Pomp and Circumstance

I'm all finished! As of about 3PM today, I am officially Dr. Drescher-Burke! Bill, Molly, and I went and PHileD my dissertation. It was pretty anticlimactic, actually. I took my multiple copies of the actual dissertation and the additional paperwork, and the woman in the office checked it all and said, "I'll be right back with your receipt." She left us for a few minutes and returned with a little certificate and a lollipop (really!). I can get my actual diploma in a few months. I went with my friend last May to file, and there was a long line of people. For me, there was not even a line, probably because it is not quite the end of the semester and also because it is December, and most people finish in May. I will be posting my dissertation for everyone to read (Ha ha, just kidding. You don't even have to pretend like you want to read it.) I was pretty nervous that I had forgotten something, a signature or some form. There is a 35-page booklet with instructions on how to file!

Earlier this morning we took Molly in for her second Synagis shot. She did fine, though she screamed when the needle went in her chubby little leg.

Just a few more days until our big trip home. I am so, so excited! Molly and I are really going to miss Bill, though, for that time at the beginning of the trip when he's not going to be there with us.

Molly + Food = Sleep!

Since Molly Z has been eating solid food, she has been sleeping so well, usually about 9 or so hours per night. It's wonderful! Last night she slept more than 10 hours, but I think it is probably because she did not feel well from all the shots she got yesterday at the doctor. She is now weighing in at a healthy 18 pounds, 4 ounces. The last time she was weighed, about a month ago, she was 16 lbs., 3 oz. She is 26 inches long, and that puts her right at about the 50th percentile for height. Her weight is somewhere between the 75th and 90th percentile! Unbelievable, really, that that little preemie runt is so big now.

I think I may have found a food that Molly does not like: lentils. I cooked some for her today because they are really high in iron. I mixed them in with the carrots, but she wasn't fooled. I tasted it, and it tasted mostly like carrots, so maybe she is just still not feeling well. She slept for a really long time this morning, falling asleep on her own, without her usual feeding before naptime, making me think she is still not feeling 100%. I will try to give her more lentils in a day or two, after she is feeling a little better. I made quite a bit to freeze so I hope she likes them eventually.

So Crafty!

Bill and I had a craft night tonight, and we taught ourselves the art of crochet. Right before Molly went to bed we started. Molly sat on my lap for a little while, trying to grab the crochet hook. I don't think it makes a very good baby toy. We put her to bed soon, though, and I was able to work on my masterpiece more easily. A friend of ours showed Bill the basic stitches a year or so ago, and we picked it up tonight. Bill refreshed himself, and then showed me. I made the beginnings of what is shaping up to be a very nice, um, maybe triangular bookmark. Or washcloth maybe. For some reason my edges are decreasing in size, and what was supposed to be rectangular is becoming triangular. It is, believe me, beautiful, though! :) Bill is a little better than I am. That engineering brain is much better at crafts. Last night I finished the quilt I have been working on for a year and a half or so, for Kelly, so I needed another project.

Yesterday, we went to our friends' house and made gingerbread houses. They baked the gingerbread into the pieces of houses, and then it all got glued together with frosting. It was so fun! They had a lot of candy and things to put on the house. Bill did all the building and most of the decorating. Molly had a great time watching all the fun. There were lots of colorful pieces of candy to look at.

Molly still has not turned over anymore since she turned over three times in a row the other day. She really likes lying on her belly on our bed. She just laughs a lot and looks around. I guess she has a better view of the world from there than she does from the blanket on the floor.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we go back to the doctor. Molly will be 6 months old tomorrow! It is really hard to believe. She will get some more vaccines and her first flu shot--babies apparently get 2 flu shots. She will get the second one when we get back from Louisville. On Thursday we go back for Molly's Synagis shot. I leave a week from tomorrow for KY, and I am very, very excited!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Last night we went to my department's holiday party. It was very fun! Molly got to meet lots of my fellow students and the professors in the department. I even wore a skirt. There were a lot of little kids there running around. I made hashbrown casserole, which is always a hit with California crowds.

Yesterday Molly turned over three times in a row by herself! On Tuesday she turned over for Bill, and then on Wednesday she turned over for me, but both of those times it seemed like an accident. Yesterday, though, she seemed pretty satisfied with herself. She has not done it since then, though.

Right now, Bill is changing MZ's diaper, and they are in there CRACKING UP! Bill has her going--he can get her laughing better than anyone. In the mornings, she has started waking me up with giggles and squeals instead of hunger cries. What a sweet little alarm clock! She has also developed this new move (which she started when we were in Santa Barbara, and which I thought was a book falling on the floor) where she puts both her legs in the air and then just lets them fall like dead weight. She amuses herself like that for a little while.

Oh! And I took a bath with Molly on Thursday night. I thought it would be really fun because she also likes to do her new leg trick in her baby bath, successfully drenching her Momma. I think she is still a little too small for the regular bath because she cannot sit up on her own yet. I put a wash cloth under her bottom to keep her from slipping. That helped some, but she is just so slippery when she is wet that it was difficult, especially when we were getting out of the tub. I'll definitely do that again in a few weeks, though, after she can sit up on her own. I put some bubbles in the water so she couldn't see her feet. I think she was a litte confused by that, but she'll get used to it and start playing in the bath in no time.

Time to feed the baby!

Molly + Sweet Potatoes also = LOVE

I fixed some sweet potatoes today for Molly, and, as expected, she gobbled them up. I made a bigger batch and divided it into three portions. I put two portions in an ice cube tray to freeze them, and I fed her the third portion. This time, no more dainty eating. She had it in her eyes and nose and all over her hands. Auntie Kim told me that it was bound to get messier, so we will just watch, and I will try to avoid getting completely dirty myself.

Molly turned over once on Tuesday, while I was gone. I'm away from the kid for three hours a week, and she does something momentous. :) Bill said he is pretty sure it was a complete accident, though, because she didn't react at all, and she hasn't done it since then.

She has been sleeping really well this week, usually about nine-hour stretches. Bill and I usually get an hour or two at night after she goes to bed to be together.

We have a big weekend coming up. Tomorrow night is a party for school, the following night we are going to our friends' house for dinner and to help decorate their Christmas tree, and on Sunday we are getting together with some other friends to make eggnog! YUUUUMMM-EEEE. I LOVE eggnog. I think it will really put me in the Christmas spirit.

I will be home in less than two weeks! I am so excited to see my family and to introduce Molly Zelda to lots of folks.

Molly is taking a nap right now so I am going to kick back and read a novel for a little while.

Great Thanksgiving and exciting Molly progress

We had a wonderful time in Santa Barbara this weekend. Molly was pretty happy all weekend, and she got lots of attention. She did not have a lot of down time, which might have interfered with her sleeping somewhat, but overall she was great. Bill and I definitely had a great time. We had a wonderful meal cooked by our friends. We went on a long walk, including to a butterfly sanctuary and to the beach where we saw some dolphins and a beautiful sunset. (They live that close to the beach!) After our walk, we came back for the best pumpkin pie we've ever had--no joke. It was delicious. We played poker a couple of nights, too. I am looking forward to playing more poker when we are in Louisville for Christmas.

Molly is still loving her fists. Now she is not only trying to eat them, but she is also staring at them quite a bit, opening and closing her hands. She is mesmerized! She is so so close to turning over! I think it will happen in the next few days. Last night after we got home we put her on the bed and tried to get her to turn from her belly to back, and she almost had it. She got a little frustrated, though, and we finally gave her a break. She will try again today.

She has been doing really well with the solid food. She has been eating bananas and carrots. Lola got us a baby food maker, which is AWESOME! I used it today to make carrots. It is basically a small steamer and food processor in one, which means much less mess to clean up.

Sorry for the choppy post. MZ just woke up from her nap.