Susannah gets hiccups from laughing

Spring BreaK 2009

Grandma's in town so she never gets put down.















Plastic water bottles are her new favorite toys. So are hairbrushes, pill bottles, tubes of toothpaste, spatulas, magazines and pretty much everything else around our apartment that doesn't look like a toy.



















First bowl of pasta was a winner.



















Learning to brush her teeth.

























































This one's a few weeks old but it was too cute not to post.

Baby Party: Chicago Edition

Much to my surprise, Susannah and I ended up going a little trip that I had planned months ago, before all the medical stuff got so out of hand. She has been doing very well lately and so we decided to go for a long weekend to meet up with old and new friends in Chicago.

It was a reunion of friends from my days at CU-Boulder. All the adults featured in these pictures were once 18-year-olds running loose in the same dormitory. The last time we hung out was when Tracy and Mike got married in October 2007. Three days before their wedding I found out I was pregnant and these girls were the first people I told. And now Tracy and Mike have precious baby Cate -- only 10 weeks old -- so it was time for a baby party, Chicago-style.

Here's Tracy and I still a little shocked that we are old enough to have babies.















Dawn, Tracy, me, Emily and strollers at the Lincoln Park Zoo.















The new bff's.



















Susannah was being flirtatious all weekend with Cate's dad Mike. I told her repeatedly that he was too old for her.



















We turned their two-bedroom apartment into one long slumber party. It was sort of like the dorms again, only with babies instead of pot....















.... and with a lot better food. Chef Dawn cooked the most amazing meals for us with Emily as her co-pilot.



















All in all, it was a much needed break for mommy and baby. Thanks to the Cassidys for hosting! Maybe next time.... Disney World?

Susannah Swings

The temp hit 61+ degrees today in Brooklyn and we joined many other families who had been suffering from cabin fever in the local park for some swingin. Susannah LOVES swinging.

Susannah - 9 months; Ben & Beth - 360 months each

After a rough patch in the middle, February has come to a fun and relaxing close. Ben and I both turned thirty and Saturday marked Susannah's nine-month birthday! She's had a great week and is noticeably plumper. She's really into feeding herself these Gerber puffs, which are like Cheerios but dissolve a little faster. (They are also sweet potato flavored, ew.) We've been swinging at the playground (on non 20-degree days) and made it to a baby/mommy yoga class.

Sitting up in her crib is another new favorite activity.


















































































Gotta watch out for those hands -- she'll poke your eye out.














Now if I could only figure out how to get both of these toys in my mouth...



















Fun with aunt Christie - pajamas at noon on Sunday.






Welcome to our new Saturday night.





Thanks to everyone for your emails and letters. We are looking forward to the appointment with the urologist this week.

The Oscars are Long but this Entry is Short

Well, as most everybody already knows, we were at the hospital with Susannah last week. She got another UTI we found out Friday night; Saturday morning she started a new antibiotic; Saturday afternoon she ran a fever; Saturday night we were at the emergency room. She was on i.v. antibiotics for 48 hours followed by oral antibiotics. She did fine.

Tuesday afternoon we came home. Unfortunately she caught a nasty cold at the hospital and Tuesday night and Wednesday were stressful because her fever came back in addition to a harsh cough, snotty nose and little bit of vomiting. We were worried that maybe the UTI was still not under control, but once the fever passed Wednesday night we all felt a lot better and knew it was just a cold.

There are a lot of details that I will skip. In short, it was rough and things are better now. Everyone knows this is a sucky situation. It will get better once she has her ureters reattached, and we will meet with the urologist in early March in hopes of setting a date for that surgery. Until then all we can do is endure and help make Susannah as happy as possible.

This blog was intended to keep Susannah's admirers abreast of her adventures here in the big city. Here's to fewer medical updates and more about the fun she is having.


Playing with Grandma Moonpie



















Making herself at home in the hospital

















Checking out the chickens in Chinatown













A busy Sunday morning with Dad



















Little monkey's favorite monkey

Aplins Finally Leave Apartment (with Baby and Camera)

A balmy day in February, so we get adventurous and head into Manhattan to meet Ben-David and James for brunch. Susannah, who thinks we are going to another doctor's appointment, is not very happy at this moment.



















This is S after we let her gnaw on a piece of bread for half an hour. She thinks brunch is much better than apple sauce in the high chair.













James points out the finer points of NoLita to Susannita.


















Making our way through Chinatown. She's looking around for possible doctor's offices.













Sch-a-wing!

































Swinging in the Lower East Side. Hipsters in fixed-gear bikes were playing bike polo one block south and no junkies or dead rats to be found.