AhhCHOO

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Fort

We hope everyone had a great Christmas! I finally sent our gifts via USPS today, but they will all go to Garrett's parents, so hopefully they can be doled out at the next family event. I hope hope hope we can spend a lot of time in NY in February. Garrett's already getting excited about NY Comic Con. Garrett is a nerd.

We are still disappointed about not making it out, especially because as I write this, we SHOULD be with Garrett's family. It is, however, nice to give Naomi a little more time to cut her teeth before showing the Lubows just how cantankerous she can be.



I just took a short video of Garrett tormenting Naomi with his scalp massage tool. This is after he built her a fort out of the couch cushions.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Garrett's truck is the furthest left, and our family wagon is the fourth car over. This is before the four inches it snowed last night.


Naomi & Grandma Jay before we left for the airport.

We have been baby-less since yesterday because my mom has taken Naomi for a couple of days to spend some quality grandma time before Christmas, and also because mom REALLY needed a break. The snow is SO deep, it's about 12 inches now, and our car handles better than we could have expected. Tonight I will be going to Gig Harbor because I miss Naomi too much to wait until tomorrow. Garrett will come down Christmas morning because he isn't much for sleepovers.

View Larger Map
This is the general area that we will be spending Christmas, except a little further south and west, just don't want to give away our location in case we have some creepy blog looker who wants to kidnap Garrett.

If you want to have a look at images and video that I have archived that is NOT on the blog, you can go to http://picasaweb.google.com/tuhcoolyuh and http://naomiray.blip.tv. I back everything up on the web in case the laptop poops out, and so you all can access it.

We're STUCK!!!!

editors note: I tried posting this from the airport this morning, but failed because the wifi bandwidth is around 14k. Now we are home and, unfortunately, missing out on a very special holiday.



















Thank goodness we brought the laptop, and I've got our camera, so now you all at home can be vicariously snowed in at Seatac.

our desktop background

I LOVE this picture.

From 2008-12-13

we're so excited!!

Garrett and I are so excited to leave tomorrow for New York! Naomi doesn't know it yet, but she's going to have a blast. Here is yet ANOTHER video of her doing Naomi-type things. This time it's Naomi and her daddy taking turns making her new favorite noise. She started doing this on Mommy's and Daddy's shoulders, and then realized she could make this noise on any object. I have to sneak with the camera, because once she sees me or the camera, it's all over.

dadadadadada

Naomi has started a new syllable, and it's "da." We can argue over whether she had an intended target or any understanding of what she was babbling, but we do agree that she repeats it back to us. As I'm writing this, she won't go to bed, and she's screaming "da da da da da da da da" because she's excited about our response to it and I have a feeling she's trying to get us to come get her out of the crib. It's so fun to watch her learn and grow and become such a fun little person!!!

P.S. Please excuse the clutter!

1st Tooth

It's all happening at once! Her first tooth has finally sprouted today, after months of chewing and drooling. It took me about twenty tries to finally get a picture where you can see it. Sort of.

It's all happening too fast!

Okay, so Garrett told me early this evening that Naomi pulled herself up into a standing position in the crib while he was laying her down for a nap. Tonight, when we put her down to bed, I grabbed the camera so I could record the first time I see her do this. WOW! I just feel like the slithering and crawling just happened, and now she's prepping herself to stand! She not only amazes me and her dad, she seems to amaze herself at what she can do.

So after we shot this video, Naomi slept in the playpen while I took apart her crib and lowered the mattress.

Enjoy!

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the competitive growler

Our little ball of sunshine is still not really vocalizing anything but ya-ya-yas and guh-guh-geees, but she has mastered the growl. I'm having trouble uploading the video of her and her Auntie Rhonda competing for top dog, but it should be available soon at http://naomiray.blip.tv. Tonight we went to Zoolights at Point Defiance, and Naomi loved looking at all the lights. The only exhibits open were the aquariums, but that was really fun. Below are some pictures of me feeding my firstborn to the sharks. She loved the fish!

VIDEO - might work:

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Auntie Rhonda, Naomi, Grandma Jay - click on this pic if you want the full album

From Zoolights

Aunti Rhonda & Naomi


Naomi & real sharks


Naomi & me

She's a crawling maniac!

Naomi has been getting around by all means necessary (e.g. pulling, rolling, launching) for a couple of weeks, but starting this past holiday weekend SHE CRAWLS. Really! We couldn't believe it ourselves. Getting our apartment baby proofed is a work in progress, and I had to set up the playpen the other day so that I could leave the room if necessary. It's really wonderful for Naomi to have this new control over her movements, and she's having a blast -- we're having a great time, too!

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Eating and Laughing

It's hard to make Naomi laugh. She's not ticklish, and we make so many funny faces at her that it makes no difference anymore. So I popped my mouth at her today, and she thought it was SOoooo funny. Garrett and I started popping our mouths tonight while Naomi was eating and getting fussy. I had to grab the camera.
By the way, she was eating organic carrots and organic whole grain rice cereal - she eats much better than her parents.

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Long, long video

Here is a typical afternoon in our home - laying on the floor with the baby while one of us is on the computer. This is a pretty long video, but I keep thinking I'm going to catch her crawling. WARNING: Long and boring - posted for those of you who might appreciate seeing Naomi just hanging out, and because I think she's cute.

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End Women's Suffrage!

Naomi helped me vote today by whacking the privacy barrier over and over again, and being the YOUNGEST "voter" to turn out at Aki Kurose in south Seattle. She kind of steals the show everywhere we go, and today was no exception - the old gals at the polls LOVED Naomi's scarf that Grandma Robin made! Anyway, I'm a little bummed out because I really like the experience of voting, and Washington State is going all mail-in after this election. I was too shy to bust out the camera in my voting booth, so I snapped one of me and Naomi on the school steps. Hopefully, I can show her these when she is older and explain to her that she participated in a (not aN) historic election.

Cats are funny!

Naomi has laughed before, but just little sympathetic chuckles at her mom and dad trying too hard to be funny. Naomi had a hard time getting to bed tonight, so Garrett was holding her while using the laser light with Little Man. She surprised both of us with a joyful burst of giggling at the cat, and I grabbed the camera to savor the moment.
Parts of this video are slow, but the laugh track makes it worthwhile.

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Hello Uncle Zach!

From 2008-10-18

Naomi LOVES Uncle Zach's glasses.

From 2008-10-23

She also looks adorable in the monkey outfit Uncle Zach got for her. We had a trial run for Halloween.

From 2008-10-23

the creepiest yearbook

lazy blogger

I'm sorry I haven't kept up. Naomi's uncle Zach is coming tomorrow and we'll take all new pictures and video for the family to see.
Here are some more pictures that Robin & Carl sent us of their visit, just click on the picture to access the album.

From Robin & Carl's visit

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Grandma & Grandpa are gone!

Naomi had a WONDERFUL time with her paternal grandparents this last week. She was spoiled rotten with all new fall & winter clothes, trips around Seattle and to the museums, and being held for 7 days straight! It's funny, but she seems to have grown just that much more in one week, and I think she's going to remember her Papa & Grandma Robin when we see them again at Christmas time.

Unfortunately, I did not have the good sense to take photos while they were here, because when somebody else has a camera, I get lazy. Hopefully (if you are reading this) you can email me a photo of the three of you together so I can post it up here! This is the only one I have of all three of you, and you can only see Grandma Robin's head if you are looking for it!

From 2008-10-02

Eating the camera!

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Grandma & Grandpa are coming!

Naomi loves loves low budget independent black and white horror comics. So this morning I decided to read an Evil Ernie graphic novel to her. I loved Evil Ernie when I was a kid so, I thought that maybe my daughter would and I was right.
-G

Yesterday, some guy asked Garrett if he was "orthodox". I think it hurt his feelings, and he's considering trimming up the beard.
Also, Naomi had her 4 month check-up this week, and she's in the 96th percentile of US infants for her height! 26 inches - whoa! Dad's going to be standing on phonebooks to reprimand his teenage daughter.

Anyway, his parents are coming tomorrow to meet Naomi (and me) for the first time! They will be staying in Seattle for a week in a cute cabin that they rented in West Seattle. We're so excited to see them!

video problems

Every time I try to watch the new videos on blip.tv, they freeze up and there is no sound. At first they both worked fine, but now I can't get them to play on my computer. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, please leave a comment and if it's not specific to my computer, I'll upload the videos again.

Thanks!

new place

Garrett and I have been busy packing, moving and getting set up in our new place, then waiting on our internet to get hooked up so we can start showing off more Naomi videos. Actually, Garrett is probably a little less excited than I am.
Our new apartment is pretty nice - on the inside, that is. Driving into our complex you get an overwhelming sense of shabbiness with the seventies-era decor and depressing colors. It's really nice to move from hardwood flooring to carpets, though. I never cared for carpet until I had a little one who needs to spend more tummy time on the floor, and will probably be crawling in a couple months. Naomi just learned to flip from her back to her stomach, and she now prefers to sleep on her tummy or her side. She's been really grumpy lately because she's teething and wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Her favorite chew toys so far are her fingers, followed up by our fingers when she gets a grip on them, and finally the designated teething rings. She drools all over everything!

not yummy

I fed Naomi a little organic whole grain rice cereal, with somewhat poor results. I wasn't sure whether she was ready for it, but upon strong outside suggestion, I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a try. Whoa. I tasted it, and it's nasty. First I tried mixing just a tiny bit into her bottle, but it clogs the nipple. So I just mixed a little paste and fed it to her, which she didn't seem to hate as much as I did, but I think we're going to reintroduce this later.

making conversation

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Roar!

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Baa!

If you can stand me making sheep noises for 71 seconds, check it out.

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Seward Park

Peter, Garrett, Naomi, Eva Petunia and I went to Seward Park a few blocks from our house today. It's a 2.4 mile stretch around a tiny peninsula in Lake Washington, I know because I clocked it with the computer on my bike when we first moved south. Also, there are mile markers, but I didn't see those until about a year later.

Naomi was way overdressed for the walk, so I had to stop midway and pull off her hoodie and sweatpants and coat her in sunblock. Especially her head, which still hasn't grown more than a dusting of sandy brown hair and is bigger than the rest of her body.

Tonight, Garrett and Peter figured out the new-to-us bbq, and we grilled kabobs, chicken, veggie burgers, shrimp, and corn. Peter did most of it throughout the night, while Garrett and I passed the baby back and forth and tried to help. They are now mastering Grand Theft Auto IV, which has been a daily task for them for the past week.

As I write this, she's sitting next to me on the couch (aka Peter's bed) propped against a pillow and sucking on her hand. Her eyes go crossed while she's intently looking at her meal/appendage, and it's adorable. I can't seem to catch anything good on film, though, because she's much too entertained by the camera.

stuff and things

Ours is a busy household. We rent a portion of a house in Seattle from my friend Scott, and his boyfriend Eduardo. Eduardo's daughter came to stay with us for three weeks, and just went home on Friday. Garrett's brother, Uncle Peter, is here to stay with us for a month and work construction. They are working four ten hour shifts, and both of them are absolutely exhausted by the time I see them. You see, Naomi and I sleep in, because she likes to wake up multiple times during the night for food or comfort, and now that I'm a mom, I sleep with one eye open and one leg over the side of the bed ready to spring into action once she starts stirring.

From Kristin's Photos

Yesterday I took Naomi to meet a friend of mine who is moving to Arizona this week. She took the picture above, and if you click on the picture, you can see more.

From 2008-08-03

After that, Naomi got to meet her great-grandparents for the first time. Unfortunately, they are not in the best health and can't travel as far as Seattle, so I wanted to wait until Naomi felt better and I had enough time to visit for a few hours. They are my paternal grandparents, and the most loving people I know. I felt so guilty that it took me so long to get down to see them, but I have lots of excuses.

Zoo!

Molly, Wilder, Naomi and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo today. Molly is my best friend from high school and Wilder, her son, is one year old. I've been a "conscientious objector" of the zoo for as long as I've been vegetarian (13 years), but now that I have a kid, it's not about my moral obligations anymore. It's all about looking at the pretty animals in small, easy-to-maneuver-around cages! It was a total stroller mecca, so this was the first time I didn't feel self-conscious about carting around a screaming baby in the SUV's answer to a strolling travel system. We bought a membership with unlimited admission for a year, so I hope by the next six months she will actually care where she goes. Plus the Woodland Park Zoo is a non-profit with a great wildlife preservation program, so our money is going toward the greater good. This makes it kind of a wash, I guess.
Here is a picture of her crying in the morning, while it was still chilly. Maybe she is shedding a tear for the gorillas who sat listlessly in front of the viewing glass, devoid of freedom and hope. El oh el.
Click on the picture to go to the album.

From 2008-07-20

Oh, Happy Day!

Little Naomi had some great news yesterday! The antibiotics have been working and her abscess is finally gone. They took the PICC line out of her leg and now she can have a real bath tonight! She's on oral antibiotics now and she will be for up to six months or when/if she has corrective surgery. The idea is to prevent another infection because her wiring makes her prone to them. As of right now, her hydronephrosis is pretty severe, although it has not increased since her last ultrasound. They will continue to monitor this, but it does indicate that she still has some sort of blockage.
Here I am, teaching her some bad habits. We are celebrating!


Here is Garrett with Naomi at Point Defiance park, celebrating Elias's 3rd birthday.

Road Trip!

From Discovery Bay

Naomi spent her first 4th of July in Discovery Bay with her Grandma Jay and great-grandparents, Nana & Papa. It was about a 3 hour drive from Seattle, and we stayed in a really nice motel-style condo. Lucky for us, they let us pick the best room with a king bed and a huge jacuzzi tub. We were right on the waterfront, but we were so far from civilization that there weren't any fireworks nearby. The plan was to head to Port Townsend to see the firework show out on the water, but after I got us lost and we drove around an extra hour after going to the store to buy diapers, we decided to stay in and watch a movie. Even though it was only one night, it was a really nice vacation and it was great to get out of the house and do something.

Naomi is doing so much better. She's just over six weeks old now and we're getting to see some of her personality coming out. She's extremely particular in how she likes to be held and fed and taken care of and she is not shy in letting us know when we are making a mistake. Even though she's fussy, it's a relief to me that she will always vocalize her needs to us, no matter how small. I have peace of mind that she's not always in pain, like before, and she's starting to enjoy herself and her surroundings. Naomi and Garrett have really bonded over the guitar - he has created an instrumental version of the song he made up for her, and also created a "sleep song" that actually puts her to sleep. She loves to watch him play; her eyes dart from his face to his fingers on the strings and she smiles the whole time.

She's starting to smile!

Garrett and I bought a crib mobile with a Baby's 'R' Us gift card (thank you!) and Naomi loves it. She's just now starting to smile in response to us and her environment rather than those gassy smiles. She's wearing a darling little dress given to her by great-grandma Nana and great-grandpa Papa.

From Naomi's crib ...

We're Home!

Naomi had minor surgery on Tuesday - laser incision of her left ureterocele. She was put under general anesthesia and they pierced the ureterocele in her bladder that was blocking drainage from her left kidney. As part of her duplex collecting system, both ureters were partially blocked and we don't know whether or not there was any reflux but the debris that wasn't draining caused the infection and subsequently, the abscess. The hope is that without the ureterocele causing blockage, her kidney will get more drainage and with antibiotics, the abscess will go away. The surgery lasted one hour and went really well. She came back to us in great condition; she was so alert, just looking around at all of us and not acting tired at all. After they took out her catheter yesterday it's been clear that it hurts her when she urinates, which is something they said might happen. She did so well overnight that they decided it was time for us to take her home and resume care with IV antibiotics. I took her to an infusion nurse yesterday afternoon after we were discharged and she taught me how to give Naomi her daily antibiotics through her IV and I'll be doing this for 4 - 6 weeks, until her abscess is gone.





So Naomi is 1 month old today! She's doing great, sleeping a lot, and eating more than ever. Here is a picture of her on Tuesday, with her Grandpa Tom right after surgery.





This is our baby girl later that evening, doing wonderfully.

Thank you to all of our families for your thoughts and prayers and we are confident that Naomi is going to be 100% healthy in a few short months.

Love,
Tanya

Happy Father's Day, Garrett!

Technically, that was yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to get online to post this adorable picture of Naomi resting on her daddy's shoulder. It's 1:54am and we're at Seattle Children's Hospital - we've been here since Tuesday of last week. Naomi was running a high fever, so we went into Children's ER, and they admitted her immediately. They took blood, urine and spinal fluid in to be cultured because they knew she was dealing with an infection. This was especially concerning to me because I contracted MRSA at Group Health when I got my c-section, and we've been terrified of her becoming sick from it in any way. She's been on IV antibiotics to treat what turned out to be a pretty bad UTI and kidney infection (she is also colonized with MRSA). Naomi had a renal ultrasound that showed us that she has a birth defect of the left kidney called a duplex collecting system. Her left kidney has two ureters going into the bladder, rather than one, and neither work correctly, so she's grown a large abscess. She will eventually require corrective surgery once she's a little older, but for now she'll stay on daily antibiotics and a minor surgery may be needed to help drain the abscess before we leave the hospital.

Naomi has been receiving such wonderful care here at Children's. I am so grateful that they caught this problem so quickly, and have allowed Garrett and I to be involved in the decision-making with her care. We'll find out later this morning after her follow-up ultrasound and consultation with a pediatric Infection Disease doc whether she'll need surgery now, continuing care at home with IV antibiotics, and/or an extended hospital stay. I'll keep you posted.

Love,
Tanya

She's a big'n

Just like mom! Naomi saw her doctor today for another well-child visit. It turns out our precious little angel is 22 inches long - they measured twice! She's in the 96th percentile for her height. This means she was probably just scrunched up a little too much at birth to get an accurate reading OR she grew two inches in twelve days. She was weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces, and that might be because she's been formula fed. I've seen a lactation consultant and been on a strict routine of breastfeeding followed by pumping with a hospital rental every 2 - 3 hours for 40 minute intervals, but unfortunately my milk never came in and at this point, it won't. This has been difficult for me, but I'm just happy that she's healthy and seems mostly content with formula.
So... Naomi just started crying with real tears, and she's learned to grasp things with her hands - like my hair or the bottle or our fingers. She's focusing in on our faces and I swear she smiles! She's gassy, like her dad, and likes to nap a lot, like her dad. She's got the cutest little ears that fold down on top, and the midwife today said she looked just like a little pink elf.

the prettiest baby

Naomi's first doctor's appointment

We took Naomi to her pediatrician yesterday, and found out we aren't yet failing as parents! She's down to 8 pounds 1 oz, which is better than normal, since most newborns lose about 7% body weight in the first few days. All of her newborn clothes are just a little too big for her right now, and she looks SO CUTE in her huge outfits.

Click on the picture for more!

From 2008-05-29

More pictures

Welcome, Baby girl!

Naomi Ray Lubow
8 pounds 3 ounces
20 inches long
born May 22nd at 5:58am

to see more photos, click here. Warning: graphic cesarean.

still waiting...

I know it's not technically my due date, but I already feel overdue. I started my maternity leave from work this week, thinking that something would have happened by now, but no. This baby is coming on her own time. Luckily, I've got maternity paid until June 20th, which is my lay-off date. Then we'll be living large on my severance package for another month before panic sets in and I start trying to figure out a way to make money from home. Avon? Amway? Packing up baby in the bjorn and hocking incense at the intersections? We'll figure it out.

Garrett just called me and told me that we could use my baby name! I'm so excited about this! We didn't agree on anything, until Lenora, and the more I say it the less I like it. If she turns out to be a boy (surprise!) then we've already agreed on Hunter. So now we need to meet her first, and if she looks like Lenora, then Garrett wins. If she looks like Naomi, then I win!

getting ready for baby

This is Tanya - I lost interest in the blog and forgot my password. I just wanted to let everyone know that Garrett and I are SO ready to have this baby. We've been nesting for the last week, and finally bought a "family" car - it's a Subaru Legacy wagon and baby's carseat is already installed and ready to take her home! I never thought I would be driving a forest green Subaru wagon in Seattle; if we aren't careful, Garrett and I will soon be wearing polar fleece and socks with sandals.

I've been pigging out on spicy foods and pineapple in the hopes that it speeds things along, but I'm trying to be patient. Garrett has packed his new dad bag for the hospital, and he's put together a birthing playlist for me on the ipod - mostly folk rock and stuff he's not crazy about. We finished birthing classes a few weeks ago, and hopefully we'll remember everything we learned once things start happening. I hope to maintain the blog once the baby is born because THAT is when it will get interesting. We're going to take a lot of pictures and videos and and and and and lots of stuff. So stay tuned.

Love,
Tanya

22 Weeks Pregnant

Not quite, but almost 22 weeks. According to the baby's head size, she's 22 weeks old - but that doesn't say much since the Forrester's have HUGE heads, or at least my dad and I both do. I've borrowed a picture from Visible Embryo to illustrate where our little girl is at in her development. Her hearing has already begun to develop, and now she's able to recognize voices. Garrett has been reading Frankenstein to her at night, however, I think what he really wants to do is read the beat writers, but I'd rather her not come into this world with low expectations and a predilection toward profanity. She'll no doubt learn all of that on her own.

If any family members are reading this, please post any information you know about Garrett or I as children, since neither of us have any clue what our child's temperment will be. Garrett told me that he liked to nap a lot, which sounds great. I've heard that I never smiled and was thought to be possessed by satan by a deacon of the church that we attended, Howard Roberts' son, the guy who gave candy to all the kids. My mother also thought that I was a sociopath, although I have much higher hopes for this one.

Here is some information about the stage of our little one that I am reprinting from Pregnancy.org. What I find really amazing is that she is considered viable in 2 more weeks, meaning she has a chance of survival outside of the womb if born early.

Week Twenty-Two
Your baby weighs close to a pound at this point!
Your baby can now hear your conversations more clearly than before!. When you talk, read, or sing, expect her to hear you. Studies have found that newborns will
suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero.
Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
Be prepared for all those "Why" questions coming! Your baby's brain has entered a stage of rapid growth, especially in what's called the germinal matrix. This structure deep in the middle of the brain serves as a kind of factory for brain cells and disappears shortly before birth. But the brain's amazing expansion program continues until around the five birthday.
With some help from mom, baby's liver is starting to break down bilirubin, a
substance produced by red blood cells.
Length is 10.94 inches (27.8cm); weight is nearly 1 pound (430gm).