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.

New friends, car seats and, of course, IKEA

I swear that I do not get an remuneration for my IKEA mentions. I really should. But I don't. And I am as confused as anyone could be as to why this Swedish mega-store has become such a staple in my life's tale.

That said, E and I headed out to IKEA with our friends, Sarah and her almost six month old son Will, who is not named after my husband or Schnoodle but Sarah's father. Sarah and I both needed to pick up some household items, and it also gave us the opportunity to flex our bringing-babies muscles in the safety of the buddy system. I was also interested in having Edie try out a car seat. The only time she's ever ridden in a car was the cab ride home from the birth house four hours after she was born, and this summer during our trip to the US she will be subjected to a good bit of road tripping.

Good news first. Does Edie like IKEA? She doesn't hate it! She slept well in the Moby wrap while we shopped and visited happily when we stopped for a rest in the store's cafe.

Now the bad. The car seat was not a success. If she had had this level of meltdown a few weeks ago, I might have blamed her for Eyjafjallajokull's eruption. Even duck, who I attached to the car seat bar (and you can see her gazing lovingly at in the car seat "before" picture) did nothing to quell her anger. In fact, she stayed angry at duck even into the evening, sqwaking at him with animosity while he hung innocently from his position on the bouncie seat bar. I wouldn't have believed that she actually blamed duck for the trip, but once I swapped him out for flower monkey, she was a lot happier. We are very hopeful that the next two and a half months will erase this memory and somehow turn her into a car seat tolerating baby. Hopeful, but not optimistic.

Just another day in the 'hood

We don't live in the one of the more happening areas of Munich as far as restaurants, cafes, shopping and the like go. But our neighborhood is absolutely bustling with kids and their parents. Now that the weather is warmer, children scootering, biking, and just plain running around fill the streets. Their moms and dads hang out too, keeping one eye on the little ones and chatting with each other.

If these folks were gorillas, I would be their Jane Goodall, living in their Mist. Watching from my balcony, but not participating in their unintelligible communications. I have gleaned that a young boy named Fabio is the trouble maker of the pack. There is a constant soundtrack of "Fabio - auto!" (i.e. Fabio, look out for the car) and "Owww.... FA-bio!" (i.e. Fabio hit someone). I have decided that Fabio was probably the young gent I caught peeing while rollerblading when he thought no one was looking. But his side-to-side glances didn't count on an observant American watering her plants that sat on a window sill just above.

The next door neighbors are like celebrities to us. They are a gorgeous couple who live in a gorgeous house, with two well trained golden retrievers, two fat and cuddly bunnies who hop about the backyard on nice days, and three children to boot. It is a stunning display.