These Starin' Eyes

My little baby is a serious munchkin. When we are home, I get a lot of smiles, chattering, and even a few laughs. But when we are out, she is all business. And that business is staring. She pops her little (though increasingly not little) noggin out of the Moby, chooses a subject and then goes to town. The people she takes on coo, wave, and grin at Ms. E. But she never cracks.

She gets a lot more attention these days with her increasing interactivity. It's incredibly sweet to see people young and old melt when they lock eyes with a baby. Even when that particular baby is looking at them like they are specimens undergoing intense study.

It seemed like a good idea at the time

I have a fantasy of people saying to me: "Wow! You don't look like you had a baby (four) months ago!" My experience has been, however, that 90% of the time, people say nothing to me because I don't speak German, and the other 10% of the time, their eyes seem to say "Yeah. That seems about right." (Incidentally, my next child will not be born near to when supermodel Gisele Bundchen decides to grace the world with another spawn. Photoshop or not, seeing her post-birth pictorials is just rough.)

To freshen myself up a bit, I decided a haircut was in order. I decided this awhile ago, but it took a month or so to follow through. When my friend Sarah mentioned that she was getting her hair cut the following day and that she had to bring her son with her, I offered to tag along, get my own 'do, and trade off baby whispering with her. To prepare for this trip, I packed every toy that Edie has ever liked, strapped the baby on in the Moby wrap and pushed an empty stroller across town. (I indicated in an earlier post that Edie was growing to like her stroller. New results are in on this matter, and they laugh heartily at previous reports.) Add in pouring rain and two train rides, and then me and my six months worth of split ends had arrived.

I took the first shift with the babies, which was the easy one. Edie tolerated sitting in her stroller for the first half hour or so, and Sarah's baby was an angel as always. Then it was my turn, and I had my doubts. Edie's eyes were now rimmed red with exhaustion and my stylist was the only one in the place who wasn't fluent in English. She cut my hair, but I wouldn't call it a "hair cut," as that implies rhyme or reason. I now both look just like I had a baby four months ago and like I took that fact out on my hair.

Behold the Pillow

Since Edie was born, my mom has made her four sweaters, two hats, two pair of booties and one pair of socks. Oh, and she cross-stitched four dinosaurs and some ducks on a handful of onesies. While I have not been as prolific, the score can now read Amma: 14, Mom: 1. I completed the knitted pillow that I began just before Thanksgiving 2009 this week. What does one do with a knitted pillow, you ask? I actually don't know. After the work I put into it, you certainly don't sit on it or against it, that is for sure. Right now it sits a top Edie's toy box for all to gaze upon.

First Shots

There is only an after (half a day) picture of this, since anyone taking a picture during this terrible event would have incurred my wrath. I'd avoided having Edie get any injections so far, giving her vitamin K orally instead of via shot. But this Thursday marked the end of that streak. No matter how secure you are in vaccinating your child, thinking of them getting stabbed by needles makes you want to check out some Jenny McCarthy literature, just in case.

After the first shot, E screamed, looked me straight in the eye and calmed down pretty quickly. After the second one, she screamed a lot louder, looked me in the eye now with malice and did not calm down so quickly. I really wish there was a way to bribe an infant. Unfortunately, one is entirely at the beck and call of a baby's wishes - especially one who expresses her opinions at the decibel levels that E does. So, I couldn't promise ice cream or a new toy, or dress Billy up in a tutu and make him perform The Nutcracker. But I would've if I could've.

Full Circle: Back to the Birthhouse

Will, Edie and I, Munich's finest Midwest trio, had our final appointment at da Geburtshaus Muenchen, where little one was born 15 weeks ago today. Like so many of my appointments in Germany, I was only somewhat clear on the purpose of our visit. I knew we'd get to meet with Susanne, the midwife who delivered E. Other than that, I submitted to my standard practice of playing along now and trying to decipher meaning later.

It seems that this appointment is sort of a closure type thing, where you meet in the room where your baby was born, go over your birth report and generally chat about your experience and how things are going now. Very nice. Susanne asked me when we thought we'd have our second one. After seeing a report that reminded me that I spent three hours in a bath tub having contractions every 3 minutes only to dilate another 4 centimeters, I was not in a good place to answer that question.

All in all, finding the Geburtshaus was probably the best turn of luck we've had here. A few of the midwives there asked me how I knew about this place - I imagine it struck them as a little odd since I spoke no German, had not ties to anyone in the country, and basically showed up at their doorstep when I was 33 weeks pregnant. I gave them the answer I gave so many partners at the law firm I worked at when asked how I found an answer - not fancy, but true - "Uh... Google."

We got in a little photoshoot before we left. I was so glad to have Susanne see Edie again. Although we only spent 12 or so hours together, I won't soon forget her. Will and I toyed with staging a (clothed) reenactment of the birth, but as de facto American representatives, we decided to do you all a favor.

[The picture of the floor is where Ms. E first laid after entering this world. Plus some towels, of course.]

[Also, I had a bad cold this day. So I overcompensated a little as far as looking happy in this picture. Hence, I look like an evil jester.]

Stroller Baby??

The irony of our super-fancy stroller and our stroller-hating baby is not lost on us. We've long suspected that the true source of her hatred for the stroller is the boredom and isolation of the bassinet. She tolerated being placed on her back with nothing to look at until she was about three weeks old. After that, no dice. And while it is a blessing in some ways because I do love wearing her close to me and her preference for it has forced me to become fairly adept at baby-wrapping, I would like to be able to take long walks a little more comfortably.

So we've been waiting for her to get big enough to sit in the push chair formation of the stroller. Germans say wait until 6 months. They keep their babies in bassinet strollers (i.e. prams) for 6 months. Unless I was able to lace my breast milk with NyQuil or Jim Beam, this is a non-option for Ms. E. The concern is, apparently, spinal health. I am pro-spinal health, for the record. No question about it. But it is an extreme view of it here, complete with frowning upon bouncie chairs, not selling exer-saucers, and heckling moms who use car seats in their strollers. So, with E at 14 weeks, we did a little critical thinking and - to sum up an extremely boring analysis - decided that it was ok to try her out in the push chair since we can keep it at a 45 deg tilt and facing us as we walk.

I would not say she *liked* it - no smiles or jabbering. But she did not scream and even fell asleep for 20 minutes. Perhaps because it was Mothers Day she swallowed her anger. I am not going to test fate by overdoing it - one must not get cocky over one outing that did not involve being corrected by a native or strongly reprimanded by my infant. But we just might get some use out of this contraption yet.

[during and after stroller walk pics above]

LOLbabeez

In hour 132 of my captivity, I've begun to caption baby photos for amusement...

"Members of the jury, I am just a simple, country lawyer-baby. Where I come from, we wear lots of flowers and hearts. We love nap time and bouncie chairs. We do not, ladies and gentleman, lie, cheat and steal. I guess defendant-baby comes from somewhere else."

"Oh man. Something smells. Please don't let it be my pants again...wait...yeah, it's my pants. I know! I'll distract her with a blood-curdling scream! Heh heh heh. I am goooood."

Edie: "I want my $19.95 back, dog. Your tummy time video isn't helping me lift my head at all."

Billy: "You must harness your inner Schnoodle, child."

Edie: "You're a crook."

28 Days Later...(Actually, only 6)

Has there been an apocalypse? Is it just me, Edie, and two increasingly irritating dogs left on Earth? I am about 70% sure that the world is still populated. After all, my internet connection fails when encountered by a gentle breeze, so global catastrophe would almost certainly do it in. On the other hand, for the past week, I have only left the house for letting the dogs out and there is nothing conclusive on whether those I encounter during these brief respites aren't in fact zombies. It would actually explain a lot.

It has rained the entire week, which has really drained most of the joy out the already obligatory dog walks. Not to mention the narrow-eyed glances I get from the neighbors (zombies) as I drag out my three month old in the pouring rain for the tenth, eleventh, twelfth time this week.

A dog sitter was set to come and pick up the dogs yesterday. It was to be a "trial run," since we wanted to leave them for a month with her this summer. Well, this young lass emailed me at 11 pm on Tuesday to tell me that she had to cancel because her roommate's dog-fearing niece was coming over for the weekend. Thank goodness it was a trial run, she says!! Yes, I replied, but you failed the trial, you see. Sigh.

Since I have to bundle up and strap on Ms. E twice a day, thereby jeopardizing her naps and exhausting me, there is no going any where else during the day. Train rides downtown are out of the question. Which is why I'm here blogging instead of at the playdate I so presumptuously bragged about in an earlier post.

Will says he'll be home tomorrow night. Hopefully not to eat my brains.

[Picture of Edie squirming in her Moby during yet another walk.]

Little E is 3 Months Old! (News Round-Up)

(1) Baby loves her some mobile time. The rain forest mobile may have literally cost us blood and sweat to activate and install, but it is now repaying us by being E's favorite toy in the world. It is meant to be a help-them-fall-asleep toy, but E does aerobics when her big-eyed friends dance above her to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, so it's part of our wake up routine instead.

(2) Baby hates bath time less and less! As long as I play Dar Williams, sing along to it the entire time, get the bathroom very warm and keep the water not very warm, Edie now tolerates the bath. There are even glimpses of her enjoying it now and again!

(3) Baby's cheeks keep getting fatter. And that is fabulous.

(4) Baby reaches for toys! This is an "after" picture. But it does showcase the first toy she reached for. No comment on tummy time.


(5) Baby's got a sweet new rocker! The glider of my dreams finally arrived last week, the Luca glider by Monte Designs. *Sigh* It is wonderful. I do wish we'd had it back when night feedings were more frequent, but we're having some great times in it these days. Thank you to Amma and Great Grandma Simmons for generously helping us buy this fantastic chair!

Home Alone

The recipe for this week is one parent + one baby + two dogs + 80% chance of rain. Will is in Stockholm for an MRI conference where he is set to present twice, be honored as a junior fellow, and generally be lauded for his impressive achievements in the field of medical imaging. I am going to try to feed Edie promptly enough to avoid her breaking the sound barrier with her discontent. So we've both got some stuff going on.

Before Edie was born, we planned on taking her to Stockholm and making a family trip out of it. Foggy, blissful fantasies of toting our adorable 3 month old to dinner parties to show her off, the two of us taking mommy-daughter day trips whilst Will attended his meetings. Post-birth, it became increasingly clear that the trip would actually entail mom and baby dragging themselves around the city, more focused on where to change and nurse the baby than the sights and sounds of Sweden. Add to that the fact that E now has a 7 p.m. bedtime that must (must, must) not be toyed with, we now have mom sitting alone in hotel room while Will shows pictures of the baby at the dinner parties. Thus, family trip was canceled and Will is away for seven days.

The poodles are likely to suffer the most, since the forecast is calling for all rain, all of the time, which will greatly reduce their walks. They will get some reprieve come Wednesday when they are sent out to try out a dog sitter for a few nights.

Ms. E and I have big plans for the week. A playdate on Thursday and .... well, actually, that's it. Let's hope that Thursday's gathering lives up to expectations we'll be piling on it for the next five days.