Hangin' with Dad

Lucy and her Poppa...

I just love this picture of Chris and Lucy hanging out on the floor. They're doing a little tummy time and talking about the events of the day. The next picture is Lucy sitting in the Target shopping cart. She can't really sit up by herself yet, so she's strapped in and I'm propping her up.

Merry Christmas From the DWP

Ho Ho Ho.

We went back to the Christmas Lights in Griffith Park. We HAD to, you guys. Lucy wore her Santa hat and socks on her hands, which in no way made her look like a crazy dude who sells chestnuts on the corner out of a box.

Also, Sarah made Christmas cookies! (And I decorated them!) We've got frosted butter cookies and peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss in the middle. Plus, our friend Nancy sent us a tin of her homemade X-Mas treats and I think Sarah's head was about to explode.

Side Bar: Last year, Nancy made us some "Christmas Bacon", which was bacon covered in maple syrup and brown sugar. Oh my goodness. That $#!+ ain't right.

More Giggles

A longer video, filled with smiles and giggles.

Swing low...

We took Lucy to her friend Birdy's first birthday party in the park yesterday. I never thought she'd like the swings (much less be big enough to be in a swing) but as you can see, I was wrong on both counts. She's wearing her Wisconsin sweatshirt for all you Badger fans out there.

Giggles

Fairly delightful, if you ask me.

Ho, ho, ho!

Lucy, your Dad and I are nutso about Christmas.

We went to a Christmas party at our friends Jenny and Derek's house tonight and this is how we dressed you. For the record, you're wearing a red onsie with a reindeer on the front with red tights and green leg warmers. We put a red hooded sweater on you for outerwear as well as your red fleece slipper shoes. I'm sorry honey. We love you, really.

Reasons Why I, As Lucy's Father, Am In Desperate, Desperate Trouble

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Evidence will be presented and a case will be made.

First Photo: Come on, that's my wife and daughter. Is it possible to say "No" to either of them? I say it is impossible and if you disagree, then you, Sir, are a drunkard and a fool.

Second: Within 24 hours of her birth, the nurses at the hospital referred to Lucy as "A Gerber Baby." Medical professionals, who have as much contact with babies as anybody ever, classify my daughter with the prototypical face of infant-hood. This does not bode well for me as a disciplinarian.

Third: Not too enthused with the nonsense, is she? There will be no suffering of fools for this one.

Fourth: A simple yawn, a basic bodily function, and I am wrapped around her little finger. A little finger which is in the 90th percentile for Weight and 50th percentile for length, I'll have you know.

Fifth & Finally: This is what I believe she's thinking -- "Sweet Christ, get me out of here."

And yet I find her to be delightful beyond reason. When she cries my spine vibrates and I must do everything I can to soothe her. She kinda-almost-sorta crawled tonight for the first time and I thought I was going to LOSE IT. I'm in trouble, aren't I?

Snap, Crackle, Pop

It's time for rice cereal!

We took Lucy to her 4 month appointment a few days ago. She's 16.3 pounds and almost 25 inches. Kindly Dr. Shapiro (sounds like Dr. Shapiro is 70 years old, doesn't it? He's actually 38.) suggested we try introducing some cereal to Lucy's diet. He said that although all of the research contradicts this, maybe it will help her sleep a little longer at night?! Yes please. So we mixed up a batch of the rice cereal and some formula (no wasting breast milk on this endeavor) and off we went. I think we'll give her a bath after dinner next time.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Yes Lucy, there is a Santa Claus.

Chris and I took Lucy to get her first tree, early last week. We went to a tree farm in Santa Clarita (about 20 miles north of us) that has great trees. Chris and I have been coming here for years and it was neat to bring Lucy with us. It's still a little strange to pick out a Christmas tree on a bright, warm, sunny day but it was a blast. We found the perfect tree right away and then spent the rest of the time meandering around, taking pictures like fools. I'm sure if Lucy could, she would have rolled her eyes at her goofy parents.

It's starting early, folks.

Lucy loves the Dark Knight, just like her Poppa! Who knew? I love this picture because she's also wearing her first pair of leggings. They're back, people.

On the first day of Christmas...

A new Christmas tradition is born.

The night we arrived home from Portland, we were invited to see the Christmas light display that the DWP puts on in Griffith Park near the LA Zoo. It's usually something people drive their cars through (and wait in a long line for) but this year, they set aside a week where it was "pedestrian only". Very neat. We met our friends Stephnie, Bob and little Birdy and Marion, Jason and little Wes there which was great. I dressed Lucy in her sleeper thinking that she'd be tuckered out and would fall asleep while we walked. Unfortunately, I forgot that it gets
chilly at night and although
Marion and Steph dove at Lucy to cover her up (Marion lent us one of Wes' hats), Lucy was too cold to sleep, I'm sure. Did you know you can warm a baby's hands by putting them in your mouth? It was a really cool thing to do even though there were some strange light displays along the path--A pterodactyl? A lighted representation of LAX? A herd of Christmas buffalo and a Native American poised to shoot with a bow and arrow? Merry Christmas DWP!

Thanksgiving in Portland

We survived our first trip on a plane with the peanut! Yay.

Lucy did great on her first flight. If she wasn't snoozing, she was smiling at us or the other passengers and just generally giving babies on planes a good name. She's at the age now where she can sit up a bit and is so, so interested in everything going on around her. Her little eyes scan everything and you can occupy her forever, just by turning her around to look at something from a different angle. I'm pretty sure we'll have to come up with other things to entertain her when she gets older...

So we spent Thanksgiving and the long weekend in Portland with Grandpa John and Grandpa Andrew. Lucy had a fancy pack and play waiting for her there and the three of us had our own little corner of the house, pretty much. We had a great Thanksgiving meal, went to the Portland farmer's market, went out to dinner and had a thousand wonderful moments in between. The weather was cold enough for Lucy to try out her fleece jacket from Noellen and Uggs that Stephnie gave her. She was very excited.

More pictures!

Our little girl's old enough to wear a bathrobe.

Lucy is doing much better. Baby Zantac is working wonders on her little lady heartburn and her eating and sleeping have improved. She's smiling a ton and making us laugh every day.

Lucy 's been cracking up watching her dad on Chocolate News and I'm pretty sure that this is the only time she'll ever see it. Naughty! I've included some photos that I took at the pumpkin patch on Halloween as well as some other photos that I love. The three of us were too discombobulated to take photos on election night, so suffice it to say that things were happy and we were feeling very proud in Tallmantown that night.

We Couldn't Resist

It's just too cute.
Sorry, Lucy.



May God have mercy on our pitiful souls.

Spoooooky!

Happy Halloween, everybody!

For Lucy's first Halloween, Sarah took us to a Pumpkin Patch! We saw a bunch of kids in costumes, a man-eating turkey (according to the sign), and all different kinds of pumpkins.

Pretty cool.



Then, Lucy had two costume choices for Satan's Holiday; one she hated and one she tolerated. Can you guess which is which?

You Gotta Have Friends

Geez, Lucy has a lot of friends.

She's cute and she smells nice, what's not to like? I get it. So I thought it would be a good idea to post some pictures of Lucy and people that have come from hither and yon to see her. We're so lucky to have such great friends!

From top to bottom:
Jenny, Lilo, and Tom
Mira
Patton
Derek
Brendon and Lauren

Lucy Holds Up Her Head

Pretty cool!

Lucy On The Threes

There's a new Sheriff in town.

Lee, Sarah's mom, is visiting for the weekend and she's really helped us figure out some scheduling. I think we've been giving Lucy a lot of waking time and perhaps not quite enough sleeping during the day. Also, her feeding has been pretty often, sometimes every hour. All of this leads to Lucy being kinda fussy which often culminates in a dinnertime meltdown. Charming!

Lucy's still a little young to be on a rigid schedule, but It Has Begun. We're going to try to feed her on the threes: Noon, Three O'Clock, Six O'Clock and so on. After eating is playing and hanging out, followed by a nap which brings her to her next meal. The ultimate goal is two-fold; get ahead of her fussiness, (making Lucy generally happier) and eliminating the three a.m. feeding (making Momma and Poppa generally happier).

Annie at the Pony Ride

WARNING: This is too cute.

We took Lucy & Annie to the Studio City Farmer's Market, where they feature pony rides for kids. While waiting in line for her ride, I interviewed Annie.

The Zoo, Part II

We returned to the scene of the crime.

Chris, Lucy and I went back to the LA zoo today with Matt, Kelly and Annie. Lucy fared much better stopping only for a meal or two and then a small meltdown at the end of the day. Success! Here is a picture of her being calm, cool and collected.

Treats!

Way too cute.

Matt, Kelly, & Annie are in town for the holiday weekend -- today we took them to our favorite spot for Frozen Yogurt, Menchie's. I think we have a hit on our hands.