April 09, 2006
One Going on Eighteen
I never really understood what that saying meant, but I'm beginning to comprehend now. Sammy celebrated his first birthday in style yesterday with lots of friends. At Sam's request, we acquired a Sesame Street-themed cake for the adults, and a frosting-filled 'smash cake' for his personal enjoyment. He wasn't that interested in eating it, but did seem to get into the textures of frosting and cake-filled hands. A grand time was had by all. Here is the photo gallery.
technorati tags: sam, baby, birthday, first_time
Posted by jetrotz at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2006
Kangaroos First Brithday
The Grant Park Kangaroos Playgroup gathered at Chez Trotz this past week to celebrate the first birthdays for Sam, Henry and Shoshana. Photos are all by Amy (and they're great!). Click here to check out the gallery. Check here shortly for more pics from Sam's first birthday that we're celebrating today! Amazing to think it was one year ago today that our little guy came into our lives.
technorati tags: sam, grant park, playgroup, birthday, kangaroos, first
Posted by jetrotz at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
March 31, 2006
Back from Vacation
The entire family is now safely back in pollen-filled Atlanta, GA after a week in sometimes-sunny, but mostly-chilly Florida. I had a conference in St. Pete Beach with Solbright last Wednesday through Friday, then we headed down to Sarasota for quality time with Sam's grandparents. Sam had a great time at his first business conference, networking like a pro. For a couple of days, we mostly hung out and relaxed at home, which is exactly what I needed. We explored the beautiful Marie Selby Botanical Gardens while Sam was taking a nap one day (hoorah for macro lenses), and as you can see above, took Sam to the beach for the very first time. He absolutely LOVED it. I continue to be amazed by our little guy - he's babling and talking more than ever before, and surprised the heck out of dear old dad when we were flying home. I was trying to coax him to take a nap and we were putting his blanket over our heads. All on his own, he started playing peek-a-boo with me, pulling the blanket over his head and then back down, cackling like a little crazy boy when he'd show his face. Cute, cute, cute!
technorati tags: vacation, gallery, photography, sam
Posted by jetrotz at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2006
Sam Update
It's been too long since we bragged blogged about our little boy. He is now 11 months old, and continues to be cute as a button. He has been eating voraciously (loves his Dad's garlic spinach, bananas and obscure aged English cheddars) and wowing everyone he meets. Here's a collection of photos of our little guy from the past few weeks for those of you needing your Sam fix.
technorati tags: baby, sam, gallery, update
Posted by jetrotz at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
Saturday at the Playground
I returned late Friday night after a week of business travel, so family time was the order of the day. We headed over to the Grant Park playground, and ran into two other couples from Sam's Kangaroos Playgroup. Photo gallery is here. We hung out at the park before Sam, Ayden and Shonshanna (along with their parents) all gathered for an impromptu dinner at the new Redfish on Memorial Drive. Created by the same folks as Agave (which we love as a great old standby), the place was good and our waitron was most tolerant of our trio of babies. My shrimp/crab etoufee was very good, with a hearty and smoky brown roux dominating the flavors. Amy's wild salmon with a souffle of some sort on top was a bit salty, but apparently the wait staff sprinkles extra salt on just before serving. Just say no, next time!
technorati tags: playgroup, baby, redfish, agave, playground
Posted by jetrotz at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)
A quick trip to the zoo
Spring fever has taken hold. We headed out to ZooAtlanta last weekend to enjoy the lovely weather and to try and catch a glimpse of the new lion cubs. They were not on exhibit, but the brood of new Asian Otters were most entertaining. Gallery is here.
technorati tags: zoo, gallery, photography
Posted by jetrotz at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
A day at the aquarium
So we joined the brand-spanking new Georgia Aquarium last Fall, and soon after the opening discovered that you need roughly 6.5 years of advance booking to attend on a weekend.
Actually, it's more like 3-4 weeks, but being new-ish parents we just didn't have much luck planning that far ahead given our work schedules and the little guy. We did finally manage to visit last weekend, and managed to enjoy ourselves, taking photos along the way (gallery here). If you have an aversion to crowds, you may still want to hold off. The place does not handle the flow of visitors very well, with various eddies and tide pools of visitors bunching up and technorati tags: georgiaaquarium, photography, undersea
Posted by jetrotz at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
Sam can clap!
Not that we’d been trying to show Sam how to do this, but after taking him to Amy's performance with the Atlanta Ballet for the children's showing of Peter and the Wolf, 
he picked up on that whole 'applause' thing. While he remained entranced with the performers from our front-row seat (we took advantage of a no-show), he loved watching the dancers and hearing not just one, but FOUR French horns. But whenever the crowd broke into applause, he just had to turn around. So yesterday, he decided to spontaneously clap first for Mom, then again when Dad came home from work. He's a genius, I tell you! Click here to watch the video (Quicktime required).
technorati tags: sam, baby, clapping, atlanta ballet
Posted by jetrotz at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2006
Kangaroos Congregate!
In a bit of a role reversal, Sam's weekly playgroup was held on a weekend so the member's dads could get in on the action. Amy was working (Peter & the Wolf at the Fox with the Atlanta Ballet), so Sam and dad went stag. It's a great group of people, and a very photogenic group of little boys and girls. Here's the gallery. Above, Henry and Sam share one of the stand-up toys. And what do kangaroos have to do with our playgroup? Well, it has nothing to do with my name. However, it has everything to do with Zoo Atlanta being here in Grant Park, so each new crop of kids joins a playgroup named for an animal at our beloved zoo - and these guys were named after the set of marsupials that arrived while Amy was pregnant.
technorati tags: baby, playgroup, grant park
Posted by jetrotz at 02:22 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
Sam Movie Update
Our little guy 
has been so cute lately, talking in his own little language, laughing like a crazy guy, and just being a wonderful little boy. I shot these video clips I strung together on my Treo 650 phone, so the quality isn't great, but just hearing Sam is worth it. Follow this link to watch the video. It uses Quicktime, so have your plug-ins ready!
technorati tags: sam, video, moblog, baby
Posted by jetrotz at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2006
Another day at the Zoo
It was a mild morning this Sunday, so we trooped off to Zoo Atlanta for a bit of exercise. Of course, the tele lens and camera were in tow. Apparently due to some rain this morning, the place was nearly deserted. We were literally alone with the docent in the Panda exhibit. One was asleep, but the other was splayed out eating some of the thirty pounds of bamboo she scarfs on a daily basis. Sam really enjoyed the up close look.
The photo safari continues after the link...
technorati tags: zoo, sam, amy, gallery
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So Maybe There Is a Resemblance...
So my brother Jerry dug up this photo of me circa age 1 give or take. Compare and contrast with the second photo below of Sam - there certainly seems to be more of a resemblance than I'd realized....
Photo of yours truly at about 1 year, circa summer 1967.
Sam's photo below, at about ten months, December 2005.
technorati tags: sam, joey, baby photos
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January 25, 2006
Buh-bye!
Just a quick note. In one of his cutest moments to-date, Sam waved goodbye to me as I was leaving for work this morning. For those readers without kids, I'm sure you're like 'so what' - but let me tell you, it really tugs at the ol' heartstrings. He's such a cutie!
technorati tags: sam, baby, wave, goodbye
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January 21, 2006
Sam Starts Off the New Year with a Bang!
It has been far too long since the blog's been updated. The past several weeks have been awfully busy for everybody, so the blog has been neglected. Sam has been moving ahead by leaps and bounds. He had a great visit with his Uncle Jerry and Grandma Rita in Savannah a few weeks ago. He has also given his parents a wonderful present for the New Year - he is now sleeping through the night!!! (Most of the time, anyway). He wakes up on occasion, but now soothes himself back to a slumber. (Most of the time, anyway). He has also begun to table walk with a fervor - yesterday, he went round and round and round the coffee table in the living room. He also loves to push his baby walker around the house - or any other object he can lean on! Amy swears he's said the word 'YES' several times - but he doesn't have any idea he's said it.
It looks like we are entering the dreaded Teething Phase II (TPII). Looks like ol' snaggletooth will have a pair of pearly whites on top to match his bottom ones. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the whining, clinging and generally demanding waking phases give way once this teething is over. Of course, Mom and Dad just whine right back - which usually elicits one of Sam's trademark smiles.
Here's a photo update for those who need a Sam fix.
technorati tags: sam, baby, savannah
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December 28, 2005
First Channukah!
As you can see above, Sam thoroughly enjoyed his first Channukah. He was very excited about the paper, and even more so by the cute Gund doggie inside who his promptly began to spontaneously hug. More pics of the Sagan and Handelman's from Sarasota here.
technorati tags: sam, channukah
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December 22, 2005
Nothing big, just cute pics of Sam
Just felt the need to post some photos of our cute little guy. He's having a ball with the push-cart thingy our friend Jan gave him.
technorati tags: sam, baby, walking
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December 17, 2005
Sammy Update
The little guy just continues to amaze. As of last week, we've officially entered the world of Cheerios and other solid foods, and boy is he enjoying them! It's been great to watch as he can amuse himself for 30 minutes at a time eating them one-by-one, and he's also been getting into bits of chicken, bannana - whatever we put in front of him, really. Sam and I are spending lots of time bonding this month since Amy is playing umpteen Nutcrackers at the Fox Theater, so this has been great fun. New pictures coming soon.
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December 01, 2005
Sam revisits NYC
After Thanksgiving, I had work meetings Monday through Wednesday
in New York, so Amy and Sam joined me in the city. Here's a gallery of pics from that visit. Early plans to avoid Logan Airport on the Sunday after the holiday led us to book on the Amtrak Acela until a last-minute check on Saturday night revealed that the train provided no baggage check and limits riders to two bags per person. Not so helpful when traveling with baby Sammy. Booking the Delta Shuttle was quick, painless and no more expensive, and the afternoon at the airports was amazingly easy. The NY visit featured a walk through Times Square and past the Saks Fifth Avenue holiday windows, a date night for Amy and I at Carnegie Hall and Greek restaurant Molyvos, and a family dinner with the Golus/Trotz/Celedonia clans. The concert was wonderful - featuring the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by James Levine (who I spotted on our Delta Shuttle flight btw) playing one of Amy's faves, Mahler's 4th. The concert also featured Peter Lieberson's 'Neruda Songs,' a haunting set of movements set to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's love sonnets. And the vocalist was Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the composer's wife, 'natch. The New York Tims reviewed the concert's premiere the previous week in Boston. We sat with Amy's teacher Julie Landsman, principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera (also conducted by Levine). She's a peach of a person, and it was great to finally meet her.
technorati tags: sam, baby, new york city, carnegie hall, travel, symphony, music
Posted by jetrotz at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sam Update
I'm late in posting several important Sam updates. First of all, he had his second haircut the week before Thanksgiving. This time, we went much shorter, and boy does he look cute. His hair had been growing like wildfire, so we figured we'd avoid monthly haircuts by being a bit more aggressive this time around. In other news, we have TEETH! We suspect that this has been the cause of Sam's recent nighttime fussiness, but he seems to be on the rebound. He now has two of his lower front teeth poking out, and continues to love to chew on anything he can get his mouth on. ON a related note, Julie convinced us to let him try a Cheerio while we were in Boston for Thanksgiving, which he sort of choked down. We tried the following day again, this time with the little cereal bits softened with a bit of formula. That went much better for Sam and his parents. And in a final bit of news, Sam actually slept through the night on 11/29 while we were in NYC. We'd had a very long day with him the night before (dinner with the Golus/Celadonia clan at Serafina) and put him down around 10pm. When we woke up in the morning we realized he'd slept all night Hoorah!
technorati tags: sam, baby, baby, teething, cheerio
Posted by jetrotz at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thanksgiving in Boston
'Twas a lovely six days spent in Swampscott, Littleton and Boston with the my brother, Amy's sister, and the extended Trotz-Handelman-Sagan clans. Sam had a heck of a great time with all his cousins and was even happier than usual. This gallery includes photos of Mason's Thanksgiving pageant, turkey preparations and carving, an NHL game at the 'new' Boston Garden, Faneuil Hall, and lots of family photos (starring Sammy, of course!). Enjoy.
technorati tags: thanksgiving, sam, baby, boston
Posted by jetrotz at 04:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 31, 2005
Happy Halloween
Amy did a great job carving a goofy pumpkin, not to mention one for our little guy. Click this link to see a gallery of the Kangaroo's Playgroup trick or treating.
Technorati Tags: halloween, grant park, sam
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October 30, 2005
Sam digs this food thing!
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Halloween parade
Our little pumpkin joined a slew of his friends from playgroup and other neighborhood ghosts and goblins Saturday afternoon for an exciting parade around Grant Park. Sam enjoyed himself, as he loves to interact with other kids (not to mention adults). Amy was able to join the fun in between Atlanta Ballet shows at the Fox today. Click here or on the picture to see a gallery of photos. Gotta love that fish!
Technorati Tags: halloween, grant park, sam, pumpkin
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October 09, 2005
Bring on da grub!
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October 08, 2005
Sam's First Haircut!
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Sam's 6 Month Update
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October 03, 2005
Sam goes to NYC
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August 29, 2005
Sam's Ticker
Courtesy of Lillypie.com, this widget keeps track of how old Sam is. Time to update the javascript at the top of the page to something in months rather than just days...
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Lullaby, and good night
I've been meaning to post this photo of Sam at his most precious. Here he catches a few winks on our bed when we were in upstate New York for a wedding a few weeks ago. Cute, cute and cute!
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August 09, 2005
Sam Photos - July 2005
I'm trying to catch up on all the photos I've taken but not posted for the last month or so. Here now are pictures showing Sam with a really cool 'do, as well as a few where he demonstrates his amazing ability to hold himself up during 'Tummy Time.' As you can see, he's developing into quite the cute little guy!
Link: Sam Photos - July 2005 Gallery is here.
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iPod's cousin, iPood
This is a followup to last week's iPod onesies. Taking a bit more poetic license, this site creates baby clothing for slightly less likely to be closed down by Apple's attorneys. J!nx features stuff for what they call 'gamers, geeks and hackers,' like the 'Level 1 Human Baby Creeper' for all you AD&D fans out there, or the 'Hello, World!' outfit for the coders among us. iPood is probably more mass market, but all would look awfuly cute on Mr. Sam, 'natch.Posted by jetrotz at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 04, 2005
Baby Gastronomy
This answers the ongoing question of 'What do italian babies eat?' Prosciutto, of course! The Food Section also reports that pasta and biscotti are quite popular as well. Duh on those last two. Macaroni and zwieback, just I-talian-style. I think Sam would love this stuff - just as soon as he takes his fist out of his mouth. We will hold the line on solid foods for as long as possible, though.
(Via The Food Section).
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August 03, 2005
iPod My Baby
And I quote:Because the only thing cuter than a baby, is an iPodified baby.What that really means is unknown to yours truly, but it sure is an interesting concept. $15.95 from iPodMyBaby.com. Does anyone expect Apple's lawyers to take this one lying down? Expect a domain name change pronto. I do think, however, that Sam would look darn spiffy in one of these. (Via Engadget, via iLounge).
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July 29, 2005
Catching up with Sam
It's been a busy week for our little guy. Today, he turns sixteen weeks old. Amazing, really. He's already changed so much, and seems to find something new to amaze his parents with daily. Earlier this week, he decided that he really wants to sleep on his side. Trouble is, he sometimes rolls onto his stomach, and gets upset as he can't turn back over. We're working on that...He's also discovered he can reach his toes. He happily grabs both his feet and tugs and pulls on them for hours.
Yes, these sound like simple things - but they are amazing to watch - I highly recommend it!
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July 27, 2005
Shane Holland is having more offspring
My old buddy Shane and his wife Vicky have just let the world know that they are expecting child numero 2 in February 2006. Their 2-year old Ian, is still a bit confused about the whole pregnancy thing. According to Vicky's post:
Ian likes to lift my shirt and point to my belly and say 'baby'. But he also does that to Shane and my dad, so I think he is a little confused by the whole thing!
(Via Ian Xander Holland.)
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July 17, 2005
Rescue Stroller
Need to look into the Mountain Buggy Urban Double Stroller. According to published news reports, one of these $600 units collapsed around a baby girl and saved her from a building collapse in New York last week. Read the story here on CNN.com.
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July 11, 2005
Rollover
Big news today on the Sam front. Amy reports that during today's 'Tummy Time', Sam demonstrated his ability to rollover not once, not twice, but THREE times. At just over thirteen weeks, we think that's pretty cool. Picture updates to come shortly.
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July 05, 2005
First Fireworks
Emily and Warren Hutmacher were kind enough to invite a crowd over to their place in Avondale Estates for July 4th. It's a cute little town in the Atlanta environs where Warren is the city manager and wields the unique power to tell them when to start the show. Trouble is, he couldn't control the weather, too. After a brief thunderstorm, Sam was able to enjoy his first fireworks. No crying! Amazing!
Click here to view the gallery.
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June 19, 2005
Sam, His Tongue & the Red Sox
So I came home today from the 12+ hours of assisting with the launch of CNN.com's free video product on Saturday, and little Sam decided to demo his latest trick to me - the sticking the tongue out for some unknown reason. Cute as a button, that boy is! He's also become quite aware that his hands can grab and hold onto things - like his Boston Red Sox bear. Also cute. Check out the gallery photos here.
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June 12, 2005
Sam Talks Up a Storm (video)
It's movie day on Trotz.com. Here's epic number two in the ongoing Sam Trotz saga. This time, 8-week-old Samuel has a fascinating conversation with Amy. If anyone out there can translate, please let us know what he's trying to tell us. Link to video here (5MB, Quicktime required)
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Movie Magic
We love shooting video of little Sam. Trouble is, it's too doggone time consuming to edit the good stuff out, package it up, and post it on the blog. Anyway, here's a taste of Sam. He's cooing, wiggling and generally being a great little baby of late. Click on this link to view the video.
Editors Note: You'll need to have Quicktime installed, but in case you don't, it's an easy download. The movie is fairly large - 15 megabytes - so a fast connection is suggested. It will take 20-30 seconds for the video to start, so please be patient.
Posted by jetrotz at 03:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 11, 2005
Happy Sam
I woke up late to find Amy and Sam having some quality happy time on the couch. Sam was giggling, cooing and generally having a grand old time. We just love that smile he gives when he's gassy happy. Check out the gallery here.
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June 09, 2005
Shots All Around!
Sam succesfully completed his first round of shots this morning at his pediatricians office. He's been doing OK since, if a bit more cranky than usual. He weighs in now at 9 pounds 8 ounces, and he's grown three inches since birth. And his head is in the 50+% percentile (he gained two inches in his head, big brain boy that he is!).
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June 06, 2005
More from Zoo Atlanta
ZooAtlanta hosted a special night this past Saturday for friends and family of Northside Hospital babies. We joined friends for the special evening look at the zoo. See the photo gallery here.
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Sam on the Road
Well, not literally. But now Amy and I have a real understanding of military planning, logistics and supply lines. We packed the Rover full of gear to take Sam on his first road trip, down I-16/I-75 to Savannah on Memorial Day weekend. Grandma and Uncle Jerry enjoyed him immensely! See the photo gallery here.
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May 26, 2005
Sam's First Ball Game!
While I wish his first ball game had been to see the World Champion Boston Red Sox, we had to settle for my second favorite team. Turner Field, only a mile from our home in Grant Park, was the setting for a beautiful evening matchup between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. Six-week-old Samuel seemed to enjoy himself, sleeping through the first few innings in our Baby Bjorn (courtesy of Chet & Phyllis!), then waking up to enjoy the sights and sounds of America's greatest pastime. Check out the gallery here.
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May 14, 2005
May we see your family photos please?
We took advantage of my friend Paul while he and his family were visiting today to get our first 'official' family portrait. Paul, like me, was once a full-time photojournalist, but escaped that profession for the geekery that is internet development. Anywho, check out the image at right for a look at the photo.
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More Baby Intros....
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Click on the images at right for a larger view!
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Let's go see the baby...
Our dear friends Nikki and Paul were in town from Savannah this weekend, and high on their list of priorities was getting to meet Sam for the first time. Their daughter, Maddie, as well as our friend Shondra and her daughter Alondra came by to visit Saturday morning. Check out the photo gallery here.
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May 10, 2005
Have a Baby, Get a TiVO
Now they tell me. Parkland Hospital in Dallas (ya know, where they took JFK when he was shot) participated in a promotion with where new Mom's received TiVOs with lifetime subscriptions (around a $500 value) as a marketing effort to reach busy mothers. Parkland is reportedly one of the busiest maternity wards in the country at 40 births per day, but I think Atlanta's own Northside Hospital might give them a run for their money. Trouble is, the TiVO certificates were only in English (Parkland has a high percentage of Hispanic patients) and many recipients had no idea what a TiVO does. Too bad they didn't do this at Piedmont a few weeks ago, or we could have given birth to TiVO Trotz in the company's honor. Article at Dallasnews.com (registration required).
Caption: Clad in a TiVo cap, a newborn poses with a plush toy. His mother received a new recorder with lifetime service Friday. Tom Fox/DMN
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May 01, 2005
More Sam Gallery Updates
Yes, it's 3:50 a.m. and I'm blogging. I got the 2:45 feeding this morning, and decided to take advantage of a few moments and get some new photos of littlest Sam up on the web. Please take a gander at these - he's such a cutie, I can barely stand it!
-- Sam gets comfortable at home
AND
-- Sam's Quiet Alert Phase
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Babies Coming out of the Woodwork
Our friends Jeff & Paige Diecks welcomed their little one into the world on Friday. Jeff and I have been commiserating at work about preparing for our babies, now we can commiserate about lack of sleep. Woohoo! Mom and baby Avery Lane Diecks are doing fine, and should be home Sunday. She is 5 pounds, 8.8 ounces and 18 inches long. She arrived on Friday, April 29 at 5:48 p.m, not long after Amy and I finished a visit to our peditrician just around the corner from the hospital where little Avery was born. We'd have brought in some Abit and etouffe if we'd only known!
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April 17, 2005
Sam Gallery Updates
Apologies for the absence of updates here on the blog. But newborn babies have a way of sucking all your time, energy and ability to sit down at a computer and type, post photos, etc. Hopefully, this will get better. Anyway, there are two new gallery entries featuring Little Sam. The first are more photos from our last couple of days at the hospital, then another as we headed home and Sam was able to meet with family and friends. More to come soon!
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April 10, 2005
Sam's First Photo Gallery
I've made a quick run home to take care of some errands and take advantage of the broadband connection to upload some better photos (not taken with my cameraphone like on the moblog here). As you can see, these photos of Sam from his first day in this world show just what a cutie he is. And look at that hair! More updates to follow....
Photos: View the new photo gallery here.
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April 08, 2005
Samuel Herman Trotz
Arrived at 9:30 am.
6 lbs 10 ozs
19.5 inches
Mom and baby are doing great. first photo in moblog
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April 07, 2005
40 Weeks + 7
Today we are at 41 weeks, and more ready than ever. Yesterday featured some excitement. Amy had her weekly appointment with her OB, and the doctor didn't see enough activity to her liking on the non-stress test baby monitor in the office. So off went Amy across the street to Piedmont Hospital for a more accurate test, which might involve dosing her with petosin as they did during our version a few weeks back. Amy called me at work, so I immediately left, swung by the house in a frenzy and gathered (a) the camera bag (b) her pillows and (c) her clothes. Just as I walked into the hospital she called and said she had the all-clear! Baby was doing absolutely fine, and they were glad to see a few mild but irregularly timed contractions with no ill-effects on our baby. Just another case of better safe than sorry.
After that experience, we thought we should try another Atlanta-area restaurant with a reputation for bringing on labor - McKinnon's Louisianne in Buckhead. Amy had the fried eggplant sticks along with her eggplant seafood casserole. Here is their promise:
And speaking of dishes and traditions, Mckinnon's stuffed eggplant (a casserole with shrimp, crab and eggplant to die for) is guaranteed to get an expectant and past due mom to deliver. Billy says, "if an expectant mom is a day over 9 months and has my stuffed eggplant, we will promise baby in 48 hours or dinner is "on the house." Needless to say there is quite a parade of past due parents at the restaurant.Yes, we are getting desperate!
So far, nothing to report, other than a very full belly for both of us.
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April 04, 2005
Masters Baby?
So far, the eggplant doesn't seem to have sped this along. We have until about 7 p.m. tonight until Scalini's free dinner and t-shirt deal expire. Oh well. As I'm sure my brother-in-law Scott would attest, this is all probably just a conspiracy to make sure that our baby arrives right around 7 p.m. this Sunday, just as the Masters tournament concludes. I'm sure they have CBS on the hospital tv system, so hopefully Amy will find the azaleas and green grass have a calming effect. A guy can hope, right?
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PII and Your Baby
Several blogs I check out regularly (including BoingBoing and DaddyTypes) point to this posting at Debris.com telling the woeful tale of a company which has insinuated itself into the hospital L&D process, and seem to generally take advantage of a very hectic time in new parents lives by sucking your personally identifiable info (PII). They promise a 'free' portrait of your new child - but that's essentially in exchange for becoming fodder for Growing Family's list sales efforts. Growing Family's privacy policy - you know, the one you don't read 'cause your in freaking LABOR - gives them the right to share your private information with anyone.
Growing Family will use your information from time to time to promote additional products, services, rewards and special offers from Growing Family Network and its select Network Partners.As Debris.com so appropriately notes - 'My point is not that Growing Family was deceitful. My point is that, to my dismay, caveat emptor begins at birth.
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April 02, 2005
Eggplant Update
We're getting tired of waiting. So we headed up to Smyrna for dinner tonight to see if Scalini's Eggplant Parmesan has its desired effect. We're registered there now - so if Baby Trotz comes along by 6:50 p.m. on Monday night, Amy and I get a free dinner, a Scalini's t-shirt for the baby, and our photo immortalized on the wall, right beside clippings from People, Southern Living and other area newspapers. The food was not bad at all, and the portions huge. Amy (obviously) had the Eggplant Parm, and I had the Veal Marsala. But the whole thing may actually revolve around the fluffy rolls they serve, literally doused with warm olive oil that has about four garlic cloves chopped up and sauteed. Homer says 'Mmmmmmmmmmm garlic!' (so do Joey & Amy). More reports to follow.....
Posted by jetrotz at 08:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 01, 2005
Eggplant, Do Your Thing!
So we are +1 and counting, and we'd really like to get this thing going. So, based on what we've heard, we decided to try making some eggplant for dinner last night. We made a simple roast of the eggplant with lots of garlic, but it didn't seem to help. I think we may need to go the traditional parmesan route to get the correct effect. These rumours are all over the web - that eggplant is one way of naturally helping labor get moving. This page points out that it's probably not the eggplant - more likely the basil and oregano. Most of these stories apparently stem from a restaurant right in our backyard - Scalini's in Smyrna, Georgia. To date, more than 300 of the pregnant women customers who ordered their eggplant have given birth within 48 hours, and the restaurant dubs them the "eggplant babies." If it doesn't work in two days, the moms-to-be get a gift certificate for another meal. Their walls are covered with photos of these moms and their babies. I think we may need to head up there on Saturday night! Here is the recipe:
Eggplant Parmigiana Alla Scalini's
Ingredients
# 3 medium sized eggplants
# 1 cup flour
# 6 eggs, beaten
# 4 cups fine Italian bread crumbs, seasoned
# Olive oil for sauteing
# 8 cups of marinara sauce (recipe below)
# 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
# 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
# 1 1/2 pounds of mozzarella cheese, shredded
# 2 cups of ricotta cheese
Directions
1. After you wash the eggplant, slice them into 1/4-inch thick slices. You may choose to peel the eggplant before you slice it. However, you may want to leave the skin on since it contains a lot of vitamins.
2. Place the eggplant slices on a layer of paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt, then cover with another layer of paper towels and hold it down with something heavy to drain the excess moisture. Let them sit for about an hour.
3. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dust with flour, dip in beaten eggs, then coat well with breadcrumbs.
4. Saute in preheated olive oil on both sides until golden brown.
5. In baking dish, alternate layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices, ricotta, parmesan and Romano cheeses, until you fill the baking dish, about 1/8 inch from the top. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Scalini's Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
# 2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic
# 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
# 8 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
# 1 cup onions, chopped
# 1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley
# 1 teaspoon oregano
# 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
# 1/8 cup of fresh chopped sweet basil
# Pinch of thyme
# Pinch of rosemary
# One teaspoon salt
# One teaspoon black pepper
Directions
1. Lightly saute the onions in olive oil in large pot for a few minutes.
2. Add garlic and saute another minute.
3. Add tomatoes and bring sauce to a boil, then turn heat low.
4. Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.
Mmmm. Yummy.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 31, 2005
Fugitive Baby
For the 'this is not going to happen to us, right?' category, CNN.com reports this morning on a woman who gave birth in her car at a gas station, then went on to drive herself to the hospital. Due to a mixup with the dispatch officers, police pulled the car over and ordered the mother out at gunpoint. When they saw the baby still attached by the umbilical cord, they got her to the hospital. Yikes!
And on a more personal note - no news on Baby Trotz. Today was to be the day, but no activity yet. A big storm blew threw Atlanta this morning, and we hoped that either (a) the powerful thunder brings on labor or (b) the lower atmospheric pressure helps things along. Or we can wait until tomorrow, when Amy's cousin Miriam was born!
Posted by jetrotz at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 30, 2005
The Penultimate Day
I've been partial to the month of March for our baby's birth day, but April is good too. My family is anxious for the actual day because the longer this goes on, the greater the possibility of coinciding with my cousin's Bar Mitzvah in Rochester, school vacations, Passover, etc. Hey everyone, I'll see what I can do to accomodate, but won't make any guarantees!
Amy
Posted by amy at 10:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
24 hours and counting!
Not too much to report. Amy is doing fine, but baby doesn't seem to be in a hurry. It's certainly cramped in there at this point - it's clear that the baby tries to stretch out and pokes and prods Amy's belly so hard that you can see/feel a foot/heel at times. We're getting used to the fact that the baby is going to take its sweet time. My next task is implementing a countup script to replace the countdown clock at the top of the blog tomorrow.
Posted by jetrotz at 09:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 28, 2005
Two
So, we have TWO days left until the due date. But, we have a feeling that 'b-day' may come and go. Gotta get used to the idea of an April baby, I guess! Amy's visit to her doctor today went smoothly. Baby is fine, but very little to report otherwise. We'll see our main doctor next Wednesday, which will be six days after the due date. We'll probably have a better idea of what's up at that point. But then again, we might have the baby this weekend (which would be great, 'cause Amy's doctor is on-call)!
Posted by jetrotz at 07:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 27, 2005
Trois
It's raining cats and dogs in Atlanta this weekend, so Amy and I spent our time mostly indoors making sure everything is just so in the Baby's room. As I mentioned earlier, we had a set of nine photographs of mine taken at the Atlanta Zoo framed in groups of three for the room, and we spent Saturday afternoon hanging them. It looks great, IIMSSM (if I may say so myself!). Amy has managed to get in a few long walks between storms, and we hope this helps the baby decide 'now is the time!'
Posted by jetrotz at 08:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 26, 2005
Six, Five, Four
We are getting very close, people! Amy is still doing fine. No sign yet that this little one wants to arrive anytime soon, though. I had a dream that the baby was hugging me around the neck last night. And sister-in-law Abi called to say that she dreamt someone was having a baby (looked like Amy) and the baby was laughing. She thinks today is the day. I don't know that the baby agrees, however! Pictured at right is Amy's belly on Thursday.
And since the baby hasn't arrived, Amy and I took advantage of the delay and went to the Atlanta Symphony Friday night. First, right across the street from the Woodruff we checked out Shout, one of Tom Catherall's string of succesful 'see and be seen' restaurants around town. Woah, nelly! The place had throbbing house music, pappadum flatbreads, sushi, and a nice tagine. Yummy. Our dear friend Laura Najarian was subbing for one of the basoonists with the ASO, and it was great to see her onstage performing Maurice Ravel's Alborada del gracioso (1905), Mozart's Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K.543 (1788), and then the amazing Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky. This may have been one of our last outings to a venue like this for a while, so we made the most of it, getting snacks and drinks with Laura post-show at the nearby South City Kitchen, watching all the hipsters arrive on Cresent Ave. for an evening of drinking, etc. Heading back to Shout to get our car, it was a whole new variety of people watching as the urban crowd filled the restaurant to overflowing. Most entertaining.
Posted by jetrotz at 09:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 23, 2005
7 Days....
Today you, dear reader, have a NEW blogging author. The one with the belly! Look for more posts from Amy in the future. Anyway, today was one of my favorite activities - my twice weekly water aerobics for preganant ladies at the YMCA. The water always feels so good no matter how tired I am. Besides getting exercise, it's a wonderful opportunity to meet other women in my condition and to share stories and ideas for what we're all experiencing. And for those of you keeping track, the 10 kicks arrived by 11am, a 1 and 1-half hour improvement over yesterday! Woohoo!
Posted by amy at 08:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 22, 2005
8 days
We're at T-8, and we have settled on a pediatrician. Last week, we interviewed a highly recommended doctor, and looks like we'll stick with her. She's Dr. Debby Pollack of the Dekalb Pediatric Center. Unlike when I was a kid going to Dr. 'Buddy' Portman, they now have separate sick and well waiting rooms. Makes sense, no? I like their practice most of all due to the panda bear theme. It's close (Decatur), convenient (no highways), and they are on call 24/7. More updates tomorrow.
Posted by jetrotz at 09:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2005
9 days
Today was a good pregnancy day. Amy had a doctor's visit (Dr. Fisch) this time), and baby and mom received clean bills of health. This was Amy's first visit with Dr. Fish, and she spent quite a long time. We now have a 'kick-sheet' to keep track of the baby's activity - ten movements in ten hours or we call the doctor. So far, that doesn't look like it's going to be a problem - Amy gets punched and kicked every few minutes or so it seems. It would have been cool to have the baby today - the new baby Trotz could have shared my brother Seth's birthday, the first day of Spring!
Posted by jetrotz at 07:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
10 Days and Counting
This is it. Ten days till Baby Trotz is due. From here on out, I plan to try to blog daily as we enter the final stretch. And stretching we are - Amy feels like it's a whole new ball game recently - the baby's new head-down position has made the last few weeks a whole lot more interesting. We bought a large inflatable birth ball to help ease the stress on her pelvis. Amy loves it. As for other preparations, we picked up the glider from The Baby's Room on Saturday, and it looks great in the room. We also had to visit our new neighborhood Target on Moreland Ave (Yay! No more trips to Buckhead for Target!) and picked up a CD/ClockRadio/Nature Sound Machine for the room. And I've finally found a good use for that old Lava Lamp - it'll make a groovy night-light. We also picked up one part of the artwork we were having framed for the room on Saturday. As you faithful readers know, we're going with the animal theme for the room. Amy saw a nice idea where three book illustrations were matted together into a bigger piece, but we've done something similar, except with photos of mine from the Atlanta Zoo. We'll have three of these in the room, and the first set featuring a lioness yawning, a zebra looking over his shoulder, and a giraffe stretching his neck looks great! We used a spiffy brown glossy burlwood frame and safari-esque pale green rice paper for the matte. Come on by and see it sometime!
Posted by jetrotz at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2005
Turn Around
The ECV this morning was successful! After a dose of terbutaline (which relaxes the womb), Amy took a deep breath and the doctor proceeded to knead her belly, gradually pushing first the head, then the feet, into a head-down position. It took two attempts, but the baby finally turned. Amy showed incredible strength during what looked pretty darn uncomfortable. We then stayed in the labor and delivery room to monitor the baby. The expected outcome is a fairly active baby after the procedure, but Baby Trotz stayed very quiet for quite a while. An IV sugar drip was one attempt at kick-starting activity, and then, a small drip of petosin, to see how the baby would tolerate actual labor. If they saw anything negative at that point in the baby's heartbeat, they would have induced right then and there! While we were mentally ready for a Cesearean, we had no concept we might have a vaginal birth today. Obviously, things turned out fine, and the doc was happy with Baby Trotz's reactions to mild contractions, so they fed us some yummy hospital food and sent us on our way. Stay tuned!
Posted by jetrotz at 03:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 09, 2005
Time to Rotate
Just a quick note - we're going in at 9am tomorrow for the ECV to see if this stubborn baby will turn or not. The doctor says it's 50% effective - and we'll know quickly. And, reassuringly, less than 1% of ECVs result in fetal distress, so Amy and I are both reassured. It's a very slim chance baby Trotz will arrive tomorrow from complications. But if the ECV doesn't 'take,' we'll will likely schedule the Cesearean birth between March 21st and 31st. Mark your calendars!
Posted by jetrotz at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Breech Baby, Breech Baby
So, we're in week 37. Can you believe it? But baby Trotz has decided that nestling transversely across Amy's pelvis is the place to be. We are heading into the doctor's today to determine if a external cephalic version (ECV) is in order - that's when the doc tells you to take a deep breath, and manually pushes the baby around in your womb to try to get them head first. In preparation for this, Amy has been lying more or less on her head (supposedly makes the baby move around to a more comfortable position). But any slight moves by the baby in the right direction seem to go away as soon as Amy starts playing her horn. Baby Trotz seems to want to turn their head right back to the bell! A budding musician, I guess. Did I mention that our house smells like an opium den now?
Last night Amy broke out a Chinese herbal 'do it yourself' solution. The heat from burning moxa sticks can also be used to stimulate the baby's movements and encourage it to turn. There's a great site which explains the procedure, and the basis for the process in Eastern medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine uses moxibustion (burning herbs to stimulate acupuncture points) of acupoint BL 67 (Zhiyin, located beside the outer corner of the fifth toenail), to promote version of fetuses in breech presentation.
The process involves burning these sticks less than 1" away from the little toes on either foot (see photo). I hope it works, cause they stink up the house something awful! Anyway, this treatment is succesful with approximately 70% of patients.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2005
Rollin' Babies
It's just amazing. That's all I can tell you. At this point, with 41 days to go, the baby's head can be felt clearly, pushing against Amy's belly on the upper right side. That puts the feet down near her bladder. And since the little one seems to like practicing soccer goals, Amy isn't enjoying all that activity. The baby is also getting sound sensitive. When I make noises near Amy's belly, the baby moves around. And when Amy was playing her horn yesterday, the baby actually settled down and stopped moving. I told Amy that either the little one is entranced by the music, or petrified by the blast of sound. You be the judge.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2005
Getting Ready
The last several weekends have been a blur of activity. Several hours of breastfeeding classes, followed by trips hither and yon to seemingly every baby store in the Greater Atlanta Metro area. There is just so much to buy in preparation for a baby, and the military-industrial complex (by that, I mean Babies-R-Us) makes you think you need to buy two of everything in their stores. But if Baby Trotz arrived tomorrow, we'd be just about ready - just need to buy the 600 diapers the books suggest we have on hand at the outset. I'm most excited about the gadgets (read the extended entry) and the print we selected for the nursery. We're going with an Animal/Zoo theme, and this retro/mod print from Carousel Designs is cute without being annoying. What do you think?
I would highly recommend you buy one book to help make pre-Baby shopping more economical, sensible, and less stressful. Baby Bargains is a godsend. These folks break it all down, and make sense of it all. We've also relied heavily on my friends Hart & Cella's 'What to Buy for Baby' list. It's been a great reference, too. We bought a lot of our gear at a great local store - The Baby's Room. The owner's son is a Red Sox/Patriots fanatic, so we could at least talk sports while doing the baby shopping. The store was littered with 'Red Sox Nation Crib Specials' and 'Patriots Dynasty Glider Sets.' Hilarious.
Anyway, we've filled in a great many of the essentials.
Crib - Pali Denise in Cognac, made from European Beechwood. Single drop-side, with a drawer beneath. Simple, clean lines, and it didn't break the bank.
Glider - A super deal on a combo glider/ottoman from Best Chairs for a few hundred less than Dutalier offers for theirs.
Baby Monitor - What a freaking disappointment. This was the one 'baby gadget' I was sure I'd have a blast researching. Guess what - most of them suck, apparently, using 49MHz frequencies. Even the 'high-end' ones running in the 900MHz band are not encrypted or trunked. Even a basic walkie-talkie you can buy at Galyans has these features. There are some new models offering 2.4Ghz communications - great, so I can listen to my baby in between squeals and pops from my Wi-Fi network at home. We tried a Fisher Price Sound N Lights Monitor with Dual Receivers, but the staic was horrendous, no matter which of the generous TWO channels we tried using. That one went back to the store, and we took home the Sony Baby Call Nursery Monitor. Not imaginatively named, but this little baby works at 900Mhz, and has 27 channels. The static is non-existent, but it still peeves me that there is no better tech than this. Sure, I might setup an iSight on a long firewire cable from the home office next door to the nursery, and I could route that to a VNC client on my Treo or something, but that seems like a lot of trouble. Sorry, I had to rant about that one.
Stroller - Based on several friends suggestions, we went with the 2004 Zooper zStreet stroller. We've heard some anecdotal stories about the 2005 zStreets having some problems, but nothing but raves for the 2003. We found this one from liquidbaby on eBay, and at $99, we can try it and see how well it works.
Car Seat - We settled on the affordable and highly rated Graco Snugride from Target in the 'Kentshire' pattern. It's funny - every store that carries these Snugrides have them in different colors. Boutiques get two or three, Babies-r-Us another set, and Target yet another. This simple design should be fine until the little critter outgrows it. It snaps into the Zooper without too much fuss.
Bassinet/Playpen - We'd held off on getting one of these, as we thought we might borrow a friend's bassinet. She's lent hers to another friend, and considering we're all for saving steps walking to another room while the baby is a still a newborn, we went for what all the books and Consumer Reports call the favorite - the Graco Pack and Play in Clarion print from Babies-r-Us. Of course - same pattern issues here. Babies-r-Us has their patterns, Target others, etc. But we liked this one. You may think it looks like vomit. But hey, that's only one of many organic compounds we expect to see on this thing.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
TMBG New Kids on the Block
My favorite geek band, They Might be Giants, is releasing their second kids collection tomorrow. Hat tip to Daddytypes blog for the heads-up. With Baby Trotz on the way, I'm dreading the insipid, tenative and timid junk which passes for most 'Children's Music' -- but TMBG's Here Come the ABC's (CD and DVD) should be a welcome respite from most of that. My friends John and Jana played a lot of TMBG for their twins when they were younger - and yeah, they did have some trouble explaining why the boys liked to sing S-E-X-X-Y in preschool. These songs should be a bit more age appropriate. Amazon has an interview with the band, and the TMBG site has some DVD video samples.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
Is that an Elbow?
Baby Trotz is coming along nicely. Amy still has plenty of energy - enough to play two gigs daily recently for the Fox Theater production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, anyway! A bit tired from time to time, but nothing too bad. And sleeping is getting tough. Anyway, we're now at the point where we can feel the little one stretching their legs/feet/hands - enough so that we can feel it when we touch Amy's belly. Crazy stuff. My brother described his twins looking like sharks under his wife's stomach in their later stages, so I guess this is typical, even without twins.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 20, 2004
Baby List
As we hit the 100-days-and-counting milestone until baby Trotz arrives, I'm beginning to think more about what all we have to get into the house in preparation for the big arrival. Amy reminded me that my friend Hart Hooton and his wife Cella graciously sent us a 'must-have' list they created and shared with their friends. I thought others might find this useful, too, so here you go.
What to think about when you're expecting (from my friends Hart and Cella)
BIG STUFF
1) A place for the baby to sleep. We like a bassinet because you can
wheel it around. Other people use Moses baskets or, for those who want
the baby in the same room, attachments to their own beds (co-sleepers).
Babies don't need cribs till they're about 4 months old.
2) An infant car seat. Also get a neck donut, which holds a small
baby's head upright in the car seat or other seat. The baby stores sell
neck donuts.
3) A swing. Some babies like this and some don't. Hudson thinks it's
the greatest thing ever invented; Giovanna was fairly neutral about it.
Newborns cry ALOT and for some babies this is the best way, short of
carrying them around, of buying yourself enough cry-free time to read
the paper or cook dinner or talk on the phone.
4) A bouncer seat. These are really inexpensive and a nice addition.
Be sure to get one that has a toy bar across the top. The newborn won't
notice but by 3 months or so they'll love playing with it.
5) A baby carrier. There are two kinds, a sling and a snugli. I've
only used the snugli, and mine is from Baby Bjorn. I have friends who
swear by the sling, but it was too hard for me to use.
6) A place to change the baby that is nearby a place where you can put a
bunch of baby toilettries. A changing table is great but a bed can do
just fine. We are right now using a "Rumble Tuff" which is a changing
top that you can fasten on to a dresser. It saved us some room. You
can get Rumble Tuffs at any baby store. If you use a rumble tuff you
will also need 4-6 covers for it.
7) One or more Diaper Genies, and up to 10 or so refills so you don't
have to go chasing after them. I've had other brands of diaper
disposers, and find Diaper Genie works much better.
8) A mode of transport - for an infant, this is either a baby carriage
or a stroller adopter that lets you stick the car seat in it. Carriages
work for babies up to about four months old; most carriages convert to
strollers but they're much heavier and harder to fold up than regular
strollers.
9) A baby bathtub
SMALLER STUFF
10) Sheets, pads, waterproof pads for the bassinet and crib, and a
bumper for the crib. DO NOT BUY "REGAL" BRAND. They're the most
prevalent but they flunked a bunch of safety tests a few years back.
The highest rated brands were from Land's End and Company Store.
Anything else for the crib, like frills and stuff, is entirely
voluntary. Babies shouldn't have blankets, pillows or soft toys in the
crib.
11) Three or four packages of newborn diapers. I really think all the
brands are pretty much alike in quality, but I like the regular old
pampers (not the premium ones) best because the fasteners work.
12) Two packages of cloth diapers, with one dozen diapers per package.
I'd never use cloth diapers for diapers - too much work - but they're
great for cleaning up and wearing on your shoulder to catch spit-up.
13) Towels and washcloths. There are very nice towels and washcloths
made for babies, which we used for Giovanna. But of course for Hud