Out-growing the Baby Tub

Last week we had a near escape in the tub.  We have a cute little baby tub that has gone from this

to this

and is now the next obstacle for our little escape artist to conquer.

After she almost flipped herself out of the tub onto the floor (where she likely would have encountered a traumatizing head bump on the counter on the way down) we decided it was time to move bathtime to the kitchen sink.

Now, I think babies in sinks are as cute as the next guy, but let me tell you... when you eat dinner at 6:30 and your baby needs a bath at 7:30 and is a "grabber" which means you can have next to nothing on the counter and you're already struggling for counter space... this is NOT a move to something "easier".

But it is darn cute!

...though I'm not sure how long it will last...

Pool Season!

The weather has been so hot lately that I might be melting.  I hate strongly dislike hot weather.  Cold weather is so much better because you can always put ON more clothes.  There comes a point where you really can't take much else OFF.  Especially if you are in public.

The only real way to beat the heat is by getting wet.   I remember when I was little the best thing was to run under the sprinkler or get watered by the hose... or even to jump into a tiny pool filled with ice-cold water.  Now, I prefer my water much warmer, but it's still a nice treat to go for a swim outside!

Which is why we invested in a pool.  

I know what you're thinking, "first windows, then a pool!?!?"

I assure you, it was worth the money.

As you can see, we spared no expense.

At first, the bath toys were entertainment enough

Then she saw the grass

And decided it was time to escape

Was the water THAT cold??

After failing to escape... 

Enjoying some tummy time

Too much fun!

Hmmm... maybe I didn't want to get out yet?

Back to Normal

Our windows are finally finished and the guys are done working in our house.  It was a ridiculous ordeal with three windows needing to be replaced, still... one window needing to be reinstalled, and a general feeling of chaos.  Not to mention that after they tore open the whole wall to install a window, we had to paint it.  Thankfully my mom came to help out, so instead of pulling out all my hair and actually going insane, I only felt like pulling out my hair and going insane.  In reality, now that it's finished I am proud to sport a full head of hair, am relatively sane and am very glad for our awesome new windows.

During "Window-Hell-Week" I did not have time, energy or even the ability to post anything as all our furniture had to be moved away from the walls resulting in an inefficient and unusable furniture maze.

BUT, I did manage to get some cute pictures amidst the chaos!

Here are a few playing inside:

Most of the photo opportunities were outside because it was loud, dirty and kind of awkward to hang out in the house...

Mother's Day Weekend... and Other Stuff

After a long day of "fencing" on Saturday, I was excited for an awesomely relaxing Mother's Day.

We had it all planned.  Wake up, hang out with the baby, have lunch at Denny's (I have an ever-present craving for pancakes) and just relax all day...

Well, my day started much too early thanks to one sleepless baby... though who can be sad to wake up to this?

so I was just a bit tired and cranky.  We managed a very nice walk at the Saratoga State Park, but were almost brain-damaged by a couple who was so bad at golf that their balls were raining down on our heads. Then Stretchy, fell asleep ON THE WALK... which always makes me a bit sad because I cherish my nap times... when else would I get anything done?  Around noon we arrived at Denny's (I was so psyched!) only to find a ridiculously long wait... and Stretchy had already cried during the entire 25 minute drive there, so we had to resort to plan B: Friendly's.  Of course, breakfast at Friendly's ended at noon and we ordered at 12:15 so guess what I couldn't eat for Mother's Day Brunch?  Pancakes.  I was pretty upset... it kind of ruined my meal... who wants a sandwich when you could have had pancakes?

BUT, fortunately, we took advantage of the nice weather and headed to a park downtown where Stretchy was excited to play in the grass and we got to feed a duck.  At least that made things a little better.

Stretchy also got to ride the Carousel for the very first time, which was pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

I was kind of hoping for her to crawl for me as a Mother's Day present... which didn't happen.... BUT
she is babbling now, which is super cute.  AND she can play peek-a-boo by herself.  Also pretty awesome.  So I'll wait on the crawling.

News from Wednesday: TOOTH #2!!

The End of the Plague

For the first time over a week we all woke up feeling pretty good.

I still have a lingering sniffle and Stretchy still sounds a bit like Darth Vader when she breathes sometimes, but overall, we're happy to be feeling mostly better.

Stretchy still has her moments when I'm not sure if she's 100%:

But she has seemed a lot happier lately.

Other signs of happy baby: she is eating and no longer wants to take naps.


I have to say, being sick really, for lack of a better word, sucked.  Not only could I not just lie around in bed and drink ginger ale and watch TV until I felt better, but I couldn't even take anything for it (oh, DayQuil, how I missed you...) since I'm still breastfeeding.  Arg.  Enough complaining... off to enjoy some nice weather and get out of the germ-infested house!

Not So Sick, Getting Sick and Vaccines

Finally yesterday Stretchy seemed to be on the mend.  Aside from sounding like Darth Vader and occasionally appearing to be attempting to cough up a lung, her mood was much improved and I even elicited a few smiles and giggles.  Awesome.  Five days of sick baby is five too many.

So we were hanging out, playing and doing our thing when I start thinking to myself, "Gee, why am I so tired??"  About an hour later as we're singing Wheels on the Bus for the eleventieth time, I start feeling overwhelmed.  Thoughts like "How am I going to play with this baby for the next x hours?" and "What? She's done napping for the day?" start crossing my mind.  Soon after the dreaded headache makes an appearance and before you know it, I feel like I got hit by a school bus (probably that one we've been singing about all day) and I just want to curl up in bed.

Dang it.  Now I'M sick.  Just as Stretchy is feeling better and wants Mommy to be her normal, happy, energetic, Wheels-On-The-Bus-singing Mom.  Figures...



On another related note, Stretchy had her 6 month appointment on Monday and aside from the incessant river of goop flowing out of her nose, she's doing great.  15lbs, 4oz.  26.5" tall.

Now, Monday morning I debated calling (not that I really would have had time to call before our 8:30 appointment- what was I thinking) and letting them know Stretchy wasn't feeling well and we'd need to reschedule the vaccinations because I didn't want to hit her while she was down.  Rethinking my idea, I decided with a cold going on 5 days she should probably be seen anyway.

Good news- they were out of one of the vaccines!  Which meant I didn't have to sound like the crazy, overprotective, worrying mom and tell them I wanted to wait.

HOWEVER... IF she had been well, I would have been pretty angry, because who wants to drive their kid to the doctor TWICE in one week.  NOT ME.

Which brings me to the fact that now that Stretchy is feeling better and I am sick, the office calls and says they can vaccinate her today.  I figure, "Why not?" maybe she'll sleep it off all day and I can recoup... does that make me a bad mom??


And of course, since I don't want to end on a depressing Not So Sick, Getting Sick and Getting Vaccinated note... here are some cute pictures to tide you over until I feel better :)

Practicing standing!