3:1 Ratio

I've been spending the week in the Cities with my folks while Eric is putting in some late nights at work back home. I've decided that a 3:1 adult to infant ratio is ideal for raising an infant.

Mom fed Sydney her first bottle which is very exciting to me as it means I can be away from home for longer than three hours. Dad appears to be an expert at getting her to sleep -- we're a great team!

A Household Divided

During my pregnancy I received only a few outfits for Sydney. However, since she’s been born she’s been flooded by adorable clothes from friends and family. It’s so fun to play dress up with her. :)

But this weekend the gift of clothes opened a battle that I knew was unavoidable when we decided to have a baby…a battle that’s been brewing for a while, but has been silently simmering. The battle: Vikings versus Packers – which will Sydney choose?

This past weekend I received two gifts of Viking apparel. An adorable jersey from one of my mom’s coworkers and a super cute jumper from my uncle Al and aunt Joyce. Not to be outdone, Eric almost immediately ordered two Packer onesies for her (and called his mom to complain and tell her to load up on Packer gear). I didn’t know about the onesie purchase until they arrived in the mail today. Eric ridiculously thought that if they had ruffles and bows on them I would think they were cute. (does the man know me at all?)

I figure, since the Viking gifts came first and since she looks way better in purple, being a Viking fan will be a no brainer…but alas, Eric’s will is strong and his efforts to sway her to the dark side will likely have great influence. This battle will continue for many years until Sydney is able to voice her own opinion…but until then, since mom dresses her 90% of the time, I’m thinking purple’s gonna win out.

Rear Window

Since I’m at home during the day I’ve found I notice the comings and goings of the neighborhood more than I ever have. Since our main living spaces face the back of the house, I’m in tune to our back-door neighbors way more than the neighbors in our cul-de-sac.
I like to fill in the blanks with my own interpretation of events...here's what I think is going on:

• One of our neighbors has their sister living with them and to pay rent they make her mow their lawn.
• One neighbor has an in-law living with them for a while
• One neighbor sold their bedroom furniture on Craigslist and bought a new set from Hom Furniture. (This one I know to be partly true because I saw the Hom delivery truck in their driveway)

I’m feeling a bit like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window – but hopefully there will be no dead bodies involved in my story line. I wonder what they see when they look at our house…did they notice I was pregnant? Have they seen us out and about with Sydney?

The view from my rear window:

Flying Solo

It’s my first week alone with Sydney and so far things are going well. Today we made our first solo trip to Target and she did very well – slept the whole time despite me ramming the cart into one of the legs of a rack of clothing. She was startled but went right back to sleep. :) A highlight of trip was finding a bag of Starburst that has only red candies. I’ve always felt that they should make a bag of just the pink ones and this is quite close so there is definitely a need to celebrate. Another highlight was finding a small garbage can for the bathroom that has a lid on it. Richard has decided his new favorite food is used maxi pads from our bathroom garbage. (Disgusting, I know) He ate an entire one and was subsequently sick for several days. A trip to the vet later and he’s fine but still going after anything with bodily fluids on it and since I’m apparently incapable of remembering the close the door when I leave a new can was necessary. SO, after a somewhat frustrating search, I found a suitable one at Target that should solve our problem.
Last week mom stayed with us and helped out with Sydney. Eric and I tried to convince her to stay longer – even promised to finish the basement bedroom and let her pick out the finishes, but alas she had to return to her silly job. I’m reminded once again how God has blessed me with amazing family. Mom – you are the best and I love you so much!!