Home

After almost three weeks in NY we are home again and settling in. We were so spoiled by all the family that it feels a little lonely here during the day. Matilda was a dream on the long plane ride, it was amazing. We were lucky to have the middle seat empty and she was content to climb, play and eat for 4 hours until she fell asleep - no meltdowns, no screaming! All our seat mates raved at the end and it made me feel brave about flying more. Tim met us at the airport and we were all so pleased to be together again. Matilda stayed up hours after her east coast bedtime last night inspecting all her missing toys and discovering new corners of the apartment that she had previously ignored. We desperately need to do more baby proofing as she has returned from NY faster and more curious than ever.

Fang

Matilda's new nickname will soon be fang! We can see a shiny little tooth just below the gums. It has yet to break through, but by the looks of it she will soon be the proud new owner of her first tooth!

Just in time too, since she got into her first girl-fight over the weekend. I think the birthday girl, Amelia, at the party we attended felt Matilda was getting a little too comfortable playing with the new toys. Amelia grabbed Matilda's shirt, pulled her down, and was going in for the bite when we interveined. The birthday mom was mortified but I was just entertained, usually Matilda is on the dealing end in those interchanges. The sharp new tooth will come in handy for both defense and offense.

More pictures soon.

We are living here in the land of dial up and I have no patience for the internet slowness but I promise more pictures soon. Matilda & I are doing all sorts of fun things that will be picture worthy. This morning Matilda got to sit on the desk of our high school principal and "file" her papers which was quite hilarous. This afternoon we are going to the neighbors, who have a bigger flock of sheep than my Dad does. G-pop wanted Matilda to see the lambs but the farmer, Herbie, said it was too cold for babies (human babies that is) in the barn so they will bring one in today!! A lamb in the livingroom - what is not possible here?

Doggie Fever

Matilda is in Dog Heaven here in NY. She is feeling better now and all the new stimulation is really challenging her to learn new skills. In the past week she has gone from a very vague pointing gesture to a demanding one fingered point to get the fan turned on, more food, Daddy to sing more, and any number of other things. She is getting more vocal and we have heard attempts at both "cat" and "dog" this week. It is also amazing how fast she is learning labels as she can now find many items (such as fan, cat, dog, mom, dad, G-pop) when asked. The dogs are also good incentive for locomotion as she attempts to chase them. She has gotten really good at free standing and today she took what might be called a step as she lunged after a dog toy. Everyone keeps saying she is really close to walking but I have sworn them all to secrecy if she starts walking next week. Daddy would never forgive us if he missed the first steps!

Broken is good.

Matilda is really getting a well-rounded experience here with ice storms, snow, viral infections, and lots of family - all the standard components of a winter trip to NY. She came down with a fever our 2nd day here and we visited the convenient care clinic yesterday to make sure it wasn't an infection. Seems to be just a viral-cold something and last night her fever broke. We woke up with a huge soggy spot and a cold, wet girl in the bed. She seems to be in great spirits this morning so now we can get down to enjoying the family and snow portion of the trip more!

NY Here We Come, Right Back Where We Started From.

We are headed home for a much needed visit with the family. Maybe Matilda will even get to see some of the white stuff my mom is always wishing for. We are having a cold spell here in So. Cal and went to the playground today for some practice being cold. Matilda now recognizes the playground from the moment we park and gets all excited, flapping and panting as we walk up the path. Today for first time she also got upset as we left, crying while we walked back to the car.

She is understanding so much and surprises us everyday. Yesterday while fixing some food I asked her if she was ready for lunch. She stopped playing with Fluffy (the coveted sheep) and went flying over with her fast spider crawl to the highchair, pulled herself up, and commenced the feed-me yell. Who knows what she'll be doing by the time we get back....stay tuned.

Give My Baby Back Please

Today while shopping I was carrying Matilda in the Bjorn, as is customary for us. She was asleep and facing my chest for a while. When she woke up I wanted to flip her around so she could flap with excitement at all the dogs, pigeons and fountain that came into her eye line. While paying for my purchase, I set her between my feet on the very clean floor at Banana Republic in the fancy schmancy Grove mall. The woman in line behind me, who was already trying to engage Matilda, took this opportunity to bend down and pick her up. She picked up Matilda. From between my legs. Without asking. It was quite entertaining. I wasn't too concerned as I was certain I could outrun her and I had already heard a salesperson mention that she worked there in some capacity. I let her keep Matilda for a moment more, talking to her (in Spanish only) and oohing and aahing over her. Then I loaded Matilda back up in the Bjorn and we went about our business, as if that was perfectly normal! At the time I was quite perplexed, but in retrospect I am guessing maybe she was mortified I put her on the floor and was trying to somehow rescue this poor child. Who knows.

Circle of Encouragement

Matilda's new clapping skills have highlighted a funny phenomenon when we are among other parents and kids. When Matilda claps, inevitably some other parent will clap also, offering her encouragement. This often leads to his or her own child clapping in response. Which then leads to more clapping from Matilda and almost mind blowing excitement at the sight of not only kids, but kids clapping! By then I feel like I need to participate in the fun and the cycle begins again.

We are easy to find on the playground - the circle of clapping fools.

Documentation

Matilda doesn't have a proper baby book - I guess I should add "yet." I'm hoping we will get to it. In the meantime we try to write big things on the calendar when they happen, or in the comments on Flickr or here. Matilda seems to have done lots of new little tricks over the past week that I wanted to remember so I am just going to throw them all up here:

• Matilda will now hand you things when you ask for them and hold your hand out - most of the time. If it is something she knows she shouldn't have she will generally take off smiling in the other direction or drop it and turn as if she was never holding it.
  
• Today while standing next to Tim she took one step sideways while standing independently. She can free stand for longer and longer now but this was the first time we witnessed a step like that!
  
• Since getting a fresh round of stuffed toys for Christmas we have been doing lots of play interacting with all the new household members. We discovered today Matilda gets really upset and shrieks if her stuffed animals pretend to nurse. She also started to tease the monkey today. It was so funny to watch - she would offer up a toy and then pull it back laughing before the monkey puppet could grab it.
  
• If anyone is getting into the shower or bathtub Matilda very vocally will express her desire to join them. Tim was trying to have a nice relaxing soak for his bum knee and ended up with a squirmy girl in the tub too. She just about threw herself headfirst in after him she was so excited.
  

Too Lazy for a Title

Lately we have been dressing up Matilda's stuffed toys in her clothes and accessories. Her response to the sunglasses and hats are particularly funny. Matilda will waste no time, stop whatever she is doing, and tear across the room to remove the offending item. Puppy here didn't chance a shot. She also has started doing several new things by copying her stuffed toys. She has been seen clapping, giving kisses, and waving all after watching the monkey puppet. Soon monkey will be taking out the garbage and modeling how to drink iron supplement drops without thrashing widely and throwing the dropper across the apartment.

More Liver for M

Matilda had her 9-month check up today and we were all happy to see our doctor, back from maternity leave. Dr. K confirmed our suspicion that Matilda is getting leaner. She has gained less than 2 pounds in the past 3 months, but grew 2.25 inches. She is no longer busting off the charts for weight and continues to follow a Grimsey-like trend with her short-ish height.

Height:
27", between the 50-25%

Weight:
19lb 7oz, between the 75-50%

She got a shot in both arms but recovered quickly and her arms haven't seemed too sore from it. She also got a heel stick for a blood test and was found to be iron deficient, which was not much of a surprise. Until last week she had very little interest in any food that would help to boost her iron stores. The prescribed iron supplements, along with her newfound gusto for eating, should resolve the problem in no time. We will go back in 1 month for a re-test to make sure. One symptom of iron deficiency anemia is fatigue.... I cannot imagine the amount of energy Matilda will have with normal blood iron levels since I already can't keep up!

In the mean time I will implement my old WIC knowledge of offering lots of iron rich foods, combined with vitamin C sources to increase absorption. Dr. Sears says good sources of iron include breast milk, tofu, tomato paste, prune juice, chili con carne (Tim is excited for that night), lentils, molasses, turkey and generally all other meats and beans. Sounds like we could make some interesting combinations. After hearing the news about her slowed weight gain and need to increase solids this morning Matilda ate like a champ all day. She had: rice cereal, risotto with italian sausage, peas, mango, dried apricot, sweet potato flavored puffed baby snack things, oatmeal, spaghetti with marinara sauce, cucumbers, and tofu.

Kitty Round Up

Now that (almost) all of the pointy kitties have been sent to live with their new owners I thought you all deserved a look at them since I complained so much about being busy with making them in the past month. Here I am hard at work sewing amid the headless kitties:

This is Gigi's kitty, maybe my favorite, but it is hard to decide. To see all of the 15 kitties look at my Flickr pictures here. Matilda enjoyed having all the kitties around and was a good assistant when I took their portraits.

Happy New Year

For lack of a party or party hats, Matilda and I decided to just put on hats and watch the ball drop. Tim was fast asleep by midnight. 2006 was great for the RD Mama household. Wishing you all a wonderfull 2007.