Some Extra Photos

Here we are coloring for the first time. Mmmm...crayons taste good!

Another shot from the lawn! We're so happy when Mommy blows bubbles.

You know your child must be teething when she gets this desperate.

P.S. I decided that the answer to the theoretical question in my last entry is that both of us will win at different points, but what's most important is that I will always be right because Mommy's are always right. It just takes children 20-30 years to figure that out!

Since When?!?!?

Living with an early toddler is like... well, I don't know what it's like exactly! All I know is that everyday I learn something about Hailey, and Hailey learns something about the world around her. So, I find myself trying to teach her the name of everything. Today, I tried all day to teach her to point at her nose when I said "nose" - a very useful skill. Unfortunately, she just wouldn't catch on. Then, while I was cooking our Father's Day dinner Luke says, "Look, I taught Hailey where her nose is!" Since it was Father's Day, I let him revel in his great teaching skills for about 3 seconds (at least 2 seconds longer than usual) before I told him that I'd already been teaching that to her all day. Geez!

I also find myself saying things like "Since when do we hate to get in our car seat" and "Since when do we roll over onto our belly every time I try to change your diaper." It's like she's constantly trying to exert her will over mine. Perhaps she hasn't realized that I'm the stubbornest person in the whole world (so is her Daddy by the way). There will be an epic test of wills from here on out. If you were going to place bets, who do you think is going to win???

Teachable Moments

Every once in a while Hailey has a moment of complete clarity in the middle of her baby babble. It’s in these quiet moments, when I can point to something, sound out the name for it, and wait for her to try to say it. We had one of those teaching sessions just the other day when I tried to get her to say “ducky” in the bath tub. I kept saying “duh kee” very slowly, and she would say “duh blah” or “duh pa,” but she was clearly trying to mimic my sound. That’s how we’ve taught her all of her words so far. It doesn’t happen very often that she has the type of focus to really listen and try, but when she does it’s amazing, regardless of whether she gets it or not. Just the fact that she’s trying and she knows what she’s supposed to be doing is such a wonderful feeling.

In other news, she has two top teeth now, and I think that she’s getting one of her eye teeth as well. There’s a lot of teething going on. I’ll try to post a picture later tonight.

By Golly, I Think She's Got It!!!

There's nothing better than the moment that your child understands something for the first time. We've been trying to teach Hailey the signs for "more" and "all done" so that she doesn't just sit in her high chair and whine. We started this when she was about 6 months. She's 10 months now, and I think that she just might have it down. It's not a perfect system. No, there are still moments of whining and crying, but I think that she gets the basics. This morning she not only said more when she was out of bananas (without whining), but she also very calmly did the sign for all done just before she started whining o get out of her chair. It was amazing. Tomorrow I'm sure that she won't do it at all, but at least for the moment she gets it. So, I'm going to go bask in the glory of success before I move on to trying to teach her how to finally say Mama!

Hailey - The Genius

Let me just take a minute to brag...my child is a genius. Ok, maybe she's not Einstein yet, but she has quite a vocabulary for a nine and a half month old. Here is a complete list of her formidable vocabulary:

Baba - that's bottle, duh
Bubbles - when we're outside blowing bubbles, obviously
Mama - only when she's mad, not sure why!
Dada - all the time, particularly when she's happy
Book - yes, she really says it
Uh oh - when she drops something on the floor and wants you to pick it up - usually uttered four thousand times during dinner
Bye Bye - includes a wave with her hand facing herself instead of outwards

We are still working on kitty cat, baby, nana, papa, etc. I'll let you know. I posted some new pictures on Flickr

More Pictures at Long Last

Here are some pictures from Grandpa Pete's visit. I hope to have some more soon. We are going to try to finish our unpacking and settling in this weekend, which means that I will have a lot more time for picture taking and posting in the future!

The picture below is from Hailey's first swing experience. This is the park near our house that we walk to almost every day. Despite what it looks like in this picture, she now hates the swing. We're trying to warm her up to it again, but she's been pretty unhappy when we put her in it lately.

Grandpa Pete calls this picture "Eating or Wearing?" You can see why...

I call this picture the "Vogue Look." It's funny how she completely understands what to do when we bring out the camera. She's a ham already!

"Mommy, why are you a b*#&^?"

I am having some type of emotional breakdown. I guess that it's a combination of the stress of the new move and the weaning. I've pretty much stopped breastfeeding. I had cut back, but now I don't think that I make enough to satisfy her even when I do feed her. So, I think that she's pretty much done with me. I thought that the weaning process would be easy. Kind of like just tapering out, but I am a complete witch. I'm having crazy mood swings. If this is what menopause is like, then count me out!

Up, Up, and Away

Life has been so hectic with our move into our new Atlanta house, but I wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know that Hailey started crawling last weekend. Gone are the days of the army ranger belly crawl. She is up on her knees at this point. She also has started walking behind some of her pushable toys. That's pretty funny to watch too. She's going to be walking in no time. We've only been in the house of a few days, and it's already time to start installing baby gates! I'll send some pictures as soon as we get our cable hooked up!!!

Hailey's First Word Is...

Drum roll please....Dada. It's true. She learned how to point yesterday. So, we've been naming everything that she points at. We had a long session of Mommy, Daddy, and Baby pointing. Then, she looked up, pointed at Luke and said "Dada." It was amazing. Sure, she didn't do it over and over, but it still counts. Mark it in the record books...first word 4/25/07. First pointing - 4/24/07. Oh, and first clapping 4/14/07. I forgot to add that one earlier.

What Will I Be?

I'm sure that every mother wonders what her child will be when he/she grows up. I think about that a lot now that Hailey is developing her own personality. So far, I'm thinking she'll be some type of entertainer. She's such an extrovert already. It takes her no time at all to warm up to anyone, and she loves to be the center of attention. She has such a happy, wonderful personality. I'm trying to soak in all of the smiles while she's giving them. I'm sure they'll be hard to find when she hits her teenage years!

Here's a picture of Hailey playing the piano at Grandpa Pete's house. She really enjoyed banging away on it. I certainly hope that she has more musical talent (and follow-through) than I did.

In other news, I did find a day care finally. She's going to be in a family home similar to the one that she was in first in Nashville. There are only 6 kids and they are all older than Hailey. I like that she'll have exposure to older kids. It should be a good fit. Luke's office is also considering starting a daycare when they move to their new facility. So, that might be an option in the future.

Life's Major Trade-Offs

So far, I love Atlanta. The people have been very nice. It's much more diverse. There are more job opportunities, and I bought a GPS system to help me with the streets. So, it's great!

However, these last two trips - to Buffalo and Virginia - reminded me again just how difficult it is to be away from family. It was one thing before the baby, but Hailey makes family even more important. I know everyone misses her, and we miss everyone as well. We have no support system here, which just makes life more difficult. Still, I'm glad we're here, but someday I'd like to have family nearby again.

In other news, here is the website for our new community in Atlanta. We move in at the end of the month. www.glenwoodpark.com

8 Months - The Age of Exploration

Forget Dora, our little Hailey has become quite the explorer. She's so independent. She wants to touch everything, and then put it in her mouth! She only wants to eat what she can grab. She only wants to be where she can roll around. She only wants to play with something that she can hold on her own. Like it or not, she's Little Miss Independence. It's fun to watch, but hard to handle, particularly because she's fearless.

We are in Buffalo until tomorrow when we'll be going to Virginia to visit Grandma. In other news, we've sold our house in Nashville and purchased a house in Atlanta. Life is going to be super busy for a while. We should be moved and settled at the beginning of May. I can't believe how fast this has all happened!

PS: There are more pictures on the Flickr account. www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton

No Need For Mom

Hailey can feed herself now. Yup, it's true. She can pick up tiny objects like Cheerios and Veggie Crackers and shove them in her own mouth. I guess my job here is done!! Actually, since we"ve started this eating on our own thing, we've lost all interest in eating any baby food. We've also stopped sleeping through the night. It's always one step forward, two steps back!

Atlanta - Adventures on the Road

I have driven in Atlanta for exactly one day, but here are some things that I know to be true:

1) Whoever named the streets was either incredibly uncreative or really stupid, probably both. All of the streets are named the same thing, and I'm not just talking about the infamous Peachtree. No, it includes lots of other streets that bear the same name, and are only delineated as Drive, Street, Circle, or Avenue. It's craziness.

2) They certainly don't skimp on the syllables when it comes to street names. Here are a few that I ran across today...Ponce de Leon Ave, Ralph David Abernathy Freeway, Joseph E Lowery Blvd, and let's not forget Ralph McGill Blvd, where we currently live! When they name a street after me, I'm going to call it Alisa Catherine Palmisano Hamilton Blvd Circle.

3) Whenever the street namers came up with a new fantastic street name, they must have just picked any random street and given it that name, regardless of whether it already had a name. That's the only explanation for why all of the streets suddenly change names at completely random intersections.

4) There's absolutely no need for street signs to help someone like me make sense of any of this!!!

Atlanta - Our arrival

Here we are in beautiful Atlanta. We arrived yesterday to find that during the 3.5 hour drive, Hailey had left us with a gigantic present in her pants. So, the first order of business was an immediate bath and depooping of her outfit. Fun. Then, we carried all of our stuff up 4 flights of stairs. Double fun. Luckily, all of our furniture is still in Nashville, but we did have several large items. We had to tag team the unloading and carrying so that someone was in the apartment with Hailey at all times. See, we're already feeling the effect of having left all of our free family babysitters in Nashville! Our apartment is very small. Well, let's say cozy. However, it is very convenient for both of our jobs and is directly across the street from a huge park with lots of walking trails. So, I think that it will suit us perfectly. More later...

Tooth Number Two Poking Through

I don't know if you can see it, but it's just to the right of her first tooth. I can only hope that she gets my teeth. I can just picture the dental bills now. Yikes!

Look, Mom, Two Hands

Hey, how do you work this thing?

Oh, this part goes in your mouth!


Now I got it!!!

Look what I can do. Today I held the bottle all by myself for the first time. I'm such a big girl!!! There are a few more pictures up on the Flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

The Prospect of Moving

Now that we are getting to the point where we actually have to go live in Atlanta, I'm getting a little nervous. I know that it's going to be fine, but it is so unfamiliar. We are leaving all of our furniture and most of our worldly belongings in Nashville to help "stage" our house. Josie, our loving border collie, is going to live with my Mom and Step Dad for a little while, and we've already given away one of our cats. Thank goodness the other cat is coming with us. So much change in such a small period of time. I just can't imagine living in a place with rented furniture. I'm going to miss my bed and Hailey's rocker and my house. Of course, I can't even really express how much we are going to miss all of the people in Nashville. We are so thankful to our friends and family here for being so wonderful and kind, not to mention helpful in this transition. Well, I'm getting a little teary now so it must be time to start thinking again about all of the stuff I need to do before we leave!

6-7 Months - The Best Age

Some wise Mom once told me that whatever age your child is will seem like the best age. Well, so far that wisdom has held true. Never more so than during this 6-7 month old stage. Hailey is absolutely perfect right now. She's alert and happy most of the time. She can sit up on her own and play with toys, but she can't crawl yet. She babbles incoherently, but doesn't talk back. She snuggles, but doesn't need to be held all the time. It's just great! Here is her 6 month picture. I've also included one from last weekend where you can see her tooth!

We're Moving to Atlanta

Well, I'm a bit of a slacker because we've known for almost a week now that we would be packing our bags for Atlanta. Luke received a job offer last week and officially accepted it on Friday. It's a very exciting offer with one of the largest, if not the largest, interactive agency in the country. They are providing us with relocation assistance including a temporary apartment until we can sell our house. It's really a wonderful package. So, we're off to Atlanta. He starts his job on March 5th. Yes, in less than 2 weeks!!!! I'll post more details as soon as I have them!

First Ear Infection

Last Monday, Hailey had her 6 month checkup, including shots. Her stats are now: Weight: 16.63 lbs, 56th percentile and Height: 26.5" 70th percentile. She's a long one! No wonder she's already too long for her 6 month clothes. Well, I think it's a combination of the height and her gigantic thighs. Really, they're huge!

Three days after the shots, Hailey started running a fever. On Saturday, Grandma Scott and I took her to the doctor where they promptly made me feel like a bad mother by declaring that her fever was 103 and rushing out of the room to get Tylenol. Helllloooo...I had been giving her Tylenol the whole time, I just didn't give her the last dose in case they prescribed something else. I didn't know her fever would spike up. Plus, our stupid thermometer at home is completely inaccurate. Anyway, they diagnosed her with an ear infection.

Now, we've begun the battle of the medicine. It's not just that she doesn't want to take the medicine. It's that she flat out refuses. You get any dropper full of anything near her mouth and she clenches her little lips so tight that it takes a tire jack to pull them apart. It's ridiculous, but twice a day we continue to fight the good fight. Each time we get about half down her throat and half on her shirt, on my shirt, on the chair, etc. If anyone has any suggestions for making this easier, I'm all ears. I just don't want her to hate medicine for the rest of her life. I can just see me chasing her around the house with the dropper when she's 3. Yikes.

Evaluating the Value of Work

I don’t write about the work/family topic as much as I should. If I wrote about it in proportion to the amount that I think about it, I would have a blog on the subject every day. These are the questions that I most often grapple with:

• Will my children be better or worse off for me having worked during their childhood?
• Will I look back at my life and regret spending all my working hours away from them?
• Do I even have it in me to stay home with them every day?
• Can a teacher at a daycare or preschool teach them more than I can?
• Am I going to have discipline problems with them because their parents aren’t around enough to offer that steady hand?
• Am I a better mother for trying to do it all even if I’m not always successful?
• Will my daughter(s) look up to me and respect me more for working?
• Can I even afford to stay home?
• Am I being selfish for wanting to work?
• Would I become Bree Hodge (formerly Bree Van de Camp) if I stayed home?
  

I ask myself these questions every single day. Usually multiple times a day. There are times when I think that I’ve absolutely made the right choice, and others when I think that I’m ruining everything, mostly my child. I guess that the most frustrating part is that I’ll never know what the answers are. All I can do is try to achieve the best balance that I can and be flexible in case my family needs me to make a change one way or the other.

I hope that one day Hailey and her yet unborn sibling(s) will read this and understand how difficult the decision is. Well, one day they'll understand because they'll probably go through it themselves. That's a scary thought.

PS: I’m not pregnant again, people. Get with the program. I’m just asking hypothetical questions!

We Have a Tooth!

First, let me say that the answer is "yes" I did jinx myself. After I wrote the blog about her great sleeping habits, she failed me the next three nights. However, last night she slept from 7pm to 5am. Very impressive indeed. Oh wait. Now I've jinxed myself again!

Anyway, we have our first tooth cutting through. It's on the bottom right side. You can certainly feel it, and see it if you look really carefully. She hasn't been super cranky (that's because she has her Mommy's pain tolerance), but she is trying to bite on everything!

Also, she started her new daycare today. It's called Legacy Academy, and it's only about a mile from our house. I won't be able to visit her at lunch anymore, but Daddy's going to go see her a few times this week to make sure that she's ok. The only negative is that it's $60 more per week than the other place. Yeah, I said per week! Welcome to parenthood!

Zzzzz!

Hailey has finally started "sleeping through the night," which really means that she will sleep for more than 3 consecutive hours. Two nights ago she slept from 7pm-3am and last night she slept from 8pm-2am. I'm not going to get too excited because it seems like it's always one step forward, two steps back, but I think that the baby food is really helping. Last night she ate a whole jar of squash and then a half a jar of carrots. I think that she is starting to understand that the food will fill her up just like milk will. Now, she gets excited to eat when I pull out the jars just like she does when she sees a bottle. It's amazing how fast they can connect the dots.

Anyone want to take bets on whether or not just mentioning this new development has jinxed my chances of her sleeping even longer tonight????

Sweet Taters

Look it's a sweet potato goatee. Sorry that the picture isn't color corrected. Mommy's not as good as Daddy when it comes to this photo stuff. Still, I wanted to share the fact that she ate a whole entire jar of sweet potatoes tonight. They're definitely her favorites so far. Then again, we've only had bananas, rice cereal, squash and sweet potatoes. Tomorrow night we'll try carrots. I'll let you know if she starts turning orange. You laugh, but some babies actually do turn orange when they go through the orange food phase!

Really Reeling

Just when you think you have it all together, life throws you a curve ball. Today, my daycare woman told me that she will be closing in two weeks. She recently opened a second center outside of her house, and she needs to attend more closely to that. It was not her intention to close her in-home center. It just worked out that way. I'm not upset with her. I'm just so increadibly disappointed because she has provided Hailey with such excellent care in a mixed age environment. I know that I will not find that anywhere else. I've been calling places all day and just getting more and more discouraged. It's amazing how this little stumbling block makes me rethink everything. All of the decisions that I've made in the past about working and daycare and everything are suddenly back on the table again. And, we all know how I love to make life altering decisions! Well, I need to pull myself together so that I can try to make it through the rest of the day without sobbing.

We're Really Rolling Now

On Saturday, we went to visit some friends of ours about an hour outside of Nashville. While Hailey was busy playing on the floor, I was telling my friends how she will roll from back to front, but not from front to back. No sooner had the words left my mouth than she rolled all the way over from back through front and onto back again as if it was nothing! She continued to do it all weekend long. It's hysterical. She's actually getting quite fast at moving from one side of the room to another. Guess it's time to start baby proofing!!!

Global Warming Makes for a Nice Day

We had beautiful weather this weekend. So, while we contemplated the shrinking of the ozone layer and the melting of the polar ice caps, Hailey and I took a little stroll. These are some pictures of Hailey right after our walk down to Publix.

Are We Teething?

Are we teething?
Are we teething?
Yes we are.
Yes we are.
I am really cranky.
And I like to chew things
In my mouth.
In my mouth.

Are we teething?
Are we teething?
Yes we are.
Yes we are.
I don't want to sleep now
Because my gums are swollen
In my mouth.
In my mouth.

(Sing to the tune of Where is Thumbkin.)

Car Seat

I have become one of those mothers that spends $300 on a car seat. I can't believe it myself! Before Hailey was born, I purchased a used Graco SnugRide because it was rated pretty well in Consumer Reports. At the time, it seemed like it would be fine. Well, once you put an actual living creature in one of these things, it doesn't seem very safe. It's just a bunch of plastic with the bare minimum amount of padding on either side. So, I've bought her the Lexus of car seats. It's a monster with side impact safety. It's $300, but she uses it every day while we commute 30 minutes to/from Nashville. Here's a picture of the seat...

Rice Cereal...Yuck!

Well, we tried a little rice cereal for the second time this week. She was pretty welcoming of the insert spoon into mouth process. I even think a little cereal may have actually made it to her belly. Still, most of it ended up on her chin or the table. The funniest part was watching her suck the edge of the table whenever we brought the spoon down too low. We got some video of it, but didn't think of taking a picture. I'll have to get one of that next time. It was a good second attempt. Definitely laugh out loud funny, even funnier when she looks at you laughing with that "what'd I do?" look. Classic.

First Day of Day Care

7:45am - Dropped Hailey off. No crying for either of us. She was sleeping soundly, but woke up before I left. Rosie (that's the daycare owner) played with her for a few minutes before I left. It was a little chaotic with all of the kids coming and the parents going, but each kid was greeted with a hug before they start playing. Very warm environment for sure.

10:40am. Just called daycare, and Hailey was screaming. Trying to think positive thoughts as I race over there to feed her. Most positive thought I can think of: She should sleep well tonight!

11:30am - Went to daycare and fed Hailey. She wasn't screaming any more by the time I got there. Actually, Rosie said that she played in the morning with all of the little boys (there are mostly boys at daycare). She loved playing with the boys and with any toy that would light up. So, I fed her and we played for half an hour before I went back to work.

12:45pm - Back at work now. Wolfed down a sandwich on my way back. Hailey was in a good mood when I left daycare. Hopefully, she'll have a good rest of her day.

3:15pm - Daycare called and Hailey is hysterical. Ok, that didn't really happen, but that's my fear every time the phone rings!

4:30pm - Counting the minutes until I can pick her up. Won't be long now!

5:15pm - Hailey just had her first poopie blowout of the day...just one?!?!? I guess she decided to go easy on them.

5:40pm - Back at home again safe and sound. She seems happy, but very very tired. Overall, a positive day of making new friends.

Christmas/New Years

Sorry that it's taken so long to get to a holiday post. We've had quite a number of visitors to the Hamilton household. So, it's been pretty hectic.

Christmas was very fun for Miss Hailey. She really enjoyed opening presents on Christmas morning. In truth, what she really enjoyed was trying to put all of the wrapping paper in her mouth. She's getting really fast in the hand to mouth race.

It took quite a while to open gifts because we had to take a breakfast break midway through. She got so many wonderful toys and new outfits that I've just now gotten everything washed and put away. She's been playing with all of her new toys (even though we said that we were going to put some of them away for later). She's been having lots of fun with all of them, particularly the ones that make some type of annoying noise!

Here are a few pics of the events.

Jeans, Jeans, Jeans

There are certain articles in every woman's wardrobe that are truly sacred - a comfortable bra, a pair of sexy underwear, a beat up college t-shirt, and a spectacularly perfect-fitting pair of jeans. Before I got pregnant, I had two pairs of perfect jeans. Of course, I paid what I would consider an ungodly amount for them. There aren't many articles of clothing that I will splurge on, but I wear jeans day after day for years and years. So, as far as I'm concerned, they're worth a pretty penny and then some.

It wasn't long after I got pregnant that I packed up my perfect jeans along with all of the other clothes that I had been wearing and put them in a box labeled "Alisa's skinny clothes." About a week after I had Hailey, I ventured into the attic to pull out that box. After all, I was skinny again, right? Wrong. It's taken me almost 5 months, but yesterday I finally squeezed myself into one of my perfect pair of jeans (the other pair are a bit smaller!). I wore them to the hockey game last night (where the Sabres clobbered the Predators). I waited all day at work to put those jeans on, and it was great! I'll be wearing them at least for the next three days. Of course, I can't wash them until I lose another pound or so because if they shrink at all, I'll be back to my maternity clothes.

In other news, Hailey made it on the jumbotron at the hockey game last night. She was wearing her Predators outfit with her Buffalo Sabres bib. She has mixed allegiances. What can you do?? She loves to go to the games and stare at the white ice. So, it was a fun time for everyone except the diehard Predator's fans, since the Sabres beat them 7-1. Yikes!

National Blog Recognition

A few months ago, I purchased a book about work and family called Mommy Wars. It's a great book that I highly recommend to any parent because it clearly shows that there are no easy answers when it comes to work and family. Anyway, the woman who edited the book, Leslie Morgan Steiner, has a blog about the subject on the Washington Post website. On Tuesdays, she has guest bloggers. Anyone can write in. So, tomorrow, I will be the guest blogger. Here's the link to the site so please check it out.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/onbalance/

Also, you will note that I created a new blog It's Mommy Time that I've linked to at the end. I really wanted to build that up as a more generic version of my current blog, but I haven't been able to figure out how to move all of the comments and stuff over. So, I'm just going to leave it as is for now.

Cute Baby

Can I appease you with this picture??? 

Lessons in Fatherhood - Part 1

ALWAYS WEAR STAIN-DEFENDER PANTS

On Saturday, Hailey had the privilege of attending her first wedding ceremony and reception. She was dressed in her finest attire - a beautiful pink floral dress, white tights, and a coat. Luke's boss had given her the outfit, and this was the perfect event to show it off. She looked adorable (as you might imagine). Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures to commemorate the event because we were too busy just trying to get ourselves there on time. We figured that we would take the pictures after the wedding...HA!

Just as the bride and groom were beginning their first dance, Hailey had an explosion - a major explosion. Luckily (for Mommy that is), she was sitting on Daddy's lap. His leg was covered in yuck in a matter of seconds. It was a great example of Mommy/Daddy teamwork. Mommy held poopie baby while Daddy wiped poopie off of his pant leg. I have to say, those Dockers pants are amazing. I know I sound like a Dockers commercial, but a few wipes with a napkin and you couldn't tell at all. It was amazing! Of course, Hailey didn't fair so well. Being the ultra-prepared Mommy that I am, I had brought an extra outfit, and we made a quick change in the bathroom. The dress survived the ordeal after a good bit of scrubbing and two types of stain remover. The adventures in poopiedom never cease.

Lessons in Motherhood - Part 3

It's been a while since Hailey has given me a good lesson in motherhood, but she's clearly been holding out for this whopper...

BEWARE OF POOP IN THE BATH.

Since her birth four months ago, I've given Hailey many baths in her sinktop bath tub, and we never had an incident. Ok, maybe a bit of peepee now and then, but that never hurt anyone. Just this week I started putting her in the big bathtub with me. It gives her more room to kick and splash, and it's easier on my back if I'm in there with her. See where this is going??? Last night, I waited until after she had eaten and pooped to get in the bath with her. It was "perfect timing." Until about 5 minutes into it, I hear a terrible noise. I look down and pray that it was just a bit of gas, but it wasn't. So, now I'm covered in poop, she's covered in poop, and there's poop floating (and sinking) in the water. After some screaming (me, not her), Daddy came to the rescue. The worst part about it was that I used all the hot water filling the tub twice and cleaning it in between. That meant cold shower for Mommy afterward. When did bathing become so complicated???

Daycare Decision

I visited three more daycares in the Franklin area yesterday, and I realized that all of the daycares are just about the same with only one differentiator - the people! All of the daycares separate the children into like ages, have age appropriate toys, change their diapers every hour or so, and send home daily forms with their activities. It's pretty routinized. So, what made me like one place over another was the quality and quantity of interaction that the children were having with the adults in the room, and I didn't really like what I saw anywhere. Basically, in an infant room, there are up to eight infants and two adults. That means that six of the eight infants are sitting somewhere, usually in a swing, exersaucer, crib, or bumbo by themselves while the other two infants are being fed, changed, etc. There aren't really a lot of group activities - singing, reading stories, and the like.

That's why I've decided to go with the in-home daycare that I visited near my office. It was the only place that felt comfortable and natural. Sure, it doesn't have all of the routinized, sanitized feeling as the other places, but that's why I like it. You see, Hailey is a very social child. She loves interacting with adults and especially with other children. She likes flirting with the little boys when Katie, our current sitter, takes her to her Mom's group. She just enjoys activity, noise, and even a little commotion. It's probably a combination of her age and her personality. Everything is fascinating to her right now. That's why I don't think that she is going to respond well to a typical daycare setting where the only interaction is with two adults and a few other little babies her age. At the in-home daycare, she can watch all of the older kids and participate in story time and the singing and other activities. She's going to love to watch them do things that she's not ready for yet, and she's going to learn. In the end, I'm looking for someplace that can keep her more than just "safe" for 8 hours a day. I'm looking for a place where she can be stimulated and learn. I'm hoping that's what this daycare can do for her. Plus, I'll be able to visit her every day at lunch to give her a little extra Mommy snuggle time.

Daycare Dilemma

In January, Hailey will have to start going to daycare 5 days a week. Right now, she stays with a friend of ours 3 days a week and gets to play with an 8 month old. Then, two days a week she stays with me while I work from home. It's been absolutely ideal, but she's getting more mobile now, and it's getting too difficult to juggle her and work. So, let the search for daycare commence.

First, let me just say that I am not a daycare prude. I am 100% open to the idea of putting Hailey into daycare. I think that it's good for her to interact with other children even at a young age. However, I'm not finding any daycares that I like, and what's worse, I'm not even sure I know what I'm looking for.

So far, I've visited three possibilities. All that have openings in January. The first one was a more "institutional" approach with children of like ages separated into rooms with a childcare monitor. I say monitor because I didn't see a whole lot of interaction, particularly with the infants. The second one was a slightly more open layout with kids of like ages separated into sections of one giant room. There was a little more interaction with the caregiver, but it didn't feel very warm, and basically spiraled into contained chaos when the older kids were having free play. The third option is in the lower level of a private home. There are a total of 12 kids, 3-4 infants and a bunch of other kids of various ages. There are only 2 childcare workers (one is the owner), but they are very warm and interactive with the children. The infants were carried and spoken to and played with. It seemed friendlier than either of the other two, but has some obvious drawbacks.

The other issue is do I find a place closer to work, which is much more difficult to find, but would allow me to visit her and even nurse at lunch? Or, do I find a place near home so that Luke can be involved in bringing her to/from the center? I think that I've almost exhausted my options near work, but tomorrow I'm going to visit 2-3 near home. Of the three that I've visited so far, I think that I like the in-home care the best. Any thoughts?

4 Months and We're Rolling

Oh no! We've entered the frightening world of baby mobility. We started rolling over yesterday, but we haven't quite mastered our technique yet, nor do we know what to do once we get all the way over. I'm sure that will come in time. For now, we hope you enjoy this four month old picture. You can see she's getting a bit chubby now. Must be all of Mommy's good milk!

Oops I Dropped It Again

It was so cute and fun when Hailey finally learned how to grab things. Unfortunately, that also meant that she learned to drop things. Drop her plastic keys, drop her rattle, drop her stuffed toy...you get the picture. Luckily, she hasn't realized that if she screams, Mommy will pick it up. I just pick it up out of generosity now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Family Leave

Some of you may have seen the 20/20 report the other night by Elizabeth Vargas on working motherhood in America. One of the most shocking statistic in the report was that only 4 out of 168 countries do not have a national maternity leave program. Those countries are Papua New Guinea, LeSotho, Swaziland and the United States. Yes, our friends in North Korea and Iran offer more support to working moms than our own country. She also interviewed Senator Christopher Dodd who has been a diehard supporter of maternity leave, but has been consistently thwarted by both Democrats and Republicans.

Since I've joined the millions of other working Moms in America, I'd like to contribute my two cents on the issue of government support for families. First, I think that there will never be any government-backed maternity leave until we reframe the issue as "family leave." We have to stop pitting men against women, those with children against those without, working moms against stay-at-home moms, etc.

Believe it or not, paid family leave is really a family value, not a hand out to women who choose to work and have a family. Don't get me wrong, the promise of paid family leave would certainly help working mothers, but it would also help single people adopting children, fathers expecting children, childless people with sick mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc.

It's not about giving me a handout because I choose to have kids. It's about deciding as a society that we are going to value family members caring for each other. That we are going to give sons and daughters the flexibility to take care of ailing parents, and foster parents time to adjust to caring for another human being, and fathers a chance to bond with their newborns. It's so vitally important and yet the "family values conservatives" are more worried about gay people marrying than how millions of American families are going to juggle raising kids, taking care of ailing parents, maintaining work responsibilities, and last (and always least), finding time for themelves. How 'bout them family values!

At the very least, I wish that there was a little more informed debate/discussion on the issue. We spend so much time arguing about much less important things. Here's something that affects everyone that we completely ignore.

If you want to read more on the topic you can read Leslie Morgan Steiner's blog on the subject at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/13176

PS: Now that my ranting is done, I will tell you that Hailey Marie will be 4 months old on Sunday! She's giggling, grabbing things, and jumping in her johnny jumper. I can't believe it myself.

Happy Halloween

Hailey's first Halloween was both fun and low key. We didn't go trick or treating, but she did help us answer the door for all of the kids. We went through 6 bags of candy if that gives you any idea of the number of trick or treaters we had. I think that she really enjoyed seeing all of the new faces, even if they were kind of scary! At one point, these younger kids arrived and she let out this loud squeal. I thought that she was upset, but when I looked down at her, she was just overjoyed. It was pretty funny to hear her make all that noise. Here are some pictures that we took to commemorate the event. Luke calls the second picture Countess Droolcula! There are some additional pictures available on the Flickr account http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/.

World Traveler

Hailey is quite the world traveler. In her first three months of life, she's already been to Buffalo, Norfolk, the Outer Banks, and Atlanta. Some people don't travel that much in their entire lives! We've put some new pictures up of her trip to the beach on the flickr account... http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

Baby Snot

Hailey has her first cold ever. It's not too bad so far, just a lot of snot and congestion. She doesn't seem to bothered by the whole thing, and she doesn't have a fever so I'm really not overly concerned at the moment. The worst part about it is the bulb suction device (otherwise known as the snot sucker). I try to use it as much as possible just so that she can breathe a little easier. Luke used it last night and then started shouting, "Look at this big booger I just pulled out of her nose." In his defense, it is quite amazing when you pull something giant out of there, but I really don't need to see every gross, disgusting mess she makes!

2 Month Doctor Visit

Today was our two month doctor visit. Hailey weighs 10 lbs 1 oz and is 22.25 inches tall. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for her height. So, she's a little petite, but the doctor said that she looks like she's right on her proper trajectory. The doctor also marveled at how alert and happy she was for her age group. No surprise there...we all know that she is quite gifted. We also had to get the dreaded 2 month shots! It was three shots in the leg...ouch! Poor thing screamed louder than I've ever heard her scream before, but by the time we got home (which is a 5 minute drive), she was already asleep. She's pretty much been sleeping all day except for the half an hour when she ate. I'm just going to let her sleep off her grumpiness for now. We'll see how she reacts tonight.

New Pictures Available!

There are new pictures posted on our Flickr account. Here is the link... http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

In other news, Hailey took her first plane ride on Saturday. She was a perfect angel the whole way to Buffalo. Then, she spent the weekend visiting with friends and family. She was quite charming and everyone here was very taken with her adorableness. We are flying back to Nashville today, but she's been a bit fussy. So, wish us luck on the plane ride back!!!

A Mother's Love

When I was an evil teenager, I used to "hate" my mother. Not really hate her because you always love your mother, but in the teen angst years it's sometimes hard to remember that. So, let's just say that she was not among my favorite people in the world. It wasn't anything she did or said. It was more like everything she did and said. It just was the way it was. Probably lots of people can relate to that angry, depressed, angst-ridden type of disgust. I certainly know quite a few people that went through that in their teenage years and some who are going through it right now (but I won't name any names).

Well, I'm here to finally say to my Mom, "I get it." I understand. I appreciate you in a way that I never have before. In a way that I never could before I had my own. It is totally true - there is no love like a mother's love. There's no one that will feel your pain like a mother will, no one that will share your joy the same way, no one that will give up more for you, and subsequently, no one that you can hurt more.

So, if it's any consolation to mothers of all the attitudinally challenged teenagers out there, I'm here to tell you that there is hope. Because one day they'll understand too (if you're lucky and if not, well there's nothing you can do since these feelings don't come with an off switch).

By the way, as I write this heartfelt thought, Hailey is sitting on my lap making really loud poops and spitting up all over herself...now how can that be so adorable!

Back at Work

This is my first full week back at work. It was less heart wrenching than I thought it would be to leave Hailey for a whole day. I think that it's been easier for me because I don't have to worry about the quality of care that she's getting, and I know that I will be home with her on Wednesdays and Fridays. Those two factors have really made all the difference in the world.

I've gotten only positive reports about her behavior at Aunt Katie's house. She takes three bottles and then I nurse her immediately when I get home. Luke's been incredibly supportive and helpful with this arrangement, which is also a weight off my shoulders. All in all, I'd say that the transition has been pretty smooth so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything continues to work out.

Almost 6 Weeks

I can't believe that Hailey is almost 6 weeks old! Here are some new pics that Grandpa Pete took during his most recent visit. The smiles aren't actually a reaction to anything other than her own gas, but you've got to take what you can get at this point. It probably took me 30 pictures just to catch her with a smile...thank goodness for digital cameras!

Let's see, since my last blog, she's taken a bottle, become enthralled with our ceiling fan, and taken a trip to Cincinnati. Not bad for her first six weeks of life. Today we did a practice run with our sitter, Katie. I have to go back to work on Monday so Hailey will be with Katie on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I'll be working at home on Wednesdays and Fridays. I'm really hoping that this schedule works out so that I can continue working, especially since we can use the money now more than ever. The worst part about working again is having to worry about taking days off. I'd like to take a few trips while she's still young, but I have so much trouble scheduling vacation. It would be nice to just pick up and leave whenever I want, but I guess we'll have to just figure it out as we go along. The good news is that now that I'm working again, I'll have more time to blog.