Splish. Splash. Scream.

A morning workout

Easter

Elise made it through Easter Day without spitting up all over the outfit Anni picked out for her, a real feat considering the amount of dirty laundry she typically produces. (What they don't tell you before the baby's born: You soon will do three times as much laundry and generate twice as much garbage.)
Here's a bigger feat: She made it through an entire Westminster Easter service -- trumpets, loud choir, etc. -- without howling. Anni joked that that must mean she's a presbyterian. Or maybe she just likes music.
Anyway, some photos from Sunday:

Easter egghead

The work of Elise's cousins, Randy and Jacob. Wonder what her payback will be years from now...

The ladies

23-10-38

Sprawled on the examining table in the doctor's office, Elise started her recent check-up by having a good cry and peeing all over the table.
Couldn't blame her. She was stripped naked and laying on that crummy butcher paper.
After that introduction, Elise warmed to the new pediatrician. She weighed in at 10 lbs 14 oz. That is more than a pound over her birth weight and, according to the fancy "weight-for-age percentiles chart" we were given, puts her in the 95th percentile. I'm not too worried about percentiles; she's eating just fine and looks healthy.
She's growing in other ways, too. She measured 23 inches, a full two inches longer than her birth length. She's long, but that does not mean beans for determining her height years from now, so we'll wait before enrolling her in hoops. Her head circumference was 38.5 cm -- whatever that indicates.
Two other interesting observations: The pediatrician is convinced Elise has my ears, which I guess is OK because I have normal ears, I think. Also, she has long fingers and the doc said that's a life-long trait, which I guess is OK because long fingers are better than nubbins.
Most importantly, the doc said Elise appears healthy and with a happy demeanor.
"This is a great baby," the pediatrician said.
We think so.

Five weeks

Save a diaper, use the tub

Elise got her second bath in the tub tonight -- we still use the sink for quick, drive-thru baths -- but it was the first one I was involved with.
Everything was going swimmingly -- until someone had a bowel movement in her bath chair. I told Anni that we're definitely parents now when we have an exchange like this:
"There's crap all over the bathtub," I said while cleaning the tub.
"Well, it's one less diaper to change," she said.

4.8.09

Four weeks old

Busted with a nook

We're trying to keep pacifier use to a minimum. Usually.

The sorta smile

Movin'

'Don't worry, we'll clean it up'

One summer evening when I was younger, our family had some friends over. We were eating grilled burgers in the kitchen. Dad tried to help the ketchup along by swinging the bottle in a downward motion. We all watched as a stream of ketchup blots squirted across the floor, up the oven and onto the cabinets.
The lesson: Make sure the cap is on tight.
Well, I was reminded of that incident early this morning.
I was sleeping on the couch (long story involving a fussy baby) when I awoke to Anni laughing in the bedroom and saying, "You've got to be kidding me."
My quick assessment: She's in the bedroom with Elise and Elise is not crying. This will be interesting.
I asked what was going on.
"Elise just pooped all over the place."
"On the changing table?"
"The table, the walls, everywhere."
I walked into the bedroom and, well, sure enough, at only three weeks old, she has mastered the art of projectile pooping. Everything south of her spot on the changing table was covered in it. In the middle of a diaper change, she managed to hit the changing table, the wall, the wipes box, a stack of clean diapers, her crib frame, the crib mattress, a blanket and everything in between.
It was impressive, really.
Funny, too. The outside of the big bottle of hand sanitizer was definitely no longer sanitary. The white lampshade on the changing table lamp no longer was white and went right in the garbage.
While we cleaned up the mess, Elise sat in her bouncer, either oblivious to what had happened or well aware of it and enjoying the fact that Mom and Dad were wiping down the walls at 7 a.m.
"Don't worry, we'll clean it up," Anni told a very content Elise.
The lesson: Put a cap on her during a diaper change.

How 'tummy time' transpires

Anni has been working with Elise on "tummy time" each day, putting her on her stomach and watching as she slowly figures out that she can use those dangly things -- arms -- to push herself up. Anni will toss a toy into the mix to keep her interested.
It starts out well:

But after about five minutes, Elise gets tired of doing this while we sit and watch:

This is usually a sign they are done for the day:

Favorite photo, so far.

Work interrupted

Since I last posted a blog item, Elise has learned to crawl, peel carrots and play Scrabble.
OK, we're not that far yet, but she is building up her neck muscles through "tummy time," so my guess is she's going to be an early crawler. That's great, except this house is not yet set up for a crawler. ("You mean I can't leave tools on the floor anymore?")
It's been about a week since this blog last was updated. You know what gets in the way of blogging? A job.
After about two and a half weeks at home, I went back to work Monday. That kinda sucked. The job is good, but one could get used to being at home full time. Of course, I'm not the one who should be complaining. Anni had to play Single Mom for about two days because of my work schedule and a major development in our upstairs remodel -- we're insulated! -- but she did really well.
Elise is now three weeks and a day. She looks different from the day she was born -- she lost her newborn chubby cheeks and seems to be getting longer. She looks much older than just three weeks.
On average, she's feeding about once every three hours, but just when we think we've got her scheduled figured out, she decides to sleep through a feeding or ask for seconds an hour after an hour-long feast.
She's starting to grow out of some of her newborn clothes. I can relate because it's kind of like how I have grown out of pants from three years ago. Thanks a lot, ice cream.

Hands

No more stump

I'm happy to report there no longer is smelly belly or stump stench in the house.
Elise's umbilical cord finally fell off, meaning we now have a baby with a normal belly button and, most importantly, a belly that does not smell.
Now if only we could do something about the odor coming from her diaper...

Uncle, your niece. Niece, your uncle.

Bryan is in town for a few days and saw Elise for the first time Thursday.
They got along pretty well -- mostly because Elise was quiet. Whenever she as much as thought about crying, Bryan gave her a stern "Heyyyyyy," sort of like what you'd say to a dog that spotted table scraps. Strange, but it worked.
Somehow, Bryan managed to spend the entire day at our house and not change one diaper. Roll up your sleeves, bro, because that means at least two diaper changes at the next visit.