Talons

A little known fact, when Elise was born her thumbnails were SUPER long. The rest of her fingernails were about normal for a baby I guess but those thumbs were sporting some serious talons(further proof that she's actually part velociraptor). To this day they still seem to grow twice as fast as the rest of her nails to where I find myself having to trim them up about twice a week. I'm not sure what it is about baby nails but they're a sharp as kitten teeth when she grabs a handful of skin. Ouch!!

Cutting her fingernails has become a bit like surgery. That is surgery where the patient is awake and very interested in anything you have in your hands these days. The lucky part is that I get to hold one of her hands so at least that cuts down the odds to 50/50 of losing control of the clippers. Today I ran into a new challenge. Toe nails.

You're going to do what to my toes? Gotta get 'em from me first!

You see, I've not really had to trim her toenails too much since she's been born. Just like adults, baby's toenails seem to grow slower than fingernails. Up till now her toenails have had this magic way of just breaking off when they get long enough to even think about trimming. That is until today. I was getting her out of her pajamas and noticed that the nail on her big toe was getting pretty long, not talon like yet, but definitely on the way. No problem right? I've trimmed her nails plenty! Yes, but when it comes to toes she now has TWO hands to grab at the clippers, and her feet, and my hands, and just wiggle in general. I think I sweat more cutting that one toenail than I did at The Lair last night during practice. Okay, maybe not that much but it was intense.

After many minutes of shaking hands, fending off small fingers, and whispered prayers I wouldn't cut her toe I managed to de-claw that foot, for now...

I'm a champ at sitting up now!!

Figuring out new toys is serious business.

Oh WOW! The lights! The sounds! The drool!

6 months already?

I can't believe it's already been 6 months since Elise was born. Our quiet little string bean has turned into a full blown squirmy t-rex but it's been such an amazing journey to see. We haven't gotten her "official" stats yet, the doctor checkup isn't until later this week, but she's close to 17 pounds now and almost 27in long by our measurements. She's really done a lot these past 2 months. We started solid food as you know but now we've incorporated veggies into the mix. Here's her mixed reaction to green beans.

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After a few bites I couldn't get the spoon to her mouth fast enough. Peas are also a hit with her so at least she didn't inherit her daddy's taste in veggies. We'll be trying meats soon so I've got my fingers crossed she doesn't have my lame stomach and can handle them. If not at least I've got plenty of experience living without the meats.

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She's not rolling over yet but she does get up onto her side. I'm just happy that she doesn't freak out whenever she has tummy time anymore. The only problem now is that I think she likes it too much to want to roll over. Oh well, it'll happen in time. Baby pushups are funny to watch and when she does little supermans it makes me chuckle.

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How many reps am I doing today mama?

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Even though she's not rolling over she can sit up all by herself now! At first it was only for about 20 seconds but now she's pretty good at keeping herself upright for as long as she wants. We still have to watch her because she forgets that it's her own muscles keeping her up, gets distracted by The Pony and falls over. As long as one of us (or the boppy) is there to catch her she's okay.



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Another fun new thing we did this month is the pool!! She likes being outdoors so we figured she'd be okay with the pool, or at least we hoped. I went in with her first and she seemed a little concerned/confused. She wasn't "upset" but she wasn't exactly having a blast either. After a few minutes with me daddy took over and eventually we got a smile out of her. Although she never cried she was making her 'not exactly happy' noises so we called it a day. She's going to have to get used to the water though since me and Mike are both water people.

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She's still on a pretty decent schedule, still sleeping through the night. I'm hoping to get a picture of her first tooth but so far it's been a pretty elusive little guy hiding under her tongue. One day there was just gums and the next there it was! We think the other front bottom one is coming in soon too because she's still having a hard time unless she's got a teething ring or pacifier or one of her fingers in her mouth. Now that her personality is starting to come out a little bit more it's exciting to see her really react to the world around her.

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What will I do next?

Welcome to the Spring Edition of our blog. We have been keeping busy with our 2 foot wonder and have frankly become a little lazy about updating the blog.

We've had the final derby bout for NRG's regular season, Easter, Grandma/Grandpa visit, transition to rice cereal and her 4-month doctor visit.

Elise donned her "bout-fit" for the NRG bout vs Ohio Roller Girls. She had a red onesie supplied by "Joanie Gouge", socks donated by "Valerie Hurtinelli" and the knitted pivot panty and skull bandana dress provided by "Racer Xtasy". It was good luck because NRG triumphed over OHRG.

Cuteness provided by Elise, photo courtesy of Marc Lebryk

Easter took us to Ft. Wayne to visit Jeana's immediate family. It consisted of a bit of driving and Elise was quite a trooper (as per usual during car rides) and an easter-egg hunt for Elise's cousins. However, she got to dress up a little and she wasn't in much of a bad mood at all.

Cheeeeeeese!

The Starlets

Grandpa Dressler and a content granddaughter

Yay, it's Easter...I guess...whatever that means. It has something to do with bunnies I take it.

My mother flew in from Nevada in early May to get some time with her granddaughter. She has grown an allergy to cold weather and snow so May seemed about right for her.

She didn't mind sleeping on my old sectional couch that was on it's last leg. She wanted to maximize her time with Elise. It also provided Jeana with another set of hands when Elise was fussing or just needed to be entertained.....not to mention the opportunity to talk to someone during the day that wasn't all baby-talk while I was gone at work.

It was good to see her as it had been a spell since I had spent time with my parents as well. So for Mother's Day, my mother was here and it was Jeana's first time to celebrate Mother's Day as a mother. Quite a special occasion. Both ladies got a card from Elise and myself...and Jeana received a UK mug I had tucked away for awhile.

As previously mentioned, the sectional/couch was where my mother was sleeping and I had ordered another and was awaiting it's arrival. It hit a snag somehow as the model/color combo was discontinued by the manufacturer. However, it'd been 4 weeks and I hadn't been notified. Apparently the store who placed the order wasn't notified either. It was a jumbled mess. As soon as I found out, I started the search all over again. When I went to the store, it turns out they had the family room outfit I was looking at to replace the other evasive set. It was a "scratch and dent" set but they were very minor and the price was halved. Best part was that it was very much along the lines of what I had originally ordered but just not in the exact configuration or color but it was a good compromise.

My father was spending some time with his mother near Elkhart, IN but came down for a day/night to spend some time with Elise as well. It also gave Jeana and myself a rare opportunity to go out for a night out as adults. No diaper bags in tow. So we had some cheese and chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot at Jeana's request. We then proceeded to see Clash of the Titans 3D. The movie was pretty well done and it'd been awhile since I've seen anything in 3D (still wanting to see Alice In Wonderland 3D). My only real disappointment was the lack of Bubo in the new version.

"Grandma....can I suck on your fingers?...I can suck on mine any time."

After my parents left, it was time for Elise's 4-month check-up. She currently measures 25 1/4" tall and 14.5 lbs. She's in the 90th percentile of height and 51st percentile of weight and 49th percentile of her head circumference. So all in all she's shooting average except in her height...but we knew she'd be leggy.

The good news was that we can start transitioning Elise to food other than breast milk. It's a gradual process. She's currently starting with rice cereal mixed with breast milk. It's primarily to get her to get her off the bottle/boob eventually and accept food from the spoon. Of course, it's a messy process.

"I got a soft spoon cuz I like to nibble my noms"

"You, with the camera, I'm TRYING to eat"

"Here Mama, let me help"

All in all, a pretty good spring so far. Papa Lightnin' is trying to sell assorted stuff on eBay to fund his everlasting motorcycle transformation and Mama Beatin' is continually working on trying to help NRG.

Family Portrait (sans moustaches)

She's Got Personality

While Elise discovers more and more things in the world around her it is incredible to watch her little personality take form. It's a daily puzzle trying to figure out why she's making a noise or if she's really coughing or just realizing that she can cough. Since I have the privilege of seeing all this stuff first hand I thought I'd share some of what makes her tick for those of you who don't get to be around her all the time.

Likes:

-mommy and daddy (of course)
-kicking her legs as fast as she can
-water
-the toys that make the noise
-when Naptown wins a bout
-listening to people sing
-that other baby in the mirror
-Mr. Quackers and Mr. Mooyagi
-fake sneezes
-screeching and practicing her vowel sounds


Dislikes:

-tummy time
-bubbleguts -catching a case of "the grumps"
-being put down for a nap when she's really really tired
-barking dogs


Likes:

-naked time or as we call it "nekkies"
-cereal
-airplane with Daddy
-standing up like a big girl
-bouncing/jumping
-peekaboo
-blowing raspberries
-sucking on her fingers or her cinnamon sticks as Grandma calls them
-funny faces
-watching the horse (Drake) walk around


Dislikes:

-having her nose/face wiped
-bad calls made by refs
-getting strapped into her car seat
-Alex Trebek (possibly all Canadians)
-sun in her eyes

Video Smiles

Videography credit goes to Jeana and Mike gets editing/computer hacking skills credit.

The video was taken using Jeana's phone on video-mode, not our camcorder (this time). Sorry if the quality or size doesn't accommodate your monitor (or your eyesight).

Sometimes it's nice to see her smiles in action instead of a single shot at a hundredth of a second.

2 Months

Weight: 10lbs 15oz

Length: 24in

In the doctor's own words "you're going to have a long skinny girl on your hands". Right she is. Mama's little stringbean is long enough to be wearing 3month clothes but too skinny to wear them right so everything is just a little baggy on her. She's really started to return smiles now and I look forward to that first smile in the morning when I get her out of her crib. Yes, she's in her crib now! Technically she's sleeping 'through the night'. What that means is that she goes down between 10 and 11 and doesn't wake up to feed until 4 or 5. A Milestone for sure but 4 or 5am is not what I consider the end of my night. I can't help but hold my breath each night we get her down, waiting for that 2-3 hour sleep pattern to come back. I'm sure after some time I'll relax and get used to having our nights back.

Bathtime is getting easier now that we've figured out some tricks to keep her from fussing. She turns into 'Captain Buttcheeks' with her little hooded towels once the bath is over (see photo below of her showing off her flying form). Of course she's succommed to that common infant malady known as 'cradle cap'. Basically it's dandruff for babies and there's nothing you can do about it.

She still hasn't rolled over yet but she's getting closer. She does what I call the turtle move. She'll just be lying on her back and then thrust her legs straight up into the air followed by her arms. Then she topples over like a turtle trying to get off it's back. Her head control is getting so good so I'm sure she'll be able to roll over soon enough. She can even keep her head upright all by herself if you sit her up.

She's getting really interested in what's going on around her now too. When I'm making my oatmeal in the morning she'll watch my hand stir the water and will track it's movements as I reach for things. It's so amazing to watch her discover her world. The monkey mobile hanging over her bed has turned into a source of amusement for her when she's lying in her crib. Cooing and gurggling when she's happy are possibly the cutest noises I've ever heard.

On the flip-side, the crying meltdowns like the one she had getting her shots are so hard to go through. They really need to get a better system than the parent holding the kid down for shots because that's just plain mean. Her face turns bright red, little tears forming at the corner of her eyes, tongue almost vibrating in her mouth as she screams. Aaahhhh-enough to break a mommy's heart but a cheesy smile sure does mend it quick.

Going for a walk

The weather finally turned warm enough that we could take Elise outside for a walk! Hooray for springtime! We took the fleece off the carseat and strapped her in. Put the dog on the leash and headed out into the warm 65 degree weather we were having that day. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first...

It was kind of bright and warm and had new smells for her...

She was grateful for the cover when we turned so the sun was shining right in her face. Then we tried Daddy's sunglasses but they're just a little too big so we'll have to get her a pair of her own.

Hopefully this weather will stick around and we'll be able to retire her cute little Bear Suit she had to wear in the cold!