Thursday, March 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Grandpa, again


Happy Birthday Grandpa
Originally uploaded by billstron
Here is another cute birthday picture.

Also, a side note: I must be really sleep deprived because when I was making this sign, I spelled 'grandpa' incorrectly THREE times. Yup. This sign was my fourth attempt. I was at our neighbors' place because they have so many art supplies (particularly for two grown ups). Amelia offered to write it for me in pencil and let me color it in.

Happy Birthday Grandpa


Happy Birthday Grandpa
Originally uploaded by billstron
Happy Birthday, Dad!!!
We wish we could be there to have a beer or two with you. (You know how Molly likes to chew on the top of beer bottles!)

We love you!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

More Teeth

Molly Zelda now has SIX teeth! Yesterday we noticed two more coming in on the top. She is looking so big and old! She has not been quite as polite the last two days while she nurses (i.e., she has bitten me a few times), but I just immediately pull her off and tell her no. She is getting better at not doing it. She is just such a sweetie, and she still really loves her milk. Molly has also been pulling herself up in her crib from a seated position--she still cannot get herself up from lying down so we do not yet have to worry about her climbing out of the crib. She LOVES standing up in her crib, and she will just stand there and laugh and laugh. It is so novel to her that she can stand there on her own.

Last week Molly and I went home to Louisville for a few nights. We got to see a whole lot of family because of Mom's retirement party, but the main reason we went home was to see Aunt Kelly before she deployed to Afghanistan, which she did this past Sunday (on her 30th birthday, no less). We had a very wonderful visit, but it was extra sad to leave.

Bill, Molly, and I will be going back to Louisville at the end of April for the mini marathon. It will be my third plane trip with Molly and Bill's first. It will be very nice to have some extra help on the plane. On the trip over Christmas, we did not really have any trouble at all. Kelly flew here to fly to Louisville with me, but I flew back by myself. Molly did really well on that trip. This trip, she was fine, but she is a lot more alert and curious now than she was a couple months ago. She liked to grab everything and touch the woman sitting next to me. It is actually quite interesting how in everyday life Molly is a people magnet (who doesn't like a cute baby?), but on a plane she magically becomes a people repellent. Fortunately, there were still a few people who did not mind sitting near us, and I was able to let some of our new plane-friends hold her so I could use the bathroom on that flight. Molly was actually quite charming on the flights, singing and squealing a lot. On the way back to Oakland, at the Chicago airport (luckily I only had to change the diaper once on the plane, and I did it right in the seat, and it was only pee), Molly peed all over her changing pad and her clothes. I had changed her diaper and turned around to throw the dirty diaper away. when I turned back and was starting to put her pants back on, I felt that everything was wet! She had turned herself just slightly so that she peed all over herself, and the pee actually ran under my changing pad. I ended up just throwing that away, thinking it would be a huge mess to clean up and try to put back in my bag.

Molly and I have been going to our weekly momma's group and to our swim "class." It is nice to have regular social engagements.

We have been trying to set a bedtime routine lately. We eat dinner, I give Molly a bath, Bill reads her a story, and then I nurse her and put her to bed. Bill comes in to give her a kiss right before I put her in her crib. It is really nice, and it keeps us on track to eat dinner at a decent time. Before Molly was born, it was not unusual to eat dinner at 9PM. That does not work so well with a baby.

Tonight Bill and I made a bunch of applesauce and canned it. It tastes really good, but I hope the canning process worked. If it does, we will probably buy a lot more apples at the farmers market and make more in the next week or two.

Needless to say, Kelly is pretty much constantly in my thoughts. I have the most amazing little sister!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Sick Baby

This is a quick post because I am really tired and about to go to bed. Molly has been a little bit sick since Friday. We took her to the doctor on Friday because she had a fever. Her fever went up and down over the weekend, but she seemed to mostly feel pretty well. This morning she broke out in a strange rash so I took her back to the doctor this morning. Our pediatrician (who we absolutely love!) did not seem too worried about it. She did not really think it was a reaction to the penicillin Molly has been taking since Friday. She thinks it is probably a virus, the same one causing the fever. She prescribed the penicillin just in case the virus caused a bacterial infection. Basically, she was just being cautious. Anyway, the rash seemed to get a little worse tonight, after office hours, so I called the advice nurse on call. She said we should give Molly a lukewarm bath to relieve the itching, stop the penicillin (just in case it is a reaction to it), and go back to the doctor tomorrow. I will call her first thing in the morning and try to get Molly in some time tomorrow. She seems mostly to be feeling pretty well, but Bill and I think the rash on her back is uncomfortable for her, causing her to be a little fussy. I'll update tomorrow hopefully!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

trip to the museum

Today Molly and I went to the deYoung Museum of Fine Art in San Francisco. The first Tuesday of the month is free so I figured it would be a great outing. When I found out about this monthly event, it was the first week of February, but after Tuesday. So...I have been looking forward to this outing for almost a month. I was actually considering not taking Molly today because she has been unusually fussy the last couple of days. I decided to go, figuring the worst that would happen would be that I would be out the gas it took me to get there. If Molly got fussy, we could come home. At least she would get a nap in the car. Well, we ended up staying for three hours! It was pretty much a perfect day. (I even got a great parking spot in the garage, right by the entrance, so I did not have to even go out in the rain, and I could leave my jacket in the car.)

There was a very cool Andy Warhol exhibit that I wanted to see. Molly really enjoyed the exhibit, too. There was so much color and light that really mesmerized her. She just looked around at everything. After about an hour and a half, I started to walk quickly through the rest of the exhibits because I figured Molly would be ready to leave soon. As we were walking through another exhibit, she just fell asleep so I just took my time and walked around for a while longer. I just felt so peaceful and happy to have the time to bond with my baby. She was very pleasant all day. She did not even 'sing,' as she has been doing lately, practicing her most newly found pastime. This usually entails her saying something like, "babababa," and then gradually increasing her volume to a happy yell. She is so thrilled with her ability to make loud noise, but it can be kind of distracting in a public place (not to mention at dinner in our apartment).

Monday, March 2, 2009

Another Tooth, Standing

Molly officially has teeth (as opposed to a single tooth)now! The second one broke the surface. The first one is becoming more visible when she opens her mouth.

Molly has been trying to pull herself up, too. Her favorite new trick is to lean over to the railing in her crib when we put her in it in a sitting position, chew on the railing for a little while, and then try to pull herself up. See pictures below.



She also is getting pretty good at standing with only minimal help from us. She does still need to lean on something, though.


She seems to be on a bit of a hunger strike; she mostly just wants to nurse. I'm not sure what that's all about. Does anyone have an idea? I am attributing it to teething and assuming she will start eating again soon. I will probably call the doctor in a day or two if she does not start eating again soon. I love nursing, too, so it does not bother me. She seems to feel great so it's probably no big deal. Maybe she just wants to make sure she looks good in her bathing suit.





Molly is also starting to move from a sitting position to all fours. I know she will be mobile soon, but right now she just usually turns over onto her back. Then she is stuck, like a turtle.