While Sonia can't crawl yet, it's not for lack of effort. As the video shows, she spends the better part of the day trying to get up on all fours, only to have absolutely no idea what to do once she gets there. It's like watching someone do push-ups over and over -- must be quite a workout! Of course, once she actually figures out how to go anywhere, it will start being a workout for us...
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Happy Mother's Day
It is well known that I like holidays, and of course presents, so I was excited that this year I gained a new holiday: Mother's Day. And while the day is obviously best spent reflecting on how much our lives have changed for the better since Sonia came along (and also being thankful for our own mothers), as an added bonus it does nicely bridge the near year long gap between Christmas and my birthday. I was a bit concerned that Sameer didn't seem to be too focused on planning anything, including repeatedly trying to schedule other things for Sunday ("Why can't we do it on Sunday...do we have other plans?"). So, I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be such a great day in the end.
It went without saying that Sameer would be getting up with our daily 6am-ish wakeup call from Sonia, but the day was off to a good start when I got up about an hour later to find that they had ventured out to get me a latte and pastry from Starbucks. No calories counted today. After a lazy morning, we decided to enjoy the sunny weather by having lunch outside at Zott's. While bringing Sonia there was a bit of a different scene than we might have enjoyed as undergrads, there is still nothing better than greasy food, beer (cider, in my case), and sitting outside. It's no Ski Shores, but it is a lot closer to where we live now. After a long lunch, we went to the baby store to look at strollers (my choice -- it was definitely a Mother's Day gift that Sameer would agree to participate in the buying process) and then hit a couple of open houses (even if it's Mother's Day, Sameer is not going to go the whole weekend without seeing a least a couple). Sameer then headed to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the dinner he cooked all by himself. Never one for modesty, he was quick to note, "Hey, this is really good!" and indeed it was very tasty. Finally, instead of our usual TV watching, Sameer agreed to spend "quality time" working together on Sonia's baby book, which is definitely something he would only agree to help with on Mother's Day. And it seemed like an apt way to end the day, reflecting on how much has already happened in just six months (thankfully this blog bailed us out of our inability to recall when any milestones actually occurred).
Best of all, as my actual present Sameer sent me to get a facial (including purchasing absurdly expensive skincare products!), and since the spa was closed on Sunday, it had to be on Monday: bonus Mother's Day time! So I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon getting pampered while Sameer juggled conference calls and an increasingly mobile Sonia.
For a man who had no plan as of Saturday morning, Sameer managed to set the bar pretty high for Father's Day.
It went without saying that Sameer would be getting up with our daily 6am-ish wakeup call from Sonia, but the day was off to a good start when I got up about an hour later to find that they had ventured out to get me a latte and pastry from Starbucks. No calories counted today. After a lazy morning, we decided to enjoy the sunny weather by having lunch outside at Zott's. While bringing Sonia there was a bit of a different scene than we might have enjoyed as undergrads, there is still nothing better than greasy food, beer (cider, in my case), and sitting outside. It's no Ski Shores, but it is a lot closer to where we live now. After a long lunch, we went to the baby store to look at strollers (my choice -- it was definitely a Mother's Day gift that Sameer would agree to participate in the buying process) and then hit a couple of open houses (even if it's Mother's Day, Sameer is not going to go the whole weekend without seeing a least a couple). Sameer then headed to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the dinner he cooked all by himself. Never one for modesty, he was quick to note, "Hey, this is really good!" and indeed it was very tasty. Finally, instead of our usual TV watching, Sameer agreed to spend "quality time" working together on Sonia's baby book, which is definitely something he would only agree to help with on Mother's Day. And it seemed like an apt way to end the day, reflecting on how much has already happened in just six months (thankfully this blog bailed us out of our inability to recall when any milestones actually occurred).
Best of all, as my actual present Sameer sent me to get a facial (including purchasing absurdly expensive skincare products!), and since the spa was closed on Sunday, it had to be on Monday: bonus Mother's Day time! So I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon getting pampered while Sameer juggled conference calls and an increasingly mobile Sonia.
For a man who had no plan as of Saturday morning, Sameer managed to set the bar pretty high for Father's Day.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Food for thought
[Sorry for the rapid-fire posting here, but just trying to catch up after not posting for a while...]
After we got back from Carmel, we decided the day had come to finally start Sonia on solid foods. The pediatrician had advised us to wait until she was closer to 6 months since her eczema indicated a prevalence for allergies (and the later babies are exposed to new foods, the less likely they are to develop allergies). So, a week ago on Monday we put our newly purchased spoon, rice cereal, and bib into use. As the picture below indicates, it was not well received. Sonia didn't really seem to get it that we were trying to feed her, nor did she think this was a very fun game, so as a result she mostly just pouted.
The next day we tried again and again she blew at the food and made gagging motions. But, slowly over the last week she has seemed to figure out that we are actually trying to feed her and if she takes what's on the spoon she will be less hungry. Crazy that this is a learned skill. Anyway, the pediatrician suggested on Monday that since "rice cereal tastes terrible" that we go ahead and introduce something that tastes good (since all kids have an inherent preference for sweeter food, might as well harness that to get her to like eating from a spoon). So, yesterday we tried apples, and that was a hit. And this morning she had rice cereal happily, so I think she is indeed getting the hang of it.
As a side note, they really should call it "slightly thicker" food instead of "solid" food -- after all of this build-up anticipating starting on this, I must admit it was kind of anticlimactic.
After we got back from Carmel, we decided the day had come to finally start Sonia on solid foods. The pediatrician had advised us to wait until she was closer to 6 months since her eczema indicated a prevalence for allergies (and the later babies are exposed to new foods, the less likely they are to develop allergies). So, a week ago on Monday we put our newly purchased spoon, rice cereal, and bib into use. As the picture below indicates, it was not well received. Sonia didn't really seem to get it that we were trying to feed her, nor did she think this was a very fun game, so as a result she mostly just pouted.
The next day we tried again and again she blew at the food and made gagging motions. But, slowly over the last week she has seemed to figure out that we are actually trying to feed her and if she takes what's on the spoon she will be less hungry. Crazy that this is a learned skill. Anyway, the pediatrician suggested on Monday that since "rice cereal tastes terrible" that we go ahead and introduce something that tastes good (since all kids have an inherent preference for sweeter food, might as well harness that to get her to like eating from a spoon). So, yesterday we tried apples, and that was a hit. And this morning she had rice cereal happily, so I think she is indeed getting the hang of it.
As a side note, they really should call it "slightly thicker" food instead of "solid" food -- after all of this build-up anticipating starting on this, I must admit it was kind of anticlimactic.
6-Month Checkup
On Monday Sonia turned 6 months old (yes, time flies) and she had her checkup with the pediatrician. She weighed in at just over 16 lbs (53%), "height" was 25.75 in (52%), and head circumference was 43.5 cm (80%). Yep, you read that last percentage right: 80%. It was so large that they measured it 3 times just to confirm. It is clear she has inherited my huge head and/or her father's ego. ;-) The doctor did say that they will monitor it because she has "jumped up a couple trend lines" on head size so they want to make sure everything stays in line with it. No wonder she seems to be getting stronger...it must be quite a workout just to support the weight of her head.
Other than a big noggin, everything else checked out fine. The doctor did remind us that her attempts to crawl (resulting only in backwards motion so far) are an indicator that "any day now" she will be on the move and that we should be baby proofing our house. We had always planned that we would find a house and move before that happened, so our house is about as un-babysafe as is possible. Cords / cables everywhere, sharp edges on almost all of the furniture, etc. Stay tuned for the post-crawling bog post where I write about how we should have baby-proofed when we had the chance.
And according to the doctor's exam, no teeth on the horizon (no evidence of them trying to push through the gums), which means all of this teething fun will continue for the foreseeable future. Good times.
Other than a big noggin, everything else checked out fine. The doctor did remind us that her attempts to crawl (resulting only in backwards motion so far) are an indicator that "any day now" she will be on the move and that we should be baby proofing our house. We had always planned that we would find a house and move before that happened, so our house is about as un-babysafe as is possible. Cords / cables everywhere, sharp edges on almost all of the furniture, etc. Stay tuned for the post-crawling bog post where I write about how we should have baby-proofed when we had the chance.
And according to the doctor's exam, no teeth on the horizon (no evidence of them trying to push through the gums), which means all of this teething fun will continue for the foreseeable future. Good times.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Traveling Fools
I am way, way behind on posting to the blog, so hopefully I can write a few quick posts to catch everyone up on our various comings and goings. And lately there have been lots of comings and goings! First and foremost, we had a great week in Hawaii last month. Sonia was a trooper on the flight out, unless you count the two times she decided to pee all over the changing area of the plane's restroom. My belated apologies to the other passengers flying United that day. As far as Hawaii itself, Sonia was a big fan of playing in the hotel room, mostly tolerant of hanging out at the beach, and generally against anything involving actually getting into the water. Probably her favorite part of the trip was getting to hang out with Nalani (the Desais were also in Hawaii the same time we were), whom Sonia would happily smile at for hours while we sipped mai tais. Good times. Nalani even talked her parents into "letting her babysit Sonia" while we went out on a date night, and the next night Nalani hung out with us while Ashli and Naren went to dinner. This pretty much sealed the deal that all future vacations must involve other people who have kids so we can create our own mini babysitting co-ops.
While in Hawaii we got to spend time with the Roystons who were also on vacation there, including a day spent hanging out at the kiddie pool at the Four Seasons (where they were staying just down the road). Sonia must have sensed that this was a nice place since it was the only time she seemed to even mildly enjoy being in the water. Perhaps it was the dedicated baby pool, the free swim diapers, and the shady cabanas that clued her in to the fact that this was how the "other half" live. Even Sameer, notoriously against spending so much money on lodging, had to admit that the complimentary poolside Pack 'N Play was a nice touch. And, yes, while this is a wildly unflattering photo of me, at least I am not in Hawaii wearing, ahem, long sleeves. :-)While Hawaii was great, it was definitely not the relaxing vacation we would have had just a year ago. Needless to say, Miss Sonia had a rough time adjusting to the new time zone and insisted on continuing to wake up at 6am west coast time (3am in Hawaii). So, it was great that when we came back we had another more relaxing trip to look forward to.
We were home for about 18 hours before setting out for Carmel to spend the weekend with the Dodsons. (I'm not sure how we were so lucky to end up with such good friends who also have a place to stay in Carmel, but we must have done something great in a previous life to deserve such karma). The twins are too cute, and it was fun to see them climb around and talk and play constantly. At first Sonia was a bit taken aback by all of the activity (yet another reminder that she lives in a bubble and needs to get exposed to more kids), but by the end of the weekend she was happily taking it all in. (Although she looks a little freaked out in this photo, it was just because we were packing up to leave and carrying out all of our bags and she is watching Sameer like a hawk to make sure that he doesn't forget to pick her up too.) It was great to spend quality time with Andrew and Molly, which was so much fun and made us sad that we don't get to hang out as often as we used to. Sameer even got in a round of golf (his first since Sonia was born), which of course has reawakened his addiction to the sport (including a number of requests for fathers' day gifts, a holiday Sameer has embraced with abandon).Well, that catches us up to the end of April. Since then Sonia's started on solid food, gone to the east coast and back, decided she will no longer sleep on her back, began attempting to crawl (only going backwards), and had her 6-month check up...but all of that will have to wait until the next post. Click here for more photos from our travels, including some from Hawaii where Sonia is actually smiling!
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