Crawl and Standing too

Yes folks, she's mobile! Break out the childproofing gadgets!!

Sylvia and her toys!

Sylvia certainly loves to play on the floor with her toys. She is crawl-scooting, and walking along the edge of the couch (well really everything she can pull up on - she prefers walking to crawling!) Since it is that "toy" time of year and some folks have been asking us what Sylvia wants for Christmas. Oh gosh, the present question...we all love to give, we all love to receive, and we try not to be huge ugly american consumers. How to do this well? I don't really have an answer, but here are some thoughts:

We are really trying to keep the pure number of toys to a minimum (small house syndrome) - but maximize a toy's longevity by having creative toys that span many developmental stages. WE LOVE HAND-ME-DOWNS AND RECYCLED TOYS!! As for new toys, books are always grand (she is into board books right now) and toys made from wood or cloth are our favorites (we are trying to steer clear of BPA and Phalate chemicals in Plastic Toys). We are also trying to avoid any toys with batteries/noises - unless that's a musical instrument! Oh, and Sylvia loves Raffi's music (yikes, but it's true! We have 3 CD's so far! Sometimes it's the only way to get her to calm down in the car). So, that being said, what to do? You choose what makes you feel groovy!

We love these catelogues/websites:

http://www.magiccabin.com/welcome.asp
http://www.novanatural.com/
http://www.threesisterstoys.com/

And a favorite local Bellingham toystore:

http://www.fairhaventoygarden.com/

Beautiful Mountains....

We had a mini vacation the second weekend in October (sorry posts are out of chronological order here :)) Where we drove over the Cascades on Hwy 20 (freaking gorgeous!) to attend a Greg Brown concert in Winthrop, then drove down to Ellensburg to visit with our friend Shappy and his kids, and then drove to Yakima to visit with our friends Claire & Gary and their kids. Quite a visit, since we drove over 2 mountain passes, pressed a pickup truck load of apples into cider, and helped butcher some of Claire's co-op goats into family dinner sized portions - yep, I actually helped! Homesteading at its best! Definitely tops all of our harvest canning we did this fall!!

Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears

Halloween! Kim made quick costumes, and Mamma Bear, Pappa Bear, and Baby Bear went walking downtown Fairhaven with Goldilocks (friend Khore) - Wheeeee! No candy for us, just lots of people watching - and then later that night Kim and Sylvia went unaccompanied to a Zombie Fest celebrating Michael Jackson's Thriller...what a crowd! Thousands showed up in their Halloween best! Fun!

Visiting Portland

Sylvia, Scott and Kim all went to Portland so Kim could go to a continuing education conference on women's health. While we were there we stayed with our dear friends Sarah and Johnny. We had a grand time eating yummy food, petting kitties, walking to their awsome community garden...wish they lived closer! We missed our other Portland friends Michele & Eric and family because the flu had a foothold in their family - better let them heal and keep our little one away from the BIG germs. We are not exactly germ-phobes, but we are careful in this H1N1 season.... So, next visit to Portland we hope to see everyone! Big Hugs to all!

Goodbye to Great-Grandpa Bauer

Great-Grandpa Bauer passed away last week. His health had been failing for this past year, and we were fortunate to be able to visit him on Father's Day this summer for a family picnic in Lombard, IL. Here he is holding Sylvia and giving me that wry grandfatherly smile saying "Look what you've gotten yourself into!" - he should know having raised 4 kids of his own! He was always such a loving grandfather - making wonderful handmade wooden creations for gifts in his retired years, always quick to fix anything broken, and there to give a hug whenever you needed one. I will miss him - and will tell Sylvia stories of her great-granddaddy when she gets older....

Saying farewell to Grandma Kay

When we visited Illinois this summer, Christie and I decided to bury the rest of mom's ashes in the memorial garden of the First Congregational Church in St. Charles. Last September we spread some of her ashes under the Newport Bridge during a very memorable trip back to Rhode Island, and we saved some to bury at the church closer to home. If you look closely in this photo, there is a stone we picked up in Newport on the beach which has her name carved into it and is placed in the fountain. The ceremony was simple, and attended by the retired pastor Mr Nagy, who was the pastor when we attended as children, as well as his wife and some other church friends. Christie and I both felt that bringing our daughters to the ceremony completed the circle of life. How mom would have loved being a grandmother to these two girls. I miss her always.....

The Grand-Dads et al

Sylvia's Paternal Grandfather and Family (top picture)

Grandpa Les, Grandma Nancy, Sandy and Barry came out at the beginning of August for their first visit with Baby Sylvia.

- from left: Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Les, Momma (with Sylvia), Daddy, Aunt Sandy and her fiance Barry

Sylvia's Maternal Grandfather and Family (bottom picture)

We went to Illinois to visit Great Grandpa Don for fathers day and on the other side of Kim's family, Great Grandma Dorothy for her 90th birthday (not pictured).

- from left: Great Grandpa Don, Great Grandma Sally, Grandpa Ross, Nancy (Brian's Girlfriend) then Uncle Brian himself, Aunt Joetta (with Sylvia), Daddy, Momma, Cousin Jordan, Aunt Christie with Uncle Gavin behind.

Wrapping Paper Interpretive Dance

Green Beans Part Two

Couldn't choose the funniest one...

Not a Good First Impression

Here is Sylvia's first attempt at eating solid food - green beans as fate would have it - steamed and run through a food mill. We tried not to laugh at her misfortune. We really did!

The Lost Months - Part II

With Uncle Brian on the Yakima River

Here we are trying to get back online after a series of technical difficulties.

Kim teaches a plant identification class every summer which includes two field trips. This year, Brian and Sylvia and I went with her. The grand finale is tubing down the Yakima River. We decided Sylvia should try swimming in a more controlled environment first, so we sat this one out.

Hope this is working now...

Cheers

Lost Months Part I

Funny Faces

We're Still Here

Sorry for the long delay in updates. Our brains are a little frazzled and distracted and we've had quite a few visitors. We also lost a camera with a couple weeks of pictures on it. (Fortunately we have another, albiet older, camera.)

Sylvia had her 6 week (and final) appointment with the midwife a couple weeks ago. She was 10 lbs, 13 oz at that time (I bet she's 12 by now) and had grown 3" since birth. That's 9 ounces and half an inch per week in the first six weeks. At that rate she'll be the size of a house at 5 years old :) Needless to say, she's feeding well enough. She's happy, or at least satisfied, for the most part with only a couple meltdowns, usually when she is waiting for food. She did have one inconsolable fit. We rocked and fed and caressed. We searched her body for cuts or stings or rashes. We swabbed and rinsed and salved. We still don't know what was wrong but one of those things, or just time passing, solved the problem after a half hour and she's been pretty normal since. No accounting for baby brains I guess.

Kim has gone back to work, and I have been holding down the fort since I have very few jobs. Fortunately, Sylvia seems to be fine with the bottle. It's a little difficult predicting how much milk to warm up and when. Sometimes I'm left holding the bottle, as it were, when she falls back asleep before it's ready. She got to see her cousin Jordan for the first time (daughter of Kim's sister Christie and her husband Gavin who live in Geneva, IL). Needless to say, it wasn't a very talkative introduction but I think they like each other (like I can tell.)

First Month

Sylvia is:
One Month Old

We haven't been weighing her but I'm sure she is at least 10 pounds now. She's already outgrown a few outfits, at least with her fuzzy buns on.Kim started pumping and Daddy and Sylvia are doing the bottle now, when Kim needs to be away. She's an easy going girl so far, taking the bottle, the breast, the finger or the pacifier (which we're trying to keep to a minimum). Of course those last two are merely delaying tactics. As I've been writing this post (one handed, baby in lap), she's gobbled down 4 ounces from the bottle. We're just learning the ropes of ways to live while Mommy is working. Being productive is going to take some practice.

Visitors

The lack of posts in the last week or so is due, in large part, to all the visitors we've had lately. Scott's Mom Ellen came out from Boulder last weekend to love on her first grandchild and while she was here, Cousin Eric and his family drove up from Seattle to see Sylvia for the first time. A good time was had by all and I'm getting my first experiences of the extended family gathering from the parents point of view. Lesson 1: Make the first item on the list count, you probably won't get to the rest of the plans :)
For those of you outside the family, the adults in the picture are, from left, cousin Eric, his wife Linda, Kim, my mom Ellen and me. Kids from left are Elliot and Evan (Eric & Linda's sons) then Sylvia in Kim's arms.
Speaking of extended family, Kim's sister Christie is here this week with her husband Gavin and daughter Jordan. The little cousins meet for the first time. We'll have pictures later.

Two Weeks and Counting

15 Day Update

Sylvia had her two-week visit to the midwife yesterday and passed all her exams. She gave a few drops of blood from her heel for a menagerie of genetic disease tests and her belly button is healing up nicely. She drinks like a horse and is up to:

8 Pounds 1 Ounce

That's more than a pound gained in her first two weeks. She may have started out smaller than we expected but she's determined to catch up :) Since all the meconium has passed through she's graduated from disposable diapers to fleece Fuzzy Bunz. She sleeps well too, a couple of fussy nights not withstanding. Our bedroom has nice south facing windows over the bed so we lay her out naked in the sun for a while whenever we can, which seems to be a lot lately since we are both at home and the Northwest has given her a lovely spate of sunny days.

Enjoy petite little Sylvia Wren while you can. I have a feeling she's going to get chubby soon.

The Name

Get Your Picture Taken with a Star

You too can be part of the Three Seconds of Fame slideshow you see to the right. All you have to do is visit and get your picture taken and your famous!

Coming Soon: The Name

Daddy's Little Girl

Family Shot

Friend Jean is visiting from Texas and she has a really nice camera so we took advantage. Thanks Jean!

I'm still trying to figure out how to use this blogger post utility so for now I'll just post them all into separate posts. Looks better that way :)

Coming Soon: Funny Faces

Knitted Gifts

Our friend Khore, knit us a beautiful receiving blanket and our midwife, Ann, knit the wonderful rainbow hat. Thanks so much to both of them!

Thanks too, to all the people who gave us clothes and supplies and equipment. Almost all of our "new parent" friends have contributed and we are sincerely grateful.

OK... you're asking: What's she called? Well, I've been working on a deadline due tomorrow (Saturday) morning so we haven't had time to sort out a name what with talking to well-wishers, building benches and climbing the learning curve. We should have some time to relax this weekend though, so look for a label in the next few days.

I promise to post some non-sleeping pictures too :)

Scott

Sneeze for the Camera

Baby girl sneezing in the sun!

Baby Briggs-Bauer's First Post

The Briggs-Bauer baby girl was born at 5:50 pm on Monday, February 2, 2009. She was 6 lbs, 13 oz and 19.5 inches long. She will hopefully have a name in the next couple days. Labor was fast and furious with no complications and she was born at home on our bed.

More pictures and posts will be coming in the days ahead.