Bathing Beauty

DNA is crazy! I am amazed how we humans are born with such strong likes and dislikes. I have watched my own two children, numerous nieces and nephews, a few god-children, and now two grandchildren come into the world...and their personalities and proclivities seem so immediately obvious.

Lila Blue is definitely a water person. Even running the tap in the sink has a calming effect on her, and when you put her INTO the water she is transported from fussy to fascinated in a nano-second.

I received the gift of babysitting her for two evenings while visiting the kids this past week, but I was a little apprehensive at first. Though I'm pretty confident in my parenting skills, her colicky behavior presented some big challenges last time she was with us. I must say that she is truly a different baby now, as her tummy has matured, but she is still kinda cranky.

Mari and Jeremy gave me lots of advice for keeping her happy before they set off for Jer's company Christmas party on Friday night...Pink Floyd, candlelight, the microwave fan, and a shower with her as last resort. I didn't feel comfortable getting in the shower with her alone...there should be back up for that, I think...so we pulled out the as-yet unused deluxe baby tub that fits neatly into the double kitchen sink, has some kind of apparatus for flushing the "dirty" water, and even displays the water temperature. So when all else failed it was into the tub...for about 40 minutes! After that a bottle of mother's milk and down for the count. Magic!

On Monday night the kids went to a friend's house for dinner and a hot tub and I felt much more comfortable...until I remembered that Grandma Jan had taken the deluxe tub (and Lila Blue) to her house that day while Mari and I went shopping. Yikes! Well, call me resourceful...or desperate...but when nothing else seemed to please her she got her second spa treatment of the day. I found the "Bumbo" (another soft rubber miracle) and put it in the kitchen sink, filled it with warm water and voila...sweet, happy baby!

Lila Blue and I were cooing at each other over the changing table when the kids came home and I was weeping tears of joy at how she has grown, what a marvelous little person she is, and the blessings she has brought to our family.

I love you, my little bathing beauty!

For new pix, click on the Photo Album at right titled Lila Blue at Two Months. View slideshow for largest photos.

The Sausage Meisters

For the last few months Eddie has been on a quest to find authentic Argentinian Chorizo, a sausage that he remembers from his childhood in Buenos Aires. We've been to specialty stores in the Bay area, a restaurant in San Francisco, and he's purchased several online. All disappointing.

So, he decided to try and make his own. He found a recipe online and purchased a sausage stuffing fixture for the Kitchen Aid, and then bought a smoker...might as well make Polish Kielbasa while he's at it, right?

Our friend Rick had made sausage many years ago and eagerly signed on to the project. It took a couple of days but the results are authentic and fabulous, and the guys had a great time doing it. Next up...bratwurst, Italian sausage and Portugese Linguica.

Click on the Photo Album link "Homemade Sausage" at right to see it all in process. Chose Slideshow option for largest images.

Pink Whaaattt?

It's been almost two weeks since we've seen Lila Blue, but we've been getting almost daily updates, and the news is all good. She seems to be outgrowing her colic and sleeping better. Jeremy's email to me this morning was filled with relief and delight.

"She is a different baby in the last week!!!!!!!!! Just overall happy. Her little tummy does not seem to be bothering her too much at all. It has been fantastic, and this is what I thought it would be like. I'm glad we made it through the first 6 weeks!"

Mari and Jeremy have worked hard to find ways to soothe and entertain the little sweet potato. Besides "wearing" her in the Baby Bjorn, and long, warm showers with them, music seems to calm her down. I don't know how many of you watched Murphy Brown in the late 80's, but when she had a baby as an older, single mother, she also found that music soothed her child. Much to her chagrin, the baby would only listen to Barry Manilow!

Well, according to Jeremy, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon works magic on Lila Blue, putting her in a calm, relaxed state. Go figure! Click here to listen to one of her faves...

Breathe by Pink Floyd