bath with the hoodie towel trailing behind like a superhero cape. Even when she pees on the floor (see #6).

6. A sense of humor is vital. In graduate school, one of the profs in our dept studied phobias and anxiety disorders. In the "fear lab," subjects would be hooked up to a mask of CO2 gas, which causes hypoxia and simulates, physiologically, the beginning of a panic attack. What they learned pretty quickly was that some people, in hypoxic conditions, went into full-blown anxiety attack. No surprise there. But, interestingly, other people responded to the exact same stimulus with fits of giggles and silliness. In other words, they interpreted the physiological cues of shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and altered perception as being stoned, not as rising panic. A nice trait to have, I think.
With a baby, you get peed on, pooped on, puked on and drooled on, bitten, screamed at, and kept awake late at night. These things can be perceived as horrible, scary, frustrating, overwhelming. But if you can see it all as one big, fat, practical joke, it will be a lot easier to enjoy the high. It is pretty darn hilarious, too. But sometimes it would be funnier without the poop.

7. Nine-month-olds do not take naps unless they are in 1) a stroller/jogger, 2) a bike trailer, or 3) a moving car. This phenomenon dates back to the advent of crawling. Read between the lines to learn why I Love Daycare.

8. Pampers have an expiration date. Why? Do they go bad? How do you know when a diaper has gone bad? Does it begin to smell funny? I'm not even going to dignify that joke with a punchline. Too easy.

9. People say you will never understand a parent's love until you are a parent. Isn't that a bit overly dramatic? After all, I really, really love my parents, my brother, my niece, my husband. I figured a child would be like that, only moreso. Well, you people with children were right and I had no idea. It's not just like regular love amplified. It's a different animal altogether. Amplified. And sadly, I can't explain it any better than they did, so I'll just leave it at that. Sorry if that sounds overly dramatic. It's just true.

10. Post-Baby time is on a log scale: First week took a year, second week took six months, fourth month took a month, fifth month took two weeks, etc. From eight months to now took about a day and a half. At first I was afraid to miss anything so I took a million pictures. Now I can't keep up.

I enjoy being a mom far more than I expected to, but I also miss SNG. We spend most of our time together taking turns watching e-baby while the other gets something done. I miss those late night walks in the park after closing time to see the glowing spiders and listen to frogs and owls. I miss sitting around watching a movie and cooking extravagant meals together. I miss eating at a table with a normal-sized chair. Still, the padded floor is clean enough to eat off of so it could be worse.

Has it been worth it so far? No question: Yes. The future feels brighter knowing that e-baby is in it. And if I've learned anything so far, it's that whatever is happening now won't last very long and soon we'll be on to the next thing. Eventually (what, 17 years or so?) that next thing will be just SNG and me in the house again, walking in the park after dark and looking at glowing spiders.

Which, the way time is moving, should be in about six hours or so.

You'd think I had learned my lesson by now...

So yesterday was e-baby's 9-mo appointment, and we found out that she's long and lean. And she has a big melon. She's also way ahead of the averages for social, communication, gross and fine motor and problem-solving skills. But then we knew she was brilliant.

She's in the 80th percentile for head circumfrence (no surprise-- SNG and his dad have big heads), she's 27" long, and 16lb8oz. That's a bit taller than average and a bit lighter than average. Of course, I immediately worried that she isn't eating enough, and that I need to start sending her to school with weight-gain protein shakes, but the doc said it was nothing to worry about, and that when babies start crawling they tend to lose weight.

And really, if you look at this child, she has rolls on her arms and legs, she has big pudgy cheeks, she has a baby belly. Hardly wasting away.

Still, I got all worried. So last night I put some silken tofu and babyfood apples/plums in the blender and made tofu smoothies for her. She had not had tofu before. She had also not had plums before. One of those things had a Drano effect.

Big time. Mosh pit at lollaPOOlooza

I've made this mistake before, where I give her 2 new foods at once, mixed up, and she had a reaction and I couldn't tell which food was the problem. So, no more tofu or plums for a couple of weeks, and I'll try them one at a time. In the meantime, Bananas, Rice, Apple, Toast (BRAT). And zucchini. Because really, who can live without zucchini?

This is ... unusual ... I keep checking the calendar to see if it's April 1.

I wonder whether biking and rosary beads mix well?

My Pumpkin Patch, June 2007
Originally uploaded by catandtony318

I have a pumpkin patch!! Click the picture and mouse-over to see what's planted where.

We've had a spell of lovely, cool weather this week -- highs in the 70s, which is nice for June-- so I did a bit of yardwork. Yes, it's still me and I'm not running a fever or anything, but about once a year I get the urge to plant stuff. I hope SNG realizes the responsibility of caring for a pumpkin patch.

Before becoming a parent, I never liked the way other people with kids' houses usually looked. You know, the whole Big Plastic Fisher-Price crap replacing real, grown-up things; Barbies instead of knicknacks; Teletubby sippy-cups on every flat surface; Pokemon area rugs in the living room.

And now, Look At My Kitchen.


In a pathetic attempt to avoid letting Evenflo own my house, I do not own a proper high chair. They are just so huge. So we have this:

And instead of bright plastic toyboxes, we have these:

But still,

And she is only 8 months old. Things are just going to get worse, huh?

This is for Tuti, whose birthday was Friday.

Watermelon Queen