The Dark and Frilly Side

I have now made my first visit to the dark ....or rather, the frilly side. As soon as I found out we were having a girl, I became very determined that I would do my best to avoid gender stereotyping my child and that she will know from day one that, as a girl, she can do anything and everything boys can do. She can play sports, she can play with bugs, she can do math, and she can become the President of the United States (Only if she's a Republican, though. If she's not, her father will have her locked away somewhere). Conversely, should it be her choice, she can wear pink ruffles, play with dolls, have tea parties, and be as prissy as her little heart desires. But the type of girl she becomes was going to be her choice, not anyone else's ...including her mother's.

I am ashamed and disappointed in myself for purchasing this dress for her (even though it was a mere $4 at a consignment sale) and I apologize to Kendall in advance should she become a tomboy, run across this picture her mother has now put on the internet, and have to suppress an urge to vomit.

BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS, HOW FRIGGIN' CUTE IS SHE IN THIS DRESS????

Week Number 11

We had a fairly non-eventful first part of the week. Kendall was kind enough to share her cold with me so we both felt pretty icky. Big Thanks to Grandmother for keeping Kendall Monday morning so I could get some sleep. Also for bringing dinner Thursday night so I didn't have to cook, and then keeping Kendall again Friday afternoon so I could help movers move some stuff out of storage! Kendall and I were both feeling much better by Thursday and went to visit my friend Mary and Kendall's boyfriend Baby Owen Friday morning. Owen has gotten so much bigger just in the past couple of weeks! I guess it's not just my baby who's growing like a little weed. Owen is 4 weeks younger than Kendall and is already longer than she is and almost as heavy! We also introduced Owen to Kendall's favorite singing star toy and created another little star toy addict. Sorry Mary! Kendall has figured out how to kick the playgym and make the star play music when it's on the motion sensor setting. She can spend hours kicking and staring at that thing and cracking herself up!


Kendall: Owen, look at this thing - all the cool kids are doin' it! Ya GOTTA try it!

Owen: Whoa dude! This is cool! MOM - I NEED a STAR!!

Friday was a big day for Kendall. After spending the morning with Mary and Owen, Kendall spent the afternoon with Grandmother so I could get some stuff done. Then we spent the evening at Brett's house with Brett, Troy, Vincent and Heather. Kendall impressed everyone by being a "such a laid back baby" and then slept a full NINE hours that night! I woke her up at 7 Saturday morning so she could eat. Can't let her wither away into nothingness. Did I mention that when we weighed the kids at Mary's house she had gained an entire pound since the infamous snot sucking doctor visit a mere week ago?? She is now 14 pounds, 5 ounces according to my scale. This means she's almost doubled her birth weight. I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere she was supposed to do that by her 6 month birthday. Guess we can cross that little milestone off at 11 weeks!


Kendall hanging out with Uncle Brett. She did pretty well chillin' with the guys!

Finally, we are spending the weekend (and probably the better part of next week) helping "Nana the Nanny" move into her new house in Dallas - just 3 miles from us - and Saba had better be visiting frequently. Welcome to Dallas, Nana! Nana will be keeping Kendall during the day when I go back to work in just 2 short weeks. Part of me is looking forward to returning to work. I have developed the utmost of respect for housewives as there is NO way I could continue to do this full time and stay sane. It is significantly easier to be working in an office all day! The other part of me gets teary at the thought of leaving my little monkey. She is just now starting to be really fun to be around (smiling and laughing at everything, especially me!) and now I have to miss out of most of her waking hours. I'm sure it will all be fine, though. Other mothers have survived returning to work after maternity leave fairly unscathed, right?

Snot Sucking Fascination Officially OVER

Today I exhibited my first "rookie mom harassment of the pediatrician's office" behavior. I had called yesterday about the cold that Kendall has had all week and was told that nothing really could be done for her other than having her sleep as upright as possible and continue to use her nasal aspirator. Sucking snot has recently become a favorite pastime of mine and I was becoming rather addicted to my battery operated snot sucker that plays music as it sucks. And the fact that Kendall actually seemed to enjoy having her snot sucked made it all the more fun for me! That is until the doctor visit today. This morning her cough was worse and she started vomiting. Exorcist style. So I basically told the pediatrician's office that my snotty baby was going to appear in their waiting room in the next couple of hours coughing and hacking so it would behoove them to let her see a doctor while we were there. They obliged. Turns out that Kendall has a ... drum roll please .... cold. But it wasn't enough for this doctor (not our regular doctor) to formally diagnose her disease and send us on our way. Oh no. Apparently I am not the only one with a snot sucking fetish. But there was absolutely nothing cute and fun about the way he violently sucked a gallon of snot out of her poor little head. And Kendall did NOT enjoy this rough snot sucking session. At all. The scream was worse than her shot induced scream, a mere week and a half ago, and lasted significantly longer. Then, afterwards, I got reprimanded for holding her (with tears streaming down my face) and attempting to comfort her! I was supposed to just smile at her and say it was ok so she doesn't remember it as a bad experience. Uh huh. I was then sent on my way with a piece of paper with a number (100.5) written in red and circled. This is the minimum temperature at which my child's little body should be before she returns to the doctor with a cold.

Oh, and she's gained a pound in a week. She's now 13 pounds 5 ounces. But I think at least 1/2 of that pound was snot and it's gone now.

Lesson Learned. Next time Kendall has a cold, we will stay home.

Kendall and Cousins!

This post is out of order - sorry! Had to wait 'til Amy posted the pictures so I could thieve them. :) She has such a cool camera and took soooo many pictures the night they were here, there was really no reason for me to bother looking for my cheapo camera (that was hiding from me that night).

Anyhow, I think I mentioned in the 8 week post that Brian, Amy, Mason and Maya came over and brought us a delicious dinner a couple of weekends ago. We had a great time and Kendall was awake and social for most of the visit! We need to do it again soon! Thanks for the pics, Amy!

All smiles at dinner!

Kendall: "Whatchew lookin' at Aunt Amy?"


Kendall with Mason and Maya (who can maybe teach their cousin how to better pose for pictures!).

Kendall and Maya, who is a natural with babies (I think she's had lots of practice!) :)

Kendall and Uncle Brian (who was happily holding a beer when all of a sudden a baby was plunked in his lap for a photo opp!)

Shots are NOT FUN!

Kendall had her 2 month shots this week. 2 in one leg, 1 in the other. It was a scream I never want to hear again ....although it was short lived. She stopped crying as soon as I stuck a bottle in her mouth. I figure it's good to teach her early that food cures all pain. We'll get the eating disorder diagnosed early too.

Stats and Percentiles:
Weight: 12 pounds, 6 ounces - 90th percentile (!)
Height: 22.75 inches - 75th percentile
Head circumference: 65th percentile - I'm still not sure for the reason for this one but I guess it's nice to know she's not in any current danger of being a pinhead.

Saba and Nana came for a long weekend visit and we had a nice afternoon on Thursday at the mall and then the Arboretum. Here are some pics from that outing.

Kendall and Mommy with Saba and Nana

I sat her down on this little bench in front of the "Hansel and Gretel house" at the Arboretum. Then realized that this is the witch's house from Hansel and Gretel so this is a picture of me leaving my child to get eaten by a witch. Oops.

Happy to be rescued from the witch's house!

And here is Kendall relaxing on Daddy's lap along with her doggies, Ralphie and Ginger.



And here she is in a cute 0-3 month size outfit ... for the first and most likely last time since she can't stretch out her little bow legs in it!



My cousin Stacy and my Aunt Melanie came for a short visit at the end of Saba and Nana's visit to meet Kendall. We had a really nice time. We ate a lot, had another visit to the Arboretum, and Stacy and I both got much needed pedicures. Kendall was very generous with her smiles and was exceptionally fond of her Saba this visit.

Kendall and her "Auntie M." I love the look on Kendall's face in this one!

Kendall and "First Stacy." Stacy is technically Kendall's first cousin once removed but since no one says "first cousin" for actual first cousins, "First Stacy" works. I became "First Julie" to Stacy's darling little girl, Izzy, a little over 2 years ago. Izzy has a hilarious blog if you want to check it out. (http://theworldaccordingtoizzy.blogspot.com/) That child is an absolute trip!

The "Generations" picture. Kendall and Mommy, Nana, Auntie M, and First Stacy. We hope to have Kendall and Izzy meet soon for a more complete "generations" picture.