bumbo

We noticed that Victoria has been holding her head up on her own for long periods of time. In fact, she seems to often want to be upright -- standing or sitting -- and unhappy when she is laying down. I decided it was time for a Bumbo ...


The molded foam supports her so that she can sit up! She loves it. And I found it at a used children's store, which was even better.


Now she can be sitting up and we can sit in front of her to interact with her. It's really fun when she can sit with us at breakfast or dinner and "talk" with us!

Daddy snapped a few other cute pics of her ...



And this one, showing her standing ... her legs are quite strong and she can hold her own weight on them for long periods of time. She also loves doing little baby squats, bending down and standing up repeatedly. She is one active girl!

let the season begin!

The late winter months, which in so many ways are boring, boring, boring, became infinitely more exciting when I embraced them as the season to plan for the year's garden. It is the time for perusing seed catalogs, taking stock of what I have, ordering seeds and supplies, and starting those seeds that need extra time to grow. Since I spent the morning putting together my seed orders for the year, I figured I'd share my list of what I'm planning to grow. Some varieties are tried and true favorites, some are new, and all of them will be interesting to grow in the new climate and soil up north.

Asparagus - Jersey Knight. In the Cities, I had purchased plants from a garden center. I don't know of a good garden center nearby that will have what I'm looking for (my goal for this year is to spend time looking at garden centers so I have a better local resource), so I'm going to try to grow them from seed.

Green Beans - Bush Bean Trio. I love this packet of three varieties ... it has proved very productive year after year!

Tomatoes - my favorite tomato is Sun Gold, a yellow/orange cherry tomato with a very unique flavor. I simply cannot live without them -- if I had to choose only one thing to grow in my garden, this would be it. I have some leftover seeds from previous years with other varieties I will grow, including Celebrity and Beefsteak (I haven't loved the flavor of either of these, so far) and Brandywine. Brandywine is an heirloom variety that people rave about, but I simply haven't been able to get them to be very productive and, truth be told, the cracking on the fruits bothers me. I'd be willing to put up with these down sides if it had the amazing tomato flavor I keep hearing of ... but I'll give them another try, since I still have the seeds.

Brussels Sprouts - Diablo. The secret to tasty brussels sprouts is to wait to harvest them until after a good fall frost.

Carrots - Scarlet Nantes. A proven variety, I have grown this in containers, raised beds, and in the ground, in the Cities and up north, and have always had wonderful yields.

Cucumbers - Corinto. I'm excited to try this variety this year. We love cucumbers and haven't yet been able to get plants as productive as we would like. This new variety promises "excellent flavor," with "early and continuous vigorous production ... despite cool weather or heat." Sounds perfect, right?

Chard - Bright Lights and Ruby Red. I love chard so much it would be my #2 thing to grow in the garden.

Squash - I don't remember the name offhand, but I have a packet of acorn squash from last year and will try those again this year.

Garlic - last fall I planted two kinds of garlic, a soft neck and hard neck variety. They will be ready for harvest this summer, and assuming all goes well I will save some to replant this fall as well.

Greens - For salads and sandwiches, I chose a mix of greens. The variety of greens available is mind boggling, and since I haven't tried them all, I simply chose the one with a picture that looked yummy. I admit ... I'm no expert!

Scallions - White Spear. I had wanted to try the "Guardsman" variety from Johnny's, but they were sold out. Bummer.

Onions - I bought an onion sets that should give me earlier onions, and a storage variety called Copra, which promises "extremely long storing ability."

Parsnips - Lancer. I love the sweetness of parsnips. All the varieties in my Johnny's catalog sounded great, but this one should be "very sweet" with a "high germination rate."

Sweet Peppers - I have a variety from a previous year called California Wonder and chose a new variety called Lipstick, since "many consider Lipstick the most delicious sweet pepper." Sounds like one I simply had to try. On a side note, I've grown hot peppers in previous years but have found we simply don't eat them.

Zucchini - Black Beauty. Another favorite variety from Botanical Interests.

Basil - Genovese. This is the standard Italian pesto variety, and I make as much pesto as I can. I buy olive oil in bulk and freeze pesto ... works great!

Cilantro - can't remember the variety on this one, but it is a packet I have from previous years. I love cilantro but always struggle with it bolting too fast.

Kale - Italian Nero. I'm not sure how much we will eat kale, but plan to grow it as a late-season green.

Broccoli - Di Cicco. I tried growing this in the Cities and was only mildly successful. I have a lot to learn about growing broccoli, particularly how to get a bunch big enough to be harvested. I only got tiny florets before it bolted. Maybe I planted it too late in the year?

Eggplant - Black Beauty. When I grew this the first time in the Cities, I prepared myself for a long struggle, as I assumed it would be difficult to grow. It certainly took some time and care, but I ended up with a very successful harvest. We'll see if I can be as successful up north!

I also ordered some seedling trays, leak-proof trays, and a soil mix to start seeds.

While coming up with the list for this year, I started to dream about my garden in the years to come. I have so much to do to get my gardens where I want them to be! The cool thing about gardening, though, is that it is a life-long endeavor. I'm sure when I'm 60 I'll still be experimenting and planning new things. For now, though, here is my list of fruits and vegetables I'd like to grow in the future:

- Edamame (soybeans). mmmm!
- Beets. I love these. Unfortunately, Matt does not ... which explains why they didn't make the list for this year.
- Sweet corn.
- Radishes. I'm not a huge fan, but Matt is. They're easy enough to grow, so in future years I'll probably add some.
- Leeks.
- Peas.
- Ground cherries. I didn't know until just last week that these were actually a member of the tomato family!
- Thyme.
- Rosemary. LOVE rosemary. Thankfully I have a healthy plant in the house so probably won't try to grow it in the garden this year.
- Apples. I have three apple trees started, two of which I plan to espalier. But I'd like a few more varieties.
- Plums. I've never been a huge fan of plums, but my dad and Matt insist that once you try a ripe plum directly from the tree you'll fall in love with them. Sounds like a fun experiment!
- Pears? I know I could have grown these in the Cities, but am not sure if any northern varieties exist.
- Raspberries. Can't wait!
- Strawberries. Again, can't wait!
- Blueberries? Not sure if I have what it takes to maintain appropriate soil nutrients for these. But I love blueberries and they seem like such a northern Minnesotan thing.
- And last but not least: whatever Victoria wants! I want to encourage her to love the garden too. If in the future, there are things she wants us to grow, well we'll try to grow them. I would love to someday give her a garden plot of her own to plant, eat, and care for whatever she wants. Gardens can be a place of great creativity and I hope to nurture that!

I'm so looking forward to all the tasty treats that await this growing season!

new weekly photos

I last wrote about Victoria's weekly photos here, and since we continue to add to them I created a photo set on flikr -- check them all out! She turned 11 weeks old today, and I hope to add the 11 week photo soon!

ice ice baby

This winter, our half-mile long driveway has been coated with packed snow. Even with Matt's best efforts at snowblowing, the leftover and trampled-down snow turned into a big slushy mess during last week's warm-up.

We thought trying to drive through the slush was bad ... until we saw what happened when it froze.



The entire half mile is now one solid sheet of ice.

Where our tires went through slush, we have permanent tire grooves several inches deep:



I now feel like I'm riding a roller coaster when I travel the driveway. I slide back and forth, around curves, until - jolt! - I hit the track and am brought back on course.

Our parking area is so smooth we could skate across it!


(If we had skates).

On another ice-related note, I'll share this picture taken from our table at Va Bene the last time Nina and I had lunch there:


By "last," I not only mean "most recent," but also "final." My friend and colleague Nina -- through two jobs, new dogs, joint pregnancies, and baby girls -- is moving on to warmer (if not greener) pastures in Phoenix. Puppy play dates won't be the same without her!

the big day

To mark the event of turning 10 weeks old, Victoria got to go to daycare today! I've felt like this day had been looming over my head ... I knew it could be emotional to leave her, plus all the extra logistics of leaving the house earlier, with baby and gear, and getting home later ... all the extra time it would take out of my day. Well, we got out of the house just fine this morning and as we were nearing Louann's house I actually started to feel excited. I felt happy that Victoria gets to spend her days in such a great place. What a nice feeling! There were two other little girls there when we arrived, maybe 2 and 4 years old, and it was a nice calm transition to hand V over to Louann. When I left she was sitting in Louann's lap in a rocking chair, with the other two girls looking at her and talking to her. I felt that she would love watching all the other kids, and left without any tears or anxieties.

Still, I was a little nervous when I went to pick her up tonight. What if she had been crying all day or been really difficult for Louann? I walked up to the door and could see through the glass that V was sitting in Louann's lap, rocking, wide awake and happy. As it turns out, she had an amazing day. Louann said she can tell that our daughter will be a "social butterfly," as she wanted to be awake and watching everyone all day! She loved L., the 4 year old girl, and squealed with delight at her. And got sad when L. walked away. Like I knew she would, she only took a few cat naps, and actually did have a big blowout and got sent home with a bag of dirty clothes (do I know my daughter or what??). Louann said she was smiley and happy and rarely cried. The most shocking news for me was that she ate about 33% more milk than normal. Guess I better start pumping more to give her the extra calories she'll need to stay awake and be social at daycare.

I left feeling elated. Sure, part of me is jealous that she was so awake and smiley at daycare and I missed out, and that she will have so much fun with other people. But overriding that jealousy is immense relief and happiness at knowing my daughter will be in such a good place. I know she will blossom there.

When we got home it took awhile for V to calm down enough to sleep. We knew she was exhausted with her red, swollen eyes, but it took several attempts of holding and soothing her before she finally crashed. It's now 7:30 and she's still sleeping hard. I think I will actually have to wake her to feed her before we go to bed!

on the town

Of course, life doesn’t stop when you have a baby, and the adventure of bringing Victoria places seems to be ever evolving, as our weekend surely demonstrated.

On Friday night, we ran errands, stopped to visit my parents, then went out to eat at a Chinese buffet in town. I was particularly excited about this because our “Friday night date” in the Cities was to eat at a Chinese buffet and then go grocery shopping. I normally HATE grocery shopping, really. Matt invented the idea of doing it on Friday night because the stores were empty enough to keep his wife from completely stressing out. Since then, grocery shopping has been a much calmer experience. We faced a new challenge trying to lug an infant seat around the store, now solved by our wonderful borrowed Baby Bjorn, which leaves plenty of room for groceries in the cart.


The Baby Bjorn sometimes kills my back, but it’s so much fun to walk with her snuggled in that I just can’t resist!

The list of other things to shop for – from shoes to clothes and books – had been steadily growing, so on Saturday (after a puppy play date with six dogs in the morning and a nice visit with cousin Sarah and her fiancé Evan) we decided to hit the mall. Previously we have carried V in the car seat around the mall too, but as she has gotten heavier, that prospect seemed like a misery I wouldn’t volunteer for. A friend recently borrowed us a small umbrella stroller, so on Saturday afternoon Ms. V got her first stroller ride! It was so much easier, although she didn’t seem able to fall asleep in the stroller, so she did get a little fussy. We spent hours shopping, and we all enjoyed the outing. We then invited ourselves along on Sarah and Evan’s (with my aunt Teresa and uncle Ron) dinner reservation at Osaka, a new Japanese restaurant in town. V did great in this uber noisy restaurant, and Matt and I really enjoyed the delicious food and fun company.

On Sunday we visited a church (we are planning a baptism for V) and since it was so warm and the puppies needed exercise, we decided that the whole family should take a walk. We put V in the Baby Bjorn for her first walk with the puppies! She slept pretty much the whole time ;).

It is so much fun not only to take Victoria places, but to see the looks she gets from people. There is a continual stream of people who are not shy about telling us how adorable she is, or nudging their companion and pointing out the cute baby passing by. It definitely warms a mom’s heart!

two months

My facebook friends have already seen these, but I am finally getting around to putting these on my blog. I think I've started to post them twice before this, but life keeps getting in the way. Last weekend we embarked on a two-month photo shoot of our darling Victoria, and this picture says it all ... look at the impish gleam in her eyes!


The two-month photo shoot was inspired by my parents' favorite baby picture of me, taken in October 1977 in a pink jumper given by my mom's friend Diana, who lives in Alaska:


As it turns out, my mom still had the pink jumper, and it fit Victoria perfectly! We tried to duplicate the pose of Victoria in mommy's little pink jumper:


And while we were at it, we took a family photo too...


More shots from the photo session can be seen in Matt's flikr set of Victoria. She has some precious expressions! The two-month photos start about halfway through the set.

Stuffed puppy

We decided right after Victoria was born that we would take a picture of her each week with her largest stuffed animal, this stuffed puppy, so that we could measure her growth in photos. She just passed 8 weeks, so I thought I’d share this collection of photos from each week of her life. Some weeks she was sleepy, some happy, some crabby ... no matter her mood, Matt has taken a photo every Wednesday.

1 Week


2 Weeks


3 Weeks


4 Weeks


5 Weeks


6 Weeks


7 Weeks


8 Weeks

at the car dealership

Victoria is at the car dealership with daddy today, getting daddy's window fixed. Matt knows how much I miss her and made sure she said hi via text messages to mommy. Here is what he sent:

"Hi mom, I'm at the dealership with dad!"

And a little later ...

"YUMMY!"

northern lights

Matt was out taking photos of the stars. He couldn’t see any colors with the naked eye, but in doing some 30-second exposures to capture the light of the stars he also discovered some beautiful northern lights.

getting stronger

Two new developments this week were really fun for me to see. First, Victoria did a really cool little sit-up on Wednesday. Someone was holding Victoria in her lap, facing her, with her hands supporting V's back. Victoria was reclined at an angle and watching this woman, listening so intently to her. And then all of a sudden she pulled herself forward, sitting up to a 90 degree angle to get closer! We were both amazed and looked at each other - "did you see that??" Her little muscles are working all the time. Even while burping her I can feel all the muscles in her back. I think all the squirming she did in mommy's tummy over those months might have helped some! It's funny how her personality now is so similar to what she was like in utero, when the ultrasound techs, doctors, etc. always said it was so hard to get pictures of her or hear her heartbeat because she was moving so much.

Later that day she was in her bouncy seat on the kitchen counter. I was talking to her and decided to try to put my finger in her hand. The instant she felt it, she grabbed my finger and brought it right up to her mouth. I didn't even know she had learned she could bring her own hand to her mouth, let alone something else. She did the same thing to me yesterday, too. Someday soon we'll have to start worrying about germs much more!

Chasing the Light

Matt's photo of this waxwing was recently selected as a finalist in The Avian Persona juried photo competition. Check out all the photos - beautiful!