Teeth! Er... tooth!

First Teething Biscuit
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

One little toothlet is coming in on the bottom. It seems a little early to be giving her teething biscuits (she keeps breaking off chunks and gagging and I leap on hear and dig around in her mouth), but she wants *so much* to eat something. And the chunks don't start coming off until the biscuit is pretty saturated. Ryan, who was holding her, is just thrilled to be covered in drool and vanilla biscuit. This is something of a relief because lots of people have been absolutely sure that she is teething since she was about 2 weeks old. Now we can finally agree with them.

Her repetitive motion thing has moved to her legs, which gets interesting when she's laying on her stomach and pushing up with her arms--starting to rock back and forth on her knees. Little did I know what that repetitive motion would lead to! We continue to push her over when she does this (kidding).

She is now sitting like she's been doing it all her life. It happened so fast, maybe 3 days from first sitting to professional sitting. And she discovered her thumb very suddenly one day last week. Not that she hadn't sucked it before, but suddenly she could get it in her mouth whenever she wanted to. This is both good and bad. We've started alternating her with the pacifier in hopes she doesn't get to attached to either. Like that'll work.

My Baby and My Baby Blanket

My Baby and My Baby Blanket
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

Clementine pulled my baby blanket off a pile of blankets folded next to her crib, and then proceeded to fall asleep in the cutest possible way.

Now this photo will freak my parents out...

MMmmm, Tomatoes

MMmmm, Tomatoes
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

I forgot to post about last weekend. We took Clementine to see our friend that we call "The Tomato Lady", but who everyone else calls Nancy.

We've been going to see her for I think 5 years now, bringing home bags and bags of heirloom, organic, wonderful tomatoes that aren't overwatered or picked early. I can them and then hoard them and usually refuse to cook with them until the following year's canning. Ha ha.

Anyway, Clementine was fascinated by the chickens, the racks and racks of onions, the walk-in cool storage which is full of wooden boxes of pears, figs, raspberries and peaches, and the farm cats. But mostly she really loved the cobwebs.

News Moratorium

I've put a moratorium on news for the next two weeks. Everything happening in the world -- Katrina, Iraq, terrible things happening to babies in New York and in Oakland -- I feel like every time I pick up a paper I'm getting jabbed sharply in the gut. Volunteering and donating helps, but doesn't cure. On Friday I was a hair's breadth away from running home and curling up in a fetal position with Clementine for the rest of the weekend. Mothers I know have told me many times how they feel like they're wearing their hearts on their sleeves, or like their hearts are walking around outside their bodies. I feel like mine is playing in traffic. I had no idea what they were talking about until now. So, I'm giving myself a little break and putting the kabosh on all news: papers, news-related-blogs, tv, even NPR (except Prarie Home Companion). Of course it didn't help to have the front page of the NYT sitting in the kitchen at work this morning. But hopefully it will help.

In local news, Clementine has tried bananas and declared them absolutely inedible. She looked at Ryan like, "I can't believe you just put that in my mouth." Sweet potatoes are a thumbs-up. Going by the four-day rule, we'll be trying maple yogurt tomorrow.

A Poem

Little animation of Clementine and Margit playing (thanks to Madla who babysat while Ryan was at the dentist), which I've narrated:

Margit is happy.
She is eating a plum, Clementine wants to see!
Aww, so cute, she offers Clementine a plum,
Clementine wants it! Did she get a bite?
Oh yes, it is sour.
Clementine wants more.

Solid Food!

We started solid food on the 12th, her 6-month birthday (and cousin Aria's real birthday!).

Here's the highlight reel:


It's fun. We're excited. She seems ready. She did great yesterday, and actually ate all we made her. This is easier than I thought it would be. Maybe because I'm used to feeding (or seeing fed) babies who are much younger than 6 months. Next (after the 3-day rule): SQUASH!

On a related note, I think I may have fixed the "Newest Skill" movie below, for those of you who were having troubles...

Mermaid Clementine

Mermaid Clementine
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

Yesterday morning we brought Clementine into bed with us and she was just a normal girl. But somehow magically by the time we got out of bed, she had transformed into a mermaid!

Today Clementine is a half. Six months old! Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog, and predicted video of Clementine spitting out lots of rice cereal...

She Sits!

She Sits!
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

Ryan just IM'd me that Clementine sat up *by herself* and then grabbed her bottle from a stack of books nearby. Wow.

She actually can sit up ok, but it only lasts a few minutes and then she's all flopped over and contorted and adorable.

Well, she's always adorable.

She slept last night from 9:30pm to 5:30am solid. That's 8 hours for those of you keeping score. Really that's a lot more than most babies this age sleep. So anyway at 5:30 Ryan mumbles, "Isn't it too early?" (meaning to pick her up and bring her into our bed). I think she's spoiling him. :-)

Pink Martini

Clementine, Ryan and I went to see Pink Martini last night at Villa Montalvo.

Clementine did great, she was a bit squirmy at first but when the music started she sat perfectly still, left hand holding my thumb and right hand on her head, through the first 4 or 5 songs. Then she fell asleep. Everyone was nice and seemed glad to see a baby there except the mean ticket-taker man who wouldn't let us in with out a ticket for CLEMENTINE. Wha-? I'm guessing it's their way of keeping baby attendance down. I think I was still pregnant when I bought the tickets. Certainly wasn't thinking about getting one for her. Anyway, we went to the ticket counter and the very nice lady there gave us a ticket that someone had left, an extra they couldn't use. So nice of them and her!

Anyway, Pink Martini has a lovely lullabye "Clementine" which was just magical to hear in person while cuddling a sleeping little baby. We got her an autographed copy of the CD to go with the blues harmonica we already got for her collection. Unfortunately, no photos, sorry. :-(

Clementine and Crawdad

Clementine and Crawdad
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

"Hot baths and good deeds are a sure cure for depression" was attributed, apocryphally I think, to Lincoln. Anyway, the Katrina catastrophe is just... well, I have no words for it. But I think it's got a certain effect on new parents. Clementine, Ryan and I brought donations to a drop-off center for Operation Ryan's Hope, and then spent a few hours sorting. This drop-off center was organized by an online mom's group that I belong to. We were donating things for a small town in Louisiana that is sheltering a lot of children, so they've called for diapers, bottles, formula. I'm sure you can imagine how a group of new mothers responds to other mothers reporting that they need formula. Needless to say, there's lots of formula.

Having Clementine makes this thing absolutely terrifying (our earthquake box grew by double since the hurricane) but she is so happy and snuggly and sweet she is also a great source of comfort. I wonder if all parents are this afraid about the state of the world (after all there was always something: the cold war, Vietnam...) or if we'd had children when we were younger we might still feel better. If Clementine had been born when we still felt immortal (when does that end? 28?) would we feel better?

Anyway, Ryan and Clementine went to Stow Lake with Madla, Margit, and Lucia and found a crawdad escaping. I have no doubt this would have gone straight into her mouth if she'd gotten her little hands on it (which she seems desperate to do).

Clementine's Newest Skill

We're very proud of her for this one. All babies must do it, but we've never seen it and it's quite funny. Especially good is when she has so much suction going that her head jerks when she releases it (you'll just have to watch the video to see what I'm talking about).



We moved her back into our bedroom, but kept the routine the same and are still putting her down in her playpen several feet from our bed. This was just for the weekend so I could sleep with earplugs in and still feel like I could hear her. She woke up twice, but only for a second, and put herself back to sleep. Now are starting to get on the same page with the whole thing, and have agreed that as long as she's warm and well fed when she goes to sleep, we'll leave her in her crib if she wakes up and cries -- but if not we'll bring her into bed with us. This agreement was reached without a touch of eye-rolling or irony on Ryan's part, so I think we're actually starting to get in synch. >whew< Travel together in a 3rd world country, no problem. Put a baby to sleep, 4 weeks of negotiation.

Well, It *Is* Solid

Well, It *Is* Solid
Originally uploaded by audcrane.

Success! Sleep!

Well, sort of.

Finally at the end of our rope, Clementine was banished to the playpen in the living room. She slept for 7 hours. We...didn't. Talking about moving her, how long to let her cry, making sure she was breathing every hour or so.

We've left her there the last few nights and they've been highly successful. Except that I can't wear earplugs because I want to listen for her. And it's Thursday, so my favorite bars, Studio Z and The Holy Cow are in high dudgeon. So while she's been asleep since 9:30 on the dot, here I am at the computer at 11:30 at night.

Ryan gave Clementine a carrot to chew on. Does it count as her first solid food if none of it gets past her little gums?