Wednesday daycare report

Ugh. No good. No good at all. Don't feel like going into details at the moment. Will try again tomorrow and let you know how it goes.





































Also, who sent us this? It is so cool.

And now for something completely different

About six months ago I lost Snuffy's favorite toy. I was tossing it for him as we walked along a trail in the woods and it went into some dense brush. Just as I was about to go searching for it, this other dog comes bouncing along, having chewed through his tether. He lured Snuffy off the trail down a steep slope into a swamp, where, happily, Snuffy had never thought to go before. The two of them splashed around for a while, then the other dog popped back up. But no Snuffy. It eventually occurred to me that this was out of character for a dog who doesn't like to be out of my line of sight for more than 30 seconds. Snuffy's rope had gotten tired around a tree five or six times, and I had to go wading down to free him. Then the other dog, well, dogged us for the rest of the walk and I had to go wandering around a nearby neighborhood until I found someone who recognized him. I tried calling the phone number on his collar, but no one answered and then my phone died. The dog wasn't really scary or aggressive, but he was pretty rough while playing and it was hard to wrangle both dogs at once. And I was six months pregnant. And Aaron was out of the country so I couldn't call him for help. So I didn't get to look for the toy.

For the next couple of months, every time I walked past the spot where the ball had gone into the woods I would root around sadly, with no luck. Snuffy is sort of a finicky fetcher, but with this toy he will run all day. It's a nice rubbery-plastic consistency so he can pick it up in the snow and chomp on it for fun. It makes it easier to get him to run around than with anything else I've tried. I was really bummed about it because my life is a constant quest to get Snuffy enough exercise and this seemed like quite a setback, and at the time I couldn't find another one on the Internet. We went back to the store where it was from, but they only had green ones, which aren't as squishy and easy to pick up as the pink ones so Snuffy was having none of it. I thought, maybe when it's winter and the leaves are gone I'll find it, but I didn't have much hope.

Monday Snuffy and I were walking along the same trail, when I noticed hey, the leaves are gone. Then I noticed hey, isn't that right where the unpleasantness happened? Then I turned my head 45 degrees to the right and looked down. And there it was, in all its hot pink glory, about a foot and a half from the edge of the trail. I lead a simple life. And I have a spoiled, spoiled dog.

ps Snuffy remembered the ball, sprinted around happily the moment he saw me with it, and fetched it frantically for the rest of the walk.

Wii report

Heh, I think the post about the Wii has generated more interest than most, so I thought I would give an update. Aaron called Walmart because he heard they were getting some tonight. They said they getting 27 of them and are handing them out at 8 tomorrow morning. They will be giving out tickets at 7. And people are already lining up for them. Now. It is 28 degrees out.

Daycare will kill us all

I guess that pretty much says it all.

I fed her at 9 and 10 this morning, dropped her off just after 10, went back at noon and heard the screaming two rooms away. I am very popular at daycare.

I do think I am making progress with the bottle at home, but it's going to be a while longer before I can just leave her and know she'll take it.

And the call came two hours after I dropped her off

Wouldn't take a bottle. Shocking.

What was the question?

Dylan's been at daycare for almost two hours and no phone call yet...

Update to follow after I pick her up at noon.

We went to a cookie making party yesterday. It was fun and cookie-filled and what more could you want on a Sunday afternoon. It was about a 45-minute drive, and it was at a house we haven't been to before. On the way there I sat in the back placating Dylan with a constant stream of off-key singing while Aaron drove. Suddenly we pulled into a parking lot, possibly to turn around, possibly as Aaron's subtle way of encouraging me to see the error of my sinful lifestyle.

Hair!

Snuffy remains unfazed by the lack of space for him on the couch

A Hairy Situation

Dylan is devouring books lately. It makes it hard to read to her. She cries unless the book is actually in her mouth. Then she cries again because she can't get MORE of the book into her mouth. Stupid baby. Chill out kid, have a beer.














I got my hair cut yesterday. Usually when I need a haircut, plan A is to badger Annie into doing it. She thoughtlessly fled the country, so that's out. Plan B is to wander into the mall and get someone there to do it, but I haven't done that since we moved to Rochester so I don't even know of such a place here. So I had to go with plan C, which is to go to an actual freestanding salon. Well, freestanding except that it shares a building with Abbott's Custard (closed for the season, but ask at the salon if you want to buy a pint!). I wasn't thrilled about that because when I go to the mall they usually laugh at me because when was the last time I got a haircut? And why is it so uneven? But the nice man at the salon, let's call him Mabel, didn't laugh at me at all and did a great job when I wasn't really sure what I wanted him to do. So I says to Mabel, my sister is in the Peace Corps in Morocco, and he's like, oh I have a Moroccan friend here. He's a Jew and he left when they started killing Jews. How about that hair, I said.

When I was in the waiting area I was leafing through a Marie Claire and I saw a blurb that said "get the cover look -- $250." I turned to the cover and...the woman wasn't wearing any clothes.

I think "layers" = "glorified mullet" but I still like it. Some of you may recall the incident my freshman year of college where I got my hair cut really short and looked like a 10-year-old boy, according to some. I think now I've progressed to 14-year-old boy, but you can judge for yourselves:

Daycare: the Prequel

We took Dylan to meet everyone in her daycare room this morning. They were excited because they only have one other girl right now. Dylan wowed them with her blank stare the entire time. It is just as nice as I remembered it -- all the babies were happy and the girls taking care of them seem great. One reason I have been so worried about the bottle was that at the other daycare we were using as a backup, they pretty much threatened me that if she wouldn't take a bottle by the time she started, well, they couldn't make any promises. When I asked about that this morning they were like, well, you work right here don't you? We'll just call if we have any trouble. One of them said how petite Dylan was. I said no, she's actually really big and the girl said, oh, it must just be her small head then (insert pinhead jokes here).

Aaron had a dream last night, the upshot of which was that he could have gotten a Wii if only he had decided to get one right away from that table over there. By the time he got back, they were gone.

Snuffy went to the vet this morning to get his lyme disease test. He is much less skittish than he used to be, but at the vet he continues to be terrified. Especially of the scale, which is just a big mat he has to walk onto. He must have some body image issues.

Happy Birthday Josh

Oops, I mean Unkie Herb. Sorry to blow your cover.

Nearing another breakthrough?

Since Dylan's favorite thing to do is now grabbing things, putting them in her mouth, and sucking, we're having a little more luck with the bottle. She drank about an ounce from it today, which isn't much, but it's better than zero ounces. I'm hoping over the weekend she gets it down better.

Yesterday day she was in such a happy mood all day. She hardly cried at all and smiled at everything I did. Which was nice since the day before she cried at everything I did.

wii wii wii all the way home

Aaron wants the new Nintendo game system, the Wii. Of course, he doesn't say that to people. He says, "I want a Wii." Which has led to many conversations like this:

Aaron: I want a Wii.
Innocent Bystander: What?
Aaron: I want a Wii.
IB: What?
Kate: For the love of god, he wants the new Nintendo game system.

And the Wii is the ONLY thing he wants as a gift. And they all sold out the first day they came out in like one second.

Dylan is really grabbing for things now.

It is cool, but also a little creepy, like if an amoeba suddenly reached out and started grabbing things. It has also led to immediate frustration with not really being able to bend her hands to her will beyond the first grab. As far as I can tell, her will is to stuff large objects into her mouth. It has made playing with toys more fun, though. And by "playing with" I mean "eating." The second I decided toys would be fun, the house was instantly coated in a thin layer of them:
Snuffy also likes the toys. And by "likes" I mean "eats." Actually, he is pretty good about knowing which toys are the baby's and not destroying them. He seems to just want to snuggle them.

Let's hear you roar now, lion.

Tired and Grumpy

Last night, not as good. When the baby is hungry I feel I have to feed her, even if it makes her go to bed later. I am a sucker.

Here's one more story from Thanksgiving. My mom and Tommy were standing excitedly over the meat thermometer. When the temperature reached 160 they let out a happy cheer. Suddenly, a third voice joined in the cheer. It was Dylan. Crying. Because they had woken her up. Jerks.

The running is going well. It is getting easier really quickly and I am still enjoying it a lot.

Snuffy is still recovering from all the playing last weekend.

Addendum: Snuffy is so tired he didn't even leap to his feet to investigate when the doorbell rang on TV.

Here's the picture

Okay, so it's not her best angle in that it accentuates her four chins, but she is one happy baby.

Breakthroughs

Oh my goodness, so much to talk about. Whoops, that sounded like the Church Lady, didn't it? Dylan has gone to bed before 11 for the past three nights. I think we may be onto something here. The trick seems to be that no matter how tempting it is, I can't let her fall asleep while she's eating because she will wake up in a puddle of vomit within the hour, guaranteed. Tonight we got her down at 9:30. I am so excited. And once she's asleep she's been staying down for 10-11 hours, sometimes 12. Let's hope this keeps up. Now we just have to get her to take a bottle in the next week before daycare starts.

In the car on the way home she batted at her lion toy to make it sing. On purpose. She has been swatting at things for the past week or so, but this seemed more directed. She's not real coordinated, but she was awfully proud of herself.

We had a great day in Tully today. The weather was just perfect and we got to have a nice lunch with Poppy Joe, Josh & Laura, and Melanie & David. Despite my months of effort, David managed to effortlessly take the best picture of Dylan smiling ever, so let's all encourage him to send it to me to post. We also celebrated the start of the week leading up to Josh's birthday with a cake and a singing candle. Since we saw Nana yesterday Dylan has been having lots of great-grandparent time.

A Video

I believe Annie mentioned at one point that she was confused about why the blog isn't all about her. One reason is that she's not here. Another reason is that IT'S ALL ABOUT ME ME ME. And Dylan I suppose. Here's a video I made for her since I'm not sure how well they do Thanksgiving in Morocco:

Happy 35th Anniversary (observed)

Thanks for the cake!

And the eating continues

Snuffy has been running with a herd of wild dogs the past couple of days. All my mom's friends have dogs so now she fits in, at least for a few days. Yesterday it was really gorgeous and we felt like we were walking through a movie.



















Dylan tried to camouflage herself just like Snuffy, but her outfit doesn't match the carpet as well:














Today we're having Thanksgiving the Second because we haven't made all the recipes we wanted to yet. There will be turkey, apple pie, and molten chocolate cake. I have made another couple loaves of bread in the past two days, but both of them were sort of flat. They still tasted good, sniff sniff. A lot of Trivial Pursuit, or TP as I call it, has been played.

12 Week Turkey

Dylan turned twelve weeks old yesterday, just in time to eat her for Thanksgiving. She lucked out though because we decided to cook duck instead.

Quilted suit courtesy of Cousin "You Have to Pee" Jill














We cooked and ate all day yesterday because that's what the pilgrims wanted us to do. Tommy made an elaborate stuffing that involved bacon and sausage (and he managed a yummy vegetarian version). My mom manned the duck and the sweet potatoes, which were emotional rollercoasters but ended up being delicioius. I did mashed regular potatoes, spinach with mushrooms and soy sauce, and a pumpkin pie. And Aaron made a checkerboard cake like his mom always makes:

Three layers of buttery goodness














We even caught a smile on film, or I suppose memory card is more correct:














My mom insisted on putting her hand in every single picture, lord knows why.

Jury Update

Wow, they have a quick turnaround time with the e-mails. And they are having none of this getting out of it altogether stuff. They made me pick the month this time so I couldn't try to wiggle out of it again. I do think it will be an interesting thing to do, it is just an incredibly inconvenient time right now.

Now I know I'm not alone

Thank you all for your support about my little bladder problem (see comments from the last post). It is so wonderful to have such an understanding community. I e-mailed the Monroe County jury guy (nothing but the facts, of course) and I'll give you an update when he gets back to me.

Dylan is still sleeping through the night like a champion but going to bed at times ranging from annoyingly late to ungodly hours I don't like to know exist. Nothing I have done has been able to change this in any way. I think a big part of the problem is that she falls asleep nursing only to wake up again 20-30 minutes later when she needs to spit up.

I made a loaf of bread with this cool recipe introduced to us with a wonderful loaf from Ali and Tom. It came out perfectly:

Snuffy thought so too (this was taken 10 minutes later):

As long as we're being supportive, Aaron has a strange elfin growth on top of his head. Please don't mention it to him, he is very sensitive about it.