more fun on the exam table

this morning i took bebe back to the pediatrician to figure out if this cold (that she's had for two weeks now!) is just a cold or something more. it turns out that she most likely has a sinus infection. no wonder the poor kid needs to snuggle with me ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT in order to get any sleep. we left with a prescription for antibiotics, but since giving antibiotics to babies 1) wreaks havoc on their poor little guts; 2) often leads to yeast rashes; 3) increases the risk of asthma (which is already more of a risk for her since it's in our family); and 4) contributes to the growth of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, the doctor and i agreed that we're going to hold off for a few more days and see if she can fight this off on her own. if she's still this sick on tuesday i'll have the prescription filled.

ok, i'm off my antibiotic soapbox. today's visit to the doctor was a great chance to take some mommy-and-baby self-portraits.

meeting some special friends

when my mom was about eight months pregnant with me, she and my dad met a couple, don and ingrid, who would become some of my parents' very closest friends -- ingrid, who is german, refers to my mother as her "american sister." while that should technically make her a sort of aunt, she has actually always been more like my second mom. her son alec, two years older than i, has been one of my closest friends my entire life; alec's younger sister lucy is one of my sister's best friends. we grew up spending lots of time together -- here are alec and me celebrating my first birthday:


and here's a picture of the four of us. judging by my hair, not yet cut into the bob that i was so proud of in first grade, i am guessing that this is somewhere around 1982.

alec and his wife rachel live outside of DC with their two sons, and the last time they were up visiting in massachusetts was the weekend before bebe was born, so they had never met. we were very excited to see them tonight, and to introduce bebe to harry, age 4, and john, age 1 (born exactly one week before i learned i was pregnant!).

bebe thought harry was so cool that it was impossible to get a picture of her looking at the camera! we can't wait to see them all again this summer.

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almost there

we're going through some frustrating times here at chez beatrix. she is so close to crawling -- although, given how long she was so close to rolling over, i'm not sure she'll actually be crawling any time soon. the way she can't quite get over that bottom leg is reminiscent of how she'd get stuck on her bottom arm trying to roll. as hard as it is to watch her try to move, fail, and get frustrated, i know it's nowhere near as hard as it's going to be having a mobile baby to keep an eye on. so i am enjoying every minute of non-mobility, for however long it lasts.

17 lbs, 11 oz of paper-crinkling fury

last night we took bebe to the pediatrician, concerned that she might have an ear infection. she doesn't. she does, however, have an insatiable desire to crinkle the paper on the exam table.

warning: fat rolls, choobies, and elbow dimples below...

(yeah, our baby is wearing a black diaper. would those of you who know josh expect any less from his offspring?)

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multitasking

a little piano,


a little xylophone,

a little more xylophone,

and some basketball.

it's pretty fun being bebe marie!

bebe's first mohawk

her daddy will be so proud...

eight months old!

today beatrix is eight months old. that's 2/3 of a year! it's kind of hard to believe that it only took that long for this:

to turn into this:

when bebe was born, everybody told us to enjoy her babyhood because it would go so fast and i can now confirm that this is true: it does go so fast. in the past month she has: grown a tooth, started to scoot around while sitting, learned how to pull herself up to standing, tried lots of new foods (favorites are tofu and cantaloupe), figured out how to put small things like cheerios in her mouth, started communicating (saying "more" and "da da" and signing "nurse"), and become more purposeful and accurate in her actions (playing her xylophone, drinking water from her cup). today she managed to get onto all fours for the first time -- it was short-lived, but crawling is sure to be right around the corner.

it's so much fun to watch her grow!

pulling up!

i just captured on video bebe's first successful attempt at pulling herself up to standing! i'm not sure who was more excited, me or her :)

tofu: the aftermath

as we enter week 2 of The Cold, bebe's previously insatiable appetite for solid foods has been almost completely nonexistent. even reliable favorites, like banana and mango and toast, have been given the disdainful toss over the side of the tray. but this morning i offered her some tofu from last night's stir fry (which i had been planning to give her for dinner last night until she needed to go to bed so early that she missed dinner altogether), and it was a big hit -- she devoured four sizable chunks, leaving behind only the tiniest pieces that she was unable to stuff into her mouth.

i'm not sure if this is just because she loves tofu so much or because she's finally on the mend. but since i am never going to get over my own cold until i get a decent night's sleep, i am hoping it's the latter.

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mostly naked baby

golden

yesterday bebe received this hat in the mail from our cousins ali, edwin and chely (and new baby due in june!) in guatemala. it says "bebe" in sparkly gold letters.

something about the gold really brings out the fatness of her cheeks...

thanks guys!!! we love it!

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360

bebe and i both have bad colds right now. all i want to do is lay down with my head elevated at a 45 degree angle while someone brings me orange juice and cold-eeze. all bebe wants to do is be held by her mommy. guess who is getting what she wants?

anyway, i will spare you pictures of my snot-encrusted baby, at least for today. instead i will share with you a video i took a few days ago. i've been noticing recently that when i put bebe down on the floor next to me, sitting up, if i turn away for a minute and then turn back again, she will be facing a completely different direction. curious, i decided to film her for a while to see how she does it. it took about 4 minutes, but she managed to turn herself completely around, and end up back where she started again. i speeded up the video to hopefully avoid boring you -- although, honestly, my baby pivoting on her butt is probably not the most interesting subject in the world. well, i'll let you be the judge:

visit from the baby matchmaker

yesterday jessie came to visit. she is my oldest friend, and it was she who introduced me to nora jane's mom jill just about a year ago. bebe was excited to show auntie jess her xylophone,


and her favorite ball,

and have some girl talk.

then nora jane and her parents came over and we all said "yay for jessie! yay for birthday buddies!"

the all-too-frequent sight of bebe poking poor nj in the eye. she just wants to confirm that a person can really have eyelashes that long!

yup, they're real.

nora jane always, and i mean always, turns on the charm when i take my camera out.

"hey, nora jane, can i ask you a question?"

"sure beebs, shoot."

"um, well, i was just wondering how you do that whole 'crawling' thing."

"oh, it's easy. magic!!!"

"but mommy, i don't know how to do magic!"

don't worry beebs, someday you'll figure it out and then you'll be able to keep up with nora jane. i promise.

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