The zoo called, they want their hippo back

So it turns out that two dog walks a day can't counteract the sitting-in-a- chair-all-day, oatmeal cookie eating, post baby having body. In trying to look somewhat presentable for a BBQ, I thought I'd throw on a skirt. The ones that were too big a year ago. Now, they gave me that sausage stuffed into a casing look that everyone wants. That's okay though. I realized I would be wearing the BEST "squishy in the middle" accessory possible. Sofia in our new Ergo carrier. I will prattle on about how much I love this carrier some other time.

Thus started Sofia's busy weekend. Many party dresses will be worn. By her. Mine don't fit.

Her first party was a welcome home/Salmon BBQ for a friend who had been on a fishing boat in Alaska. She was charming, of course. Making eyes at everyone when we got there, crashing for a while, and waiting long enough to fuss for me to finish my beer.

  

 

Next in our big party weekend was our friend Sunny's b'day party. Perfect weather, lots of friends I hadn't seen in a long time, and LOTS of little ones running around or being carried. Her parents made YUMMY "garbage can dinner". In a CLEAN garbage can lined with foil went corn, potatoes, onions, sausages and hot dogs. It was de-lish-us!

Birthday girl cutting her cake

 

Birthday girl and party girl!

 

The third event of her busy weekend was a retirement party at church. For this event, she modeled her new outfit that G'ma Wetter made her:

Could she be any pinker? Or cuter??

 

Topped it off with pizza night to celebrate the cool-ish weather.

A fun filled weekend for the littlest one.

Albert Einstein Jr. lives there

This morning on our walk, there was an algebraic equation written on the sidewalk in chalk.

The answer took up 7 sidewalk squares.

I didn't stop to check the math.

It really is the simple things

This morning I had enough time to bundle Sofia on to me and take the dog on the LONG walk, all the way to the park. We haven't been able to go there in three months.

We got to see all the gardens in their bountiful summer lushness, changes in the Neighborhood, new houses for sale, others sold.

As we left the park, I was just overjoyed. The weather was perfect, the sun was out, the temperature perfect with a little morning chill in the air. People were happy, the dog was romping and the baby was asleep, snuggled against me. The most sublime feeling of happiness washed over me. A million dollars couldn't buy more happiness. I was very blessed and hope I can always remember the best things in life are free.

Stay at home baby

At least until October 1!

My return to work schedule was approved, until realignment on October 1. Sofia will be at home with Dad Monday-Wednesday. Mom will work from home Thursday & Friday morning and take those afternoons off as vacation. Saturday's will fall to Mom and Sunday we'll split the work.

No day care for the first (almost) 5 months of her life!

Now, if only Dad could grow lactating devices....

It's now safe to get lost in the woods

Seasha passed her Search and Rescue certification today!!!

Since she joined our family three(?) years ago, the plan has been to train her for Search and Rescue. She loves to play, and "playing" the Search and Rescue game was no exception.

She's probably been ready since last fall, but due to some politics in the group, and then the arrival of Sofia, this is the first time that has worked out for her test. I don't know if she knew it was coming and was nervous, but yesterday she was such a pill! Three plus hours of running through the woods with her Seasha brain hard at work took care of that!

(post test, resting on the deck)

 

Of a possible 100%, she scored a 92%.  Steve scored a perfect 50% on his part. (naturally. I demand perfection;)  Seasha got a few points off for "not ranging"-Steve didn't agree with that.  She got 5 off for getting a little sidetracked a few times and "finding" small woodland creatures. Hey, she's still a dog, what do you expect? She always got back to the task at hand though. Fortunately, she found the "missing" subject and not the bear that had been about 25 feet away from the subject a while earlier!

When she found the missing person and showed Steve where the victim "K" was, Seasha laid down with K.  K often has to play the missing person and we think Seasha is very worried about this woman's ability to be in the woods without a chaperone! "You again? Didn't I just find you last week? Listen lady, this is fun and all, but seriously, I'm worried about you. Most people don't get lost on such a regular basis. In fact, most people try to avoid it."

Now, we just have to wait for someone to get lost and she can put her skills to use saving people. Any volunteers? :)

 

Sofia wanted to celebrate, so she wore her dog print onesie (they're really small, but trust me, those are tiny little pawprints)

The grown-ups celebrated with some yummy Sunday night homemade pizza. Which capped off an exciting return to cooking for Heather. Sofia and I are getting this figured out a little better, and she's starting to entertain herself for longer periods of time. This week we managed to make bread (cheated in the breadmaker), oatmeal-almond chocolate chip cookies, and tried a new recipe to make zucchini "crab" cakes (no actual crab) to accompany finally making the proscuitto, mozzerella and basil stuffed chicken. No more pre-packaged meals for a while!

Vacation get away

(Sofia and her Great Aunt Mary. We think she's even better than great!)

A huge thank you to my wonderful Aunt and Uncle for again "adopting" us and letting us join them and their kids (my fabulous cousins) down in Sun  River. They let our new family of three use the ginormous master suite. There was an abundance of delicious food, wine and cocktails. Great conversation as always with this family. I felt like a horrible houseguest-disappearing for hours to feed the baby, not helping cook, not bringing anything but some cherries. (Sorry Mom. Yes, you did teach me better than that. I did dishes as often as possible, I swear!)

I have promised that next year not only will I be a more engaging conversationalist, I'll do lots of cooking, including our "famous" pizza. And, we'll sleep in the bunk beds. Plus, in a few years, Sofia will be entertaining for her second cousin C, so he won't be stuck being the only kid with all the grown-ups.

While we were there, the pool was a source of entertainment too. I got to swim laps two nights in a row with my cuz and Uncle. That was fantastic. The whole gang went earlier and helped get little C more comfortable in the water. Of course if there's water, I want Sofia in it too. We spent a little time in the kiddie pool, and some time the first day in the big pool. Got to start Olympic training early you know!

 

Hoping we can show you some more photos soon from photographer extraordinaire, and arm candy for my cousin, J.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dinner

That's what Sofia wanted me to have, I'm sure. She made sure I had enough time to make the dough earlier, then took a huge afternoon nap so I could bake a few batches. Then, crashed out HARD on my lap. I didn't really want to wake a sleeping baby, so, here I sat, roaming the far reaches of the interweb and Craig's list stalking to try to find an ergo carrier. She finally woke up with about 15 minutes until her next feeding. Just enough time to wash the bottles, feed the cat, change her diaper. Not enough time to make the proscuitto, basil and mozzerella stuffed chicken I had planned (sorry Steve). But those little temptress cookies called to me. They tried to pass themselves off as health food with the oats and almonds and eggs for heavens sake.
Since that's CLEARLY what my daughter wanted me to eat, who am I to say no? A girl after my own heart.

Pool Party!

It's been warm, so Dutch Baby's Mommy invited anyone who had Friday afternoon available to come over and make use of the pool.

Of course, we were running late because I had taken a few extra minutes while Sofia napped to <gasp!> eat and read the comics! So, her feeding started late, and I was writing an email, and then I kept remembering more things to pack... So instead of an errand and the pool, it was just pool.

It was Sofia's first co-ed pool party, and she went topless! What a tart! Of course I failed to get a picture of her in her cute reusable swim diaper that I finally managed to get at Milagro's and her cute sun bonnet that T found for us. Next time her first bathing suit pics.

The water was on the refreshing side, so I wasn't sure how she'd like it. We got in slowly, and with her on her back. She didn't love that. So, I put her over my shoulder and kept her legs in. That seemed fine. So, we hung out there, bobbing her around with the water up to her waist, and she fell asleep on my shoulder. I guess that qualifies as a successful first pool party!

The hostesses

 

Post swim in our cutest pool party appropriate outfit.

Two Months Old

So, in addition to the "eat, sleep, poop" mode, sometimes she's awake and alert. She loves to smile at the sound of our voices. She can stare at her mobile for a LONG (in baby land) time. Ceiling fans, trees, lights and sometimes the picture rail are also VERY interesting. We find ourselves staring at her as much as she stares at things.

 

Two months also means vaccines. Things are different and much more controversial then when we got them. After researching my options (Thanks Dr. Sears), we'll be spreading them out a little. So instead of 5 or 6, we got two.

I was prepared for the worst, but with lots of tips from other moms, including nursing her while she got the shot and having tylenol ready, we all seem to have survived.

We also got her weighed and measured. She's still working on her future career as a supermodel. 95th% height, 25+% weight. At least her weight is improving, thanks to her occasional willingness to take a bottle. (one of the times she's eating, instead of filling her mouth with it and then spitting the whole mouthful out. Nice trick Sofia)

Maybe her future career can explain why she's rocking the 1900's man's swimming costume in this outfit:

(it was hot out, this seemed like it would be comfy)

At least the hot weather has been good for drying her little clothes. She won't fit them too much longer so we thought it warranted a picture.

 

The over the shoulder look. Her favorite.

The roller coaster parenting day

Today started off uneventful. I wanted to get Sofia's diapers hung out, return a video and get a swim diaper for Sofia. The exciting life I lead. 1 out of 3 ain't bad, right?

The 12:30 feeding went quickly enough that these things all seemed possible. I laid her in her crib and wound up her mobile, which she loves. Went out to the kitchen to make a sandwich, come back to check and she's asleep!! She put herself to sleep in her crib. Doesn't sound like a big deal, except this fact. We usually put her in the crib when we need to wake her up. If she's not crying about being in there, she's wide awake staring at and "talking" to her mobile. I text Steve the news and figure she'll wake up any minute. Nope! Finally I turn on a noise machine hoping it will help her not panic when she wakes up and try and nap too. Of course all the things that could go wrong run through my head, but eventually I fall asleep. A full 40 minutes elapse since she went to sleep before she wakes up yelling. Wow! Maybe there's hope that she won't have to co-sleep until she's 18.

I even still have 30 minutes to get her laundry hung out. However, fate had other plans. I had intended to put her in the Kelty front carrier that Steve's sister handed down. Instead, I nearly swore off carriers.

Sofia's finally big enough that she doesn't get smothered in the carrier. We picked strawberries with it last week and just a few days ago took her on the dog walk in it. Well today, I could not get her situated in it. After a while of fumbling, she starts crying, so I take her out quickly and put her on the changing table and she starts SCREAMING. Which is out of character for her. I get the carrier off and pick her up and she's still screaming bloody murder. At this point I'm convinced I must have broken her leg or something. Maybe I should give her Tylenol. I am such a bad parent. The leg looks funny. Like maybe it's turned in at a funny angle, and it definitely looks like it's bruised. I'm trying to palpate it and see where I should put ice on it. I'm thinking what a horrible trip to the ER this will be and theres's no way I can put her into her car seat with a broken leg. I splash a little cold water on it (not quite ice, but...) I manage to get her into a comfortable cradle hold and go to the rocking chair. She starts settling down, but then she shifts and fusses again. She must be in pain still. Then she settles back down. Within a few minutes, she's asleep. As she sleeps I carefully palpate every part of her legs and hip. Nothing seems to hurt enough to wake her up. There's one little mark that seems to be a scratch, but it doesn't hurt her enough when I touch it to wake her.As I rock her and watch her sleep, I am almost in tears thinking about what I have done, and feeling exactly what all those parents who have had their kid tumble off of things or drop them accidentally must feel like. And happy that she is sleeping peacefully and pain free.

She sleeps a 1/2 hour until her feeding, wakes up, eats, everything is fine. Maybe I have a little drama queen on my hands? There seems to be no lasting effect from whatever it was that set her off.
Wondering if she was mentally scarred for life from this, and still needing to get her diapers hung out, I try again. This time, I lay the carrier wide open in the crib and ever so carefully load her in. She doesn't seem to have any memory of the earlier trauma (whew). I hang out her little diapers, she sleeps some more.
What a day.

Family, pt IV

This week brought us Steve's Mom and her husband Jim.
Despite the airlines best attempt to delay their trip, they fought valiantly to arrive here from Boston.
Oregon subjected them to some decidedly unseasonable heat! In the mid to upper 90's most days and 102 one of the days. (at least it was without much humidity). That just meant it was too hot to do much more than hang out and spend time with Sofia in the comfort of air conditioning. Just what a Grandma wanted!









Nana and Sofia











Jim with Sofia in her pink camo!













Mom does actually hold her kid on occasion.











The whole crew out for a walk.

Reason #9,462,896 why my husband is great

I went to the pool today.

I got to swim 2000 yds.

Thank you ever so much Dear Husband. I am one happy Mommy.

Sofia's first wedding

She was a guest, it wasn't actually her wedding.

Our friends Sara and Brad were tying the knot at Bridal Veil lake in the gorge. The day was an unseasonably hot (102 in Portland) June day, but the site had a little elevation and lots of shade.


Sofia's view. She was quiet the whole time.
The happy couple.
Sofia put on her finest summer dress for the occasion.
Her little ballet slipper shoes.

Her shoes were a big hit. Several people have pictures of the shoes. Thanks to the neighbor, Colleen for these very cute additions to her wardrobe.

Sofia was very well behaved. She spent the first part of the night in her seat in the stroller, and after dinner, being carried by Mom and passed among friends, most of whom were meeting her for the first time. Toward the end of our night, she was getting a little fussy because she was HUNGRY. She also didn't sleep during the entire event, and hadn't slept most of the afternoon. (She's catching up today by sleeping through her meals again!) If she hadn't been hungry, she would still have been content.

It was so good to see so many friends whom we don't see very often. Unfortunately, we had to leave before the real party started. At least we were there for the tables being pushed together at dinner, the bourbon being passed around, and Steve was witness to the catering cart down the hill shenanigans-the aftermath of which is captured here:




Knowing this crowd, I'm sure the drunken frivolity carried on until the site kicked them out.
We had to miss all that, but several conversations lead us to believe we will soon be joined by more friends having babies, and fewer of these escapades in our future. I hope that doesn't mean we're grown-ups now.

Can it be true?

Seven weeks. Hard to believe. It seems so quick, despite the fact that some days seem to be a whole week long.
We have kind of hit our stride, as people said we would around 6 weeks. I was definitely skeptical, and the thought of Steve being out of town was vaguely terrifying. It turned out to be the best thing for us. Sofia and I got into a routine of sorts, and it felt good to be able to handle raising the baby and sort of managing the house solo. It also got me jump started back into the routine of walking the dog twice a day-which is very nice and good for me. (Especially after trying on some clothes from pre-pregnancy. yikes-not recommended to anyone 7 weeks after giving birth)
But, just when we got a sort of routine, and getting something resembling sleep, Sofia changed the rules of the game. So, starting tomorrow instead of staying in bed until the 9:30 feeding, we'll be up after the 6:30 feeding. Unless she wants to sleep instead of fidget, in which case we'll go back to bed.

But, as proof this won't last forever, she's started being able to hold her head up for long periods of time!




(the view from Daddy's angle)

And, she's starting to outgrow the cloth diapers that my mom made. Including this gem. She embroidered a Patriots logo on the outside, but Steve was wary of a diaper that could contain poop being combined with a Patriots logo.






So, she embroidered this on the inside




Today, we were able to say Sofia pissed on the Colts.

Family-part 3

This visit brought us Aunt Sharon, Uncle Denis and cousin Sam. It was great to have another fairly recent new Mom to get advice from and share notes with.
However, the challenges of trying to coordinate the schedules of an 18 month old and almost 6 week old who eats most of the day made it difficult to find times together. We finally mostly figured something out the last day.
Highlights included: 2 dinners at children friendly and down the street Laurelwood, a nice walk to the playground at Normandale followed by a dinner on the deck, a visit to the Children's Museum (for Sam while Sofia ate), and a walk through the very in bloom rose garden at Washington Park.
It's amazing what a difference 18 months is at this age. It will be interesting to see how that difference isn't that much as they get older. We can't wait to see them again-hopefully at Thanksgiving!

Sam meeting Sofia. When he first met her, he gently laid his head down on her.
Sharon reliving those not so distant past feeding days.
Sofia sacked out. Sharon is quite comforting.
Sofia clearly impressed by the roses at the Rose Garden.

Baby's First Snow-in June!

It's been a cool, wet spring, which I am thankful for honestly. Trying to get through the day in sweltering, sticky heat would not be much fun.
However, this is a little much.
I had to be in Sun River in Central Oregon for a 2 day work retreat, so I hauled the clan with me so I could go. Granted, central Oregon is high desert, but this was June 10! I woke up for the 6:30 a.m feeding, looked outside to see snow flurries. Cool! It kept up for a while even. Not sticking, but pretty to look at. I figured Sofia would be much older before her first snow. Surprise!

Dad telling Sofia it's snowing.
Sofia taking it in. See the snow on Steve's shirt.
A snowflake on her cheek and eyelash.

one month

somehow, we made it this far!

family at one month
sleeping angel

bath time-never much fun

her karate outfit, complete with fist of death

Family Pt 2.

This visit brought us Steve's Dad and Stepmom; Grandma and Grandpa Korpi to Sofia (Grammie and Grampie)
Despite the cool, cloudy weather, Ellie helped out in the gardens. My plants are alive and aren't being overtaken by weeds thanks to her!

Grandpa
Grandma

Grammie and Grampie would REALLY like to pluck her out of the swing to hold her!!!! It's hard to let an adorable sleeping baby lie there!

Party girl

Two parties, 1 week. This gal's social calendar is full!
Memorial Day BBQ despite barely 60 degrees and rainy. Then, a Saturday afternoon porch margarita party-despite not having margarita weather.


Jim, Sofia and a beer!
Party dress.

Sofia in sling, Dad and Jim

Sofia and Dad in Jim and Lisa's garden.

A day in the life of Mom

Baby in her wrap

In the crib. In the 5 minutes before she freaks out and will be picked up back out of the crib!

Sofia in the sunlight.

That's all the cute pics. for this post. The rest is a vent/glimpse in the not-so-glamorous life I lead right now.

Maternity leave always seemed like such an exciting thing. 3 months of being with the new baby,

going places, having people ooh and ahhh... I had heard from enough other friends to not be silly enough to think I would finally catch up on "all those projects" or anything, but still, long walks, giggling baby, perfect! The reality is this.

6:30 a.m. Not that our day starts here. That would imply it ended somewhere. It doesn't. It's a round the clock party up in here!
Haul my bones out of bed. Grab the bottle to warm up her supplement. Feed on one side, not bad. Burp and change sides. No go. Try every wake up trick in the book. 1.5 hours later she's eaten something, but not much. Now, I have to try to get her to take her bottle for her supplemental feeding. No go. This kid can sleep. And, she's decided she doesn't like the taste of her food either. After convincing myself she actually is trying to starve herself to death because there is something gravely wrong that we don't know about yet, I give up and lay down for 20 minutes with her before the:

9:30 feeding. Repeat above scenario only with her eating a little more and shaving 1/2 hour off so I get an almost 1 hour nap. woo-hoo!

12:30 p.m. She's awake, eats well! to make up for her breakfast anorexia. Decide I should eat too. Which cuts in to nap time, but a bowl of cereal is pretty quick. Wash all her bottles (like every feeding) and maybe get a 1 to 1.5 hour nap.

3:30 repeat above. Make some quick dinner (confession, I love you Kraft Mac and Cheese) and finish up by:

6:30 feeding. After this one, brush teeth and go to bed, Pt. 1. Steve will entertain her for the hour before I have to get up again for the:

9:30 feeding. At this one, Steve puts in a video for us to watch. Thank you Blockbuster.com. We are finally getting our monies worth on our subscription! Another (max) 1 hour nap. Thanks to Steve entertaining her.

12:30 a.m. Hunger strike again. And, Mom falls asleep waiting for baby to wake up. So now, it's 1:30 a.m. and she's barely eaten. Have Steve give her the supplemental bottle. Once again, she reacts like it's pure poison we're trying to cram down her throat. Give up around 2:30. Final diaper change and while she's on the changing table-BAM!! Who knew poop could projectile 4-5 feet?? We get that cleaned up so Mom can sleep for 45 minutes (or as much sleep as one can get with a baby nibbling next to you).

3:30 a.m. My favorite. Really. Because it's the shortest. Go pump, then feed her that. She generally doesn't even fight that bottle. By about 4:15 a.m., Mom and Baby are back asleep for the longest time all day-2+ hours!!!!!

6:30 a.m. Repeat. All day. Every day. Still jealous about maternity leave?