what it must be like...

As an ordinary looking guy, I take it for granted that I go largely unnoticed while in public. I always wondered what it would be like to get a lot of attention... now I know to some degree. This is shameless, but we get stopped regularly by people commenting on how beautiful, adorable, engaging (with her megawatt smile) Bridget is. I always I would find her beautiful, but never counted on such a little star. While in Brattleboro for example, we gave our lunch order at a restaurant to our waiter and several minutes later, a waitress came along, as a hurried New Yorker, I quickly said, the other waiter got our order, and she told us I heard about the baby and came to see...she really lights up around people and makes their day, she is just a bundle of good news and positive energy...

someone once wrote, "it's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart."... Bridget's personality is so curious, loving, and sweet that it trumps her looks... needless to say, I fall in love more and more each day.

A Place More Quiet and Green

We visited a friend in Vermont for a few days earlier this week. She has a beautiful place outside of Brattleboro. It was such a contrast to home, very quiet, no neighbors in sight or earshot, and no ambient light at night. With a pool, great views, comfortable places, great food and wonderful company, there was no reason to leave. We did check out the town with a terrific Riverside Cafe with beautiful views of the river there. We also visited a country store, farm stand, a bison farm, and lots more. Bridget got a kick out of our friend's dog, a big furry, mellow fellow - first time she seemed to notice an animal, you could tell from her expression that she was trying to make out what he was, hmmm four legs, fur, big, etc... We ate well at local restaurants and Meg cooking with local ingredients (within miles of us), pancakes and bacon every day with the syrup from the property itself. Bridget wowed our host with how engaged she was socially with us, she seemed to follow all our conversations with curious intent...I went for a nice bike ride up a small mountain (got chased by a dog for part of the climb (great for motivation), saw an alpaca farm, a historic round schoolhouse and lots of farms, little traffic - again, I knew I wasn't in westchester.... Meg and I love the vermont vibe of casual dress, little attitude, liberal politics, local food, and outdoors adventures... look forward to taking Bridget back to the green state.

vermont

Bridget took her first trip to vermont and her 2nd road trip.. she did really well. My friend and colleague spends her summer there. she has a beautiful country home on several acres with a pool and a pond too. The town is tiny with a country store and many farms as well as a covered bridge. Bridget and Alex( our friend's dog) got a long great. Alex was very patient and held back as he really wanted to keep licking Bridget's face. He became upset when Bridget would squeal. He wanted to protect her even when it was just Chris playing around. Alex thought she was in danger. it was adorable.. Despite the rainy weather we all relaxed and Bridget got some time in the pool with daddy. unfortunately, i got some odd infection on my eye and had a visit to the er. it was a great small town experience, though as I was the only patient in the er and didn't have to wait. I actually waited longer in the pharmacy while I listened to everyone catching up. All in all, a great trip.. We were off the grid.. away from cell phone, internet and tv and it was a great change!! we cooked a lot with produce from the local farm stands and the Brattleboro food co- op and had wine every night with dinner, explored nearby brattleboro and a nearby bison farm, visited the country store, the covered bridge and told stories..

six months!!

Bridget had her 6 month check up at the doctor last week. He was thrilled that we have begun avocado and he feels Bridget is growing really well. she is now 16lbs and 27 inches long. She is still above average in weight and in the 90% percentile in length.. wow!! The doc continues to be a great listener and he really took his time with us. Chris met him for the first time since last month was our first visit to this new doctor. chris was impressed. He was impressed with her sleeping.. prior to our vermont trip, she was sleeping 10 hours straight 7pm-5am.. yay!! He was surprised at this since he explained how much more they dream at this age and often wake themselves up in between dreams.. well, we always knew she was advanced.. ha ha!

The new doctor is in croton so before the visit we went to croton point park and were hoping to swim there.. but for some strange reason there aren't lifeguards during the week, huh!! and they prohibit swimming!! ugh! it was gorgeous anyhow and we enjoyed the scenery. after our appointment we went to their farmer's market.. it is great. they even have wines there from a vineyard in the hudson valley. fun!!

avocados- yummy!!

For Bridget's 2nd week of solids, we introduced avocado.. It went really well. She took to it quickly and seems to like it more than sweet potato. We have a good routine now for the three of us. I nurse Bridget for a bit, then I bring her to the kitchen where daddy has the chair all ready. I take out the bib, prepare the food and bring over the food and spoon, then while he feeds the first food, I prepare the 2nd,just in case she is interested. When Bridget is done, I get a bowl of water for the clean up and chris cleans her while I clean the chair. Then I get the vitamin drops and the water. We are so thrilled about one thing.. Bridget seems to love the water at the end of her meal. YAY!! She reaches for the glass. horay. She is so healthy already.. liking avocado and water.. what a smartie!!

sweet potatoes

This morning, Bridget had her first introduction to solid foods.. It was an adventure for all of us.. First I spent awhile early this morning preparing the food. Yes, I decided to make the food myself. I have good intentions, I'm not sure how long I will do this for, but it will save money and the fresh food will be better for her.. so, I first looked up how to sautee sweet potatoes. I didn't have a steamer insert so I used a colander.. and it worked well. But I made way too much!! Let's just say, I hope she likes it.. we have about one months of sweet potatoes.. 4 frozen ice cube trays.. ugh!!

Then I put together my food processor that I bought last summer.. While I did this, chris got the high chair from the garage and assembled it..

Then it was time, Bridget woke up from her nap, I nursed her and then Chris looked for the bib. We placed her in the chair, I took out the wooden bowl and spoon that I recently purchased and scooped one T of the pureed sweet potato into the bowl. I sat next to her in a chair and placed some of the sweet potato on her lips.. Then, I began to put some slowly in her mouth. we couldn't tell if she liked it or not, but it was a good start..Not too much ended up in her mouth or being swallowed.. but it was a start..

we were careful to be positive and not react negatively. We stopped after about 15 minutes.. we took her out of the chair and put her down to play. Later today I read the book again for some tips, turns out I missed a few key points that I will try tomorrow:

first I should only nurse her for half the time before the feeding so she is somewhat hungry, then I should mix breast milk with the sweet potatoes so it's a more familiar taste and is more liquidy, and I should put the spoon full of the sweet potato on her tongue. also, if she doesn't move it, I should slowly place some of the potato on her tongue.. It's an interesting ritual and mealtime seems to be so important.. I want her to enjoy it and learn to try many foods and also get her nourishment that she needs..

single mom!

For the past week, I was a single mom.. Chris went to a seminar for history teachers in Rhode Island at Brown University. He loved it and it was right up his ally. He listened to lectures by famous historians, saw documentaries and did a group project, ha ha.. I stayed at home and well, spent my days doing the same, taking care of Bridget..going for walks, reading books, nursing, singing, yoga classes, laundry, etc. the once difference is that I didn't have any breaks.. ugh!!

well, I was prepared and scheduled many social visits at night from friends. we had dinner together and chris' parents watched Bridget twice and I went swimming.. yay!! It felt great to get out and have a break and exercise..

I really don't know how single parents do it.. no breaks is tough.. going to work - outside of the home would actually be the only break..wow!!

it made me appreciate chris more and realize how hard single parents have it!!

saturday in the park

Well, chris came back from his conference. pfew!! It was rough being a single mom for a week.. he had a great time hanging with the other history nerds, learned a lot and had fun too.. we had a good week and I socialized a lot with friends.. several nights I had friends over to dinner which was fun for me.. twice grandma and grandpa babysat and I swam at the pool yay!! On Saturday the 4th, we went to a park on the river , this park we hadn't been to before and loved it.. gorgeous.. I am beginning to really like the river towns.. not that I hadn't before. just exploring them more lately.. On one side there is a little beach, lots of picnic tables and bbq grills and a playground and on the other side we found lots of areas to play sports, soccer fields, a basketball court and more and all of this was right next to the river. unbelievable.. and open to the public.. We had fun walking around and took Bridget on the swing too.. she seems to enjoy being outside.. well, don't all babies??

lake house

Bridget had her first visit to a lake house last weekend.. She loved it.. Chris' uncle has a lake house and we spent the day. She enjoyed visiting on the screened in porch, watching the waves in the lake and lying in the hammock.. fun!! We were very happy that she took a nap too in the pack in play that we brought.. pfew!!

Bridget's first visit to a public garden

We finally made it to a public garden we have been meaning to visit.. It's a gorgeous spot in Riverdale with incredible views of the Hudson River and the Palisades.. WOW. we had a good visit in between rain showers and loved every minute.. A great spot for a picnic too.. we enjoyed our trip so much that we decided to join.. we plan to go often this summer.

yay! It's fun exploring new places..