So sweet

New trick

Hey, I can sit!

Baby power

This week, I hosted my "mommies' group," featuring the amazing acrobatic Annacora Mizuki (mom, Brooke; see Cora Mizuki blog), the lovely and charming Zoe Maria (mom, Lisa; see Zoester blog) and the sweet and sassy Lily (mom, Jen). Here are the babies playing on the quilt Nola gave Elena. It is so gorgeous!
And here we all are hanging out. I am so glad to have found some cool moms to bond with!

I need more sleep, less coffee

Elena wakes up a lot during the night. I pretty much lose count, but it is every 1-3 hours all night long to nurse. This is getting really old and leaving me exhausted all day. I have gotten very good at making myself espressos with the ultra-fancy Pavoni espresso machine Kevin bought three years ago. It has served us well over the years, and now it is really getting a work out. Today I bought a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It is written by a breast-feeding, co-sleeping mom who hated to hear her baby cry...Sounds ideal, but will her methods work? I will keep you all updated. Today might not be the best day to start the sleep training because Ellie got her shots this afternoon, but tomorrow the Pantley Sleep Strategies begin!!

Running babies

When I was in graduate school doing my dissertation work, it used to amuse my family when I would talk about "running babies" for my study. I "ran" about 200 babies total and am deeply indebted to all of them! (In fact, my dissertation research has finally beed written up and will appear in the January 2008 issue of Developmental Science. Hooray!) Now that I am a mother, I eagerly signed Elena up for the call list for any studies at UW. Last week I got a call for 6-month-olds and this week we have been showing up at the infant audiology lab for a series of "conditioned head turn" experiments. It was truly a thrill to see the grad student run my baby in her experiment! I will try to take a photo tomorrow of Ellie in the conditioned head turn booth. It is super cool, and it only makes it more fun that I can tell exactly when she gets a "hit" or "miss" or "false alarm" from all my years of studying this very paradigm when used in language development studies.

Musical education

Elena enjoys watching the trio rehearse in the mornings. I put her on her fleece in the hallway and she watches intently for quite a long time while the trio bangs away.

Baby in motion

Elena has discovered that she loves her Johnny Jump-Up, especially when there is music playing and she can sing and dance!

Breakfast

Elena is eating a lot more these days. This morning we even tried out the booster chair/high chair thingy we picked up at a garage sale and it worked! She is getting much better at sitting up. I keep trying to take a picture of her sitting on her own, but they always end up as pictures of her falling...

New cello!

Kevin spent several days in and around NYC looking for a new cello. Here he is trying out a few at the farm. He eventually fell in love with the one he is holding on his lap, a brand new cello made by Robert Young, modelled after an ancient Testore cello.
We got to take the new cello to the Juilliard School of Music and compare it to a $750, 000 1700 Testore with Kevin's significantly less expensive 2007 Young Testore-model. It stood up very well and convinced us that it was indeed an amazing cello. The curator at the school said that he thought is was truly remarkable.
I wonder if I will ever go back to the Juilliard school someday....

Farm vacation, continued

Dorothea, Aaron and Josephine hang out at the swimming pond.
Josephine!
Dorothea, Vicki, Aaron, Rachel and Josephine.
Elena!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Aaron and Josephine prepare cupcakes.
Happy 21st birthday, Rachel!!

Farm vacation, continued

Clockwise from top: Aaron, Rachel, Dorothea, and Josephine work on a puzzle.
Amy and Boris explore the barn.
Amy collects a bouquet of flowers.
Mom works on a murder mystery.
Aaron collects flowers on a hike.

Farm vacation

We spent a week at a farmhouse in upstate New York with my family. Here we all are hanging out on the porch.
The first day we were there was cool and rainy. This is the view from the porch looking down at the swimming pond and the Catskills beyond.
We discovered a huge ancient barn. How do you get in? Rachel bodly climbs through a window!
It had three fascinating levels. On the second level was an old car!
Vicki, Rachel and Dorothea (Aaron takes the photo) go on a hike in the fields and forest surrounding the farm.

Napping

On the same day The Pless People posted a picture of baby Emory napping with his cat, I took this picture of Elena and Obie asleep together on the bed! Napping is something babies and cats have a lot in common. Of particular note: Ellie is taking her nap ON THE BED. This is new! As of last week, she took all her naps in the swing. I was worried that she would always need the swing to nap, but a week away from it seemed to have done the trick. She now is a great bed napper, but still needs to be nursed to sleep. Oh well, one thing at a time. Also, admire the beautiful quilt my babies are sleeping on! This was my handmade wedding present from Dr. Hausfrau and Nola, entitled "You are My Sunshine." This was also the song Kevin and I sang to Elena when she was only moments old!

Happy six-months!

Six-months is a great age! Elena smiles all the time and has a great sense of humor. She is getting better and better at laughing. When she is in the right mood, tickling her belly and neck, making funny noises, dancing, and shaking around her gay lion toy cracks her up. She likes slow walks on the beach, and dinner with friends. She loves all kinds of music and will immediately stop crying when we turn on just about anything melodic. She loves to party, but also enjoys quiet evenings at home. She can't sit up yet or crawl, but she plays really well on her own--chewing, throwing and shaking her toys. She rolls every once and a while and loves hiking, sailing, and travelling. We love to hear her voice: she coos, sings and blows raspberries. No real babbling yet, but a terrific listener. She has three teeth and loves to eat. Elena is a foodie! She loves everything from teething biscuits to apricots and pickles! NO, SHE DOES NOT SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. (why is that the question everyone asks me over and over???) In fact, this sweet thing wakes me up about 4-8 times a night. Some nights I just lose count.

Methow Music Festival

This last week we were in the Methow Valley for the Methow Chamber Music Festival. Kevin has played at this festival for the last 5 years. We really love it there! This year, we stayed in a little cabin up in the mountains with the trio and all their families. Here is Finsterra performing a Dvorak piano trio. They played two full concerts while we there to huge applause and praise. Everyone loved them!!
The sun sets over the mountains during the concert. This was a rare cloudy and cool evening in the meadow.
Kevin warming up before the concert.