Valentine's baptism

Slane turns 11 months old today! I have loved getting to know her and watching her become a person. She is a great kid!

Last Sunday, our niece Ella was baptized. It was my idea to have her baptized on Valentine's Day (not cocky about that at all). What a great day to show her she is loved so much and welcomed by a larger family. While we were there I was thinking about Slane's baptism.

I love the part about baptism that asks the church to support and take care of the child too. I think our church has certainly taken that to heart. They are always quick to jump in and hold her during choir, or play with her in the nursery, or watch her for a morning or afternoon when we are in a bind. They love her and love taking care of her. They admire her and ask what new thing she is doing or saying. They chuckle when she gets chatty during the silent prayer, and they pick up her toys and return them. They let her play with their moustaches, and love to hold her on their laps. They are patient when Slane is climbing the steps onto the stage or trying to eat the prayer cards.

A couple of Sundays ago one of the grandmas in our church took her for the end of choir rehearsal. Slane proceeded to fall asleep on Grandma Janet, and slept there the entire church service. It was so sweet to watch our little girl cuddle on someone else, and so nice for us to really enjoy a whole service together.

pyschological study

All of the babies born at our hospital are invited to participate in a study that a professor in the psychology department at the college is conducting. They track eye movements to study infants scanning and memory of human faces. So, Q had finally called to get our appointment set up, and it was yesterday.

Fortunately, yesterday we got out of school early due to snow, so I was home with Slane when he called with 10 minutes notice that she needed to be on campus for her study. She had not napped yet, and was in the middle of eating dried fruit and cheerios. Rather than drive the whole block that it was to get there, I loaded Slane up in the jogging stroller and bundled us up and headed out to campus.

So, first, imagine trying to get through snow drifts with a stroller. Then imagine the looks you get as you try to cross the street, and then go on campus. We got several second looks. I'm sure people thought I was crazy. Maybe I am.

The study was interesting. I had to hold Slane and wear dark glasses so she couldn't reference my eyes or face. She got to look at faces. We both got to listen to annoying music, like Teletubbies and Elmo. She wore a headband with some connection to a camera that taped the whole thing. She did really well, and was quiet and made it through the entire 15 minute study.

We got presents for our participation. Slane got a certificate and she got to choose a toy (3 of the 4 we already had, now we know where they came from), so we got a new sippy cup. I got a Wal-Mart gift card for my effort.

So, at that point, an hour had passed and there was a lot more snow. In my 10 minutes of preparation to head out into the snow, I had remembered that I had CDs and scores that were about a month overdue, so I grabbed those, which meant a stop in the library.

So, imagine those looks from passersby, and then imagine that in a college library with a baby. Up to this point I had only taken her to Burling during the summer.

Errands finished, we made the final drive for home. The wind had picked up, and it was cold. Slane was understandably fussy as I chose to avoid the sidewalk and take to the middle of the street. I got to our door after some clever maneuvering of the stroller up the steps, and got us inside, and cheered.Then I started to get Slane out of the stroller and noticed that she was asleep.

Our daughter fell asleep in the middle of a snowstorm in her stroller. And slept until 11, took a bottle, and slept until morning.

I can eat yogurt all by myself!

Feeding fail.

Twizzlers

...the ladies dig 'em.

Feeling ditchy

I'm watching Iowa's latest snowstorm from our truck in a ditch. The unexpected free time gives me an opportunity to write about Slane's latest exploits.

Rotavirus: it's a terrible bug and really affected Slane for over a week. Our happy child had suddenly become sleepy and lethargic, wailing from the pain and needing to be held all the time. Sunday she reverted to her happy, healthy self.

Happy and healthy now includes lots of crawling, standing, and exploration. The stairs are a magnet and she has a proud but devious smile each time we pull her off the stairs. She can stand and sit with ease, though she still needs something (wall, chair, leg, etc.) to steady her.

Happy and healthy also means thinking defying sleep. We've had to be firm with a bedtime routine (bottle, book, rocking). To this routine she adds crying, whimpers, and quiet sleep. We caved to her Monday but outlasted her protests the rest of the week. Tuesday they lasted what felt like an hour, other days they lasted no more than 10 minutes.

Here's my translation of her cries from the crib: "This is an injustice! Why are you leaving me! I won't stand for this! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ... I am still upset! I am going to continue to protest these unjust conditions by laying down and closing my eyes while still crying. Just wait until you come back, you'll be zzzzzzzzzzzz"

Minnesota: The people of the State of hockey (Minnesota) welcomed us this weekend. We visited with friends from college (N. and family and M.) and Grinnell (S., V., and C. and K.). A generous friend (K.) gave us tickets to the Wild-Blue Jackets game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It was a good time, except for the part where the Wild won. Slane wore her homemade Jackets sweater which got compliments from fans of both teams. We also made a trek to the blue and gold temple that is Ikea. We made our offering and left with some items for Slane (toy bins, a lamp, and other baby-friendly items).

More pictures and stories soon.

Sick

Slane is finally on the backside of Rotavirus. She started with diarhea last Friday and was screaming on and off, but we thought it was teeth. On Sunday, Slane and I were taking a nap, and when we woke up I heard the diaper before I realized that it had exploded all over the sheets on the bed. Then on Monday, Miss Denise called and she had a fever. Q was on a business trip from Saturday to Wednesday, so I tried to leave school early so I could take her to the doctor (nobody would cover my last class for me though), and finally got her there a little before closing. He said she had this virus, and she would be a sick for a couple more days and wasn't good to go to daycare. It was a rough few days for me. My mom watched her Tuesday, I took Wednesday, and Q took Thursday. Tuesday night we were up at 2am and she threw up on the clean sheets I had just put on. She is back at daycare today (no fever for 24 hours, and no diarhea). I guess the biggest fear with rotavirus is dehydration, but she kept taking bottles (not as much as usual, though) and was drinking from her sippy cup. It turns out she does NOT like Pedialyte. She would push it away every time I offered it to her. The worst was when it hurt her little intestines so much that she would just scream. She was so cuddly, but everyone could tell she just wasn't feeling like herself.

I was extremely happy to see Q pull up on Wednesday. And, one of my students stopped me in the hall today to ask how Slane was doing. I said she was feeling better, and the student said, "good, then you won't be so crabby the next time I have music."

So, needless to say, we are way behind on blogging and life and projects. We will post Christmas when we finally take Christmas down from our house.

Oh, one more thing... a big welcome to baby Einar, who was born on the 5th. I'm glad we didn't come to visit on Sunday, but we will come meet him soon!

2009: Year in review

Blessing n.

A thing conducive to happiness or welfare; a special favor, mercy, or benefit.

Yeah, that describes 2009 for the McCues. This year especially, we have been reminded that we truly have the best, most generous, most caring family and friends. Thanks again for all of your wonderful gifts, cards, prayers, and good thoughts this year.

• Most of our blessings center around our special little girl, Slane Augusta, born March 23. Initially she had some thriving issues, but now she's a happy, chatty baby, crawling everywhere. She loves people and other kids and doesn't seem to be intimidated by anything. She is expanding her vocabulary, too and can say “dada,” “mama,” “nom-nom” (when her food is good), “kigee” (kitty, or any animal, really), “hi!”, and “yeah, yeah, yeah!” She is also excellent at clapping/patty-caking and giving out the high fives.
• Mamacue has been blessed with full-time employment. She started off the year teaching music at both Grinnell Community Daycare and Central Iowa Christian School. Over the summer she served as co-director of music at Pilgrim Heights camp and ticket agent at the Iowa Speedway. This spring, Marshalltown School District offered her a full-time position, teaching music at Fisher Elementary and Lenihan Intermediate. She didn't really plan to take the job, but things just fell into place. She teaches grades 3-6 general music (and the 5th grade flutes) and gets along with her administrators, fellow teachers, and students, even though she sees 21 classes every 3 days. Mamacue continues teaching piano to the children of Grinnell. She also joined the board of the Kodaly Educators of Iowa.
• Q has been blessed with his work, too. Q continues his job in alumni relations at Grinnell College. In addition to alumni events, volunteering, and...relations, he has worked hard on the launch of their new online community for alumni. He remains active in the community, serving on the boards of Grinnell United Way and First Presbyterian Church. He helped to raise funds and build the first 18-hole disc golf course in Grinnell and officiated football games from mites to varsity.
• The opportunity to travel has been a blessing as well. The summer and fall brought many adventures. Fortunately, we are all good travelers. We served again as counselors at Win-Some Bible Camp. Slane loved camp and camp loved her back! We visited Michigan three times: first, the wedding of Mamacue's friend Andrea, then Q's 10-year reunion at Hope College. Each trip gave us opportunities to visit with family and friends. We also traveled to Ohio (with a stop in Ann Arbor for a Grinnell College alumni event) to introduce Slane to aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. We will return to Columbus this Christmas.
• We've been blessed with excellent childcare. Finding childcare was an adventure. Following Slane's birth, Q pulled daddy duty during his six-week paternity leave (thank you, Grinnell College!). Over the summer, Mamacue's cousin Lisa helped with Slane and around the house. (Her chocolate chip muffins are delish!) Since Mamacue began teaching in Marshalltown, we take Slane to Miss Denise, an in-home childcare provider. Slane is her only full-time child, so she gets lots of love and attention. We couldn't have asked for a better person to take care of Slane. Many friends, family, and members of our church have also helped watch Slane; we're not sure who enjoys the time more.
• Our new friends and family members have blessed us. There have been several other babies in our lives this year, bringing new cousins and friends. The list could take up the whole page. Slane has met several of them, and played with them too (if stealing their food and toys counts!). We also welcomed our first niece, Ella Jean, who was born on October 2. Yes, Mamacue's parents got two granddaughters within 6 months!

Ours has truly been a year of blessings. May the Christmas season and 2010 bring you blessings as well!

With love,
Q, Mamacue, and Slane