Advances in Mousedom

The Mouse continues changing, almost daily. She found her hands a few weeks ago and can now grab what she wants. She is getting bigger, though not any more mobile yet. I think her hair is getting longer, though not any thicker. She's looking like a little girl instead of a baby, at least to me.

One of her new things is to lie in her crib and bang both heels on the mattress, said mattress being something like a wooden block, complete with the noise you can imagine. I put a temporary fix to that (towel on the mattress) at 4am this morning.

She doesn't go to bed very much easier, still has some fussy nights, in fact we went for a drive twice this week just to fall asleep. Holding her baby style and walking around the house doesn't work anymore, but I happened upon a new hold which seems to work.



Mouse has realized that playing pattycake can be fun, at least when daddy does it. GP learned the words (well, I spelled them and she wrote them down), but her delivery is pretty bad as far as cadence. Cadence and enthusiasm is what makes it fun. One rendition started "pancake, pancake" until I set her straight (with much laughter).

She got me back via a sales lady at the grocery store, though. The lady was admiring the Mouse (as most people do), and asked GP if Mouse was her little sister. I missed the question, but was able to guess as GP was incapacitated with laughter; we always joked that question would come up some day.

Some more photos of the Mouse with her mouse ears on.

Happy New Year! 新年快乐!

Happy New Year (Lunar) to all my friends, new and old, western and eastern. I hope the Year of the Ox is good for all of us.

恭喜发财

(红包拿来)

Mouse photo update

The mouse is 3 months and 1 week old now (every week counts when you are that age) and is maturing a little every day. Her neck control is good, she's grabbing things intentionally (we think) and she's definitely getting bigger and heavier. The six month clothes fit just right. We have a bag of small clothes - some unworn - to donate one of these days. Since she doesn't care what she looks like, we use a 5 or 6 outfit rotation of the outfits which are easiest to put on.

The lucky girl got her own bed finally. Lucky for us, too, as we can now relax more in *our* new bed. She still sleeps funny (see below), sometimes with one, sometimes with both arms over her head. She hates to have them wrapped and she seems to sleep ok unswaddled, so we've stopped wrapping her up.

She's just big enough to do "horsie rides" on the knee and she likes her floor play area, though she isn't thrilled about belly time.

Half moved

My best friend*, Horst, helped GP and me move tons of stuff to the new place yesterday. It was possible to do without him, but it would have been painful. It's always nice to chat with him, too, especially when we're driving around lower Chestnut Hill trying to find a parking place without running over idiots. Thanks again, Horst.

The bedroom furniture showed up just as we unloaded the first storage garage batch. The movers were great and had everything in and assembled quickly. We quickly decided our bedroom is much smaller than the Raymour Flannigan showroom, so the dresser had to be put in the "den" instead of the bedroom. This leaves space for the crib and baby dresser Horst and I will get today. Too much moving! I am glad I got the RAV4 instead of something smaller, though. And starting to think the Sequoia might have been a good idea.

We're now finding all the little difficulties - flatware tray doesn't fit in any kitchen drawer, kitchen shelves are very high for GP, bathroom has one, unusable towel rack, etc. We'll get through it - it's still ten times better than living at the Candlewood :p

More later. I have time for one more Target trip and storage garage search before I have to go to Yardley.
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* my best friend list is very long and includes Horst, John, Denise, Jeff, Ann, . . . many people.

Happy Birthday to Jeff in Seattle

A good friend who I haven't seen in a long time (2 missed opportunities recently) is turning another year older today. He's still younger than me, though, which is good for him. Help me wish Jeff a big happy birthday today.

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Tomorrow is moving day and I just heard there will be snow in the morning :p Good thing Horst is helping us. Wish is luck for agreeable weather as the furniture arrives and we try to get as much as possible into the new place. I've had fun changing address online and in person for most of the important places. The bank seems to still be a PITA, though. I'll have to send them a letter.

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Yesterday I had a really good phone interview for a job in NJ. It sounds like a very good position for me and the location is pretty good, not far from the shore. Cross your fingers, eh?

Actually, a new pet peeve

In the past week, I've turned the television channel twice after being filled to my limit with "actually". The first time it was a home remodeling show (hey, no job, remember?) where the female host used "actually" inappropriately and repeatedly. Ugh! Last night it was an interesting show on medieval torture devices (the rack, the pendulum, etc.) and the engineer expert said actually so many times in stupid places that I finally yelled at him. Such as "as the pendulum swings back and forth, it actually lowers a bit with each stroke".

How do these people get on TV? I can only assume it is because TV is for the masses and the masses speak that way.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to all for 2009!