In the never-ending quest to keep both myself and Frances happy, we have acquired a number of baby carriers. Sarah's cousin lent us their Baby Bjorn (picture a much happier face on me than on the model, and "ours" is green), which Sarah really likes and I really don't enjoy. I've been putting Frances in our Moby wrap since she was a tiny newborn, and while we both love how she rides in that, it's really only a good carrier if you put it on before leaving the house. Somehow, wrangling 6 yards of fabric in the middle of a wet Seattle parking lot doesn't top my "must do" list most days.

Speaking of Seattle, owning an Ergo appears to be mandatory here for all parents of small children, judging by the customers at Costco. So, of course, we acquired one of those, too (and a matching pouch for the phone and keys). I love the Ergo for how easily and comfortably I can carry Frances in it, and how well she sleeps while I wear her. I also love that she will be able to ride in it long into the future, which I don't see happening with the Moby. That said, I have been wanting something easily portable, that I could toss on when we're leaving and I might be wearing Frances later in the day, or that I could pack on trips. I've had my eye on a sling worn by another mother at the baby class we attend each week, and after checking in with her that she is still liking her sling, I bought one for myself. With carriers now in mossy green, light blue, and purple and brown polka dots, I should be able to coordinate Frances' carrier with my outfits (within a certain color range, that is)!

At this morning's two-month checkup, Frances was 11 lbs, 0.4 oz.  That's a pretty big Bean!  She handled the vaccines like a champ - only cried a little after the second shot, and was back to her happy self just a minute or two later.  She was most confused by the rotavirus oral vaccine, which was squeezed into her mouth a drop at a time by a very patient nurse.  Having never eaten anything but breastmilk, the looks Frances gave as she swallowed the vaccine were priceless!

Growing with Great-Grandpa Stuart

Newborn Frances

4 weeks old

8 weeks old

Last night, just after Sarah put Frances to bed, we heard Olive prance into the bedroom.  I tried calling her back, but she ignored me, and shortly thereafter Frances started wailing.  We assumed Olive had been licking her face (which she loves to do - must be the breastmilk), and hoped she'd go back to sleep.  When she kept on crying, I went in to get her, and noticed a bunch of scratches on her face!  Needless to say, the pug was banned from the bedroom last night.  Frances looks much better this morning, thankfully.

Today we took Frances to her first birthday party, for the daughter of some friends, who is now 1 year old.  While we tried to impress upon her the importance of good manners when visiting someone's house (greeting them when you arrive, not crying when the birthday gifts aren't for you, and saying what a lovely time you had when you leave), she didn't seem too phased by our demands, and ignored most of them.  She did, however, charm the pants off of everyone there with her smiles, and then took the briefest of naps while being held. 

After the party, we took cake over to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house, to celebrate her two-month birthday.  She was rather less successful as hostess than she had been as a guest, but I suspect this was mostly due to her lack of a good nap.  She naps best in the carriers that we wear, and although she's getting bigger every day, we just need to "buck up" and wear her at nap times.

Frances is two months old today

The past three days, Frances has had terrible napping habits. Every time I set her down, even swaddled, she wakes up within five minutes.  This has really cut into my Facebook time.  And, she's getting cranky.  Today I held her for over an hour while she napped, which solved the second problem, and allowed me to address the first with my phone...but I really need to be working on my Take One!  

I'm sleepy, Mama...

...no, I'm not!

After 11.5 hours up, Frances is finally down for the night (we hope). Today was a lousy day to be a stay at home mom - no naps, so, no cheerful baby. Consequently, no work got done here.  Hopefully tomorrow she'll be up for her usual nap/eat/play schedule!

Blueberries for Frances

Yesterday, we took advantage of the beautiful spring-like weather and bought four blueberry plants at Costco, then mixed a pile of peat moss into the soil on the side of our house and got them in the ground.  In one afternoon, we went from a bed with daffodils, hyacinths, and an overgrown lemon-mint plant to a bare patch of soil with four green sticks at 3-foot intervals.  Our neighbors are probably horrified!  Frances should have blueberries in, oh, a year or so.

Frances has been having a spit-up fest the last few days, causing me to run through the extra onesies in her diaper bag - and then forget to replenish them before going out to lunch today.  Consequently, when she peed through a cloth diaper, two onesies, and a pair of overalls today, she was left with nothing to wear but the Winnie-the-Pooh jumpsuit we keep in the bag for emergencies.  Poor kiddo's gonna think she was dressed like a shlub her entire babyhood.  I've got to get some pictures of her looking her cutest!

Cloth diaper thoughts so far

The GroBaby ones are fine for night (when she doesn't poop anymore), but if she poops in them during the day, the whole diaper needs a wash - not a big deal, but more of a hassle (and laundry) than other diapers.
The Flip diaper we have has a great cover, but I'm not loving the diaper itself, which is too bad - I wanted to like it, since it can be folded sideways and fit a little baby better than the other big honking prefolds we have.
The Gerber super-absorbent prefolds (from Target) are easy to fold, but not very soft.  Although they fit her better than the Bummis, I tend to avoid them until we run out of the other diapers and inserts.
The Bummis are great, very absorbent and soft, but massive on her.  Once I've folded it down in front, back, and on the sides, the poor kid reminds me of the little brother in "A Christmas Story" - 'I can't put my arms down!'
The Gerber birdseye flats are, surprisingly, my favorites for the daytime.  I've been doubling up with them, and they are really absorbent, almost as good as a disposable.  I also like that they can be folded to fit her, and they are very trim - so her clothes fit better, and I don't worry that I'm torturing her by keeping her feet from ever being in the same ZIP code.

Cover-wise, I prefer the Blueberry covers, but don't have any complaints about any of them.  We've only used the Happy Heiny cow-print diaper once, but it felt very luxurious to be putting her in such a cushy, fleecy diaper.  Too bad I don't like pocket diapers.

Last night, Frances slept for 6.5 hours straight - I woke up a few times to check that she was still breathing, but overall, I enjoyed a restful, uninterrupted night of sleep!  When she finally woke up at 5:45, she was HUNGRY, and ate every hour for the next three hours, but I was so well-rested, I didn't even mind.

We'll see if she keeps this up into the future.

In the last two days, Frances has developed (discovered?) a social smile.  We smile at her, she smiles back, we smile more, she does, too - it's a fun loop.  Plus, it's one more thing we can check off of our "should we worry about autism?" list.  Hey, with two special ed teachers in the house, you worry about these things.

As evidence of Frances' exposure to the sounds of our home in the womb, I have often cited the example of Olive barking (at everything) when listing the sounds to which Frances has no response.  This week, I have noticed that although she can sleep through Olive barking at the cat, the garbage truck, or a plane flying overhead, Frances wakes immediately when Olive shakes her head, jingling her tags.  So intriguing.

In preparation for tomorrow night's outing to the theatre (my mom and I have season tickets), I've been pumping like crazy the last few days.  Unfortunately, Frances seems to be going through a needy (and extra feedy) phase, and the last three pumpings have only yielded enough for about 1 and a half feedings.  Here's hoping Frances isn't very hungry tomorrow.