More Holiday Stuff

We spent our last weekend of 2008 at home doing fun holiday stuff. On Saturday, we went up to Hampden (a neighborhood in Baltimore) that has a 34th Street. Each year every person on the block decorates in quite the lavish fashion - and it is called A Miracle on 34th Street.

On Sunday, it was a gorgeous day, so after brunch with Lea and Bill, we walked over to the harbor in the big girl stroller (did I mention I left the small snap and go stroller in Texas!) which little girl has taken to quite well - and by taken to, I mean loves to gum. At the harbor, we saw:

Catching Up - Baby's First Trip to Texas

Without much of a break, we headed from Thanksgiving weekend to our first trip to Texas. Ripley and I flew out on Wednesday - they gave Chad a gate pass to get through security, even though he wasn't flying with us, so he was able to help us get settled. She did pretty darn good on the plane. I put her in the wrap and she slept, but she wouldn't let me sit down. Fortunately, it was smooth flying so we were able to stand in the aisle for about 1 1/2 hours of the flight while she dozed. I used my early present from Chad, an Ipod Touch to watch a couple of TV shows so it really wasn't all that bad.

We landed in San Antonio where Grandma Janet picked us up and took us to Cotulla to see Aunt Jill. We had a fun meal, stared at their Christmas tree, and visited Ben's the next day (Thursday). A short trip. but it was enough time to forget our snap and go stroller! We've been told it has found a good new home.

After San Antonio was Round Rock were we stayed with MiMi (Flossie) and met up with Aunt Jenny. Ripley also got to meet her Aunt Kelley, Uncle Dale and cousin Sara. Chad flew in on Friday an we stayed one more night before heading over to Hilltop on Saturday. We got to meet Ripley's new cousin Eric and see Emily, Freddy, Emily Marie, Jamie and Austin. Mom felt under the weather on Saturday night (we seem to bring sickness with us wherever we go), but Emily spearheading the production of some wonderful homemade flour tortillas, so we all ate well.

On Sunday, we drove down to The Woodlands where we stopped by to see Grandma Potter. I am pretty sure that neither she or Ripley will remember they met, but it meant so much to me that we have a few photos to show that they did. We'll be able to show the pictures to baby girl when she is older and tell her stories of her great grandmother.

Next stop was Uncle Jay and Aunt Marianne's where Matt and Margie joined us for some barbeque and soup. Ripley enjoyed looking at all of the trees in their backyard. She was a bit skittish around Uncle Jay at first, but finally warmed up to him. We have pictures now, so we'll try to show her the Texas family so the next time we visit, she'll know everyone.

Our last stop was Aunt Judy and Uncle Benny's in Pearland. Once again, we had a lovely meal and enjoyed visiting with everyone. Little girl really enjoyed hanging out with her second cousin Chelsea - they were even wearing the same color green! Ripley even got to open some early presents...and seemed to enjoy the paper as much as anything.

It was quite the whirlwind, but we enjoyed every minute of it and are so glad that Ripley got to meet everyone. I am not sure when we'll be back, but I think little girl would love a summer trip where she could float down the river.

Catching Up - Baby's First Thanksgiving

It has been a busy few weeks and will remain busy through the end of the year, but I finally think I have a bit of time to try to recreate some of our adventures. They started with Ripley's first Thanksgiving. We have some wonderful holiday traditions that we were so excited about sharing with little girl.

Things started with the trip north on 95. Usually a 2 1/2 hour trip, we know it is going to take longer on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but we were able to leave around 3:30 and pretty quickly made our way through Maryland, only to come to a screeching halt in Delaware. For those of you who do not travel this stretch of road, 12 miles of I-95 are in Delaware. Doesn't seem like so much, but this 12 miles took us 1 1/2 hours to traverse. Once in Jersey, things were fine again and we were there by 7:30 or so.

A wonderful Thanksgiving Thursday with good food and good company. Uncle Tom came over from Detroit. Matt, Christine and Deirdre joined us. But we did miss Uncle Culann and Aunt Carolyn who went up to Michigan this year. And Chuck was laid low upstairs with a stomach virus. I am glad Ripley will be too small to remember they weren't there - and we hope that we'll get back on track next year! Daddy took time away from carving the turkey to handout with ittle girl in her pretty dress.

Little girl got us up early on Friday, so it made sense to hit a Black Friday sale (for the first time) - to replace our camera which was taking way too many blurry photos. After a nice brunch, Chad, Ripley and I headed to Cape May, where we stayed at Congress Hall, a super cool historic hotel. We walked along the beach, did some shopping, played some skee ball at the local arcade, and ate dinner at our usual - Stumpos. We made it an early night, put baby to bed and followed in the tradition of watching a movie by watching Hancock (much better than we thought it was going to be).

On Saturday, we took our time and headed to the Cape May - Lewes Ferry to begin the ride home. It was baby's first boat ride and she had a wonderful time looking out the window at the ocean. We look forward to many many more Thanksgiving adventures.

I Still Have a Big Head or My 6 Month Visit to the Doctor

I really am hoping that this weekend I will have time to write about our Thanksgiving adventure and our Texas adventure, but for now, I will simply provide the new stats on baby girl.

At our 6 month visit (which was really more like 6 1/2 months), she weighed 15 lb 12 oz (36%) and was 25.2 inches long (22%). And what we are all waiting for - her head size. Let's just say that we know she has a large brain and is beginning to show signs that she is going to outsmart us all. Her noggin is apparently larger than 94% of other girl babies her age. And if you don't believe it, I've uploaded a recent picture.

Texas Photos - details to follow

We got home from Texas this afternoon at about 5 pm. I've been unpacking and such. I'll write more about both Thanksgiving (including our trip to Cape May) and the Texas adventure soon, but for now, feel free to browse the photos on my Picasa site.

**UPDATE - I don't think this includes the photos from our camera - just the ones from my Mom, Margie's, Aunt Judy's and Chelsea's - I'll try to get the others up soon!

The Kitties in the Window

I finally got around to hanging up Ripley's stained glass cat that Grandma Janet made for her (the one on the right). She loves to look out windows so I thought it would be fun to have two cats in the window next to her rocking chair. The second cat is one that I made back when I was in high school (middle school?). As we looked at them today, I told her about her great Grandpa Potter and how he taught me how to make stained glass. I hope some day we can teach her...

Carleton Class of 2029 - revisited

She is finally big enough for her Carleton shirt, and as you can see from the photo, it brings out the smart in her. And she is big enough for the Levi's that her great aunt Connie and great uncle Lee sent. She is quite the stylish baby when she wears them and will probably look even better when they are not quite so baggy!

Out of Town Visitors - my friend Cai

Some very good friends visited us this past weekend. Most of us met in 1993 when they came to Baltimore with Teach For America - Drew, Sara, Kelly, Deirdre. Naya was in DC, but we don't hold this against her. She and Drew have been married for a while now - one of our most fun weddings in Southern Colorado.

Last year when we started telling people we were pregnant, we called Drew and Naya. Somewhere along the way, I think we both doubted that the other couple was going to have kids. I vividly remember walking in the square down in Fells Points and telling Drew that we had something to tell him, and him telling me that they had something

to tell us. Somehow we managed to get pregnant within a month of one another. Cai was born on Apri 24th and Ripley was born on May 27th. Right now that month makes a huge difference - Cai is motoring around while Ripley is still just barely edging along - but as they get older, that month is going to be insignificant, and they will, in effect, be exactly the same age.

I know other people have better pictures from the weekend, so when they share one of the group shots, I'll upload it here (done 11/20/08). My photos from the weekend are linked on my Picasa account. We had such a fun weekend visting old spots like Jimmy's and some new ones like Hampden. There is never enough time, but we've been good about making sure we see one another at least once a year. Everyone got along swimmingly - except for Chad scaring Cai for some reason? Maybe next time, we will try clean-shaven Chad.

Things Ripley Can Do - Eat "real" Food

We started big people food a few weeks ago - first some rice cereal - now on to sweet potatoes and mangos. We try things for 3 days to make sure there are no allergies. I've been making food and freezing it in cubes which has been fun and not nearly as much work as it would seem. Tonight I cooked, pureed, and froze beets which should be fun to give her.

So far sweet potatoes have been the big winner - here's a video of her eating them.

Things Ripley Can Do - Schootch (precurser to crawling)

I don't think "schootch" is any sort of technical baby term, but it was what came to mind as Ripley and I were playing today. She is starting to realize that she can propel herself forward. Pretty fun!

Things Ripley Can Do - Roll Back to Front

This is pretty long (1 min +) and the payoff comes at the end, so don't feel obligated to watch. The gist is that little girl can finally roll from her back to her front, which means we have to start being careful about where we leave her. I used to know she'd be in the same spot when I came back over, but now...a whole new world. Chad said she rolled yesterday (11/4), but this is the first photo evidence.

Lazy Sunday

The pictures say it all. But in case you are wondering about the hat. We've found it the best-nap-aide-ever. It is called a Sleepy Hat (this links to a site with no shipping charge) and has helped Ripley sleep better at daycare and at home. Once she is dozing (not before because it freaks her out a bit), you pull down the flaps, and they block out the light so she doesn't startle as easily. Not to sound like an ad, but if you have a little one or are looking for a good gift for someone who has a little one, check it out.

The Rest of the Halloween Story

Ripley had an incredibly busy week with Halloween activities. It started on Sunday with the Lantern Parade (see previous post), and continued on Wednesday with her play group. We started going to Wednesday play group back in the summer when I was working from home, so it was easy to arrange my schedule to visit with other Fells Point/Butcher's Hill moms and their little ones. It has been harder this Fall, but we manage to go every other week or so, and this week was the Halloween dress up event. Ripley was Tinkerbell, courtesy of her aunt Jenny.

Ripley is no longer the youngest in the group - she was for quite a while - but the majority of the babies are still about 2-3 months ahead of her, so it has been fun seeing what she is going to be doing (crawling!) before we know it.

On Friday, we had 3 events. First came her appearance as Tinkerbell at her day care party. To the left you can see her as "angry" Tink with Miss Crystal (purple hat) and Miss Kari (green hat). I think she was mad that she couldn't have a cupcake with bright orange frosting. Or maybe she was just hungry.

We went from our day care party to Ghoul at the School. Community groups and businesses set up tables at Patterson Park Public Charter School and the kids walk around and get to trick or treat. Daddy aka Dr. Kramer Dr. Kramer Dr. Kramer (it is so fun for his students to see him at events like this) carried her around. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and she had a nice time being the center of attention.

And finally, after a short stop at home for a nap, we headed up to see our friends the Kannams. I am mad that I did not get a picture of them - Peter was a coconut tree, Zachary was a soccer ball, and Cole was a Siberian Tiger. Ripley had drooled all over her Tinkerbell costume, so we changed back into tofu pup to round out the week. I stayed at the house and helped hand out candy, while Chad took her around with the boys. All in all, it was a very fun first Halloween, but I don't think Chad got her enough candy when they were trick or treating. I suppose that will have to wait for the upcoming years.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

So our week of Halloween kicked off on Sunday with the Halloween Lantern Parade in Patterson Park. This quirky event occurs every year, but this is the first time we've gone because we are usually out of town Halloween weekend for Chad's birthday. This year the celebration came to us (a fun visit from Granny Vivienne and Pop Pop), so we were here. The parade was supposed to happen on Saturday, but it was much too rainy and windy, so they did it on Sunday.

Ripley did not march in the parade this year, but she did dress up so that the people who were marching by could see her in her first costume - what I like to refer to as the "tofu pup" outfit. To the untrained eye, it could seem like a hot dog costume, but her vegetarian aunt (Carolyn) was part of sending it, and knows Ripley's mom is vegetarian, so I have no doubt it was a tofu pup. Then again, if her uncle Culann had anything to do with it, I suppose it was a hot dog.

There were many many Patterson Park students who kept coming up to Ripley's daddy and yelling Dr. Kramer Dr. Kramer. There was even one little girl who I thought was going to hyperventilate from the excitement of seeing her principal outside of school.

I am trying to convert some of the video Chad shot so you can see the coolness that was the parade, so I might add this later. For now, this picture gives you a sense of what it looked like. I think next year, we'll be sure to make a lantern for little girl (and let her help, of course) and will figure out a way to help her march/roll with it. It seems like a fun tradition to start.

This is just the beginning of Halloween 2008. Still to come - Play Group Halloween; Day Care Halloween; Ghoul at the School

Things Ripley Can Do - Eat her Fist

Yes, I can eat my fist. Sometimes I can even eat both of them.

Baltimore Farmer's Market

One of our favorite things to do on Sunday morning is head over to the Baltimore Farmer's Market under the Jones Falls Expressway. My motivation is usually to get something like fresh basil for pesto or fresh cage-free eggs for the baking I love to do. Chad, on the other hand, is usually single-minded. He goes for the kettle corn. And not just some small normal sized bag of kettle corn. He isn't happy unless he buys the yard of kettle corn. A few weeks ago, I decided we needed a picture of Ripley in relation to the kettle corn. No further comment is needed.

Wanting to Be Sure of You

I was thinking about the blog today and realized that some of you might not know the origin of the title of the blog. It comes from A.A. Milne:

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
~A.A. Milne

When I first found out I was pregnant and during those first few months when I didn't feel pregnant, it seemed a bit surreal that we were going to have a little one joining our world. Now that she's been with us for almost 5 months, it still seems a bit surreal when I am folding little baby laundry or watching her eyes sparkle when she hears Chad's voice when he gets home from work. In some moments, it doesn't feel as though anything is different - and yet, in others, it is clear that nothing will ever be the same.

She is a joy, our Ripley Annabel...we can't wait for those of you who have not met her to meet her; and for those of you who have, but haven't seen her for a while to see her again.

October 11th and 12th - Marathon Cheering and North Run Farm

It was a beautiful weekend here in Baltimore, so we did outside things. On Saturday, we cheered for 3 hours near Patterson Park for the Baltimore Marathon runners. Ripley did amazing - she was up for 2 hours of it and then slept in the sling for the final hour. I am not a runner (maybe Ripley will be), but it was inspiring to see people come past at mile 16. I saw our neighbor Dana, and Chad saw our friend Kari - both of whom were doing the 1/2 marathon.

Then on Sunday, we met up with our friends the Lindamoods (Kevin, Melisa, and Sienna) and went to North Run Farm in Baltimore County. North Run Farm is a pumpkin patch, has farm animals and a hay ride, and has a pretty sizable corn maze (themed to the election this year). We picked our own pumpkin, visited with the chickens and baby sheep (I suppose you'd call them lambs).

We rode the hay ride and somehow Chad and I ended up sitting on the hay, which I am not sure was meant to be sat upon as much as it was to be decorative. And finally, we wandered through the corn maze. Those of you who follow the adventures of Ripley will not be shocked to read

that she ended up napping in the sling (see the bump in the green fabric) for the maze - probably for the best, as my mental energy and navigation skills were needed to keep us from getting lost in the corn.

Duckpin Bowling and Fells Point Festival

Two of our adventures earlier this month were quite Baltimore specific - duckpin bowling at the Patterson Bowl and the Fells Point Festival (an aside - my first kiss with Chad was at the Fells Point Festival in October of 1993!).

We don't have very good pictures (I think a new camera might be in the works), but here is a sampling of photos from duckpin. Note the shape of our daughter's head and the duckpin bowling ball - I am just saying...

And then we met up with the Martins (Kate, Marc, Adam and Charlie) at the Fells Point Festival.

Charlie is about a month younger than Ripley, but you wouldn't know it from their sizes. We've talked about starting a girl band, with the third girl being Olivia - Omari and Shaylin Todd's new little one (4 months younger than Ripley - so about 2 weeks old right now). Check back in 15 years.

See how she grows...2 month and 4 months stats

We had Ripley's 4 month visit earlier this week (can you believe it?), and I thought I should post her stats and go back and do the ones from her 2 month visit.

4 months

weight - 12 bl 8 oz (23rd percentile)

height/length - 24.33 inches (52nd percentile)

head - 86th percentile

2 months

weight - 10 lb (25th percentile)

height/length - 22.44 inches (49th percentile)

head - 92nd percentile

As you can see, little girl still has a big head. This is one of the things they were concerned about when they were doing sonograms. At one point, they told us they thought she could be a 10 or 11 lb baby at birth, based on her head measurements in utereo. Needless to say, she wasn't (6 lb 11 oz at birth) which has me question modern medicine. I mean, really...with all of our technology, they are that off with their estimates?

She did great with her shots this time - an initial piercing scream like no other sound in the world, but a quick calm-down. The doctor complimented her on being so alert and tracking and following his voice. She's got a killer smile and is quite the flirt. Apparently he sees other 4 month olds who are not quite as lively.

Bad Parents - Part One - TV

The video speaks for itself...

Things Ripley can Do - Hold her bottle

I think it may have started a while back with Chuck. And then the ladies at day care have been encouraging it, but little girl can full on hold her bottle when she wants to...

New York City - September 13-14, 2008

I realized that even though I posted last weekend, it wasn't really about Ripley, so it is high time for me to steal a few minutes for some updates. I tried to put them in order - so this update on New York is the most recent, but I also just added a few others, so scroll on down.

Ripley made her first trip to the Big Apple this weekend. We stayed with Pop Pop in NJ on Friday night - Granny was away on retreat, but we'll see them again this coming weekend when they are down in Baltimore so Vivienne can fly to Detroit.

We headed up to James and Mare's place on Saturday. So beautiful. A wonderful view (Chrysler Building on the left; UN on the right), and a gorgeous courtyard. You can just make out the

Empire State Building in the background of the photo with Ripley in her stroller.

We did a lot of walking on Sunday, and it was sweltering, but we found a cool toy store, Kidding Around, and bought a fun rattle for the little girl to chew on. Of course, Ripley spent some time napping in her sling...

All in all, we had a wonderful visit and will have to make sure not to go almost a full year without seeing James and Mare again. Chad seems to think we could live in Manhattan, but I am more incined to make more of an effort to visit more often.

Things Ripley can Do - Bubble Mouth

I wish I had a video for the full effect, but when Chuck and Vivienne were here for Labor Day weekend, I didn't think twice about letting little girl hang out with her Pop Pop until I discovered that he somehow taught her to put spittle on her lips and blow bubbles. This causes her to drool even more than usual. Chad did take photos - you'l have to use a bit of imagination, but I think you can see her gearing up in these photos.

First Day of School at Patterson Park Public Charter School

As most of you know, Chad is principal of Patterson Park Public Charter School in Baltimore City. Charter schools are public schools that are free to all city residents, and typically serve the communities in which they are located. His school is currently K - 7th grade and will add an 8th grade next year. The work is never simple. As they grow, they've needed to do a lot of construction. Last year, while their cafeteria was being worked on, the students ate outside in a huge tent - sort of like going to a wedding reception every day for lunch.

This is the start of his second year, and Ripley and I wanted to support him as he welcomed back his students. He has such a demanding job and so many responsibilities, but always makes times for little girl. She'll have a lot of reasons to be proud of her daddy - the important work he is doing for kids in Baltimore City is just one of them.

Ripley at the Maryland State Fair

While she slept through about 80% of our visit, Ripley did wake up towards the end of our trip to the Maryland State Fair on August 24. She missed out on the fair food (funnel cake for baby in 2009!) but got to see the tractors, and we walked through the goat/sheep barn. We also tried to see the rabbits and chickens (one of my and her daddy's favorite things), but most of them had been judged already and taken home. We'll have to make sure to go earlier next year.