A Boring Update

Way to reel you in with a post title, right?

1. Edie laughed again yesterday at First Weeks and boy does it make my day. I can literally coast on one laugh for an entire afternoon it's so cool. Some of us were hanging out after class feeding or changing our kids and while I was changing Edie on the floor she started laughing at me. It was particularly cool to have witnesses to the event. Then she gave me a tiny little giggle this afternoon. I can't wait until it becomes more frequent.

2. Edie is the captain of the drool team. She also has a subtle rash on her cheeks and neck/chest area. I took her to the pediatrician yesterday for him to look at the rash and he looked at it and asked, "Has she started drooling?" and I looked at him weird because DUDE does she drool. She went from no drool whatsoever to soaking the front of her onesie in a 30 minute period in the last week or so. Apparently the drool is drying out her skin a little and giving her a minor rash. While this is slightly shameful at least it's not worrying...

3. Some of my favorite Moms from First Weeks and I have decided to start a casual Mom's group of our own. I'm hosting the first get together this Monday. My friend Deb has a daughter Alison that's a week older than Edie and yesterday we had them sit across from each other on the floor and they really noticed the other for the first time. One would smile at the other and that would make the other smile back and so on. It was hilarious. It should be fun to have them over on Monday and do more of that. Plus, it means I won't have to take Edie in the torture mobile - aka the car.

4. I think I hate PEPS. I'm so BORED by the meetings, but I keep going because I keep hoping it'll get better. I hate how formal the meetings are and how weird the leader gets about getting "off topic" and I hate how everyone in my group is a size 0 after having a baby and I hate how we have to sing and I hate that the Moms have pretentious names and live in fancy beautiful houses even though they're 27 and I hate that none of them have to go back to work except me and wow am I rude. The thing is, they all seem like VERY nice women and I have nothing against them personally. I just think they aren't "my people". I like the sarcastic, funny Moms I've met in First Weeks so much more. In First Weeks we complain about losing the baby weight and how our kids won't take naps, but at PEPS they say things like "My baby always falls asleep on her own after I put her in her crib." and "Babies should never be awake for more than 2 hours consecutively." and then I think to myself, "Really? Last I checked my baby wasn't a robot and I couldn't program her to fall asleep on cue and nap at regularly scheduled intervals." I always leave wondering if they're telling the truth or if Edie is the most high maintenance baby of all time for needing to be lulled to sleep before being put to bed for the night.

5. I think tomorrow night I might try putting Edie to sleep in her own room for the night for the first time. I think she's ready, but embarrassingly, I love waking up and just looking over to see her sleeping face any time I want and I've put off moving her into her own room for this reason. That and it's super easy to feed her in the night when she's right next to me... but now that she only needs one early morning feeding, I think it's time for her big girl crib. Wish me luck...

Worth the trip

Well, Bellingham was great fun, but I'll admit that about midway through the drive up there on Friday I had my doubts. Edie still hates the car and her car seat most of the time, so I left Seattle when she fell asleep, hoping that she'd sleep the whole way. Sadly, she woke up about 45 minutes into the drive and was fuming pissed to wake up in the car seat. I exited the freeway no fewer than 4 times to calm her and start over, but finally had to just let her cry it out or I never would have made it to Bellingham. She screamed bloody murder for at least 10 minutes before exhausting herself, and I felt like a terrible Mom for each and every one of those minutes. But once we got to Bellingham, my parents smothered her with attention and I barely had to lift a finger the entire weekend. She slept well in the Pack n' Play they had in the spare room and loved the change of scenery. She also got visits from her Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Javi, Grandma Culver, surrogate Aunt (and champion yoga ball bopper) Kristin, and her great Aunt and Uncle. I have some pictures and an adorable video or two from the weekend that I hope to post here as soon as I have a bit more time.

"I miss Grandma and Grandpa!!"

Giggle Monster

I have much to report but no time to download pictures so the Bellingham update will just have to wait a bit longer. In short - we had a fabulous weekend.

The real reason I'm posting is to quickly report something very exciting - Edie LAUGHED for the first time today! She's been making funny noises while smiling for a while now, but nothing that would count as real laughter. But tonight, while we were hoisting her into the Ergo to walk up to the video store, she looked up at Jeff and me and laughed a real adult-like giggle. Then she did it again! It was SO COOL. Our little dictator is growing up.

Bellingham

Edie and I trekked up to Bellingham today and are visiting the Grandparents this weekend while Jeff works on work (That's right! Jeff's new business venture is taking flight and he has his first big paying project for a client due next week) and finishing up the drawers for our living room. Expect posts upon our return.

2 Month Check Up

Everything went surprisingly well at Edie's 2 month check up yesterday. She weighed in a little lower than I expected, but still roughly in the 75th percentile at 10 pounds 11 ounces. They make you strip your baby down before plopping her on the scale and the second I pulled her diaper off, she peed all over, so I'm pretty sure she would have weighed 2 ounces more if she'd just held her pee until I'd put a new diaper on her! She's grown an inch this month and measured 23 and a half inches - still in the 95th percentile range. Who knew I'd give birth to such a long, tall sally? Her head also gained a whopping inch and her giant noggin is in the 90-95th percentile. No wonder it took her a while to hold it up - that thing is heavy. Her thrush is finally gone after two different med rounds. In the end, *I* even ended up getting thrush in *my* mouth. Being a genius, I think I "rinsed" Edie's pacifier off with my own mouth when in a rush so I ended up getting medicated as well. At first, they prescribed me meds that would require me to stop breastfeeding, but after researching a little further, they realized that they could just prescribe me the same thing that Edie had taken (but in an adult dose) since she'd already taken it once and keep breastfeeding.

As for the vaccinations, the nurse was super speedy and although Edie screamed bloody murder when being poked, Jeff snatched her up immediately afterwards and she calmed right down. Then she conked out in the car ride home and aside from a touch of the evening fussies, she mostly just slept all night. Aside from the bandaids on her thighs, she seems herself today.

Wish us Luck

Today is Edie's 2 month check-up. This means vaccinations. I'm scared. Send us positive thoughts at 2:30 that she forgives me for letting the scary nurse poke her in the legs.

Backyard Photoshoots