margaretyagan

I did a pretty good job sleeping last night, just one wake up for a bottle.  Dad was much less fun today as he was busy working.  But one highlight was that I got to meet (well, re-meet) Grandpa Yagan!  He had a doctor’s appointment  in the afternoon and had gotten in late last night.  I had a good time getting to know him.  He was pretty quick to learn my favorite positions and we got along really well.  I guess I’m just pretty comfortable around new people.

Dad left for a couple hours to go to a meeting and I hung out with Mom and Grandpa.  During the afternoon, Dad took a break from work to let me sit on the back of the couch and look out the window, but while doing that, he accidentally bumped my head against the window.  It hurt so much and just got me in a bad mood.  Of course, he eventually just handed me off to Mom and got back to work.

One of the highlights of the day was having our first Chicago visitor (whom I can remember, anyway): Nick!  Nick drove all the way from Milwaukee just to meet me!  That was really nice of him.  I was so excited to meet him that as soon as Mom handed me to him, I spit up — and quite a voluminous one, if I may say so — all over his button-down shirt.  The button-down shirt must be a pretty big deal, because Mom had been talking about for several minutes — how she never sees Nick so dressed up and how nice he looked.  well, I can’t think of a better way to accessorize than spit up!

I went to sleep really early (around 8:00) and Mom and Dad were very quick to follow.

I got up pretty early and ate with Mom.  Luckily, I don’t get too worried about time zones — I just eat and sleep whenever I want.  After I ate, Dad offered to hang out with me while Mom got some more rest.  Despite no longer being in NYC, Dad’s tricks don’t change too much.  We did some rolling around on the floor (I can roll on to my back from about 135 degrees on each side — a little better from my right side than my left) and then as soon as I got fussy, he loaded me up in my stroller and took off (with his laptop) to Starbucks.  Dad was wearing a SparkNotes.com tee shirt and the barista was so excited to meet Dad.  Not sure what the big deal is, anyway.  I slept for a while and Dad worked.

I got up pretty hungry and Dad sprinted back to the house and took me up to Mom.  In the afternoon, Mom went shopping for work clothes and I hung out with Dad.  I discovered a new favorite hobby — sitting on the back of the red couch and looking out the window.  I just sat there for about 20 minutes, watching people and cars go by.  Sometimes people would see a baby in the window (Dad crouched on the couch so no one could see him) and had all kinds of surprising reactions.  When people waved to me, Dad would lift my hand in a wave back to them — one woman freaked out!

I hung out in the kitchen while Dad cooked some food for dinner and Mom tried on the clothes she bought.  When it came time for dinner, Mom tried to time it so I wouldn’t be hungry until after Mom and Dad ate, but again, they should know better than to micromanage my schedule!  I screamed just as the hot food made it to the table and it all got cold while Mom fed me.

I got my first bath in my real bathtub (instead of the bath sling I was using in NYC).  It was really awesome to feel like a big baby instead of a tiny little infant.  I still haven’t had a Chicago poop, but you know you’ll read about it hear as soon as it happens!

 The morning got off to a very early start when Dad’s alarm went off around 4:00 am.  Mom took care of feeding me and getting me dressed while Dad frantically packed up my pack-and-play and all of the other things that couldn’t get packed last night.  We had a mini-van waiting for us downstairs at 5:30 and after stuffing all nine (!) of our bags and boxes (plus my stroller!) in to the back, we said good-bye to A/C and headed to LaGuardia.

I napped on the ride in to Queens while Mom and Dad complained about how tired they were.  Mom has status on United (though she claims not to be an elitist, she sure likes being Executive Premier!) so we got to go right up to the front of the line and check 5 bags for free (instead of just two!).  We got through security really easily and were at the gate with an hour and a half to spare.  We tried to fly stand-by on the earlier flight, but the agent wouldn’t let us because we had checked bags.

So we waited.  Dad used me as a prop to convince the gate agent to gate-check three of our four carry-ons.  I really like flying on planes.  We were lucky to get an empty seat between Mom and Dad, so I got to sprawl out when I wasn’t feeding with Mom.  Mom and Dad were so much less stressed than they were when we flew out to NYC three months ago.

We landed, got our bags, and called our mini-van taxi for ride home!  We pulled up to the house and Mom took me inside while Dad unloaded.  After making sure that Mom’s treasure trove of milk made it safely (only a few drops had thawed) into our freezer, we went right up to my room.  I had forgotten how big and colorful and fun my nursery is!  And the glider is so much more comfortable for feeding.  A changing table?  That’s so cool, too.

Mom and Dad spent most of the day unpacking and settling in.  I took a while to get adjusted to my new bed, my new swing, and my new surroundings in general.  I got pretty fussy when Mom and Dad tried to take me out for dinner (come on, guys, I was so tired!), but otherwise the afternoon and evening were pretty uneventful.  We were all exhausted and crashed pretty early.

Today was dominated by the forceful explusion of bodily fluids and solids and lava-like-mudpie-colored-avalanche-flowing-sludgy-slimy-uncategorizable-stuff.

 I spit up about a dozen times, including one that wend so far down Mom’s body and clothing that Ali had to wipe Mom down with a burp cloth.

I also had my biggest poop EVER.  The poop process consumed five different diapers.  Each time Mom though I was done and started changing me, I would project more excrement toward her, requiring yet another diaper change.

Well, the big news is that today’s my last day in New York!  I enjoyed my almost three full months here and barely remember anything about Chicago.  I’m excited to get back to my own crib and get my own room back!

I slept through the night longer than I have in weeks, not getting up until 5:30 in the mornig (and ate with Mom).  I had an unofficial doctor’s appointment this morning.  Unofficial because it’s not a scheduled check-up, but rather a special appointment with a nurse to get a couple shots that I was supposed to get at my 2-month appointment but that Mom and Dad decided to put off for a while.

A/C walked us to the doctor’s appointment on her way to her babysitting gig.  We waited  half an hour in the cramped waiting room before the nurse came in.  Mom asked her to weigh me, which seemed to really annoy the nurse, so Mom didn’t push the issue to get my length and head circumference.  I weighed in at 13 lb., 3 oz, which puts me in the 64th percentile.

I got two vaccines today: HIB and Polio.  Mom and Dad have been reading a book and talking with other parents about vaccine strategy, so I hope they’re doing the right thing!

On the way home, we stopped first by the Food Emporium (for milk) and then the Lincoln Center farmers’ market (for a strawberry-rhubarb tart).  I got home and ate and then took a long 3.5 hour nap in the afternoon — which really helped me recover from my shots.  My tummy-time was very strange today — I didn’t lift my head at all, but I also didn’t scream at all.  I just happily sucked my fingers.

I was so hungry that I ate 5 times between 3:30 (when I woke up from my long nap) and 8:30 when I went to sleep.  Right before eating, I had a bath with Mom.

But the big news today (the last couple days, really), is that I have started laughing!  Not a ton, and not on demand, but a couple times each day I’ll let out a real laugh.  Mom, Dad, and A/C seem so, so happy when I laugh – they’re going to love it when I laugh regularly!

I made it!   My goal when starting my blog was to post daily for the first 100 days.  While I’ve missed a day here and there, I’m proud to say that I’ve never fallen more than two days behind I’ve blogged about every single day of my life to date.  From now on, I’ll still be posting quite often, but it probably won’t be daily.  My blog will still cover all of the important events and be a fun place to record what I’m thinking and doing.

On to today.  I woke up at 4:00 for my bottle with Dad and fell back asleep quite quickly until 7 when I got up and ate with Mom.  Uncle Danny spent most of the day here with us and even learned how to swaddle me with the Miracle Blanket.

I slept shockingly little today — only about 1.5 hours after I had breakfast.  Fortunately, I was in a much better mood than I usually am when I can’t fall asleep, probably because I ate 10 times!

A/C, Mom, and I went for a walk in the afternoon.  It was too cold and wet to sit in the park, so we went to LensCrafters and then we walked randomly around the Upper West Side, stopping by Magnolia’s for the last time.  Mom and A/C split a banana pudding and seemed really happy!

Mom and Dad went out to dinner with Chris and Jennie — but I wasn’t invited even though Jennie likes me so much!  I was pretty well behaved hanging out with A/C until just before Mom and Dad got back home, when I threw a little tantrum.  Mom and Dad came in and Dad scooped me up and turned on “Baby Got Back” and danced my tears away.  Aunt Claire and Uncle Danny were pretty much in shock that it was so easy to settle me down, though A/C pointed out that Dad’s booty shook quite a bit more than mine did!  I ate with Mom and turned in for the night before 9:00.

For the first time in over a week, I actually slept through the night (pretty much defined as the point at which whoever wakes up to feed me doesn’t go back to sleep).  Dad got up at 4:30 and gave me a bottle.  I fell back asleep until 6:00, whcn I got up to eat and then I ate again at 7:00.  Get used to it, Mom.  I’m full time eatin’ from here on out. 

I slept at until 10, when I got up to eat.  Now, here’s where I pooped.  More impressive than my poop, though, is Uncle Danny’s description of his role in my pooping, which he claims to have “instigated.”  Uncle Danny “was the offensive coordinator; Maggie was the quarterback; [Mom] was the receiver who got destroyed in the end zone.”  Huh?  In short, Uncle Danny cheered me on, I did the pooping, and Mom did the cleaning.  Way to pass the buck, Uncle Danny.

Mom gave me a bath right after the “long bomb.”  And for the rest of the day I barely slept — only 1.5 hours in total between 11:00 am and bedtime.  I took a bunch of little cat naps – most not lasting even 5 minutes – at the end of which I would wake up happy and cooing.  Definitely a far cry from yesterday’s disaster.

A/C has been excited about having Patsy’s Pizza for a while.  Dad wasn’t feeling well and had an interview about the launch of a new website, so Mom and I walked up to 74th street and picked up the pizza.  And then, OH MY GOSH: Mom left me with a stranger!

That’s right!  There are stairs going up to Patsy’s that my stroller could not scale.  No one who worked at Patsy’s would help Mom carry my stroller in.  Nor would they bring the pizza out to Mom.  So, what could Mom do?  Well, have no fear, an old woman was near.  An elderly octogenarian lady — whose top speed, were she to try to “run” away might be 10 steps per minute — offered to watch me while Mom went in and paid for the pizza.  Mom thought about it, looked her up and down, surveyed the scene, and pulled the trigger.  She walked backward up the stairs, never taking her eyes off me.  She signed the credit card receipt blind and grabbed whatever food the lady handed her.  Within a moment she was galloping back down the steps to reposses me.  That was awesome.

I woke up at 2:30 and ate with Mom.  I ate again at 5:30 (a bottle, with Dad) and was pretty much up for the day.  We had to be quiet all morning because Uncle Danny was asleep on the fold-out couch in the living room.  We were going stir crazy so we decided to go run some errands to keep the apartment quieter.  We went to Bed Bath, scouted out a mani/pedi place for Mom and Aunt Claire, and hit the old standby, 72nd Street bagels, quite possibly for the last time.

When we got back home, I finally got to meet (well, I was so young last time we met I just don’t remember) Uncle Danny.  He’s weird because he always seems to have a camera stuck to his face.  The good thing is that I had a lot of choices for the blog.

And the afternoon was one to forget.  I was in such a bad mood.  I didn’t want to do anything, especially not sleep or play or poop.  And since sleeping, playing, and pooping are most of what I do, that left a whole lot of screaming and shrieking. 

When Dad got home, Mom and A/C finally got a respite from me (to get a mani/pedi), but I didn’t let Dad off the hook.  I drove him so crazy that he gave me a bottle at 7:30 and put me to bed for the night.  Not only was it rare to get a bottle in the evening, and rare to go to sleep so early, but he didn’t even bother to warm up my bottle! 

I woke up at 3:30 and ate with Mom, as usual.  Then I woke up at 7:00, and instead of screaming for Dad, I softly whimpered to get Mom’s attention.  We had planned that as Dad’s first Father’s Day present, we’d let him sleep in a bit!  Then Mom, Aunt Claire, and I snuck out of the apartment.  We went to The Food Emporium to get stuff to make Dad breakfast.  He loves pancakes, and luckily Mom learned how to make pancakes from great-grandma-Droste.  Since Dad’s not eating mammals this year, we also got him chicken sausage.  Yum!  On our way home we stopped by Starbucks.  Aunt Claire got Dad his favorite: a caramel macchiato.  Shockingly, she didn’t get anything for herself.  I am pretty sure that’s unprecedented.

When we got home, Dad was in the shower.  He got out and was so happy to see me and his gifts.  Before breakfast, Dad left for an hour to get a massage for Father’s Day.  Then after breakfast, Dad headed in to work for a bit while I hung out with Mom and Aunt Claire.  Dad got back while was I napping in bed with Mom.  After I got up and ate, Mom, Dad, Aunt Claire, and I went to the park to meet Isabelle.  We walked around and then found a semi-dry patch of grass in the Sheep’s Meadow.  There were strange people around us, especially the people doing “acrobatic partner yoga” (see below!).

We got home, ate, and I turned in before Uncle Danny arrived — he’s spending the next few nights with us!

I woke up for my overnight feeding at 2:30.  Mom had just gotten back from a crazy night out with Aunt Ali that included trips to two different piano bars.  I didnt fall asleep quickly and got back up around 7:00.  This time Dad did the honors and he hung out with me for a while while Mom and Aunt Claire slept.  That turned out to be a very short while, however, as he made the bad decision to get me some tummy time while everyone else in the apartment was sleeping.  Keyword: was.

 Though I made some wonderful strides, including the use of my forearms to support my upper body.  But as even you, my bloggees, know, I am not exactly quiet when I’m on my tummy.  Oh no.  I let out some ferocious screams — ones that I would top later in the afternoon, though.  Aunt Claire and Mom were no longer asleep.  Mom’s exact words to Dad were, “Did you mean to wake me up?”  Aunt Claire was a little less subtle.

Dad decided to make the mission of the day to start packing up the apartment in anticipation of our trip back to Chicago next Saturday.  I saw piles of clothes I’ve outgrown, gifts I’ve received, and a whole bag dedicated to Mom’s shoes.  After I ate again, Mom and I went to Central Park to meet Aunt Claire and her friend Aileen. 

About 20 minutes into our hanging out I had had enough and I exercised my lungs to let out the loudest, longest scream ever.  Mom was so stressed that she put me in my stroller and ran — yes, ran — up the hill and toward home.  She tried to “shock and awe” me into being quiet.  That failed.  When we got home, I was so upset that I was choking on my cries.

After I calmed down, ate, and took a nap, Dad, Aunt Claire, and I went to The Food Emporium (not Whole Foods!) to get some groceries (and diapers!).  This trip was a bit quicker than usual since they didn’t want to have too much food at the end of the week.  Mom had asked us to bring home some dessert, but the selection was pretty poor at TFE.  So, Aunt Claire and Dad decided to go to Magnolia’s.  Unforunately for all of us, it was raining.  But I was a great sport and took the shower in stride.

The rest of my evening was pretty uneventful.  Dad gave me a bath.  I ate with Mom.  Then Mom and Dad left me with Aunt Claire and took off to Aunt Ali’s house for dinner.