Knackered

Naps have been iffy lately. Some days, Lili will fall right asleep; heck some days she even asks for a nap. On those days, she'll often sleep for 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Then again, often on those days she also stays awake until 10 at night.

On days with no naps, we can be guaranteed of a very whiny cranky child by 5:30pm and pretty much count on a bedtime of 7-7:30, which is wonderful. Well, really it's one of those tradeoffs, because she is a bear to deal with when she is cranky (yes, inherited from me).

Today, there was no nap. And then I took her for a couple of errands, not 2 miles away from home. She fell asleep just as we were returning to our own driveway, and I thought she'd wake up on the transfer out of the car, like always. But you can see here... half an hour after being unceremoniously deposited on the couch, and she is still snoozing. Here's to still hoping for a reasonable bed time. I really wanted to finish that movie I was watching!

She's not shy

Something Lili often says when she meets new people is "I'm not shy". This was never more evident than today.

We attended a free kids concert as part of the Burlington International Waterfront Festival (which is part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Festival... whew! mouthfuls!), and one of the performers asked for audience participation. Lili was very gung ho about it and volunteered, even though I don't think the performer necessarily wanted her to. Whatever, he was game! The song involved each participant to say a particular phrase about the lake whenever the mike was shoved in their face. Lili was a pro, saying "rainbow trout" every time it was her turn. Oh, and she picked Rainbow Trout because she is currently obsessed with rainbows :)

Also, we were interviewed for the local news at the concert and Lili got to see herself on TV. The first thing she said after seeing herself? "I didn't smile!". Next time, she'll be camera ready.

Here's a little video snippet of her singing. You really have to strain to hear her squeak out "rainbow trout". But it was so cute. So worth it. I was so proud of her I teared up!

This thing they call Nesting

So. Nesting. It is, supposedly, a phenomenon of pregnancy. I can't say that I experienced it very much with Lilian, but for this baby... as with everything else, it is so different.

For the past month, I have been consumed with thinking about getting a dresser. I don't know why, but I must have a dresser. So yesterday, Keith found one I had also eyed at Burlington Furniture, and we bought it. Too bad two of the runners are broken. Nesting Foiled, count 1.

Same day as the dresser purchase, Keith discovered that the crib we have been meticulously saving for the baby has been recalled. Suffocation risk. Known fatalities. And the company that distributed it is now out of business (big surprise). Grrreeeaaat. Nesting Foiled, count 2.
(Note: we should be able to return the thing to Target. But we don't have a Target in Burlington. So maybe a trek to Plattsburg?)

And, we are working on the downstairs family room. I'm removing trim from the doorways and the windows, and Keith is repairing a closet corner. All in preparation of painting and putting down flooring so that the space can be livable. Nesting in progress, count 1.

Off to buy paint!

VT Tourists for a week

We had a good visit from our friends S&C, and because it was raining or gloomy much of the time, we weren't able to beach it as much as I wanted to. But, we did do a lot of the touristy VT things that I have been meaning to check out. Stowe, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Cabot Annex, and the Trapp Family Lodge (they have a nice parking lot... I stayed in the car while Lili slept :).

But, by far my favorite place this visit was the Magic Hat Brewery, which is only a couple miles from our house! I've never sampled several beers in one sitting and it was really interesting to me to discover that I don't really like lagers, but I do like hefeweisens. My favorite was the Circus Boy, which will be very easy for me to remember because Keith unicycles. I only sipped! So don't worry about the baby.

Lili's big score at the Brewery was the tie-dyed ear plugs they gave away on the factory floor. She wears them well:

Toilet Paper Curtain

What do you do when you can't find any curtain rods that fit your style and existing window treatments?

First of all, we needed light blocking curtains. The sun rises into our room + Light filtering shades + June is not a morning person + June is pregnant and cranky and nesting = Make new light blocking curtains with a trip to JoAnn Fabrics.

Second of all, we needed very basic curtain rod brackets.

Third, we needed those brackets to be big enough to allow clearance for the existing shade.

Fourth, we wanted something wooden.

These criteria are impossible to find at Lowes. Maybe Lowes was not the right place to look, but it was the most convenient for me.

So, if you are us, and you are two engineers living in one house, you procrastinate about it until something brilliant occurs to you. For instance, using the cheapo wooden toilet paper holders and a cheapo wooden dowel to make your ideal curtain rod set-up. A little bit of customizing woodwork to make the rod removable, and voila: Our Ideal Curtain Rod Set-Up. AND it can remind you of going to the bathroom!

Muchas gracias to Keith for being the custom woodworker and installer!

20 week ultrasound

We had our "20 week" ultrasound this past week and got to have a good look at the baby. It is estimated to be about 13 oz at this point, and it was moving around a lot during the ultrasound (unlike it's cousin was for hers!) and so we got to see some really amazing views of it.

We told the doc upfront that we were waiting to find out the gender, but man is patience hard for me. So part way through I asked her if she knew what it was yet and she was very coy in answering "why do you ask?". Then, just as she was leaving the office, she said "Oh, and I do know what it is! Bye!" and ducked right out before we had a chance to change our minds... Most everyone thinks it is a boy, but my dad just said he thinks girl. And he was the only one right last time, so we'll see!

In either case, all the major body parts are accounted for, as are all the major internals. So everything looks good and we're happy about that. I was most impressed to see the nose/mouth shot of the ultrasound, and the little tiny butt. Lili was pretty disinterested in the ultrasound process, and was more into reading one of the office books. Can't really blame her; it's hard to tell what you're looking at. But she's pretty interested in the printouts of the ultrasound. She is also leaning towards it being a girl, and she plans on calling it "Ice Cream".

skeletor image of the head/face

baby's left hand

bottom of baby's left foot, and on the right side, a little teeny butt!

I'm a FAN

Totally stoked. Our ceiling fans got installed today!!! One in the living room, and one in each bedroom. I couldn't be happier, and on possibly the hottest day of the year so far...