New Phone

 

I went running with Fiona and the BOB yesterday. It was hard, my shoulders hurt a little, but all in all not so bad. The ride seemed pretty smooth for Fiona. I also got a new cell phone, the LG Cosmos:

I like that it has the QWERTY keyboard because it will make texting easier. Even though it’s not an iPhone or even a Smartphone at all, it will suit all of my needs – texting and calling people. I don’t need to watch videos or play game or listen to music. The only photos I take are for the purpose of changing my wallpaper. It’s not much bigger than my last phone. Also, it didn’t take very long to charge the battery so I activated it and am already using it. Of course, no one called me today :(

Got BOB?

 

This arrived yesterday:

It’s my new BOB Revolution running stroller. I realized later that it’s not the one they recommend to use while running on the BOB website, but the differences weren’t great. The one BOB recommends – the Ironman – is a little bit smaller (less than an inch shorter), 2 pounds lighter, the front wheel is bigger, and it is permanently locked. The Revolution has the option of letting the front wheel swivel or locking it in place.

I am going to “test drive” it as soon as it stops raining here. If it works alright, I will be very happy. I miss running and swimming and exercising in general. Without a running stroller, it is impossible for me to get out. The two times I went before were freak occurrences.

I can’t wait to race again, but I will not use the stroller for racing. That is what grandmothers are for.

4 Months and a Well Baby

 

Today was Fiona’s 4 Month Well Baby Visit. She weighs 10 and 1/2 pounds, is 22 and 1/2  inches long, and her head is 15 and 1/2 inches around. This means that she is now in the third percentile for weight for her actual age and has moved from the third to the fifth percentile for height. She is in the 50th percentile for her adjusted age in every category, making her a very average sized two months old or a very small four months old.

She holds her head up and looks around, coos at us, “talks” to us, and reacts to things we do and say. Her doctor said she behaves more like a four months old than a two months old baby and said we had the option of starting her on solid food. I have absolutely NO intention of doing that any time soon. Our exam was in the circumcision room and we made lots of jokes about it.

She got her second round of Rotavirus, TDAP, and HIB vaccinations, and received Sesame Street band aids on her chubby little thighs:

After, I took her to another room and fed her. She’s been great all day, no spit up at all, and not even cranky.

 

Here she is sleeping again and then looking coy, and then sleeping again:

After dinner tonight I put her in the Bumbo. The Bumbo is a little rubbery seat that she can sit in even though her head control is not great yet. I bought it from the person who sold the swing to me (which we use regularly now). It has a tray I can put on it so she can play with toys, except she doesn’t have any toys and doesn’t play with anything yet anyway. She looks like she’s insane in this picture, but in reality my mom was just off camera and she’s smiling at my mom and making faces. Not sure when we will use the Bumbo again.

Our bed time routine is going well so far. We bath her or just rub her, change her diaper, read to her and feed her, and she goes to sleep. The first night she slept for five hours, the second for four hours, and the third for three and a half. I know it seems like she’s sleeping less and less, but I do not think that trend will continue. She’s not fussy in the evening and she falls asleep without much ado. I can do things like shower and blog. I’m really hoping that some day in the not too distant future she’ll sleep right through to her 2ish feeding.

Someday.

Sad News: Rest in Peace Puppy

 

One of my parents’ dogs died today.

Last week my parents purchased rawhide bones for the dogs. The dogs had an altercation over one of the bones and in the process, Puppy’s leg was broken in multiple places. The vet said she needed surgery.

The operation was today. My mother received a phone call from the vet, telling her that Puppy wasn’t waking up. My mom went to the vet’s office, petted her and talked to her, and she seemed to improve, but then her heart just gave out. She died.

Puppy, or Latke as she was known to some, was thirteen years old. I still remember the day that she arrived at my parents’ house in Littlerock. I was home from college on winter vacation and my friend Shelley was there too. We woke up one morning to find a puppy in the yard. No one could figure out how she got in, but no one was surprised either, because all of the dogs we ever had growing up sort of magically appeared at the house (except for Sasha, whom I got from an ad in the paper).

She was the first real puppy we had because all the other dogs were adults when we got them. She was brownish, and we joked that she was the color of my mom’s burnt latkes (it was around Chanukah time). So we named her Latke, but then called her Puppy anyway. 

I am so sorry and sad for my parents right now, especially my mom, who had a special bond with Puppy.

If you read this and have a moment, drop my mom a condolence email (zaksland@roadrunner.com).

Mommy, I’m thinking about you tonight and I am very sorry this happened. I know she is no longer in pain and is frolicking around in doggie heaven with Tiffany, Shadow, Scoobie, and Boner, and Sasha is probably ignoring her.

A Trip to Costco

Today we went to Costco and I put Fiona in the Moby. The following photo is not from today, but I used the same hold:

Sadly, making it out of the house and completing the trip to Costco to stock up on toilet paper and smoked salmon is the highlight of my day. I’m learning that when you have a baby, brushing your teeth or making the bed before nightfall can seem like great accomplishments, and leaving the house, even to go to the mailbox, is a noteworthy and exciting adventure.

Many people commented on the baby, asked her age, and said she was cute (their word, not mine). One lady guessed that Fiona was a preemie based on her age and size. I don’t tell people her adjusted age, just her actual.

It made me happy and sad at the same time.

First, pretty soon I will not be able to take Fiona out in public to places like Costco, the supermarket, Target, or anywhere that is indoors with a lot people, because soon it will be RSV and flu season. Running errands will be a thing of the past. As it is, I get out once a week or once every other week, when I can time it just right. In a month or so, we will likely have to semi-quarantine ourselves.

Second, the smiles and comments brought back the feeling of loss I have about my pregnancy ending early. When Fiona was born, I was just starting to get big enough that old ladies and new families smiled at me on the street. I missed nine weeks of that wonderful feeling that new life is growing inside and the world can see that and acknowledges it.

But it did make me happy to know that I have a beautiful and so far pretty healthy little girl that brings indescribable joy to my life.

So like all Costco experiences, it was a mixed bag, but overall positive. At least the lines were short and I was able to park in the shade. And my mom got herself a nice hot dog.

Oh, and we took a wonderful nap together, Fiona and I, and I woke up feeling actually refreshed!

Bed Time Routine (sorry no photos)

Tonight we are starting a bed time routine with Fiona. The routine includes a bath or something like it, followed by reading and eating, then hopefully she’ll sleep for a couple of hours before getting her night bottle. Eventually I would like this to lead to her sleeping until her 2am-ish feeding, then until morning. This is not a schedule or anything, just something to help her wind down her day and maybe cut out a little bit of evening fussiness.

It worked tonight, after the bath I fed her while John read to her. She fell asleep and I put her in her crib, where she lasted about 20 minutes (enough time for me to eat some sorbet and read a magazine). John picked her up and she is now sleeping with him on our bed.

One reason for the routine is that at some point in the not-too-distant future, she will outgrow her bassinet. She already moves around in her sleep and wakes herself up when she encounters the foot of the bassinet or sometimes the side. At the end of the bedtime routine, I will put her in her crib to get her used to it (she already naps there sometimes, but lately we’ve been putting her in the bassinet even for naps).

I am simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the night she starts sleeping in her own room. I will miss her to no end. I like waking up and being able to see her and hear her close by, that she’s only a step away. However, I think we will all sleep more peacefully if she is in her own room because her night grunting can be very loud.

Too (Much) Cute?

More than one person has told us that we refer to Fiona as being “cute” too much, that all we say about her is that she is cute. A friend of mine made fun of me for saying how cute Fiona was in every post, and now another person has mentioned it. So John and I discussed it and came up with two other adjectives: precious and adorable. From now on, I will use “cute” sparingly, and refer to her as either precious or adorable, depending on my mood.

The truth is, at her age, she doesn’t really do a whole lot, so there aren’t a lot of words to describe her. When she’s older and doing more things intentionally, I (hopefully) will be able to use words like “smart”, “creative”, “fast”, “funny”, etc.

So for now, here is a picture of Fiona looking adorable right before another bath. She really smiled at the camera. In the photo I took before this one, she wasn’t smiling.

Here is a video of Fiona in her swing, At one point, she smiles and coos. The voice is my mom (also in picture) who has really bonded with Fiona lately.