Fast Facts About Lauren

Hmmm, what does this do?

Mommy and Daddy are frantically trying to get ready for a week-long vacation, but we want to remember the little things we noticed this week about Lauren.

1. Lauren is slightly mystified by the idea of a sippy cup. She understands where to put her hands and where to drink from, but the tipping-the-head-back to get the water is not there yet!

2. She’s equally mystified by “star crunchers” crackers.

3. She’s making a new face where she smiles big, wrinkling her eyes and scrunching her nose. When I picked Lauren up from daycare, and she did it, Kaye explained that she sometimes smiles exaggeratedly at the kids, and they mimic her. Kaye also said one of the other parents calls it “the piggy face.”

4. She now gets up on her knees when she scoots. Crawling is not far away! I was trying to cook dinner tonight and she made it from her floor mat to me, about three feet, just to see what I was doing. No more rolling for transportation.

5. The new wake-up time is 6 a.m., even on weekends (groan). I give her 4 ounces and I am introducing the third solid meal. She’ll go back down around 8:30 a.m. Consequently, my breastmilk can’t keep up with the demand, and I have to supplement with formula sometimes. When I picked some up at the store, I looked at the price and felt thankful for the breastmilk I DO have.

6. She was such a ham when we took her to get a portrait done last weekend! We brought a stuffed animal, and she was so smiley you would have thought she was a paid model. We’ll post the results soon.

Lauren’s Sitting!

We’ve been working with her all July for this achievement! Excuse the dirty shirt.

I could write a book about all the various things that happened to our family, personally and professionally, during this month, but instead “here is your moment of Zen,” as Jon Stewart would say on The Daily Show. Lauren can sit by herself for several minutes at a time, but her preferred mode of travel is still scooting.

Just came back from a family reunion (Nick’s family). One of my favorite things is watching Lauren interact with others. She has a great set of uncle/aunts and doting grandparents. Everyone she meets talks about her friendly smile and spiky blond hair that refuses to stay down, much to Nick’s mock disappointment.

I made time for a happy hour with co-workers last Wednesday while Nick watched Lauren. I don’t always have time to interact at work, but I learned so much: trading parenting stories with other fellow parents, finding out who is and who isn’t on Facebook, and learning our assistant IT manager plays banjo in a band! In other news, the part-time co-worker in my department has been recruited to split her time between my department and the reception desk, and is going full-time. Our department goes through frantic busy times, like now, and extremely “dead” periods, so I’m anxious to see how it will all turn out.

On a parting note, Franklin, our dear cat who just two weeks ago was pictured here with Lauren, passed away last Friday. He lost a dramatic amount of weight, suffering from feline leukemia, and we had to put him down. I got him from the Humane Society when I was 22, living in a 400-square-foot apartment, working at a bookstore, and dating Nick. He will be remembered for his tendency to put his paws on your shoulders when picked up (a hug!), for his ability to roam outside and always come back when he felt ready, and for sleeping on my stomach every night, even when I started showing with Lauren. When the third trimester came and I had to sleep on my side, he balanced his body there. Franklin, you will be missed.

Baby Movement & “Mommy Guilt”

Lauren’s first hike: what a snooze!

We spent the 4th of July with family at Bond Falls in Upper Michigan, where we hiked, swam, and grilled dinner. As you can see, Lauren adjusted to a back carrier quite well.

At home, we are working with Lauren on sitting up, she’s still not quite there. I found a Bumbo seat at a garage sale. Her rolling around has turned into “scooting” though, and before we know it, we’ll be getting outlet covers and childproof locks for the cabinets. Nick will get the baby gate in place.

Foodwise, we’ve introduced puff crackers to Lauren, or what my friend B affectionally calls “star crunchers”. They, like Cheerios, are supposed to help her with her pincer grasp. It’s hilarious: the first time she saw one, Lauren actually did pick it up between her thumb and forefinger, but then she balled it in her fist and sucked her thumb. “So close!” I announced. Now, she’s not good with the grasping part, but if you offer her a cracker, she will open her mouth.

The best part, though, is picking her up at daycare at the end of the day. About two weeks ago, she started making noise the second she saw me. “MMMM, MMMM, MMMM!” She does this every day, smiles big and shakes with excitement. It makes “mommy guilt” melt away.

I’m experiencing more “mommy guilt” again lately, and one of the reasons: we joined the Y. I’d been going to a small gym in a strip mall since Lauren was born, shedding the pregnancy pounds while she napped in her carrier. Now, she’d rather be out moving around. I chose the Y because it has free daycare and lots of stuff for Lauren to do when she gets older, but I never expected how emotional I feel dropping her off at daycare so I can exercise for 30 minutes. Guilt was a big emotion in my family – my brother is the same way. I try to tell myself that I’m keeping myself healthy so I’ll grow old with her, and I’ll set a good example for her with activity/eating habits. And I only go 2-3 times a week so I can spend the rest of my time with Lauren: reading books, singing songs, playing with the toys, watching her play. But next year, when she’s big enough for the bike carrier, I may reconsider.

Animal Lover

Franklin’s in trouble now!

Lauren and Franklin have co-existed for almost seven months together without comment. Well, not true; if Lauren cries hard, Frank wanders in meowing like crazy. We joke that it’s his concern for her, but it’s probably really cat-speak for “what’s that noise”? But Lauren truly noticed Franklin for the first time last week. He happened to be sitting nearby and she was fussing. I put it together that she was fussing to be near the cat, and sat her down, and taught her how to pet him nicely. A big chunk of black hair came out in her fist, but Franklin patiently stayed nearby.

Then, over the 4th, we were out of town and saw Aunt P with her two golden retrievers. Lauren fussed to be near them, pet them, and even let them lick her in the face!

“Aw,” Nick said. “I guess we have to get Lauren a dog now!”

“No,” I answered. “Not yet.”

Happy Fourth of July! (Well, almost)

Lauren is almost sitting by herself here!

Lauren’s learning that summers in our family are action-packed! Last Friday night was steamy, so we took her swimming for the first time. She was a little concerned at first, but before long she was having a good time splashing with Nick. We also took in a pre-holiday fireworks show, where she sat in between Daddy’s knees and stared at the sky in awe, never moving or falling asleep. It was chilly, so we all bundled up. The three of us also went to pick strawberries, with a fussy Lauren and I taking a breastfeeding break in the car in the middle. We had a “get five pounds free” coupon I could not pass up. (Naturally, we picked WAY more than five pounds, but we’ll enjoy frozen berries for months to come.)

Lauren and I were invited to take part in an infant study in the University, and we went yesterday. I’m not sure what motivated me to take her; we got a free infant T-shirt, but I thought the subject manner was interesting, I guess. The monitors were observing how babies react to music. We went into a booth, where Lauren was played segments of show tunes, and I held her on my lap, with earphones over my ears so I wouldn’t influence her behavior. Specific beat patterns were longer and shorter, and Lauren looked at the door to the booth questioningly when the beats were “off”, then the monitor would stop them. Pavlov response, apparently what they wanted. The monitor laughed afterwards and told me Lauren had been doing a little wiggling “dancing” to the music.

I was given approval to start a newsletter at work, and the first issue went out via email two weeks ago. It got great response; the co-owner of the company, who works from home, even emailed me to say she found it valuable. Here’s to finding new challenges!