Snowbound Herpetologist

I can’t believe that we’ve made it to six months.   Really, I can’t believe it.   The baby is HUGE - she weighed 18 lbs, 12.5 oz and was 27 inches long at the pediatrician this morning.   How on earth did I produce a baby that enormous!  Related but just as amazing, I can't believe I made it through six months of breastfeeding this tiny wildebeest.  Definitely the hardest physical challenge I've ever had - and I've trained for some gnarly races, and was a competitive swimmer before that - and I'm so proud that we've made it this far :) It’s hard not to make comparisons to when she was a newborn to see how far she’s come.  We spend all of our time outside now, and she’s just so fascinated by the sights, sounds, and smells of summer.  She’s strong, energetic, and willful.  She eats solid foods like a champ, and we haven’t really found anything that she doesn’t like.  She uses our bodies as her own personal jungle gym, and sometimes it’s all we can do just to hold o

We're home!  Overall, the conference was AWESOME.  It was definitely a different (read: harder) experience trying to do it with the baby there, but in hindsight, I would call it a success.  I saw some excellent talks, met some new people (including some of my academic idols!), and caught up with a bunch of old friends.  Oh, and ate a lot of barbecue!  Maya probably consumed her weight in collard greens - which made for some really awesome poo, let me tell you. Here are some photos from the plane flight home - overall, she did wonderfully on both flights.  That's my little baby-on-the-go! Don't worry, we didn't let her actually fly like this!  Pre-boarding photo op only :) Her cuteness overwhelms me!  And the strawberry outfit! The only downside of the trip is that the baby and I both got a cold.  It doesn't seem too bad - and I was sicker than she was - and we seem to be on the mend now.  However, I got to have my first experiences sucking massive quan

Today, husband, Maya, and I are all headed to an out-of-town conference, so we are madly packing and hoping we're not forgetting anything important.  I'm worried that with the busy-ness of traveling, it'll be a while before I post anything substantial about how Maya's doing now that she's six months old.  I don't even have any good photos to post!  I'll see if I can post one later today of the baby at the airport (baby on the go!), and hopefully a belated six month update when we return will have to suffice :) In the meantime - Maya, we love you!  Happy, happy half birthday! ETA: here are some photos from North Carolina! Maya loves BBQ :)

My mom has been cleaning out her "attic" (more like a weird crawlspace, since she lives in California where they don't really have attics - or basements, for that matter), and so she recently sent me a bunch of old photos from my childhood.  She said most of them were reject photos that she didn't want and that she was mostly sending them so that husband could be prepared for what Maya's hair is going to look like as she's growing up. It was so much fun going through the photos, so I thought I'd post one for Throwback Thursday that I think really captures the essence of my being, even now as an adult.  You're welcome. Me, age 2-ish, with my Lolly Doll ( the doll of the late 70's/early 80's) while sleeping on the potty.  I sucked my left thumb from in utero (I was born with a callus on that thumb, actually) until I was 5 and my parents bribed me to stop (with a fishing pole and dictionary - per my request).  I can still fall asleep almost

Here was my day at work yesterday: baby plus stuffed hawk, all in the name of science (we're doing some anti-predator behavioral trials.  With snakes, not with babies, for the record.). My normal is not actually normal, I think. Never mind the math on the white board. Come on , Mom - you think this is way more fun than I think it is. Two interesting things of note: 1) I signed baby up for swimming lessons today, so exciting!  She begins July 1. 2) Maya saw her first small flying bug yesterday.  I mean, there have been tons of flying bugs out for over a month now, but this is the first one that she actually, undeniably,  saw .  Progress! Husband is at a conference in Europe this week so Maya and I are rocking things solo, but here's a cute photo I took yesterday of morning fun time.  I love summer! All three of my loves! And baby boo this morning - it's true, her hair is nothing but wisps anymore: In the super cute new clothes that Grandma Lynn g

Two days ago, Maya took an epic 4 hour nap...and then woke up and suddenly knew how to babble. The other recent advance is butt bouncing - or, as husband likes to call it, yogic flying :)  What a strong little baby! (This is, in fact, a Wonder Week, but I think that crap is just for making people money and that's about it.)

For the very first time!!!  She went down ~8pm (maybe a bit later) and didn't get up until almost 6am!  Then, after nursing (from a very painful, swollen boob), she slept in my lap for another hour. Who is this baby and what did the little nighttime trolls do with my real baby? Now, I'm sure this won't be a super regular occurrence (yet), but on average, she is trending towards more nighttime sleep.  Good news all around! I'm still not finished with the migration post - and it's not even long, I've just got a bunch of work stuff stacked up - so here are some more cute photos in the meantime :) Getting ready for summer - need some sun protection! Discovering grass Squash and mango = lunch! Bubbles! I loooove Gymboree bubbles - they never pop!  Making "bubble forests" never ceases to amuse me (or Abby, as it turns out).