"Vacation"

I am at the end of my one week of "vacation" from the hospital. It has been a busy week. I fixed some leaky copper pipes, took a course in the Taylor Spatial Frame in Atlanta, Georgia, coordinated a painter to come and paint our stairwell and bathroom, and set up a carpet layer to replace the carpet on our stairs later this month. And that wasn't even the most tiring part. I took care of Bailey for 4 days as well, while Susie worked. Let me tell ya....that was a lot of work! I've gotta hand it to all of you stay-at-home moms. It is way more work to take care of a baby than to go to an office all day. I would almost say that it is more tiring than going to the hospital and working for 80 to 90 hours per week. Both are exhausting. But Bailey sure did give me a run for my money. She is an amazing little girl. So happy and fun. If her tummy didn't hurt so much and if she didn't spit up, taking care of her would be a breeze! Her little tummy tortures her though. It will be nice when she "grows out of" this phase in her life.

The fun parts were many though. She learned to sit up on her own this week, she learned to "fly"...meaning that she lets me throw here up in the air without crying. In fact she loves it and laughs. She ate squash for the first time and loved it. She gazed at the Christmas tree lights for about 3 minutes straight...that made me giggle. She is really fun to be around despite her challenges. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Play Date

Today we went over to the Parker's for a play date. Bailey met up with her old friend Charolette, but she also met a new friend named Lila. The adults were Susie, TJ, Heather, and Tara. We ate pizza while the kids "played." There isn't much interaction yet, especially on the part of Bailey, but at least they grin at each other. It was fun to watch. They are all cute babies.

Bailey is 5 months old. Charolette and Lila are 8 months old. They are sitting up now and saying "mama" and "dada." Watching these babies is like looking ahead 3 months into the future to see what Bailey will be doing. We have a lot to look forward to.

tj

Bailey's First Snow!

Today, Bailey woke up to an inch of the white stuff! It is her first snow! Susie and I are excited for her because we both enjoy winter sports so much and can't wait to get back to the mountains where we can teach Bailey to ski. As usual, she was very curious and kind of surprised when she touched it and it was cold. It didn't stop her though. I would take her hand and warm it up with my mouth. She seemed to like that too. Then she would lean over for another go at it. She is very inquisitive.

tj

Home with Daddy

Today is the first day of my week of vacation. Susie worked today, so I got to spend the day alone with Bailey. She has been very good all day. We have been playing with toys, reading books, eating oatmeal and carrots, taking a nap together, watching elmo, and we went for a walk in the park. It is only 34 degrees outside, but I bundled Bailey up in her long johns and fleece. She wore a hat made by Ashley, and her sunglasses from her Grandma Kemp. She was toasty! It is fun to watch her look around at everything. Her head is always darting back and forth to look at stuff that we walk by. She fell asleep for the last part of the walk home though. Her cheeks were nice and rosey when we got back. Mom gets home in a couple of hours. I think that we will order pizza tonight and watch a movie after Bailey goes to bed.

tj

A Thanksgiving Family Picture

After our dinner at Egane in Downtown Stamford, we decided to get a family picture while we were all dressed up. Bailey was so patient during the multiple attempts at getting just the right shot. She just grinned at me as I ran back and forth between the camera and the fireplace using the self timer on the camera to get the shot.

Sweet Potatoes on Turkey Day

Oh man...this was a lot of fun. Bailey's first "real food" besides the cereals was sweet potatoes. Boy did she like it! Being that today is Thanksgiving, we figured that it was fitting to give her a traditional turkey day dish. She gobbled it right up. It is fun to see her reaction to new tastes. She gets a serious look on her face at first. Then she relaxes after she realizes that it is a good taste. Then she gets excited and starts looking for the spoon.

I love the orange mustache. She is such a cutie.

Happy Turkey Day

It's Turkey Day! Susie and I are thankful for our healthy little girl and our beautiful little family. Bailey has made such a wonderful addition to our lives. We don't know what we would do without her.

Susie and I both have the day off. We are laying low today with Bailey. We baked cookies, watched football, went for a nice walk in the park, and went out for Sushi. No cooking today for us. Just relaxing. It is nice to have a day off with the family. Next year we will be able to celebrate Turkey day with the whole family in Boise. We can't wait!

It's Oatmeal Time!

We have been giving Bailey solid food for a month now starting out with rice cereal. She did pretty good with the rice, but you could tell that it wasn't her favorite thing to eat. The gagging kinda gave it away. But now we have moved on to oatmeal. She likes it a lot better. It must have more taste that the rice cereal because she gets excited about eating now. It is fun to see her attack the spoon and take big bites! She hasn't been spitting as much of her food out lately, keeping more of it in her mouth and belly, not on her bib. Next will be orange colored veggies on turkey day. That will be fun!

Nap Time with Daddy

Bailey and I took a great nap the other day. We turned some classical music on and curled up on the spare bed in her room while mom went to the grocery store. We had a nice little 45 minute snooze.

The Stamford Balloon Parade

On Sunday, we took Bailey to the annual Balloon parade in downtown Stamford. The balloons are old balloons from the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade in New York City. They have been retired from there and are now used in Stamford. There were about 30 of them there.

We walked from our condo, which was about a 25 minute walk. Bailey was all bundled up with a base layer of long johns, and then a main layer of fleece. She has a white fleece that is about 1/2" thick and very comfy. We then lined her car seat with a fleece blanket and put another fleece blanket on her. She wore her favorite pink hat from Ashley, and her sunglasses from Grandma. She was nice and toasty!

As for the parade, it was great. Bailey seemed interested in what was going on around her. The balloons did catch her attention as much as I thought that they would, but she still liked being outside with so much to look at. It was a lot of fun to take her to her first parade. We didn't stay until the end because it was about 34 degrees outside. Susie and I got cold, so we walked home. Bailey stayed warm the whole time though.

tj