More photos from blessing day

Baby blessing

Today was your blessing day, Lucy B. We took the occasion of your Uncle Will, Aunt Deb, and cousin Lizzie's visit to have the blessing, and so Uncle Will got to be in the blessing circle, too. You can see in this picture that you had on your grandmother's antique baby gown, a pair of white moccasins, and homemade lace tights your mom made. Your mom and I felt that your baby blessing was important as it connects you to all your Mormon ancestors and it gave me a chance to really ponder my hopes and dreams for you as you make your way through life. You'll notice from the words below that the two main dreams I have for you are that you might have wonder and appreciation for the beautiful world in which we live and to have compassion and love for all people. 

Lucy B Josephine, know that you are loved and cherished by your heavenly and earthly families. Their love will guide, protect and teach you on your journey through your mortal life. To help you on this path, I bestow upon you these blessings:

I bless your physical body that it will grow in stature and strength that it might be the means by which you can accomplish the endeavors and goals that you have in your life.

I bless your mind that it will have a lifelong quest for knowledge, and you will be able to combine that knowledge with advice you receive and experiences you have and from these things gain wisdom.

I bless your hands that they will serve you to do good work and to help bear others burdens that stand in need of being borne.

I bless your voice that it will express the joy of living in this beautiful world and that it will be a source of advice and wisdom and comfort to those in need of it.

I bless your eyes that they might see and appreciate the beauty of this world and also see opportunities to help others.

And lastly, I bless your heart, that it will be filled with love and compassion for those around you.

Those are my hopes for you, Lucy B. And I promise to help you to become the person that you want to be.

Trip to the coast

Uncle Will, Aunt Deb, and Lizzie came to visit for the weekend. We drove to the coast and spent a couple of days in Newport. The weather was mostly great and we had a wonderful time. 

Spending time with Lizzie was like a little glimpse into the future. She'll be three this fall and watching her, I was amazed at all the things she can say and do. She also has a will that can turn the tides and boy does she use it. Let's hope I develop Deb's patience over the next couple of years so when you say "what?" for the thirtieth time in succession, I can laugh about it instead of wanting to put a pencil in my eye.

Actually, Lizzie is at a great age and we really enjoyed her. She is really listening to every word she hears and we heard her say several new ones just over the couple of days of the trip. She was wanting to help and be involved in everything. Here she is carrying my boots back to the car. What a worker.

She seemed to have mixed feelings about you. Most of the time, she was very interested in what you were doing. She wanted to know what you could do, eat, say, etc. She seemed very surprised when we told her she couldn't really do anything yet. Not even sit up! Not even eat a Lego fruit snack! A couple of times though, she suggested we leave you behind. I guess she didn't like sharing all the attention.

Swimming in Pendleton

We met Grandma and Grandpa Crow in Pendleton for the Salmon Walk. We took you swimming in the hotel pool and after you cried for a bit, I think you decided you liked it.

Sweet sleep

I woke up this morning from an intense dream, totally disoriented. The window seemed to be on the wrong side of the bed and the door was definitely in the wrong place. It took me a minute or two to figure out where I was.

After thinking about it, this makes sense because it was the first time I've had 6 hours of sleep in one stretch since about halfway through my pregnancy when our room was situated differently.

You've been a great sleeper from the beginning and have slept through the night for months now. Unfortunately, my chest has been reluctant to scale back the milk production during those night hours so I've had to wake up and pump. Weaning myself off the night shift has been no small task and with every clogged duct I have had to start over again. But alas, I'm almost there. The night that you are the one to wake me up will be one to celebrate! 

Welcome Sophie!

You have a new cousin today: Sophie Claire Crow. I'm so excited that you will have a cousin just your age. We'll be over to meet her at Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I'll have to get some better photos. I think this one was taken with someone's phone. Pretty darn cute though. Hooray for Sophie!

Sewing craps crafts

Lately I've been in the mood to sew so I've made you a few things.

First, I made you a pair of lace tights. I found some around the corner but couldn't get myself to pay $30 for them. After a trip to the fabric store and several botched pairs (how hard can they be right?) I'm thinking $30 might have been the better bargain.

Today, I've been decorating some bibs we got from Ikea. They turned out really cute and if they wash well, I'll be making them for baby shower gifts. 

Back to work

Umbrella up, iPod charged, breast pump on my back, and I'm off to join the other morning nomads - crossing the city by bus, train, and tram to a place where I can once again speak in complete sentences and go eight hours without getting pooped on.

These days, I don't have any sorrow leaving you. You're with your dad all day and it's wonderful for you both to have some time away from me. I feel very grateful to have a job that I find so rewarding and the people that I work with are amazing. A lot of what I enjoy about working is the easy interaction that I get every day - without having to plan it all out and schedule it in like I do in a more social setting. 

But my boss is on her way out and my job is bound to change. New job options may not be as flexible as I need them to be. Jeremy can't keep taking you one day a week forever and leaving you with a sitter won't feel this guilt-free. So right now, I'm just taking it one work day at a time and trying to enjoy it.

Summer style

It's been over 100 degrees for the last few days and you don't seem to like the heat much. Despite your oh-so-cool sunglasses and summer H&M outfit (thanks again Janis!), we hardly lasted an hour at the Soap Box Derby.

Later, we took you on a walk and found that a personal cooling system (aka squirt bottle) kept you cool enough to play outside.

Sitting pretty

You are not sitting up on your own yet but a friend lent us a chair that you can balance in. At first, I think you were as surprised as we were to see that you can already use it. But you've taken to it pretty fast and we are all loving it.

Feeding time

Lucy, seldom am I more jealous of your mom's skills as a parent as when it comes to feeding. When your mom feeds you, you are instantly at attention and eat quite well. So well, in fact, that you were at the 97th percentile in weight when you had your two-month check-up. Well, on our Wednesdays together, you aren't so cooperative with a bottle as you are with breastfeeding. Unless the conditions are EXACTLY right, you seem to prefer starving. And through trial and error, I've discovered the optimum, or more correctly, MANDATORY conditions are thus: the milk must be 98.6º±0.5º, delivered in a ridiculously expensive bottle that mimics a human breast, be bounced on an exercise ball at the rate of 106 beats per minute, with the bottle being squeezed at 689.47 pascals at a rate of every other bounce, and the light in your room has to be on, to give you something to look at. And even then, unless you are REALLY hungry, you still won't eat. Hopefully this is a phase, as I doubt we'll get any babysitter to follow all these steps. The temperature, bouncy ball, and light are one thing, but getting the pressure that exact takes a practiced hand. And if you're this picky with being fed milk, I'm not looking forward to introducing you to duck confit!

But when I get the conditions exactly right and you will eat, it just melts me to see you look right at me while you're eating and give me that, "Thanks for going through all this trouble, dad." And I think back, "Bumblebee, you're worth all the extra effort."

Who will you look like?

When you were first born, you looked almost exactly like your dad.



Now, you are starting to look like my mom.




I'm sure you will be your own little person but both of these likenesses make me happier than you can imagine. If I could pick two people in all the world for you to resemble, it would be these two.

My Grandma Callister used to keep a couple of photo albums in her living room. One of them was of the grandchildren (my brothers and sisters and our Callister cousins). The other one was of my grandparents and their children (my mom and her brother Russell). I used to pour over the pages of my mother looking at all the tiny details of her clothes and her hair. Mom as a baby. Mom as a teenager. Mom as almost my exact age! I thought - and still think - she is one of the most beautiful people I've ever met. I always hoped I would turn out like her but I'm afraid I didn't get many of her features. I hope you will be more lucky.

Quite a set of pipes there

Well Lucy, imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that you were completely enamored with singing. On my day spent with you this week while your mom was at work, we spent the day eating, sleeping, and due to getting plenty of the previous two, lots of playing. I started off talking to you, which always seems to get you to talk right back... mostly the vowel "o," although I'm sure you'll be moving onto the other vowels and a dipthong or two shortly. But it was when I started singing to you, particularly "Oo-de-lalley" from Disney's "Robin Hood," that you stepped it up a notch. And I mean you sang your vowel the entire time I would sing. I love that you wait to respond to our talking until after we've stopped talking, yet will sing along your adorable "oooooo" while we are singing. And I love that I get you to myself at least one day a week. It makes me jealous of your mom, who gets you to herself four times as much.

So much to say

These days you have a lot to say Lucy - to me, to your dad, to the mirror, to the kitchen sink. This morning I put you back in your crib after breakfast and you talked to the face in your mobile for 45 minutes. Heaven help us when we have to pay your cell phone bill.

Also, if I start singing, often you will "sing" along. Your current favorite is "The Wheels on the Bus." Video online at: http://gallery.me.com/mfivecrows#100188

Laughing... almost

Well, Lucy B, here's the first letter to you from your dad here. Not to make excuses, but I haven't had a chance to write before this... you've kept me THAT busy! (Although it pales in comparison to how busy you've kept your mom. She's at it full-time AND manages to post beautiful messages on this all the time.)

Yesterday, after another non-fussy church experience, we brought you home and fed you, which often induces your happiest moments of the day. After your mom got finished feeding you, I had you on my lap playing with you, and I knew you were down with it, since the instant I started making ridiculous faces and sounds, your face lit up and you started smiling. Seeing my chance, I thought I'd try to encourage that heralded milestone: your First Laugh. And boy did we come ever close! I would get you smiling, then, like a jackal going in for the kill, I'd nuzzle into your neck and elicit the ever so slightest hint of a giggle. Of course this mellifluous sound served as an opiate to me and I instantly craved more. I would repeat the process, and each time get SOOOO close to a full-on laugh. I have no doubt that it's just around the corner, and I can't wait to be helplessly enamored with it each and every time I hear it. And if there's one thing I hope you inherited from my side of the family, it's the Worthen sense of humor. Because if you inherited THAT, trust me, you'll be laughing ALL THE TIME! A wicked combination of morbid, inappropriate, self-deprecating, infectious, and wonderful.

After getting you to almost-laugh about 5 or 10 times, you got completely over-stimulated at my wild gesticulations and expressions that the almost-laughing turned into very real wailing, signaling it was time for you to disassociate. Sorry about that. I'll try to temper myself next time, I promise.