Shouldn't testing nipples be fun?

You would think so. But Daddy P must not have because I was charged with the task of picking out a new bottle. Baby Kate has recently refused to use our Born Free bottles. Which absolutely sucks because after three months we have quite a few and they aren't exactly cheap. Daddy P and her local Grandparents have reported huge problems with the Born Free nipple though. Baby Kate, I guess, just really sucks. She collapses the nipple and then gets annoyed and protests. One night she would only eat a half ounce out of the bottle!

My first try was with the Playtex Flex-something-er-other. It had a valve in the bottle of the bottle promising less gas and colic (always good), but dripped everywhere. And, it didn't pass the Kate test either.

Today, I bought a Nuby Natural Touch bottle. Very funky looking, which I thought was promising.



Daddy P gave it a whirl this afternoon and got 4 1/2 ounces in the kid, which is a record when it comes to bottle feeding. He was super excited about this bottle. It was rather amusing until my cheeks started to blush a little with jealousy.

Now that we've solved our bottle problem I am debating our next nipple problem: the pacifier. Kate hates it. She will rarely take it, and sometimes you just really need a soother. For instance, when you are trapped in the car with her screaming for twenty solid minutes. I would be happy then if she would use it to calm down. But, the "soothie" doesn't soothe... I am debating whether or not this is a blessing or a curse...

Fade to black... or at least, a muddy yellow

I think it is inevitable that when you are doing two loads of wash a day, that you screw one up once in a while. Daddy P lost a shirt to careless washing, and baby Kate had her yellows end up with the darks. She no longer has that crisp sparkle that she did... but I don't think she cares too much.



These past few weeks I have been learning what it means to work from home with an infant.

Exhibit A: my home office.

Finger WHERE?!

Daddy P is a smart man. He's good at figuring out when to call doctors and ask questions. Like today. "Is seven days too long in between poops?" Answer: yes. So, out he goes to the drug store. Home he comes with suppositories. Five minutes later I've officially stuck my finger up our baby's butt. It's been hours now and nothing! No results at all! I am waiting for the blow out. I have been all day. I didn't even take her out with me earlier today for fear she'd blow out all over me! But still... nothing! What gives? (haha, I guess nothing does yet... ick)

The Big Roll

At 16 weeks, Kate officially rolled over. Woo hoo! Back to tummy and then back to her side.

And in keeping with this grand event, we have made several small changes to the house with the knowledge that one day she will indeed be crawling.




Grandpa R added the dark blue rails to the staircase to make it babysafer. I spent a little time nailing foamboard to the back of our computer desk to make the wires inaccessible. We still have much more to do (obviously) but I figure we've got several months left.

On this momentous day...

... Kate chose her man.



She's excited about Obama, too... she just has already outgrown her Obama onesie.

Just talking to myself

Kate loves to chat. This week she's been adding new sounds to her repertoire. She's also working on her intonation, which is so funny to listen to. Daddy P thinks she's going to be quite the talker. She talks to her stuffed animals, us, her grandparents, her great aunt... anyone who will listen. Lately her favorite audience is herself...



She laughed for the first time two days ago. I think she startled herself she she did it.

Creative babysitting

Ever not know how to watch the baby and do laundry? Daddy P has his own ideas...

Sleep Spoiled

I didn't want to jinx it by writing about it, but since Kate jinxed it herself... Except for the last two nights that Kate's been getting up at 4am (thanks, cousin Mason... grr...), Kate has been sleeping from 9pm until 6am. Gooooo baby! We're not sure what we did to stop this beautiful pattern but it was GLORIOUS. Kate musta known I went back to work this week and wanted to get me good and ready. I think she's going through a growth spurt now because damn that girl's head is huge! I thought I was going to rip her 6 month onesie this morning dressing her! (Don't tell her I said that...)

How to break a window

Step 1: Put dog and baby in car.
Step 2: Put all of your stuff on the seat while you buckle baby in.
Step 3: Close door.
Step 4: Open driver door. I said, open the driver's door. What? It isn't opening?!?! But the baby's in the car! And the dog! In the BLACK car! And it's sunny! It might be 55 out but it was freaking hot in there when you opened the door! What do you MEAN YOU LOCKED THE BABY IN THE CAR?!?!

Skip through steps 5 through 10 (freaking out; running back and forth in the driveway; knocking on all the neighbors doors to try to use their phones to call your husband and realizing that you need to move to a neighborhood with old people and stay-at-home moms; debating which house window to break; trying to break the chosen window with a large limb only to watch the limb splinter and break against the window; choosing a large rock and pounding it on the window until it at last smashes through all the way; carefully removing large pieces.)


"Seriously, I mean, seriously??"

Step 11: Step through the broken window, carefully.
Step 12: Retrieve spare car keys.
Step 13: Open car and save baby and dog.

College fund

All right people with babies and children... now's the time to contribute. What have you all done for your child's savings/college/secretary school fund? There are a gazillion options, and try as he might to wade through all the options, we are having a tough time of it... so any suggestions and/or advice you have to pass along is hereby officially solicited. :)

First Flight down...

Kate was a good flier. She put up with an anxious mom trying to force her to eat on landing (she stopped crying when I stopped forcing her). Daddy P was the best traveler of all, putting up with both of us. Gotta love him. Kate met her extended family and her cousin. She played a lot and got a lot of good attention.

She's 14 weeks today! Babbling, cooing, cutie she is.

Happy New Year!

Kate is three months today!

Looking back on this past month, not only has she gotten more expressive and smiley, she's gotten more Caucasian apparently. Gone is her summery jaundice tan...

She is off to see her papa's side of the family today, and go on the plane for the first time. I'm a bit nervous, but confident all will go well. We have ridiculously overpacked I believe, but I find some comfort in it, and refuse to scale down one bit. Wish us luck!