Ten Month Weigh-In

(hence the "+/- a few ounces")

Emma Vance is going to hit the ten month mark this weekend, so I stopped by the pediatrician's office yesterday for a quick weigh-in (and a slew of burning questions, as usual).

Let me first say--this whole getting-E.V.-to-sit-still thing is getting hard. VERY hard. She's a wiggle worm, and for some reason the doctor's scale is the wiggliest place for her. Since these weigh-ins are informal and impromptu, I do the weighing alone, but she was extra squirmy this time around--so much so that a doctor came out of her office and offered to help. Merp. :/  I suppose next time I'll have to keep my laughter and chastising down a bit more.

Emma Vance weighed in at...well, I think she weighed in at 20 lbs. 2 oz. (+/- a few ounces) and measured 27" tall--which means she grew ZERO and put on a measly five ounces (or so). I blame the wiggliness. If only I could bottle up her energy and zeal for exercise because, truthfully, I'd love to have those monthly stats myself! :)

Blur effect added for emphasis.
Oh wait, nope.
This is real time wiggle-worming. And nose diving.

"20 lbs. 2 oz.?!?"

By the Dawn's Early Light...

Pre-baby, if you had asked Ryan and I to voluntarily start our day at 8 a.m., we would've glared at you in silence. Nowadays? Well, we're the ones doing the asking, and the earlier the better. It's amazing how things change so quickly in life...

Thankfully Ryan's brother, Shane, and his aunt and uncle, Shawn and Joe, are also early risers, because this morning we had a ruse to pull off, and it began early. Aunt Shawn and Uncle Joe snuck into town late last night as a surprise the rest of the family because E.V.'s getting dedicated at church this weekend. Uncle Joe's been going through some health issues lately, which have kept them from meeting E.V. in person. While many pictures and one FaceTime experience have given them tastes of the little lady, there's really nothing like holding a sweet baby in your arms in person. (So true.) Thus, when Joe claimed triumph over his health recently and the doctor permitted him to travel, we were all on board for a weekend visit, and to save the details, keeping this one a secret was (as Shawn put it) "like a SWAT effort"--but we did it!

Because Emma Vance's first nap starts at 10 a.m. and because we wanted Shawn and Joe to have ample time to hug and squeeze the bejesus out of E.V. before she needed to rest, we asked them to meet at our house first thing. It was an emotional reuniting, and as I held the baby in my arms in the living room, I could hear Aunt Shawn's sobbing from all the way in the driveway--and the house doors were all shut! A few happy tears later, and it was hugs and kisses for everyone (but mostly for the baby!). E.V. was her usual sweet self, even snuggling on Aunt Shawn's shoulder and relaxing on Uncle Joe's lap as if she's known them forever. (Which would seem extraordinary, but I wasn't surprised, truthfully, because they're just those kind of people.)

After proper introductions and snuggles, we headed to Wendi's to "drop Emma Vance off to be babysat" (under the guise that I had some Spring cleaning to do), and when E.V. came through the door in Shawn's arms, it was tears all over. Wendi was surprised (success!), and there were many things to talk about, 'fess up to and divulge. It was a great morning, and we're officially ready to have a whole weekend with Shawn and Joe only a car ride away instead of a plane ride away. Yay!

When Ryan's Away...

...the girls will play!

Just kidding. Actually, when Ryan's away, we're all sad. We just got through an eight day stint sans-dada, and by the end of it, the baby, dogs and I were in some desperate need of Ryan Time! My world lights up when he returns from a trip, and that feeling never goes away no matter how often he travels.

While he's gone, though, we do a lot of communicating via phone, email and text. I like to keep him up to date on E.V. and the household (not to mention badgering him for answers for me to relay to clients in his absence!), and in return he responds, well, mostly to let me know he's alive since he's always go-go-going when he's on shoots.

We both recently got iPhone 5s, which allow you to FaceTime (a concept that still eludes my 66-year-old father) without actual internet. Our worlds have totally changed, and thanks to a very old, grandfathered-in phone plan, we have unlimited data which means we FaceTime All. The. Time. Emma Vance is obsessed with phones, computers, televisions--basically anything with a screen--and FaceTiming her dada has made her obsession even worse. (Ours, too.)

However, once he's home, FaceTime seems so hollow. Sesame Street and snuggles are way better in person; just ask E.V. Besides, we'll take real time over FaceTime anyday...

Storm Door

(pre-rattail annihilation)

In Amityville, any upgrade seems to make a world of difference. Our landlord is an extremely nice guy, so when he recently mentioned having a storm door installed on our backdoor, I didn't read too much into it. I mean, a dryer that actually dries or a stove with a full set of functioning burners would've been higher on my list of "wants," but I wasn't going to complain. :) However, when Ryan pointed out the scratch marks Oscar and Olive have left on the backdoor (since they're unaccustomed to being dog-door-less), I realized why our landlord opted for a storm door and sheepishly withdrew my previous thoughts about dryers and stoves.

So the storm door went in, and at first it really annoyed me. Really, it was just another door to open when letting the dogs in and out.

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, my heart softened. You see, as E.V.'s schedule allows for more and more play time, I've struggled finding things for her to do. One evening I had left the backdoor open, and as she pulled herself up to gaze out of the storm door, it was as if her little world was opening up. She stood there for almost 30 minutes, banging on the glass and babbling to the birds outside. Now it's become part of our nightly ritual. After her bath, before her bottle, she spends a little time gazing out of her door, observing the dusky world outside. In those moments she has no care for anything else, and so I'm granted the privilege of seeing her completely enthralled and entranced by God's creation. It's awesome.

So, dear landlord, thank you for the storm door and for the unexpected joy it's brought to Emma Vance's life--and to mine.

Visions of Grandeur

Other appropriate titles for this post:

Pad See Eeeeewww!
FAILeo
Why I Owe Ryan $10

A while back Ryan and I tried out Paleo, and I acutally quite liked it. As it turns out:

No Grain + No Dairy + No Processed Foods = Feeling Great!

It made me feel "lighter" and more energized and generally way better (including psychologically, since I was proud of the food I was putting in my body). You may wonder, then, why we didn't stick with it longer than a few weeks: Well, in summary, fried stuff and Coke.

After a couple weeks back in the early fall of banana-egg-and-cinnamon pancakes and beef stew, Ryan couldn't go much longer without something fried, and I was ravenous for soda. So we gave Paleo up, but it's stuck with me over time, begging me to return because it can bring so much happiness to one's lifestyle.

I mean, the truth is that although we're not perfect, we also aren't the worst eaters in the world. Plus we are making concerted strides toward a healthy lifestyle. In 2012, we committed to buying 99% of our groceries organic and have stuck with it for the past year and a half. In January this year, Ryan and I committed to one year where we'd pay one another $10 for every meal that includes anything fried and/or caffeinated. It's been going very well, and after four months of our experiment, I'd say we've eliminated probably 80% of the fried stuff and caffeine from our lives. This "Cheat Jar" method has been very helpful because it allows us to splurge every once in a while in the name of moderation and indulgence, but keeps us from giving in too often. As time has progressed, I do have to say that the Cheat Jars have done exactly what I thought they would--revealed that Ryan's weakness is "fried stuff with cheese" and mine is "Coke, and keep them coming."

Eating will always be a progressive experiment in our household, and as we work to move closer and closer to a super healthy diet, I predict we'll inevitably go through phases of Paleo eating. In an misguided attempt to add a new Paleo recipe to my (albeit short) list of go-to recipes, I decided to tackle Paleo Pad See Ew tonight. Big. Mistake.

Dear Self,

You are not a chef. You do not read recipe instructions well. You refuse to measure things exactly, despite knowing your guesstimating is way off. Please remember this in the future, especially when you believe you can handle intermediate-or-higher level recipes that call for expensive ingredients. Save yourself the time and money, okay?

Love,
Self

My first clue of impending failure should've been the blank stare I received when I approached the help desk at Whole Foods and asked where the coconut aminos were kept. (Probably a good sign I should've called it quits then.) After about ten minutes of scrambling and multiple associates' help, the coconut aminos were successfully located, and despite their being suspiciously expensive, I carried on. The second moment I should've stopped occurred as I read, "Cut the chicken very thinly and on the diagonal." Chickens have biases like fabric? Who knew! I know it probably sounds elementary to anyone who actually cooks but seemed hard and unnecessary to me, and at the time I didn't realize how important that step is in creating "lifelike" Pad See Ew; so I went with chunks of chicken. Which took FOR-EV-ER to cook, BTW. I should've known better than to mess with the recipe based on previous experiences, but as I read on, it called for grated carrots in place of rice noodles--and I HATE carrots. So I substituted zucchini. Which turned out super soggy. And then, when the sauce refused to thicken, instead of draining it, I figured adding in double the eggs would soak up the runny sauce as they cooked. Apparently not, and please don't ask--I have no idea where I got this notion from.

The end result? Well, let's just say that it looked neither like regular Pad See Ew nor the Paleo Pad See Ew from the recipe. I took about half a dozen bites, ditched my plate and pulled a fortuitously purchased Pepsi Max from the fridge to pair with some leftover kale chips (one of those recipes on my short list that I can actually accomplish successfully). TOTALLY worth $10 in the Cheat Jar. :)

I think for now I'll move forward with my just-a-little-grain-and-dairy-and-processed-food diet, only dipping my toe in the Paleo pool once in a while. That is, until someone can give me a really great, easy recipe for the remaining half of a bottle of coconut aminos in my fridge currently...anyone? Bueller?

Clara June Visits Amityville

How  could this face not make me want Emma Vance to be little again?

I love when my friends have babies. It's been so long (or so it seems) since Emma Vance was a tiny, helpless little newborn, and seeing people I love carrying around their own tiny, helpless little newborns lets me relive those fleeting days vicariously.

With an impending baby shower, Alli made the trek to Amityville this afternoon with Clara in tow to rummage through my collection of party-ware.  ("Collection" is the term hoarders often use to refer to their own hoards, note to self. But it's not hoarding if you actually USE the stuff, right?) It was the first time Emma Vance has spent any significant time with a true baby-baby, and it made me both happy and sad to have the Finlay girls over to play and plan. On the one hand, it reminds me that I want E.V. to be little again. She's growing up so fast; I can't take it! On the other hand, being able to coo over little Clara is such a joy and makes the sad moments come and go quickly.

Sigh.

Oh well. You can't turn back the clock; you can only enjoy the moment you're in. Here's a glimpse into today's "moments:"

 

As you can clearly see, E.V. makes a WONDERFUL playmate, and clearly Clara will be back for another play date. (Although next time hopefully E.V.'s efforts to teach Clara "So Big!" will pay off a bit more. Ha!)