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April 30, 2005
High Chair!
After several weekends of swearing we had to get a high chair, we finally took a trip to the new Babies R Us down in Marin City. It was a lot nicer than the Toys R Us or Baby Depots we've been to, mostly due to the fact that it's less than a month old and still well stocked. They had a great selection of high chairs, and we ended up getting their 'New Parents Top Pick' (a helpful feature when you're faced with rows of similar-looking, expensive items!) rather than the one we had researched and decided upon.
The 'Top Pick' was nearly identical to the one we researched, except you could remove and wash the seat cover (the one complaint people had made about the other chair.) It also has a removable, compartmentalized tray that goes into the dishwasher, an interactive toy with numbers and letters that fits into the tray area, and was $60 cheaper than the other one. For anyone out there shopping for high chairs, this was the Evenflo Discovery.
The only downside to the trip was that Eula didn't like sharing the back of the wagon with the new purchase, especially when it decided to tip over on her when I cornered too quickly getting on the freeway. She survived though (did I mention how amazingly light the new high chair is?), and only shivered most of the way home as she stared down her enemy.
The chair was pretty easy to assemble, even the second time around when I mistakenly put the front legs on backwards. Sophie really seemed to enjoy her perch both in the kitchen as we made dinner and at the dining table while we ate. Afterwards we relaxed on the couch and got some fun pictures of her smiles.
Posted by Jacob at 8:56 PM | Comments (2)
April 26, 2005
Happy Anniversary Sarah & Anthony!
We love and miss you guys, can't wait to get together for our next wine-and-cheese evening at home or winery tour! I bet someone walks away with a membership again...
Hope your anniversary is wonderful!
Posted by Jacob at 10:35 AM | Comments (2)
April 24, 2005
Happy Birthday Aunt Kathie!
A very Happy Birthday to Aunt Kathie! We hope you had a wonderful birthday and did something very fun! We love you lots!
Posted by Brandie at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2005
Happy Birthday Aunt Connie!
Happy Birthday Aunt Connie! We hope you had a wonderful day even with the rain! Seems like we are sharing our weather with you. We love and miss you.
Posted by Brandie at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2005
Happy Birthday Little Brother!
My "little" brother Cy turns 22 today. Happy happy bday little bro! I managed to get him on the phone this morning as he was driving into Texas where he will be working for the next 4 weeks.
Posted by Brandie at 3:59 PM | Comments (3)
April 17, 2005
Sunday walk
This morning we took Sophie and Eula on a walk downtown, to get coffee from Brandie's favorite (Starbucks). It was a little windy, but otherwise beautiful. We had nice time looking at the houses and all the spring flowers. Sophie slept most of the way, and Eula behaved herself for the most part. Eliot stayed home to catch up on his sunbathing.
Posted by Jacob at 10:25 AM | Comments (1)
On the Nightstand
Lately I find myself splitting my reading time between re-reading old favorites and trying out new books (usually gifts from birthdays or Christmas that stack up.) I just finished reading a bunch of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie, The Long Winter and Farmer Boy.) It's quite a different experience reading those books as an adult and new parent: as a kid I found them to be exciting adventures of the American frontier, but as I'm older the gravity of their situations really sinks in. It's almost survival-horror.
Following that trend, I reopened Into Thin Air and couldn't put it down until I'd read through twice in a row. (Then I finally bought the Everest IMAX DVD, whose filming coincided with the disaster, but that belongs in another category.) Finally, I picked up A Wizard of Earthsea again. It's still right up there (albeit slightly below) with Lord of the Rings for my favorite fantasy books.
On the new books front, I'm in the middle of Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture. It's pretty interesting, mostly looking at the roots of modern day massively multiplayer communitees in D&D groups. Richard Garriot features prominently as a character, so it's fun to compare the stories we've heard from our friend Clint (who works for him in Austin.)
I also recently finished a book I'd gotten for Christmas called His Excellency: George Washington. It's a pretty accessible history, someone's making a good business out of publishing similar-looking books on the Founding Fathers (I read the John Adams book last year, and have seen others on Jefferson, Franklin, etc.) My most helpful resource in the last few months has been The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year (thanks again, Em!), and following a recent re-read of the trilogy I read Sauron Defeated, a sort of making-of featurette where Christopher Tolkien compares early versions of The Lord of the Rings to the finished work.
Posted by Jacob at 10:22 AM | Comments (2)
April 13, 2005
3 Wonderful Years
Today Jake and I celebrate three wonderful years together as husband and wife. I couldn't imagine a more romantic, supportive and exciting relationship. We are partners in every way and as we always say, it feels as though we have invented love for the first time.
Happy Anniversary, my wonderful husband. Here is to many, many more.
Posted by Brandie at 4:55 PM | Comments (2)
Myth Busted!
Last night we gave Sophie rice cereal for the first time, following the instructions on the packaging for "first feedings". It was very watery, nearly the consistency of formula, but we tried using the spoon anyway (and of course videotaped the whole thing - thanks again Sarah & Anthony!). She looked very confused but ended up eating quite a bit: before too long however we resorted to the usual bottle of formula and then polished her off with the rest of the cereal in a bottle.
Despite all that fun, she still managed to wake up several times in the middle of the night, and was as hungry as usual! The next myth to bust is whether not sleeping through the night is related to breast milk - we'll let you know!
Posted by Jacob at 2:01 PM | Comments (2)
April 10, 2005
Congratulations Dan & Shanna
Two of our favorite North Carolinans got engaged! We're very happy for you both, congratulations guys. Someday we'll actually be able to talk on the phone and get some details!
Posted by Jacob at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)
April 8, 2005
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
I love a good chewy oatmeal cookie and have been looking for a reliable, buttery recipe for a while. I found a recipe that called for cranberries and white chocolate chunks but I ended up using cherries (half bing, half ranier) and omitting the white chocolate (I mean, it isn't REALLY chocolate). The cherries aren't as tart as the cranberries but are much more lively than raisins. I threw in some chopped pecans and it seemed to come out just right. Make sure not to make them too big or the cookies will fall apart when you pick them up due to the centers being so gooey.
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups dried cherries, quartered
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in oats and set aside.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add honey and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in cherries and nuts.
Drop dough onto prepared pans by heaping tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely (or grab a glass of milk and dig in!).
Posted by Brandie at 9:19 AM | Comments (1)
April 5, 2005
Doctor Visit
Well the checkup went great: Sophie is 13 lbs 14 oz, 25 inches long, and I forget the head measurement. The doctor says we can start introducing solid foods before her next visit if we want, there seems to be quite a strategy to it all. Unfortunately she says the whole "sleeping through the night" solid food thing is just an old wives' tale, but I'm still willing to give it a try!
We also found out yesterday that Sophie had turned over from her back onto her tummy last week at daycare! What a kick in the pants for it to have happened and not know about it. That's exactly the kind of thing we were afraid of missing out on with daycare. We still haven't witnessed it ourselves though, so it'll be great when it does happen.
Sophie also got four shots today, which made mom cry! Drop her a line to help her out if you can, thanks!
Posted by Jacob at 10:48 AM | Comments (3)
April 3, 2005
Sophie: 4 Months Old
On Tuesday Sophie turns four months! She has a doctor's appointment the same day, so we'll get some new stats on her height and weight. It could be just the kind of smoke daycare folks give to new parents, but all the caregivers say she's very strong and interactive for her age. She likes tummy time (face down on her boppy pillow, supervised of course) and seems on the verge of turning over. She's capable of throwing a decent fit (Friday night is a recent example, we stayed out past her bedtime and she woke up instead of sleeping through as we'd hoped), but most of the time is very happy, smiling and "talking".
She's able to sit facing forward in the Bjorn now, and really seems to enjoy being able to look around when we take walks. Lately it's been very blustery though, which she doesn't like so much (it seems to take her breath away, she looks very stunned when the wind blows in her face).
We're hoping the doctor greenlights solid food (a little bit of rice cereal mixed into her bottle at night) at her next visit, as the thought of sleeping a full night is very attractive. We're also starting to think about baby-proofing the house, something we haven't devoted much time to yet.
Posted by Jacob at 3:28 PM | Comments (3)