It's that time again, where I post some pictures. I think I've been doing it about once per month, give-or-take, so here's your update, all those who are interested.



First time in the rainforest jumper. She LOVES it. Absolutely loves it with wild abandon.


Laughter, natch.


Not the best picture, but cute cuddlyness, neh?


Here I am at my new job as a nanny. Stephanie is 9-months-old, and everything that entails. She's adorable, though, isn't she?


I was not prepared for absolute astonishment you feel when your kid grasps a toy and puts it in her mouth for the first time.

Here are some photos I took of Lily yesterday, during a rare sunny fall day here in the northwest. I'll have to think more on stories or milestones, because at the moment, I can only think of one striking thing: she's laughing.

For those inclined to want to view such things, here you go. And yes, in case you were wondering there was a giant earthquake in the middle of filming.







Apologies for my lack of creative staging. She doesn't sit up long enough yet!













And just for sake of comparison, this was her leaving the hospital. The top of the pad behind her head now rests a bit below her shoulders.

(and just for fun)

Sorry in advance for my crappy photo-taking skills. I had my friend Melissa take some better photos of Lily yesterday with her super-duper crazy fancy camera. I'll post some of those when I get them from her.



Most current photo, taken ONLY MOMENTS AGO (and demonstrating why I can post right now, as she has become OMG CLINGY BABY in the last few days).



A couple of photos demonstrating her new habit of NOT sleeping at the store. Instead of resting against me as she used to, she was popping her head up and straining to see over the edge of the carrier. Now that she's rocking the strong neck, I position her so she can look back-and-forth, back-and-forth continuously while we walk around. (Any babywearing mamas on my LJ who care, that's a Ball Baby carrier, and I love it.)





Hanging out with dad, and smiling! That's right, not just gas.



Just thought this was amusing.

Well, yesterday Lily hit 2 months. She's snoozing on my shoulder as I sit here on the couch, so it's a perfect opportunity to update the journal. First of all, she's growing, natch. I took her to the doctor on the 18th, and she weighed in at about 11.5 lbs, and 22.5 inches. This is right along the 50th percentile, which is consistent with her growth from 0 - 2 weeks (the last time that we visited the doctor).

Since I'm still on the fence about when I want to start her immunizations, I didn't have any done for now. The doctor gave me an information sheet with each immunization shot, and the purpose and such. I have a few books that appear unbiased coming at the library, so I'm hoping that helps me determine which ones are actually needed. The doctor was very receptive to my concerns.

I read this article a few weeks ago, and thought it was fairly creepy and intrusive-sounding. Lo and behold, when I filled out the intake forms (or whatever those are called) at Lily's appointment, there were questions about how often I used a car seat, and whether I have guns in the house (and if so, what kind). From the article, it seems like something recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I get the car seat since accidents are the leading cause of death for children (car accidents taking the lead). But guns? I think on the list of things that kills kids, accidental gun death is probably way down the list. I read that adolescents were more likely to die in an accident sustained while playing football than by accidental gun death. I'm not too worried about it; I'll never let a doctor or nurse be alone with my child until she's old enough to call bullshit on overly-intrusive questioning. Still, I thought it was very interesting to see that question on the intake form.

Last week two nurses and two doctors commented on Lily's AMAZING FABULOUS NECK STRENGTH! Heh. So, since she was born, Lily has had great control of her head and neck. It seems to be the most common thing people have noticed about her since her birth. She's been pushing her head way up on her elbows when I lay her on her tummy, and has managed, with the help of her legs, to push herself about a quarter of the way over toward her back. It seems that turning over is the first "big" milestone, so we'll see when she gets there.

My favorite thing about her, though, despite her freakishly strong neck, is how alert she seems to be. When I have her in my front carrier, if she isn't tired, she refuses to lie against me and enjoy the ride. She pops her head up as high as possible and starts whipping her head from side-to-side, taking in the view. I have a photo to post (which I will as soon as she wakes and I can put her down for a moment) to show. She throws her eyebrows up and opens her eyes so wide she nearly looks alarmed at her surroundings. It's amusing to me. Then again, it's my baby. Most everything amuses me about her, including the way her mouth looks when she's wailing.

For the first few weeks, I put her in the Amby each night to sleep. I've gotten lazy, though, because she fusses a lot less if we keep her in our bed, just on a sleep positioner. I'm conflicted about this, and as much as it pains me, I figure I better get her back in it soon. But OH IT IS SO MUCH EASIER.

I have trouble thinking of stuff to sing to Lily to soothe her to sleep. Yesterday, I was singing Elliott Smith songs to her, and it occurred to me that while Elliott songs are pretty, they're not exactly kid-friendly. Send the poison rain down the drain/To put bad thoughts in my head, but "Miss Misery" just sounds so pretty!

I guess that is about it for now, Lily-wise.

As for me, I've been reading some music magazines I picked up at Barnes & Noble, because I feel really out of the music scene lately. I'm excited because I'm supposed to be going to The Pipettes show coming up, and I've been guest-listed. I know the keyboardist from an online community of which I used to be a part, and he invited me to the show a few weeks back. A show, AND I don't have to pay. This fits into the new post-me-working Hale budget nicely.

I started Weight Watchers on Monday, and so far I haven't managed to eat all my points yet each day. I'm really trying, but most of what we have around here exceeds a reasonable meal/point amount, so I get frustrated figuring out what I want to eat and then just give up. I used to eat constantly when I was younger, and I was heavy to show it. I got pretty sick at one point, and lost about 40 lbs from my highest weight, and stayed within about 15 lbs of that weight for 8 years or so (some years I was up, and some years I was down). At my lowest weights, I was always sick or depressed, and didn't eat a whole lot. Now I feel like I'm not eating a whole lot because I'm lazy. I need to get it together, though. Gotta keep the breastmilk plentiful.

We rented Knocked Up and it is still funny.

That A Fine Frenzy chick isn't really my style musically, but I covet her hair FREALS.

Guess that's it for now. Thanks for reading this fairly lengthy entry!

Picture post for now; tomorrow morning, if Lily is a little less fussy than she was today, I should have an opportunity to get down a few of the shenanigans and goings-on around here. Stay tuned for stuffy noses and the dreaded THRUSH! Also, I will talk about adult things.




This picture just amused me because it has a "they're after me!" sort of expression to it. This was yesterday right before I had to go to the doctor.



She's not really up to "playing" in her play gym, but she likes to share intently at the stuffed chicken above her head.



Just gas, I'm sure, but I still count it as a smile.



Scott came by for a visit. He's getting married on Sunday! It'll be Lily's first social affair.



I'm trying to get her trained early in quality reading. I couldn't resist.

I haven't been posting too much about Lily, because I thought maybe folks wouldn't want to read all about how totally awesome my kid is. Also, I want to maintain balance and be perceived still as "Jana" and not just as a mom.

Not that being a mom hasn't become an important aspect of my identity. Still, I suppose you know what I mean. But that's dumb! I can't not write about her. Geez.

In any case, I'm not going to start some Lily filter, because, um, I'm not, so feel free to move along if you're not interested. I won't be offended. I won't even know!

I can't believe how quickly the time passes, especially since I'm not really doing too much besides reading, watching TV/DVDs, and waiting for Lily to wake up to eat. To date, she's pretty calm, but not too calm. She makes squeaky little noises and grunts a lot, pursing up her lips and raising her right eyebrow, a la Jack Nicholson. It's entertaining, and I have to admit that I'm jealous. Agent Scully used to pull that cocked eyebrow face, and I always thought, "How effective!"

We're still breastfeeding, and it's a challenge, just as everyone said it would be. Lily does fine, though, after we go through our customary several tries to get her latched right. I sometimes think how easy formula would be, and then I get all practical and think about the cost, in both financial and nutritional terms. I never seriously consider it, but I know why other people do. At two weeks, she weighed 8lbs 12oz, up from her 7lbs 1oz when she left the hospital. Painful or not, she's getting milk.

We've been to the park, the grocery store, Kevin's work, Lowes, and out to eat with friends Peter and Melissa. She's been good, only fussy sometimes in the car seat -- I can only assume because she isn't being held. She likes her little homemade baby wrap I cobbled together with $1/yard Walmart jersey knit fabric. Despite the pre-birth naysaying of more than one person, Kevin and I have successfully cloth diapered her in prefolds and wraps since she cleared her system of meconium. I'm not sure why so many had the attitude LIKE OH MY GAWSH HAHAHA YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND when I told them of my plans to cloth diaper Lily (without using a service). To the curious: it's not as gross as you think!

Other than that, I'm just trying to take as many photos as I can, since I know she's changing by the day. I don't notice it, but I'm sure it's there, and I'll probably wake up in 6 months and forget what she looked like as a newborn. Is that why people have more kids?



These are from a day or two ago...

Hi everyone! I had a baby!

Lily Marilyn Hale
7 lbs 9 oz
19 inches
Born August 28, 2007

She's sleeping now, so I thought I would share her birth story with LJ.

So, as you may know, I was due on August 17th. Since I went with the traditional OB, they're not generally wild about letting women go over 42 weeks of pregnancy. I wasn't looking to sign up for an induction, but I wasn't necessarily totally opposed to it either -- at least not to the point that I would get into a battle about it with the doc. I was progressing from week-to-week with my dilation and effacement, so when they suggested I schedule the induction, I went ahead and did it.

Tuesday morning we called the hospital at 6am, as instructed, to find out if they would have space for me to come in. They told Kevin to call back at 8:30, then noon, and finally they called me in at 2:30pm. Kevin and I drove to Valley Medical Center, and arrived right in the middle of a nursing shift change. As we waited, I started having contractions. For the first time, they were pretty regular. So, I am glad to say that I actually started labor naturally at what was the last moment possible.

They put me on a low dose of pitocin to help move things along, and my body responded with gusto. After about 4 hours, I was dilated to nearly a 6, and at that point, I was ready for my epidural. I went into the delivery experience wanting to see how far I could get without pain relief, more out of curiosity than anything. Since I've never had major surgery, never broken a limb, nor had any significant medical issues, I had no idea what my pain tolerance is. I was not determined to have a natural delivery, though, and felt no guilt when I decided I was ready for the anesthesia. I had 3 contractions during the insertion of the epidural catheter, and thank God Kevin was there to help me through it. I'd been dealing with the contraction pain by squirming around a fair amount, so trying to remain completely still was a challenge, to say the least.

Once I had the epidural in, the contraction pain abated. After about 3 more hours, I was ready to push, and did so with the help of my mom and Kevin for about 30 minutes. My doctor arrived, and after observing a few pushes, things suddenly got frantic. More medical type folks came in to assist, and the pulled the bed apart to prepare for delivery, and they had me put my legs in the stirrups. I wasn't completely sure what was going on, but it seems that my placenta was tearing away from the uterus (or something...?) and there was some weird bleeding. The doctor wanted to get Lily out immediately, so they used the suction to get her out in one swoop. It all happened pretty fast. Kevin wasn't able to cut the cord because they wanted to get the placenta out immediately, and prevent whatever was going wrong to not get worse. I'm glad I didn't get a chance to freak out at any point.

All told, I got through the entire process in fewer than 8 hours, and it was not nearly as bad as I was told was possible. I'm pretty damned lucky; I had the easiest pregnancy I can imagine, and the delivery was quick. Did I mention that she's perfect?

No, really. See?