Responsible Parenting

Yesterday Renee and I went to my graduate group's annual Welcome Dinner to meet this year's incoming class and to re-connect with some of the other graduate students in our group.

While I was chatting with a new student, Renee was sitting on my lap wildly grabbing at her beer bottle.  It's always so cute watching her chubby little arms stretching out, and her long chubby little fingers wiggling away, desperately grasping at whatever object her mind is set on at the moment!  When the student (sorry, I don't remember her name, I'm horrible with names) was done with her beer I asked if Renee could have the bottle so she could slobber it up.

Another student saw Renee sucking on the beer bottle and "had to take a picture!" on his iPhone.  He sent it to me with the subject line: "Responsible Parenting"

The picture turned out really cute :D  I love how serious she is about it!

And with all the hype about BPAs and other chemicals in plastics, letting my daughter suck on a glass bottle is responsible parenting :D

Apple Hill

On Sunday we went to High Hill Ranch in Placerville with our friends Jason & Jodi and their kids Keira and Jackson.  The ranch is part of an area called Apple Hill, an association of local apple growers, vineyards and christmas tree growers.  It was our first time there, but apparently it's a popular destination if you live in Northern California because everyone I mentioned it too was like, "Ohh, I LOVE Apple Hill!!  They have the best pie, fudge, cider, donuts, etc..." or "That place is great, we go there every year!"

Anyway, we had a great time.  We brought stuff to have a picnic lunch on the lawn by a man-made duck pond - Renee's first picnic :D

Family portrait.

We were sitting on a slope and I was worried that if Renee fell forward (which she does on occasion, she's quite top heavy) that she'd just topple on down the hill into the pond.  So, I sat below her the whole time just in case.  She only fell once though, right into the cheese plate (we were done with the cheese, thankfully), it was pretty funny :D

Keira & Renee looking so cute together!

There were only two ducks in the pond, and they were the fattest ducks we've ever seen, so they really had no interest in any food we had to offer.  That didn't stop Keira and Jackson from trying and they still had fun throwing bread in the pond!

Jason, Jackson and Keira "feeding" the ducks.

The weather turned out to be perfect.  The forecast had said 60% showers, but it just sprinkled a bit on our drive, and it was beautiful for the rest of the day.

Me, Renee, Keira and Jodi

Keira got her face painted and got to go on a pony ride.

And there was a cute little playground for the kids.

Keira & Jackson playing in the sand box.

Renee really wished she was big enough to run around with Keira and Jackson, but she had to settle for watching from my lap.  Pretty soon baby girl!!

And, of course, we got some apple pie for dessert.  It was okay, not great, mine is better (and Jeff agrees - I didn't bully him into that opinion, honest!)  They did have good apple donuts though :D

At the end of the day we drove into downtown Placerville and checked out some of the cute little shops on Main St. before having some super yummy pot-pies at Z-Pie.

It was a great Sunday!

World Traveler in the Making

Jeff and I love to travel and did so as much as we possibly could afford to before Renee was born.  We always thought that having a child would hinder our traveling.  But, it turns out (for now anyway) that Renee is a great traveler!  Last week we went on our first trip with her and she did great every step of the way.

First we flew from Sacramento to Seattle (with a stop-over in Portland) to visit Jeff's step-brother Earl and his wife Daphne.  The plane rides went great, Renee fell asleep before taking off and slept until we landed in both of them.  Of course it helped that they were only about 1 hour each :D

Here's me and Renee in her Ergo carrier (I love that thing) in front of the Space Needle in Seattle.  And that's Jeff's hand blocking out the sun so he could take the picture!

We went up to the top, but Renee had no interest in checking out the view.  She was hungry and just wanted to nurse.  So, now at least I can say I nursed my baby at the top of the Seattle Space Needle (I know, not really T-shirt worthy, but fun to say anyway!). 

The view from the top of the Space Needle.

And here she is with her Uncle Earl

and her Auntie Daphne.  She thought Daphne was just about the funniest person she's ever met and laughed more in these two days than she has in her whole 6 months of life :D  It was really cute!








Earl and Daphne were great tour guides!  We saw killer whales in the wild.

 

We went to an alpaca farm, 

and a lavender farm.

And we enjoyed tons of yummy food (Earl is not only an exceptional cook, but he also had a nose for yummy food joints to snack at while we were sightseeing)!

Jeff, Renee and I had one more day in Seattle to explore on our own, so we went to the Seattle Aquarium and the Pike Place Market.

The aquarium was great.  Renee wanted to grab all the fish and didn't understand why she couldn't get her hands through the glass when they swam by!  Jeff and I enjoyed watching her reaction to everything more than we enjoyed the aquarium itself. 

Then, another plane ride and we landed in Palm Springs to visit Jeff's grandpa, aka Renee's great-grandpa Denny, Uncle John, Sarah (the cat) and their house guest Valerie.

We had a nice relaxing couple of days there before heading back home.

So, really, the only hard part about traveling with an infant was dragging the car seat around everywhere we go and installing it in every new car we drive in.  And that really wasn't that bad, although Jeff was the one who had to carry the thing through all the airports!

The only question now is, where should we go next?

Food Face

A couple of weeks ago we started giving Renee solid foods!  It took her about a week before the food we put in her mouth actually ended up in her stomach.  But she's got the hang of it now.  She's eating fruits and vegetables and sometimes rice or oatmeal cereal (the cereals constipate her, so we don't give it to her very often - sorry if that was TMI!).

It's strange how changing one little thing like what we feed her has opened up a whole new can of worms on baby care.  Before, I just nursed her and we were done.  Now, I have to defrost her food (I made a whole bunch and froze it in small portions), strap her in her high chair, put a bib on her, then feed her, then clean up the mess.

This should give you an idea of what kind of a mess I'm talking about:

How does that happen you wonder?  Like this: Mom puts food in baby's mouth.  Baby puts hand in mouth.  Baby gets food all over hand.  Baby rubs hand all over face.  Mom takes picture while laughing at food covered baby face :D

Just One of Those Mornings!

• Got up and started the coffee while Jeff showered.
• Changed Renee's diaper and got her dressed.
• Prepared coffee for me and a to-go cup of coffee for Jeff.
• Nursed Renee.
• While nursing Renee I also: kissed Jeff goodbye, drank some of my coffee and tried to trim Renee's nails.
• Showered and got myself dressed while simultaneously entertaining Renee by singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over again - she loves that song.
• Finished trimming Renee's nails (they were long and she was starting to scratch herself - had to be done!).
• Blow dried my hair while eating a bowl of cereal, not very successfully. 
• Changed Renee's diaper again, this time it was poopy. 
• Brushed my teeth.
• Banged Renee's head on the door of the bathroom (an accident of course, and thankfully not part of a typical morning).  
• Calmed Renee down by nursing her. 
• Gathered breast pump supplies.
• Dropped the frozen hard  ice pack that keeps my breast milk cold all day on the floor about a foot away from where Renee was happily playing, scaring the living bejeesus out of her!
• Calmed Renee down by going outside and looking at the trees and singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".
• Tried to feed two dogs while holding an upset baby in my arms.  
• Spilled dog food all over the floor.  
• Let the dogs clean up the mess.
• Gathered Renee's food, diapers and blankets for daycare.
• Gave the cat her medication.
• Rinsed out my half full cup of coffee and half eaten bowl of cereal. 
• Made sure both dogs went to the bathroom. 
• Crated Kirby.
• Checked the house for things Sophie could and would get into (i.e. garbage can, food on counter, etc.).
• Made sure all the windows were closed. 
• Grabbed my purse, Renee's diaper bag, food bag and two blankets, my car keys and my sunglasses (forgot my cell phone, but didn't realize that until I got to school) all while holding Renee in my other arm.
• Finally got out of the house, locked the door, buckled the baby into her car seat, packed the car with all the stuff and left!!

Whew, no wonder I'm exhausted today!

Jumping Bean

We went to my aunt's house on Sunday for a family get together, and my mom brought a jumper for Renee (apparently she's going to be the spoiling kind of grandma!). 

I thought for sure she was going to cry as soon as we put her in it, but she loved it immediately!  Not only does she get to stand, but it has a mirror and a bunch of hanging toys for her to play with.

It really is a great thing, it keeps her happily occupied for a good 10 minutes in the mornings while I get ready.  Every little bit helps!  Thanks Grandma Denise!!!

Oh, and I had to post this adorable picture of Renee and her second cousin (my cousin's son) Credence getting to know each other.  So cute :D

In other Renee news, I started giving her solids this week!  She's been eating rice cereal mixed with baby food veggies.  I use the term "eating" very loosely of course, most of the food ends up on her face, chin, hands, etc.  But, some does get in her mouth :D  We're working on it!

And, I finally put up the July pictures on her Gallery page, so go check them out if you're in the mood to see more of her cuteness!

Sittin' Pretty

Renee can sit all on her own!!!  She was hanging on to the roller coaster toy (see the previous post) and she just let go.  Of course I was ready and waiting to catch her, thinking she was going to topple over like always, but she didn't. She just sat there :D

She doesn't have the hang of it 100% yet, every once in a while she wobbles, but then catches herself.  And then sometimes she still falls down (I catch her, don't worry!).

And here is close-up of that beautiful smile:

Ohhh, that picture makes me melt into a giant puddle of gooey mushiness.  I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much!!!