Happy Halloween!

K's BFF

Klaudia's Best Friend Forever is Shiloh, the same girl who was born on the exact same day as K. Shiloh's mom helps us out a couple of nights a week when I go to work and before Len gets home. K and Shiloh play together then, and on the weekends Len and I take these two for a walk. It's a treat watching them interact together.

Staying In Touch

Both sets of K's grandparents live far far away. Thanks to the wonderful technology, she's able to stay on top of things about what's going on in both Michigan and Poland.

Going Green

Better late than never! We have finally decided to switch to cloth diapers. It took us 9 months to make that decision, but after an excellent training from our friend Lisa, and a great great research from Jeniffer and many many words of encouragement from other moms and only $39.51 later, we got what we needed and we'll try it out.

Sleeping Positions

K had always slept on her back until about a month ago. This is how she sleeps now:

And recently we noticed, K's been falling asleep with her eyes open! At first, they were half open as if she was trying to say: I'm watching you! but now, she leaves them wide open. If she didn't have her pacifier moving in her mouth, I'd think something happened to her. I've read that this is quite common at this age and has something to do with the development of the eye muscles and usually goes away before kids turn one. We'll see.

Doctor's Appointment

We had our 9-month wellness appointment with the nurse practitioner Nancy today. Klaudia absolutely loves her and so do I. Nancy lets K play with anything she is going to touch her with, which makes the whole appointment go smoothly and be very enjoyable.

K was pronounced a super healthy baby and was let go with no shots. We were asked to do a blood draw (now required in CA after the problems with Chinese toys) to test for anemia and lead in the blood. Len and I haven't made up our minds about the blood test yet, but we did take the paper work with us.

And, just as we expected, K has dropped from the 95th percentile to the 75th weight- and lengthwise. Her head (brain) is still off the chart! You go girl!

Is She a Boy Or a Girl?

I made mistakes before where I thought the baby was a girl and it turned out to be a boy. But the number of mistakes people make about K is unbelievable high.

Could it be the blue stroller she's in? But how can a boy wear a light pink shirt with dark pink pants?

Here are the latest comments K and I have been getting:

• You've got a very handsome baby.
• Your baby is so pretty. I love his eyes.
• My favorite: Is she a boy or a girl? to which I had to respond: She is a she.
• And one from yesterday: What a beautiful baby! (beautiful? wait! there is hope!) What's his name?

Are we worried? No, we find it very amusing.

First Steps

A few weeks ago, we went to SF to see the B.lue A.ngels' Air Show. We try to go there every year, but this year was the first time we got to see the show with K. Even though the show was very well prepared, organized and performed, K decided to put on her own show for us. Here she is making her first steps.

Then, we saw this:

After the air show, we had lunch at B.ubba G.ump.

We've Got a Schedule

This is more or less what it looks like:

• 7-8am waking up + nursing
• 10-11am 1st nap
  
• 12pm solids + a bit of breast milk
• 1-3pm 2nd nap
• 3pm nursing
• 6pm nursing
• 7pm solids
• 8pm nursing+ going to bed
• 11pm nursing
• 3am nursing
• 6am nursing

Update: We've added solids at 4pm.

Solids' schedule:

1. Noon Rice/Grain + Breastmilk + Yolk (only 3 times a week)
2. 4PM Rice/Grain + Veggies
3. 7PM Rice/Grain + Fruit
   

Sucking on a Thumb

When I was still pregnant, I thought I would do everything I could so that K wouldn't suck on her thumb. Supposedly it's not good for the baby's teeth. There is a story behind it involving my sister and her teeth, which by the way are now perfect, and it somehow got stuck in my head that the thumb and mouth don't go together. But after K was born, Len a I both kind of hoped we'd see K with her thumb in her mouth. Instead she learned to suck on other fingers especially the middle one which is the longest and causes her to gag. A few weeks ago, K somehow figured out how to put her thumb in her mouth and ... not suck on it, but chew!

P.S. The reason why we wanted K to learn how to suck on her thumb was purely selfish. K loves her pacifier (we love it too since it calms her down from the worst drama), but sometimes her pacifier gets misplaced. A thumb is so much easier to find... and kind of always there.

Although K did discover the chubbiest of her fingers, the pacifier is still her number one peacegiver.

First Cold, First Fever, (Not So) First Drama

Our pumpkin is sick.

I went through a bad case of strep throat about 5 weeks ago. Nothing except for the antibiotics helped. Klaudia went through it unharmed, although Len wasn't that lucky. 5 weeks later, Len went down with a BAD cold; this time Klaudia caught it.

Both Len and Klaudia have a fever, runny noses, changed (or as Len calls it: sexy) voices, and both are feeling miserable.

Hopefully, whatever is bugging them will not stay around for too long.

UPDATE: K's first fever lasted only one night (it went up to 102.2 F). She had a runny nose for a few more days, but she is back to normal. Len is getting there, too.