April 26, 2008
The Story of Mr. Floppy Ears posted by Zoë
Ever since I moved out of my bassinette and into my crib, a bunny has been keeping a watchful eye over me. He used to sit at the far end of my crib but as of late, he snuggles with me at nap time, keeps me company when I am sitting in the living room and has even been so ambitious as to go on car rides with me.
Recently, Mr. Floppy Ears let me in on a “little secret”. His real name is Theodore Evan Bear or Ted E. Bear for short. I told him that it was a silly name for a bunny rabbit. Then he did the most amazing thing! He took off his hood to reveal that he was a bear disguised as a rabbit. I was flabbergasted!
At first, I wanted to know why he felt he needed to disguise himself. He began by telling me that recent studies showed that bunnies were 75% more likely to be adopted as stuffed animal friends over bears. It seems that children who have teddy bears for friends get mauled by bears 30% more then those who do not while children who have bunnies as friends have a 0.4% chance of getting mauled by a bunny. The most recent case of a bunny attack was not really that recent at all but recorded in 1974 by a Mr. Monty Python.
He went on to tell me that his cousin, Smokey T. was recently fined $5000 when a 4 year old ran to a grizzly bear in Vermont to ask for assistance in putting out a camp fire.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!
As Ted went on, I was all ears. He told me he is a member of a private organization funded by a certain bear building workshop that shall remain nameless. This workshop has been striving to renew children’s trust in teddy bears by allowing them to make their own bears. Thanks to their contributions and radical approach to this crisis, teddy bears are once again beating the stuffing out of the competition.
On hearing this, I gave him the biggest smile, grabbed him, stuck out my tongue and drooled on him. He is my best friend and also very absorbent. Without him, I don’t know what I would do. Thank you Mr. Floppy Ears for infiltrating the stuffed bunny uprising and informing the world of the atrocities “recent studies” can cause.
March 28, 2008
Why I love looking at old photos posted by Jess
A long time ago I mentioned that one of my favorite relaxing things to do was to go back and look at old photos.
I was looking at my baby album with my parents awhile ago, and realized that I had seen some of the pictures before somewhere recently.
Yes, as it turns out, I had seen them, except they were in Zoë's album, not mine.
THEN
Mother and daughter
Newborn, 1976
NOW
Grandmother and granddaughter
Newborn, 2008
THEN
Mother and daughter
Christmas day, 1976
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2368633979_0f48ae660a.jpg?v=0")
NOW
Grandmother and granddaughter
Christmas day, 2008
It's nice to know that some traditions occur quite by accident, even 31 years later.
March 16, 2008
Stinky Pee? posted by Matt
For the baby shower, our friends Bill & April gave us a food mill. Basically, you take whatever you are eating, throw it in and grind away. The food gets passed through a bunch of little holes and what makes it through is ground up enough for Zoë to eat.
Tonight she had steak and asparagus. Now we are just waiting for her to pee to find out if we gave her enough :-)
March 09, 2008
Six Months posted by Jess
More here --> Zoë 4-6 Months on Flickr
January 08, 2008
Four and a half months posted by Jess
November 30, 2007
Three months... posted by Jess
November 18, 2007
The hazards of the work-at-home mom posted by Jess
Being a work at home mom is amazingly wonderful, and I'm SO blessed that I can do it, as there are so many moms out there that can't. But it should definitely come with a warning label.
You might say it's a hazard that numerous times a day, I pray she doesn't start crying while I'm on a conference call.
But it's not.
I'm not scared that clients might think I'm running various Domino servers around my daughter's nap schedule.
I could be a little afraid of not coming off as a professional because my clothes are still in the "in-between stage" and don't quite fit me perfectly, but I'm not.
And no, the hazard doesn't even lie with the fact that I'm hormonal enough right now to have a lack of judgment that could rival that of an inebriated dwarf.
People might be inclined to wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that everything must be spell-checked twice now, as I'm so sleep deprived that I make lots more spelling mistakes than I used to.
But it doesn't.
The hazard isn't even the lack of money when I decide on the spur of the moment that "Wednesday Afternoons Make Great Park Days" and take off with no warning to have fun with my daughter.
In fact, it's not even because it's hard not to feel guilty for working at all, even though I have to in order to do my share to support her.
No, folks, the REAL hazard here of being a work-at-home mom is lifting an HP Proliant server while stepping on noisy motion-sensor baby toys that will start flashing lights and making noise. It's harder than you think to hold onto a server while simultaneously having a minor heart attack.
October 19, 2007
Two months... posted by Jess
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October 03, 2007
Five weeks already posted by Jess
And so our regularly scheduled programming returns with a five-week status update. Zoë is doing awesome, currently weighing in at 10 pounds, 11 ounces. She's smiling and laughing, enjoys her crib, and generally seems to be a happy kid overall.
I'm back working again, though it's proving tricky balancing work and a newborn. We're on a great pseudo-schedule, which is our attempts to keep things running as smoothly as possible. We go to bed at 10PM, so she goes in her crib (and coo's herself to sleep, it's adorable). Anywhere in between 1:30 and 4:30 she'll wake up hungry. Matt gets up, changes her diaper, and hands her off to me for a feeding in her room while he goes back to bed.
Then, she wakes up for the day anywhere between 6 and 7:30AM. Once again Matt gets up, changes her diaper, and this time brings her to me in bed for a feeding while he gets up and showers. Then, I had her off to him while *I* go shower.
The four of us (Reboot included) hang out on the couch for a bit while we gulp down some coffee, and then Matt's off to work while I do... well, whatever it is I do all day.
Here's some quick notes from the trenches:
- If you ever need to replenish your gift-bag stockpile, have a baby. You never want to be out of gift bags, so you watch your pile. The second it starts to get low, crank that kid out.
How will we know when we are ready for another child? I'm figuring I'll set up a meter rigged to my gift bags. When I reach for a bag, the meter will go down. When it reaches a certain level, an alarm will go off telling us we need to have another baby.
All I'm saying is that we are so fortunate to have such incredible friends and family!
- I owe huge props to my friend Cindy, who called me one day to see how I was doing.
Cindy: "In addition to finding out how things are going, I also wanted to call and tell you that today is Sunday."
Me: "Huh?"
Cindy: "Today is Sunday. I remember I found it immensely helpful when someone called and told me what day it was."
August 26, 2007
Hello World, I'm Zoe! posted by Jess
It's a Girl!
Welcome to life, Zoë Kendall Stratton. We love you so much already.
Zoë was born on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 4:45 AM at the Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island. At birth, she was 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and 19" long, and came out eyes wide open with a full head of hair.
We're all doing great! We got home today, and enjoyed watching Reboot meet her.
It will be a fun journey getting to know each other. I've been getting to know her for the past nine months, she's real now. We walked into the hospital with just the two of us and a duffel bag, and walked out as a family.
Click here for some more pictures are on Flickr, Zoë already has her own album!
Sadly the hospital had no Internet access, and I was sort of limited to what I could do on my Treo. Of course my friend today mentioned that I probably could have hooked it up to my laptop via Bluetooth/EDVO. Who knew?
August 22, 2007
No baby yet - sending out the eviction notice! posted by Jess
Found on the Internet:
Dear Baby:
Please note that today is (8/17/2007), which, as you have been orally reminded for several weeks now, is the "Due Date" referenced in the lease that you agreed to approximately nine months ago, and thus the date by which you are supposed to vacate your current premises.
Following a routine inspection of the property on Friday, I have been advised that you have not yet begun to make any preparations towards moving, other then possibly removing a few items from the walls. I am also advised that you may have changed the locks, as the inspector was unable to obtain access to the property. Please note that, if your departure continues at this pace, you will be in violation of the lease, which was entered into in good faith, with the expectation that you would honor its terms. Accordingly, I have no choice but to advise you that if you do not voluntarily remove yourself from the premises within the next 48 hours, I will have no choice but to commence formal eviction proceedings, and I have already put the proper authorities on notice. As you have been repeatedly advised, your new accommodations are in fact ready and awaiting your arrival, so your cooperation in voluntarily moving out of the current premises, avoiding the time and inconvenience of more formal, compelled proceedings, would be much appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
The Landlord (a/k/a "Mommy")
Aside from waiting till this kid shows up so I can finally meet him/her, I'm just trying to get last minute things done (and waiting for my new server to come in so I can get up and running with ND8!). He/she is definitely running out of room and not comfortable anymore (which makes two of us). Matt and I watch in amazement as my stomach stretches and slides. The best analogy I heard was from my doctor, who said that it looked like I had a bag of snakes in my stomach! I am trying to capture it on my phone's video camera.
It's quite funny, Matt and I spend lots of time during the day fielding calls and instant messages: "No, no baby yet!"
Yesterday, I got a text message from Matt. "Have we had the baby yet?"
Sleeping has not been easy the past few weeks, and we laugh with the neighbors when they see a light turn on during the wee hours of the night, or early in the morning. It's almost like the walkie-talkie turns on,
*static* "We have activity at the Strattons... I repeat, we have activity at the Strattons."
There's a reason I haven't posted any updated belly pics, the summer finally caught up with me. I have about 55 pounds to lose before Lotusphere. What can I say? When her Royal Highness the Dairy Queen requests a private audience, you don't say no!
May 29, 2007
Preggie Belly posted by Jess
For the good of mankind, this picture is not coming with a caption contest. :-)
March 29, 2007
Halfway there! posted by Jess
It's here... twenty weeks. I'm officially halfway through my pregnancy.
This also marks a momentous occasion - I'm not that ill anymore, and I actually got up before 8AM and was able to stay up past 8PM.
Here's some things I've learned along the way.
1. When I tell people "I'm pregnant", it conjurs up warm, soft, fuzzy images of a mother and child, soft blankets, cooing, and ah-ing. People's eyes get filled with nostalgia as they are reminded of when their own children were babies, and the world is once again filled with wondrous possibility.
If I instead change it to "I've been impregnated", it sounds like something from Aliens.
2. I'm not usually one to "get the dropsies". However, now that I am having trouble even getting my socks on in the morning, I seem to drop everything and have to find new and interesting ways to pick them up.
3. Much like lions in the African wilderness have only one focus throughout the day - "where is my next meal coming from?" - so do I.
4. There are some froofy, froofy things at Babies R' Us.
5. I don't mind people coming up and patting my belly, like some people do. But what's really starting to get to me is the people that say unproductive things like, "Your life is going to change." My friend April came up with a great response for me - "Nah, I plan on selling it on eBay."
I've been inundated with requests to see belly pics, so without further ado, here they are some in order.
But first, the little one. Our doctor added the note, he has our sense of humor! The baby rolled over halfway through the ultrasound today, prompting Matt to say "Look honey, it must get that from you. It's probably stealing the covers from someone as we speak!"
March 08, 2007
Life comes at you fast... posted by Jess
Tech post coming next!
But first, the boring stuff.
It's been busy these past few months. Being preggo is certainly keeping things interesting! The belly is big, I'll have to get a picture up soon.
I'm 17 weeks now, almost halfway through! I'm tired, very tired all the time. This is making me very behind in work, as I used to work during the day, and then take care of development projects and writing assignments at night.
Well, now that I'm pretty much useless after 7PM, I've lost a lot of working time. I may have to let go of some obligations at this point, but we'll see. In addition to all the jobs I have, I'm also a chairperson for an Advisory Council for a local non-profit organization, which takes up quite a bit of time.
My family has been wonderful, helping me get things done.
Of course, I still haven't driven in Eloise since January; the smell of the "leatherette" interior makes me so nauseous I had to switch cars with Matt!
But it's been fun so far, and the fun is only going to increase!
December 11, 2006
Big news for the Stratton household! posted by Jess
