The Number Field

Here are a few more photos from Elena's photo shoot. I'll add the photographer's info when I get it.

Last weekend we took Elena on her first longish road trip--to Houston, for a visit with Carrie, Matt, and Danny. The trip turned into an outright adventure, fraught with misdirection and excitement. Elena slept through most of it, showing that she's already a true adventurer.

Despite the threat of heavy rain and a radar map indicating a large storm exactly between Austin and Houston, we set out early on Friday afternoon, after lunch. The skies opened soon after we started, and rain beat down on us for nearly the whole trip. We had to switch from podcasts to music, because the sound of the rain on the car roof made the spoken word unintelligible, even at high volumes. Elena took it all in stride, and slept for much of the trip. Jenny theorized that the rain, loud though it was, acted as a nice white noise to keep her asleep.

We arrived during a small break in the storm, and even though Elena was hungry, she woke up without crying, and was well behaved and even smiley while everybody said hello to her, including Danny and the beagles. We were happy to hear that Danny knew her name ("baby 'lena"), but really he just wanted to play with me.

In the evening, we took advantage of Carrie's generous offer of child care, and went to the temple. Jenny thought she gave Carrie too many instructions about Elena; she was really just trying to explain the general evening pattern we follow, but it might have sounded more like a rigid timeline and list of instructions. Carrie got the gist and when we returned, Elena was soundly asleep and had hardly fussed while we were gone. As a side note, we couldn't find a single ice cream place open while we were out--for shame, Houston! It was only ten o'clock on a weekend night! We ended up buying pints of Ben and Jerry's, then eating them with Matt and Carrie. They also introduced us to the game of Qwirkle , and soundly beat us as we played late into the night.

On Saturday morning we took it easy as we decided what we wanted to do for the day. The weather remained gloomy at best, so Matt and Carrie recommended that we take a trip to the Galleria mall while they attended a birthday party. I took a brief look at the map, saw that the mall was just off the freeway and decided that there would be signs when we were nearby, so I didn't need to write down exact directions. That proved to be my first adventurous decision. I was impressed and a little bit scared to see how fast the Houston drivers were going in the rain. Later, Matt told me that they're used to two-day deluges; they've been through hurricanes. When we got close to where I thought the mall should be, we didn't see any signs indicating where to exit. All of a sudden, off to the right we saw a Nordstrom's and a Saks Fifth Avenue. We decided they must be a part of the Galleria, and took the next exit. We should have taken the previous one, but were able to wind around through the suburban sprawl and find our way back to the mall.

We walked around the mall for a while, starting on the chintzy side (under which we had parked) with its discount nail salon, tchotchke store, and garish prom dress gallery. In the middle of the mall, not far from the Apple store (where Jenny got mad at me for looking up rowing results while she was talking to me), we stopped at an amazing candy store . We proceeded to the ritzy side, anchored by Nieman Marcus, and featuring not just Tiffany, but also Cartier, along with Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, and all the usual suspects. Directly beneath this section we found two things that we were looking for: the food court, where we got pizza, and the ice rink.

After pizza, we watched the ice skating for a while. In addition to the crowds circling the rink, there appeared to be a number of lessons going on in the middle. One little girl skated with her father and learned to do jumps; they seemed like the happiest. Another was trying to learn how to skate in backwards circles, but the blue-jacketed coach kept yelling at her for putting her feet down at the wrong times. Jenny contemplated whether she and Elena should take skating lessons together someday.

On the way back to the car, we decided that we should try to find the nearby Waterwall . Jenny had been there before, but I had only seen pictures on the internet. I hopped on a wi-fi network to look up the location, and figured out how to get there. We drove around the block twice and saw the back side of the WaterWall, but there was no easy place to park. It was raining, and we were ready to head back anyway, so we decided that was enough for us. On the way back, Jenny received two calls from Carrie. The first was a report that they had been flooded in at the birthday party, and they didn't know when they would be able to leave. The water receded rapidly, and when Carrie called again they were on the road; she told us that the traffic on our planned route home was bad, and suggested an alternate route. Although we intended to follow her suggestion, somehow we missed the exit and ended up on the road with bad traffic.

In this section, the flood was so bad that not even the four-wheel drive vehicles attempted to traverse it.

The road was packed. Before long, we saw the main cause--there were spots where the access roads were completely flooded. Only the bravest of four-wheel drive vehicles attempted to make it through, and at least one of them was driving on the grassy strip next to the access road, instead of attempting to drive on the road turned lake. I guess that's why you need a Land Rover in Houston. The traffic on the freeway was backed up because the cars that wanted to exit ran into standstill traffic on the access roads, thus also slowing down the rest of traffic to a near stop. We saw some pretty creative maneuvers, as drivers tried to figure out their best option. A few people tried to exit on the entrance ramps, while others entered on the exit ramps. Most, like us, just stayed in their lanes and hoped for any improvement. The traffic did break up and we made it back without running into any more flooding.

Jenny spent a happy afternoon helping Carrie clean and organize and mostly get rid of stuff she didn't need anymore. They're preparing a room for the new baby, and need all the extra space they can get. As I well know, Jenny can be a harsh taskmaster in the 'getting rid of stuff' department. Perhaps someday she'll achieve her dream of being a professional organizer; for now she's satisfied with tearing up the amateur circuit.

While they were doing that, I was working on some math homework, but also trying to watch the Star Wars marathon on TV. When Danny came into the room and instantly recognized the characters, of course he wanted to watch. But even though he has light saber battles with his dad, Jenny warned me that the real thing would be too scary for a two year old. I relented and turned off the TV. In the evening, after the weather cleared up, we all went for a walk. I tried out the Baby Bjorn tummy pack, which Elena liked better than the one we have. Jenny and I can't figure out why; the two seem very similar. Maybe Elena is just learning expensive tastes at an early age.

On Sunday morning, we had to alter our route home because of the MS 150 bike ride. It was a good thing that I checked the route--I didn't know that they could close down long stretches of major thoroughfares for events like that. The longer route was only a minor inconvenience, especially as we had much better weather on the return trip; blue skies, nice temperatures, and Texas wildflowers blooming on all the medians and shoulders.

Tomorrow I head out on a Daddy-only adventure, as I'm helping with a Scout campout. Expect a report from me about that, but also news form the home front. Jenny's in charge of naps, so she knows how to get Elena to sleep, but I've been the one to put her to bed at night. Let's hope that we can all adjust our routines for one night.

Today, Elena's photo is featured on Row2k , the most popular site for rowers, as its Photo of the Day .

A friend of Jenny's is starting a photography business, and needed to build her portfolio. She didn't have any baby photos, so she asked if she could do a photo shoot with Elena, then share the pictures with us (and add them to her collection of samples for potential clients). Although Elena had a little bit of a fussy day (what top model doesn't?) and they had to take some breaks, Jenny told met that it went well. We only have a couple of preview pictures, but I'll put up more when the photographer sends them back to us. I think she did a great job and will be happy to recommend her work to anyone who needs some pictures taken.

On Easter morning, a big booming thunderstorm blew through quickly, but after it passed the sky turned blue and we had a beautiful day. Elena wore a pretty spring dress, along with a matching bow. She did a good job keeping her bow on her head.

After church, we went to Uncle John and Aunt Karina's house for dinner, featuring Karina's excellent ham. We met some new people who attend church with them, including several children. One little girl, out of the blue, came up to me and sat on my lap. She must be very trusting and social. Jenny thinks that she had seen Elena on my lap and decided that would make it a good place to perch for a minute.

As in previous years, Jenny and I played the part of the Easter bunny and hid the eggs in the backyard for the hunt. Maybe next year we will have to give up that role, since Elena will be old enough to participate for real. This year she only found one egg, and had to have some help from mommy in order to get at it. After the egg hunt, while all the kids ran around, we enjoyed the perfect spring evening and took lots of pictures as we chatted. Jenny was especially happy because she wore a lovely new top, and Elena didn't spit up on it at all.

The University of Texas rowing team has a tradition of naming boats after "strong Texas women," as Coach Graves reminded us on Saturday. Jenny and I had taken Elena out to the dedication of the Jody Conradt, the newest racing eight in the boathouse. We arrived just a few minutes before the ceremony began and took up a position on the edge of the audience. As soon as we got there, Jody Conradt herself, who had been waiting nearby until they called her up to the mic, came over to say hello to us and look at our baby. I should rephrase that--she came over to look at Elena and was willing to say hi to us in order to get access. Everyone loves to be a grandma! In all seriousness, Coach Conradt was extremely nice.

Coach Conradt shares some thoughts about the Jody Conradt.

The boat christening was good. The principals shared some funny stories and inspiring words, followed by a brief inaugural row by the varsity team. When the rowers pulled in to the dock, one of them switched out so that Coach Conradt could take a ride in her namesake boat. She seemed to like it.

Like any good coxswain, Elena focuses on steering a straight course.

As the event concluded, the attendees were invited to have some pastries and look around at the facilities and equipment. Many of the guests didn't know much about rowing, so the team had set a couple of boats in the "guts up" position so that observers could see the insides and perhaps have questions answered about the mechanics of rowing. The temptation was too much for me to resist--I got Caroline's permission, and we put Elena in the coxswain's seat for a quick photo op. Look at her focus and concentration--she's an athlete already!

We took Elena in for her two month checkup today. In the spirit of the upcoming NFL draft , we'll get right to the measurables. She weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces * , and her height was measured as 23.5 inches. She was wiggling during the measurement, so she's probably a bit taller than that. Her weight remains above the 95 ^th percentile, while her measured height has slipped towards the 90 ^th percentile. I don't keep track of her head circumference, but it's in a much lower percentile; the doctor said that gives her more grown-up proportions.

There's no Wonderlic Test for infants, but Dr. Duong commented several times on Elena's interactivity, and on how much she liked to look at faces. Although Elena cried a little bit when the doctor was using her cold stethoscope, afterwards she made up for it by smiling while demonstrating her reflexes. After showing us that Elena still has many of her primitive reflexes, like stepping, grasping, and startling, Dr. Duong mentioned that we have to be careful with our expectations. She said that since most people tend to be visual, we'll naturally compare Elena to other babies her size, even though most of them will be much older. Instead, we need to remember that her development will track with age, not size.

Elena was tired after her appointment.

While we were on the topic of her size, we asked about how long Elena would be big for her age. We don't expect her to be big forever! The doctor said that Elena might be about nine months old before her weight and height percentiles start to drift toward the ranges predicted by our sizes, although that's a very inaccurate estimate. She's had some children make it to three years before their size started to trend towards their long-term ranges.

Our appointment concluded with Elena's first series of vaccinations. We're proud to be in the common-sense majority of the population that chooses to follow the recommended vaccination schedule. Even though no mother likes to see her baby stuck with needles, Jenny did a good job of being strong. The nurse administered the vaccines quickly, and then Elena screamed it out for a little bit. She calmed down when we started driving home. By the time we got home, she started to cry because she was hungry, not because she was in pain. We'll track her over the next few days for any side-effects from the vaccines, but she's sleeping peacefully now and seems to be suffering from no adverse reactions.

Elena practices motor skills during tummy time as well as camouflage skills.

Also, we've suspected a little acid reflux as a cause of some of Elena's fussiness. The doctor told us that since Elena was so big, we could start mixing a little rice cereal in when we give her a bottle (which is usually once a day); we're going to try that, and see what happens.

* For those who have been keeping track: although Elena's birth weight was 11 lbs. 6 oz., she dropped to 10 lbs. 6 oz. by the time of her two week appointment, so her weight gain over the past six weeks has been more than three pounds, for an average of a half pound per week.

Around here, "Keep Austin Weird" is a rallying cry to support local businesses, although some of the locals try their hardest to apply the suggestion on an individual basis. Today I have two stories about local businesses that have treated us right.

My car's inspection sticker expired last summer, but I neglected it until December, when I found a coupon and took it to Midas. It passed the emissions portion of the test, but failed the safety section. They gave me a long list of necessary repairs, starting with an expensive new special-order taillight assembly, going through a number of smaller problems, and ending with a leaky exhaust for which they couldn't even give me an estimate. I went to the junkyard and bought a cheap taillight, replaced it myself in about ten minutes, and began to doubt the rest of their estimate. Because of this and other bad experiences we've had, both Jenny and I now hold a very low opinion of Midas.

After that December flurry of activity, we went on vacation and I chose to ignore the remaining problems. Recently, after repeated reminders, Jenny finally prevailed on me to get it re-inspected. This time I took it to a local place, Alan's Inspections. Alan's place consists of a dirt driveway, two shack-style garages, and a picnic table under a big tree that serves as a waiting area.

They weren't busy when I dropped in, so the inspector (I don't know if it was Alan himself, but it might have been) greeted me personally and I didn't have to sign in on the clipboard by the entrance. He did the inspection, then called me over to ask why I had failed in December. I reported the taillight and the exhaust leak, and he confirmed that I did have an exhaust leak, but said that everything else was fine. He recommended a couple of trustworthy shops, told me how much the repair should cost, and sent me on my way. Yesterday, I went to a shop he had recommended-- Muffin Muffler . I called them ahead of time and asked if I needed an appointment, and Mr. Muffin told me I could just come on by. When I did, he put my car right up on the rack and looked it over. He called me over and showed me exactly the part that needed replacement, estimated the cost, and told me he could fix it in the next forty-five minutes. This time, the waiting area was a porch, not a picnic table under a tree, but the atmosphere was the same. Almost exactly forty-five minutes later, they pulled my car down off the lift and checked me out at exactly the quoted price. I drove back down to Alan's Inspections, and they approved the inspection. Now, thanks to local businesses, I'm street legal again. I know that reading about car inspections is almost as exciting as watching grass grow in Austin during the summer, but for their good work and honest approach to business, these guys deserve all the word-of-mouth publicity they can get. Maybe this post will turn up on someone's google search and drive some more business their way.

I hope to make up for that snooze-fest story with the main event: a business that went above and beyond for Elena. Like many babies, Elena sometimes experiences gas pains. Add to that a mother's natural tendency to worry, and we've been looking for things that will help her out. We gave her Mylicon drops for a while, but they only brought very brief relief. Jenny learned about Gripe Water and wanted to give it a try on Tuesday evening, when Elena was being extra fussy. She thought I could just run out to Wal-Mart or HEB and get some, but I asked her to call around first. As it turns out, neither of those stores stock the product, so she called some pharmacies. She found a local one, Peoples Rx , that had some gripe water. However, it was 9:55 and the pharmacy was supposed to close at 10:00. The person on the other end of the phone just asked how soon she could get there, took her name and phone number, and promised that he would keep the store open until she came by.

After the conversation, Jenny headed out the door (I was holding Elena, so I was released from errand duties) and made her way to the pharmacy, where her contact had the gripe water ready, along with a sample of some probiotic powder that he also recommends for gas pains. She apologized for keeping him out late, to which he replied: "Here at this pharmacy, we like babies as much as you do and want to keep them happy." He gave her his business card and also wrote his personal cell phone number on it. In researching this post, I realized that she had been talking to the owner of the whole Peoples Rx franchise. Now that's customer service! We typically go wherever is convenient and cheap to have prescriptions filled, but after this, we'll probably make more of an effort to patronize Peoples. Also, although there's not much scientific evidence for its effectiveness, the gripe water seems to have calmed Elena down.

Elena's Baby Book has some pages about current events and trends. Jenny asked me to fill them out. Here's what I have so far, but I appreciate any comments and suggestions. For one thing, I don't know anything about fashion trends, and I don't even know where to look for reliable information on about them on the internet. Without further ado, here are the most important things in the world, according to Humble Bumble:

• President of the United States: Barack Obama
• Big news of the day: President Obama had just been inaugurated and many people were excited about that. However, the economy was by far the biggest news: the housing and debt bubble popped in 2007 and 2009, and in 2009 the world faced the effects. Governments tried to fix things with stimulus packages and "troubled asset relief programs." Also, a lady gave birth to octuplets.
• Biggest toy fad: There were several recalls of toys with lead in them, and also a recession, so many people were going back to basic toys.
• Movies: Wall-E , Coraline , Monsters vs. Aliens
• Hit songs: I'm not sure what to write here; we don't listen to much that's on the Billboard Hot 100 , although Jenny does like Taylor Swift's "Love Story."
• Musical groups: Coldplay, Plain White T's, but I have the same problem here as above-trying to balance recency and popularity with what we like and listen to.
• Television shows: Lost , The Big Bang Theory , The Office , The Amazing Race , American Idol . In this category I could list more, but I'm out of room.
• Actors and actresses: Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Nicolas Cage. I don't know where this collection came from; I think I want it to be a cross section of high-profile stars who have been in very recent movies.
• Sports figures: Lance Armstrong (making a comeback), LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Colt McCoy.
• Best-selling books: Twilight and others by Stephenie Meyer; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ; Outliers by Malcom Gladwell (needed some non-fiction); Eat This, Not That
• Fashion trends: Got nothing. Help me out!
• THE PRICE OF THINGS
  • Gasoline: $1.80, although it had been between $1.40 and $4.00 in 2008
  • Milk: $3.00, but ranges from $2.20 to $3.80 depending on the store.
  • Diapers: $10 per jumbo pack (about 40 size 2 diapers), when they're on sale.
  • Postage stamp: $0.42
  • Other: Mac laptops started at $999, and an iPod touch cost $229. Daddy and Mommy spent $65 per month on cell phones and $25 for internet access.

What do you think? Let me know if anything is way off-base or requires modification.

Jenny has been reading some internet forum for mothers whose babies were born in February. Once in a while she tells me about the hot topics. Bathing was one where our practice differed from that of others. Some parents report nightly baths (almost since the day of birth) and cite them as helpful in establishing a schedule. We have tended to bathe Elena every few days, just before she starts to smell too much of sour milk. Also, we've thought Elena is still young for a schedule.

Our baby bathtub has an infant sling to facilitate safe sponge baths in the early days. We've used it even though Elena exceeded the maximum recommended weight at birth. It seems safer to keep any part of her from submersion, and we are first-time parents so we're entitled to be a little uptight.

After we took a long family walk yesterday afternoon, Jenny wanted to take a shower. Even though Elena had already been given a bath, we decided to see how she would react to the shower. She was already pretty happy when I took her in, and got a lot of enjoyment out of the shower. She liked feeling the water on her skin as Jenny moved her in and out of the stream. She also started kicking her legs like a little swimmer. We didn't soap her up, so she didn't get too slippery, but I had brought in a glove/washcloth just in case we needed to get a better grip. After Elena's shower time was over, I put on her pajamas while Jenny finished up.

Because of the positive experience, we're going to expand Elena's bathing options. In addition to more showers, it's time to unhook the baby bathtub sling and let her body soak--the tub is configured so that we can still keep her head safely out of the water. It's good to see Elena developing in personality and capabilities, along with her increases in height and weight. In that vein, she's been smiling so much that we've been able to get some good happy-time pictures.