And the Good News Is...

I haven't forgotten how to surf!

It's been over two years. First there was some construction on my condo that made it a real pain in the ass to get my surfboard down to the car; then it was my daughter. (Daughter + Job + Surfing > Total Available Bandwidth, but Daughter + Surfing < Total Available Bandwidth.)

Only caught four waves today, and they were crappy waves at that, but I caught them, and they were mine, and you can't take that away from me.

And I'm so excited by the news that I've posted it on both my blogs! Since I think most people either read one blog (parents, wife, non-industry friends) or the other (game industry friends) I'm doubling up.

Sounds Like...

A Choking Hazard!

One nice thing about our laminate floors - I can be looking away from Sofi, reading a book or something, and identify by sound that she's somehow got her hands on a choking hazard and is playing with it. (That sounds like one of Cathy's tiny refrigerator magnets! That sounds like one of my six-sided dice!)

Walking

Sofi took a couple of shuffling steps towards mommy today.

My reaction was, "No!!!!"

She's so *cute* when she's crawling.

And if she starts walking I won't be able to call her "floor monster" anymore.

Weird how I can't wait for her to learn to talk and sign but I don't want her to ever walk. Maybe it's because I value brains more than athletics? Or maybe it's just pragmatics: if she can't walk she can't get into as much trouble? Or maybe it's all about the cuteness.

Sofi Likes Pesto

Spaghetti with pesto. She's really chowing it down right now. Mmm, basil, garlic, olive oil. Is that healthy for babies?

I've noticed a pattern lately - if I think what I'm feeding Sofi is kind of gross, (peas, pureed squash) she doesn't like it, and if what I feed her is good (pesto, applesauce, biscuits) then she does.

Which is weird, because when I was her age I didn't like the stuff I like now. Maybe I'm sending her unconscious signals.

Bedtime, Sharing

Our bedtime ritual has settled in at about 1 hour and fifteen minutes. The ritual looks something like this, and usually happens shortly after dinner time:
1. bath (we put the tub that Nick and Catherine gave us in the kitchen sink...it fits in there snugly, and that way we don't have to bend down and kill our backs washing her in the bathtub)
2. dry her off and take her into the nursery, where she nurses--hence the name--while listening to "Bedtime with the Beatles" - a bunch of Beatles hits turned into orchestral lullaby things
3. we turn the lights down about halfway through the CD - barely light enough to read
3a. she sometimes falls asleep during this step, in which case we go straight to step 5
4. I take her and rock her in the rocking chair, in the dark, while a windup Eeyore plays Braham's lullaby.
5. Into the crib: got this whole technique down, where I gradually lower her, and then use my right hand to support her head so I can pull my left hand out from under her neck. She sometimes wakes up in this step, in which case:
6. Gently hold her arms steady - otherwise she flails around and gets upset. If I hold her arms, she'll immediately relax and eventually fall asleep.

One thing we've been noticing lately is that she likes to give us things. Food, pieces of paper. Then she wants those things right back. She's practicing sharing, I guess.

Adventure

Sofi and I went off for our first solo adventure today. Mom wasn't feeling well so I took Sofi to a party in the afternoon. It was just us. She cried a little here and there, but mostly she seemed okay with the mommy-free party. We were only gone for a couple hours, but not a bad first step.

Sick

Sofi didn't used to mind being sick - snot would be running down her face and she'd be as happy as a clam.

Not anymore.

Not happy.

In other news, to distract Sofi from trying to break my keyboard, we found a spare computer keyboard and let her play with that one. It's one of her favorite toys.

New Record

Yesterday Sofi stood up for 33 seconds unassisted.

Yeah Baby

Sofi was very good on the flight back from New York. Probably because Cathy would nurse her whenever she got uppity - we rigged the blankets on the armrests and meal tray to create a kind of tent or shower curtain for modesty.
Right now she's crying, though, because she got used to sleeping with mommy and daddy, and now she's alone in her crib, and I got a spasm in my back trying to soothe her and gave up.
And I will not feel guilty about that, damn it!
Other random milestones: she learned to crawl up stairs; she learned to pull the back off the remote control and take the batteries out; she learned to push the plastic cork in on her pig toy; and she took her first drink from a sippy cup today. (Up until now she just gnawed on the end, not really getting it.)
You know, sometimes she can be trying, but most of the time I just want to gloat. Look what an awesome kid *I* have.

New York, New York

Well, Long Island anyway.
Yesterday we went to the Riverhead Aquarium: it was Sofi's first sighting of live sharks, lobsters, rays, monkeys, humuhumunukuapuaa (I think that's what they were...), emus. It was her first viewing of a piranha feeding frenzy; and mine too. She seemed to really enjoy it. She cried hardly at all, anyhow, and was always looking around interested at stuff. There was one shark tank where she grabbed the railing and didn't want to let go...I think she liked holding the railing more than looking into the tank, though.
Today she learned how to crawl up steps. She knew her mom was somewhere upstairs, and I followed her as she made her way up a whole flight.
While on vacation, we're co-sleeping again. You know, when your wife takes too much of the bed, it's no problem, you just shove her over or hit her with a pillow or whatever, but when your baby takes too much, you're screwed. Not getting a lot of sleep on this vacation.

I did it!

I fixed my enter key.
Whew.

The Fragility of Laptop Keyboards

Sofi just gave me a lesson in this. I thought it was so cute that she was playing with my laptop! (Even cuter is when she plays with the desktop, because she'll switch back and forth between mashing the keyboard and playing with the mouse. It's like she's been watching us and learning. Now why can't she learn sign language? I thought she had learned "more" once...I even posted about it...but haven't seen her reliably reproduce it since then.) The flight to New York was okay: she slept on the way up - slept for a good hour and a half, in fact - was quiet for most of the trip - and then got bored. Cathy didn't get to watch the inflight movie (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) because Sofi demanded her attention. We held her on the way down. If you're wondering why there are no line feeds in this post, it's because that's the key Sofi pulled off my laptop.

The Will to Diaper

Man, sometimes you know you gotta change her diaper, but you just can't quite bring yourself to do it just yet.

Cathy's worse than I am, though: she knows that if she lets it go, I'll break down and do it before she does. It's sort of a game of diaper chicken.

I don't want to be remembered as one of those dads who never changed the diaper...and I'm not around during the day, so Cathy definitely ends up changing a lot more than me in the long run anyhow.

Freakonomics and Mocha

Cathy's been making me these frozen mochas in the morning before I drive to work. They're so good.

Freakonomics is the best parenting book I've ever read. The statistics say that very little we do makes a difference, but that who we are (succesful, educated, book-owning, English speaking, half-Asian couple with a normal birthweight baby) does. Kids can watch all the TV they want, even. They didn't factor in breastfeeding, though...guess we better keep that up, just in case.

For the Record...

Thad's the first person I heard use the term "mimetic desire."

Smart

Sofi got smarter overnight: today she learned the sign for "More"; she also figured out how to work the volume knob on the stereo.

Ok, I'm lying about that second thing. I told Cathy that Sofi worked the volume knob and she said, "Yeah, she does that."

Still, about time on that sign thing. We've been trying for a couple months now. (Ok, we started too soon, I admit it.)

The Ironic Thing Is...

it's the *handle* of the mug that isn't microwave safe, and therefore gets the hottest in the microwave.

Ouch.

Da Da

Sofi just clearly said "Da da", twice! I was thrilled!
Then she said, "Da da da". Then she paused, and added, "Da."

Fence, Cheerios

Just got the Evenflo "Wide Spaces Swing Gate" - and discovered you need to be something of a hardware person to install it.

I'm not a hardware person. I'm a software person. I seem to be missing that segment of y-chromosome that makes most guys handy-men. Reading in the instructions about drilling and stud finding fills me with ennui.

Returning it and getting something plastic that installs itself.

We're having Sofi eat cheerios now. Watching her try to get the cheerio in her mouth is...well...funny. Not laugh out loud funny but definite entertainment. I myself have eaten a whole lot of honey-nut cheerios in my life...but both honey and nuts are potential babykillers, so Sofi gets the plain kind.

Face, Books

Cathy says I make a face when I'm feeding Sofi solid food - as the spoon goes in her mouth my lips curl - it's a challenge, you know, trying to get as much food from the spoon to her mouth as possible: it doesn't surprise me I put some kind of gamer face on. I can't seem to stop it.

Sofi's got a new past-time, which is crawling over to the bookshelves and pulling all the books off the bottom shelf. She particularly likes to tear up this old Theodore Sturgeon book - I wouldn't mind, except it has the short story "Need" in it, one of the greatest short stories of all time. I've moved that one to a higher shelf. Sans cover. And sans the last ten pages or so. Still, "Need" is intact.

And, oh God, she's just so freaking cute! Is she really my daughter?