What's she up to?

I don't have pictures to post today, but thought I'd just write a bit about what Rory is like these days. What she can do, etc. First, she can crawl. She Army-crawled for a few weeks but has begun to get up and around on all fours this week finally. She's quickly learning to explore the whole house. She gives "high fives" and can blow raspberries. While she isn't yet using any sign language signs, we use a few with her and she recognizes "milk", "bath" and "eat". One of her favorite things right now is to sit on the floor with her legs in front of her and kick them up and down. As an adult, you should try it. Not as easy as she makes it look. Good ab workout! If you say "kicker, kicker, kicker!", she'll start going!

She's pulling herself up on furniture a bit. A few mornings ago Jason found her standing in her crib for the first time. Oh, and she can clap! Last weekend we bought her a toy that plays a voice singing a jazzy version of the alphabet song, and if she is sitting by it when it starts singing, she starts dancing in her seat. I think she must have learned that seeing older kids at daycare dancing around.

This week she has become an independent eater. She still breasfeeds a few times a day, but at the table, she has quickly decided that she wants to feed herself. She'll eat a few bites of baby food from jars, but then gets frustrated and wants to feed herself, so we have to give her something she can do herself, too, like peas or cheerios.

Of course, I can't give an update without talking about her size. She is 9 months old today. she's 24 pounds and 29.5 inches. That puts her off the charts in both height and weight. She is about the size of an average 15 month old. This causes a dilemma because she needs to be held as much as the average 9 month old, but is getting VERY heavy!

She is really a lot of fun right now and seems to be learning something new every couple of days. She's still very loud and demanding, but very outgoing, smiley and energetic, too.

Trip to Missouri

Missouri Trip Oct 2006

Photo Album - click on the picture and you can see all the pictures.

The three of us went to St. Louis where Rory got to meet her great-grandparents for the first time. Auntie L and Mimi and Pops were there, and Rory met LOTS of new friends. Jason and I snuck away to Columbia for a day for Homecoming and saw friends there, as well as checked out some of our old stomping grounds. Soon I will add pictures of her visit with her new best friend Vivian Jones (Rebecca and Bobby's daughter).

Pumpkin Patch

With our friends Niki and Todd (and their lovely daughter Isabel), we went to Dewberry Farm outside Houston to get our very own pumpkins straight from the pumpkin patch! We all had a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was too hot for jeans in October. Crazy! Anyway, here are a few pics of RoRo at the pumpkin patch!

She's Crawling!

13 seconds.

OK, on here it's only an Army crawl, but it was the first one Jason and I saw together. At Nanny's earlier in the day, I caughter her doing an acual up-on-all-fours crawl for a second. We'll work on getting here there soon. For now, she still Army crawls. Sydney is in trouble now! Rory can't wait to get her hands on that cat!

First two Teeth!

Her first two teeth are here! And yes, there are definitely times she thinks it's cute to chew, but she's got mama's body parts in her mouth (sensitive ones!) and it is NOT cute. She is getting really good at getting Cheerios into her mouth, though!

Lynn's visit

Lynn (Mommy Goddess) came to visit from Indianapolis. She helped me take care of Rory while Jason went to visit Lindsay in NYC. Here are some pics of her with baby RoRo!

And of course... feedings like that are followed by BATHS!

NOTHING makes Rory as happy as bathtime! She loves to be in the water and has learned to splash in the last week or two, making our bathroom quite a swamp at the end of her tubbie time. Of course, she spends the whole time picking up floating bath toys and putting them, where else, in her mouth! And I swear, thought it doesn't look it, my sink IS clean! (No one should take pictures of their sink this close up.)

Fun with semi-solids

Rory began solids in the last month, eating that gooey baby food. First fruits, and in just the last few days, we've added vegetables. Carrots have gone over well, as you can see. She has a habit of wanting to stick her hand in her mouth at the end of every bite, which you can see causes a bit of a clean-up issue! But she is having SO much fun with it!

Trip to Dubuque

Rory had her first flights this weekend going to Dubuque to visit. The weather was great and we had a wonderful trip. Here's a slideshow of some of the highlights.

Dubuque Trip - August 2006

Aug 21, 2006 - 28 Photos

Tubbie Time!

This is Rory's second bath in the big tub and I'm telling you... we have a swimmer, I just know it! She loves the water! Seeing floating tubbie toys is a whole new delight for her, as is sticking her face in the water (though she then looks up at us stunned by the fact that her face is dripping wet!).

Playing at 7:00am

Don't we all wish we were this alert and happy at 7:00 in the morning??

Jazz Hands!

At almost six months old now, Rory is gaining weight, gaining some hair, able to sit up on her own, and... most importantly... able to do Jazz Hands!

Fancy Feet via Auntie L

Auntie L (Lindsay) sent Rory these socks as a gift - she has a whole rainbow of them. So, now she can have shoes that match her outfit even when she doesn't wear shoes yet! Thanks, Auntie L!

Also included is one other new pic of Rory that I like a lot. Bye!

Our Girl Goes for the Extra Credit

Jason took Rory to the doctor yesterday for a variety of odd behaviors, to be sure she's just teething, which she is. Part of the appointment is always to get weighed. At exactly 20 pounds with her diaper on (9 pounds 8 ounces naked), Rory is in the 110th percentile for size! Yes, our girl is getting extra credit these days in the growing department! I thought this picture was appropriate with this announcement, as carrying around that much weight HAS to be tiring!

Rory in her exersaucer

Here is Rory in all her vocal, drool-covered, raspberry-blowing glory! Mimi is playing with her in her exersaucer. The video is one minute long. Enjoy!

Rory playing with Mimi

07/10/2006

Good morning, Rory!

Right after I woke Rory up, June 22, 2006.

The Tropical Equivalent of a Snow Day

One of the adjustments we had to make to Houston when we moved here from the midwest was the difference in RAIN. Rain here is TROPICAL, which means it comes down in incredible quantities. Plus, Houston doesn't drain well, so is prone to flooding. (However, the area where we live doesn't really flood, so we are safe.)

It thundered and the lightning flashed for several hours early this morning, and the result this morning is the tropical equivalent of a snow day. The mayor is on TV saying that if you are not in a job critical to the city functioning, STAY HOME. There are thousands of cars that have been stuck on the highways for more than two hours because highways ahead are flooded. So, Jason and I are home with Rory, working from home today.

And, just because I like any chance to post a picture of Rory...

Magical Ingredient

We do not yet know what is the magical ingredient that is adding such happiness to our lives, but we are thankful for it. And we worship the Sleep Gods religiously. Last week, we decided it was time to stop this nightly coddling of Rory and her difficult sleep habits. We can be tough. We can handle it. It was time to CRY IT OUT. We figured we could try 5 minutes. Nanny says she goes to sleep just fine at her house, while we spend 60-90 minutes every night rocking, bouncing, singing, reading and walking, until she falls asleep in our arms. Then (and this is the tricky part), we have to lay her in her bassinet WITHOUT waking her, otherwise we start all over. So, geared up to handle the torturous crying, we fed her, bathed her, put on her jammies, and then did what Nanny says she does. Put Rory in her crib, awake, with her banky (bunny blankie) and her binky (pacifier). We kissed her and walked out of the room, prepared for the longest 5 minutes of our lives.

And we waited. And waited. And the pain never began. She was quiet. Not a single sound. In 5 minutes, we finally went to check if she was breathing. She was not just breathing, but breathing the deep breathing of someone in peaceful sleep.

ALAS - there is more! She was still asleep in her crib (in her bedroom, which she had just started taking short naps in) when we went to bed, so we left her in there, figuring we would move her to the bassinet in our room when she woke up. Well, she didn't wake up UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING! Yes, we got about 7 straight hours of sleep! And Rory slept in her bedroom for the first time.

Now, which is the magical ingredient that brought on this beautiful state, we do not know, but we haven't messed with it. It's now about 2 weeks later and we do the same things every night. It's like a ritual an athlete won't mess with before a game. And I'm pretty sure getting more sleep is, at this stage of our lives, better than winning the World Series.

A Memorial Day weekend to remember

This weekend we bonded with our friends Niki and Todd in a way we did not expect. On Friday night, in the middle of the night, Jason and I were both stricken with a sudden bout of stomach pain and vomiting. We alternated trips to the bathroom all night. By 8:00am, we had figured out a plan. We called Niki and Todd and asked if Rory could come play with their daughter, Isabel, while we got food poisoning out of our systems, as we were too weak to take care of her. they were wonderful! They kept Rory until 7:00pm, plus brought us Gatorade, saltines and tylenol. you couldn't ask for more, especially at the last minute on a holiday weekend.

so, how did we repay them? apparently by misdiagnosing what we had, and giving a stomach virus to their whole family that put them out of commission the rest of the weekend! AAAAAHHHHH!!!! we couldn't feel more horrible about this.

Oh yeah, and today is Todd's birthday!

So, does anyone have ideas on how we make this one up to them???? We are open to ideas.

Up Close and Personal with Rory Liv

A few weeks ago Jason and I took a new set of pictures of Rory. We both have always liked these kinds of pictures, close up pictures of chunky baby parts. This is the way you look at babies, you know. Everyone does. One feature at a time. Transfixed by their toes, their eyelashes, the rolls in their legs. Amazed at how beautiful each feature is, especially when the baby is asleep. And somehow they are timeless in black and white.

Yum - rice cereal!

Pack it in!! Little one is eating so much milk and formula right now that it's time to move her to cereal. So, here were her first bites. She did pretty well. Who wouldn't with Daddy making that face at you? She sucked on the spoon a lot. But apparently we need to pack in a bunch more tonight because it did NOTHING in terms of her sleeping longer. She was up exactly 3 hours after she ate, hungry again. We are tired parents.

For the record, Rory weighs about 16 pounds now, at 3 1/2 months. Tons O' Fun!

STARTING NANNY

On May 1, I went back to work and Rory started spending her days with Nanny. Nanny lives a few miles from us and is a dream come true! Have you ever seen someone who looks more like Aunt Bea (from The Andy Griffith Show)?? (That's Rory on the left.) Daddy is having a hard time walking out the door when he drops her off in the morning, resulting in long Jewish goodbyes every morning. Nanny's husband is called Paw Paw by all the kids, and they love him. We're happy Rory has somewhere so great to spend her days until I get to come pick her up!! My piece of advice for every Mom going back to work... if you can, start taking the baby to daycare the week BEFORE you go back to work. Completely worth paying for an extra week of daycare. I was able to take her for a few hours a day to warm up to it, plus I could stop in unannounced and see how she was doing and how things were run at Nanny's. I felt MUCH better coming back to work after that kind of time with Nanny.

Fancy girl

Rory is prepping to be a fancy girl. Jason's Uncle Glenn and Cathy stopped by this weekend while they were in town. Rory will be the hottest pudgy girl at the pool in the swimsuit, coverup and sunglasses they brought her. Plus she has this fancy pink hat that her grandma bought her to deal with the Houston sun. I'm not sure what people will notice first -- the cute smile or the rolls in her chubby thighs!! That's our girl!

Cousins visit

Cousins Kinsey and Kendall came to visit from Iowa last week along with Aunt Theresa and Uncle Jeff! The weather was great for them (about 85 each day) and Rory behaved herself, so we had a great visit altogether. They took off for Iowa on Easter Sunday, thus the bunny picture!

Mama's first emergency

Well, I've had my first Mama panic moment! Rory and I went to the store this morning. When we returned, she was asleep. I brought her into the house and set her (in her car seat) on the kitchen counter. I walked back into the garage to close the car and garage doors and that's when it happened. A habitual move, done a hundred times, but done this time in the wrong circumstance. I locked the door to the house behind me as I shut it. LOCKED OUT! AND RORY IS INSIDE! My keys are in the diaper bag in the house, along with my cell phone! Lap #1 around the house: No doors unlocked. Run to Roxanne and Kenny's house next door. Roxanne answers and I explain what has happened. I try to call Jason, but he is in a training session at work and I can't reach him. Roxanne and I figure we're just going to break something to get in, the door knob, a window, whatever. Lap #2 around the house: No windows unlocked. And a quick check through the back door tells me Rory is still asleep. Roxanne calls Kenny at work, and he is, miraculously, on his way home and is one block away. Apparently Kenny was a burglar in a past life, as he is able to get me into the door within about 30 seconds. I won't give away his strategy, however, because it's almost scary how nothing can be detected from the outside that would show that we broke into the house. I run in the house to check on Rory, and she just looks up at me with a HUGE grin on her face, like she just woke up from her nap. A "Well, Hi Mama!!" face. My heart breaks as I say, "Oh, so you still trust me, huh?"

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Rory insisted on writing this one herself:

So, I eat. Big deal. Lots of people do. So I'm only six weeks old and have to wear clothing for 3-6 month olds. Big deal. And my boobs are bigger than my mom's. That's normal at my age, right? I think people find cheeks that resemble a bloodhound cute, don't you? Dad keeps making jokes about Deputy Dog, but I don't get it. Anyway, pass the milk, will ya?!

Chunky and Loud

This little one is wearing us out! Ends up Rory is not a fussy baby, she is a sick baby. She has gastroesophogeal reflux disorder, which means that her little tummy is filled with acid all the time and it hurts, which results in her needing to be held upright all the time and screaming! It's been an exhausting week or so, trying to figure out what might be going on. She saw the doctor today and got some new medicine.

While there, we found out that she is a CHUNK! She is one month old and is already 10 POUNDS 8 OUNCES! Hopefully the medicine is working, as she has now been asleep for almost 3 hours, which is the longest she's slept in the daytime in about 2 weeks.

Here's a couple of cute pictures, plus a picture from last night of Jason and Rory. He took her into our room to try to calm her down and we were looking up possible causes and medicines in a book. This is what I found about 30 mnutes after he went in there. :)

FIRST DOCTOR'S VISIT

Rory had her two-week check-up today. The doctor said that at the two-week appt he expects babies to be 5 oz. over their birth weight, so would expect Rory to be 7 lbs 15 ounces. Well, our overachiever weighed 8 lbs 15 ounces and had grown 2 inches already! Doc says she's doing really well, though. We also learned that she dislikes having her diaper changed more than she dislikes getting shots, as she handled the shots very well.

The picture on the left is what we call "milk drunk". It is truly hysterical to see, as she is practically comatose after eating.

Mimi, Pops and Auntie L

The Lustberg side was here to visit, and here are a few pics from their time with Rory. Note our creative use of breast pads.