Bluet displays no interest

Saturday afternoon, the 'big match' is on the TV - is Bluet interested? I think not

Incidentally, this was very wise. She missed a rubbish game, and the trauma of seeing her Dad disappointed once again by his team.

Happy Birthday to Me

Woke up this morning to discover that Bluet had not only remembered my birthday, but also purchased me a present (the other is from Emily). I believe she spent 100% of her life savings on it, which is very generous. What a good baby.

Later on, she celebrated by playing on her jungle play mat. She appears to have discovered that the world is interactive, and is clearly enjoying making noises. Even if she hasn't quite discovered where she should be looking yet.

Potential Future Careers

My brother is currently waiting for Bluet's cousin to be born, so has plenty of time on his hands, it seems. So he did these mock ups which seem to me pretty accurate portrayals of Bluet's future - it's as if he has a time machine!

 

Bluet makes diving catch, becomes youngest World Series winner

Bluet to the rescue, preventing Maradonna's cheating, 1986

Bluet decides to be a full-time superhero

Hands

One issue you may encounter with a small child/baby is that of hands. Now, to you and me hands may seem to be an essential feature of our bodies; at worst they are benign and at best rather useful - indeed, we could barely manage without them, and I am using them right now to write this. But on a small child hands are basically a nuisance.

In Bluet's case, we have the following issues:

1) small nails that are very difficult to cut, but that get sharp and can then scratch her face

2) hands that know how to remove a dummy that is comforting her to sleep, but do not know how to put it back in

3) and of course, hands are attached to arms that like to wave around randomly, waking up a sleeping baby

Fortunately there is a simple, non-invasive solution to this problem, the baby straight jacket.

Bluet in Straight Jacket

This should keep everything in the right place and solve these hand issues. However, whilst they do seem to work, Bluet appears to be something of an amateur Houdini, and is capable of getting at least one hand free of even the tightest swaddling within quite literally minutes - just enough time for her also to fall asleep. Hopefully this will be a lucrative future career that will pay for college.

5 minutes later: Bluet free of straight jacket (and changed into different clothes)

A long walk

Yesterday was a beautiful day. What better way to celebrate than to take a long walk. But where to go with a small baby? Well, we've been to Central Park so many times, we needed somewhere new (and further away, if we were to take full advantage of the sun). So we decided to head to Grant's Tomb (a very small National Park, and the Tomb of American Hero and Missourian Ulysses S. Grant, which could quite frankly do with being a bit better signposted)

Discoveries:

1) It is literally 'quite difficult' to feed a baby whilst sitting on the grass and leaning up against a wall in Central Park

2) Grant's Tomb is shut on Saturdays (Or at least, it is only open one out of every two hours; and we were not there at an open hour. This may or may not be due to Republican austerity measures).

3) Bluet can sleep through anything, even whilst we eat a late lunch in the loud (but rather cool) Boat Basin Cafe.

4) if you walk really fast across Central Park, you can get home from the west side almost as fast as by cross town bus. Even when pushing a pram.

5) A 6 mile walk with a small child who is behaving very well (i.e. mostly asleep) is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

6) After such exertion, everyone is very fatigued.

Rain, rain, go away

The forecast for this week was atrocious - thunderstorms every day and so far it has been correct. Cabin fever meant that Bluet and I ventured out for some errands today. Luckily enough we missed a big storm which started after we got back home, but we were prepared with a newly installed rain cover for the stroller. Bluet had many admirers along the way, including her future nanny Ruthlyn, whom we ran into at Bed Bath and Beyond. Ruthlyn said that Bluet was adorable, and that she had grown since we saw her last Tuesday! Her mother looked on with pride.

Wave your hands in the air like you don't care

Celebrating with a Smile

Today is the one month birthday of Bluet. Fortunately she is too young to expect cake or presents on such a day. However, she did greet us with a charming smile this morning; as she'd just eaten we'll assume it meant she was happy. Have to stop now, she just woke up from her nap (Dad is babysitting again).

thanks for helping us break the 1000 views barrier

in just 4 weeks. what a popular baby. As a special treat for helping us hit this momentous target, here is a super 8 video of Bluet beamed here from the 1970's through the magic of time travel. As made possible by the iPhone

and: This is a cool iPhone app that makes the videos look like they are old home movies...
Ben's dad made real ones of these when Ben was little with the signs telling his age
so we did this with Bluet yesterday on her 4 weeks old day. She was a little sleepy
but there is some eyeball movement...

Emily

preparation for beer garden

Saturday afternoon we went to the Bohemian Hall
beer garden with our friends and their kids.
Bluet ate and slept there just as well as at
home,and a good time was had by all. Here she
is before the outing trying on some denim
fashions for size.

Today was a big day

because this morning, Bluet was left alone with her Dad for a whole almost 4 hours. In this time, she ate, slept, cried and [edited for decency]. Dad even managed to get some work done with one hand on the computer and the other supporting her over his shoulder (although his hopes of listening to some hip hop at high volumes went by the wayside). The house did not burn down, the baby did not starve and when Mum returned, there were fresh bagels for all (except Bluet, who isn't advanced enough to eat wheat products yet).

And if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, she also got to speak to her grandad in Oslo, Norway over the internets. All this new fangled technology is amazing.

Bluet, almost asleep, earlier

at the doctor's office

Yesterday Bluet had her 1 month checkup (a few days early). She has grown
2 inches and gained 3/4 lb. since she was born. Here she is in the waiting
room looking very big to me!

naptime

Taking a nap under the beautiful blanket
with her name on it from her great aunt Kathy!

Here is Bluet today indulging in her favorite
non-food-related pastime - looking out the window

Bluet Classics

Wow, 3 weeks have flown by. We've been to the park 3 times with 3 different groups of parents in the last 3 days. All their babies are several months older, and seem huge by comparison to Bluet - I guess that soon we will forget that once upon a time she was so small, and be amazed when we see someone else's tiny newborn baby.

Even so, she is clearly growing up - she is much more alert, has exceeded her birth weight, is eating enough to have developed a small belly, is sleeping sensibly and only waking once at night (although if she could stay asleep until at least 8 in the morning, instead of 6, that would be much appreciated, thanks). and is beginning to pay attention to the people around her (at least we imagine this is the case). She definitely likes staring out of the window at the sky. Maybe she wants to be a pilot. Hopefully she will be speaking soon.

Anyway, from the vault, here is her first ever video, taken in the first hour after she was born. Emily was otherwise engaged, so I was left alone with her in the recovery room. She was lying on my lap ensuring I did not drop this tiny package. You can see that she has not yet eaten, and clearly has this one thing on her mind.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ben and Bluet before Bluet's first trip to Agata and Valentina (one of Ben's favorite grocery stores). I enjoyed a quiet Mother's Day moment at home :)

weekend

We had a a nice weekend filled with

1) late-breaking fantasy baseball lineup changes

2) sleeping

3) more sleeping

4) lots of trips to the park with our friends and their babies (not pictured)

Thursday afternoon

Bluet is more alert these days. She happily sat in her chair
and looked around for about an hour yesterday afternoon.

Debbie and Bluet taking a nap

Bluet is official!

Happy 2 week Birthday

Well, it's been a jam-packed first two weeks in the outside world for Bluet. Here are some of the things she has already done:















Been on the subway

Hung out with the hipsters in Brooklyn

Lost her belly button thing (just this morning, so now she is all grown up)

Read her first book (and developed a fear of Zebras)

Received her first parcel from the Old Country

Witnessed some key national and  international events

Been to Central Park

Been to the doctors (and almost re-reached her birth weight)

Had 2 baths

Done some disgusting p[edited for decency] which were impressive in scale for someone so small

Met her American grandmother

And, most traumatically, waved her Dad off to work for the first time (fortunately for him, before he left Bluet was upset when been held by her Mum/Mom or grandmother, but instantly comforted when Dad picked her up, making him feel not so bad about having to leave her behind).

She has also become considerably more alert, so stay tuned for some extremely cute films, coming to a blog near you soon.