Adios Nana (we miss you already)

Nana has come and gone in a flash.  She managed to navigate the DC metro due to my fine drunken tutelage.  She also really bonded with Lucy as she took over child sitting duties to give my Mom a break (I'm sure spent at the slots).  ;)

 

My nieces Susan and Karen came over last weekend as well.  Susan is back from work in Africa where she is working hard to do good and secure passage to heaven for the "borderline" O'Grady's (I'm looking at you Joe!). 

It was her first meeting of Lucy so were now hopeful that Lucy has been exposed and is now immune to African Swine Flu.   :)

Lucky for us, Lucy remembered Karen and we could all eat a nice brunch in peace while Karen shoveled cottage cheese into an excited Lucy's mouth.  Good Mommy practice Karen! 

As you can see, Lucy is in her Redskin home uniform and it has yet to fail the Skins.  Ah.. the joys of NEVER seeing the Skins lose.   Lucy is still 2-0 in her Redskin supporting lifetime.  I'm pretty sure she's mature enough now to handle a loss unless it comes against the Cowboys.  Romo makes her want to throw bricks.

Giggles

8 Months

A few days late on Lucy's 8 month pic.  In my defense, we had an earthquake and a hurricane.  I also fell down the stairs today.  A pretty bad fall.  Foot slid out and down I went.  Right on my back and then slid a few more steps.  I cleared 12 stairs in total.

 Now for the hard thing to talk about...  <NOTE: EVERYTHING IS FINE, ALL ARE OK>

I was holding Lucy.  She fell on top of me..slid down a few stairs on top of me... and I lost her near the bottom of stairs.  She took a good tumble and it scared the living shit out of me.  The wind was knocked out of me as I tried to call for Sarah who was in the shower.  Scary moments.  She was a little shook up but no damage.  I'm sure I'll be having horrific flashbacks of the event for years. 

So... anyone who had Sarah as the parent that was going to drop her first...  you lose.   And why would you bet on such things you sick twist!? :)

We also got Lucy a high chair.  No more defying the explicit rules of the Bumbo chair (i.e. do not place on elevated surfaces).  If only I knew I was going to drop her I would have given it to her as a make up present.  Looks like I'm still on the hook for a pony.

Mustaches!

We went to New York this weekend for Jack O'Grady's first birthday. Because his Mom, Sarah, is a consummate hostess, the party was a themed affair: a Mustache Bash. Most of the men in attendance had grown a mustache, John brought his of course, there were mustache lollipops and cookies, and of course fake mustaches for those who were unable to grow one in time. Like Lucy:

It was fantastic!

Seven Months

Seven month inventory:

• Two teeth
• Thin coat of fuzzy blonde hair
• Chipmunk like chortle
• Solid foods
• Solid poops
• Stranger anxiety
• Raspberries
• Naps in the crib
• Chubby cheeks!

Has It Been 6 Months Already?

Lucy is now 6 months old. You know that thing people tell you about how they grow up so fast? It is true! She has two teeth (which she uses regularly on our fingers). She rolls easily from her front to her back. Too easily, actually - how the heck will she get any tummy time if she starts rolling over before you even put her down on her tummy? And we all knew that she would be strong willed, given that she is an O'Grady, but come on! She does NOT want to nap, she does NOT want you to put the peas away yet, she does NOT want to be changed right now, and she does NOT want to be on her tummy (see above). Yet when she is doing something she likes, which is most of the time, Lucy Rose is a ray of sunshine, a flirt, and a fantastic audience. Her giggle is like a drug and we keep doing whatever got a laugh long after she's bored with it just trying for one more hit.

We want the best for her and there are so many things to consider. Public school or private? Vegetarian or carnivore? Sister or only child? TV? Sweets? Oh well, we will figure it out. Our sweet little monster has a way of keeping you in the present with her, enjoying life.

Babies... If it's not food it's water. Sheesh!

Lucy had her first "solids" today - rice cereal in milk.  The remnants on her bib could have fed a small village. It was pretty fun feeding her.  Video of the event is below.

5 Months Ago...

5 months ago today, we welcomed Lucy into our lives. She was a sweet little newborn - very alert and she seemed pretty curious about this world she'd been introduced to. That part hasn't changed. She is a very sweet baby who is quick with a smile (especially when Daddy is doing a silly dance) and very curious about the toys we give her, the drinks we are holding, the people she is introduced to, and those big televisions with the many noises and colors.

She now weighs 12 pounds and is bigger than Pooh:

Now she also has conversations with us and with stuffed animals, enjoys a relaxing soak in the tub, and has a preference for being outside, just to name a few differences. And, to our eyes, she gets cuter every day. What a lucky family we are.

We are going to Wisconsin for the Memorial Day weekend. If you are going to be in the Richland Center area on Sunday, come by the Sawle house and say hello!!

A very Lister Easter.

My D.C.-based and recently engaged niece brought my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and fiancee over for dinner and drinks last night.  No Irish or Italians we're harmed and it was great seeing everyone. 

 Lucy did pretty well through the commotion of drinking and thai food.  Is Guinness good for babies?  I'll guess we'll find out.  ;)

I've taken more photos of Lucy than my dad even looked at me.

Lucy hit the big four months on Friday. She is quickly gaining on Pooh.

So what has four months gotten her?

• Full head control.
• The ability to sleep through the night.
• Loud squeals.
• Forced giggles.
• The ability to pick up and shove items into her mouth.
• Love for TV.

Not too shabby for a month.

Will We Still Need A Car Seat? (Edit: April Fool's for those of you that didn't check the date)

There have been reports recently that radioactive elements have been found in and around Maryland. In hindsight, yesterday may not have been the best day for me to give Lucy her first taste of water straight out of the tap. While she seemed to really enjoy the water - drinking three large glasses in rapid succession - afterwards, she started acting a little different.

Her gurgles and coos sounded more like growls and barks. The onesie she was wearing suddenly seemed tight on her. During one of her playful kicking sessions with Daddy she gave him a real shiner. Then, when she woke up this morning, she seemed significantly bigger.

To my eyes, Lucy grows and changes every day, so I needed to use something objective to determine whether she was having some sort of reaction to that tap water. So I got out her trusty Pooh.

As a reference, here is a picture of her taken with Pooh about a week ago, on her 3-month birthday:

And here she is this morning:

Do you notice a difference?

3 Months

Lucy is now 3 months old.

Shortly after this photo was taken, she kicked off her socks, demanded a drink, and refused to leave the recliner. I've read that you can't spoil a newborn - but now that I think of it, Lucy forwarded me all of those articles. Tricky!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucy wanted me to tell you that you shouldn't interpret her shirt as a question. It is a declaration. She demands her kisses!

Also, I overheard John and Lucy discussing going out tonight - I think I heard Lucy say "hooligan." Should I be worried?

Goodbye Cypher. January 30, 2000 - March 5, 2011

I just held my best friend's head in my hands as he let go of life.

Cypher had been having leg troubles for a few months. His tail never stopped wagging and he would still follow me up and down flights of stairs just to be close. The past month he was in obvious pain as he followed me about the house. On Wednesday we found out that his chronic limp was bone cancer. By Friday he was finding it difficult to make it to the water bowl. At 12:15 this afternoon I had to say goodbye.

I've had him since he was a pup and he had been a constant companion for the past 11 years. He saw me through some of the toughest points in my life and was there to make the joyous moments that much sweeter. I feel blessed to have had him in my life for so long and I don't have words to describe my feeling of loss. I miss him desperately.


I'll never forget you Cypher. I hope I brought as much fulfillment to your life as you did to mine. Thank you for waiting until I had Sarah and Lucy to get me through this.

Lucy gets some inspiration

Sarah wanted to hate this video... but in the end, she laughed.  John 1, Sarah 0

Getting Old(er)

On Tuesday, Lucy became a two-month-old. No more measuring her age in weeks - she's too old for that now. Check out the new picture with Pooh:

The day after her two-month birthday, she rolled from her front to her back. Even though I caught two instances of it on video, she has yet to replicate the feat for Daddy, so right now he thinks that I got some help from Industrial Light and Magic in creating the videos. Can I help it if she likes to exercise in the morning and relax at night?

Right now Lucy is talking to the duck that hangs over her chair and is getting very frustrated that he's not responding to her. Must run!

PS If you want to see all of the monthly posts with Pooh, just click on the "Growing" label.

You know they're serious cause they aren't wearing their cheesehead hats

I'm a little overdue for a blog post.  Lucy has been keeping us busy with equal amounts of total consciousness and unexplainable fussiness.  She can spend hours just looking at Mom and me, smiling and staring inquisitively and then spend hours in a cranky funk.  Coincidently, I seem to get a mystery illness during the fussy times and hide in the bedroom.  ;)

Lucy has also been quite troubled by the Wisconsin protests.  It's tearing her Nana and Grandpa apart!  On one hand, she thinks that Gov. Walker created this shortfall by cutting taxes.  She also sees the pension shortfalls as being part of the economic downturn and doesn't see why the unions should pay for wall street's lack of regulation and reckless greed.  She also doesn't understand why Gov. Walker won't accept the financial concessions of the unions and insists on killing the unions.  Of the five states without collective bargaining for teachers, the SAT rankings are: South Carolina -50th, North Carolina -49th, Georgia -48th, Texas -47th, and Virginia -44th.  This makes no sense to this two month old.   

But on the other hand...  hmmm... she's got nothing.  Granted Lucy doesn't watch much Fox news in this house.

I'm sure Grandpa will straighten her out in March when he makes his next visit.  ;)

Amateur hour is over.

Sara Schultz hit town on Wednesday to put an end to Lucy's reign of terror.  She's like the Wisconsin Mary Poppins.  Lucy cries... Sara taps a magic umbrella and makes it all better. :)
We've gotten some good tips and eaten well.  The wife and I are gonna hit the movies tonight and finally see True Grit (the movie we were going to see the night Lucy came a knockin').  We may need to see if her husband Jason will let us keep her.  ;)

Lucy is still amped about the Packers

It must be Grandpa's influence or the complete lack of a winning franchise in Washington, but Lucy is still very amped about the Packers Super Bowl win.  Took us some hours to get her to sleep and then we lost her for awhile... wonder where she went.

My brother Tim and sister-in-law Ellen stopped by this morning on the way to Florida for a visit.  I never thought there'd be a chance that my sister Mary could actually be the last O'Grady (Fridman) to make it down to see her niece.  /end guilt trip/ ;) 

I worked from home today so Jenny also came over to help Sarah with Lucy.  She decided to bring out her inner rocker.  

And now I have to get back to work to make up the time I spent goofing around.  Till next time. 

And like that, poof. He's gone.

My brother and nephew left this morning... well technically we parted ways last night at 4:30am after an impromptu bar crawl. Joe's buddy Isaac offered to take them in and drop them off in the morning. Sleep seemed like a bad idea when we'd have to wake up in 2 hrs to drive to BWI airport so I handed them off to him. And so it turned into an all nighter for the O'Grady boys. Hope they made it out ok. ;)

It was great having my brother and nephew in town but I think I aged 20 years. I hate to say it, but Joe is the canary in the coal mine for me. I got to get off the smokes for good, lose some weight, and get in shape or I'm gonna be moaning and coughing and struggling to get myself out of a recliner in seven years. Note to Jane: Get that man to a doctor! :p

The moral of this ramble is that we just couldn't party like we used to. Aging is a bitch!

My brother Tim and sister-in-law Ellen are going to stop by in the morning on the way to Florida and Sarah's friend Sarah Shultz comes in from Wisconsin next week. Busy busy busy.

Caught ya!

Lucy has been Ms. Personality the past few days but the frequent smiles had somehow avoided my camera lens. Finally, I got one!

She was just looking out the window here as I incessantly chattered away in a high pitch squeal.  She's finicky with those smiles and the only consistent ones are when Mommy and I come into a room after not seeing us for awhile. I think Sarah gets those more than me so I better begin phase 2 of my "Why Daddy is cooler than Mommy" propaganda campaign.  :)

She's online!

The system goes on-line December 22, 2010. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Lucy begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 10:14 p.m. Eastern time, January 31st. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. 

Lucy decided to show some serious personality tonight.  It was incredibly fun and I find it hard not to keep her up all night doing tricks. :)  

A Response to the Post Below, from Lucy

Note: I've had my in-house editor clean up my message to daddy. He's the only one that finds it amusing that I use a lot of z's and exclamation points in my first drafts.

Of course you guys did fine the first month. I slept most of the time.

Just wait until I can eat a meal without falling asleep. Then the true challenge begins!

We kept her alive for a month!

Lucy hit her one month birthday. She's no spring chicken anymore. She's seen some things. She's knows the score. She's been there. She's done that.

So long Mini... hello JUKE!

Got a new car tonight.  Traded in the Mini for a new Nissan Juke.  We needed the 4 doors but didn't want to lose the fun.  AWD was big for me too.  So far we're very happy with it (20 miles in).  :D


Lucy moved to her crib on Sunday night and is adjusting well.  She likes to eat every four hours and Sarah is being a real trooper and letting me sleep.  I went back to work this Monday so it's not laziness.  It's business!


She's very alert, aware and curious of everything these days.  We've seen a few fussy moments but nothing to complain about.  Still loving it.  She changes so much every day.  It's scary.  Speaking of scary... she shot a wet poop today that cleared four feet easy.  (probably should have warned you of upcoming poop story... oh well)  Sarah took the hit and had to do a load of laundry to boot.  Did I mention what a trooper she is?  ;)

Our busy weekend in video form

Lucy gets fussy

Sarah and I fondly remember the good 'ol days when Lucy was as quiet and peaceful as a lamb.  It may have only been three weeks, but one night of fussiness has sent us into serious planning mode.  And so far, we are winning the (hopefully) short fussiness battle of 2011.

Week in review

It's been a busy week and I haven't had much time to post.  Sarah's parents left Sunday and we've been on our own for a few days.  Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to...

My niece Karen and her boyfriend Matthew came over Friday night to meet Lucy and have a few beers.  She was the first of my side of the family to make it over and thus is the only relative I now feel bad about not buying Christmas presents.  :P

Mike and Jan Lastort came by Friday night as well and although they got in some Lucy time, it was nice that it actually felt like they came to see Sarah and me. :)

The Fishes (Chris, Christine, and Caroline) came over on Saturday and brought good karma to the Jets.  Their adorable one year old spent some fun times running towards or away from our dog Cypher while Chris and I drank some mugs of "daddy juice."  I hadn't seen Christine in a few years and was both encouraged and disappointed when she didn't have a cigarette to bum me.  She's been off them for a few years so maybe there's hope for me.  Oooooh! Be right back... I think I may have remembered seeing a broken Marlboro in between the console and drivers seat....

Hmmmm... nope... anyone know a good mechanic that can repair a torn out dashboard? ;)

Grandpa is on the Scene

Sarah's dad, Scott, hit town this afternoon and the rest of us (including his wife who he hasn't seen in weeks) is dead to him.  It's all Lucy, all the time. We had prepared for him being smitten by her charms.  Wait till she pukes on him, then we may get him back.  Hopefully he has the will to finish the list of chores we have scoped out.  Actually, last time he was out here, he was the one puking after a night at the Royal Mile Pub... so maybe Lucy has met her match.  :-D

Thwanks por presentz!

Dorbellez keepez ringingz wit giffs por me'z!!!!!  I stealz da Daddiez googlez passphrasez to sended da biiig danks!  Shhhhhh.... he'z comingz!  Danks youz everyonez!!!!   Belowez I postez picturz of me'z doin' George Dubya impressionz.  Lookz likez I'z doing biig internationalz thinking but I reallies jus poopingz.   LAWLZ!!!