unimpressed

We thought the pictures of our buddy Efram's first experience with snow were pretty cool, so when a surprise 4 inches of the white stuff fell from the sky today we were prepared! We sat a cake pan of snow in front of Ally, who reached to touch it a few times. Each time she touched it she pulled her hand away very quickly, made an awful face, and sort of shook. Then she refused to touch it more despite Rob's attempts to make it seem amusing.

a full day

Many, many, many provocative, well-written, and humorous blogs exist about parenthood-- blogs about balancing work and family, the strain and joy of the early years, and the political decisions that determine what is and isn't possible for those of us naive enough to try to "have it all" (hah!). I have to say that I believe my employer is very family-friendly, and I am grateful for the flexibility afforded by their good nature and my technology-oriented job. One particular yield of this family-friendly tendency is the flexible hours I and my coworkers enjoy. Since returning to the office, I have adopted the work hours of roughly 6:45 AM - 3:15 PM, so I am able to collect Ally from daycare at 4:00 and have a nice few hours with her before her bedtime at 6:30.

On Friday I was sitting on my commuter train, which leaves Washington at 3:34. While settling into my seat, two young men in suits were working their way up the aisle when one turned to the other and said rather loudly, "sheesh! Doesn't anyone work a full day anymore?!" I bit my tongue and simmered in silence for the trip home. A full day? A FULL DAY??? Let me tell you about a full day. A full day is one that starts at 4:45 AM with a race through the process of showering, dressing, and consuming breakfast to leave the house at 5:45 to catch a train that departs at 6:00 that, almost always, arrives late. Racing through the metro system (and the sluggish red line with trains that arrive every 6-8 minutes-- but don't get me started) and into an office building just waking before 7. Studying during lunch. Dashing out of the office at 3:15 and more often than not jogging to catch the commuter train on the far, far platform that leaves at 3:34. Arriving at my home station a little after 4 and picking Ally up from daycare so that we are both home at 4:30. Unpacking three bags of gear, changing clothes and diapers, and preparing Ally's 5:00 dinner. The 30 minutes of family time we enjoy when Rob walks through the door at 5:30 before the 6:00 routine of bath, stories, and bedtime. Preparing dinner for Rob and I, cleaning up, packing bottles and lunches, then more studying. Collapsing into bed after 10 with the warm sensation of guilt that yet again I didn't have time to exercise, do a load of laundry, call my friends or family, or read my novel.

Not that the young guy's comment annoyed me or anything.

peekaboo!

For the past few months Ally has loved when we hide our faces and play peekaboo with her, or better yet if we jump from behind a wall or around a corner and shout, "peekaboo!" Yesterday she surprised us by initiating the game at bath time. She covered her face with her hooded towel, then lifted the towel and gave us a huge grin. We happily played along with our new game and now say, "where's Ally?" when she hides her face:

and "peekaboo!" when she pulls the towel away:

Today we were prepared with camera and video camera because, you know, we're cool like that.

rollin', rollin', rollin'

For the past month Ally has not minded being on her stomach as much as she did in the past... in other words, she has lasted longer than 5 minutes without crying. We have also noticed that she is moving in different ways. For example, she has invented a game of sorts that involves dropping a toy behind her or to the side; next, she places her left hand on the floor for support and reaches for the toy with her right hand, often causing her to rotate. Our pillow forts have become pretty useless as she rotates around and around. Then just a few days ago she discovered that she can roll across the floor while reaching for and flinging small toys. On Thursday she traveled from one end of the living room to the other by rolling and stretching. This new mobility resulted in a few responses by her doting first-time parents: 1. We vacuumed the living room floor. 2. We began choosing safety gates for the stairwell. 3. We ordered a smaller, round coffee table to protect that precious noggin from sharp table corners and free up some floor space. 4. Lowered the crib mattress. (I know, not necessary yet, but we're moving in that direction, right?) All of these activities seemed much more interesting than our school work, of course, particularly for Rob's class, with a workload approaching a full-time job. So without further delay, here's Ally rolling Friday night:

a photo shoot

The results of our 9-month photo shoot at JC Penney. It was two weeks before Valentine's Day, so of course there were themed props.

Meanwhile, Ally just had her 9-month check up with our pediatrician. She now weighs 17 pounds, 13 ounces and is 28 inches long-- a rather lanky baby, so perhaps she will have her Daddy's runner's build! I'd also like to say that amusing a baby for ninety minutes in an examination room is not easy. By the time we left the exam table paper was in shreds, Ally was crying (shots), and we were both pretty frazzled. She is in good health, though, and I was assured that her lack of mobility is normal and not cause for concern. Our pediatrician recommended trying more table foods with her, so I gave her a few small pieces of pizza (my dinner) and she loved it!

au revoir layette

The transition to 9-12 month size clothing seems to indicate a milestone of sorts in the world of baby clothing. In particular, it seems that certain items that have been staples of Ally's wardrobe are not available in a size greater than 6-9 months, such as the "sleep 'n play" sleepers in which Rob would like to have dressed Ally exclusively since her birth. In our local Carter's outlet store we no longer get to shop in the newborn area, and her new pajamas have non-skid feet, as if our immobile daughter will, in addition to growing into the 9-12 month size, begin translocating by determination alone. Her clothing is beginning to look less like a baby's (despite the overalls theme) and more like a child's. Perhaps no item better illustrates this transition than her first pair of jeans, which she wore this past weekend. What a stylin' cutie-patootie.

daddy!!!!!

Today I took Ally to JC Penney for 9-month photos. After waiting for about 40 minutes after our appointment time, the photographer was ready for us. I had a hard time getting any big smiles out of her, perhaps because of the long wait or time of day or stranger anxiety... in the end, the trick that coaxed a smile was making a high pitched "meee mee mee mee!" sound (imagine Beaker from the Muppets) to imitate a sound Rob makes to Ally that makes her laugh. It worked, albeit briefly. Of course it wasn't the sound itself that made her happy, I think, but my reference to Daddy. Later that day I was taking her picture with the giraffe-- our monthly tradition-- and when Rob walked in the door, I captured her response. Oh, Daddy! Rob can make Ally smile and laugh like no one else and he works really hard to amuse her in new and innovative ways, so I don't mind ranking second. Nevertheless Ally has managed to produce the "m" sound and has produced strings of "muh muh muuummmm muh" that sound vaguely like "mama," so I feel special too.

no, thanks

Now that Allison has mastered Cheerios we've been trying a few other finger foods. I've tried small pieces of peaches and carrots, two foods she likes quite a bit in baby food form. She is not however impressed with either, and after I pop one in her mouth she flat-out refuses another bite. She likes to squish carrots between her fingers and is quite capable of manipulating them, but not interested in eating them. Tonight I spread in front of her a selection of carrots and Cheerios and she picked out all the Cheerios and made her "mmm!" sound; afterwards I popped a carrot into her mouth and received the look illustrated above. Today Ally is 9 months old, which feels like a real milestone. A coworker said to me the other day, "the days can feel so slow, and the years just fly!" She is not crawling, but is playing with mobility in that while sitting she will launch herself backwards and then roll onto her tummy-- a real shock considering her distaste for tummy time. Once on her tummy she's working on getting her knees under her, but generally makes swimming motions and then cries. We have also found her sleeping on her stomach and keeping her still on the changing table is impossible; she arches her back and then flings herself side to side as we hold her legs in the air. She has started to stand with support and will hold onto a play table, though easily sways side to side or falls. We will now start to give her three meals a day and introduce more finger foods. Our baby is growing up!