Bjorn Identity

Friday looked like rain, but when the sun came out we decided to head downtown and check out the Ithaca Festival. Terry was keen to get me out into the world for a "mommy walk" (beyond the 20 lbs. I shed with her birth, I've only managed to lose 2 more in 5 weeks) and I was keen to check out some of the shops on the Commons. So off we went.

It was fun, although we got tired, and I ended up nursing her outside a sports bar, which felt a little awkward, so we headed home. And it started to rain... we had one umbrella between the three/four of us (my mom was along too), so the Baby Bjorn wearing person naturally got to take advantage of the shelter - finally we ducked into a library on campus to wait out the rain.

While lounging around there, little V. got hungry - so I went up to a conference room I know about on the 4th floor for some privacy. We were there all peaceful and nice, when suddenly she paused, froze, opened her eyes, and next thing I knew there was a warm wet patch spreading across my lap...

...and then the buzzer rang (LOUD!) for library closing in 30 minutes, and I looked outside and saw that it had started to hail...

I called Terry and he came up with the backpack we use as a diaper bag, which also packs spare T-shirts for both of us (but not pants). She had also pooped out the back of her diaper so a major clean-up was executed on the conference room floor... Fortunately, my shirt was long enough to cover the dampness on my pants...

It felt really good to get home into warm, dry clothes. Val and I both fell asleep and didn't wake up for another 3 hours!

Oh - note cute hat knit by a woman from our church! Thanks, KMS!

Stats

Length: 21 inches (56th percentile)
Weight: 7 lbs, 12 oz. (12th percentile)
Head circ: 14.5 inches (50th percentile)

She's growing! At her first appointment, she was in the 2nd percentile for weight...

We all put in our guesses ahead of time for what her weight would be:
Me: 7 lbs 5 oz
Terry: 8 lbs 1 oz
Mom (mine): 3.5 kilos
Dad (mine): 7 lbs 8 oz
Anita: 7 lbs 11 oz

So even though my mom was spot-on, and Anita next closest, Terry was still closer than me!

One month old!

Happy one-month, little V!

Tonight Terry was holding her and kept bursting into laughter, because her one hand kept finding its way into his armpit and tickling him.

Happy Father's Day!

her "real" birthday

Terry decided that June 5 was Valerie's "real" birthday, given that it was her "official" due date (according to the clinic; I always had it as June 3 but what do I know), so in honor of her being 3 weeks in this world we gave her a sponge bath! She didn't mind it much, up until the end. Here she is in all her glory! Every day she seems plumper and I could not be more pleased!

oh yes

... the swelling in my hands has finally gone down enough that I can wear my wedding ring again!!!

little by little

Every day I'm able to do a little more. Yesterday I even cleaned the bathroom... of course, it took me like 3 hours because of all the self-interruptions!

I can almost watch Valerie growing before my eyes - like the Incredible Hulk, only not green. And much prettier! Her cord stump fell off yesterday so she can now start looking forward to her first bath!

She's also spending more time in "quiet alert" mode - unfortunately at very odd hours sometimes. But it is delicious.

So I realized that this is purportedly a knitting blog, but I never posted a picture of the one thing I knitted for her that she wears every day, this little hat:
The funny thing is that I didn't know at the time whether or not it was for her - I was working with pink yarn, and had a bunch left over, and then my sister found this pattern and so for lack of anything better to do while on bedrest (oh yeah - except grade papers) I made this hat. I thought that if we had a boy I could donate it to the hospital or something. Anyway, it fits her just perfectly.