Moving and Grooving

It seems like I blink and Belle develops new skills. It also seems like she starting moving and grooving and talking just in time for her nine-month check-up so that when the pediatrician asks me if she has reached certain milestones, I can say, "yes."
Belle crawls (mostly backwards), can get to and from a sitting position to lying, pull herself to almost-standing, stand on her own once in a standing position, and even take a few assisted steps. She also babbles. Her coos have turned into syllables, and she talks all the time (like her parents).
Belle sure is an active baby!

Time to Lower the Crib

Belle wasn't happy to go to sleep tonight. Because she hadn't nursed well before bed, Seren was quick to go in there when Belle was crying. So the first time that Seren went in to check on Belle, Belle was sitting upright in the corner of the crib (see previous post for her maneuver).

The next time Seren went in to check on Belle, she was in this position:



Belle was up on her knees. This weekend we're lowering the crib.

My Kind of Town

We spent Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago celebrating a close Levinson family friend's wedding, seeing people and enjoying the city. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had:

We visited the Art Institute of Chicago. Belle napped as we enjoyed Chagall's windows


and Monet's Water Lily Pond.


We spent a hot Memorial Day at the Navy Pier. Grammy, Grampy, Belle and Dad look in the view of Lake Michigan and the city skyline (including the John Hancock Tower)


Then we watched a magic show, which Belle enjoyed from Daddy's shoulders

(this is my favorite picture)

And, it's worth noting that Belle ate in the most iconic Chicago locations. That is to say that I nursed Belle on the L on the way into the city, in the John Hancock building, at the Art Institute (near the 19th century European art exhibits), and at the Navy Pier. (As the lactation consultants remind nursing moms, anywhere I have a right to be, I have a right to nurse.)

Almost fully mobile

Watch as Belle goes from on her stomach to on her butt.

Belle is 9 months old today

And enjoying Chicago!

On the 'L'

Belle rode the Chicago subway from O'Hare Airport to our hotel in The Loop. Belle has been on the NYC subways and buses, and now a second city's public transportation systems in her nine months.

Waiting to take off

Waiting for the captain to fly us to Chicago, Belle took a walk.

"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice"

I had my first pang of joy at the thought of raising a little girl yesterday.

Craig and I didn't learn "Junior's" gender when it was growing in my belly. Craig really wanted to be surprised at the birth and I was happy to honor Craig's request. It was worth the wait to hear the doctor announce, "it's a girl!" after my last push. Our parents' and brothers' reactions to the news of Junior's sex (thankfully caught on video) was priceless: my mother jumped up and down like a high school cheerleader while Craig's mother wore a perplexed look wondering how a Cepler created a girl since Ceplers only make boys (incidentally, another Cepler girl was born last month, so Ceplers can make girls).

In the past few months, I have been surprised to hear moms and moms-to-be of boys express disappointment in having a boy instead of a girl. Isn't everyone just relieved to have a healthy baby? And, to a large extent, a baby is a baby, as I haven't noticed any great gender divide between the sexes in infancy.

But I was at a shoe store yesterday and I passed by the section of the kids' department with dance shoes: tiny ballet slippers and tap shoes. Thinking about a raising a little girl- one who, like all little girls, will take ballet lessons and perform at dance recitals- made me so happy. Belle's just a baby now, but she will soon be a little girl. She'll wear pig tails in her hair and skip when she's happy and draw hearts with her crayons, and she'll wear a pair of those tiny ballet slippers I saw yesterday when she takes ballet lessons and performs in dance recitals.

How wonderful it will be to raise little baby girl Belle.

(CraI'm sure I would have written a similar post if we had a baby boy and I walked by a little league game in Central Park)

Belle's Bridgeport Career

Belle's first visit to Bridgeport was in November 2010, right before Thanksgiving. We had a good time with her on the Judge's couch:





Belle couldn't yet sit up and was just barely smiling. So we boosted her on the couch and had a good laugh.

Belle's next (photographed) visit was in April and she had really grown up:



Belle came to Bridgeport for the last time on Daddy's last day of work on May 6. This time, she was a full-fledged baby:



All in all, as you can tell, Belle was always a huge fan of the District of Connecticut.

Tickles and Teeth and Tricks

Belle had a tiny fuzzy piece of lint in her neck. When I picked it out, she let our the sweetest little giggle. I learned that she is quite (adorably) ticklish).

And that one little tooth in her bottom gums is getting a friend: today I noticed a second tooth poking through her gums.

Oh, and she is nearly crawling. And she just about pull herself to standing. Everyday a new trick...

Belle and Sam

After the walk, Belle and Sam needed a water (and play) break.

Spring has sprung!

Belle is so happy that the weather is warm. She even wore her sun hat today.

Made in NY

One day, when Belle is growing up in the 'burbs, she'll brag to all of her friends that she was born in New York City.  Yup, Belle was 'Made in New York' (see onesie).

"Take me out to the ballgame"

Grandma and Grandpa visited today and joined us in Central Park cheering on Craig and his Zog Sports teammates playing softball. Belle enjoyed the fresh air and watching her father hit and field well. The team lost, but we all had a great day at the ballgame.

Let's Go Mets!

Just to be clear about which side of the Subway Series Belle is on:

All worn out!

After an exciting day playing with Aunt Joanna and Cousin Noah, Belle was so worn out that she passed out on her playmat not long after we got home.

Pre-crawling

Belle is on the verge of crawling, though she really prefers walking. "Walking?!" you say? Yes- she enjoys standing up holding Mom or Dad's hands and then sort of lifting one foot and putting it down then lifting the other and putting it down.

But, back to crawling, Belle can get herself onto her hands and knees (crawling position) from a sitting position and from a lying-on-her-belly position. Then, she sort of pushes herself backwards. She sometimes gets frustrated (though it's really cute to watch) when she sees an object she wants but her efforts to move make her further away from the object as she pushes herself backwards instead of pulling herself forwards. She'll get there, though, and become mobile.

In the meantime, she is splashing in the bathtub and eating lots of different foods, and she's still waving and smiling and laughing.

A visit with Aunt Joanna and Cousin Noah

Belle and I visited Aunt Joanna and Cousin Noah today.


The two cousins played together:


And even held hands:


Belle and Noah shared (Noah enjoyed offering Belle his toys- what a sweet little boy!):

Moms' Night Out

I feel so lucky that I found my walking group. It's a group of eight women with babes ranging in age from Belle to an 18-month-old. We meet in Central Park Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (weather and personal-schedules permitting) and walk a fast-paced, hilly power walk in the Park, followed by stretching and sometimes strength training. We exercise and talk and get some fresh air. We often grab coffee after the walk, depending on the state of the babies. It is wonderful. The women are great, we're all in the same place in life, and the walks are really effective.

But, as the babies grow and our Upper West Side apartments feel smaller, it seems that the group is destined to end. And the beginning of the end has come as the first mom is on her way out of the City. She and her husband sold their UWS one-bedroom apartment and bought a home in the Syracuse area near her family. With the impending departure of one mom, I proposed to the group a Moms Night Out to say goodbye to our walking friend.

To my utter shock, each of the eight moms (and therefore dads) could make the first date and time I suggested work! So, we met at a bar/lounge on the Upper West Side. There was live music- two great cover bands- and it was 'ladies night,' so we enjoyed drink specials all night. It was so fabulous to see my walking friends without our strollers!

We took advantage of the excuse to get dressed-up. We wore the dangling earrings and the necklaces we can longer wear because our babies just pull such bling. We wore non-nursing tops. We put on heels and make-up, which some of us hadn't done in months. Of the eight of us, only two of us had gone out like this (just the girls for drinks) since becoming a mom. We had so much fun. We all looked stunning (if I may say so). We hardly recognized each other when we first met at the bar- we're used to seeing one another in sweats, spit-up on one shoulder, our hair thrown back in a messy ponytail with bits of baby food stuck in some of the hairs that didn't make it into the hair elastic. There we were last night dressed up two notches above our usual walking garb.

(These pictures, taken candidly a few drinks in and with my phone's camera, do not do justice to how hot we looked. We were seriously a good looking group of moms!)





It will be sad to see this Syracuse-bound mom leave. In July, another mom is on her way to Toronto. A third mom is actively looking to buy a home in Westchester (which sounds familiar...). So, there are other goodbyes on the horizon. In meantime, it was a very fun night out, followed, of course, by the regular Friday walk!

Playing with the twins from upstairs

They share toys, and even pacifiers. The twins, born just a few weeks after Belle, are great friends and playmates. How lucky we are to have them as neighbors.

Look, Aunt Julie, I am a ballerina, too!

Notice that the feet on her PJs are ballet slippers.

"The rain made the day so gray"

This morning was a unique, lazy Tuesday morning. The day was gray and rainy and Belle and my only plan was a tentative play date with the twins who live upstairs in the building. So, when Craig left for work this morning, Belle and I stayed in bed and alternated napping and playing, all the while snuggling. It wasn't until about 10:30am that we actually started our day. Was it lazy and indulgent? Maybe. Did I spoil Belle with an abundance of affection and attention? Perhaps, but then she spoiled me, too.

I know from seeing my mom friends with older babies that Belle won't always have the patience for a somnolent morning like today. Soon she'll be fidgety and want to run and play. And I am planning to return to my full-time teaching job in September, so our weekday snuggle time has an expiration date. To further defend this morning's laziness, I recently read in Alice Ozma's The Reading Promise, "No one will ever say 'I think I spent too much time with my children when they were young.'"

The rain made the day gray and all that there was for Belle and me to do this morning was snuggle and play and sleep.

Jazz split!

Babies make the best physical therapists

My eighty-[BLEEP] year-old grandmother (a lady never reveals her age, and my grandmother is the greatest true "lady" I know) suffered from extreme back pain due to spinal stenosis and a cyst on her spine. After trying everything from heating pads to water aerobics, and from Eastern acupuncture to Western pain killers, she opted for surgery last May. The recovery was slow and there were set-back along the way, but she is mostly out of pain and able to move again. She can sit in a car to travel to New York, which she hadn't been able to do for years due to the back pain. She can sit at the table and enjoy a family meal, whereas she had previously eaten all meals while lying down in bed. She can walk supervised with the aid of a walker. Her moving is not perfect, and she has tried psychical therapy to aid her balance, walking, and ease of getting up and down, but where she is now is a grand improvement from where she had been. When we Tri-Ceps were in Avon over Mother's Day Weekend. my grandmother twice got herself up off of a seat (once was the comfy family room couch and a second time with a kitchen chair). Both times, she got herself to her walker and walked unsupervised to be where Belle was. On one near-miraculous occasion, inspired by Belle, Grandma walked up a flight of stairs on her own and walked across the hall to the room in which Belle was staying. Apparently, a great-granddaughter is more effective than physical therapy in terms of inspiring movement. That's the power of love, I suppose.

Belle likes Coach

Classy taste at a young age.

Happy Mother's Day!

Belle can play anywhere

Here she is at Craig's office (his last day in Bridgeport).

Co-sleeping

Craig and I never even discuss sharing a bed with Belle, though many parents do co-sleep with their infants. We instead put Belle in a bassinet for her first few months, and then her crib when she outgrew with bassinet. And yet, on the mornings when we take a morning nap together, I wonder if co-sleeping isn't a good way to go. When Belle lies next to me on Craig and my bed, her eyes close silently and she naps peacefully for over an hour. She wakes quietly and happy. More often than not, when we put her in her crib, she fusses and cries and even screams. It takes her a little longer to get settled. She sometimes wakes up crying instead of smiling. I know it's not practical for Craig and me to actually share a bed with Belle, but I do appreciate and enjoy our naps together, and I won't judge parents who do choose to co-sleep. There is evidence that is it better for baby and mom, and I have seen that it results in a more peaceful sleep.

Belle's April Life

Enjoy:

Belle - April

Belle's skills

Belle is on the verge of crawling. She can get herself into "crawling position" from both sitting and lying positions. Then she sort of scooches. Sometimes she moves backwards instead of forwards, but she is moving! She makes this fun clicking sound with her mouth these days, as if she is figuring out all she can do with her tongue. Belle also understands the concept of getting someone's attention: she will sometimes stare and coo at a stranger until they turn to her, at which point she smiles at the new friend. Also, she waves at people. Belle is a very friendsly baby.

Mommy and Me Yoga Guru

Belle loved our eight Mommy and Me Yoga sessions at the Prenatal Yoga Center from the first Om to the last Namaste. It was the intructor that made the yoga class so fulfilling. When our yoga instructor walked into the yoga classroom, Belle's eye would light up as if she were a Belle's parent. The first time I ever heard Belle laugh was at Mommy and Me Yoga when the instructor was entertaining the babies so the mommies could enjoy Savasana. Especially during this past winter, when the weather was snowy and my mom friends were few, our Tuesday yoga class was the highlight of the whole week.

Now that Belle is more mobile (she is scooching; on the verge of crawling), we no longer attend Mommy and Me Yoga classes. But I learned that the yoga instrctor Belle and I love so much actually, literally, wrote the book and mother and baby yoga. So, I of course I bought Yoga Mom, Buddha Baby and brought it to the Prenatal Yoga Center to ask the author, our yoga instructor, to sign it. Despite the fact that Belle's new tooth (teeth?) had her out of sorts today, Belle was very excited to see her favorite yoga teacher:

Ooops! I made the bed with Belle in it

A happy morning for Belle

Golden showers

A happy pre-bath Belle peed on me on our way to the tub (see wet spot on my shirt). Good thing pee is sterile and Belle is so cute.

Chilling with Grandpa

He took the picture.  I guess it's really, chilling with Mom with Grandpa as photographer.