Social Butterflies

Ok, so, our social calendar isn't exactly raging these days. Not complaining, just stating fact. Playing with sock monkeys and plastic rattles takes precedence at the moment, and I love it. But life is admittedly a little slower these days. So it was a very big deal to have not one but TWO sets of friends from Oakland visit us two days in a row this weekend. Both were spur of the moment trips...don't you love when you have nothing planned for the weekend but it suddenly turns into Something? Both couples have sons too, so we are already stockpiling boyfriends for Isota when she grows up (if she likes boys, of course). Thanks to Dan and Alice and Lenny and Jeff and Thea and Remy for all making the trip over here! It was a treat to see you all.

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

We started rice cereal this week! Really runny of course, but she is a pro so far. Most of it goes in her mouth so she is obviously a genius.

What's Up, Doc?

Cold peeled carrot as teething device. I think she dug it.

Two Birthdays

Last Tuesday marked both Joe's 34th birthday as well as Sody's 5 month birthday. Since her idea of a good time pretty much revolves around breastfeeding and perfecting the art of sitting up, we let Joe pick the activity for the special day. And he chose to do what any normal, red-blooded, 34-year-old man would want to do: head straight to Chuck E. Cheese. So we got the babe and my parents and did just that. The place was near empty, the pizza was greasy, the tokens were a-plenty. We hit a lot of the games and took far too many pictures, as per usual. Sody Lou got her first taste of skee-ball when I packed her in the sling when I played. In a word, it was Awesome. Joe and I wanted to stay longer and play but Isota needed a nap. Wouldn't you know, the kid had to leave Chuck E. Cheese and the parents cried for more...

Oh, My Darlin'...

How awesome is my husband? I did not expect that last post and it made me swoon. And cry. I looked like this (minus the abject terror Sody is displaying here):

Tell me, Mama!

A lot gets written on this blog about a certain adorable, well-behaved, genius little child named Isota. Hell, even I've received a couple mentions. However, the person who deserves the most recognition for handling the bulk of the work raising this beautiful child is this person pictured right here:



I'm certain that without Alicia's hard work setting up a sleeping and feeding schedule, researching and reading a million baby books, and simply giving so much love to our little girl, there is no way Sody would be as mellow, happy, and developed as she is. This is a 24 hours a day, 7 day a week job and she does it superbly and without complaint. She deserves more credit than a little blog post, but I thought she'd enjoy the praise anyway.

Alicia is the most amazing mother a little girl could ask for and an incredible wife. Marrying her is easily the best decision I ever made.

To Alicia: Sody and I love and appreciate you more than you know!

- Joe

Memorial Day

Headed out for a long walk and some time at the park. Dad shot hoops, Mom enjoyed the fresh air, and Babycakes debuted her Iggy Pop onesie. Rock and roll, baby! Also, that last picture is Isota showing off her newest trick: blowing raspberries. She is getting a little too good at it.

Sody Goes A-Swimmin'

It hit 102 degrees here last weekend so it was prime time to stick the kid in the pool. First time! She rocked her bikini for the event and seemed to dig the pool. Once she got used to the water she was super mellow and chilled out in her little floaty.

Showing Dad Who's Boss

You Big Baby

Another doc visit yesterday, went great. Isota is in the 81st percentile for weight, 76th percentile for height, and 82nd percentile for head size. All of which means she is doing wonderfully and we have ourselves a big baby. I should have known that from all the comments I get from strangers when they find out how old she is: "Wow, she's BIG for four months!" I somehow find it in me to refrain from responding, "Yes, we spike her protein shakes with steroids..."

Weather is getting warmer here so I got Sody her first swimsuit. Actually, I got three. A little overboard, yes, but teeny swimsuits have to be the cutest of all the teeny baby clothes out there. (Plus, I ended up returning one.) Here she is, doing her first and hopefully only swimsuit modeling. There is a bikini too but we haven't tried it on yet. But I know her chubster belly is gonna look awesome in it. She should live it up - the only time in one's life when a potbelly is so adorable!

Best Time of Day

One of my favorite moments of my day, each day, is when I go to get Isota out of her crib (well, technically it's not a crib, it's a portable play yard thingy in our bedroom...we have a crib but we haven't put it together yet. And also I am still not sure *I* am ready to move her into her own room yet! It's too easy to just lean over in the middle of the night to the Pack N Play, make sure she is breathing, then go right back to sleep) first thing in the morning, when I hear her little baby cooing that seems to say, "Ok, guys, I'm up, let's get this party started!" When I lean in to say good morning, she gets this insane smile like she has never been happier to see anyone in her whole life. The little legs start pumping and the fists go waving and she is just SO excited. Even if it's waaaaay too early to be awake and all I want to do is fall right back into my nice warm bed, it's never a nuisance. It's pure sunshine. You hear people say stuff like that before you have a kid and you're like, "Yeah, right...I'll take my sleep instead, thanks..." but here I am, succumbing to all of it. I'll take her happiness over my own sleep any day.

And while we are on the subject of awesome things: can we just focus on my daughter's cheeks for a sec? How great are these?? Look at 'em - I am sure she could fit at least a couple of ping pong balls in there. I dare you to find something else on this planet that is so soft and squishy and kissable. I need to figure out a way to bottle them up and save them for when she grows out of babyhood but I still need a cheek fix.

Because Thumb Sucking is Sooooo Two Weeks Ago...

Well, folks, Sody seems to have temporarily moved on from thumb sucking as her favorite pastime and moved on to the glamorous world of feet grabbing. The girl can't get enough of her own feet lately. If she is laying down or sitting on my lap or chilling on the couch - she is just always trying to grab her toes (and wants to get them in her mouth too, it seems). Don't get me wrong, she still views her hands as a gourmet meal...shoving that fist in there, sucking away on those fingers...it's just that lately she hasn't been ordering the thumb appetizer.
Have I taken this metaphor too far?
Methinks so.

Aunt Beth Comes To Play

Hi, folks. I will make up for the lack of entries by writing a nice big juicy post this time. It's been a big week for us as Beth, my bestie from the Pacific Northwestie, came to stay with us last weekend. She finally got to meet Miss Isota, who decided to show off and learn a new skill in Beth's presence: sucking her thumb. She finally figured it out and gets some really good slurpy sucking action going. I could watch that forever, it cracks me up so. Anyway, we were very excited to show Beth our new digs. We saw the sights of Sacramento (the Capitol! the zoo! Old Sac!) and ate our way through it, too (Pancake Circus! orange freezes! Indian food!).

The highlight of her visit (for me...hopefully for her too!) was the March of Dimes Baby Walk we did last Saturday morning. Joe joined us as well. It all kicked off bright and early at the steps of the Capitol building. They had two routes, one shorter for families that we thought we would do because we didn't know if Sody (or the stroller) would make it through the 6 mile route. But when we got to the end of the short route, Sody had fallen asleep and we were all pumped to keep walking so we went for it. It went through downtown, a little bit of Old Sac, and midtown. It was nice to be able to see the city in a new way instead of just rushing through driving as we typically do. We finished the 6 miles in about three hours (with one pit stop at Temple Coffee to refuel, natch) and Sody slept a lot of that time. The stroller is a bit of a narcotic for her, actually.

It was really energizing and great to see so many people out and walking to support the cause. What was hard was all the homemade "In remembrance of" t-shirts with tiny baby pictures that had birth and death dates far too close together. I hate that any family has had to go through that and every time I saw one of those shirts I just wanted to hug and kiss Isota even more than usual. (The girl is gonna get sick of me soon, probably.) Thanks again to everyone who donated to the March. We were all really happy we did it and I hope to do it again next year.

Come back soon, Beth! We miss you already.

Uhhmmmmm...

off the top of my head:

Nuggety
Puncherty
Muncherty
Punchy Munch
Butter Bean
Nutter Butter
Soders
Soda Lou
Bunchin
Munchin

We have a really narrow strike zone when it comes to making up baby nicknames...

Nicknames Isota has acquired in three months of life

Sody
Sody Lou
Sodylicious
Babers
Nugget
Nugs
Nug-Bug
Monkey
Monkey Munch
Munch
Munchers
Punch
Punchers
Punchy
Butter
Butters
Buddy
Angel Food

Joe, am I forgetting any?

March for Babies

I recently read about a "March for Babies" event that the March of Dimes puts on to help raise funds for babies who are born too early. This year, my best friend Beth, Isota and I are going to be participating in the walk. I thank my lucky stars every day for getting a healthy, happy baby, and I just can't imagine what families who don't have that luck are going through. So it's time to do something about it. If you want to help us out and donate to the cause, here is my web page. Thanks!!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/aliciapeterson

Easter Sunday

She is going to hate me when she is older for doing this...

...but I cannot resist putting up this picture. Those eyes! That tush! The amazing ability to hold her head up so well!

Party Down

So my little darling dear Payton (whom I used to take care of before I had my own darling dear) turned 4 over the weekend and we headed to the East Bay for the festivities. The party was of course full of children and parents and yummy food and sugar rushes. The picture underneath Payton, Isota and Joe is of Payton's adorable little bro Cash, who is (incredibly!) 18 months old now and patiently waiting for cake in this pic.

Baby's First Drive In

One advantage of suburban life: close proximity to the drive in movie theater! It's the same one my parents used to take me when I was a kid. $4.75, double feature, bring the baby along, can't beat that. Plus, I learned to change a diaper in the car in the dark. Good times.