Baby F.A.Q.

For those who want an update, here are the answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions about the baby:

Q – What words can Jess say?
A – Thus far, we’ve got book, mama, daddy, penguin, ball, balloon, juice, out, whale and dragon. I know there are other words she’s said, but for the most part once Jess has established that a given word identifies a given object, she goes off, content in the knowledge that she never has to tell me again. She thinks I’m a fast learner, I guess. Which is to say that she doesn’t use the word, ever again. I can’t decide if I’m worried about this or not. (I also – maybe – think she’s said shit once.)
About Dragon: I have a large plywood dragon… thingie hanging from the ceiling. My mother bought it for me as a birthday present while we were in New Orleans. There’s a small fish attached to the belly by a length of fishing line and when you pull the fish, the wings flap. It is a very silly thingie and Jess, of course, loves it. Yesterday, she identified said thingie as a “bag inn!” “Yes, sweetie, that’s a dragon,” says I.
Today, cleaning the house up a bit for my dad’s semi-weekly lunch visit, I was using the dust-buster to sweep up some cracker crumbs. Jess does NOT like the dust-buster. After I’d put the terrible thing back up on the wall, she came out of her hiding spot beneath Kevin’s desk, pointed at the dust-buster and announced, very firmly; “bag inn!” “Um… well, sort of,” I admitted.
Q – What is Jess’s favorite toy?
A – Oh, let’s see… mom’s phone. Dad’s phone comes a close second, although since his doesn’t lock and she might actually accidentally call someone in Taiwan (she hasn’t done that, but she has managed to call work and his voice mail) she doesn’t get to see Dad’s phone much. She likes bottle caps, plastic forks, her hairbrush (as long as I’m not trying to actually brush her hair) my shoe inserts, Kevin’s blue button-down short sleeve shirt that I was supposed to be repairing a tear in, anything small enough to stick in a shoe or under a seat cushion, straws and balloons.
Oh! You meant actual toys… hmmm. Well, she likes this weird florescent pastel lamb that Lori got her a few years ago for Christmas. No, I don’t know how something can be florescent and pastel at the same time, but trust me, this is.
I might add that her favorite place to play is right in front of the front door. And she likes having as many toys around her as possible. My cleanup routine is almost always immediately followed by Jess dragging 70% of her Very Large toy collection over to the tiled entryway. Needless to say, getting into and out of our apartment is… dangerous.
Q – Nose?
A – Yes. And mom has a nose. And dad has a nose. And baby has an ear and mom has an ear. And dad has an ear. Yeah, yeah. we got the nose thing down.
Q – General stats
A – Jess weighs 22.6 pounds. She is about 29 inches tall and has a hat-size of 18 and a half inches. I think. I couldn’t actually find the little piece of paper the nurse gave me, so I could be wrong by an inch or pound or so in any direction. More importantly, Jess wears size 18 month clothes, mostly. She can still fit into a lot of her size 12 month, but they’re all mostly winter clothes and some of it is tight if it snaps between her legs. If it’s a dress or a shirt or pants, she can still wear 12 month. The 18 month stuff is a little big, but hey, she’s still growing. Shoe size, she’s too big for a 4, but not quite into the size 5, but they don’t make baby 4 and a 1/2s so we’re stuck with the shoes that are a little too big.
Q – What’s Jess’s favorite food?
A – Generally anything that Kevin and I are eating. She likes cheese, maccaroni and cheese, hot dogs with cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches and… did I mention she likes cheese? I wonder where she got that from. Hmmmm…
Easier to say what she doesn’t like. She doesn’t like pickles. She doesn’t like apples. She doesn’t like soda. She’s not too keen on my lemon-meatballs. Or onion rings. That’s about it, really.

PS – If there are questions you’d like answered, post them below and I’ll do my best