happy's place

I was looking around on facebook today and saw that someone I knew was a fan of Happy's Place, the daily after-show cartoon program on our local station in Ft. Wayne. Suddenly I flashed back to my childhood and the day I got to go to Happy's Place. Almost everyone I went to elementary school with got to go be on Happy's Place at some point. In every show, Cousin Happy would have everyone in the audience come up and say their name and he'd ask them a question. Then he'd play some cartoons with the help of Froggy the Frog. Froggy eventually got his own show in the morning called Froggy's Pad. I would watch both shows every day when I was growing up. I also have a faint recollection of Happy coming to Edgerton during our annual festival in the summer. And I think my brother Kurt got to go up on stage with him. Christy, is that right?
Anyway, here's a clip of one of his shows, if only we'd taped the one that I was on...

christmas colds

Sorry we haven't blogged about Christmas or posted pictures yet. We were in Edgerton until Sunday night, then Libby and I both came down with colds. Libby seems to be feeling a little better today, but I'm feeling worse, so Daddy has been taking care of both of us. We promise to share lots of Christmas photos soon! We'll leave you with this pretty picture until then, lol.

merry christmas

We hope you find something just as precious waiting under your tree this morning...

santa baby

santa baby

Libby and I met Daddy downtown today for a late lunch and a visit to Santa at Macys. Libby wore the pretty green velvet dress Pap and Gramma sent her. She thought it would coordinate well with Santa's red velvet suit. Libby didn't pay Santa much attention. I think she was more interested in looking at the kids who had just visited with him, which is why she's looking off to the left in the pictures. We look forward to visiting this Santa every year. It's especially nice that you can take your own pictures--for free!--and Santa's helper will take photos with your camera for you too!

We've had lots of fun holiday festivities the past few weeks. The Friday before last, I had my staff gift exchange. Every year, the 5 of us make homemade goodies for each other and spend the afternoon taking a late lunch and trading gifts. This year I made chai tea. It turned out really yummy--and pretty! I've posted a photo here. That Sunday we had our annual Christmas celebration with Matt, Amanda and Maddox. They came over for Christmas brunch, and the kiddos exchanged gifts. Libby got lots of great toys and clothes. I've posted a photo of Libby opening her first Christmas present, and one of her and Maddox checking each other out.

This past Saturday Nonny babysat Libby and Gus while Kevin and I went to dinner at Nada and to the Over The Rhine Christmas concert at the Taft with Doug and Sue. Of course, we talked about the babies a lot, but it was so nice to go out and enjoy a great dinner with just the 4 of us.

We're planning to spend Christmas Eve at home. Kevin bought lots of appetizers at Kroger yesterday for us to graze on throughout the evening, and we're going to bake cut-out sugar cookies for Santa. Christmas Day we're going to Nonny's and Gran's for dinner, stopping by the Carusos' open house, then it's off to Edgerton on Friday.

I'm posting a bunch of photos, which I hope you enjoy. Kevin and I are on vacation next week, so we plan to get our photos organized and add all the Christmas ones to the gallery. I'm sure there will be plenty, so be sure to check back mid-week.

doctor/4 months

Libby had her 4-month well visit with Dr. Z yesterday and got another A+. She weighs 12 pounds, 6 ounces, is 23.25 inches long, and her head is 16 inches (they measure their head to chart brain growth). So she gained a pound and a half since her 2-month visit, and gained one inch each in her length and head. She's still squarely in the 50th percentile, which is perfect. Since she's growing so well, we don't need to start her on rice cereal until 6 months. But if she starts wanting to eat more frequently or just doesn't seem to be getting full when she nurses, he said to go ahead and try it. She moved up to 7 ounces instead of 6 in her bottles this week, too.

She got four shots again but did much better afterward this time. Katie gave her a dose of Tylenol before Kevin picked her up, and the doc suggested we continue that for 24 hours. She cried when she received the injections but was an angel last night. She even slept for 9 hours straight overnight, a luxury for us!

Dr. Z gave us some diaper rash tips, including applying Maalox or Mylanta to her bum when she has broken skin, as a few of my friends had suggested. He said that because her skin is sensitive and she poops so much (still at least 6 times a day!), she's just going to be prone to diaper rash. We battle an outbreak at least once a week. He said she doesn't have eczema, but that her skin is dry and sensitive, so we'll just need to put lots of mild lotion on her. We pointed out the birth mark that has developed on her leg and he wasn't concerned. We also noticed a red "stork bite" birth mark at the nape of her neck while we were there. It's under her hair, and he said it should fade in the next few years.

Developmentally she's doing great. She's super strong, curious, happy, vocal--just an engaged and good-natured girl.

libby three months

I thought we were due for an update on what Libby is up to lately.

Noises. She's been making more and more noises, including little laughs, coos and squeals. She also blows raspberries now, which leads us to the next thing ...

Spitting. If there were a market for baby drool, we could bottle it and make a fortune. She's been drooling, spitting and chewing on her hands 24/7. We go through many bibs each day.

Smiling. Miss Libby is all smiles these days, as I'm sure you've noticed in her pictures. Her face lights up whenever she sees us or Aunt Katie. We can't get enough of her big, open-mouthed grin and little chuckles!

Diaper Rash. We're still battling diaper rash. During one diaper change her bottom will look perfect, then it's raging red the next. We use Aquaphor to prevent it and diaper rash ointment to soothe it when it flares up, but she's just got a sensitive little bottom. We had lofty goals of using more natural, environmentally friendly diapers, but we've joined the masses of Pampers users, as they seem to keep her the most dry.

Dry Skin. With the cold weather, Libby's skin has turned very dry and patchy. I fear that she, like every one of my friends' babies, might have eczema. I've been lathering her up with lotion after her baths, but I plan to consult the doctor about it at her 4-month check up December 19th. For those of you with babies with eczema, I'd love any advice about what you do/use for your babies. We love our Burt's Bees products, but I'm guessing we may have to switch to something more soothing. We do have a humidifier attached to our new furnace.

Grabbing. Libby has started reaching for things and grasping them in her hands. The toys dangling from her play mat, her washcloth in the bathtub, my bowl of peppermint ice cream this afternoon, my hair. I'm excited for her to start grasping toys because I think she'll be able to entertain herself a little better when she's hanging out on her own.

Growing. I'm so excited to see how much Libby has gained and grown in the past two months. This week she moved up to level 2 bottle nipples and size 2 diapers. She's still wearing 3-month clothing, but I have a feeling we'll be breaking out the 3 to 6 month wardrobe soon. I don't want her to get big too fast, but it's very gratifying to see the fruits of all my breastfeeding and pumping efforts.

Sleeping (Sporadically). We're perplexed about Libby's sleep habits. She goes to sleep easily at night, but on the nights when Kevin is traveling, she hasn't been able to stay asleep. It took me several hours to get her to sleep the nights he was gone last week, resulting in three consecutive nights of 3 to 4 hours of sleep for me. By Thursday when he came home I was a zombie and ended up with a mild stomach bug and a cold. Yet she's gone to bed easily and slept through the night since Thursday. We've hypothesized with Katie about a dozen different factors that could be affecting her, but we really don't know. If Kevin's presence has that strong of an effect on her it's really sweet, but we're both kind of hoping that's not it, since he's traveling again this week.

Standing. Libby has never liked to lay back and act like a little baby, but lately she likes "standing" more and more. She loves it when we grasp her hands and pull her into a sitting, then standing, position. I wouldn't be surprised if she was one of those kids who skipped crawling and just got up and walked one day!

happy holidays from the whitmans

Enjoy this Country Christmas with the Whitman Clan.
(minus Kenz, he's allergic to hay, so he couldn't join us...)

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