Doctor Appointment

Today was Sydney's four-month check-up at the doctor. (She's not actually four months old until Friday, August 5, so there's no Fievel picture yet.) I was at work, but Anne took her to the appointment.

Apparently Sydney had her first bout of Stranger Anxiety with the lady she had the appointment with. I'm still a little unclear on the details of what that entailed exactly, but I can imagine. Sydney is usually a very happy baby. Even with strangers she will frequently smile at them. At worse we have only seen her look blankly at someone. I have never seen her cry and get upset because she was interacting with someone she didn't know.

I can speculate that she might have some vague, bad memory of being in the doctor's office previously. Especially since the last visit (at two months) involved immunization shots and her crying a bit. I don't think babies really have the capacity for those types of memories that young, though. But maybe it's possible.

Anyway, Sydney did get her four-month immunizations today. And we also have her vital statistics:

Sydney weighed in at 15 pounds, 12 ounces. That is in the 85th percentile for her age.

She is 26 inches long. That is in the 95th percentile for her age.

The lady (a nurse practitioner, I think, since our regular doctor was out of town this week) said Sydney's feet are a little small for her size. Really not surprising if you look at them. She also said we need to spend a little more time putting her on her stomach (we've been slacking off a bit recently) and we need to start holding her up so she's on her feet more.

That is all the latest baby news that is fit to print. (Even the baby news that's unfit to print.)

Not Sunday Brunch

Well, there wasn't Sunday Brunch last week. She promised there would be one this week.

There isn't.

Fortunately, though, I have other things to talk about.

I don't think there are any real development stories to tell about Sydney. But I do have this adorable new picture:



That's Sydney in her stroller. We had just gotten back from one of our almost-daily walks. For about a week now she's been putting her feet up on the tray at the front of the stroller. She leaves them up there for almost the entire time she's in the stroller. I don't know why, but I thought it was certainly picture worthy. And her big smile just helped prove that it was.

And for anyone that hasn't checked, there are a couple other new pictures posted in my Picturetrail photo album. (Link over on the right.)

In other news I've started golfing again. I golfed with my friend Mark and two other buddies on the Fourth of July. I had to work that evening so had to leave after fourteen holes. I was about as bad as I remember being before when I golfed. Before that I hadn't golfed in about ten years.

We golfed again today. I didn't work so I got to finish the round. I shot a 65 on the front nine and a 69 on the back nine holes. It's not good but I was happy with it. I had a good time.

On Saturday I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Overall I enjoyed it. It wasn't my favorite, but I think it was in the top three. I've only read each of the books once, so it's been too long you tell you exactly how I would rank them.

I won't discuss the book here because I don't want to spoil it if anyone hasn't finished it yet. Suffice it to say that I liked much of it, didn't like minor parts, predicted some things would happen, was surprised by others, have my own theories about how things will wrap up in the last book and can hardly wait for it like every other fan out there.

That's all I have for now.

Sunday Brunch and Catch Up

So, let's see. What's new to report?

Sydney's hand coordination is much improved. She regularly grabs toys and swings them around. She pulls them to her mouth and sucks on them. She sucks on her fingers (and thumb) and fist. She grabs Anne's hair sometimes when being held.

Syndey is holding her head up more regularly now. When we put her up on our shoulder to burp she will pull her head up and look around. When we sit her up on our lap to burp her she does the same. It still wobbles a little and she'll let it flop when she gets tired, but she's holding it up really well overall.

We've also got another little game we play with her. We will lay her on a pillow on our lap. We bring our knees up slightly so she's inclined then grab her hands. We hold her arms out in front of her and tug her up slightly. She can then pull herself up to a sitting position. She can't hold it very long or do it very often, but she does have the strength to pull up.

Smiling, laughing and talking are a lot more frequent now. When she talks she has a "purring" noise she makes in the back of her throat. I will be face-to-face over the top of her and when she makes this noise I repeat it. She will then repeat it again. We did it yesterday and today.

Other than all that there's not a lot of baby news to report. We're just looking forward to all the grandparents coming to visit. (And her cousin, too.)

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There is no Sunday Brunch this week because the lady who does it was too busy to put one together. But since I didn't do it last week I can just do that one!

"Health food makes me sick." -Calvin Trillin

1) What is your favorite fast food restaurant?

I think Arby's narrowly beats out Wendy's. Burger King is a distant third. If Subway counts as fast food (which I guess it should, though it is considerably healthier) that definitely beats out BK for third.


2) How many times per week do you eat fast food?

Maybe once, though occasionally twice.

I may stop to pick something up on my way in to work if I didn't get a chance to eat earlier. Usually on the weekends when we're running errands Anne and I eat lunch out. Maybe half the time it's fast food.


3) Describe your favorite fast food meal.

At Arby's I usually get two chicken, bacon and Swiss sandwiches. No sides, but a drink if I'm not taking it somewhere to eat.

Wendy's is usually a spicy chicken sandwich (no tomato) - maybe two - and a biggie fry. I'll make it a combo and get a drink if I'm eating there.

At Subway I usually get a club with cheddar cheese, onion, lettuce, green pepper, oil and just pepper. I mix up what I get at Subway more frequently than I do at the other places.


4) Do you always super-size your meal?

No. I get the biggie fries at Wendy's because they have the best French fries around. (Yes, better than Mickey D's.)


5) What is your least favorite fast food restaurant?

Carl's Jr.

I've eaten there a couple times and at no time have I found anything redeeming about the food.

Three Months

I skipped Sunday Brunch this week. In honor of the Fourth of July the theme was "Patriotism." I actually feel that I am very patriotic. Unfortunately the questions for Sunday Brunch this week weren't very good and I didn't feel they really reflected that as well as they could have. So, instead of writing a nice patriotic blog entry I'm skipping the whole thing.

Instead here's some baby news.

Tuesday, July 5 was Sydney's three-month birthday. And we all know what that means. Yes. Time for a picture next to Fievel.

Here's the last picture from her two-month birthday:



And now at three months:



That one shows her length well but she doesn't look very happy. So here's one that's a little cuter:



Sydney is growing fast. The two-month picture doesn't really show much of Fievel's hat, otherwise I think you could better see how much she's grown in such a short time.

Sydney is developing fast, too. She now grabs things more often with her hands and holds on better. The other day I went to pick her up downstairs. She had her big, plastic rings in her hand. She held tight as I lifted her, carried her upstairs and took her to Mommy. She even shook them and moved them around a little while we were moving.

She still doesn't have the hand-eye coordination down yet. She doesn't see something and move to grab or touch it really. It's mainly just incidental touching that she reflexively grabs. She will reach out and try to touch/hold/grab her bottle while feeding, though.

Her vision has developed and she can see things from further away. This is shown regularly by the fact that she can see and recognize us from across the room.

She is babbling more and will "talk" to us on a fairly regular basis. It's turning more into a cooing rather than the coughing and rasping sounds from a few weeks ago. And when she's happy there are even some giggles in there.

She doesn't recognize the sound of her name yet.

Sydney is also starting to require more stimulation. Mostly gone are the days of being able to lay her on her blanket on the living room floor while we do chores or whatever around the house. She used to be able to entertain herself for long periods of time just from looking around and sometimes trying to move and roll. Now she gets anxious and cries out for us if left alone too long. She wants attention and stimulation. And she's not coordinated enough to figure out how to play with the toys next to her. As mentioned, she only really interacts with them when she touches them through incidental contact.

She is sleeping pretty consistently. Anne puts her down around 7:00 PM usually. Sometimes as late as 8:00 PM. Sydney usually sleeps until 3-4:00 AM when I get up to feed her (during the week when Anne's at work). I then put her down and she usually falls asleep quickly until 7-8:00 AM.

That's all the news for now. We're looking forward to upcoming grandparent visits in just a few weeks and a little over a month!