The Adventures of Sloane

Sunday, September 30, 2007

I love the way these pictures came out...

Little Person in a Big Chair









Daddy & Lolli getting ready to go for a walk





Mommy & Lolli showing the love







Saturday, September 29, 2007

Big Little Person

So, I've been in Atlanta on business for three days, returning last night, exhausted, drained and desperately missing my little person. I was lucky enough to sneak away to get to have dinner with Holly and Sansanee, which was great, but I really, really missed being with Sloane.

But instead of a little bitty person, I came home to find this BIG little person. Wearing shoes. And jeans.










(snuggling during nap time)



Today, the weather is perfect and the elementary school down the block is having a Fall Carnival, so as soon as Big Little Person wakes up from her nap, we're off to have some outdoor fun!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Daddy Time

Lolli got to stay home with daddy today because she was running a slight fever this morning after her vaccinations. The two of them had a lot of fun, though John was pretty worn out by the time I got home from work.

Sloane this morning playing with her Winnie the Pooh (from my cousin Lena and her husband James):



The makings of a soccer hooligan after bath time tonight:

Monday, September 24, 2007

Pediatrician Update

Sloane went to see Dr. Coy today for her four month shots (even though she's five and half months).

Part of the delay was that I had some difficulty scheduling (my work schedule and Dr. Coy's availability never seemed to coincide) and part was that I wanted to wait a bit to let her immune system develop. These will be her last vaccinations until the dreaded MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) at about 12 months.

I've been doing a lot of research on the link (or lack of link with causality) between MMR and autism, and we've decided that the research is inconclusive and the link is circumstantial, so we are going ahead with the MMR. I did ask Dr. Coy to do each one separately and to use preservative-free vaccinations. She was on board with that. We will do each shot a month apart to allow Sloane's immune system to "catch up" between. I was pleasantly surprised at Dr. Coy's responsiveness to my concerns -- I guess it just reinforced that we made the right decision in choosing a pediatrician. I know a lot of people think I'm nuts that I not only solicited recommendations, but also phone interviewed three pediatricians when I was pregnant, but I think it's important to have a doctor who listens to you and is willing to accommodate your choices about your child's healthcare.

So, back to today's appointment... Sloane is, as expected, a giant --- 16 pounds, 2 ounces (76th percentile); 27.5 inches (91st percentile) and 17.5 inch head circumference (also 91st percentile). She is developmentally on target or ahead in all categories. Her eyesight and hearing are good. The flat head on one side has gone away (yay - we worked so hard for the last three months on getting her to stop favoring one side). Dr. Coy also thinks that her eyes are going to stay blue, which is fantastic because they are so pretty!

She handled her three shots with grace - barely crying -- I think I was in worse shape than she was! She let out a quick howl, looked at me with big, teary eyes ("mommy, why are you letting this mean nurse poke me?") and promptly fell asleep in my arms. When we got home, she played quietly for about an hour and now, she's been asleep for nearly two hours. Poor little girl.

Dr. Coy suggested that we can start solids whenever we feel she is ready (the benchmark is doubling the birthweight, sitting up with assistance and good head control -- Sloane is close to tripling her birthweight and meets all the other criteria). We plan to start in about two weeks (close to her half birthday). She can go straight to stage 2 foods (multiple ingredients). The plan is twice a day (breakfast and dinner, after her normal bottle), she will get three tablespoons of cereal (rice or oatmeal or barley) mixed with either a fruit or a veggie. Veggies she suggested that are good to start with are carrots, sweet potatoes and peas. Fruits she suggested are apples, pears, bananas. She can also go for more exotic items such as apricots and plums. At 7 months, we can start her on baby yogurt such as Yobaby. At 9 months, we can introduce meats and non-shellfish seafood (such as tilapia). At 12 months, we can drop the expensive formula and move on to whole milk.

Can you tell that I'm excited???

All in all, a very productive and good doctor's visit.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Best Pictures of the Weekend

















Friday, September 21, 2007

Mommy Guilt

Dear Sloane,

When you're old enough to read this, I want to be able to give this to you as a gift - the day by day story of your first few years of life. Doing this for you makes me really happy and on a purely selfish note, it helps me remember the moments and milestones, big and small.

Today was a tough one. I live with the "mommy guilt" every day -- I think most mothers do. I want to spend more time with you and be home with you and be your mommy, but I also love my job and my career and what I have worked so hard to accomplish these last ten years of being in the workforce. I hate to admit this, but even if we had the financial means to do so, I don't know that I would be willing to walk away from those accomplishments so easily.

So, back to today. I am in charge of a big and important conference that my team is hosting next week in Atlanta. I created the agenda, lined up the outside speakers, created workshop content, coordinated and negotiated speakers contracts, directed the graphic design team in creating materials... in short, it is a big deal and it's mine. A lot of responsibility and a lot of work, but really interesting and worthwhile to do. And today was basically the last day to complete it all. So mommy got stuck at work. Really stuck (not to mention the additional three or four hours of work I brought home for the weekend).

And when I finally showed up to get you, after a hellish commute and being stuck in Yom Kippur Get-Home-Before-Dark traffic, you were the only, sad, forlorn, orphan child still at day care. Oh, the mommy guilt! I felt a stabbing pain in the pit of my stomach - I wanted to throw up. Actually, you seemed blissfully unaware that you had been abandoned at day care a full hour later than I usually pick you up and that there were no other children there - you were happily playing in your activity swing, while Yasmine, your teacher, sang to you nearby. But it doesn't matter, I cried all the way home and I'm crying now as I type this and you sleep in the next room.

After getting home, I had exactly 30 minutes with you - during which time I had to warm your bottle, change your diaper, get you into pajamas, get the room ready for bed time (all toys out of the crib, nightlight on, etc) and feed you. We had exactly 2.7 minutes of time to just BE together. Oh. The. Mommy. Guilt.

Someday, when you're old enough to read this and to understand it, I hope you will see and know just how very much I love you and that you will understand and respect the choices I make. Because my choices are what makes me who I am. Your mommy. Who loves you. But who also loves her work.

You are always going to be the most important person in my life.

love,
your mommy

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Teething on the Stuffed Bunny

Poor stuffed bunny.









Monday, September 17, 2007

Fallin' for you

There's an ever so slight nip to the air... the windows are open, the air conditioners hum and wheeze is off. Fall has arrived.

Saturday, we saw deer and chipmunks and lots of doggies at South Mountain Reservation. Yesterday, we walked four miles, with Sloane taking in the sights perched high in her Baby Bjorn, just under Daddy's chin. Today, we both rushed home from work to beat the sunset and go for a walk again. We walked around the neighborhood, stopping at the Hazel Street Elementary's playground to sit on the swings.

Sloane loves this weather, her cheeks getting extra rosy and her eyes opening wide with excitement at every leaf, every pine cone, every flower and every squirrel. Plus, she looks really, really cute all bundled up in her new fall clothes.

Behold:



Saturday, September 15, 2007

Five Months Old

Dear Lollipop,

Today you are five months old! And it's the six anniversary of mommy and daddy's first date. What a momentous day. This is a month of changes and graduations.

You have graduated to much bigger clothes, finally outgrowing all the things we received or bought for you before you were born. Luckily, mommy and daddy discovered the concept of garage sales -- behold: 35 outfits for $20:



You have also graduated to a "big girl" car seat, no longer fitting under the height limit for your infant carrier seat. Not only do mommy and daddy have to get a big girl car seat, but we now have to get a big girl car seat for each car as this kind of seat doesn't go from one to the the other. Here's the first one:



Additionally, you graduated to the crib in your own room this month. Mommy and daddy were very nervous about it, but you took to it immediately, seeming to prefer it to your previous spot in the bassinet in our room.

Finally, you have graduated to size 2-3 diapers, just a few weeks away from moving to size three cruisers. You're now eating 8.5 ounces every four hours and gobbling six tablespoons of cereal every day!

All in all, you're turning in to a big, big girl, much larger than some of your same age peers at day care. And speaking of day care, two weeks ago, you started your permanent day care and you really seem to love it there. Your group includes four other babies -- a little girl, 12 weeks old and two little boys - one two weeks younger and one two weeks older.

All in all, you are growing and changing every day and the little person that you are growing into is an amazing creature - full of charm and wonder. You're the best little girl in the world.

love,
your mommy










Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Day the World Stood Still

Dear Lollipop,

Today is the sixth anniversary of a horror perpetuated against our country by people determined to destroy us. It's also a bittersweet day for me because it was a day in the wake of which I selfishly re-assessed my life and what I wanted out of it. What I decided I wanted was your daddy and you -- not you specifically, but to be a wife and a mother. Before 9/11, I wasn't completely sure that I wanted those things. I never looked back and wished I had made different decisions - not once. Your daddy and you are the two best decisions I have ever made in my life and I have spent every single day since that day six years ago being happy with my choices in life.

Adding you to our family has, in a strange way, made me more hopeful for the future of humanity. I dream of a world where you will never be hated because of the color of your skin, the god you pray to or the lack thereof, the political decisions to which you subscribe. I don't know that this world will exist in your lifetime, but I now that I look into your beautiuful, guileless eyes, I have renewed hope that maybe it will.

Lollipop, I love you and your daddy more than anything in the world.
Your mommy







Sunday, September 9, 2007

Prettiest Girl in the World

Last night, Sloane slept in her crib by herself for the first time. Until now, she's been in the bassinet in our room, but we felt it was time to move her into her own room. I was admittedly very nervous as she has not been sleeping well lately anyway. I was wrong - she was terrific and only work up once, at 4:08 am, and went back to sleep almost immediately when I went in and patted her tummy. She slept from about 8 pm until well after 6 am this morning.

Hallelujah.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Dear Lollipop,

Tomorrrow you turn 21 weeks old. This past two weeks have been crazy and hectic and fun all rolled into one. You had your first airline experience, and with it, your first delays, jerky fellow passengers (hello, rude, child-hating, gay guy and bleached blonde, dripping in diamonds, tacky trophy wife, I am talking to you!) and general suckiness of air travel. But you did great - either sleeping or making sweet funny faces, with their subsequent gummy toothless grins, at anyone who would make eye contact with you.

You had a wonderful time with grandma and grandpa at their really cool house outside New Orleans. They spoiled you rotten with attention, toys and everything else that grandparents are supposed to do. Mommy and Daddy also had a big party to introduce you to all their friends and their friends' kids, and you were so charming and sweet and didn't even get freaked out that there were 25 people, including six kids in ages 1.5 to 12. You really are the best child ever.

These past two weeks have had their trials too. You have stopped sleeping through the night. I guess you have decided that 1 am is as good a time as any to wake up for the day. Your daddy and I have been having it kind of rough with this schedule, and we respectfully request that you go back to sleeping until 6 am. Please?

Other than that, we could not ask for a better, more lovely, more beautiful, smarter or more charming little person to grace our lives with her presence.

love,
your mommy