Happy New Year, Louisa!
We are so blessed to have you in our lives, even on those days when you won't stop crying (or those nights when you refuse to sleep). We love you dearly and can't wait to see how you grow and change in the new year.
31 December 2008
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year, Louisa!
We are so blessed to have you in our lives, even on those days when you won't stop crying (or those nights when you refuse to sleep). We love you dearly and can't wait to see how you grow and change in the new year.
29 December 2008
Baby Bunting
While at REI this weekend, I found some baby bunting from Patagonia on sale and thought it might be useful for trips up to Tahoe this winter. I haven't quite figured out how to take Louisa skiing with us (Kelty carrier, sled, babysitter?), but I thought this article of clothing would be worn this winter. Walter and I discovered that Louisa enjoyed wearing it at home, too...I'm thinking she's commenting on our thermostat setting??
And in other news, a local bookstore is closing and I hit the motherload of Dr Suess books! I also picked up a couple of baby books in Spanish, Madeleine in French, and an Italian baby book with vocabulary and pictures. We'll see how many languages we can expose Louisa to before her first birthday!
And in other news, a local bookstore is closing and I hit the motherload of Dr Suess books! I also picked up a couple of baby books in Spanish, Madeleine in French, and an Italian baby book with vocabulary and pictures. We'll see how many languages we can expose Louisa to before her first birthday!
27 December 2008
Bounce, bounce!
Here is a short video of Louisa in her inaugural use of the baby bouncer she got for Christmas from my brother and his family. As you can see, it was a big hit!
26 December 2008
Christmas Celebrations
Hellen and Derek joined us for dinner on Christmas Eve this year. We had a assortment of cold cuts, sausages, bread, and mustard. Walter made a northern Frankish speciality, Blaue Zipfel, to start off the meal and we ended with champagne and singing Christmas carols around the piano.
Louisa joining us for our Christmas dinner
Louisa with Auntie Hellen and Uncle Derek
Our littlest elf
There is also incriminating video (am currently accepting bribes to NOT post this online!)
After Derek and Hellen left us, we went to the midnight Christmas eve service at church where Louisa slept almost the whole way through. Christmas morning, Walter and I enjoyed sleeping "late" for the last time before having years of being woken at 4am to "Santa, Santa, Santa!". Then, we enjoyed a breakfast of blueberry muffins and coffee before opening our presents and seeing what Santa had left in our stockings.
My mother made Walter and Louisa's stockings (my great-grandmother made mine, 30+ years ago)
Louisa enjoying her new bouncer from Uncle Stewart, Aunt Leslie, and her cousins Rylan and Rachel
23 December 2008
Merry Christmas!
Walter and I went over to Tim and Melissa's to watch my alma mater TCU play Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl. It was fun to gorge on frozen pizza, nachos, popcorn, and ice cream. Just like a real football game! A few cute shots from this evening:
Louisa and her daddy, watching the game
Louisa and Melissa having some fun
I also snapped a few shots of Louisa in her Christmas outfit that Nanny gave her by Melissa's tree:
Louisa and her daddy, watching the game
Louisa and Melissa having some fun
I also snapped a few shots of Louisa in her Christmas outfit that Nanny gave her by Melissa's tree:
Christmas Ornament
So, I wanted to do something special to commemerate Louisa's first Christmas. I found a neat ornament set at a website as I was trolling for gifts and thought it would be just the thing: a handprint and footprint for the ages. So, this morning, I open the kit and open the moldable, self-hardening clay which resembles this:
I manage to get it out of the package and roll it between two sheets of wax paper (the aluminium foil recommended in the directions was a wash). And then I proceed to take Louisa's hand, which turns into a fist around my fingers. I managed to pry her fingers open and plunk it down in the marshmallow goo...where it sticks. So considering this is the final product, I am quite proud!
Needless to say, I am letting Walter tackle the foot ornament! Now we just have to wait for it to dry before putting it on the tree.
I manage to get it out of the package and roll it between two sheets of wax paper (the aluminium foil recommended in the directions was a wash). And then I proceed to take Louisa's hand, which turns into a fist around my fingers. I managed to pry her fingers open and plunk it down in the marshmallow goo...where it sticks. So considering this is the final product, I am quite proud!
Needless to say, I am letting Walter tackle the foot ornament! Now we just have to wait for it to dry before putting it on the tree.
22 December 2008
Nursery
Louisa's crib arrived last week and Walter and I put it together this weekend.
And by "Walter and I," I mean Walter put it together while I occupied Louisa. It's not a fantabulous piece of furniture to hand down for generations, but it's sturdy and will hopefully last for the period of time that we need.
I don't like the pink/brown drawers on the bottom and have plans to paint them with the extra paint from the nursery, but we'll see when that happens....of the best laid plans of mice and men, right? We still need to get a mattress before it's ready to use (obviously!), but I think it'll look good with the other furniture in the room and the crib bedding we bought earlier this summer.
I also spent some time this morning trying to capture a nice shot of Louisa's monkey toes. They are long enough to be considered prehensile, I think.
And she has the cutest, chubby little baby legs. She's constantly kicking her legs though, so these are the best of the bunch.
20 December 2008
19 December 2008
Hello, my name is...
Louisa!
We considered quite a few names when I was pregnant, some seriously. We even had a list of "fake" names that we would tell people was our actual list to either throw them off the scent or prevent dumbass comments about the names we actually liked. We went to the hospital with a final list of three and ultimately decided that Louisa looked like well, Louisa. All of our names were easy to spell (unlike my nickname), common enough to not be freaky but not in the top 100 popular names, and pronounced the same in German and English. Being Southern, I liked that Louisa lended itself well to affectionate nicknames.
Her middle name is a mouthful, but we named her after her great-grandmothers. Walter's grandmothers were both named Marie and my grandmother's middle name is Josephine. So, Marie-Josephine it is! My mother encouraged us to make her full name Marie Josephine, but we ignored her.
Walter and I joke that if the Austro-Hungarian empire ever resurrects itself, Louisa Marie-Josephine will be first in line for the title of Empress. Yes, we have big plans for this one!
We considered quite a few names when I was pregnant, some seriously. We even had a list of "fake" names that we would tell people was our actual list to either throw them off the scent or prevent dumbass comments about the names we actually liked. We went to the hospital with a final list of three and ultimately decided that Louisa looked like well, Louisa. All of our names were easy to spell (unlike my nickname), common enough to not be freaky but not in the top 100 popular names, and pronounced the same in German and English. Being Southern, I liked that Louisa lended itself well to affectionate nicknames.
Her middle name is a mouthful, but we named her after her great-grandmothers. Walter's grandmothers were both named Marie and my grandmother's middle name is Josephine. So, Marie-Josephine it is! My mother encouraged us to make her full name Marie Josephine, but we ignored her.
Walter and I joke that if the Austro-Hungarian empire ever resurrects itself, Louisa Marie-Josephine will be first in line for the title of Empress. Yes, we have big plans for this one!
17 December 2008
16 December 2008
A Day of Firsts
Louisa had a big afternoon. Auntie Kate from next door came by to visit and Louisa was too entranced by her special visitor to sleep. She *almost* drifted off in her bouncy seat while Kate and I visited over coffee, but then she was wide awake!
All that excitement took its toll though. I put Louisa down on her activity mat while I put our coffee dishes in the sink and got the mail. Then, I realized that the living room was quiet except for the TV and had a moment of panic when I saw this:
I touched her stomach and startled her awake for a second before she fell asleep again. Guess our little girl is all tuckered out after her long day, huh?
She had two firsts today: while Kate was here, I held up Louisa's pacifier in front of her and Louisa grabbed it and managed to put it in her mouth, all by herself! And, now, she's fallen asleep all on her own for the very first time (meaning, that neither Walter nor I have been in the room and/or holding her). Hopefully this is the first time of many for each activity!
Louisa is starting to really notice the world around her. We've dangled things in front of her before now, but it's only recently that she's really focused on it. She's also getting better at grabbing things and holding on to them. (of course, anything that she can hold goes straight to her mouth!) I'll try to post pictures of her doing that soon, but until then here are some photos of her focusing on her toys.
11 December 2008
Four Month stats
Today, Louisa Marie-Josephine weighed 15 pounds and 2.5 ounces and measured about 25.25 inches long (hard to measure a squirmy baby by yourself!).
She is working on pushing herself up into a backbend when you lay her on her back (or bridge pose from yoga). She gets a big smile when she bounces in her jumper, stares at her dinosaur/horse/giraffe-looking things hanging on her bouncy seat, or people around her laugh.
Her feet are HUGE for a baby her age (about 3.5 inches long--I measured those, too!) and I worry about her having "man hands" ala Seinfeld. Walter says that by the logic of the feet of puppies and kittens being an indication of their adult size, Louisa might be six feet tall. Looks like I'll need to steer her toward sports in which big hands are an asset like basketball, volleyball, etc? It would be prophetic given all the beach volleyball the two of us watched late at night in the hospital together....
She is working on pushing herself up into a backbend when you lay her on her back (or bridge pose from yoga). She gets a big smile when she bounces in her jumper, stares at her dinosaur/horse/giraffe-looking things hanging on her bouncy seat, or people around her laugh.
Her feet are HUGE for a baby her age (about 3.5 inches long--I measured those, too!) and I worry about her having "man hands" ala Seinfeld. Walter says that by the logic of the feet of puppies and kittens being an indication of their adult size, Louisa might be six feet tall. Looks like I'll need to steer her toward sports in which big hands are an asset like basketball, volleyball, etc? It would be prophetic given all the beach volleyball the two of us watched late at night in the hospital together....
09 December 2008
Johnny Jump-Up
Louisa tried out her "johnny jump-up" today. It's a device that you hook around the doorframe. There's an internal spring that allows the baby to essentially bounce in place. It was a gift from my brother and his wife when Louisa was born. As you can see, it was a BIG hit with Louisa:
Unfortunately, the only doors in our house that have doorframes that allow use of the johnny jump-up are our closets! Otherwise, the ceiling is too close to the top of the doorframe. Perhaps Walter can fashion something that will work so she can play in plain sight while we cook dinner, etc.
Unfortunately, the only doors in our house that have doorframes that allow use of the johnny jump-up are our closets! Otherwise, the ceiling is too close to the top of the doorframe. Perhaps Walter can fashion something that will work so she can play in plain sight while we cook dinner, etc.
Waking up
This is the sight that greets me most mornings when I wake up.
Now, who could resist waking up just to see this face?
Now, who could resist waking up just to see this face?
07 December 2008
Froliche Weinachten!
The Turnverein all decorated for Christmas
Louisa and I went to the Chriskindlmarkt at the Turnverein on Saturday. It's always interesting to see how German culture is interpreted and this time it was Nurnbergerkultur on display. They had tents set up inside the great hall with a kaffeehaus set up upstairs along with a wurstgarten featuring Morant's Nurnbergerwurst. They also had a tent set up, so I bought a dozen wurst, some kraut, and apfelessig to take home. I did see gingerbread, but I was disappointed not to see any Lebkuchen (other than what was for sale--the typical Bahlsen stuff and Weiss from Neu Ulm, nothing from Nurnberg!). I smell a rent-seeking opportunity once my kitchen slave, aka Louisa, gets bigger....
Apparently Swiss culture gets re-imagined, too
The wurstgarten
The background picture is supposed to be Frauenkirche in Nurnberg
Some narrow-gauge toy trains (the 1st train in Germany was between Nurnberg and Furth)
And a couple of the Schuhplatte dancers in non-Nurnberger trachten
Louisa and me (apologies for the picture quality--it's hard to take a picture with someone wiggling on your chest). We must've had at least 10 older German women come up to us and coo over Louisa in her Baby Bjorn carrier. Honestly though, who wouldn't coo over this face??
Louisa and I went to the Chriskindlmarkt at the Turnverein on Saturday. It's always interesting to see how German culture is interpreted and this time it was Nurnbergerkultur on display. They had tents set up inside the great hall with a kaffeehaus set up upstairs along with a wurstgarten featuring Morant's Nurnbergerwurst. They also had a tent set up, so I bought a dozen wurst, some kraut, and apfelessig to take home. I did see gingerbread, but I was disappointed not to see any Lebkuchen (other than what was for sale--the typical Bahlsen stuff and Weiss from Neu Ulm, nothing from Nurnberg!). I smell a rent-seeking opportunity once my kitchen slave, aka Louisa, gets bigger....
Apparently Swiss culture gets re-imagined, too
The wurstgarten
The background picture is supposed to be Frauenkirche in Nurnberg
Some narrow-gauge toy trains (the 1st train in Germany was between Nurnberg and Furth)
And a couple of the Schuhplatte dancers in non-Nurnberger trachten
Louisa and me (apologies for the picture quality--it's hard to take a picture with someone wiggling on your chest). We must've had at least 10 older German women come up to us and coo over Louisa in her Baby Bjorn carrier. Honestly though, who wouldn't coo over this face??
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