Our Little Four Month Old!

Our little baby went to the doctor this week for her four month check-up. I'm pleased to report that she weighs 15.15 lbs and is 26 inches long. The doctor described her as perfect!

A couple new things Kensey is doing that we love:

- She has started pulling her pacifier out of her mouth, examining it, and then tries to put it back in place. It's very entertaining and sweet; the pacifier always goes in backwards or sideways.

- There is nothing better than getting Kensey when she first wakes up for the day or from a nap. She is so excited to see us - she grins from ear to ear, kicks her legs and wildly waves her arms. It's the most wonderful, heart-melting, pure expression of joy and love in the world.

The Vegan Wagon...

I hang my head as I admit that I fell off the vegan wagon this weekend. I had a fantastic six day stretch and then started feeling awful (body aches, lethargy, several dizzy spells, and extreme moodiness - so sorry Ira). I chalked it up to not eating enough protein, got nervous, and fell off the veggie wagon. I feel guilty about it but the flu-like symptoms went away after I ate sushi.

We were at a party last night and I happened to start chatting with a chef. I told him about my vegan plan and the icky feeling that ensued. He told me that I shocked my body and suggested that I ease into the new diet by eliminating one thing a week. Now that's doable!

So, I'm going to modify my plan so I can have a boost of protein if I need it. Here's the plan:

Not allowed: Diary, all meat except seafood, products made with diary

Allowed this week: Seafood, eggs

I'm feeling good about this and look forward to getting back on the plan tomorrow!

The Stealth and the Spectacle

While most people have embraced the social media and all it has to offer, my friend Loren is sketched out by the whole thing. She maintains a low world wide web profile, but I've come to realize that that doesn't mean she isn't out there stealthily keeping tabs on others. Case in point, I received this email a couple days ago:

I love your blog but to comment, I think I need a blog or profile and you know me, I'm not up for social networking stuff. So I'll send you an email instead.

I was thinking about how crazy it is that you are living in California. When we were in college, I would never have pictured you there. Maybe in Berkeley or San Fran but never Brentwood. Isn't it funny how things work out. My favorite part of you living there is your star sightings. Maybe you should blog about that for all of the people in your life that love People and US magazine. Who is your most recent sighting? Does that get so boring for you now that you live there? Do you hate that we love it so much? :)

Loren, I know you are out there...

I never imagined me living in LA, let alone California either. Love makes us do crazy things, though! Moving across the country was the boldest, bravest decision I've ever made and also the most rewarding.

For my People and US Magazine loving friends...

I recently had two celebrity spottings within a couple days of each other. The first was pretty cool and the second was just plain bizzarro.

The first:

Ben Affleck walked past me carrying his daughter, Violet. As he passed he smiled and said hi.

Note: I told this to my mom and her response was, "That's nice. Did he say our baby was cute?" No mom, unlike us, Ben Affleck is not fixated on Kensey. He just said "hi".

The second:

When you live in LA and you see a celebrity you ignore them. Ira and I sat next to Steven Spielberg at breakfast and wouldn't even turn our heads to the right. It was hard work.

I've experienced one exception to this rule and it was Steven Seagal at my local Whole Foods.

I was in the produce section when Steven Seagal walked into the store. I know virtually nothing about Steven Seagal, but he's a presence in person. He's incredibly tall and wide, sported a deep, dark spray tan, and his hair was shiny and slicked. He stood out like an amber giant amongst the vegetable loving, tree-hugging Whole Foods clientele.

To add to the spectacle, Steven Seagal's arm was in a cast and he was with the smallest, little (hot) Asian woman I've ever seen. She was pushing the cart and Steven Seagal was using his good arm to point to the items she should pick up. I couldn't tell if the woman worked for Steven Seagal of if she was his girlfriend, but either way, I felt sorry for her. He was very bossy.

What made the Steven Seagal sighting bizarre was that everyone in the store was highly aware of him. It was the biggest reaction I'd seen for any celebrity and it was Steven Seagal! Every time I passed a group of people, I'd hear his name,

A sweet, cross-eyed little man turned to me in the vitamin aisle and said, "Did you see, Steven Seagal is here."

"I did."

"I really liked that movie he was in but I can't remember the name of it. I think I'm going to ask him."

I wonder how that conversation went!

I hope I've satisfied your craving for celebrity dish, Loren!

The Diaper Diaries, Episode One

This post is about baby poop. I was batting around the idea of sharing this story, and my dear friend Jenny Kramer told me I had to. She's a new mother, has already experienced a few poop-tastrophes, and apparently loves a good turd story. So Jenny, I dedicate this one to you.

The Diaper Diaries, Episode One:

Kensey slept late this morning and I was stoked to get to shower. When she woke up she was in a good mood, so I got her settled in the bathroom and had time to blow dry. Score!

Mid-way through drying my hair my cell phone rang. It was a professional recruiter. I have no intention of going back to work right now, but I hadn't been [professionally] courted for a while. I entertained the call. It was flattering to be [professionally] desired.

A few minutes into the call, I see Kensey making her pooping face. A couple grunts and pushes later, she's smiling from ear to ear and stinking something fierce. I have to change her STAT.

I'm carefully balancing the phone between my ear and chin and half-listening to the recruiter when I scoop up the baby with my free arm and see it.

There is a big, wet, yellowish brown spot in Kensey's pajamas mid-way between her bottom and left leg. I know I have a full-fledged diaper leak on my hands.

So now I'm trying to get off the recruiter off the phone (who wants to chat). I'm standing over the baby who is on the changing table doing what resembles a full-fledged calisthenics workout. The brownness under the pjs is overtaking her leg with every squirm and wiggle and I am dreading what I had in store.

I get to work. I hold my breath, unzip the pajamas, avoid spillage, and extract the right leg. Then I bend Kensey's left knee and peel the pjs off her leg. Poop covers her left leg down to her toes. I take her diaper off and turn to gets the wipes. The baby slaps her legs together and then grabs her feet, so now her butt, legs, feet, tummy, arms and hands are covered in poop. I fear the inevitable next move, which is putting her hands in her mouth. With my left hand I am holding her arms down which causes her to flail more. With my right, I am attempting to wipe up poop but its smearing everywhere. I have poop up to my elbows and all over my shirt.

Ding Dong. Oh yes, you read right. DING. DONG. The doorbell. Today is the day the painters arrive. I completely forgot.

In a moment of panic, I wrap Kensey, the dirty diaper and pajamas in a blanket and carry them all to the front door. I swing it open, smile feebly and say, "Hello. Come in. We are covered in poop".

From there I bring my dirty load to the bathroom. The diaper and pajamas went in the trash and the baby got scrubbed in the sink (she had poop in between her toes!).

We had made it. I gently life my sweet and clean smelling baby out of the sink, towel her off and whispered to her, "We survived it, Kiddo. We made it through."

And she replied with a "Bluuaah". Spit up down my back.

A New Adventure!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a foodie. I love being in the kitchen and experimenting with foods. My spice shelf is the most organized thing in my life. I'm a super-geek when a new restaurants in town. I read about chefs and can happily veg out (no pun intended, but funny!) to the Food Network for hours on end. I like feeding people and of course, I love eating!

That being said, I made a decision this weekend that I'm going to give veganism a try! Bold, isn't it? Well, not really. By 'giving it a try' I mean that I've decided to go two-and-a-half weeks without meat, eggs, milk, or products made with the aforementioned. I'm pretty much dating the vegan lifestyle to see of I want to commit. I'm considering it my trial membership to the world of eating leaves, fruits, grains and nuts.

I know a lot of people decide to go vegan because they love animals and can't bear to eat something that once had a face. Um, well, I've got to admit that I'm not one of those folks. Animals are great and all, but so is filet mignon lapping in jus. My reasons for going vegan are strictly selfish:

1) Girlfriend had a baby 4 months ago. And when I was pregnant I gained an excessive amount of weight. I like food and my appetite was voracious, okay?!? I've lost all but the last 8 pounds and I want to give my body a kick in the pants.

2) I been having a love affair with dairy products that needs to come to an end. Bye bye, brie!

3) Whether one eats Big Macs or fois gras, fat is fat. I don't eat fast food, but decadence goes to ones hips and clogs ones arteries just the same.

4) I'm admittedly not a very disciplined person. I am excited to challenge myself and hope that it leads to other positive changes in my life.

5) I feel at my best when I eat clean. I like the way my body runs when I am eating healthily.

6) I'm looking forward to learning how to cook in new styles. It will be fun to put my ultra-organized spices to work and create new dishes. Indian, anyone?

6) Two blocks from our house is the farmers market. The produce is divine! I feel grateful to have such a wonderful assortment of fruits and veggies so close-by and at such a reasonable price.

So, today was the first day of my new adventure and it went great! I had hearty oatmeal with dried fruit for breakfast, a salad of farmers market finds for lunch, and barley salad for dinner.

I did find myself feeling tempted by non-vegan food twice, but both times was for a fleeting moment and I didn't act on it. I think I'll learn a lot about myself if I pay attention to the moments when I am tempted!

I will keep posting about vegan adventure and will certainly share any good recipes I find!

I'm a shag carpet maker!

I know it's normal to lose hair post-pregnancy, but I am shedding everywhere. According to the Babycenter web-site, a woman loses about 500 hairs a day after delivery. Ira and I agree that I have to be shedding a least 1,000 hairs a day. It is outrageous! My hair is dark, long, and hard to miss when it collects in our carpets, our bed, my car, and on the bathroom floor. I've picked hairs out of the baby's crib and pried them out of her hands. My hairdresser assured me that I have plenty of hair and some to spare, come on!

Furry Friends

After writing my previous post I realized that I hadn't mentioned two important members of our family, our dogs Tucker and Daisy! I'm certain they will be mentioned in plenty of posts, so let me take a few moments to describe our pups:

Tucker is a two-year old Coton de Tulear. What is a Coton de Tulear you ask? Cotons are fluffy, white dogs from Madagascar with hair that feels like rabbit fur. Our Tuck is a gentle, kind, chicken of a dog. He's earnest, playful and very intelligent. The night we brought Kensey home from the hospital, Tucker left his bed and slept at the foot of the bassinet. If he were human, he'd definitely be voted 'Everybody's Pal' in the high school superlatives.

Daisy is a three-year old Imperial Shih Tzu. It's been said that Shih Tzus guarded the throne of China, and knowing Daisy that makes perfect sense. She's a little, bitty thing that's a royal pain in the ass! Daisy likes to call the shots when it comes to walking on the leash and demands that someone gets her the toys she desires out of the toy box. The trouble is that she's really cute, and occasionally lovable, so we (ahem...mostly Ira) comply. What can I say, we're suckers for this face.