Sorry about the quiet spell. Our internet connection has been troublesome lately. I swear, we had more reliable service in Eastern Europe. That's spooky.
Anyway, more on the Holidays: our daughter has met two of her three cousins so far: a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and a ten-month-old boy. Her cousine likes horsey rides, Disney Princesses, and opening presents. Her cousin likes getting ready to walk, putting things in his mouth, and pounding things that don't fit into his mouth.

She is two months old now. Yesterday baby "Gigi" hit the two-month mark, marking the occasion with a visit to the pediatrician. She now weighs seven pounds, 14 ounces and is over 21 inches tall. She's catching up, I tell you. She also got her first round of immunizations, marking the occasion by howling and crying in such a way as to make Nancy Kerrigan look like a friggin' Stoic. My poor baby!

My in-laws know me better than I thought. For Christmas, I got the remake of The Stepford Wives on DVD, and the restored edition of Ariel by Sylvia Plath. You can't tell me that doesn't sum up the back-to-work vs stay-at-home dilemma neatly and concisely.

Baby "Gigi" met Santa yesterday. (Yes, Mom, you will get pictures.) She was very well-behaved throughout. She's getting to be a very sociable child, enjoying large gatherings with minimal fuss. She could also sleep through a riot, I think.
I'm not sure whether to be worried about the fact that our baby will let pretty much anyone hold her. On the plus side, there's no risk of a new acquaintance being offended when the baby starts howling in protest, and we don't have to worry about her being attached to either of us like Velcro in order to maintain peace and harmony. On the down side, we're going to have to teach her to be, shall we say, more discriminating about strangers as she gets older. Once she learns to walk I'll need a lifetime supply of Xanax.
But for tonight, she is still a wee thing safe in her mother's arms. She will attend, for the first time, her paternal grandparents' traditional Christmas Eve party. This annual gathering features Swedish dishes prepared solely for the event, plus my mother-in-law's awesome rice pudding with raspberry sauce. Waistbands, prepare to surrender.

Milestone! Baby has taken her first plane trip, and everyone's eardrums survived intact. We took a short flight to visit her paternal grandparents, and she was an angel. Considering how much traveling this kid did in utero, it's not too surprising that she's so far a pretty good passenger. The only major fussiness was when she desparately needed a diaper change, but we were so anxious to get past airport security first we didn't want to stop and look for a bathroom. I was nervous about getting busted for trying to bring a toxic weapon through the airport (it was a pretty bad diaper!) I guess the sniffer dogs are used to diaper gravy. The only hitch the whole trip was having to get the stroller down a flight of stairs at the end of the jetway. Oh yeah, and I spilled a bottle of formula on my lap before takeoff, and had to sit around in wet pants for a few hours (karma can be a bitch). Aside from that, all went very smoothly, and our daughter got to meet the first of her paternal uncles last night. Next up: cousins!!!!

Long time, no blog. Sorry, been wrapped up in stuff (mostly diapers and laundry). I have been anxious to avoid turning this page into a diaper count diary, plus I have a dozen thank-you notes to write. Baby has more holiday outfits than I do at this stage. She is outgrowing the few preemie outfits she has, and is starting to fit into her "0-3 Months" clothes without looking like a wire hanger. (My unofficial weigh-in has her at a whopping seven and a half pounds now.) And on that note, she's hungry again. Moo.

More cause for celebration: I fit into a pre-pregnancy pair of jeans today. Happy happy happy, JOY JOY JOY!

My mother called, which is my cue that I have gone too long without checking my e-mail or updating the blog. Mea culpa. It's been an adventurous week in Purple Scare Land. The OB has given me the OK to drive again (yippee!!!!), and baby "Gigi" has been on the road with us ever since. She's been to two restaurants and a holiday party so far. Friday she had her one-month checkup with the doctor. She's grown three quarters of an inch since she was born, and weighs six pounds ten ounces. I could not be more pleased.
The question is starting to come up, will I go back to work and if so, when? I have no earthly clue. Some days I think I could chuck the entire working world, and other days I miss it just a little. Considering that in my line of work (travelers' aid), much of my day-to-day job is not unlike changing three-alarm diapers, I really do wonder if the major differences between my life pre- and post-Gigi are merely wardrobe and paychecks.
This will require further meditation. And it's not just because I had some nightmare involving the Stepford Wives last night.