How 'Bout That Salmonella

With many cases in NY?

Most often from Peter Pan peanut butter?


(honey roast = extra sugar = extra good)

With product numbers starting with 2111?



Awesome.

I don't understand how something so delicious could hurt me.

I haven't opened it yet, but oh, what a sad waste.


In other news of things that are sad, Dylan was up at 11:30 last night and again from 2:30-4. I think her gums were hurting her. If only I could have smeared peanut butter on them.

What a day not to have a camera

Wow, Snowpocalyse 2007, huh?

We got another nasty e-mail saying classes are rarely cancelled, haha there are no snow days in grad school. It has been snowing heavily here since yesterday evening. I woke up to a nice man snowblowing part of our driveway at 6:30am.

We've had 20 inches so far. It drove everyone in our neighborhood out of their houses like worms on the sidewalk in the rain to shovel. Poetic, no?

Snuffy was desperate to run around so we took him to a field and let him prance around ridiculously.

I spent 45 minutes trying to get Dylan to sleep, then Aaron took over and three minutes later she was out. Aaron sucks. He said I loosened her up for him.

Dylan would not take a bottle today at daycare. Shocking. But they wish to keep trying. I will continue to humor them. Suckers.

And I'll leave you with this valentine that Dylan apparently made at daycare. I had to share it to spread the creepiness around a little:

The Snow Apocalypse is Nigh

All anyone could talk about today was the impending doom. It started snowing at 5pm, just as predicted, and was clear right up until then, which was creepy. Doom or no, I had an important craving to go to the bookstore, so we were out driving with a ton of other fools around 6 or 7. Several inches have already piled up, but I can't find the camera charger so I can't take a before picture. Aaron got an e-mail saying that the hospital does not close so you need to plead for mercy from your manager if you want to stay home. Daycare, however, is planning on closing tomorrow if a state of emergency is declared. We're supposed to get 12 to 18 inches by 5pm tomorrow.

Speaking of daycare...today went well. The first sign of this was when I was greeted with enthusiasm by the staff instead of the traditional sullen glares. I'm not that surprised since I have noticed that over the past couple of days that she has really chilled out. It's about the right time for her to come out of the latest fussy phase, so I hope that's what's happening. I left her there a little longer before checking on her so she actually got hungry and drank six ounces from the sippy cup, which was all that I had left for her since she usually only takes one or two. Her teachers responded by saying, great, now that she's eating can you bring in some bottles so she can get more at once? I have NO idea why they think success with the sippy cup means she can now take a bottle, but I will humor them and bring some in. I wish they would be as nice to me and her even on bad days.

This probably counts as sleeping through the night

Apparently our door is shipping from the North Pole because it isn't getting here until the 26th.

Dylan seems to be making up for last night because she is now sleeping for her 13th hour with just a quick snack that she more or less slept through at 6am.

I Deserve Better Parking Car-ma

Snuffy keeps dropping a tennis ball right next to Dylan and then standing there with his tail down when she doesn't respond.

She has been laughing out loud a little. And sitting unassisted for approximately three seconds. I have tried sitting her up alone every day for a week and suddenly yesterday she was strong enough to do it. She has been in a fantastic mood today.

You may know of my little parallel parking problem. I can't do it. Well, today I did it, and quite well at that. And the parking meter didn't work. It's just not right.

We (= me) were up with her 5-6 times last night. When she is congested she wakes herself up with the snot. She didn't have a hard time going back to sleep any of the times, but I did (the music...aaaaaahhhh).

Computers Are Waterproof, Right?

Tip of the Day: If you cleverly play music in the baby's room at night and you have a monitor in your room, you should pick a song you want to listen to all night.

We discovered Skype recently and have been using it to talk to our families a lot. Aaron's computer has a built in camera, so everyone gets to see the baby when they talk to us. Conversely, much disappointment ensues when the baby is asleep, yet we call anyway. It has been especially cool because it lets us talk to Annie in Morocco very easily. She's a Peace Corps Volunteer, you know. Dylan has been fairly good natured about sitting on our laps at the computer while we chat, especially if we give her some mardi gras beads to chew on. Or the computer itself.

More Food

I have been giving Dylan oatmeal for the past few days. She slurps it right down, which is pretty fun. Oatmeal, however, is her only food for the moment because as far as I can tell every single other food has given her a bright red rash on her face. One night last weekend after being given rice cereal she woke up in the middle of the night screaming. I didn't know what what going on and why she wouldn't sleep until I turned on a light 45 minutes after she woke up and saw that the rash, which is normally limited to her cheeks, was all over her face. I gave her a warm bath to help her tummy feel better and two seconds into it HUGE gas bubbles came out and she was fine and went happily back to sleep. But no more rice cereal for her.

In The Continuing Adventures of Storm Door and Friends, our freaky-sized door had to be special ordered so we are left with the Giant Hole of Draftiness for a couple weeks. A guy showed up to double check our measurements at 8am the other day. Snuffy astutely detected him and alerted us to his presence.



We here are bleisenblog are nothing if not classy.

More Baby Stuff

You know, aside from the daycare stuff Dylan is actually pretty easy right now. She's really fun and playful most of the time and very responsive to us. She babbles bababababa constantly, clearly a reference to her beloved bottle. When she is really fussy she is usually obviously tired or hungry, and she goes to sleep relatively easily, whether by being rocked or on her own in her crib. She still takes three naps, but two of them are invariably crappy and I'm hoping she'll switch to two good ones in the next couple of months. She has settled into a routine of waking up once at night between 3 and 5 and then going right back to sleep, which I hardly mind after all those months of wrestling her to bed at midnight and holding her upright and such. I know in a month I probably won't know what to do with her, but for now it's nice to have a rough routine.

We've started playing music in her room at night as she falls asleep. Just one song actually, Wigwam, a Bob Dylan instrumental that was on the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack. Aaron has always liked to listen to it on a loop also, so that's sort of funny. I didn't want to make her dependent on music to fall asleep, but I think she was born that way because we both think it really helped her even the first time.

One thing about still feeding Dylan all her meals is that I spend a fair amount of time in her daycare. The room, while fairly babyproof, is not really set up for babies who can move. So it is hilarious when one of the babies goes mobile. They get themselves under the cribs and behind the changing table and they can manhandle the other babies who are helpless on the floor like little turtles. Four of the six other babies in the room are older than Dylan. One of them can already move himself around pretty easily, although it's more dragging than crawling, and the other three can sort of wiggle and roll around to get places. I think Dylan is only a few weeks at most from being able to roll front to back and sit on her own.

Two Baby Stories

As I was buying groceries the other evening the clerk saw the diapers and asked how old the baby was. The baby was actually there with me, but Aaron was off on a bench holding her sleeping self as we had mismanaged her schedule and she passed out while we debated which brand of hot chocolate to get. I said the baby was five months and she asked if she was talking yet. I was like, uh, no. She said she had a four year old and she remembered that age blah blah blah. She then went on to say, oh, every baby develops differently more blah blah blah. I thought, why is she saying those things. Until she told me that her daughter had said mama at four months. Of course.

People are so funny about Dylan's size. If they aren't really familiar with babies and they find out she's a girl they tell me how petite she is. Ha. If they do know how big babies generally are at different ages they're like oh my god she's huge. A woman the other day told me she is as big as a baby she knows born in May, who is not a particularly small baby. That's our fatty.

Storm Doors: Must-Have Item or Trendy Accessory?

We got back to the house the other day. Aaron and I were both fairly cranky from not sleeping well, too much work, etc. And we were greeted with this, except with the panel still on all twisted-metal-like:


Classy, no?

So we were forced to venture into the cold (COLD!) dark night, baby and all, for the fun task of purchasing a storm door. Luckily we have been casing out storm doors for many many months because one panel of that apparently poorly made door had already flown off in the wind a long time ago. Also, it doesn't fully latch shut on its own. You wouldn't think there would be so many subtle facets of storm door ownership, would you? We both independently measured the door frame so we could get our story straight because last time we went browsing we were questioned as to whether a door could truly be those proportions. We are not secure about our measuring skills to begin with, so this was a blow to our collective ego. We eventually made the big decision (the "Helena" it is) after again being mocked and questioned due to our apparently freaky door size (we then learned our neighborhood is notorious for this deviant quality).

Other things we have been shopping for lately have included baby clothes and more baby clothes. I went a little nuts at the secondhand baby clothes store and this was the result:


But seriously, everything is like less than $3. It's awesome. Although it starts to seem like less of a deal when you spend $70. This was my best find:



It hasn't made its way onto the actual baby yet, but that will come with time.

A doggie door that Snuffy can fit through

My School Was Not Cancelled

Snuffy and I went running in the 14 degree weather today because we are (Annoying When Not Exercised) Tough. Schools were closed here today for the second day in a row because of the cold. I am not kidding when I say I run slowly, but I got to feel fast today when we passed a not very adept cross country skier. There was a narrow trail on the canal path where the snow is packed down and it is relatively easy to run. Snuffy kept getting right in front of me on the trail and then going really slowly. And leaving his left blinker on.

Daycare still sucks as much as ever. Actually, more since Dylan now knows what is going on a bit. She was in the best mood ever this morning so I thought she would do well, but she got hysterical the minute I set her down there. I am pretty sure she cried the entire time she was there today. They asked me if she cries a lot at home, which she does not. They seem to think I am doing something wrong. Bleecch, I am not. See:

Congrats David & Melanie!

Motto: A marriage of love, not health insurance.

This Week in Pictures

When Kate Gets Bored














When Aaron Does Bath Time














When Dylan Channels Snuffy














When You Need Earphones While You Shave














When Dylan Gets Put Away For The Night

Nothing more than feelings

Dylan has a toy, Baby Tad's First Feelings, that talks about Baby Tad's first feelings. These include Happy, Sad, and Sleepy. I would have added Hungry. Tad makes such observations as Feelings are Special. Feelings are Real. I like sharing the way I feel. I hope Baby Tad likes feeling chewed up, because that is Dylan's main interest in him. She figured out how to shake a rattle yesterday. She thinks about it really hard and then is so proud when she actually does it.

From The Baby's Song Book

See-saw, Margery Daw,
Sold her bed to lie upon straw;
Wasn't she a dirty slut
To sell her bed and lie upon dirt?

Enjoy, Dylan

Dylan & Daddy

Happy Birthday, Aaron

Happy Birthday Cool Uncle Z

Also Happy Five Months to Dylan

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Snuffy Poop

When we first got Snuffy, we worked very hard to train him to poop on command (good for cocktail parties and whatnot). We were derailed by a months-long saga that involved giardia, numerous food allergies, and bloody diarrhea, the upshot of which is we now cook him chicken for breakfast every morning and he eats only (very expensive) prescription duck and potatoes dog food. It also meant he wasn't entirely in control of his bowels, and truly could not poop when told to. He is still funny about pooping, and won't go at all unless he is being walked. We can leave him out playing with his dog friends for many hours, only to have him come in and start whining fifteen minutes later in legitimate distress. Sometimes I walk him around the yard and he'll go there, but mostly he requires a long jaunt around the neighborhood.

He prefers, if possible, to go right along the edge of the curb. Right now there is about a foot of snow on the ground. It has melted and re-frozen several times, so it has a nice crust that breaks through if you step on it. Snuffy, however, cannot be deterred. So he now wades through snow that despite his high clearance comes up almost to his stomach. It is pretty funny to watch. As Aaron says, he is very particular.

He is still great about peeing whenever and wherever we tell him to (except, of course, in New York City).

This morning when I took him out to pee he saw another dog and pulled me across the new layer of snow like I was on a sled.

If you've ever wondered what a kimono onesie looks like, today is your lucky day:

A Place For Everything

Is it ironic if you are killed by a CPR class?

Daycare was Bad yesterday, as expected.

Aaron is deeply offended by the lack of suggestions for what he might want for his birthday (he is a strange one). But I think you all are just smart because it was a TRAP, A TRAP, RUN. He was then going to tell you that whatever you suggested you should go out and get it for him.

As I was walking down the hall of my building yesterday to bring Dylan to daycare, a woman stopped me to coo over the pretty pretty baby. I walked back down the hallway on the way to my office, and the woman recognized me and said hi. A few seconds later she did a double take and said urgently, wait...what did you do with that baby?

Last 100 Hits

No Dylan Turnovers Here

Dylan has discovered the joys of pounding the keyboard. I'm in trouble now.

I lovingly put a cupcake on the table this morning to eat on my walk with Snuffy. You see where this is going, I imagine. Snuffy lovingly swallowed the cupcake, wrapper and all, before I even had time to get my shoes on. That dog has quite the sweet tooth.

Sweet potatoes were quite a hit with the under-6-month crowd this morning.

Since her first round of rolling over a while ago, Dylan has not been interested in a repeat performance. She doesn't like spending a lot of time on her tummy in the first place, so she has to be in just the right mood to even be doing that. When she does roll over it is very sudden, like she has been possessed by the rolling over spirit.

I have given up on the bottle completely. I packed them all up in the attic. Where I went to pull the string to turn on the light and the string broke. I stood there jumping up and down with my stubby little legs trying to reach the stubby little cord, but alas it was no use. The attic is turning into a Giant Rubble Mound, but at least we won't be able to see it.

The sippy cup is actually working better. At some point soon (where soon = ideally before my four-hour CPR class tonight) I am hoping to have her eat an actual meal from it that doesn't involve eating from me ten minutes after eating from the sippy cup. Although now since I don't like daycare so much I like having a reason to check on her every couple of hours. I suppose I can still do that, but maybe it won't have to be QUITE so often.

Advice Needed

Aaron would like to solicit comments on what he might like for his birthday this Thursday.

Try Our Delicious Lightly Frosted Chocolate Labradoodle
Now, With More Snuff!

Food Glorious Food

Dylan was yipping like a puppy all day yesterday. We did want another dog, so maybe she's trying to please us. It was weird though.

The sidewalk plow came, yay! I couldn't even get the stoller down the sidewalk anymore. Our street, however, is another story.

Sidewalk














Street; Needed: Mr. Plow














I have been really torn about when to give Dylan solids. I know the recommendation is to wait until six months, but I don't think that's based on too much reliable research (the strength of the recommendation is a 'C' on a grading scale). And I think it might help tide her over when I can't feed her as often as she likes. She is giving me lots of signs that she's ready -- she is really interested in watching us eat, the amount of time between meals is getting shorter and shorter, she can put stuff in her mouth on her own, she gets hungry at night when she never used to. There's a chart of how much milk babies who aren't eating solids should be getting in this book I have, Super Baby Food, and she's two pounds heavier than the heaviest weight in the chart.

I eventually decided that the most important thing is that she not be hungry at daycare, so I tried giving her some avocado.















I'm not sure it agreed with her that well -- she had a HUGE poop later that day, which is rare for her, and she was more irritable than usual the rest of the day. I waited a few days, then yesterday tried again with banana. She liked it, but I'm not sure that agreed with her either. I think I'll try sweet potatoes next in another couple days. In any case she LOVES teething biscuits.

CrankyPants

According to both the Wonder Weeks and fussiness level, Dylan is at the beginning of another fussy period. It will purportedly last about three weeks and then we're in the clear for a couple of months (exceptions: teething, bad sleep nights, looking at the baby cross-eyed, phases of the moon). Three weeks doesn't sound long, but come stay with us for a few days and you might feel differently. She has started acting shy and bursting into tears when people who aren't me or Aaron hold her or look at her. She'll play with toys for a while, but wants to be held and enteratined a lot. She does NOT like to get dressed. Although as she gets more functional the unhappy times seem a little easier on her.

The days she was at daycare this week didn't go that well. And unfortunately I feel like the fussier she is at daycare the less they really try to play with her or comfort her because they don't get a lot of positive feedback from it. I sometimes try to dress her particularly cutely because that makes them like her more because her class is almost all boys (scummy, I know, but whatever makes things easier for her there). They just don't seem to be able to deal with her very well when she's being sort of high maintenance. I know it is like wishing for the End of Days to want the baby to start crawling, but that is her ticket to the next room up at daycare, where they have the same adult to child ratio but do a lot more fun stuff.

She really tricked me into thinking she was easygoing those first three months, but I see now that I was wrong. She's still a lot of fun right now though. She smiles every time I look at her and wiggles her whole body happily, like Snuffy wagging his tail.

Bedtime

Dylan had a good night the past couple of nights and kindly let me sleep in. Snuffy's groomer, however, called the house at 7 freaking 15 in the morning. How nice of them to let me know his appointment was cancelled.

Aaron went to give blood the other day. They give you a free movie certificate, then screen you. He had been to the Dominican Republic too recently, so could not actually give blood. He proudly spoke about how he would have given a double dose, had he been able to donate, all the while scurrying away with his coupon.

So, about bedtime. It has changed our lives. It's like she was suddenly programmed to fall asleep between 8 and 9. And she really puts herself to sleep every night. And the reflux is a lot better. So instead of MAYBE getting her down at midnight, if we're lucky, plus another hour and a half of holding her upright, we can just put her down at 8:30 and go about our business. It's awesome. I hope it lasts. She's not as good at going to sleep for naps, but she's getting better if we time it right. If we keep her home in the morning she also still takes a nice morning nap. If we don't then she muddles along on 20-minute cat naps all day at daycare, then sacks out in the evening when she gets home. Which does not work as well for getting her to bed. I actually think she could go to bed a little sooner, but her naps have to work out right.

It's been snowing here every day. There used to be a sidewalk plow that would troll the neighborhood, but it hasn't been out yet. It is fairly hard to walk Snuffy down a lot of streets and I'm not even sure I could run right now.