Hidee Ho!

The last couple of years there has been a Mr. Hankie in our neck of the woods. I first noticed a car that was custom painted with what appeared to be an animated poop. I had to have a double take, but my first fleeting impression was accurate. Then I saw the giant, live Mr. Floatie (yes his name is Mr. Floatie). Now that we live here, I see the poop-mobile nearly every day. Mr. Floatie is always around and tends to show up at public events. The other night on the way home from the train station, we saw him standing in front of Starbucks. In any case, check out the slideshow on this page. I can not imagine going somewhere to get your giant poop costume made, or all the thought on the design. Now this is a person who is dedicated to a cause!

Maturity

Katie turns 3 months today! To celebrate she slept in her crib from 10:30-6:30 last night. She must have received the memo that you can not spoil a baby in the first three months, so she decided to behave.

sweet!

Check this out if you need some entertainment.

Wrap up....

Happy Belated to Tante Anita!!
I did not get my 10-5 last night, but I did get 10-2. Katie then slept until 8:15 (I had to wake her up). She woke me up at 5 , and then I could not stay asleep so I got up for a while. She does this thing in her sleep we call the "hamsterhosentanz". The origin of hamsterhosentanz dates back to last summer when we were camping in Oregon. Our sleeping bags are nylon and make noise when you move around. After our strenous hike to the top of South Sister, I was having trouble getting confortable in the tent and was wiggling around a lot. So Mike created this word to describe what I was doing which appeared to to be the "hamster pants dance" (as if there was a hamster in my pants). So Katie sleeps soundly, but will be wiggling and moving around a lot.
She had a full day yesterday in the city. We went to Stephanie's batism and then to brunch. She did pretty well, but was cooked when we got home. That is when the feeding frenzy commenced. She did sleep in her crib last night, so soon we will get our money's worth!
We had to buy a bike trainer this weekend. We have been taking turns riding or going to the gym, so it will be nice to have something at home. We got to take a ride together on Sat. My bike was in the shop and we needed to pick it up. Oma and grandpa offered to take Katie for a walk and met us at the shop. So that was our first ride together since last fall!

7 Hours

I slept for 7 hours straight last night!

Cover all of the bases...

I see a lot of crappy TV these days. I am amazed that TLC is not satisfied with one show about little people, and how many massive families could they find to have a series about? I just saw an ad for tallest kids, and they were showing the fattest teens last night. How about the most average person?

What a croc...

I think Crocs are ugly. I never was interested in getting them despite the raves I would hear. I had too many kids I treated wearing them, and they never fit. Kids with motor problems with huge and unsupportive shoes that make you trip get my goat as a therapist. I broke down and bought a pair recently for the house. We have hardwood floors, so I got them to wear at home (the floors were hurting my feet and I needed something to slip on). I still do not like them. Yes they are cushy, but they are so wide my feet swim in them. I need a narrow Croc. But that is not my main complaint. Crocs are made for people who do not have this. The crocs have the vent holes, and my toe lines up perfectly with one of them. It gets stuck in there and is annoying! P.S. My toes are actually not as horrible as the ones in the Wiki entry! I feel much better about mine now.

Kuni

Before Katie arrived, we had looked at Mike's family tree for names and found some of the old ones very entertaining. Our favorite was Kunigunde. My mom had heard of Kunigunde, since a church in Detroit was called that. Ann did some research, and it turns out Kunigunde is a Polish Saint. Maybe that is why we were drawn to the name. Well our partial-Polish princess here is going to start thinking her name is Kunigunde. We tend to call her Kuni more than anything else these days!
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.asp?id=1450

Strike!

Katie has been happily drinking from a bottle between the hours of 10-2ish since she was a day old. Suddenly about a week and a half ago, she has been giving Mike a really hard time. One night he had to wake me up since she was hungry and would not drink from the bottle. This latest development really bummed me out. I need other people to be able to feed her, and my 3-4 hours of straight sleep has been essential to my sanity.

I think it coincides with her increased awareness and social aptitude. She now seems to prefer me when she wants to calm down (instead of any warm arms). She is trying to talk more and smiling a lot! I am with her pretty much 24-7. Mike actually fed her while she was lightly sleeping the other day.

So we are going to keep trying. Last night seemed better so there is hope. I have heard of nursing strikes, but never of a bottle strike!

My new past-time is checking out garage sales. I never paid attention to them, but now they are on my radar. I made a big score last weekend. We needed a glider chair or an armchair for the nursery. The gliders are expensive, and they are not really a long term furniture piece you want around. We pulled up to the house, and there was a glider in great condition. Sold!!!! It was funny, because we were joking on the way about the garage sale having everything we needed to buy for the baby and house! Now we need a patio set and a coffee table.

German baby?

In the US we cross our fingers for good luck. In Germany they hold their thumbs for good luck, "Drücken Sie die Daumen!"

I guess Katie is interested in her heritage.

-mw

Bliss

She looks so funny when she is getting burped. She generally just surrenders and sometimes will fall asleep.

Mouse update

It appears we caught all the mice (at least the dumb ones!). So hopefully no more vermin for the summer!

Katie and the city....

Katie went to Manhattan yesterday, and actually got out of the car. We met Tracey, Marcelo, and little Stephanie for brunch. They had some hand-me-downs and a stroller to give us (their apartment can not hold all the stuff that babies accumulate!). Katie is developing poor restaurant timing already. Thankfully there were other kids there, and the place was not packed. The minute we sat down, my peacefully sleeping baby woke up hungry! That is the second time in a row (it happened on Friday too). So I fed her and she was OK for about 10 minutes. The fussing started again, and Mike realized that she pooped and it escaped the diaper. So I had to change her and her clothes! This happened before my food arrived. Thankfully the floor was clean and I was able to get her changed and clean (do not worry, I used a changing pad on the floor!) The one of the few restaurants without a gross bathroom (Thank God!). A 3 piece band showed up to play during brunch, and they were awesome. Just a guitar player, upright bass, and trumpet player were there playing old standards. Stephanie was cute dancing around. After one song, she yelled in appreciation when everyone started clapping. Of course when we left and during the drive home Katie slept.

We bought a grill this weekend too. I am shocked how many grills cost $1,000 and have crappy plastic knobs that look like you would break them off in months. They are all so massive now. We spent $200, and actually I think the grill is too big. I figured that we would not need a different one ever! We looked at patio sets too and determined that we do not like most sets either. We are reluctant to just buy a really cheap and ugly set, because knowing us we will keep it for 20 years. Of course I am not looking to spend a fortune either! Most sets are not on display anywhere, and it is tough to assess online.

We also cruised a garage sale this weekend. It was billed as a moving sale, so we thought we could score some furniture possibly. We would like a comforable chair for the nursery and a coffee table. Only here would you go to a garage sale where they sell children's dressers for $300 and sofas for 500-1,000. At least our expectations were low and we really just wanted a walk.

Katie having fun this afternoon. Thanks Tanta Anita!

4 for 4

When we had the shift change last night, Mike told me he thought the same mouse was coming back. The mouse had figured the trap out. He heard it a few times last night, but alas, no mouse. I finished feeding Katie and I heard it again. I went in the kitchen, and we caught the mouse. Not taking any chances, I put the trap outside again and went to bed. Shortly after, Mike got up since he heard me and decided to see if the mouse was the same or one of many. He decided to drive the mouse somewhere where it could not just find its way back.

Mike drove to a park a few blocks away. When he prepared to get out of the car, suddenly a cop's lights were flashed at him. He decided that meant he should leave. So he was racking his brain where to go next. He settled on an office park, but was sure he is on surveillance video shaking a box. Of course it ended up being difficult to get the mouse out the box. He was amazed at the dexterity demonstrated by the little rodent. I am sure somebody might get suspicicious of a man at 2 AM outside shaking a box.

Oma and Katie

3 for 3

Every night since Mike made his mousetrap, we have caught a mouse. Here is one of the victims (or the same mouse coming back in!). I wonder about that since Mike feels bad letting the mouse go in the field nearby. We named the first mouse Oscar since he liked the garbage can. So now we have met either Oscar 3 times or the rest of his family. We have been calling them Oscar 1, 2, and 3 so far. So we will see how many Oscars we catch.

t

A better mouse trap....

We have had our humane traps up for a couple of weeks now with no takers. We continue to spot our mouse every couple of days despite our efforts. I guess the mouse does not like peanut butter. Mike even saw the mouse use the mousetrap to jump into his escape route once. Mike was fiddling around in the kitchen and revealed a new trap. Mike figured that the mouse liked our garbage can, so he baited the lid and fashioned this trap. Once the mouse got on the lid, he would fall and be trapped.

I was feeding Katie at about 4 and was drifting to sleep when I heard some banging around. Success! He got the mouse. However, it was making a racket! So I got up to put the trap outside. I looked and the mouse was hanging from the cardboard part of the trap near the lid. He was hanging by his furry little mouth! Thankfully I put the trap outside, because mousy escaped! He is probably on his way back in the house now.

Fun with Daddy

Mother of invention

I know I chronicled here how there are no decent maternity suits that you can actually swim a real workout. I have a new problem. I need to get a bra that a nursing mother can run without bruising her chin! Holy Moly! I was cleared to exercise yesterday and run a bit. My legs were fine, but I need to get the top half under control! I suppose I may get used to it, but I almost ran holding my boobs (although I did not want to get funny looks at the Y). So I will go to the drawing board and perhaps I can retire on my niche products.

My Scary Brain

I can not absorb the weather report, news, etc. But I nearly know this song by heart (except for the citrus colored rainbow part). It is so golden!

Obsession

I am worried about Mike. He has developed an obsession. We have a new flex spending plan, and they add money to your account when you do things like fill out health surveys, etc. They sent out pedometers this winter, and you can earn another $500 dollars to your flex spending by doing their fitness challenges. You get a lot more credit for what is on your pedometer (rather than any other workouts you may do). He's been on the website taking every quiz and doing everything to gain more points. I just started using my pedometer since I could not use it during the end of the pregnancy and post op recovery. I often hear him at night pacing around to add steps when he falls just short of his step goal for the day. As a result, he looks slightly crazy pacing around the house in circles. It looks less disturbed if he is holding the baby though. So hopefully we will score some cash and all this pacing around is not in vain!

Now for something completely different....

I apologize for the baby-centric posting, but I suppose that is what is consuming my life right now. Otherwise the space here would be completely empty. So I was trying to think of something else to post about.

The leaves just popped open on almost all of our trees. I love this time of year, but I always feel bad for Mike since he reacts to tree pollen. I did not laugh at his recent sneeze-a-thon. I must be growing up. I really hope we have a moderate summer.

Am I the only one who would consider setting up my bike on a trainer in the nursery? Oh crap, was that too baby-centric of a post?

We have not caught our mouse yet. Yes, we have a mouse (or mice, there are probably thousands living in the walls). The other night I was washing a dish and I heard the garbage moving. There was a mouse in there! It was too fast for us. It ran up the trash in the bag and jumped about a foot up in the air and scurried away. We have humane traps set up, so we will let you know if we get any of them.

6 Weeks..

Katie passed the 6 week mark yesterday.

Productive

Since Katie let me put her down today, and even slept in her crib (twice!) I got the following done:
1. State taxes for my business
2. Dishes
3. Load of laundry
4. Put clothes away in our room
5. Renewed AAA
6. Ordered an area rug for the living room
7. pumped twice
8. roasted red peppers for dinner
9. took a shower (although quick since she started howling during my shower-she must like my smell I guess)
10. bike trainer research
11. ate lunch
12. went on a walk** (that is in the plan, we will see!)
13. straightened up the house a bit
14. checked email, FB, and now posting

Summer fun

The past few days have been hot, so it has given me a taste of what summer is like here. We can walk to the beach at Rye Town Park, so that will make the summer great. I need to decide if we should get a beach pass or not. It would make most sense if we get visitors. So let me know if you want to come out! You may be asked to hold a baby as admission, but she is pleasant to be around.

I can walk to town in about 15-20 minutes (depends if I have the baby with me or not). It is nice to get out and around, especially since I am not allowed to exercise yet. I have not really thought of working out at all, but I need to eventually or the Westchester Tri will hurt a lot more than usual!

We just went through a new parent rite of passage. We joined Costco after all of these years. It never made sense before since we had no space. I find Costco overwhelming. I do not think I will be one of their impulsive shoppers, but our savings for diapers and boxes of baby greens will cover us well.

Mike's allergies are in full swing. He is getting his massive sneezing fits right now. He told me he thought other passengers on Metro North will be afraid of his sniffles due to the recent Swine Flu scare. He was thinking about snorting like a pig between sneezes so he could get his own seat on the train. They are hard to come by at peak hours.