In other news...

I thought maybe I would post an update on the lives and times of Abby's parents.





WARNING--this post does not contain cute pictures of Abby.


Alex has entered into a series of bike races this month, two every weekend. You may be thinking (like I did) that's a lot of races. Runners spend most of their time training for races and only ever do 4 or 5 races a year (unless you're crazy, rich, or both). Turns out bike racing is more complicated than running. In running races, people are split into different sub-categories based on their age. Well, in bike races there are similar sub-categories but you're split up based on your ability rather than your age. Everybody starts out as a Category 5 racer and has to work their way up to Category 1 and, if you're insanely good, finally Pro. In order to advance from Category 5 to Category 4 you have to compete in 10 approved races. 10!!! Then in order to advance from Category 4 on up you have to get a certain number of points, points which are based on how you place in the races you compete in. Anyway, Alex is trying to get into Category 4 this summer (and maybe further up). So, he has to compete in at least 10 bike races. I'm glad I'm a runner.

This morning was Alex's first race. A seven and a half mile criterium (a criterium is a race where you do laps, like on a track except on the streets). The weather was rainy and cold, but he went anyway. And of course, he came in third place (this with the disadvantage that he pulled practically the whole time). Next weekend he'll tick off his second and third races and I'm sure he'll place equally well. Too bad there are no money prizes involved in these races!

In other exercise related news, I have been running with Abby in the Chariot. It's been going so well that I decided to enter us in the Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon. I figured I probably wouldn't be posting my best time ever anyway, so why not just have fun and take Abby along for the ride (plus, the grad school sponsors runners so it only cost $7 to enter!). Alex entered it too, but he'll actually be running fast.

Other than that, the ony other notable news is that my six weeks of maternity leave are officially up. I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks! And what's more, I can't believe some mom's have to go back to work full time after only 6 weeks! It's times like these I'm glad I'm not yet a member of the real world. Grad school really IS a good time to have babies. I'm planning to start working on my research at home this week. We'll see how that goes...

So there you have it. Alex is winning bike races and I'm...well, thinking about getting back to work.

Playing

(Facebook users click here for video)

Abby's Mattress

Abby is lucky to have a state of the art mattress. It's completely organic, free of allergens, and has been aging to perfection for 30 years.

Cozy in the Chariot

Wide-eyed Curiosity

Cute in Blue Jeans

She wouldn't be a Messinger without a pair of blue jeans. I think she wears them well.

I'd say she's bigger

Are you sick of this yet?

Yes, more Abby pictures. I just can't stop! In my defense, there's not much else of note going on.

Does she like it or not?

The swing. So many parents swear by the magical swing. Fairy tales of babies falling right to sleep in the swing abound. So Alex and I decided to buy one (it helped that it was 50% off). But Abby has mixed feelings about the swing. It's true she's fallen asleep in it on two random occasions, but considering she's been put in it about a thousand times, that isn't a great success rate.

Fussing

All babies fuss now and then (I think). Abby is no exception. When she's fussy, we play a game called "guess what Abby wants." Depending on how sleep deprived I am, it's either fun or frustrating. Basically, the game consists of finding the perfect combination of sounds, posture, and movement:

Sounds
the soothing sound of water filling the bathtub at extremely high volumes.
the vaccum.
the little jungle like sounds of the swing.
my horribly off key singing voice.
daddy's wonderful Ryan Adams impersonation.
the dryer.
the furnace.

Postures
in the swing.
over your shoulder.
lying in your arms true baby style.
in a straight line away from your body.
prostrate on the couch.
tucked in one arm like a football.
lying on the incredibly dirty doggy bed (I only did this once--I was desperate, and it worked)

Movement
bouncing up and down on the yoga ball.
jiggling up and down as you walk.
bouncing on your knee.
rocking in the rocking chair.
twisting from side to side.

You can see how it might take a while to calm her down. Sometimes I hit on the correct combo right away (e.g. holding her over my shoulder while singing loudly in her ear and standing next to the dryer) but other times it takes two hours. One day while Olivia was here I found myself walking around vacuuming while holding her like a football. Worked like a charm. Since Olivia was here we got a picture.

Mommy and Abby

Abby only really likes to sleep in mommy or daddy's arms (although she's getting better every day). So what do I do when Abby is sleeping? Well, most of the time I watch crappy daytime television. Occasionally, if I have had the foresight to prepare, I watch a movie or read a book. Or, if the camera is in reach I take pictures. This picture is the result of the latter case.

Auntie O

Olivia just left. Sigh. We miss her already. The three days she spent here were so relaxing and fun. Needless to say, Abby adores her aunt.

While she was here, Olivia took a lot more pictures than I did (see Olivia's impression of Abby, Abby bathing, and The two states of Abby). But I did get a few good ones of the two of them hanging out together.

Faces

Future model?

Cuddling

Naked babies are cute!

Abby noises

Abby is quite vocal. She grunts all the time. Lately I noticed she has expanded her noise repertoire to include actual tones, especially while she exercises on the changing table. Here's a little video for your listening and viewing pleasure.



(PS...I notice that videos don't show up when blog posts are imported to Facebook. If you want to see the video, click on the link to view original post at the bottom of the note.)