First Finger Foods

Mabel had another nice quiet weekend at home. Her newest adventure was eating little baby cereal puff thingies. When I popped the first one in her mouth, she looked at me like, "Lady, you gotta be kidding me." Over the weekend, Mabel got better and better at picking them up, but it wasn't until tonight during dinner when she actually put one in her mouth.

We all enjoyed the Packer game today, except for the fourth quarter. The dish stopped working right before it started. I was especially sad to miss Brett's big career yard record, but Nathan found some highlights on the web. Needless to say, DirectTV received one very agitated call from Mr. Ciske. We did score a $60 credit. :)

One more week of school for mama. However, we try not to countdown to loudly, because every day closer to my break is one more day closer to daddy going back to work. :(

Ma. Ma.

Okay, so maybe she doesn't know it's me, but Mabel is on a big "mama" kick tonight. Whether or not she is referring to me matters it not. It still is very exciting. This little creature who has absorbed data for 7 months is now starting to generate some output. And not just in her diapers. Woo hoo!

She is also getting pretty solid at sitting up, as you can tell from the video.

And one last thing... today was a snow day for mama! Ice day, actually. We had an excellent day. The three of us played together and went out for some Vietnamese for lunch.

Okay - I'm being beckoned again, by name, so I must be off!

Vid Chat

So, the picture isn't the best one of the mama, but it does capture a big event this weekend. Mabel's cousins, Ab & Sam, got set up with an iMac. Their slick new machine allows them to video chat with us when the spirit moves them. Nathan had our Mac in Peshtigo and I had my work Mac here, so we were all able to hook up and visit a bit over the weekend. Very fun.

We have one other exciting announcement. Mabel may have said her first word today. It was "ba". But it definitely was said in reference to her bottle. She said it several times this morning and again this evening. Tonight, I also swore I heard the "ottle" part, but there could have been some wishful thinking there.

St. Nick's Day

Mabel received a super-secret stealth visit from St. Nick tonight. He buzzed our door and left a bag of goodies. She got a baby-sized Toronto Maple Leafs hat, several books by her favorite authors, and a few jars of organic apple baby food. Yum.

Life has been great here for us since Thanksgiving. Nathan continues to enjoy his time home with Mabel. While Grandma Joyce was here with us after Thanksgiving, we did some daycare shopping and settled on a place called Shining Star right near Nathan's work. The people there seem caring, the fees are reasonable, and it's about three minutes from Nathan's work, so we're hoping for the best. Mabel will start there when mama goes back to work after her break, on Jan. 7. We're both very grateful that Mabel was able to stay home with mom and dad until her eight month marker.

Mabel is getting much better at sitting up. She'll stay up for several minutes, but once she sees something else she wants to get to, she's down on the ground rolling around. She does pull herself up on all fours occasionally, but no forward motion yet. Grandpa Dick was nice enough to install a very secure gate at the top of our stairs, so we're ready when she's ready.

The First Thanksgiving

Mabel had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. We went to Bill & Meagan's and she got to hang out with her cousins. We forgot our camera, so we'd love e-mailed pics from those of you who did attend.

The family spent the rest of Thanksgiving weekend chillin' at home. Mabel did a lot of kicking, rolling, cooing, and wobbly-sitting. Daddy played some vids, watched some soccer, and cooked a few delicious meals. Mama scrapped her but off, finally working on some holiday projects.

By the way, the handsome young gentleman in the photo is Jack. He is the son of my good friend, Erin. He did not seem to sure about Mabel, but they ended up have a great time together.

Mama Wins Cutest Baby Contest; Upstaged Baby Refuses Comment

Many milestones have been passed since we last checked in from a local tavern after the three of us had spent a sunny weekend morning drinking Belgian beer.

Late last week, Mabel celebrated her six month birthday. It seems like only yesterday our cleaning people were nervously muttering to themselves in Polish concerning the dramatic cries and groans coming from the pregnant lady in the guest bedroom. But however painful the realization may be to her (she's privately told more than one well-wisher she's four months), Mabel is half way to her first birthday. Mabel marked the occasion at home with a plastic container of lukewarm unsalted green bean puree.



The very next day, Pops' real birthday popped up on the calendar, and the family enjoyed an evening of bulgogi, grilled octopus, and concerned Korean waitresses at a north side Korean barbecue shack. While the fiery tableside coals and boiling hot miso soup proved Mabel no harm, the same cannot be said for the residual effects of the meal on her parents. The mama in particular complained the following morning of being the victim of what she coined a "kimchi hangover".



Saturday brought Mabel's six-month pediatrician appointment, a rudely unexpected round of shots, and a clean bill of health. The stats: 2'2" and 16 lbs, 9 oz.

On the home front, Mabel has really begun to enjoy toys. Her favorite toy remains the nuk, primarily for its versatility, but she also gets a lot of use out of multiple rattles, her cell phone, and the most recent addition to the rotation, the book Quack Says The Duck, a classic in the field of crinkly-sounding literature.

Last, but certainly not least, is the shocking development in Mabel's mouth - the razor-sharp hint of a tooth. Will more of these strange enameled growths pop up? Only time will tell.

A quick response to some reader e-mail. Breleigh F. in Hattiesburg, MS asks if Mabel has her own playlist in the family iTunes library. The short answer is yes, but it's over 800 tunes long and is really more of a fluid collection than anything. Since I'm assuming you're getting more at the question of which tunes Mabel particularly digs or happen to point the listener toward the path of essential Mabel-ness, here are a few that stand out that she has responded to positively in the recent past.

John Coltrane - India, take 2 from The Complete Village Vanguard sessions
Wings - Goodnight Tonight
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses
Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again
Electrelane - I'm On Fire
Grateful Dead - anything from Watkins Glen '73
Joe Walsh - A Life of Illusion
Billy Swan - I Can Help
B-52s - 6060-842
Trip Shakespeare - Fangs
Lloyd Robinson - Cuss Cuss
Scout Niblett - Dinosaur Egg (aka 'morning music')
Dashboard Saviors - Rand McNally Blues

Brunch at the Hopleaf

Many of you know that our favorite restaurant in our neighborhood is the Hopleaf. It's a Belgian joint with lots of delicious beers on tap and the best mussels you've ever had. The downfall of the Hopleaf is that they don't allow admittance to anyone under 21. We've thought of trying to smuggle Mabel in under a big coat, but have thought better of it. Yesterday, they were holding a benefit brunch for the local public school and, the most exciting part, children were welcome! As you can tell from the pics, Mabel was enjoying herself, but then slipped into a food coma about half way through our visit.

Speaking of slipping into a coma, Nathan and I could slip at any time. We're running on a little less sleep than we're used to due to Mabel's new bad sleeping habits. She is crying much more when we put her to bed and wakes up a few times during the night for no reason. She also has been disinterested in napping. I am on a mission to nip this in the bud. I am off to the bookstore tonight to stock up on baby sleep books; I've gotten recommendations for "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Ferber and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. We're also getting new batteries for the Ocean Aquarium that was lent to us by the Three Sissies. Any other tips, tricks, books recommendations, or ear plugs are welcome.

First Halloween

Mabel enjoyed her first Halloween party tonight. Her good friend, Mia, came over in her white tiger costume. Mia's mama and daddy also came along and enjoyed some pizza and an adult beverage or two. As you can tell from the video, Mia made it a little longer than Mabel, but Mabel perked up and played for a few minutes more after we filmed this. Although there wasn't any candy at the party, mushed up vegetables were enjoyed by both girls. We're also including a few other pics you might enjoy.

See You Next Fall

Sure enough, not 24 hours after posting about Mabel's perilous escalation of motion, she went ahead and launched herself off the bed in the guest room, landing on the floor between the side of the bed and the wall. Pops' panicked reaction probably caused her to freak out more than the fall itself, though her crying didn't last more than a couple seconds. All extremities and mental faculties were quickly assessed and judged intact, but as a precautionary measure, she was held out of the team portion of practice today and will be listed as probable for Monday's game at Denver.

She followed up that act with an explosion of movement today that can only be described as intense. No place - neither the changing table nor the bouncy seat, both of which are typically sanctuaries of relaxation - has been immune to Mabel's relentless rolling, ab crunching, kicking, and other assorted aerobics. Hopes remain high that she can tucker herself out before this afternoon's four hour car ride up to Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Dick's, lest that ride turn out to be eventful enough to warrant a blog post of its own. Please keep us in your prayers. Speaking of the proud grandparents, they haven't seen Mabel since Labor Day, and I'm here to tell you that they're in for some shock when they get a load of the chatty, active, one-and-a-quarter-stone infant whose blog has been delighting fans worldwide.

In other Mabel news, she's finally begun to enjoy the occasional nuk, though, keeping in spirit with her rugged individualism, Mabel has decided she enjoys the crunchy part best, as evidenced by the following photo.

Little Miss Dangerous

Mabel's self-propelled locomotion has finally reached the level at which she presents a danger to both others and herself. There's really no area of the new rug (a good deal bigger than the 6 x 9' barbed-wire job it replaced) that is inaccessible to Mabel. No area of the entire first floor of our home, for that matter, one suspects - though parental guidance thus far has prevented putting that hypothesis to the test. Mabel's first real bonk occured this morning, near the intersection of the chest and the rug. She had picked her head up good and high to more closely examine a corner of the chest when gravity reasserted its authority. There were no tears, but instead more of a surprised, thoughtful silence.


Mabel's ambulation is stuck in the clockwise position, at least for now. Reorientation of up to roughly 90 degrees is possible, thus opening up travel to more locations than straightforward tumbling. But while rolling a single time counterclockwise is no problem, particularly from supine to tummy time, the arrow of extended counterclockwise movement just isn't in her quiver yet.

We are currently working on a grant proposal to take a trip to New Zealand, where relational behavior changes could be observed. Interested sponsors may leave correspondence in our comments section.

Sick

...a couple miserable nights, but the worst is over.

First Cold

Mabel has her first cold. Nothing too serious. Just a little snuffy nose and cough. She's handling it like a trooper. She had a harder time falling to sleep tonight, but she's currently sleeping like a baby.

Patch update - not so good. Mabel hates the patch. She occasionally will tolerate it for a while, but the longest we've been able to keep it on her is 45 min. It's really hard to see a baby who never fusses cry and grab at her eye. We just keep doing as much as she and we can tolerate. I should note that she appears to be able to see something with her weak eye. Her favorite thing to do when she is patched is play in her gym and look at the fish.

We had a nice quiet weekend at home. Mabel had her first vegetable - squash. She wasn't too sure about it, as you can tell from the video.

We took a nice walk today in the neighborhood and did some shopping. I had been eyeing up a Christmas dress for Mabel for about a month through a shop window. I finally went in the shop today and realized that the dress was ridiculously overpriced. Somehow, it mattered not. The dress had to become Mabel's. They didn't have her size, but we should receive it from another location in a few days.

Weekend with the Three Sissies

Mabel had a great weekend with her cousins and Aunt Meagan and Uncle Bill. The girls modeled their Halloween costumes and Mabel even got in on the fun. If you can't tell, that is Mabel as Hannah Montana.

The second picture isn't too flattering, but it does capture life with a baby pretty well. This was taken right after a diaper change during which Mabel peed all over herself. After she got a new diaper on, she rolled over, threw up, then put her hand in her spit up. The girls thought this was all pretty hilarious as did Mabel.

The Wigchers showed us their generosity once again by passing down a whole new wardrobe of 6-12 month clothes. It pays to have a sister-in-law with great taste who loves to shop. We also borrowed this jumpy thing for Mabel to play in. She really loves it, despite that she looks like she's about to cry at the end of this video.

The Patch

Mabel went to see Dr. Rabiah yesterday, her pediatric opthamologist. Overall, we received great news. He is confident that she has a great deal of vision in her left eye. We were expecting this news, but it is still reassuring to hear from the expert. He also suspects, as did we, that the vision in her right eye is affected by the coloboma. Our new course of treatment is patching her strong eye for two hours a day. This is also not a surprise as I had read that this is a typical treatment. Patching the strong eye forces Mabel to use only the weak eye. Otherwise, her brain will just stop reading messages from that eye altogether and there will be no vision in it. Dr. Rabiah didn't seem overly optimistic that the patching will make a huge difference, but because she seems to have such good vision in her left eye, he said we were not yet candidates for outside services for vision impaired kids. We head back to see him in six weeks to check in and see if the patching is helping. So overall, great news, but Mabel may now have to switch her Halloween costume from a skeleton to a pirate.

No pictures of her in the patch yet, but we'll post one when we have it. These pics are from Aunt Meagan taken when she and the girls were babysitting Mabel last weekend.

Home Alone

Life's been busy, as you can tell from the lack of posts. Nathan and Mabel are on their WI road trip. They left yesterday and will spend time with family, attend a wedding, and watch the Pack. Well, Mabel is not going to the game or the wedding, but she will be hanging with her family. Mama misses her like crazy, but Mabel and daddy stopped at school yesterday for lunch. I was able to show her off at school for a few minutes. Picture a hundred of middle school girls all crowding around Mabel going "awwwww" all at the same time. As you can imagine, Nathan loved all this attention. :)

Mabel continues to grow like a weed. She's officially into all of her 6 mo. clothes and has outgrown her bassinet. She still loves her swing and we think she has a month or two left in the bouncy. She loves to roll over, but is still working on rolling over to her right. The rice cereal is going great - more is going in her than on her bib, unlike some of her first feedings. I feel some squash is in her near future.

Stretch Run

Mabel is certainly enjoying the NL Central pennant race this year, though she's having a tough time understanding why the Cubs play day games in July and August but not in September, when it's colder at night and she and Daddy could be going to more games during the day.



Mabel's gameday ritual is typically as follows - fuss with the Mama about walking to the game vs. taking the El; pick up some takeout temaki sushi from Matsuya or panang curry from Thai Classic; stop on our way to the seats to get a couple delicious Old Style beers from our favorite vendor, Gerry; field a couple tedious questions from the crowd (e.g. Q. Oh, for cute! This his first game? A. No, actually, it's her fifth.); have a six ounce bottle or maybe even two (Mabel takes after her old man - she tends to drink too much at Cub games); conk out; sleep the whole walk home stuck with sweat to Daddy in the Snugli.


Though Mabel is most definitely born and raised a Cub fan, she's happy that either the Brewers or Cubs are assured of a spot in the playoffs. With a little luck, she'll be able to see the red ivy at Wrigley in her first year, which Daddy didn't see until he was 32.

An Important Announcement

We bring you a very important bulletin. An unidentified animal has been sighted sleeping in Mabel's car seat. Eyewitness accounts vary; Fox News is reporting the intruder was a hog or pig, while other observers maintain the creature was more cat-like. A small amount of material evidence, which sources say may be fur, was collected at the scene by local authorities and dispatched for further analysis. Mabel herself was not at the scene at the time of the incident, and there are conflicting reports about Mabel's current awareness level of the situation.

It is unknown at this time if today's intrusion is related to the recent wave of feral cat invasions in Badger Park, Peshtigo, but it is believed that local investigators have been in close contact with legendary Marinette County varmint trapper, Grandpa Dick.



Authorities have released these images of the creature. If you should happen to cross its path, please flee the scene immediately and call the operator. Since the identity of the creature is still unknown, it is necessary that one assumes the animal is rabid and/or dangerous.

The creature was last seen in the vicinity of her bowl.

Weekend of Firsts

What an eventful weekend for Mabel! She had all sorts of firsts. She slept in her crib for the night for the first time on Saturday night. Mom and dad had a hard time not having her in our room, but she loved sleeping in her own space and slept straight through until 6 a.m. this morning.

Mabel also ate her first solid food this weekend. She had her first rice cereal on Saturday night. We made the mistake of trying to give her her first few bites when she was really hungry. We quickly changed course, gave her the better part of a bottle, and then tried again when she was a much happier baby. She was a champ and seemed to enjoy her first taste of solid food. Of course, much more food ended up on her bib than in her belly, but that's the way the rice cereal crumbles. I uploaded videos to YouTube of her first meal - before and after the bottle. Right after uploading those, I realized I can upload video directly to the blog. Hopefully, you'll find a video of her meal tonight right below the links. Here are the links to the vids on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwjPobzrw8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juHmLwFKOV0



Mabel attended her first festival. We went to a nearby school's fall festival for which Nathan's band, Sheela-na-gig, was the headlining act. They had droves of screaming fans... well, actually about 10 4- and 5-year olds... but, still, fun was had by all.

Daddy and Mabel watched their first Packer game together. Mabel actually spent most of the game asleep in her swing, but daddy made sure to fill her in on what she missed when she woke up in the fourth quarter.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Mabel has another round of shots under her belt. We went for her four month check up today and she did a GREAT job with her immunizations. Just a few whimpers as the needles were going in. And her growth is right on track. Her weight is 14 lbs. 3 oz. (59%). Length is 25 1/4" (81%). Head circumference is 43 cm (91%). The last stat means her brain growth is right on track. And, exciting news, NO REFERRALS for any other specialists! Everything checked out great! We go to her eye doctor in a few weeks and we'll be sure to blog after that appointment, too.

Mama had yesterday off so the family went on a little picnic in the neighborhood and went on a long walk to a few neighborhood markets. This weekend is free for us and we're looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

Long Time No Blog

Sorry for the long stretch with no blog. Hopefully, some of you are still checking! Lots has happened since our last blog. Mabel spent time with mama and daddy's family over Labor Day. She went to a party, enjoyed a few fish fries, took a trip to Seguin's, and took her final summer pontoon ride. Last week, Grandma Joyce babysat. Nathan's leave begins tomorrow and he'll be home with her until the end of the year. Hopefully, you'll see the blog pace pick back up now that one of us will be home with her again.

Mabel's got lots of new tricks these days. She smiles all the time and laughs much more often. She has rolled over a few times and gets stuck half-way about once every ten minutes. She also received excellent marks from her physical therapist and is still only going to PT once every two weeks. She holds her head much straighter and can keep her head up during tummy time for long stretches. She is even seeming to enjoy it. She is also making lots of pre-talking noises. It sort of sounds like a continuous "ah" but she changes the pitch so it sounds like she talking up a storm.

By the way, the picture of Mia and Mabel is from today. Sara and I had a Stampin' Up open house over here and the girls hung out while the moms shared our stamping.

Mabel's New TV

Mabel has waited long enough. She has suffered with regular television for over three months now and she could no longer avoid the pull of high definition television. So, to reward her for how hard she has been working on her physical therapy, we purchased a new TV. And just in time for Packer football. Mabel's request, of course.

School started for mama on Wed. and we had NO SCHOOL on Friday due to power outages from big storms that came through. The first storm hit around 3:30 on Thurs. Mabel was home safe and sound with Gammy, thank goodness, and Nathan was caught in his car for part of the storm. I was still at school and it was pretty scary. We all had to go downstairs in the office and there was no power. The rain finally let up and I drove home through lots of down trees/branches, etc. I must have seen 25 emergency vehicles. Then, at the end of my 2 hour drive home, another storm started. We had flash flooding, even in the city. Of course, I was exhausted after the long drive and the first few days of school, so I was headed off to bed early, around 9, and I thought I'd check the district website in the slim chance that school was canceled and it was! I was so excited because Nathan already had the day off to take care of Mabel so we all got to stay home together. Plus, I went scrapping last night so I actually had some time to prepare. I finally got going on Mabel's baby book. I'm only up to her baby shower, but it's a start!

M.A.B.E.L.

The mama finally completed Mabel's nursery decor project. I had this idea before Mabel was born and finally completed it over the past week or so. We also just ordered this Bumbo seat. What a crack up. Mabel really enjoys sitting in it, but she starts to slump forward after about five minutes.

Speaking of Mabel's neck strength, we went to physical therapy again yesterday. The PT is not really worried about her tilt anymore, but is concerned that Mabel is not really holding her head up when lying on her tummy. She threatened us yesterday that if Mabel is not doing better on this by our next appt. in two weeks that we will have to come in more often for therapy. I then reminded her that Mabel is THREE MONTHS OLD and doesn't really take direction at this point. She will hold her head up when she is darn well ready. I am not at all sad that this will be my last visit to the PT for a while. Daddy will now be taking over for the next four months.

One last bit of news. Nathan's FMLA leave has been formally approved and his work also okay'd his request for a four-week extension so that we could make it to the end of the year before having to get child care for Mabel. This is very exciting for us and gives us a little more time to figure out what we will do come January. If anyone out there has suggestions for nannies or sitters in the Chicago area, please send them our way.