isn't it to the victor belong the spoils?

it may have been a fluke, but violet slept through the night on monday. down a little after 9pm, dream feed at 11:30pm, and up around 6:15am. i'm sure this documentation is a jinx.

i was so worried every little noise meant she was hungry that i didn't sleep past 3:45am, around when she'd usually eat. i basically stared at her with the nightlight the entire time while she kicked around but stayed asleep... and between the missed feed and squishing my engorged boob while lying on my side, i now have mastitis! that's a breast infection for those who don't know (and probably would have liked to keep it that way). i'd been so elated about violet's sleep that i didn't think much about how unusually cold i was in the morning, even for me, and i attributed my bad hangover feelings to the less than four hours of sleep. after a somewhat stressful visit to my office to deliver christmas gifts, i got home feeling flushed and decided to take my temp, which clocked in at 101.5. long story short, my ob sent antibiotics to my pharmacy, and the ass-kicking fluishness has really subsided. unfortunately i don't think i've yet managed to clear the plugged duct (or ducts - this boob hurts!) that brought on the infection, despite efforts including a hot compress of microwaved diaper (yes, water-soaked), and so far as i can tell, the worst that can happen is my boob will turn black and fall off. thanks for that warning, internet.

oh right, this is a blog about an adorable baby, not the black boob of death. check it out!





violet's latest pursuit is trying to grasp things and put them in her mouth. we are both perpetually covered in drool. her favorite things to nom on are her fists, of course. she's big into squawking too, and my latest project is trying to differentiate between "squawking is awesome, mom" and "i'm a baby on the verge of a meltdown." tummy time is still on the outs, so we've ramped up the number of sessions, though not the duration. but thanks to her demands to be sitting (or "standing") almost all of the time, i broke out the bumbo yesterday. so awesome! she likes it for awhile, so long as there are things to look at, but inevitably she wants picked up for her preferred skytram view of the world. what can i say, we're raising a baby who likes to look down on everything. but look how cute she is!

outings, part two

we just got back from san diego, where violet attended my family's holiday party on saturday night. many of our family friends were eager to meet her for the first time. she went down for a nap right as the first guest arrived, so by the time she woke up, the house was packed. i walked down the stairs with her, face out of course, and the party stopped for a collective "awww" - a very debutante ball entrance. it was pretty great. she even lasted about a half hour before the overstimulation got to her. she later partied some more (dead asleep in kevin's arms), then slept her longest stretch yet (6.5 hours), which i don't expect will be replicated tonight. the biggest hit of the party for her was the sight of her first candle. she zoned on the flame as if i'd laced her milk with lsd.

today kevin stayed at my parents' house with her while i went to lisa's baby shower, which was awash in baby boy cuteness. violet had a couple of nap interruption-related meltdowns, but as a result, she slept in the car nearly three hours on the way back to los angeles. the dogs didn't even puke this trip.

did i forget to mention that last week i scalded my face with boiling water while sterilizing some new bottles? kevin knew i'd closed my eyes in time based on the state of my splotchy pink eyelids. not a great look. i'm fine, just an idiot. the sterilizing of glass bottles (too heavy for my tongs apparently) involved a whole series of science experiments related to a lipase issue with my milk that we seem to have solved for the time being, thus ending poor violet's epic violent tantrums come bottle feeding time. long saga not doable with one-handed typing.

no pictures were taken this weekend, since we continue to be abysmal picture people, so here are a couple of fun time shots taken this past week.





and in keeping with the theme of idiocy, we took violet to the village idiot for brunch with monica and london last weekend. half nap = half success. baby in a bar!

outings

violet is so much more interested in the world these days, and the evening fussiness has really been on the decline - either that, or we're just better at management. she's warming up to toys and will smile and coo at bunnies, monkeys, and other brightly colored animals. i keep reading how no toy will be as interesting as our human faces, but i honestly think her longest conversation has been with a plastic teddy bear head that plays music. i'm sorry we don't have video capabilities yet because the interaction is priceless.

my mom's friend gave her a bouncy seat, and violet will now sit and play in it contentedly for a good ten minutes. i can take showers during the day again! it's very exciting. i read that baby whisperer book this week and took away some useful advice, most significantly to set the baby down when she's calm and pick her up when she fusses. that's been working well for us, thankfully, since we're on a four-week countdown to daycare. in the past i'd avoid setting her down because i knew it'd set her off, and although it does eventually, i'm more confident in my ability to calm her now, so we're working up to longer stretches. i'm also getting her in the crib for about half of her naps (sometimes literally the first half, before i have to coax her through the sleep cycle change and let her nap on me for the second). baby steps. ba dum chhh.

we made it down to san diego and back for thanksgiving - our first big road trip - and much fun was had. the dogs gave us more grief in the car than violet. rudy always pukes at least once, and every time i vow not to feed him breakfast before the drive, but every time i cave in - this time i gave him a half bowl - and regret it. but on the baby steps front, he made it all the way back to los angeles on sunday with a stomach of steel before he unloaded all over the (sheet-covered) floor less than a block from our house. man we love that guy.



then on tuesday my mom came up and gave me a needed nudge (/shove) to embark on another outing - taking violet to the grove to see santa. since violet can never seem to make it through the sleep cycle bump while napping in her stroller, she woke up at half-nap while we were just finishing lunch at the farmer's market (oh most delicious crepe of my life), so we decided to just race her to santa. no line. her shrieks meant business the moment she hit santa's lap, so we quickly adjourned to the nordstrom ladies lounge and promised we'd be back when she wasn't so hungry. but by the time we got back at 3:40pm, santa was on break until 4:30pm - no way violet would make it until then.



i resisted telling violet all the naughty things that "playing reindeer games" might entail. instead we took a picture by the snowman.



(oh by the way, i know violet is technically too young/small to face out in the baby bjorn - usually we still do the moby - but she has great head control and seriously loves it more than anything. i only let her do it for very short periods. she rarely liked being shoulder- or cradle-carried, so she's been facing out in our arms since about day three. when people ask how old she is, i just lie three months to avoid the scrutiny. she is almost there!)

nana was SO DISAPPOINTED about missing santa, and my heart just broke for her. after all, violet got all dolled up for the occasion.



luckily kevin is a genius and suggested we just try again the next morning, which we did. we only wish dada could have joined us too. when santa asked what violet wants for christmas, violet replied, "milk" (pronounced "mrah!" in babyspeak). ah, the milk jokes never get old.