kicking back

after a long hard day of eating, napping, and growing, bebe marie likes to relax on the couch and watch the celtics pregame show with daddy.

le bebe de les etoiles

this morning when he was getting her dressed, josh put bebe in one of the shirts that nolan and andrew made for her, and i realized i hadn't posted a picture of this one before. we love it.

thanksgiving

we had a great thanksgiving. despite our worries about how bebe would handle the journey to long island and having to sleep in unfamiliar surroundings, she did great. while she didn't sleep as well as she normally does, you never would have known from her demeanor. she was, as she always seems to be when placed in a room full of people cooing at her, utterly charming and delightful. it was a real treat to see her with all of my mom's cousins. as usual when josh has his camera out, i barely took any pictures at all, but i do have a bit of documentation of beebs's first thanksgiving.

after spending the night at my nana's house, we took a ferry from new london, CT, to long island on thursday morning. bebe amused herself (and us!) on the car ride from orient point, where the ferry docked, to massapequa, where my mom's cousin mary and her husband laz live, by chattering away for almost the entire 90 minute drive:

then, after the great poop debacle of thanksgiving '08, wherein bebe pooped all over her adorable dress and tights (this, i might add, while wearing a disposable diaper -- we have NEVER had such a mess in cloth), we put her in a sweater and jeans and she hung out happily in a bouncy seat while we all ate dinner.

the next morning, she was completely mesmerized watching mary play this xylophone. she couldn't take her eyes off mary's hand, and every so often a particular combination of notes would make her smile.

we went out to breakfast, where daddy had french toast and bebe had breast milk.

and then we drove back to nana's, where we relaxed for a few hours before heading back home again.

i am bothered by the thanksgiving holiday -- the myth of happy pilgrims and helpful indians sharing a meal together that we all learned in grade school serves to obscure the years of violence and near genocide that ensued after europeans' contact with the native peoples of america. if you really want to know what i'm most thankful for this year, though, in place of the thousand words i could easily write, i give you this:

and i am thankful, too, for the support of family and friends that helped bring her here and now help keep her healthy, happy, and clothed. thank you all.

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ready to go!

we had a LOT to do to get ready for thanksgiving. and no, i don't mean cooking. the nice thing about having a four-month-old is no one expects you to make thanksgiving dinner! we did have a ton of errands to run today, though. it's hard to believe how many supplies such a small person needs for such a short trip. i got bebe ready and then she sat patiently and waited for me to pack up so we could go to whole foods, babies r us, old navy, and cvs.

i hate winter and start looking forward to spring by the middle of december. this year, though, i'll actually be kind of sad to see the end of the cold weather because it means beebs won't wear this UNBELIEVABLY FREAKING ADORABLE HAT any more.

we'll be heading out in a couple hours, after josh gets home and we pack up the car. for some reason we thought taking a four-month-old to long island (many hours' drive, although luckily broken up by an overnight at my nana's house in CT) was a good idea. beatrix is very excited to meet all my mom's extended family for the first time, and josh and i are looking forward to seeing them for the first time since our wedding over five years ago. we're a bit nervous about how miss bebe marie will sleep while we're gone, however. i'm not sure i'll have internet access so i may not post again until saturday, at which point we may all be a mess of sleep deprivation.

i like to keep my expectations as low as possible. i'm usually pleasantly surprised that way.

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shorty

in addition to her brightly colored PUL (polyurethane laminate) diaper covers, bebe has a couple wool ones. she doesn't wear these as often because they are a pain to wash after a poop, but they are good for nighttime and for backups. the style she has are called "shorties" -- there are also "longies" that go down to the knees. they are all natural, highly absorbent, and pretty darn cute.

josh and i call them her "old-timey underpants." doesn't it look like she's about to get on the party line and call mabel to discuss the scandal that happened at the church supper last night?

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almost as good as chocolate and peanut butter

naked bottom time and tummy time, two great tastes that go great together.

happy traveler

we had a wonderful weekend at mems and teed's, with aunt marge, uncle ben, and uncle ben's parents alice and joe and his brother eli. as usual, i didn't take any pictures, so you'll have to check josh's blog for those.

bebe was her usual charming self, but she didn't sleep very well while we were gone. she compensated by sleeping the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive home. when we arrived at our apartment it was pretty cold, since we had turned the heat way down when we left. so while we waited for it to warm up, we kept bebe in her car seat, snuggled up with a blanket and little mouse. she usually screams to be taken out of the torture chair as soon as we get inside, but for some reason tonight she was totally content to stay in there, cooing and smiling.

visit with ocean

last night, bebe's buddy ocean was in town for a party, so she came by for a little visit with her parents angela and jack. it was a great time. ocean tried out the gymini and the bumbo, bebe peed on the floor, angela and i both had our boobs out at different moments... who says that parenthood means no more wild parties?!?

we also, you'll be glad to know, took plenty of pictures.

dads and babies

the girls encounter each other -- they were really interested!

and the obligatory prop-the-babies-up-on-the-sofa-so-they-look-like-big-people shot

we forgot to get a pic of the moms and babies, though. next time?

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success!

after over a week of tireless effort and unceasing devotion to her task, bebe finally got her foot into her mouth today.

the contented gaze of the conqueror.

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oh i wish..

the author of one of my favorite blogs recently posted some verses she made up to sing to her daughter, to the tune of "oh i wish i were a little bar of soap" (same tune as "if you're happy and you know it"). example: "Oh I wish I were a little ‘lectric eel / Yes I wish I were a little ‘lectric eel / I’d go sparky sparky sparky, way down in the ocean dark-y /Oh I wish I were a little ‘lectric eel"

she then invited readers to make up their own verses and leave them in the comments. bebe and i have been singing ours ever since! here's what we came up with:

(these first three are for our chinese zodiac signs: 2008 = year of the rat; 1976 = year of the dragon; 1974 = year of the tiger.)

Oh I wish I were a little baby rat
Yes I wish I were a little baby rat
I’d go squeak-y squeak-y squeak-y and the ladies would scream eeek!-y
Oh I wish I were a little baby rat

Oh I wish I were a shiny scaly dragon
Yes I wish I were a shiny scaly dragon
If you filled me full of ire I’d singe you with my fire
Oh I wish I were a shiny scaly dragon

Oh I wish I were a little strip-ed tiger
Yes I wish I were a little strip-ed tiger
I’d go growl-y growl-y growl-y while I was on the prowl-y
Oh I wish I were a little strip-ed tiger

Oh I wish I were a tiny little crab
Yes I wish I were a tiny little crab
I’d go pinch-y pinch-y pinch-y up and down your every inch-y
Oh I wish I were a tiny little crab

Oh I wish I were a little baby starfish
Yes I wish I were a little baby starfish
If I came to any harm I’d just grow another arm
Oh I wish I were a little baby starfish

Oh I wish I were a little snapping turtle
Yes I wish I were a little snapping turtle
I’d go bite-y bite-y bite-y and I’d give you quite a fright-y
Oh I wish I were a little snapping turtle

Oh I wish I were a little chimpanzee
Yes I wish I were a little chimpanzee
You and I would love to play and we’d share lots of DNA
Oh I wish I were a little chimpanzee

Oh I wish I were a Beatrix Marie
Yes I wish I were a Beatrix Marie
I'd be smiley smiley smiley every day and all the while-y
Oh I wish I were a Beatrix Marie

it's seriously addictive. you should try it too!

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it's-a me, mario!

our plumber is a very nice italian man who speaks with a thick accent and is named mario. he looks a lot like this:

he even has a mustache! although as far as i know, he doesn't actually go into the pipes.

why am i mentioning our plumber, you ask? because he's here right now, downstairs in the basement trying to fix our heat.

yes, that's right, our heat is broken. we came home last night to find that it wouldn't come on. which means we've had one cold, cold baby on our hands, seeing as how last night and today are the coldest temps we've seen so far this year.

my strategy for dressing bebe in the cold weather (and we can't afford to turn our heat up that high so this will apply even after mario fixes whatever's broken) is layers. layers, layers, layers.

she is not too thrilled about it, apparently.

so: long-sleeved undershirt, one-piece outfit, leg warmers, and hooded sweater. the two best parts of this are


leg warmers:

and hood:

{edited to add: THE HEAT'S BACK ON! WOO HOO!!!}

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the stats

bebe had her 4-month appointment this morning. she weighs 14 pounds 9 ounces and measures 25 1/4 inches long. dr. bastian told her she is "precious." oh, how i love that man!

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phbbbbt

this morning, while i ate my breakfast, beatrix offered me some raspberries for my oatmeal.

(ps. i don't know why blogger keeps making the beginnings of my videos all weird...)

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ha ha ha HA! (laugh, part two)

tonight after her bath, a very tired bebe marie (who woke up at 5:15 and didn't nap much today) got all punchy. THIS is her big laugh... and we weren't even doing anything to solicit it!

ha ha ha

i finally captured bebe's laugh on video (sort of -- it's not her guffaw-iest laughs but it's the best i've been able to get so far). as you'll hear, what makes her laugh most is my laughter. we can spend quite some time laughing back and forth at each other.

it's naked bottom time!

bebe has been having so much fun rolling around on her changing table -- her bulky diapers limit her range of motion, but when they're off, look out! she swings her legs all over the place, grabs her feet, and squeals with delight. so i decided to give her some naked bottom time on a blanket on the living room floor, since there's more room to move there.

boy did she have fun! she did pee at one point, but we just moved her off of it and let her stay there, rolling and wiggling, until her little bottom got cold.

dude, where's my car?

beatrix has got her keys and she's ready to go.


but wait a minute...

you mean they don't go to anything???

(p.s. uncle ben calls this shirt "animal-flauge." if she were at a zoo in the desert, you'd never be able to see her!)

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still working on it

oh, bebe marie is trying so hard to roll over. and she is closer than ever!

today she got up onto her side no problem.

she then managed to roll...

three quarters of the way.

she hung out there for a while

and then, to her surprise

she was on her tummy!

she couldn't get that bottom arm out from under herself, though, so i don't think this counts as a true "rolling over." still, i can't believe how strong she's getting!

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