cats are fun

We miss Nadine, who died one year ago this week. Here she is stalking Ellie May earlier last summer. They're both wearing baby onesies. That was what we did with our first baby gift!

In this one you can see how comfortable Ellie May was in her outfit, feeling very special relaxing on my pregnant belly. She blends into the background a little but you can see her eyes, one ear, and one front leg coming out of the white onesie.

free cat

My home computer is temporarily out of commission - please, don't ask.

Free to loving home: one sweet indoor lap cat, 8 years old, very affectionate to humans, all shots, spayed, etc. Black domestic shorthair, with some white on neck and belly. Loves being brushed and combed and petted. Will beg for cheese. Doesn't bite or get aggressive with humans, adult or child. Occasionally still playful. Sleeps all night and most of the day, doesn't bug you at 4 am like other cats. Doesn't expect fancy food. Not noisy.

Must go to a home with no other animals (except maybe interesting fish, gerbils, or birds in loose cages...). It's best if your home never had another cat in it, ever. She could possibly be an indoor-outdoor cat, depending where you live. She could be an outdoor cat too, but only if you like to sit outdoors a lot so she can access your lap.

9 month checkup

I haven't counted the weeks, but I reckon around now comes the point when E has spent more of her life outside the womb than she did inside. I suppose it's time for me to stop thinking of her as part of me. (not that I do that all the time, but it does happen)

David has gone to Fayetteville to paint the set for Thoroughly Modern Millie, will be there til after Labor Day. At E's checkup this morning she had 2 shots (the 3rd hepatitis, the 4th polio, in their series). She weighs 18 pounds 8 ounces and is 28 and a half inches tall. Average all around, though a little taller than average (75th percentile). She didn't realize what she was in for (she was curious, alert, intrigued...) until the stethoscope touched her back. Then she became tearful and nervous. She recovered quickly after the shots, and I headed home to give her peace and quiet and a long nap -- but she wanted none of that! So eventually I took her back out to go shopping at a consignment sale.0

I'm feeling cranky now. I dozed off and on during the last hour while E fretted and dozed in her crib. About the time she fell truly asleep my insolent bladder insisted that I get up. I don't know what to do with myself and am too irritated to go back to sleep. Tea and a tomato sandwich are helping, slowly.

latest news and an old picture

This photo is from Mothers Day (May), me, E and her Grandma.

E climbed stairs last weekend. She knew exactly what to do going up, but of course going down was a different story.

Right now she's in her crib, halfway fussing. She went back to sleep in my arms, twice, and woke up when I put her in the crib. The second time I had to leave her - I'm making my breakfast and I have to get ready for work. But she's getting quieter and she occasionally makes a happy noise. I am really not with it this morning. Not much to report but I wanted to give Bud and Lynn something to read. :)

p.s. by the time I finished typing the above, E was wailing! I went in and changed her diaper, dressed her and now have plopped her down in the living room and she's happy. Guess she didn't really need but a micro nap this morning. She did sleep through from 11 pm til 5 am, so I guess she's better rested than usual. I should be too but I don't feel it!

our weekend begins

I'm so accustomed to my 3 day weekend now that I forget others are working on Fridays (poor them!). The 4 workdays include an evening that feels too rushed - getting E home, fed, bathed, nursed, before she crashes between 7:30 and 8. But I have nothing to complain about for the three days off. We have E on somewhat of a schedule but it's based on what she was doing anyway. The idea behind doing it was to help David be assured of getting his naps on the days he keeps her, but as soon as we decided this and got a suggested schedule from Erma the sitter, David started working every day (the feast or famine life of a freelancer). So he's only tried the schedule a couple of times (and already resents its restrictions as I knew he would!). So it's not very strict - like the pirates' code, it's not rules it's "guidelines"!

E wakes up normally around 5, nurses one side, plays for 30-45 minutes, nurses the other side and goes back to sleep for 30-45 minutes. Then she's up for a while, say 7:30 til about 9, when she takes her morning nap. She has some milk around 10:30 - 11, then playtime, and lunch at noon. Afternoon nap starts approximately 1- 1:30, can last 1-2 hours. Then a snack, and playtime til "mama comes home time" of approx. 5:30. A little milk before dinner begins at 6- 6:30. Bath at 6:30. In the rocking chair to start nursing and rocking to sleep by 7:15.

It is true, however, that as soon as you start being able to predict them, they change! Emma's waking time has fluctuated a lot, and when she was sick it was all through the night. Some days she won't take one of her naps. But she has consistently gotten sleepy at night at the same time ever since about 3-4 months old. Maybe she's a morning person like me.

The two of us went out to dinner last night with some of my work colleagues, and it went well. We met at the restaurant at 5:30. I tried to nurse E in the car beforehand so that she wouldn't want that during the meal, but she didn't do much. She was too excited to hold the car keys! In the restaurant she ate avocado and tried tortilla chips. The avocado was a hit, and a mess. She didn't distract the table conversation much because she just sat and stared for a long time, taking things in, and then when she did get animated it was directed toward the children and the balloon at the tables nearby. We got home about 7:30, skipped the bath, and she went to bed on time. Just didn't see her daddy much.

Okay, enough of this. Here are two more photos from July (age 8 1/2 months).

fistful of Cheerios
trying spaghetti

good morning Grandpa Bud and Grandma Mickey!

We'll see you tomorrow! Sorry I've not been posting much this week.

Here's another cute bath picture, taken in July. She's in the big bathtub now, and if you give her that scrub brush she will sit through anything you do to her because it totally fascinates her. She picks at the bristles, chews on them, stares at them. It's the brush we were given in childbirth class for scrubbing away cradle cap. We thought it looked awfully rough, but she doesn't mind it on her scalp.
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playing with your cat's food

Step 1: Get food out of the bowl.
Step 2: Pour some in your lap and fling the bowl around
Step 3: Tell the cat what you've done. (see Kaylee's eyes glowing under the table?)
Step 4: On to the next thing -- don't worry, someone else will clean this up for you.

a blow to my ego

I'm devastated! My baby was able to go to bed without me.

standing alone

She can definitely do it now, for up to 3 full seconds!

Check out Marie's blog - Victor is walking!

happy pills

Health update: E is better in some ways, but she looks worse (from last week's cold). She has gunk in her eyes. I don't know if I look better or worse, but I felt worse yesterday as a sinus infection set in. I wanted to take a pain pill that I had left from my c-section recovery, but unfortunately I had tried extra strength acetaminophen first and had to wait 5 hours or so for it to clear my system. By then the headache was better, so I waited til bedtime and took a "happy pill" then (oxycodone). Wow, did it work! I slept well, I didn't hurt, and even though I woke up for no reason during the night I was very happy. I read a magazine and counted my blessings! I mentally reviewed all the chores David had done that day that I might have done otherwise, and felt taken care of. It was great to feel so relaxed and at peace. I can see why people get addicted to stuff like this. E slept relatively well too, compared to the last two nights. I kept waking up asking myself "Is it right that she should still be sleeping?" "Yes, Sarah, this is a good thing."

She's in the crib right now, seeming to be okay playing by herself. She isn't fully awake. She's playing with a toy that plays sickly electronic lullabies - maybe I should change the batteries. Either she's standing on the button, or she knows how to turn it on.

For the record, I am not chronicling my cold symptoms here in a plea for sympathy or any kind of complaint against cold carriers! I'm actually kind of fascinated by the science aspects of it all. I read somewhere that each cold virus is different and once you have it and form antibodies, you never catch that same cold again. That encourages me.

Okay, enough daily minutiae (is that how you spell that?). I also added captions to the previous posts.

family reunion pictures

Mathew practices holding a baby, while Tyler teases him.
girl fight over the sippy cup
It's hot here.
bath in the sink

clean plate club (loved that asparagus) -- clean shirt club? not anytime soon.

insights

This was the second day I've ever stayed home with a sick baby. The first time, she wasn't that sick and it was more curiosity that made me do it. This time I learned that it ain't fun. She felt fine in the middle of the day, but still had trouble sleeping and was kind of hyper. I was anything but hyper! This evening we both started feeling worse. I feel wrung out.

E stood on her own for about 1 second. She knows how to break out of her living room "play pen" - pushes herself against the box until it moves, squeezes past, goes straight for the cat food. She loves scattering it, has tasted it but apparently it's nothing like Cheerios. She splashes in the cats' water bowl and tries to pick it up to drink out of it.

Every time I wipe her nose with tissue, she eats some of the tissue.

I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but lately she seems to recognize two words when I say them: "milk" and "Kaylee".

Good Morning Lynn!

Emma, a Girl on the Go

third cold, and today's songs

I think I'll stop counting after this one. How many colds does one catch in a lifetime? E and I both got it at the same time - drippy, sneezy, scratchy throat, can't sleep well. I need to decide whether to stay home or not, but because I got so little sleep I can't think clearly. She's asleep now but I'm wide awake - for how long??

Two songs floating by this morning, alternating lines:

"If looks could kill they probably will. Games without frontiers - war without tears"
and
"She's so funky - yeah"