Some of you might already know that we're doing elimination communication with Mary. We started when she was 3 months old, and it works like a charm for us. Whenever we see that Mary has to go to the bathroom (when she wakes up, when she fusses in a certain way, etc.), we take her to the toilet. We save so much money on diapers. Since we switched to using cloth diapers at home, we also save ourselves a lot of laundry. We went from using 20-25 diapers per day down to 5-10 diapers per day. Right now she pees on the toilet about 60% of the time, and poops on the toilet about 90% of the time, and she keeps getting better. It is soooo much easier to clean her bottom after using the toilet than after going in a diaper, and she really seems to like using the bathroom. However, she still is a baby and still has "accidents" - here is a picture of the guilty party after pooping and peeing all over the place while daddy was trying to change her diaper!

Just lounging around the house with dad. Joe watches Mary three days a week while I work in the Biochemistry lab finishing up my senior thesis project. I should be done by the end of August. Woohoo!


We went to the zoo last Friday with Mary and met a friend and her two year old there. Mary gets worn out easily when we're out walking around, and usually falls asleep in the wrap. I don't think she really "gets" the zoo yet either - she's happy to look around at anything new, and since the zoo is a whole new place she looks around at EVERYTHING and I'm not sure she even notices the animals in particular. Plus it was really hot that day, so most of the animals were inside or just laying around, which makes them harder to notice. Mom and dad like to go the zoo anyway though!


The lions were all hiding, but luckily we brought along our own little lion for Mary. This is a picture of us at the park after visiting the zoo.

Mary also got to take her first ride down a playground slide. Hooray!

Mary is starting to push up on her arms now. She looks like she's getting ready to crawl! She doesn't really move anywhere yet, just up and down. And she can spin around 360 degrees when she's on her tummy. It won't be long before she's cruising around the house!


We went to visit Joe's parents in Genesee and they had this great blue ball that Mary LOVED to play with. We brought the ball home with us, and it always makes her laugh when we play with it.


Another new thing has been TOES. Mary "found" her feet and loves to play with them now. She'll sit there grabbing her toes, and once in awhile even pops them in her mouth.

We went to the fireworks in Waukesha for the 4th of July. Mary really liked the show! I was a little worried she wouldn't like the loud noise, but she didn't have any problems at all. The mosquitos weren't very bad at all either. She didn't make a fuss the whole time we were there. Here's a picture of her watching the fireworks with her daddy.

The fireworks were a little past her usual bedtime though, and even though she tried really hard to stay awake, eventually she just couldn't keep her eyes open. It was so funny - she would open her eyes to see a firework, and then they would slowly fall shut, and then she would open her eyes to see the next one, and then they would fall shut. Eventually they opened less and less until she was finally asleep. Daddy covered her ears so the booms wouldn't be so loud, but I don't think anything could have woken her up, she was so sleepy.

Mary with a little "turban" her dad gave her. She's four months old now and getting so big! We especially love to make her giggle.


Here's a picture of Mary and mom with our New Native pouch carrier. We like it a lot for short walks, getting Mary to take a nap, and discreetly nursing in public.

For longer walks (like when we went letterboxing), it gets to be a bit of a strain to carry the baby's weight on one shoulder. Also, sometimes it isn't as convenient to have a baby on the front side of you. So I looked into some other options and ended up making myself this wrap. I bought five yards of fabric at Jo-Ann's, cut it in half the long way, opened up the sewing machine we got as a wedding gift, and used it to hem the edges. I ended up with two wraps. I sold one of them for the cost of the fabric, so my wrap ended up being free! How's that for a deal?


It's super comfortable for long walks, and Mary likes to look around from this vantage point. It sure beats staring up at the sky from the stroller seat! Plus this way we can go places strollers can't!


I haven't mastered using the wrap to carry Mary on my back yet, but I'm working on it. I've had so many compliments on it while taking walks around Madison - even requests from other moms who want one too! 

Mary can roll over! On June 1 she rolled from back to tummy for mommy for the very first time. She rolled not just once, but four times that morning. It was like she woke up ready to roll. Here she is getting a look around from this newly achieved vantage point.


We went to Stockbridge for the weekend and decided to go Letterboxing at High Cliff State Park since it was Open House Day and there was no entrance fee. We took along my brothers Andy, Adam, and Alex and Adam's girlfriend Devin. We found a series of three letterboxes - and it was a really beautiful hike with waterfalls, cliffs, and gorgeous lake views.


We also had a chance to see Adam and Alex play baseball on the Babe Ruth team. It was Mary's first baseball game, and she seemed to enjoy it.

 

Time for a burp!

She and her dad always seem to be goofing around!
All clean! She loves to "talk" to everyone.

Lazy little smile...she's a happy baby.

 

Hey there everyone. I decided to start this blog to keep everyone up to date on what's happening with us - it's much easier than sending mass e-mails. Plus, all those large attachments of pictures of Mary will no longer fill up your e-mail inbox.

Mary is three months old and growing so fast! She smiles and laughs easily now, and she can almost roll over. She lays on her back and kicks her legs up and throws them over to one side, and ends up teetering on her side; she has yet to roll completely over.

Joe and I finished up the semester - no more classes or exams, but we both still have some work to turn in before grades are final. Fortunately, our professors were very understanding about the demands of a newborn, and have given us some extra time to get things done. Joe is looking for a summer job in the meantime, and I have plans to finish up my senior thesis project over the summer.

This weekend we're going camping with Joe's parents. It will be Mary's first camping trip, so we'll see how she handles tent sleeping. Last night she slept for nine straight hours! It was her longest sleep ever...she really sleeps like an angel. We are so lucky.