I won!

I just won two drawings for organic baby items! With one, I got a free pair of organic BabyLegs legwarmers. I chose the color Scandia.

Second I won an organic baby gift basket with a Organic, three piece gift set by Cotton Monkey (bib,burp cloth, and quick errand diaper bag), Zah Organics Hawthorne T-Shirt, Zah Organics Coco Pants, go natural baby’s organic cotton wash cloth sets (2 sets= 6 washcloths), Debra Lynn Dadd’s new book Really Green, and one go natural baby fair trade, grass gathering basket. Really really cool!

Both contests were from GoNaturalBaby.com. I can't wait to get them in the mail! I don't think I've ever won anything before...and this is like $150 worth of stuff...so exciting!

She's crafty

I have found myself drawn to crafting blogs of late. I have this fantasy where I have hours and hours of free time and I use it to make beautiful and clever handmade whatevers. Dishcloths, placecard holders, acorn bird feeders, stamped linen napkins, knitted socks. It doesn't matter what, really, I just want to create. I want to be crafty and homemakery and creative.

I've never been particularly crafty. Then I learned how to knit and there was a boom of handmade gifts. I love knitting and I wish I had more time for it, but this new desire goes beyond that. I don't know where it is coming from or how long it will last. I peruse strangers' craft blogs, ogling the beautiful things captured in bright light and clean photography. I find myself thinking that they must be truly happy because they have surrounded themselves with all this loveliness. They have time to be, time to create, space to breathe and find inspiration.

I think the winter darkness must be getting to me. And this basement apartment. I also find myself perusing the apartmet listings on Craigslist quite often...

Mile High

This weekend was my office holiday party. While it wasn't as much fun as last year, wherein Jon and I lost all our fake money playing fake Blackjack, it was still a good time. The party was held at Mile High Stadium, where the Broncos play, and we got to take a tour of the facilities. The best part was going down to the field. When will I ever get to do that again? We also saw the visitor's locker room, luxury boxes, the world's largest kegerator, and some other stuff. But the field...that was cool.

And we got to get all dressed up and go out together. That really was the best part.

Deep Freeze

The official low temperature for Denver last night was -18 degrees. When I left for work this morning, we had warmed up to -7 degrees. The high today is 17. In fact, depending on which weather report you watch, Denver won't see a high above freezing all week. What makes this little cold snap particularly fun is that my office turns the heat OFF over the weekend, so it is FREEZING in here. It's going to take a long time for the temps to get back to normal at my desk. I'm sitting here wrapped in a scarf and wearing a hat.

So. Cold.

Sleep is here...knock on wood

For the past week, Evelyn has fallen into an amazing sleep routine. She gets a bath between 7 and 7:30pm. Then a bottle of formula. She is alseep by 8pm. Then, and this is the exciting part, she sleeps until almost 2am!! That is six hours of uninterrupted sleep, which means I'm getting about 4 hours! She has awakened betwen 1:30am and 2am each night, but no earlier. Then she nurses and goes back to sleep for 3 hours. (And really I think she's getting up after 3 hours just out of habit. She doesn't eat much. Might this be on the way out as well?) It is awesome. I'm up only two times a night at most. I'm still pretty tired, but no where near the zombiness that had taken over previously. I'm almost human again. AND I get two hours of time to myself after she goes to bed. This new trend just magically started happening at 3 months. It was like her brain said "I'm much older today. I think I'll sleep a little longer." I looooove it. (Now knock on wood that blogging about it doesn't somehow jinx the situation!)

Also, this morning Evelyn was trying to grab her tongue. She is getting really interested in her hands and mouth. She loves to talk, suck on her fists, put anything she can grab on to into her mouth. Two nights ago I think she started realizing that she had feet. She was in the bath staring at her feet and splashing them around. All these little milestones are so thrilling to watch. I mean, what was it like to not know you have feet? How exciting must it have been to realize, hey, those things down there belong to ME and I can move them around! Her little brain is growing a mile-a-minute. I can't imagine learning so much so fast anymore. It is miraculous, really, when you think about how much a baby has to master in the first two years of life.

I love that little girl. She makes me laugh and laugh. She is a delight to have in our lives.

I finished something!

Hooray! I finished something! It was small and silly, but it is finished.

Behold my beautiful knit gift card holder...

I think it looks like a candy cane. :)

Pattern:

I held two colors together throughout.

Cast on 20 stitches using any method you like. I used the long-tail cast-on

Work in stockinette st until work measured about 3.5”, or as long as the gift card you are using.

Work two rows in reverse st st.

Continue working in st st until work measured the same length as first section, about 3.5”. Then work 3 more rows in st st.

Two rows reverse st st.

Work 5 rows in st st before beginning decreases.

Decreased two stitches on each RS row (k2tog, knit to last two stitches, ssk) for 6 rows; purl WS rows.

On next RS row create a button hole: k2tog, k3, k2tog, yo, yo, k2tog, k3, ssk.

Purl next row.

Bind off in decreasing pattern.

Steam block the piece, sew on a button, seam the edges and you are done!

Thanksgiving pictures

Here are the Thanksgiving pictures. They are not in any sort of easy-to-follow order. Blogger was being dumb and not letting me move the pictures around. So, sorry in advance.

Evelyn and I at the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I'm in my racing stance.



















The Lew family women preparing for the Turkey Trot. That's Rosie, Shawna, me and Evie, and Carol. Look at our lovely shirts!




















The family. Jon, Rosie, Jay, Shawna, me and Evie.

Yay! We decorated our tree! (see below for how we got the tree...)

The baby looks all crazy, but see our pretty tree? I even made some cinnamon-dough ornaments. They were made with glitter and yarn. Very crafty! :) But really, is a Christmas tree really a Christmas tree without some ugly homemade ornament?

This is how we got the aforementioned tree. By cutting it down ourselves at a tree farm! How fun is that? I took a few pictures of Jon chopping down the tree with his BARE HANDS, but I apparently messed something up and didn't take the pictures after all. Suffice it to say it was memory making at its finest.

Evelyn getting a bath in the sink at her grandmother's house. It's cute.

2009: The Year of Going Green

My new year's resolution for 2009 is to go green. Jon is on board, but this is pretty much my thing. I'll try to buy organic whenever practical, buy products with less packaging, or just buy less in general. Eating less meat, eating more local ingredients, and eating more humanely-raised animal products will top the list. Trying to walk or bike or take public transportation would be nice, but pretty hard with a 3 month old. I especially want to go green with the stuff we buy for Evelyn. She is eating one bottle of formula a day now, and we wanted to get the organic formula, but her pediatrician recommended a conventional brand. So, obviously, we go with the doctor's recommendation. But with clothes, furniture, diapers, toys, solid foods in the future, etc., I think we can reduce the chemicals and nastiness we bring into her world. We can reduce the amount of plastic we use in our house, reduce the amount of trash we produce, and reduce the amount of non-recycleable items we consume. We can cut back on things like fast food, which uses way too much packaging and probably not green manufacturing practices. We can make small changes over time that will add up to big changes in the long run. I'm excited about this.

Other things I'd like to do in 2009, but which are not official resolutions, include:

1. Relearn how to sew. There are some seriously adorable children's clothing patterns out there and I'd like to make some simple things for Evie.
2. Find more time to knit.
3. Take better pictures.
4. Go hiking or walking in the woods with Evelyn, or just generally reconnect with nature.
5. Focus a little more at work. (Since returning from maternity leave my mind has not quite gotten the idea that we need to do work. It wanders. I procrastinate. I'm going to get back on track.)
6. Move into a new apartment with significantly more space and much better lighting.
7. Work on the debt, work on the savings.
8. Cook more at home. (I used to cook dinner 5 times a week. Then I got pregnant. Then I had a baby. I need to get back to the old way.)

So there you have it. A game plan for the coming year.

May she never know Wilford Brimley

Evelyn has a genetic marker that makes her significantly more likely to develop Type 1 Diabetes, the childhood-onset, insulin-dependent kind of diabetes. It does not make her likely to develop the disease, just more likely than if she didn't have the marker. She has a 3 in 100 chance, vs. a 1 in 300 chance in the general population. A 3 percent chance is very small. Nevertheless, it makes me sad/nervous/worried/upset/guilty. We found out that she has the marker because the hospital where she was born is involved in a multi-national study, sponsored by the NIH, to determine what, if any, environmental factors make a child develop type 1 diabetes. What makes Baby X with the marker develop the disease, when Baby Y with the same marker does not? They asked our permission to test her cord blood and we agreed. The researchers called us about a week ago with the results.

It is a very important study, and they have asked us to include Evelyn, but the amount of work involved is just too much. Evie would have to have a clinic visit with a blood draw every three months until she is 4 years old, and then every 6 months until she is 15. We would have to keep track of when she eats new foods, when she gets sick, when she gets vaccinated. There are stool samples involved. While the work on the parent's end is a lot, I am more worried about Evelyn. Getting pricked all the time, maybe feeling like there is something wrong with her because she goes to a clinic so often--I don't want that for her. Instead we'll probably tell our pediatrician about the findings and then read up on the symptoms of diabetes so we can watch out as she gets older. Sadly there is no way to prevent getting the disease. Unlike Type 2 diabetes, it's not like a low-sugar diet or lots of exercise can make any difference in developing the disease.

I know one person with insulin-dependent diabetes and he has had some serious problems. I don't think he controls his sugar levels very well, though, so I'm not sure he is the best person to look to for a guide. We can't do anything but watch for symptoms anyway, so I really shouldn't worry. Three percent is a very low chance...

Cutie Patootie

I'll have a proper Thanksgiving post soon, once Jon can upload some of the pictures from our lovely holiday.

But for today, a video of Evelyn loooooving her bath. She gets one every night and splash splash splashes around. She is so cute!

It's a love fest

I love my daughter so much. So so so so much. Even when she is being a fusser or not sleeping or spitting up on everything we own, she is still the most fabulous person I know. I'm so glad I've gotten to this point; I was worried I might not love her enough for some reason. When she was a newborn I thought, "this baby blob is supposed to be so great? I don't get it." I loved her, sure, but like you love your brother. They are family and great and all, but you aren't consumed by a intense feeling of loving them. But that initial blah-ness quickly moved to acceptance and then to all-out fabulous lovin this baby! I can't imagine how much fun it will be to watch her little brain grow, when she starts rolling over or walking or talking! Talking will be the best.

Here are a few reasons why Evelyn is the most fabulous person ever:

• She is adorable. Seriously the prettiest baby I have ever seen. Not that I'm biased or anything, but really--she is beautiful.
• She has the BEST smile! It starts on one side, then creeps up the other side. She has dimples and no teeth. I love it.
• She is very very talkative. Blah blahs, goo-ahs, acks, and screeches. She loves to just chat away. It is particularly funny when I try to catch the chatting on video. As soon as the camera or phone is in her eyeline, she stops, stares at it, and gets a very perplexed look on her face.
• When she is chatting, and I talk back at her, she tries to copy the shape of my mouth. Such a smartie!
• She has her daddy's toenails. Lovingly referred to as the "hawk toe," this probably won't be so great when she wants to wear sandals or get pedicures, but I love that she has this very specific trait from her dad. Genetics is so crazy.
• She thinks I am hilarious. She was laying on the ottoman last night while I was watching TV and a silly song came on during a commercial. I started singing and dancing over her head and she just smiled and smiled. It was great.
• She has the loudest, ahem, bowel movements. I was in a bra store a few weeks ago and she was sitting in her carseat halfway under the curtain in my teeny tiny dressing room. The fitting attendant was a few feet away doing something and Evelyn pooped and made the LOUDEST noises. The attendant wasn't sure what to say and kind of laughed and said "oh my." Suffice it to say, there is never any doubt when this baby needs a diaper change.
• She has an outty belly button and it is super cute.
• Her hair stands up on the top of her head in a faux-hawk kind of way.

I could probably list a hundred more little things I love about my daughter. But I have to get to work. Actually I have to go pump breastmilk in a tiny room on the other side of my office building. THEN I have to get to work.

She got her thumb!

Evelyn finally got her thumb! How exciting. Now maybe she'll sleep more at night instead of whacking herself in the face.

Apparently I was a big thumb sucker. Like mother like daugher...

Baby's first snow and a ride in the snugli

Pictures!

First we have Evelyn's first snow. It was just a dusting, but it counts, right? (She is getting so big!)


























And here we have a very sleepy baby enjoying a nice ride in the Snugli.

A slow, painful death

I am so tired I can hardly function. Since going back to work, Evelyn has decided to start waking up every 2 hours at night. Last week was pretty rough, but I was able to get a little rest over the weekend. Friday night she slept better, as if she knows I'm not going to work the next day. But Saturday night, ugh, she woke up every HOUR AND A HALF. That's more frequently than when she was newly born! I have absolutely no idea why this is happening. We aren't doing anything different during the day. Her bedtime routine is exactly the same. The only thing different is that Jon is watching her during the day when I'm at work and she's getting bottles of breastmilk instead of nursing. I am absolutely DYING from lack of sleep. This morning I woke up to go to work (after another waking-every-two-hours night) and I couldn't do it. I sat up in bed, felt physically nauseaus from fatigue, and just could not make myself get out of bed. So I'm working from home today, just so I could get that extra 45 minutes of sleep. I might take a nap over lunch, too.

So does anyone have any ideas why my sweet darling baby has become a nighttime devil child? I'm thinking it could be two things.

1: Maybe she is just adjusting to being away from me during the day. Even though she is eating plenty during the day, maybe she misses the nursing closeness thing, or something like that, and so she wakes up all night to get that from me. When she wakes at night she eats for like 5 minutes and falls asleep. When I get home from work I usually nurse her frequently to keep my milk supply up and also to give Evie that closeness. It doesn't seem to be working, however.

2: Evelyn has started trying to suck on her fingers. She is almost constantly trying to get her hands in her mouth during the day. She can't quite control her arms, though, so she can get the hand up to her mouth but she can't keep it there. She also can't un-curl her fingers very well, so she can't suck on just a finger or thumb, she is trying to suck on her entire fist. I think this might be a thing at night because every time I go in to her room at night she is trying to get her hand in her mouth. It isn't working, though, so she is getting frusterated. Maybe she is waking herself up? Maybe she is hitting herself in the face? She definitely knocks the pacifier out of her mouth, but that is only an issue when we first put her down since she doesn't use a pacifier the entire night.

I'm at a loss. I probably shouldn't nurse her every time she wakes at night. Sometimes I send Jon to just giver her a pacifier and rock her a little to go to sleep, but that is usually only once a night. I just don't know what to do. I really can't do this for much longer, though. I am so very very tired.

Watching the Weight

So I signed up with Weight Watchers again. Not so much because I want to lose tons of weight (at least that isn't my main goal right now), but more because I have completely lost sight of "healthy eating" in the nearly 12 months that I was pregnant and/or home with the baby. When I was newly pregnant I couldn't eat anything. Then I wanted to eat everything! Then I was so tired I would eat anything. I lost my pregnancy weight by my 6 week postpartum check-up and simply nursing Evelyn has gotten me 10 pounds below even that, but I'm still not eating right. It's easy stuff I can grab when the baby is napping or deciding to drive-thru fast food so I can eat in the car while the baby is asleep. Now I'm back to work and I don't have to plan my every eating move around Evie's sleep schedule, I need to pay more attention to the quality and quantity of the food I eat.

And someday, I am hopeful, I'll be able to cook dinners again. That will be good for the pockebook and the waistline.

Back in the saddle again

Yesterday was my first day back at the office. I have a million things to catch up on, but overall it was fine. The night before, however, I had a little breakdown. How can I leave my baby? She is so little! She needs her mother! I'll miss her! How can I only see her for 4 hours a day? She is too cute to leave. It's just not fair!!

I had a nice cry, so sad about what I had to do, but the next morning I was fine. Going to work is important. It pays the bills. It helps fulfill my adult self. It provides interaction with different people. Evelyn will be fine with her dad for a day, and with her grandmother or her aunt. She doesn't NEED me every moment of every day. She just needs someone who loves her, and she'll have that 24 hours a day.

While I'm sure about going back to work, I'm not so sure about breastfeeding and working full-time. After just two days I am so exhausted I don't know how long I can function. Getting up 2 or 3 times a night, then waking at 6:00am to nurse and get ready for work--it's nearly impossible. Pumping three times a day at the office is an inconvenience and slows productivity, but it is much more manageable. I keep telling myself "every day with breastmilk is better than one without," so I'm going to take this one day at a time. I also keep telling myself Evelyn won't wake up so much at night forever. Someday, at least I've heard, babies sleep through the night.

(Last night was particularly bad. Evie was up at 11:30pm, 2:00am, 4:30am...nightmare. We had been on a pretty good schedule of a very large feeding right before bed at 8:30pm, then waking at 1:30 or 2am and then not again until 6am. Sigh. I'm still giving her the big feed at 8pm so I'm not sure why she started waking up more. Maybe it was just two nights in a row of waking up 3 times and now she'll go back to twice a night! Fingers crossed!)

And for fun, here is a picture of Evelyn with her new favorite toy, Leggy the Octopus. It is actually a dog toy that Sophie didn't like. Shh...don't tell Evie!

Back to work

I return to work on Tuesday after 10 weeks of maternity leave. I originally planned to take only 8 weeks, but after the c-section I decided to take a little longer since I'd have a longer recovery. I'm so glad I made that decision. The first eight weeks of tending to Evelyn were, well, thankless. The last two weeks, though, have been so much better. She's happier, she's smiling, she's interactive, she laughs at me. The first eight weeks were so much harder because I was just taking care of this baby blob that I was supposed to love sooo much, but really just found confusing and difficult. But now she is a real little person! She is fabulous and beautiful and funny. I am glad I got to see that transformation before going back to the office.

In other news, Jon is nursing a pretty nasty head cold. I'm trying hard to keep that cold out of my body and out of Evie's. She already gets stuffed up most days and has a hard time breathing through her nose even without being sick. A cold would be awful. Bleh. So Jon is drinking OJ like it is his lifeline, sleeping a lot and using tons of hand sanitizer. :)

We are all doing well. The dogs are good, although they are getting fewer walks than before. Evelyn was crying this morning and Jon and I slept through it for a bit. When Jon finally got up to get her, Sophie was sitting in her room, keeping an eye on things. Sophie often goes to Evelyn when she is crying. I think she is annoyed by the noise but Jon thinks she is being protective. I suppose we can't know what the dog is thinking, but it is cute nonetheless.

Looky looky!

I just finished a Christmas stocking for Evelyn. How crafty am I? I'm still working on Jon's scarf, but it was nice to take a break and try something new. This was the first sock I've knitted, the first time I've done a two-color cast-on, first time I've done a latvian plait, etc. Lots of new stuff! I think it turned out pretty nicely. Especially for baby's first Christmas!

Elections and immunizations

It's probably not surprising to anyone that reads this blog that I am an Obama supporter. Given that, last night was so exciting. Even if McCain had won, I would have been excited for a changing of the guard. But since Obama won, I'm super excited. I'm excited for the changes he can make, the direction we can head as a country, how we can put the Bush administration in the past and move on. I'm excited for our place in the world. Barack Obama is young and relatively untested, but I believe he has an intellectual curiosity we've been missing in the White House. Of course, there are a million things that can go wrong, but today I am optimistic.

And now away from politics.

Yesterday Evelyn had her first round of vaccinations. Poor little baby. She got FOUR shots and an oral vaccine. I've never heard such a sad, angry, painful cry come out of her little body. She cried for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then slept for 12 hours. She only woke a few times for a diaper change and a little food. She also slept normally last night, which was awesome given her entire day of sleeping. This morning she seems to be back to her normal self. It was hard for me to see her getting impaled with needles, but I had to keep reminding myself "it's better than polio...it's better than polio..."

Evie now weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces (up an entire POUND in two weeks), the 60th percentile. Her head circumfrence is in the 55th percentile and her height is in the 50th percentile. So she's pretty much average average average. Except for her winning smile and extraordinary intellect, of course. :)

Sleepy sleepiness

Today I feel very well rested. Probably because we went to bed last night at 7:30pm, and I was asleep by 8:30. Jon also fed Evie a bottle for one of her middle-of-the-night feedings so I got even more sleep! Getting up at 6:30am isn't so bad when you've been in bed for 10 hours. Yay!

I'm going back to work in eight days. I feel pretty good about going back, nervous about the piles of work I have to do and nervous about leaving Evie for 8 hours a day, but still feeling good. I tried on my pre-pregnancy work clothes and everything pretty much fits. My hips are a bit wider than before so one pair of pants is right out and another is questionable, but that's not too bad. Tops are a different issue, but one that will resolve itself when I go shopping later this week.

Evelyn is getting her first round of vaccinations tomorrow. Jon is coming to the pediatrician with me this time since I'm not so sure I can handle the shots all by myself. My little baby! :(

And one final note. I've tried REALLY HARD to keep politics out of this family blog. But tomorrow is election day and I hope everyone, regardless of party or which candidates you like, will vote tomorrow. Vote vote vote. I sent my mail-in ballot last weekend so I'm done. Jon and I are planning a little election night celebrating. We're going to order in Chinese food and watch the election results. Hooray!

Cutest baby ever

I'm going to attempt to post a very short video of my daughter being the cutest baby ever.

She started smiling at nothing in particular a while ago. A couple weeks ago she started smiling at our faces, the bees, and other things that make her happy. And now, just today, she is smiling in response to things. Like making farty noises.

Enjoy.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Note how Sophie is trying to eat the giant pumpkin.

You can't tell in these pictures, but Evelyn is wearing a very cute Halloween footy pajama. I'm not in the picture because I hadn't showered yet. :)

Ooh, and I think we got a pretty good picture of Evie smiling! So cute.

Baby names and knitting and babies, oh my!

More fun with baby names!

I've already had the baby and chosen the name, but that doesn't diminish the fun I can have with baby name websites. My favorite was the Baby Name Wizard, but now the Wiz has added some new components. Check them out.

The Name Mapper: http://www.babynamewizard.com/namemapper

You can see the popularity of your name, or any name that has been in the top 100 at some point, across the country by state. You can organize the states by region, by income, by political lean, by population density. It's fun!

Namipedia: http://www.babynamewizard.com/namipedia

You can give your opinion on various names. Does it sound smart? Sexy? Old? Young? Sophisticated? What are some sibling sets associated with this name? Then see other people's results. Not as fun as the mapper, but you know, if you're bored, it's ok.

And now on to news you might actually care about.

1. Baby. She is fabulous. She's cranky, she spits up ALL THE TIME, and she cries a lot, but she's also funny and beautiful and amazing. We took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday to have the whole spitting up thing looked into (totally normal, but possibly reflux, so they gave her some zantac to try for a couple weeks) and found out Evelyn weighs....10 pounds 5 ounces! She's huge! What a chunker. :) She's also totally healthy and perfect.

2. Knitting. I'm still working on the Exchequered scarf for Jon. As you may recall, I started working on it way back in August. Scarfs are usually a quick knit, but this particular scarf is the SLOWEST KNIT ON EARTH. It is double knit, which is incredibly slow. It also has a very easy, but slightly complicated, pattern. Ugh. It's taking forever. It looks great...as much as 1/3 of a scarf can look great. Jon likes it, though, and the yarn is delightful, so I'm trying to stick it out.

3. Car. Remember right before Evie was born we had a car explosion situation? Sure you do. Jon's car had a transmission issue and we were debating whether to fix it and hope it would live for quite a few more years, or replace it. We decided to replace it, and thankfully we did. We bought the car on Saturday, and Jon drove me to the hospital to give birth on Monday. Whew. It was a to-do! Anyway, we LOVE our new car. Well, we love our used car. The more I drive it the more I like it. Especially when I fill up the gas tank and realize we're getting close to 35 mpg in the city. Nice! And it is huge inside. A good baby car. :)

It's a 2005 Scion xB. I only test drove the xB to amuse Jon, but ended up really liking it. It is much bigger inside than it appears outside and although it is very boxy, it doesn't feel like it will tip over when you go around a corner. But best of all...the gas mileage! Awesome.

Baby's first trip to the zoo

Making more memories!

Saturday was gorgeous, 75 degrees and sunny, so we headed outside and went to the ZOO! Every family in Denver must have thought the same thing because it was packed. Packed packed packed. Evelyn slept the first hour, then I had to feed her (a whole different adventure--the first breastfeeding in a public place), and then she was awake. Awake and unhappy. All she wanted was to look around and suck on her pacifier. She is becoming a bit pacifier dependent during the day...not sure what to do about that. But I digress. The zoo was fun, and here are a few pictures.

Happy birthday to me...tomorrow

Last night Jon took me out for my birthday. His mom came down to watch the baby and we were able to have a nice "grown up" evening out. No baby. No spit-up. No crying. It was delightful. :)

First stop was a new restaurant on South Broadway called Beatrice and Woodsley. It is kind of a wine bar/lounge type place with really interesting food. I'm not much of a wine person so I can't say if their selection is any good, but there were lots of people in there enjoying the wine. The food...well, the menu is totally for foodies. Frog legs and rabbit and escargot. There are other things too, like the awesome cheese plate Jon and I had and the butternut squash ravioli that I was contemplating all evening. But the best part about the restaurant is the inside. You walk in off dirty, busy Broadway into this chic mountain lodge hipster lounge. There are aspen tree trunks coming out of the floor. The bar is held up by chain saws and big split boards. The booths are separated by these gauzy drapes. Even the front windows are tinted a slight yellow giving the place a very etheral feel. It is just cool inside. I think everyone in Denver should give it a go. Have a small plate, a cocktail or glass of wine, and just check out the decor. It was very interesting.

Next was dinner at The Black Pearl, an always delicious restaurant on Old South Pearl. Sadly, last night I ordered one of the only meals I've ever not loved at this restaurant. I ordered the truffle and parmesan frites (so so good) and the roasted chicken with dates, apples, squash, and goat cheese ravioli. It wasn't quite what I expected, with the chicken shredded apart and mixed in a big pile with the other ingredients. The goat cheese ravioli in the squash sauce was really good; I could have had a big plate of that alone and been perfectly happy. Jon ordered this salmon that was the lightest, flakiest salmon I have ever tasted. So even though my meal wasn't perfect, the Black Pearl is still a winner. A sub-par meal there is better than your best meal most other places.

After dinner we were so stuffed we decided against desert and headed home. Evie had been awake the entire time we were gone, playing with grandma. Thankfully she wasn't too fussy. It also meant that she slept really well last night, only getting up at 2am and 4am. Hooray!

And here is a cute picture Jon's mom took of Evie looking at the BEES. (The bees are her favorite thing. Before she was born Jon had painted a picture with purple swirls in the background and a bunch of bees in the foreground. We were going to take it off the wall of the nursery for something more "baby" but luckily we didn't. It's right above Evie's changing table and she probably stares at it two or three hours out of every day. She loooooves it.)

Making memories, taking pictures

Today's big adventure was a trip to the pumpkin patch! It is freezy cold today, so we bundled the baby into her cutest teddy bear hooded jumper, wrapped her in a fuzzy blanket, and headed out. We ended up with one very big pumpkin, one small pumpkin, and three pumpkins for baking. We also stopped by the farm's petting zoo.

Cuteness follows.

Parenting by book

My dear friend Alisa told me about a book called "The Baby Whisperer" today and I promptly went to the library and checked it out. (Look at me being frugal, not buying a book, but renting it.) Anyway, it's about listening to your baby, learning what their little sounds mean, getting them to sleep without too much fuss (the real reason I picked the book up), and addressing your baby with respect and with concern for their individual personality. This lady thinks there are five main personality types in babies. My little Evelyn falls mainly in the "Touchy Child" area. She is sensitive to the world around her and can get a little sensory overload. Turns her head from the lights. Wants to be held and rocked, shushed and patted to sleep every time. Cries for seemingly no reason. Doesn't care to entertain herself. Loves to suck on a pacifier. Sensitive to noisy places and not too keen on changing locations. Cries as soon as her diaper is wet. Not a fan of bouncy chairs or swings or other things that take her out of the arms of her loving parents.

This "touchiness" may be inherited. I get overwhelmed by noise and visual stimuli a lot easier than some people. I HATE MySpace because the website is yelling at my eyes. I hate Rachael Ray because I feel like she is always yelling at me through the TV. Tokyo was a bit much to take in. Clothes that cling to my body drive me CRAZY. So yeah. Sorry Evelyn...you are your mother's daughter.

So I'm gonna read this book and see what the author has to say and if any of it will work for our family. We'll see.

And some pics!

Evie meeting her great grandmother Lew.

Evelyn and the softest blanket.

And so it begins

And so it begins. The dealing with the health insurance company over the hospital bills and whatnot.

(Stupid American healthcare system...grumble grumble. But that is a rant for another time.)

Actually my insurance company hasn't done anything annoying. Yet. So far they have been billed by only two or three of the MYRIAD providers involved in my surgery and hospital stay. (The general hospital bill hasn't been sent yet. Can't wait to see the number on that one!) I had one claim rejected by the insurance company because they need updated information on Evelyn. I'm assuming they need her SSN or something, and I'll call on Monday to figure it out. The only annoying thing that has happened so far is that the anesthesiologist (or the anesthesiologist's office, I should say) billed my insurance company twice for the one surgery. So my insurance company is like, hey, we're not going to pay this second bill. So what happens? The anesthesiologist sends ME the bill. Yeah. Like I'm gonna pay that. Hells no. They'll be getting a call from me on Monday, too.

I'm really glad I can go on my insurance company's website and look at all the claims as they come in, instead of getting a bill from some yahoo's office and thinking I actually have to pay it. I guess I'm glad that, in general, I understand how health insurance works and what I do and do not have to pay for.

I have a lot of little things on my "to do" list for next week:

1. Call the aforementioned offices to knock some heads.
2. Figure out how to get a copy of Evelyn's birth certificate.
3. Get a safe deposit box set up.
4. Find an OB-Gyn since the midwife's office that did my prenatal care doesn't do a lot of the regular lady health stuff.
5. Take Evie to the pediatrician to see how much she weighs now.
6. Get some supportive tennis shoes to wear around the house when I'm walking Evie back and forth for hours and hours a day. My feet are killing me.

More pictures!

Evelyn is starting to get more and more "personality" so posting pictures is getting less and less frequent. Her favorite thing is to cry, for no apparent reason, making me very frustrated. I feel like I need to fix the situation or help her in some way, when there is nothing really to do. Change her diaper? Check. Feed her? Check. Hold her and sway in place? Check. Well, then, I can't do much more than that. It makes me so sad to hear her cry, though. She doesn't have colic or anything, just cries when she has some down time.

It's OK, though. Really. It is. Evie is just growing a little older so she's sleeping less and filling her time with other things. Soon she'll be interested in toys and sounds and other things that can fill her day.

And here are some pictures!

Evelyn's first trip to the mall! We're in the elevator overlooking some sort of art display, I guess.

















With her grandmother. I like Evie's face in this one. :)

















Evie's first bottle! My mom got me a breast pump as an early birthday present so we were able to express milk for a bottle. Jon tries to give her one bottle a day, usually at night.


















My pretty sleeping baby.

















A weekend trip to the dog park.

Sweaters!

Everything in the world of Lew is going well. Evie is a doll, of course, and starting to get more of a personality. By "personality," of course, I mean "crying." But that is OK. She has her "unhappy hour" from 10:30 to about 12:30 each night. I'd prefer that be from 9 to 11 at night, or maybe not even exist at all, but such is life. Jon is pretty good about staying up with her at that time since I get so exhausted by the end of the day. Breastfeeding is exhausting. I'm happy to be giving my daughter the best food possible, but woah. It hurts and it takes forever and I feel like a milking cow 8 hours out of 24. Today Evie has decided to eat for five minutes and then fall into a deep deep sleep. For 45 or 60 minutes, and then she's hungry again. This started at about 4am. I have tried the wake up tricks, but they aren't working this morning. Alas, she'll get back to a normal schedule soon, I'm sure.

I've decided that this time during maternity leave might be a good time to try to learn a new knitting skill. I'm going to try to knit a sweater!! Yes, a sweater. It's not like I have loads of free time on my hands or anything, but I have more now than I will when Evelyn is starting to demand more and more attention AND I'm working 40 hours a week. I have a bit of time to myself now, while she sleeps, and I have an opportunity to go to the knitting shop to get help if I need it. I've found four or five easy-ish sweater patterns, like the one pictured above that I can't figure out how to move down here, and now I just need to choose one and get started.

Oh yeah, and finish the scarf I'm working on. It's coming along very well, just very slowly.

One two three four

Things you should know about my darling daughter.

1. She is awesome. But that really goes without saying.

2. She is loud. Not crying loud (well, she's that, too) but cooing crazy noises loud. She makes these sounds...kind of like a gutteral cat going "mrawrrrr." And she grunts a lot. A LOT. Very loudly. It is pretty funny.

3. Someday Evelyn might go through a punk antiestablishment phase and shave her head. If she does, she'll find a nice little scar on the side of her head. The surgeons knicked her with the scalpel when they were trying to get her out during the c-section. Yet another testament to how fast everything was moving during the surgery.

4. She makes the best faces of any person I've ever seen. They don't mean anything, I know, but I like to watch her face and pretend they are a narrative. She goes from confused to smirking to surprised to angry and on and on. It is fabulous.

And some pictures. The pictures are light today because I live in a cave, devoid of natural sunlight. Every picture turns out dark and grainy, or washed out from the flash. I am so over this apartment.

Sleeping baby, double exposed.

Baby and Grandma Mary

Who is a Daddy's girl?

Baby in her little Yukata (a Japanese cotton kimono thing. We got it in Japan.)