take mae out to the ballgame

Saturday, we took Mae to her first baseball game, Reds vs. Brewers. The Reds lost (9 to 1, ouch), but they did get 11 strikeouts, which meant our tickets were redeemable for a free pizza this week. The best part was that the 11th strikeout was the final out of the game for the Reds, so the whole ballpark was chanting "Pizza! Pizza!" and erupted into applause on that last strike.

Mae tolerated the game fairly well with a bit of fussing from being overly tired. She got her first bobble head (Zack Cozart) and a certificate commemorating her first game. We also checked out the fancy nursing suite complete with air conditioning and plush rocking chairs.

We took that family selfie and I sent it out to our group text conversation so everyone would have a copy. Kelsey responded with this zoomed-in view of Mae... I guess she was starting to get a bit grumpy. This photo seriously gives me the giggles.

In addition to the baseball game, Mae enjoyed her first time at the mall last week when Mom, Kelsey, Emily, and Oliver visited. We had a fun lunch out, and then both little ones slept almost the entire shopping trip!

two months of mae

Here she is... two months old!

The past month brought a lot of firsts for Mae! Baby's First Visit to the Zoo and to the Mall, Baby's First Baseball Game, and Baby's First Happy Hour (I don't think they make a baby book milestone sticker for that one, but we had fun showing her off to my coworkers).

Her favorite activity is laying on her changing table (huge gummy smiles every time!) and she still loves playing under her activity gym. Lately, she has been focusing intently on the jangly lion toy before giving it a mighty whack to set it swinging. She loves wiggling up a storm while wearing her wrist and foot rattles and has added yelps, grunts, and gasps to her vocabulary in addition to "ahhh" and "gooo." She has also discovered the fakey, half-hearted "weh" cry that she uses to get my attention when she's tired of playing.

Mae's evenings are much more consistent, usually going to bed around 10 pm and sleeping for about 6 hours. She fights sleep like it's her job, and only Dan has the magic combination of holding and shushing to get her to finally close her eyes (though she likes to keep one tiny slit of eye open to make sure he's still there). We joked that our marriage was probably saved by finding the YouTube video called "Colikcy Baby Sleeps to this Magic Sound," which is just 10 straight hours of white noise. It's almost comical how quickly her eyelids drop when we press "play."

Overall, month two was a good one for Mae. She enjoyed the introduction of real baths... except the hair washing part. Still, they are a much more pleasant experience than sponge baths. Unfortunately, she still loathes tummy time. If we put her on her stomach, she quickly melts into a puddle of tears and muffled screams with her face buried into the mat. However, she does enjoy flying like an airplane on my shins while I lay on my back, which is great exercise for her neck (and my abs).

We are looking forward to new milestones in month three! We are planning to tackle Baby's First Flight in a few weeks as we travel to the East coast for some family vacations. Wish us luck!

gotta catch 'em all

I admit it... I've joined the Pokemon Go craze. The game was just released this month and already has more daily users than Twitter! It involves going for a walk outside with your smartphone and collecting virtual Pokemon that pop up next to you on the map. It's basically the same thing as birding except nerdier. Actually, birding might still be nerdier. I know practically nothing about Pokemon, but I like walks and collecting stuff, so I decided to see what all the fuss is about. (Side note: that is the first time I've used the word "fuss" in reference to something other than Mae in almost 2 months. Weird.)

Mae and I caught a bunch of Pokemon on our walk including one perched on her stroller and another on her activity gym when we got home. She seemed quite unfazed by both.

I'm enjoying the shared feeling of awkwardness when I look up from my phone and make eye contact with someone who is also attempting to hide the fact that, despite being a fully grown adult with a family and a mortgage, he is trying to catch imaginary critters in the grocery store. I felt a little silly stopping in front of a Starbucks to catch a Pokemon until two baristas on break noticed that Dan and I were playing and called excitedly, "Did you get the Gastly??"

All told, I think the biggest winner in the Pokemon Go fad is dogs whose owners have smartphones. They are finally getting their first decent walks in months!

little knit lamb

Here's a project that I finished about a week before my due date. Unfortunately, my craft time has been pretty limited since Mae's arrival. Working on her baby book has given me a little creative outlet when I have a few minutes during her nap times. I also spend lots of time scrolling through Pinterest while holding or feeding her; that counts as craft time, right?

For this project, I adapted a Little Cotton Rabbits knitting pattern for a stuffed bear to make it look more like a lamb. I made all the white parts in seed stitch to add wooly texture, and I added a dark gray face and floppy lamb ears. Hopefully I'll have time to make Little Lamb a little dress or sweater soon! More details on my Ravelry page.