Day 51 - cereal

so after talking with MK in the morning who said that parker never really wanted to eat but tess was just ready, and then looking at my little large marge i decided she was ready for some cereal - the first step in solids

the pictures really don't do the joy of food justice

surprise surprise, she had a blast and ate a small cup. she was just plain ready. she had some more when mom got home and then again this morning. definitely not a fluke. it's a whole new world of messy as well.

met MK over on cortland street for a blended mocha at martha's in the late afternoon which hopefully explains why i was up at 3 and could not get back to sleep :-(. oh well.

she woke up at 5 - even after the extra calories - chugged 4 oz and passed out again.

eric's coming over for some 'shop time' this afternoon - we'll see how hannah likes hanging with the boyz in the garage.

Day 50

yes, i'm cheating but she's still diggin the excersaucer

wow - 50 - pretty crazy. melita hung out with hannah on union street while i went to see dr. ross again yesterday. what a life saver. she was pretty well behaved as long as m kept the stroller moving.

got wiped out in the afternoon after we got home - most likely due to the adjustments. of course that's when her teething acted up and she nearly pierced my ear drums.

she woke up at 4 and we let her cry it out until 5 - we'll see how that works.

she's been sacked out since 10 now after eating around 7...i may need to wake her soon. had a productive morning - put together the high chair we got from dan and roni and tried to fix the grandfather clock to no avail. to the shop it goes.

sticking around this labor day weekend - as usual - too crazy to drive on the long weekends. hopefully see the bells on sunday and maybe bbq at the wymers new pad on monday. got clearance for downieville with the boyz the next weekend...very psyched - thanks mom!

Day 49

it's kind of scary just how much she digs the excersaucer we just got for michael and kat (thanks guys!) clearly a LOT of consumer testing went into this thing. i just wish is took up a little less room.

after a nice day of several naps and a nice walk she slept from 10 pm until 7. we tried giving her some rice ceral in her formula for the dream feed but it clogged up the nipple! anyway, alls well that sleeps well.

Day 47 & 48

she really had a great time with aunt aviva this weekend

yesterday was exhausting. she woke up at 1 and at 5 to eat. she slept fine in the car but woke up whenever we started walking around. i was the guy with the crying baby in target. she seems like she's really teething the way she gnaws on my knuckle.

talked to nurse judy at the docs today - she was very encouraging;

• we are ahead of the game having her fall asleep in her crib
• adding some rice cereal to her dream feed is a good idea
• we should start letting her cry it out at night
• she recommended some homeopathic teething remedies
• setting up a schedule for mom and dad is key. i i'm going to deal with the 4 am jack should do the dream feed at 11 and i should go to bed earlier. we were both thinking along those lines as well.
  

she seems much better today. perhaps it was also too much sleeping in the car on sunday...she's had one good nap already, a good feed and is down again. we'll see how a mellow day at home does for her temperament.

Aviva and Harry Visit

we had a great time with aviva and harry this weekend. hannah particularly enjoyed the itsy bitsy spider.

saturday we went to dim sum at yank sing - where jonah and jenny had their wedding reception - then to the farmers market at the ferry building and coffee at ritual (whose online store is now open) on the way home. we grilled up some kailbe saturday night.

sunday we headed up to napa as they had never been there.
aviva loved the art gallery at hess and lunch at tra vigne was pretty fab. sunday night we layed low.

it was great spending time with them on our turf.

Day 44

she's really digging the rattle from clio.

aviva and harry arrive today - picking them up at the airport in the afternoon.

walked over the hill to pick up some snacks at the avendanos - the great new meat market on cortland and then stopped by to say hi to melita and the girls.

Day 43

we thought she was awake at 3 and at 5 but she was just wailing in her sleep. apparently she was all sweaty - either her diaper leaked or she was all sweaty. the fleece sack may have been too hot but her hands were still cold.

she's grabbing things with both hands and putting them in her mouth. she also loves the little rattle clio brought over the other night.

superdad was on a roll yesterday

• hung new mirror, moved pictures
• set up room for harry and aviva
  
• installed blindwinders which really cleaned up the windows. since casey almost strangled himself on the cords we thought it was kind of a prioritity
• dropped off stryofoam peanuts that the clock came in for recycling
• picked up moms' boots after stretching
• dropped off paperwork at daycare adn scheduled days to take her in in sept.
  
• picked up a nice flat iron for dinner
• made dinner
  
• laundry

bad news is bikes not selling so fast. jersey guys seems to have lost interest when he realized the shipping costs and the fresno fireman is holding firm at $4Gs. it's relisted on craigs - need to talk to darragh.

Day 42

how could we forget meeting linda's niece minna last week?

clio and thalia came over for a visit last night so derrick could go get wasted (i mean er um go to a moving to new york party). nice to put a 'sit' in the bank and get in the game for trading. jackie played some piano with them and then we watched madagascar which was pretty entertaining. apparently i've also inspired derrick to start a blog.

she woke up at 10:30, gulped down 6 oz of formula and then was up at 5 ready for more. at least it was 5...started on the zantac again since she's been spitting up kind of regularly. hasn't helped yet but we'll see.

it was nice to chill yesterday but that means there are lots of errands to run today. gotta get ready for aviva and harry arriving on fridy too. ery exciting.

Day 41

back up at 4 - even with a 6 oz formula dream feed! sigh. not really sure what to do at this point. may have to try the chinese water torture method. could we be feeding her too much at night? i really don't think that's possible considering she eats 3 oz at 4 and goes right back to sleep.

showing the bike to the guy from jersey today. i that falls through there's the fireman from fresno, but he says he only had 4Gs to spend at this point. i think i'm going to re-list it if the first guy backs out.

need to drop off the daycare papers and the check - can't believe she's starting so soon! crazy this damn time flying thing.

Day 40

wow how time flies the big 4-0! it was nice to hear from jonah that his folks - my uncle milt and aunt roberta - keep up on the blog. it would be great if people posted comments - sometimes you don't know if your blog falls in the forest if anyone would notice.

dad used up one of his 5 fathers day guilt free rides on sunday with a big loop at china camp with john on his new ride. mom took hannah down the marina for a windy walk and to chestut street for some more retail therapy.

she woke up at 4 again but i think it was our fault - her feeding schedule got messed up somehow and mom fed her at 10 and it did not seem right to dream feed her at 11 and i wasn't going to stay up til one to do so. we'll get her back on schedule this week - have to before aviva and harry get here on friday.

oh, and on the 'baby-change-your-lif- front' i have a guy coming to look at the motorcycle for sale tomorrow and a back up guy coming on thursday. need to get it washed again.

Hannah meets Olivia

cousins jenny, jonah and olivia were in town visiting jenny's mom and came over for brunch. jonah is my first cousin on my dad's side. i made a torta and picked up some foccacia and fresh tomatoes from the farmers market, along with some oranges to make mimosas.

olivia had bananas and yogurt and even managed to get some in her mouth.

jackie hannah and i decided to wear our sf black Ts.

the girls had a nice time playing together. but we have a feeling that when they get older they'll get into some serious trouble together. yikes.

off to look at shotguns on ebay.

Day 37

ok, i'll take a bath but could you get on with it already?

first date night ever was a success. went to Namu with derrick and melita - food was good, but a bit rich for korean/japanese IMHO. hannah was on good behaviour for cindy the sitter.

she did wake up at 4 - i tried to feed her but she was just squirming uncomfortably. since she had not pooped in over 24 hours i decided it was Qtip time again and yes, the floodgates opened. she had a little more to eat and went back to sleep.

i have a call in to the nurse to see if over-Qtipping has any consequences. all i know is she looked pretty relieved! boy is hannah going to be pissed when she finds out that her poopers trials and tribulations are all over the net. i wonder if THAT will have any long term consequences.

migration to the larger nipples has been without incident - she seems pretty darn happy with the speedier flow.

off for a walk with stacey and kelyn.

Day 36

one happy camper

2 nights in a row sleeping through until 6:30 could be

• she was still wiped out from the shots
• we're feeding her more at night - both at 8 and at the 11 pm dream feed

i'm sticking with the latter, since when she was waking up at 4 last week she'd eat 3 oz and go back to sleep.

aside from sleeping better there's a bunch of other stuff she's up to these days

• holding on to objects, sometimes with both hands
• very comfortable on her tummy - on her froggy at least
• getting used to the bounch seat
• really digging music
• following us around the house with her eyes
• laughing a lot
  
• growing out of her clothes

had to use the Qtip trick again yesterday as she hadn't gone all day. mom got to witness the flood gates open and was pretty impressed.

date night tonight - woohoo! first night out without her...ever.

Day 35 4 month check up

ninja hannah

4 month check up:
she's 16 pounds 12 oz. 25.25 inches tall and that makes here in the 95% in both weight and height- which explains lots of things;

• why 3 month cloths don't really fit any more
• why 6 month clothes are even a little snug sometimes
• why our backs are killing us
• why she's waking up at 3 to eat - SHE's HUNGRY! we need to feed her more at 9 pm and at the dream feed. we upped it last night partly because she had her shots and was a bit out of sorts, but she slept until 6:30 and woke up happy as a clam.
  

remember this picture of her with her cousin jake 'moose' sommers? well, she's catching up :-)

it also means;

• she's outgrown the basinet in the pack 'n play - it's limit is 15 lbs!
• she needs faster nipples for the bottles
• she's close to starting solids - as soon as she starts showing interest when we eat.

in other news everything else looks peachy - her skin, vision, demeanor, joints, etc. are all in order. we're doing a pretty good job and i feel pretty good about that.

Day 34

Happy Birthday Just Sandy!

while this was taken over the weekend i must have really looked like crap yesterday when supermom took over not only the dream feed but the 3 am feed as well.

oh well, even after a well structured (a three hour nap, bed at 8) well fed day (5 oz feeds) yesterday she still woke up at 3 to eat.

big day today - 4 month check up! if all systems are green we may start to cry out the middle of the night feed. need to find some earplugs from ye olde rock n' roll days.

Day 33

had a great weekend - laid pretty low. little mix up with the cousin's lunch which is now next saturday.

we found a whole cache of clothes that fit her now - just in time! jackie was so excited she had to play some 'air hannah' to celebrate.

Linda Eemo's in town for the week staying with us part of the time.

we made it down town for haircuts - first since she was born! she may get one later this week if we have time. hung out at the wymer-tines new house - which is a whole 1/2 mile from ours

the bad news is that she's been waking up every night for a week to eat between 4 and 5. prime suspects are

• she's been napping longer later in the day - we fixed that today - her long nap was 12-3
• she hasn't been eating enough because i though she was over eating and i had cut down her feeds to 4 oz. which cut down on the spitting up - now back up to 5's for today.
  
• she's been off the zantac for a week now so i'm ruling withdrawls out and she since she's barely been spitting up i'm taking reflux off the list
• she's a baby and as aunt aviva says little babies aren't supposed to sleep through the night. BUT sleep trained babies are supposed to.
  

so, aside from the above we're considering letting her cry it out or usin the quasha chines water torture method - a bottle of water for that feed - according to him you only need one.

anyway, we'll see how the extra feeding and the earlier napping goes today.

stuff to do before returning to work

• sell motorcycle
• solution for window strings so baby does not hang herself when she starts walking
• soy v cows milk formula decision
• start solid foods
• hannah's lunch box
• parking situation - monthly an option?
• 
  

optional

• new baggy bike shorts
  

Day 30

she's getting the 'hang' of the bouncy seat.

2 days in a row up at 4:30. have to try switching back to formula for the dream feed. although she did not sleep that well during the day yesterday.

good news is she has not spit up at all in 2 days since we cold turkey'd off the baby zantac this weekend.

she's pretty damn chipper though :-).

Day 30

well, she's still not quite rolling over but she's getting much more used to tummy time.

yesterday was mall day - babbies 'r' us for bibs, jumpy seat, diapers and wipes - thanks for the gift cert Preetha! target for assorted paper goods and fine point sharpies for mom and various household items.

surprising how busy babies 'r' us is! crazy in there. only saw one other solo dad - lots of whole families - grandparents and all - who must think a lot of this stuff is ridiculous.

gotta get down to the farmers market today - ken and ashley for dinner friday night and cousin jonah, jenny and olivia for saturday brunch.

need to do more research on soy formula. it just makes sense to me but mom wants to stick with regular.

got back in touch with wendy bryant from n2k days who just loves guts - awesome stuff

Day 29

wow time is flying, day 29 - already 1/3 through!
schmutzie slept 'till about 6:30 and then supermom feed her, changed her and put her in the gym so dad could catch a few more z's.

she was a bit off yesterday - perhaps just recovering from the long weekend and strange places, or perhaps missing all the different faces. she seems great this morning though and after a good work out she went down for a quick nap after 3 yawns without a wimper.

off to target today for some other things for her to do, mas pampers and other dry goods. that gift certificate from my co-workers is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Weekend at Healdsburg and Clio's Birthday

we had a great long weekend up in healdsburg. headed up friday afternoon, hit a bit of traffic but plenty of time for dinner which included some amazing raw tuna italian style


which was only the start of crazy food including grilled fish, fried calamari and sand dabs, grilled duck breast and tuna poached in olive oil, and of course homemade blackberry and peach ice cream. local and european wines accompanied courses appropriately. 'screw provence' as we americans say.

saturday morning i got to go for a 48 mile spin while jackie hung out with hannah at the pool.

saturday night was clio's birthday - pizza (made by the kids), cupcakes and cake were enjoyed by all.

sunday morning i took eric and jack out for a 23 miler - they both did great.

there was lots of story time throughout the weekend

which included guest dj's, celebrity chefs and swimming coaches

felt like we were away for a loooong time. everyone was very impressed with how calm hannah was and how well she slept. it is certainly not by accident. jack's helping me do a great job with the sleep training.

- thanks to derrick & melita for hosting!

more photos can be found here
http://picasaweb.google.com/joshjoshpolsky/Healdsburg2007

Day 24

well, she was up and starving at 4 again, but fell back asleep quickly.



off to healdsburg for a long weekend. lots to pack so not a lot of time to write. will have limited access until next week. have a great weekend!

Day 23 pt 2

called nurse judy at the docs office - she suggested to first try some massage and then maybe a Qtip w/ olive oil up the butt to get things moving....
and the floodgates are open! the poopers pooper is fixed!

she cried for 1.5 mintues before the next nap. she's not really sure what happened :-).

Day 23

awe, thanks mom!
good news:

• she slept through the night without the dream feed!

bad news:

• she hasn't pooped in over 2 days
• mom and dad have slight colds - thank god she slept thr0ugh the night - we were pooped!
  

auntie's dena and rose came over tuesday nightwith their new dog 'get the *&^% outta here' and gave hannah a very cute hat and sweater set for her 100 days. it doesn't look this napoleonic in person

Day 22 - mom says,

you sound a bit wiped out. i wonder why...
could it be because you care for our daughter in an amazing way, and somehow find time and energy to do the shopping, the laundry, the dishes, the bottles; pack up my pumping accessories for work in the morning and whip up a delicious dinner in the evening; take fabulous photos and keep a wonderful blog for all of us to share... it's against my nature to gush about my husband, but i have to say for the record, you're pretty wonderful, and hannah and i truly are blessed.

Day 22

quiet day at the office after a 7 am wake up. ok, she actually first woke us up crying in her sleep at 5. what nightmares do keep a 3.5 month old up? empty bottles? car seat in the parking lot?

she does sleep much better during the day on the walk though. at least it will help keep the daddy weight off. a stroll down the mission to pick up coffee for the weekend and a smoothie and some browsing in book stores was all we had in us - that and the walk back up the hill.