the mother of all inventions

there is definitely a lot of useless junk for babies out there but i have to say this mesh feeder is one of the best products we've come across [thanks heather!!].



zack and i fondly refer to it as nuggie's 'chew bag' and we give her a couple pieces of fresh fruit [mango and honeydew melon are her favorites, she doesn't like kiwi] every night without the risk of her choking. plus, it allows us to have dinner in peace as she'll sit at the table and suck on it contentedly for quite awhile, only yelling when she finishes and wants MORE! MORE NOW! I THINK I MIGHT DIE IF I DON'T GET ANOTHER PIECE OF FRUIT!

when i open up the chew bag to clean it out, all that remains are a few soggy strands and i always think how it looks like a piranha attacked it. the package says you can put meat in the bag but something about sucking chicken in this manner doesn't seem nearly as appealing.

thea comes from a long line of popsicle lovers on my side of the family so it's not surprising that she's obsessed.





ps: munchkin makes great spoons too!

seven months old

miss nugs exploded developmentally this month. not only has she learned to crawl, but two days ago she pulled herself up to a standing position and this afternoon she did a full-on sit up, moving from a lying down position to seated using only her stomach muscles. she is one determined little bugger.

i was on the computer saturday morning when i heard her huffing and puffing in her crib only to turn around and find her standing up. it was clear that she was extremely proud of herself with a huge grin on her face and sighing with such a sense of accomplishment. what happened next is one of those moments i hope i never forget. she fell, completely back-flopping in her crib, and ended up flat on her back staring up at the ceiling. it was a big, dramatic, over-the-top fall. she was silent for a few seconds with her eyes open wider than i've ever seen them, and then we looked at each other and both started laughing really hard. i called my mom to tell her what a funny kid we have but neither talking about it nor writing about it does it justice. the problem now is thea thinks her crib is a jungle gym and doesn't want to sleep when she's in it.

some other cool things that changed this month: she started turning pages when i read her stories and is much more interested in books now, especially pat the bunny and anything by karen katz, where she can participate in the action. she also loves to play pattycake. truth be told, she just loves banging on things. so whether it's my hands, the top of our water cooler, or her new piano, she's happy. i'm convinced she's going to be the next lars ulrich but really i'd settle for any type of musician. hell, i'd be happy if she could carry a tune. i keep apologizing to her for my horrible renditions of 'you are my sunshine' and 'the itsy bitsy spider,' which we sing over and over and over. i'm quite certain i've caught her giving me a look that says, "mom, you sound like a dying cat. please stop."

thea has developed a love of yelling this month which drives me a little bit nuts. she has a really loud voice [a few of the nurses in the hospital commented on this fact] and while most of the time it doesn't bother me, when she lets loose during a baptism ceremony in a quiet church [sorry veronica!], i wish it wasn't so.

on another more serious note, we found the one thing that always makes nuggie cry: the cuisinart. her reaction is so immediate and hysterical that we can't use it when she's anywhere downstairs or even outside. one of us is forced to take her upstairs and sequester her in her room with the door shut. sadly, this has put a damper on all the five star meals i could be preparing.

we're looking forward to our trip to martha's vineyard tomorrow!!! can't wait to see my family and zack's family while we're there. what a treat!









thanks to dj and nancy for the adorable dress!

tooth watch 2009

the lookout for the arrival of thea's teeth began in earnest this past week. i thought surely they were coming as she had been overly sensitive since the weekend, crying when she woke up from her naps and such, which isn't like her.

then on wednesday morning she came down with a fever and the threat level was raised to orange. i gave her some tylenol and she laid low for most of the day. however, when she woke up from her afternoon nap, she was burning up with a temp of 101.8 degrees so zack called the doctor and he said her fever was too high to be caused by teething, rather it appears that she contracted a virus. i feel pretty good that we made it just shy of seven months without any sickness...it must be all that purell. oh, how i love the purell ;)

thea was a pretty sad camper on thursday with barely any energy. she's also been very clingy and hasn't wanted to be put down, so we've been holding her a lot this week. i realized what it would be like to have a mellow baby that sits peacefully still in my arms and while i can't deny that it was a nice change, i wouldn't trade nuggie's boundless energy for anything. friday she was 75% better and today, as zack said, the sparkle returned to her face. we missed that devilish little glint in her eye!

i still think teeth are coming soon. i hope we make it through our trip back east without them [red eye, here we come] but in the meantime i'm trying to capture as many toothless grins as possible. we'll keep you posted!

one trick pony

it's still father's day week, so i feel like this is particularly fitting. the outfit choice was just a coincidence.

what was once my favorite chore

i used to love [or strongly like, and never mind] doing the laundry. in the last six months however it's become one of my least favorite activities. i think i'm just burned out. we do about six loads a week and unfortunately none of it is frivolous washing.

thea is still spitting up quite a bit [to put it mildly] which is the main factor contributing to all the laundry. our pediatrician changed his tune at our last appointment...up until then he had said the spitting up would stop by six months but now he's saying, "it begins to slow down at six months." while i have noticed that the frequency may be lessening, the consistency has gotten much worse. we went from clear, odorless milk to carrots and yams and berries, oh my. i'll leave the rest to your imagination.

in the meantime, zack has been helping me fold the endless loads of laundry because otherwise the clean clothes end up sitting in a pile until i have a minute and get wrinkled. this weekend even miss nugs pitched in and offered some help, though she was often distracted by the yummy taste of the basket.



don't worry kid, as soon as you're walking the laundry is all yours.

and to my own dad

you are still #1 in my book. you taught and continue to teach me many things but above all else, thank you for your endless patience when we were growing up. now that i have a child of my own, i see what a gift it truly is and how it's not always the easiest of virtues.

i love you lil peepers.



photo of me and my dad, december 1977.

dada and his girl

and two of my all-time favorite photos:





happy father's day boo. you are an amazing papa and we love you!

on the move

here are a couple videos of thea that i took yesterday. our days of leaving her unattended, even for a few seconds, are looooong gone.

i can't say it enough: please excuse my annoying voice. i'd tell you to watch with the sound off but then you'd miss nuggie's cute voice. and try to look past our yucky rug...we're getting really soft new carpet installed [thanks amy and zack!] while we're away. yippee!!




ps: happy three month birthday little william!

move over jane fonda...

there's a new leg-warmered workout queen in town!











all kidding aside, these things are the bomb. not only do they protect nuggie's knees now that she is crawling [eek!], they are also a good compromise since she doesn't much like wearing pants. plus they make diaper changes a breeze! apparently i can borrow them from thea when i feel the need to accessorize with arm warmers, though i don't think i'm cool enough for that.

my how you've grown

below is a 3D image from our 28 week ultrasound last september when nuggie was still comfortably tucked away in my womb, looking quite a bit like herself i might add. it's funny to think back about how ONE HUNDRED PERCENT sure i was that our baby would be a boy. this photo was just more proof that my intuition was correct. wow, was i wrong. and i admit when i'm wrong.



today marks the beginning of thea's 28th week as an upstanding member of society. zack and i took her to the pediatrician yesterday for her six month check-up [she is actually 6.5 months]. she has moved up to the 95th percentile for height measuring 27 inches and is in the 70th percentile for weight at 16 pounds, 14 ounces. i can't believe what a big girl we have! if she ends up being tall one day, she'll have to thank the randel side of the family for those genes.

pincha mayurasana prep

nuggie demonstrates an almost perfect dolphin pose [with block, ha ha]. sure, her head could be down and she should be on the soles of her feet, not her toes, but otherwise it's pretty amazing. she even has the balance to hold it for a few seconds.



it won't be long before she's in full forearm stand, a pose she loved when she was inside my belly.

sunday morning

i snapped these photos on our way out of the house to run some errands over the weekend. i love taking thea with me when i go places because she is thrilled by whatever we do.

me: any interest in a trip to target nuggie?
thea: oooh oooh oooh! ba ba ba ba ba!
me: what about the gas station? want to accompany me there?
thea: splgh! ya ya! spppplgh!
me: i just have to run in and have all of my finger and toe nails ripped off. you in?
thea: sounds like fun to me mama!!

her excitement makes even the most mundane chores enjoyable for me. i usually strap her in the bjorn and she flaps her arms and legs making all kinds of gleeful noises the entire time we're out and about. i completely understand now what people mean when they say children have a way of making you see everything with fresh eyes.

for example, we started giving nuggie water out of a glass about ten weeks ago because she would stare us down every time we took a drink and look longingly at the glass once we set it on the table. so now we give her water regularly with her solid food and she sucks it down like nobody's business. judging from her reaction [without fail, every time, no matter what], you would think she was imbibing liquid gold. she smacks her lips, starts bouncing up and down, smiles a big smile and looks perfectly satiated after every sip. i'm always like, damn girl. i'll have what she's having.

update and a video

we had another busy weekend which included a trip to sea world on saturday. wouldn't it be nice if i had photos to post but some how the entire trip went by and i didn't take my camera out of the bag. it could have been extreme hunger, early onset theme park fatigue, the fact that i was hypnotized by the shamu show, or quite possibly all of the above. don't fret though, we bought silver passes [good for one year] so we'll be going back quite a bit and i'll definitely take pictures next time. thea was more interested in chewing on her new pair of sunglasses than watching the killer whales but she did sing along loudly and majorly out of tune to the music during the show!

in other news, i've committed to running a half marathon on august 16 here in san diego. [there, i said it. i can't take it back now.] i'm going to get serious about training this week and so by no choice of her own, thea will get serious about helping me train since she'll be accompanying me on all my runs. it's a good thing we got the bob revolution. for anyone out there agonizing over which stroller to buy, it's the best!

below is a funny video of the nug from last weekend. i'm hosting my videos with you tube now since i've been having issues with blogger. hopefully this will work because i have a back log of videos that i've been trying to post all week. i'd love feedback on the quality or if you have trouble viewing.

we heart la la

we are so lucky to have found laura, thea's babysitter. i can't say enough about how loving and caring and kind she is [you know how it is peepers] and about how great she is with the nug.

she comes to our house two and a half days a week and when i need her the rest of the week, i take her to another house where she looks after audrey, who is three weeks younger than thea. it's a great arrangement for me because it's flexible and for thea as she gets some alone time with laura and some time with another baby; plus i'm hoping she will learn some spanish in the process.

each day when i come home or pick nuggie up i ask laura how things went and she always shakes her head and says "tee-a has A LOT of energy. always moving, moving, moving." bless laura's heart, i don't know how she manages taking care of two. i'm sure she thanks her lucky stars every night that audrey hasn't been bitten by the jumping bug yet. for now she only has one wacky baby who acts like she has ants in her pants but it's only a matter of time....

here are a few photos of the girls that laura took on may 22. [sidenote: i can't believe how much thicker thea's hair has gotten since then.] also pictured is leah, audrey's older sister. apparently she and thea have become good buds.

party animal

these photos were taken over memorial day weekend when we went to a "brow and 'stache" party [hence my unsightly unibrow]. little nuggie was still going strong when we left at almost 9:30 pm - the latest zack and i have been out since the bush administration - though you can see that she has some pretty heavy eyelids in the photos.



ps: now i know where thea got her obsession with jumping. both of our eyes lit up when we saw the backyard bouncy castle at the party. thea wasn't quite old enough to get in and i was probably a little too old, but we both managed to get our jump on while we were there :)