And then there were two...

Teeth that is. Petra is now the proud owner of a razor sharp pair of mandibular medial incisors. And boy does she know how to use them. Ouch! Luckily, it's only been on fingers, not poor mommy's boob. We are NOT looking forward to that day.

For those who haven't noticed, we have the cutest, sweetest, smartest, most adorable baby in the world! I love this baby!

Survived!

We all survived our first week of day care/going back to work. Daddy was aided by a disconnected phone, making it easier to play 3 months of catch up. Petra handled day care very well (at least from the parents point of view). Mommy drops her off at 8am with a kiss and no screaming, and daddy picks her up at 5 with a smile. Karan, the day care provider, has the worst of it though. Petra is sucking up about 95% of the effort at the moment (and she has 5 kids in the daycare). They are still trying to work out a schedule, and Petra's naps are as short as they were when daddy was taking care of her. We haven't actually seen her crying, but it must happen. I'm sure things will work themselves out. Meanwhile, Petra is being fed 4 bottles a day, and a jar of baby food- more than expected. Mommy had to pump all weekend to stock us up, poor thing. I'm guessing that Karan is using it to keep her quiet, rather than because Petra is hungry, and that they'll scale back a bit as Petra starts to sleep more, and they get used to each other.

It will also probably get better as Petra starts crawling and can entertain herself better. She's already "pre-crawling" by rolling up onto her hands and knees, but she doesn't get far before ending up on her tummy and crying about it. We can't set her on the bed safely anymore though, because one good stretch, lift, lunge can send her off the edge (daddy had to leap across the bed to catch her the other morning).

With her more active, our goal for the weekend was to babyproof the house. Uh, well, we bought a toilet lid latch. Are we done? And I know I have outlet plugs around here somewhere. I did take the giant axe out to the garage too. Are we safe yet?

We're gonna need a bigger boat!

Just back from Petra's 6 month appointment. Drumroll please....

19lbs 15.5 oz (20 pounds to you and me!), 26 inches. She continues to be in the top 10% of size for babies her age.

The doctor and nurse were also a bit surprised by how advanced (their words, not mine, not that I hesitate to repeat them over and over) she is with her mad standing skills. We have a GREAT baby!

Snoozing!

Just went to pick up Petra to take her to lunch, and she was snoozing away in a rocker seat in the living room at child care! Let sleeping babies lie is my rule, so I'll go back for her when she wakes up. Sounds like she was a pretty good baby!

And boy did I get stuff done! Haircut (first in months), espresso, checked out flagstone for the patio, bought a rocking chair for Anissa at the NCJW thrift store (I really miss their "Fabulous Flea Market," from which we furnished practically the entire house), did a load of laundry, and filled the car with gas. Wow, being a stay-at-home-dad without the kid can be pretty darn productive!

Day care

Petra's been at day care for almost 1/2 hour now, and it's already taking a toll on me. Sure, I got the laundry folded, and the pictures updated, but every time I see the pictures of her I get a twinge. Thank goodness it's only for a 1/2 day today (she has a Dr's appointment this afternoon, lucky girl).

Grandma was staying with us for a few days, but left Sunday morning for Disneyland with my sister. We had a lovely, quiet, Easter Sunday with a nice walk in the park (Petra isn't quite ready for the structures/swings etc., but was interested in the sand), playtime in the back yard, lamb dinner and bunny cake (well, mommy and daddy had these at least, Petra had boob). Nice to get back to "normal" after a few busy days of visiting relatives. Petra was pretty fussy last night, whether because she was worn out or from teething pain we don't know, but she was crying and fussing like crazy for about 45 minutes before we could get her to sleep (and us as well, poor frayed nerves!

Sharp Pointy Tooth (take II)

Yes, it really happened, daddy got bit by a sharp little lower right incisor. Petra has her first tooth! No wonder she wanted to chew up calabasitas at Loteria when we where there for brunch this morning. We also spent the afternoon with Petra's auntie, uncle and cousin who were in town to visit Disneyland. Quite a day with Farmer's market, the park, and playtime galore in the house with her 4 year old cousin. Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Baby Jail

Now that Petra is standing up on her own (I need to upload the video clip of her grabbing the edge of the crib and hauling herself up), I had to lower the mattresses on the crib and the bassinet. Needless to say, Petra was less than thrilled at this new development. After all the work of learning to grab the bars and pull herself up to look over the edge, which made her so happy (except for the falling part), and we had to go wreck it.

Sharp Pointy Teeth

All that gumming of everything that was too slow to get away seems to have paid off for Petra. She's got a pair of medial mandibular incisors (teeth) starting to show through her gums! They don't seem to be causing her any pain yet, but I'm sure the howling isn't far behind. I gave her an ice cube to gum today, and she seemed to enjoy that, so hopefully we can use those to ease the little choppers into the world! Poor mommy!

Good doggie!

Sit up, roll over, beg- it seems Petra has mastered all the main doggie tricks. Sitting up started more than a month ago, but now is pretty darn solid. She's learned to catch herself with her arms to keep from tipping sideways, so backward is the only "danger" direction now. Rolling over was first accomplished this Friday, but by Saturday afternoon she was doing it pretty regularly (she clearly has a system that works for her, and follows it carefully). Stomach to back is more frequent, mainly because she hates being on her stomach (so why would she roll onto it at all?).

The begging part is more problematic. It seems she has developed a whiny "eeehhhhh, eeeehhh" that she will repeat over and over when she isn't getting what she wants (what she wants now is usually for us to help her be standing up). It gets pretty annoying after an hour or so, and makes me long for the good old fashioned pouty lipped cry. As with all things, I'm sure it is just a phase that will go away (I hope!).

Standing up is definitely what she wants to be doing every moment of every day. She'll play a little, but quickly whines to be stood up. She is only a hair's breadth from being able to stand herself up when she has something to grab on to, so our lives are about to become VERY scary. She saw a little girl walking at a hipster art garage sale we visited this weekend (more on that later), and she was transfixed. Clearly, she has set that as her goal, and won't be happy until she is doing it on her own (any week now I'm sure).

Don't break the baby!

Bad Daddy! How many times have we been warned- don't take your eyes off the baby for a second!

Petra is such a big strong girl now, that she ONLY wants to be standing. Every moment of every day she wants to be on her feet. Lying down for changing- she whines. Sitting down to play- she whines. Sitting down to eat- she whines. So, daddy has to hold her hands or hold her up all day long. Daddy's getting a little tired of this, so he jumps at the thought of her being able to hold herself up- such a big strong baby! So, daddy runs for the camera (reciting in his head "don't take your eye off the baby for a second"), and what luck, baby is just fine, and oh so happy to be standing on her own. She is so cute!

And then of course she falls down and whacks her head on the side of the crib.

And daddy gets a picture of it (technically, my eyes WERE on the baby, just not hands or anything.)



The fall left a little dent in her forehead (which didn't last long), which has turned into a little (but not livid) bruise. She was, to say the least, not happy about the fall. Luckily, I had 1/2 a bottle of milk handy, and that soothed her and she was her normal self within a few minutes.

What did we learn today daddies? Um, I'm not sure. Maybe that keeping an eye on the baby isn't enough? Maybe we learned that gravity is a harsh mistress? Maybe this is the first of many falls that we (and she) will just have to live with? Probably all of the above.

Strong like ox

Petra continues to grow like crazy, and she's already tired of this sitting up thing- it's so last week. Now when we hold out are hands so she can pull herself upright, she continues on up until she is standing, only using our fingers to balance! To give her the strength she needs for all her standing, she is eating solid foods like they are going out of style. She'll plow through half an avocado in a sitting, sweet potatoes and carrots like crazy. The only thing we've found that nearly makes her gag are bananas (which daddy's not too crazy about either).

And it was a busy week for foods. Our good friend Vicky was in town to meet and greet Petra, so we did a lot of eating out- Sierra Bonita cafe (Avocado for Petra), the Magic Carpet (squash), Loteria Grill (calabacitas, black beans, papas con rajas), and the cafe at the Getty Villa (more avocado). Essentially, she got a little of whatever we were having, and she liked it. I'm starting to think that she might even prefer the solid foods to boob, but then only the boob can soothe her when she really melts down.

Vicky's visit also prompted an outing to the newly remodeled Getty Villa to see the remodel, the antiquities, and the "Antiquity & Photography" show curated by my friend Claire Lyons (et al.). The Villa is (and always was) gorgeous, and the renovations are (for the most part) an improvement to the site. Petra was an absolute doll for the whole trip. She slept in the car on the way there, and in the stroller for the first 1/2 hour of the visit. Then she was great in the Bjorn, and happy and giggly all through lunch. She only got a little fussy once, and then a little boob put her right to sleep for the rest of the trip. It IS possible to visit a museum with a baby! We won't be completely without culture.

This week I started putting Petra down for her naps in the bassinet, as the first step towards getting her to sleep on her own. She conks out at the end of a bottle, and has been sleeping well for her morning nap (she isn't as easy in the afternoons, but I did get her to sleep a couple of times). Our goal is to get her sleeping flat, alone, in time for when she starts child care in 2 weeks. Lofty goal. Wish us luck!