A few moments of panic

Naomi and I survived our week at the office but were excited to be done. The main issue was that Naomi wouldn't take a nap while we were there. Somewhat confined space + mommy distracted by other things doesn't always equal a happy baby, but add a tired baby into the equation, and you'll never come up with anything good. Naomi did phenomenally well for a baby, but the office just isn't the place for a baby!

We did have a few moments of excitement on Thursday. Peter D's office was connected to mine. Since he wasn't in during the afternoon, I laid a blanket on the floor and put Naomi down for a nap. She sometimes cries for just a few minutes before dropping off to sleep, so I closed the door and sat at my desk right by the door. After a couple minutes, I could tell the cries weren't her "falling to sleep" cries, so I decided to pick her back up. To my absolute horror, the door was locked! I very calmly went to the front desk and asked after several different people who have master keys. I was told they were all at lunch. So I checked on a few personal contacts who have keys, and none of them were in either. I went back to the front desk and asked when anyone with a key was expected back in, and they managed to track down a key for me. The whole thing took less than five minutes, but I felt terrible! I was so relieved to get to Naomi. I will be checking the locks on any rooms I put Naomi in from now on!!

Latest update

Naomi got poked with her third set of immunizations this morning. She didn't blink an eye at the first jab, but the second made her howl. She recovered quickly, though; she was blowing raspberries for the nurse as the needles went in the disposal bin, and she made a concentrated effort to capture and eat the flowers at the checkout desk.

Naomi is now 25 1/2 inches long (50th percentile), 14 lb 8 oz (around 30th percentile), and I don't recall her head measurement, but it was around the 50th percentile as well. Next time some sucker makes a scene about how Naomi is so incredibly huge for her age, I'll just smile and know they are an idiot. (Just kidding, but I do get that comment a lot, and I've gotten a bit sick of it.)

Since rice cereal is going so well and her weight could stand to go up a bit, Naomi will get solids two times a day starting today and we'll add in a third solids meal in the next couple weeks. And we'll be branching out to.....yellow and orange vegetables!! Naomi's gonna be stoked.

Temp job

My old boss lined me up with a possible part-time job at New York Life, but I opted not to do it. I didn't want to end up earning just enough to pay for Naomi's day care. However, I did agree to fill in for a week. They are allowing me to bring Naomi in to work with me, and I am choosing my own hours, as many or as few as I would like. It sounded like a decent way to make a few bucks.

The position is straight secretarial/receptionist, which is an absolute bore. Naomi contrives to spice it up, though. She actually behaved fairly well on Monday. We were there for five hours (I had planned to be there less than four, but things picked up a bit at the end.) She finally exhausted herself and collapsed on my shoulder into a sleep, but those eyes popped right open when I tried to lay her down on a blanket. So much for naps...the same thing was repeated today, except the second time she let the entire floor (and it's a big floor) know she was not pleased with the arrangements.

Even getting the messages off the phone turned out to be trickier than you might imagine. (Any idea how entertaining a phone cord can be to a baby that LOVES to reach out and chew on whatever she can grab?) It sounded like a great idea to bring Naomi since I was only going to do a little light filing and answering the phones for such a short period of time, but never again will I do something like this. Everything that I accomplished in five hours while having Naomi with me would have normally taken me 30 minutes, if that.

Since the duties aren't time-consuming, I did spend some time updating the software on the computer and streamlined a few other things in the office (his current secretary is not very technologically-minded). I should have charged Peter more for my time - I think with those results alone he would have gladly paid it!

Anyway, that's what's going on with Naomi and me this week. Matt's back in classes for his 2nd year - 1 down and a few to go!!

The cracker issue

In every book and website on baby information, you will find a list of developmental activities which babies should be doing at specific ages. Every time I look at those lists (which is only about once a month, to see which activities we should we working on) I wonder this: what idiot came up with the one that a baby should be able to feed himself/herself a cracker by 6 months?

First of all, Naomi has no teeth, and the average age for getting teeth is supposed to be 7-9 months. Are they supposed to slobber all over the cracker until it's absolute mush and then they can swallow it? Or is the issue that they are supposed to bring something to their mouth and bite? I'm assuming that's not it, since that is usually listed separately...

Secondly, Naomi hasn't been eating rice cereal for very long. Looking down the schedule of when to introduce new foods, I don't see crackers listed anytime soon.

6 months old!!

Today marks 6 months since Naomi has joined our family, and we are thrilled she's here to stay! There are, however, still moments when Matt or I secretly want the other one to either take care of her or throw her out the window (that's a joke dating back to Naomi's wee days).

Naomi's 6 month update:

1. She gives the thermostat huge smiles. Matt and I have to tease and tickle and dance and sing and cart her around everywhere, and that stupid thermostat gets smiles? It probably doesn't even appreciate them...sheesh. (I think it's the circular dial she likes so much.)

2. Naomi's almost ready to graduate to the big-people bathtub! She's definitely ready for the bath toys Aunt Bethany and Grandma Jones sent.

3. She likes to grab her toes and play with them, occasionally sticking them in her mouth...our own little contortionist! Unfortunately, the only picture I have of this is when Naomi was in a state of undress, so I won't be posting that online. It seems every parent has a picture of their naked child, so I guess it was inevitable.

4. Naomi is getting really good at sitting and can stay sitting while propping herself up with her arms. She can stand, too, while holding onto a toy at standing level or other support device (i.e. Mom or Dad).

An exersaucer and an octopus...

Naomi has some new forms of entertainment, one of them being her exersaucer. There are so many knobs to turn and handles to pull, etc., that her busy little hands just can't get enough of it!

And then there's the octopus...as I mentioned in a previous post, Naomi loves to capture the octopus as the mobile spins around, and then she proceeds to slobber all over it and munches on each individual tentacle. Watching her catch the octopus in her outstretched arms is one of the day's delights. Her whole body seems to quiver with anticipation, or perhaps with the effort of ensnaring the moving target. She loves that octopus so much that we ordered a Beanie Baby octopus and are awaiting its delivery with much anticipation. (Then I can stop trying to prevent her from tearing this octopus right off of the mobile!)

AHA - feeding fun!

I have figured out how to help Naomi have fun while eating - cater to her schedule (as we do in all other matters)! Since I had been told repeatedly that I would probably need to bathe her after feeding her with a spoon, I thought feeding her right before her regular bathtime in the evening would work well.

Today I veered off that schedule and fed her in the late morning. Whoa - what a difference!! Naomi was much more lively. She managed to capture the spoon from me a couple times; she also used her hands to transfer the contents of the spoon to her mouth, entire face, and all over the high chair. All in all, it was much more fun for both of us!

The rational part of my brain says "Ach - don't touch that, Naomi, or I'll have to clean the whole thing!" The silly part of me (which is winning out over the responsible part, and which I hope will always win out) says "Come on, Naomi, let's paint this high chair with all the baby food we can find!"

Rice cereal

Naomi has been eating rice cereal for about a week now. She does fine with it, but our mellow little babe doesn't get too excited about eating. She does, however, absolutely love to drink water from a cup. She sticks her tongue on top and laps it up like a little doggy! When a cup is in sight, Naomi is reaching towards it with all of her energy!

I have to admit I was rather disappointed in the first feeding session. I had piles of bibs and burp rags on hand, and I couldn't wait to get her in that high chair. I was prepared for a knock-down drag-out fight over trying to get her to eat the rice cereal. Alas, my expectations were far from accurate. There were no flying spoons or bowls, no spitting cereal onto the floor, walls, or Mommy, no desperate attempts to escape from the high chair. Naomi twisted around to check out a noise now and then, but for the most part she let me spoon the stuff right in her mouth. I'm sure the excitement factor will kick in as she gets more used to it and figures out she can protest, so I should be grateful for the calm feeding times I get now, right? Ah the naiveties of a new parent...