Columbia, District of: Day 1

Last week, the three of us joined Jon's parents and brother in Washington, D.C. for an optometry conference and a little sightseeing. There's a lot to share, so we've decided to blog it day by day, starting with Thursday, day one.

Jon flew out to D.C. on Wednesday to take some continuing education courses, so Maddie and I flew out Thursday morning with Jon's brother, Chris. It was her first flight, and all things considered, it didn't go too badly. I nursed her during take-off to help her pop her ears, and she slept for 45 minutes. After that, Chris and I played a rousing game of "Pass the Baby" and tried to keep her occupied for the other 2.25 hours of the flight. We tried watching some DVDs, but she didn't like the headphones, and she wasn't that interested in Looney Tunes or Elmo anyway, so we read books, played with toys, and waved and smiled at other passengers.

When we finally reached our hotel (The convention and hotel were in a new tourist development called National Harbor. It's in Maryland, and its location makes it difficult to get to D.C., Georgetown, or Alexandria, but the hotel was nice.), we took Maddie down for her first swim in a pool. She really enjoyed the water and seemed pretty comfortable in her inflatable seat. Shortly after her first chlorine bath, it was time for a real bath, dinner, and bed. She cried for a little while after being put in the strange hotel crib, but she finally settled down and slept through the night. (This is the first time she's slept through the night on her first night in a strange place, so we were understandably excited and impressed.) After she fell asleep, Jon came back with burgers and fries, and we settled down to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with two sets of headphones and some wine. When there's a baby sleeping three feet away from you, your entertainment options are limited...

Here are some pictures from our first day in the D.C. area. For a full set of trip pictures, check out this link.

Maddie and Uncle Chris on her first plane ride

Watching Looney Tunes, briefly

Taking a short nap

The Long Haul

WARNING: This post contains high levels of emotion not normally displayed publicly (or, in most cases, privately) by the writer. Prolonged exposure to this entry may result in extreme yearnings for cheese, mild nausea, or in extreme cases, vomiting.

Today, in about six hours to be exact, Jon and I will have been married for five years. I know to some of you, like our parents and grandparents, this may not seem that long, and I'm sure in twenty years or so, we'll extend the "honeymoon" phase to cover the five-year mark, but from right here, it seems like a long time.

Except that it doesn't. It doesn't seem like we've been married for five years. It doesn't even really feel like three or four. Two, yes. Maybe two and a half. But FIVE? Nope. Not us.

It's not that I didn't think we'd make it to our fifth anniversary. I had no doubt that we'd get here, just like I have no doubt we'll make it to 20 and 30, but so much has happened in the past five years that it seems like the longest and shortest time imaginable, all at the same time.

In honor of the five years, I'd like to share five things I love about being married to Jon:

1. He's a HUGE dork. No, seriously, HUGE. There are those of you who might think you know how supremely ridiculous he can be, but believe me, you have no idea. He does the stupidest, silliest things, and while I would never admit this to him in person, I love this about him.

2. He puts up with me. I don't know if you know this, but I'm a big ball of crazy. I mean, BIG. I'm crazy like Jon's dorky. It's bad, but Jon deals with it gracefully, and he usually doesn't complain too much when I wipe down the counters after he's just cleaned them or make him choose a place to eat, because I don't feel like deciding, and then veto every single option he offers.

3. He helped me create the most beautiful baby on the whole planet. He's as dorky and patient with her as he is with me, and he makes me a better mother by being such a fantastic father. To him, Maddie will always be completely, 100% perfect, whether she's grinning at him from her crib first thing in the morning or beating the crap out of the cat for the eighth time that day.

4. He's unashamed of his obsessions. You can't really talk Jon out of loving anything, once he's committed. Stars Wars? Always and forever awesome. Rocky? Best man movie ever. The University of Kansas? One of the most sacred places known to humankind. His blankie? Irreplaceable and completely necessary (for propping up his head, of course). His obsessions often drive me nuts, but I appreciate the intensity with which he dedicates himself to things, especially knowing that Maddie and I are pretty high on the list.

5. So many little things. He says DOC-u-men-tary instead of doc-u-MEN-tary like the rest of us. He loves to bake, which is nice because I love to eat baked goods. He's a cat person. He likes Top Chef as much as I do. He wears socks to bed. He loves to try new things. (Have you eaten geoduck? Jon has.)

Happy Anniversary, Jon! I love you, and I'm looking forward to getting old and wrinkly and saggy and toothless and senile with you.

Jon and I in Boston at a Red Soxs game, Summer 2007

Nine-Month Photos

So, Maddie recently passed the nine-month mark, which meant it was time for another photo session with Josh Solar Photography. As you may have noticed from recent pictures of outdoor activities, she's not so big on smiling when outside, but what can you do? Her hats cover her eyes, and she refuses to wear her sunglasses, so squinting baby it is.

Josh and Jenny shot these pictures on KU's campus, and the Stoppel family joined us for a family shoot following Maddie's portrait session. She was pretty hot and tired by the end of it all, but she never did get really fussy, which was nice. She's a trooper.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites, but you can find more photos on the Solar's blog. We'll let you know when the full session is available online.

"Puddles" of Fun...

Well it isn't exactly 'Oceans of Fun' but it's the next best thing, especially for an almost 10 month old. Here is Maddie in her new pool. By the way she is definitely a trooper, as that water was COLD! She doesn't get it from me.

Baby Pendulum

Maddie is a huge fan of swings. She can't get enough of them. So we finally got her a swing of her own. She is a very happy camper when she is in a swing. Here are a few pictures of her on her maiden voyage.

Grrrrrrrr...Part II

So, Maddie knows who/what Elmo is. Yeah, it took her a whole nine months to get sucked into the commercial, corporate, consumer-driven machine and come out with a "favorite" television character.

I should back up a bit. First of all, she rarely watches TV at home. We have two (one working) Baby Einstein DVDs in the house, and we usually only use them when she's not feeling well or having a really rough day. She's never watched Sesame Street or any sort of Elmo show at home, so like any good parent, I'm going to blame daycare. Now, I use blame in the nicest way blame can be used. Laura is watching five kids, two of whom are over the age of two, and if I were her, I would probably have chucked it all in and run off to Fiji by now were it not for that bastion of all toddler calming devices, the television. However, the TV is in the living room, which is the only completely baby-proofed space in the house, so if the "big kids" are watching an Elmo video, everyone is watching an Elmo video. I think that, and the Tickle-Me Elmo they sometimes play with, is the culprit behind her brand recognition.

Sadly, Jon and I cannot be held blameless in this matter either. Having heard that Maddie cracked up over the Tickle-Me variety of said Muppet, we promptly went out and bought her one of her own. (To our credit, it was at a garage sale for $2, so I can't feel that bad about it. I mean, come on, $2!) Nana has also contributed a couple of Elmo books to her library, and before you know it, when you say, "Maddie, where's Elmo?", she looks right at the stuffed garage sale find.

So, why, you may ask, if I'm so averse to her recognizing a Muppet, did I fuel this fascination with the furry little monster with the big ego? (Elmo constantly refers to himself in the third person, which I find to be a bit much. We get it. You're Elmo. Geez...Muppets are sooo self-centered!) Well, because, she knows what Elmo is! I mean, this is a big step. She's starting to recognize people and things, and while she may have chosen the one Sesame Street character that annoyed me more than any other during my babysitting days, I think this sort of development should be encouraged. Besides, when I'm really honest with myself, it could be worse. It's Sesame Street, for crying out loud. It's a Muppet. If there had to be a show she gravitated toward at such a young age, I'm glad it's this one. It's not as if she recognizes the Terminator, and ends all conversations with "Ah'll be bauck."

I guess I just hoped that she could remain free from these sorts of outside influences for a bit longer, and what really gets me is that I know this is one of the things we're sacrificing by putting her in daycare, and there will be more things like this. You put them out in the world, and they pick up, well, the world. In order to have a sane Mommy and Daddy who feel balanced with their parents selves and their non-parent selves, we're going to have to put up with Elmo, which in the grand scheme of things, doesn't seem so bad.

Um, also, in all fairness, I should disclose that I'm slightly annoyed by the fact that while if you ask, "Where's Daddy? Where's the kitty? Where's Elmo?", she will look for these things. Try saying, "Where's Mommy?" Nothing. If I can blame daycare for the E-love, I'm going to blame Jon for this one.

Just for kicks and giggles

Just to prove MOWS is the happiest child on the planet . . . except when she is taking pictures outside, as you will soon find out.

Like father, like daughter.

Here is my little high jumper clearing her first height of 10". Not bad for her first attempt. I am going to continue to work on her form, especially the landing, but we are getting there.

The Madster loves pulling up on anything and everything anymore. She has really transformed from a little baby to a newbie toddler. She loves getting into everything. As I always say, this has to be one of my favorite stages.

(Also, who doesn't love Rick Astley :)

Meow...

Maddie, our learned daughter, is one smart cookie! She loves this book so much that she could eat it, and frequently does as shown by the teeth marks all over it. The good thing is, she really does like being read to, and we love reading to her. My little lawyer/doctor/basketball player/astronaut/architect/Senator baby is well on her way. That or she just really likes cats.

Grrrrrrrr...Part I

Lately, I have become increasingly irritated with baby clothes, specifically the size and shape of "girl" clothing. As none of you will know because we're slackers and never got it up on the blog, Maddie recently had her nine-month "Well Baby" check-up, and let's just say, she's a little larger than the average nine-month-old. Okay, so she's 24 lbs., which puts her in the 98th percentile for weight, and she's 28.75" long, which puts her in the 81st percentile for height, and her head is still a gigantic melon of a cranium, measuring in the 88th percentile. (For those of you not familiar with the whole percentage thing, this means she weighs more than 98% of the kids her age, she's taller than 81% of the kids her age, and she'll soon pull small planets into her gravitational field.)

Having a big, healthy baby is not a bad thing. This weekend, at the Farmer's Market in Lawrence, a woman came up to Maddie tickled her legs, and called her thighs delicious. I would happily hand over the keys to my car if someone called my thighs "delicious." (Unless that person happened to be a certain Dr. Lecter, and then I would run, quickly, in the opposite direction.) However, dressing said above-average child is a completely different matter, one that is becoming increasingly frustrating.

See, for some reason that totally baffles me, even in the 12-18 month clothing range (That's what you have to wear when you're 89% larger than your peers; I averaged it, and no, it doesn't really work that way.), clothing for girls is different than clothing for boys. It's not such an issue with the shirts. Luckily for Maddie and her little pot-bellied-stove of a tummy, the empire waisted looks is back, and shirts for girls tend to be a little roomier anyway. (This is also a good thing for her mother, who inexplicably decided to eat an insane amount of doughnuts and Taco John's on Sunday. Bad idea...) The pants, though--the waists are all lower, the waistbands tinier, and the thighs tighter than on boys pants for the same age range. How do I know this? Because I've been trying to squeeze her into 12-18 month "girl" pants for months with little success, and I bought a pair of boys jeans at a garage sale, and they fit like a dream, that's how. They may not look as cute, and they may have a faded, almost acid washed, kind of 90s look to them, but they don't make it impossible for her to continue sitting up because her joint movement is restricted!

I'm sorry, but am I the only person who finds this ridiculous? I've seen a lot of babies, especially recently, and I have to say that aside from the fact that every baby is different in their own way, I don't see that much difference, physically, between girl babies and boy babies. (And yes, I know there are a couple rather noticeable differences, but all the babies I've seen have been clothed, and they all wear diapers, so let's not go there.) Babies are babies, and I don't see why we have to gender their clothing at such a young age, especially when it comes to fit. Put your daughter in all the sparkly, pink, feathered (read stupid, ridiculous, and pointless) stuff you want, or dress your son in head-to-toe trucks and rockets (again, silly), but there shouldn't be any difference in the way the clothing fits.

I guess what really bothers me is the signal this sends at such a young age. I know she's not really old enough to be aware of what she's wearing, but I feel like society is already telling her that her thighs and butt are too big, that cute babies don't have a stomach that hangs over their waistband, that she is not, in fact, delicious because she doesn't fit into "girl" clothes. As a woman who's had her own share of body-image issues, this makes me angry. What am I supposed to do? Dress her in onsies all the time? Tell her she's a "plus-size" baby, so she doesn't deserve clothes that fit well and look cute? (By the way, I think that's crap with adult people, too.)

I know I'm projecting a lot right now (and just for disclosure's sake, I should probably note that her clothes might fit a bit better if we didn't use G-diapers, but why should clothing only be made for babies that use disposables?), but I'm really, really bothered by the idea that people think girls are so much different from boys, even at such a young age. No wonder we can't get through the glass ceiling. We can't even sit up because our pants are too tight!