party girl

Although she has tons of cute clothes, Sadie spends most of her time loungin' around the house in onesies or sleepers. The exception: our first playgroup date this past Wednesday. Mainly an excuse for the moms to get together and sip martinis, the kids seemed to have fun too---they were at least vaguely aware of each other's presence, anyway. Of the five babies, Sadie was the oldest, so everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed over her rolling and sitting skills. It's strange to look at her in that light, when she still seems so young to us.
Note that she's found her thumb, which she favors over the binky these days. Now the binky has become our secret weapon, to be unleashed only in restaurants and at naptime...

news flash

Because I think newspapers are a waste of trees and despise the sensationalism of TV journalism, I'm forced to read my news online with my morning coffee. Until recently, I've used Google news as a source, since I don't like (a) the conservative slant of cnn.com, (b) the dry delivery of reuters.com, or (c) the lameness that is foxnews. But hark! What is this? A news/opinion/everyday interest site that is both intelligent and entertaining, and decidedly left-wing. It's Slate, and I hereby recommend it to all fans of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Finally, news for the rest of us.

three monkeys

Sophie, Sadie, and Avery had a girls' night out at the Mexican restaurant last weekend. This is the back room where they stick people with three infants---note the exit, obviously for easy emergency escapes.

and the winner is

She actually likes it! And not only does she like it, I swear it's sleep-inducing magic: one bottle before bedtime, and she's suddenly sleeping through the night.
Come to think of it, maybe she's sleeping through the night because she's totally exhausted from eating rice cereal, rolling over every five seconds, and backwards-scoot-crawling. Either way, I'm not about to mess with success...

for the grandparents

...because one is not allowed to go five days without posting a cute picture of the grandbaby!

summer solstice

Today's the longest day of the year. Enjoy it!

picky eater

For the past 4 and a half months, little miss Sadie hasn't had a drop to eat of anything other than breastmilk. However, since we got the go-ahead to try out rice cereal, and rice cereal has to be mixed with something other than water, we decided to offer her some formula and see what happened.
The reaction was less than enthusiastic. About two sips in, crying and spitting and general acts of refusal ensued. I was honestly surprised: I mean, this kid is so ravenous all the time, I assumed she'd eat anything! So we had to see what all of the fuss was about. We tasted it.
I declared it to be completely nasty, with the distinctive flavor of wet cardboard, punctuated by overtones of rancid tofu. Reid's take was more similar to Sadie's---gagging, spitting, and the like. Luckily he had the benefit of beer to wash it down, which our poor little girl did not.

The Offending Substance

Perhaps the problem is that it's soy formula, hence the rancid tofu taste. Perhaps this brand in particular cares more about organic ingredients than flavor. Or perhaps other babies could care less, and Sadie just has an extremely refined palate. But since she can't tolerate cow's milk proteins (as evidenced by the fact I've eliminated all dairy from my diet), soy is what we're stuck with. So if anyone out there knows of a soy formula that's good enough to put in your morning coffee, let me know. Until then, looks like it's milk-on-tap for her highness Sadie Rain!

sorry charlie

For some reason, I can never seem to remember that I don't like tuna.

Don't misunderstand---I love beautiful jewel-red slabs of bluefin and ahi and bigeye served rare and known by more exotic names like 'maguro' or 'toro'. What I don't like is the kind that comes in a can, is traditionally mixed with mayonnaise, and is always referred to with "fish" after the name. As in tunafish sandwich . Like the one I just made for lunch.

Ugh. Why, WHY? I'm not sure why I even buy it in the first place. So it can sit in the pantry until that fateful day 6 months later when I decide, against my better judgment, that a tunafish sandwich sounds good? Or so I can set it down halfway through and proclaim it to be completely disgusting? Or perhaps, just to keep my internal mercury levels acceptably high?

And yet I keep buying it, making it, eating it, and regretting it...someone, please stop me!

talkin' & rollin'

For a Father's Day gift, Sadie decided to roll for the camera. Talk about stage presence!

daddy day

Sadie and I had grand plans for Reid's first-ever Father's Day. Here's the play-by-play on how we celebrated...


Sadie woke up in her "Daddy's Little Girl" outfit with some of the most spectacular bedhead ever. There was cuddling and snuggling and drooling galore, and then we made our way out to the backyard, where Reid chilled in the hammock while Sadie napped and mommy cooked breakfast:

Bacon was consumed...

...and sun hats and sunscreen were donned in preparation for a gorgeous summer day:


After some serious playtime in the backyard, we headed down to the outdoor amphitheater for some free music and fun with the Lantzys...


There was picnic sushi and champagne...

...and delicious-tasting carseats!

Bottles were warmed and diapers were changed.

There were even mystery muffin tops!!

And, oh yeah---the band was Mingo Fishtrap, funk soul brothaz from Austin, TX:

After the show and plenty of frisbee tossing, we wrapped things up with milk and margaritas on a riverside patio...

Muffin tops aside, it was a truly beautiful day. We came home totally relaxed and exhausted, put Sadie to bed, and watched the first full-length uninterrupted movie we've watched in eons. What bliss! Happy Father's Day, Reid!

super money friday rainbow love

Peace out, homiez!

meating of the minds

When the P-town crew comes to Bend, we don't mess around. If the quality of a good time is rated by the number of meats consumed, last weekend gets five stars. Heck, it gets five stars anyway...it was Ken & Shawn, after all!

four month stats

Sadie's as healthy as can be, and tracking perfectly on all of her developmental milestones!

Height: 24" (50th percentile)
Weight: 14.8 pounds (75th percentile)

The exciting topic of solid food came up, and the doctor said we can start her on rice cereal at any time. We'll probably wait until after 5 months, but it is nice to have options...

happy birthday sadie

Happy Four Months!
It has been for us, that's for certain! The past few weeks have been filled with all kinds of amazing developments---your smile has turned into a laugh, your hand movements have become coordinated and deliberate, and you can pull up (while holding someone else's hands) from a lying-to-sitting-to-standing position. In fact, "standing" is your favorite thing to do, so as soon as you hit the 16-week mark we installed the Johnny Jump Up in your doorway. You haven't quite figured out the jumping part yet, but you love to just stand there, swaying on your tiptoes in the enormous puddle of drool that collects on the floor below you.
By far our favorite thing these days is to listen to you talk. You can go on for twenty or thirty minutes at a time, and even though we can't understand a word of what you're saying, it's clear you're making conversation. We talk, and you talk back---or, talk over us, is more like it. Even at 6 am when we're trying to sleep and hoping you'll do the same, we can't help but laugh at your animated ramblings. You're obviously going to be an extrovert like your parents!
Tomorrow, we go to the pediatrician for your 4-month checkup. I can't wait to see how much you weigh---my money's on 15 pounds, but your dad thinks you'll be closer to 14. It's true that you've stalled out in your 6-9 month clothes, so maybe he's right. But wow...look at how much you HAVE grown...!

t.g.i.f.

Ready for the weekend and rarin' to go.
Sadie's clearly excited to meet Ken & Shawn for the first time, who are rolling into Bend later this evening. Woo hoo! Time to get our party on!

stealth roller

We have this agreement with Sadie: we place you on blanket, you stay in one place, sweetly kicking your legs and playing with toys. It's simple, really. Or at least it used to be.
Yesterday, everything was going according to plan as Reid did yard work and I messed around in the kitchen making a flank steak marinade. I'd look over every few minutes to see Sadie on her back in the center of her quilt, picking up rattles and books and putting whatever she could get her hands on into her mouth. Until the next time I look up, and she's not ON her quilt anymore. She's not even facing the same direction! Best we can calculate, she would have had to complete 2 half- rolls (back to front, front to back) at about a 45 degree angle to get into the position we found her in. And, all in less than three minutes, since that's about how long I had looked away.
Of course she won't do any such rolling while we're watching, no matter how many tempting and tasty toys we dangle just out of her reach. Clearly, she's working on her ninja skills.

welcome, lily

Another beautiful little girl has entered the world!
On May 10th, my long-time friend Nicky and her soon-to-be hubby Aaron welcomed sweet lil' Lily into their lives after a loooooooooooooong and difficult labor. But wasn't it worth it? She's amazing! Sadie can't wait to meet her east coast buddy and start getting into trouble just like their moms did in high school...

Hmmm. Maybe it's a good thing we live 3000 miles apart!