daycare

While finding daycare was initially a challenge, I think we have found a good one. We were on the waiting list for the community daycare where I taught music last year. I assumed (wrongly) that I had an in there and we would not have a problem. Not so. So, I started calling people from the list provided by the childcare referral service. Every one that I liked and lived in a part of town we felt comfortable with (I know, it is a small town, but still, we didn't want someone who lived in an apartment or on a major highway, that kind of thing) didn't have openings. We started calling second choices. Keep in mind that school was about to start, I was in orientation, and we were desperate (but special thanks to T who covered for us). Finally, it came down to two people. I had actually visited someone earlier in the summer but we never decided for sure, and then when we did we had contact issues and she wasn't sure if she wanted another baby. The other person had kids of her own, and we liked them both, but in the end we chose the first lady because she didn't have kids at home and could send Slane home and relax and start the next day new, rather than never getting a break from kids. And we know the other family she takes care of (though after this week Slane will be the only one...).

Slane loves D. She gets to play all she wants and watch the bigger kids and gets so overstimulated that sometimes she won't even take a nap there. They go to the park, and for walks, and swinging, and hang out in the exersaucer or bumbo or bouncy seat. She spends a lot of time outside (is starting to show some sun) and sometimes cries when it is time to leave. D takes good care of her. Sometimes when she is changing dirty diapers, she wipes all of Slane down, lotions her, and does her hair. D doesn't like Slane to be soggy from her constant drooling, so frequently changes her outfits (which creates more laundry for me, but I can deal with that). We often leave with the favorite toy of the day,as well as extra bibs and burp cloths.

So far, we made a good choice. Slane is about to be the only kid, and she gets lots of love and attention that way, whereas at the daycare she would have been one of eight, and would still have gotten love and attention, but not necessarily the personal care.

Oh, and by the way, two days after we signed a contract with D, the daycare called saying they had room for us. Too late...

Watching cars go by

MamaCue was Piano Teacher tonight, so Slane and I went for a long walk. The highlight for Slane was watching cars and buses drive up and down 6th Avenue. Sixth is a four-lane highway, U.S. 6, and the main east-west drag through town. As each car passed us, Slane followed it with her entire head until the car disappeared around the bend or another car was in view. We must have stood on the corner for 15 minutes. Both MamaCue and I share this fascination with traffic passing by. Do you?

30 days, 30 posts?

It's been a summer of adventure and excitement. If you read this blog, you'd be surprised to hear that. We've been busy being parents and workers and travelers and birthday girls and hosts and...and...and...now it's time to get back to sharing more about our adventures with Little Miss BabyCue.

Here's our promise to you, dear reader: a post every day for the next 30 days. Some posts will be current events, others will highlight our summertime adventure and excitement. After all, Slane has now visited seven (!) states and many friends and family.

Slane is now eating solid food. We have rice cereal (in the can, it looks like the love child of fish flakes, Cream of Wheat, and Potato Buds) and have been experimenting with fresh foods. Ema brought unsweetened applesauce from the farm. We have pureed pears, peaches, carrots, and green beans. (Not all at once. That would be disgusting.) The pears disagreed with Slane, giving her diarrhea. Afterwards, we discovered that we should have cooked the pears. (Sorry, Slane.)

Slane likes to feed herself. She wants to hold the bottle. She wants to hold the spoon - the handle and the spoony part. (What is the spoon part of the spoon called?) This usually means the food is everywhere - her face, her hands, her bib, her feet, her chair. Slane also wants to eat paper. First, she studies the paper, then decides that no one else can read it so it must be eaten. Today while at the Evil Empire (Always Low Prices!), we discovered a solution: Baby Mum-Mums, a rice rusk. She devoured the first one and most of the second. She looks like the kid on the box, except with Baby Mum-Mum debris on her face, hand, clothes, Bumbo seat, MamaCue, etc. Apparently, Slane's a fan. (Hot Kid marketing department: need an endorsement? Contact us.)

Finally, here's your moment of cute. Last weekend was unusually cold with lows in the 30s - we're pretty sure we got a frost, as trees, corn, and soybeans are all beginning to turn color. Here's a photo of Slane in her fall finery:

In the last month or so

we have gone to Ohio (which included the zoo, a carousel ride, a trip to Cleveland, making friends with big dogs, a baseball game, hanging out with friends we met during our time in Vegas, and time with GrannyCue, Papa Smurf, and extended family).

we have stopped pumping, and gone from exclusively formula to formula and rice cereal, and even some apple sauce.

we have begun to adjust to full time teaching and full time daycare, though some days I cry because I should be home taking care of Slane, instead of doing what I love to do and loving it at my new school. She, on the other hand, loves daycare and sometimes cries when it is time to leave.

we met some new cousins, including L and A. Slane and A were so cute during tummy time together.

we missed having cousin Lisa from Michigan stay with us and help out so much (seriously, we are thinking of hiring someone to help with cleaning once we get the budget evened out).

we are getting superexcited to meet Baby E, when she arrives!

we have missed Q while he is working on the new disc golf course, but we are proud of his involvement and leadership with it.

we have welcomed back one of our international students, and met our new student and her parents, who adore Slane (this means we have 5 kids counting Slane).

we have accumulated two SD cards with pictures of Slane, and promise we will get them on here soon.

we have gained weight and filled out.

we have gotten a Bumbo seat, which we love, and are in the market for a high chair. We also love the exersaucer.

Slane has started rolling over from back to belly, and loves to sleep on her side. She has also discovered that she likes to talk, during church, and spit and make smacky sounds. My glasses are always covered with Slane fingerprints, and when she eats, she rubs the food in her eyes.

we told Dr. B goodbye. We miss him already (and his family, including his newest addition, Baby I).

oh, and someone in our neighborhood has acquired nonFirewalled internet, so we have access again...which means we can stay on top of this more.

And now we prepare for Slane's first football season (and yes, she has Buckeye gear).

Local Celebrity

catching up part two

I know several of you out there think we just quit blogging and are wondering what is up with baby Slane. But we still don't have internet and taking a baby to the library is difficult unless I skip my own nap to take her during hers (which is what I am doing right now).

She is getting so big and heavy and so much fun. She laughs and coos and smiles and spits and buzzes and plays with her crinkle books and rattles and jingly toys. She loved the 4th of July parade, but I think every emergency vehicle in the county was in the parade and I had to cover her ears for most of it. I didn't catch one in time and it scared her and she cried. Her scared cry makes me sad. She is becoming a traveler. Last week she was the littlest camper (yup, we stayed in the cabin with the girls), and then she endured two long rides in a car to get to and from Michigan for a wedding. She loves walks outside around dusk, and yesterday rolled over all on her own (from belly to back).

I am still pumping a few times a day so she gets some breastmilk but not much. It is mostly discouraging for me because I just don't get a lot and I wish I did. Q reminds me that I have a healthy, happy baby who has been sleeping through the night for a while now and there are people out there who would trade their breastfed, not sleeping through the night babies for that.

Slane's 4 month appointment checkup is Friday, and maybe Q can put some pictures up at work so you all can see how big and beautiful she is.

For the next two weeks my cousin is visiting from Michigan to help with Slane. She has been a big help so far too. I can just ask her to hold Slane and then I get to do things around the house..like unpack my last year school stuff and get ready for this year, and catch up laundry, and organize closets and things. It really is nice.

catching up

We have been super busy since our last post. We had Slane's baptism, the end of school, the college's reunion, my orientation for my summer camp job, switching piano lessons to a summer schedule, trying to find a toddler friendly apartment, and grandparents visiting, and on top of all of that our internet connection moved out (congrats on graduating, but I wish you could have left your connection behind). I have tried to take Slane to the college library, but she "talks" too much, and it closes at 5. Q came home one day at lunch so I could run over and take care of a few things (both my MI and NV teaching licenses expire in a few weeks, so I had to do application stuff). And I have also borrowed a friend's connection, but don't want to overuse it. As soon as I start my new teaching job we can get our own.

We will get pictures up soon--of baptism and other things going on.

Slane has been getting better and better at holding rattles and grabbing things. But on Thursdsay, she figured out something else new. I was feeding Slane when she decided to poop. I could feel it oozing out of the diaper so I ran upstairs to the changing table, only to discover that I had a handful of poop, it was running down my shirt, and I got it all over the changing table too. I got my shirt off, Slane's clothes off, and the rag I was holding that caught some of the poop, and then Q called. I told him he needed to come home NOW. He did, and while I was starting to clean up some more, Slane rolled over onto her right side on the changing table. I moved naked baby to the floor on a blanket and she just kept rolling to her back and then to her right side. I was so excited and Q made it home in time to see for himself. Then as he was in the process of changing out of work clothes while I started hosing things down (so glad we got that shower attachment sprayer), Q picked her up while only wearing boxers. She proceeded to both spit up and pee on him...so he went straight to the shower and Slane went straight to a bath. And then, she was still hungry.

We also took her on her first road trip last week, and I am typing this while on our second trip. Last week we celebrated our 5th anniversary by taking Slane to our friends' inn in Illinois. She did pretty well in the car and let us know when she needed to stop. I have become very adept at using the breast pump in strange bathrooms, and have given up on modesty, especially when it is difficult to find an outlet, or it is right in the middle of the sinks and mirrors. She did well on the drive to Kansas City yesterday too, and even slept well in a hotel room. All of this should prime us for the trip to Michigan in July. And help us to pack too--it takes a lot to go on a trip with a baby...we even busted out the ginormous diaper bag, and then packed backups for it as well.

I promise those pictures will be up soon...so you can see the cuteness we have been enjoying.