International Baby of Mystery

Lots of things going on in Annika's world these days -- major improvement in her unassisted-sitting skills, increasing mobility (turn your back on her, and she's scooched five feet at lightning speed!), a brand-new awareness of how to touch your face without smacking it openhanded, and the ability to sleep without her arms being pinned in the swaddler (plus she has now decided to sleep on her stomach, and THERE AIN'T NO STOPPING HER -- oh well, she's strong enough to turn back over if she wants to!). She spent last weekend with us and her Sauce friends down at M&H's in the Santa Cruz mountains, rockin all day and sleepin all night (seriously -- she'd go down at around 7:30 and be out like a light till after 7:30 the next morning, even while the band was playing at top volume in a room not six feet away from her head!). As it's only April, the pool was too cold for babies, but the next time we're down there, she's going to give a couple of her incredibly cute new swimsuits a good workout. There will, of course, be pictures and video!*

Today we went to apply for a passport -- both mom and dad have to be there when the applicant is a minor, so we went while Dad is still on leave. She was ready for a nap before we even started, but held it together during the whole process and the photo session, and now that it's all over, she'll be good to go anywhere in the world!

*(Well, assuming we get a new camera; our digital more or less done up and died on us this weekend, after a protracted camera-illness, so we're in the market for another one asap. Also she's almost too big for her carseat, so I guess we've got to get a new one of those, too ... arrg!)

Happy Six-Month Birthday, Little Baby!

Long time no post, eh? Yikes! So I’ll do a quick catch-up, and try to fill in some stuff later …

LATEST NEWS
Yesterday was Annika’s six-month checkup + third round of shots. She clocked in at an amazing 16 pounds, 15 ounces (more than double her birth weight!) and 27 inches tall. Power baby! When the doc was trying to hold her up to see if she can stand, Annika started absolutely Fred Flintstoning those feet – running at an incredible rate, and refusing to put her feet down. We think she was just tripping out on the sound of the paper covering the exam table – it was pretty hilarious. She took her shots like a champ, and then slept hard for about three hours once we got home.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
--Sitting unassisted. She’ll still leeeeeean and then tump over, especially if she’s reaching for something, but she can do the trick!
--Standing holding onto something. For months now, she's been pulling herself up on your hands, and then standing there, super proud of herself, with almost no assistance. She’s started trying to balance by holding onto the crossbars of the gym mat thingy, but that’s really too unstable to be much help.
--Rolling every which way, and proto-crawling. Back to front, front to back, whatever, whenever. Reaching for stuff while she's on her stomach, ooching around (usually in a circle!) on the floor – she's damn near truly mobile. It's great, but a leetle scary ...
--Games. She has invented two games: One, she’ll touch your face, then wait for you to gobble up her whole hand (humming or making Cookie Monster noises) – comedy gold! Two, she’ll pull a cloth diaper over her face, then lie there with all her limbs waving while you pretend you can’t see her. Then when either you or she pulls the cloth off of her face, she laughs like a maniac – “Ha! I was here all the time, hiding!”

MAJOR EVENTS
--Mom went back to work on February 12. I’ve got a great schedule – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the office, Tuesday and Friday working from home – so it hasn’t been as traumatic (for me) as it could have been. I sure do miss her while I’m away, though!
--Grandma M’s visit/nanny session. For the first few weeks I was back at work, Annika spent her days with Grandma M, to the delight of both baby and Grandma.
--Grandmother H’s visit/nanny session. Grandmother H spent her spring break working another gig (which I hear she liked a LOT better than her usual one): taking care of Annika. And a most wonderful time was had by all!
--Skyler S., son of our close friends K&K, joined the world on March 8; the two babies are destined to spend a lot of time together in coming years (along with, of course, Theo L., born to I&K just three weeks after our little Annika). Congratulations to K&K and welcome Skyler!
--Starting solid foods. What we decided was a 6-month growth spurt – and its consequent devastatingly sleepless nights (waking every 1.5-2 hours) – pushed us to start solids a smidge early. She loves her rice cereal and her oatmeal, and carrots, and haaaaaaaates peas and green beans (she will eat them, but slowly, and with a very sad face). Will be trying more varieties soon …
--Dad on leave. Thanks to the comparatively progressive State of California, R is currently enjoying seven weeks of paid parental leave and doing the full-time Dad gig. It can be exhausting, but both daddy and baby are having a great time together.
--Mom and Dad’s ninth wedding anniversary. Last Thursday, April 3, we decided not to go out to celebrate, but to stay in and avoid all that aggro. R. cooked up a beautiful and delicious feast, and I brought home some desserts from Miette and from Recchiuti (schmancy places in the SF Ferry Building). Yay!

More – and more frequent – updates, plus photos, soon. I promise.