Tricks are for kids!

Last night, I noticed Lauren twirling her hands like a belly dancer with castanets. "Are you waving Bye Bye?" I asked. Then I started to copy her and repeated over and over, "Bye Bye! Bye Bye! Bye bye!" She stopped and stared at me like I was a nut and turned her attention to the TV. A couple of minutes later I repeated "Bye Bye! Bye Bye!" and she lifted up her left hand and did the twirly thing again. A new trick!

"Good Girl!" I said. She smiled sweetly and turned her fingers toward her face and waved Bye Bye to herself.

Stay tuned. "Flying Kiss" soon to follow. Oh, and how about "Beautiful Eyes!!" (flirty batting of the eyelashes). Is that just a Filipino thing? Any other tricks I can teach her? If it's cute enough I can get it on video and she can be a YouTube star, like the Girl explaining Star Wars or the kid singing Hey Jude. Somehow I don't think "Baby waving Bye Bye" will get as many hits (even though she IS the cutest baby in the world waving bye bye).

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We had dinner with Mom P. to celebrate her 39th birthday. She gave Grandma an orchid and a picture frame (as if Grandma didn't already have enough pictures of Lauren in her house already!). Lauren was too preoccupied with the candles on the cake (and getting her hands on that icing..which she did eventually) to look at the camera.

Go Sox!

Today was supposed to be the day that Peter took Lauren to her first baseball game and introduced her to his lifelong obsession: the Boston Red Sox. They are playing in Oakland today and in preparation Peter even bought matching Tshirt and Onesie for the two of them to wear (they are printed with the Boston Globe headline from when the Sox won the World Series last season). They were supposed to be the cutest father/daughter pair in the stadium. Unfortunately, Lauren is still a little sick so Peter went to the game with my brother while I stayed home with her. There goes their shot at being seen on the Jumbotron at Oakland Coliseum.

She's still wearing her Red Sox outfit today for good luck.
Look at that silly smile...she's feeling much better today.

Fever and blisters and HERPES, OH MY!!

Well...it's been a long week. I've been home all week nursing a poor, sick, baby. Lauren started to feel bad on Tuesday and by Wednesday she had a fever of 103.9 and was vomiting. We were able to control her fever with Tylenol and when her fever was down she was in generally good spirits...just not eating or nursing. We went to her doctor and he diagnosed her with Herpangina, which is basically a viral infection that is a variant of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. She had blisters in her mouth and the back of her throat (HFMD causes the blisters on hands and feet as well). It is NOT related to Herpes..and NOT related to hoof and mouth disease that animals get. Because of her mouth sores, it was very hard for her to swallow so she refused to eat. Now, when babygirl refuses cheerios, you know there's something wrong!

She would not take a bottle because it rubbed against the sores in her mouth and she only nursed occasionally. I think she lost about 1 lb in 2 days, poor thing, and I was worried she'd get dehydrated. She would look up at me with the saddest eyes and I knew she was hungry but just could not eat. I felt so helpless, it's really the worst when you can't do anything to help except give a little Tylenol and extra hugs.

She seemed better on Friday but then she started developing sores on the OUTSIDE of her mouth...Mom P. took one look at them and said "Herpes!" and that's what it was. She's got coldsores (which IS related to herpes...but not the genital kind). Mom P. gets coldsores too so she recognized them right away.

So, my poor baby is still a little sick. Good news is that she's eating now..and she's got a big appetite to make up for the 3 or 4 days when she couldn't eat. Bad news is that she's got a couple of gnarly looking sores on her bottom lip and near her chin...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It was Peter's birthday today. Unfortunately, he had to work and Lauren and I were feeling sick. I was able to muster enough energy to drag myself to the store and buy a birthday balloon and a miniature birthday cake. Even though she wasn't feeling well, Lauren was able to greet her daddy home from work with a warm and beautiful smile.

Weekend in the City

We had a busy weekend. It started with a trip to Novato to visit my brother and his recently operated-on ankle (he's got pins and things going through his leg...OUCH!). We then traversed south on the 101 to visit with Peter's brother in San Francisco where we enjoyed a delicious dinner at an Indonesian restaurant. After spending Sunday morning partying on the rooftop and watching the Bay to Breakers we mosied on down the 280 to Cupertino to visit with Peter's cousin and her family. Lauren got to play with her cousin Bennett while I attended a training class in Santa Clara about the exciting and scintillating world of Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Instrument Maintenance and Troubleshooting. We then headed back home Monday night. Very Busy. Very Tired. Very Fun! (well, except for the training class).

She really is your best friend, Ed. She's just playing hard to get.







Watching the runners/walkers trudge up the hill during Bay to Breakers.










Cover Your Eyes, Lauren!!!

9 Months

Wow wow wow. Another month just zoomed past. Her 9 month checkup is not actually happening until June so I don't have any stats to share. I guess a good way to describe her at 9 months is that she's just like she was at 8 months---just kicked up a notch! She's crawling faster, she's standing steadier, and I predict she'll be walking before she hits 11 months. Her personality is starting to show through and I see a drama queen in the making..uh oh! I don't know how her Daddy is going to handle that!

She's still nursing at night and on my days off, I'm still pumping away at work, and her appetite for solid foods is growing. She's started on eggs and meats now and I always give her a little taste of what we eat for dinner whether it's a bit of rice or some crust from my pizza. Feeding time is becoming more and more challenging since she wants to feed herself...sometimes I end up having to hose her down after mealtimes and occasionally I'll find bits of banana in her hair or cheerios in her diaper.

Her sleeping patterns are hard to predict. One week she's sleeping great through the night...and then the next week she's up at 2 in the morning because she wakes herself up sleep-crawling or even sleep-STANDING! Yes, I did find her pulling herself up to standing with her EYES CLOSED! Funny girl. I read about the 9 month sleep regression where babies are working out their new crawling/walking skills in their heads while they sleep and this causes a disruption in babies who previously slept through the night. Well...whaddaya know, she's right on schedule!

Last week we were watching TV and I noticed that every time a commercial came on, Lauren started bopping her head and bouncing up and down. She was dancing! My mom said that it started when Lauren would stand up in her crib while mom did her exercises and start bouncing around to the music, imitating my mom doing her cardio. It's the funniest thing. Now, anytime there's music playing she starts dancing and laughing...sometimes even singing. I think she's gonna be a STAR!

Before you know it, I'll be giving you a ten month update and (GASP!) do I need to start thinking about her First Birthday Party?! SLOW DOWN, GIRL!