OK so I admit I don't post that often here, but allow me to recap some recent events since the last posting one month ago (in no particular order):

* Egg had her 9 month check up on 12/16/03 and weighed 18 lbs 7 oz; was 27 inches long; head circumference of 44 cm and basically caused Dr. Joyce to gush all over her! She had a couple of booster shots and only cried for about 3 seconds... really! (*)
* Egg is rolling around like crazy - she can get into a crawling position on her own and can stand very well (assisted). Doc thinks she will go right from rolling to walking. Doc also says one reason Egg may not be interested in crawling is that she gets intersted in the many other things going on around her -- I buy that!
* She does look at her hands a lot and kind of moves her hand in a wave-like fashion if she is holding something.
* We have set up playpens all around the house now that she is on the go - and the house is totally baby proofed -- well not completely but enough to give us short term piece of mind.
* She had a nice visit from Grandpa Herbie around Thanksgiving time, when she also went up to VT to see Grammie and Grampie Rowe. Herb had a great time with her, fed her a bottle, kissed her many many times, and was really sad to leave. He said to always take good care of her. We do and we will -- we promise.
* She is a big hit at day care (Children's Village in Cambridge) -- they wish she was there more days, and she loves the attention that she gets from all the teachers and the other children.
* She definitely likes music -- from classical to rock and roll. She was listening to some rather loud, aggressive Redd Kross and she was bouncing away in her bouncy seat and when she was in her playpen she started grabbing her hair -- I know the music can be ver powerful -- she definitely is takin after her old man!
* She is the star of our 2003 Holiday Card. Talk about something that we've always wanted to do: put our own beautiful child on a holiday card and send it to as many people as we can!

Well that's all I can think of for now... if I remember anything else, I will be sure to record it here for you all to read. Some pictures will be posted as soon as we upgrade our account.

--Dad

(*) Her birth measurements were 20 inches and 8 lbs, 7 oz. So far her growth in height has been 7 inches (or 35%) and her gain in weight has been 10 pounds (or 115%)!!!

The Egg almost crawled this morning. She went from sitting to a low all-fours and made a move forward before falling on her belly. She then started rolling across the room where she started pulling Danny's CDs off the shelf. There goes a Sonic Youth CD ...off the shelf and in the mouth.

Dinner with Steph & John at our place last night.

Baby party last night at Steve/Kristina/Cora Skidmore's house. The Egg was in her element. Put all of Cora's toys in her mouth and played in her bouncy swing.

Here's an overview of our whirlwind trip to SoCal:

Thurs, Oct 23 - Egg did great on her first transcontinental flight

Fri, Oct 24 - strolled around La Jolla, E loved the crashing waves; Lunch with Matt, Jenny, & friends in San Diego; afternoon at the San Diego zoo; Mexican BBQ lawn party at Matt's folks place in Bonita - Egg went strong until 9:30 pm

Sat, Oct 25 - Bunch with Deb & Stu Meyer at Hob Nob Hill cafe, a great old San Diego restaurant; walked along the beach in Coronado; then Matt/Jenny's wedding at the San Diego Country Club

Sun, Oct 26 - drove from San Diego to LA (see Oct 28 post)

Mon, Oct 27 - Pool/hang day at Nancy's

Tue, Oct 28 - add

Wed, Oct 29 - lunch in Beverly Hills with Emily, Rob, Barbara, Ryan; Hammer Museum in afternoon, dinner with Nancy and Mark

Thur, Oct 30 - lunch in Pasadena with Juan and Tom R, Gamble House tour (Arts & Craft style home and funishings), Party at Barones

Fri, Oct 31 - fill in daytime, trick or treating with Nancy/Mark, Dee, Norma and lots of kids

Sat, Nov 1

Sun, Nov 2 - Nina/Ara; Dwight Bonds

Mon, Nov 3 - Flew home

Greetings from smokey southern california!
We spent last weekend (Oct 25) in San Diego for Matt/Jenny's wedding and had a blast. Hung out with Stu and Deb, checked out the san diego zoo, dipped Egg's toes in the Pacific at Coronado. She loved the crashing waves along the cliffs in La Jolla --was completely mezmirized.

We woke up on Sunday morning to thick yellow/black skies --wildfires. Ash covered parked cars and turned the sun bright red, very surreal. We packed up and headed up to Los Angeles only to drive out of the San Diego fires into a second blaze at Camp Pendleton, then blue skies again until we reached the fires in Simi Valley near Nancy's place. but who cares. what's a little smoke when you're on vacation.

Nancy burst into tears when she saw Elizabeth causing me and Danny to join her. The Egg looked around baffeled by the three blubbering audults smiling at her. Helena and Mark are in TN with Ashley so Nancy's had some private time with the Egg. Can't wait for Helena to see her. Nancy turned her house into a giant nursery for the Egg. New toys are everywhere, the kitchen is filled with little jars of organic food, the bathroom is stocked with a baby tub and supplies, the pool has a baby floaty boat and Nancy made a cushy little sleeping nest in Helena's bed.

We spent yesterday just hanging out and relaxing. The Egg loved the pool. Wanted us to hold her at first then bobbed around on her own in the boat. She's been a great eater here-- gobbled up honeydew melon in her food pop (note: honeydew = poop) and downed some corn/squash puree.

The fires are still burning but I woke to cooler temps and sunny skies. We've got lots planned for the week so I'll check in later.

The Egg had her 6-month checkup today and as usual charmed the doctor. Only cried for 30 seconds after her shots.

16 lb 11 oz - 70% percentile
26 inches - 50%
42.5 CM circumference - 50%

We spent the weekend in VT with G&G Rowe. The gal was great. She started eating applesauce on Saturday and made the craziest face on her first taste --squinched up her face and sort of quivered. but got used to the tartness and ate it right up.

today is her second to last day at Mulberry and she's been charming them all day. They'll miss her. it's kind of sad. But CV is much better for her.

she's starting to expand her vocals to include consanants like D

E loves bannanas and bubbles. We had both last night.

D said she just learned how to take his CDs out of the shelves. She can also take the rings off her ring pyramid.

And if we didn't mention it before, she can roll from her back onto her stomach--but she hasn't figured out how to get back. We'll hear sadness coming from her room and go in in and discover her stranded on her belly in the crib.

E turned her nose up at my home cooked organic carrot puree --didn't like the lumpy texture. I turned the kitchen upside down cooking, pureeing, and straining a tiny bowl of carrots --and she acted like they were gagging her. pretty funny. But we tried sweet potatoes (still organic, but from an Earth's Best jar) and she loved them.

We're moving her from Mulberry childcare to a Children's Village in a couple of weeks. Four guys at work have had kids there for years and Suchi and Mark have Maya there. The place just has a better overall feel. The teachers spend more time playing, more time with art, and more outside time. They only serve healthy foods, lots of fruit/veggies and whole grains. and they have two big play yards that you can see from all the rooms.

I was at CV last week to drop off the deposit check, locked my keys in the car and ended up there for over an hour. She had a blast in the baby room, played with toys and got to see her first live performance --Peter the Music Man. he sang and played the guitar, piano, harmonic, and acordian. the guy does it all. Elizabeth loved it! she didn't take her eyes off him for about 30 minutes straight.

she had her first balloon on Sunday -- a big red one from Trader Joes --it was a hit. she tried kicking it with her feet ...maybe there's some soccer in her future.

Elizabeth loves to eat!
Our future foodie started eating 'solid' food on August 29 with a meal of brown rice and breastmilk porridge. What an eater! She grabbed the spoon and helped put it in her mouth. We started with 1 tablespoon of rice mixed with 3 tablespoons of milk --pretty soupy, but this is what she can handle now. We'll thicken it up over time and add in new veggies and fruit.


We went to the Museum of National Heritage in Lexington on Sunday to see the neon light exhibit --of course the gal love the lights but a weird thing happened. I was feeding her outside on the lawn and put her on the grass thinking she'd love it --nice soft plush grass. Uh un. Sad trembly-lip face followed by crying until I picked her up.

Lots to report:
Elizabeth slept in her own crib in her own room on Saturday, August 23. She sleeps pretty loggy in there and doesn't wake up until around 5:00 am give or take 30 min. Since I want guarenteed sleep after she wakes up, I've been bringing her in bed with us when she wakes up. Gotta try feeding her and putting her back in the crib instead. maybe this weekend.

Our trusty bouncy seats are on the way out as Elizabeth learned to sit up in them this morning. Good going Elizabeth -- but we're sure going to miss those chairs.

We brought her to Drumlin Farms on Sunday but the outing was a flop. She screamed and cried when two big goats bleated at her (who can blame her), pulled it together, then freaked again at the cows and horses. She was ok watching a fawn. maybe we should stick to smaller quiet animals for a while. speaking of animals, she gets really phyched to see Noe now. She gurgles and reaches out for her. Fortunately, Noe hightails it out of there when this happens.

The gal caught a little rash over the weekend. We saw it off and on during Sunday - Wed, but it's pretty much gone by now. The Doc said it's a harmless viral rash --no worries.

Grandma/pa Rowe were here this week. Elizabeth was her enchanting self with them of course.

Danny thinks Elizabeth is ready for food. She's been watching us eat and was really interested in his rice today --opened her mouth when he got close with a forkful. We'll try some rice cereal tomorrow and see how it goes.

I checked out Children's Village today. Loved it. more later

Warning Label Records

Now that the gal has two half-teeth it's time to start thinking about food...

Took a break from work and met E and D at the gym for a quick workout and a feeding --best hour of the workday. Danny played with the gal for 2 hours after that and she was still going strong when I got home after work. That kid is overflowing with energy. She ate some more and we headed to Wilson Farms where E surveyed the fruits and veggies from Daddy's chest in the Bjorn. She was still bouncing around until 8:30, had a snack, then crashed into a peaceful sleep.

Danny noticed something remarkable today - a little white ridge of hard enamel... what could that be poking through Elizabeth's bottom gums!?!?!?!

I really look forward to when the baby comes home from daycare!!! There is nothing better to see her come in the front door and give me a great big smile. (D)

Major Milestones (check dates)

First smile - 3 weeks
Kicks toys with her feet - 3 mo
Holds a toy in her hand - 3 mo
Can sit on her own - 4 mo
Moves out of her co-sleeper and into her own room - ?5 mo
Rolls from back to belly
Rolls all the way over
Starts eating food other than breastmilk - 5 mo
First crawling attempts
Real crawling - 10 mos

Welcome to Eclair - the chronicals of the Egg

Everything that Elizabeth does is so amazing and newsworthy that we needed a place to share it. This is the place.

Let's start at the beginning and tell you about her birth. I'll be adding her birth story here soon but here are the highlights:

Elizabeth joined us on the outside on March 21, 2003 at 10:38 pm. She was a beautiful 8 lbs 9 oz and 20" tall. Her Apgar scores were tops (of course) at 9 and 10 --basically, this meant that she was extremely healthy and vibrant.

more later