What a week!

Phoebe (or McFusserstein as she is known around these parts) had quite the week!  On Tuesday in the morning we went to a new mom's support group at the Parent's Place.  That evening we went to a party at my friend Sathya's house.  It was supposed to be (among other things) a chance for a group of our California friends to meet Phoebe.  Sadly, she was in rare form on Tuesday night and managed to scream for pretty much the whole two hours we were there.   Proof that our friends are awesome is that they all offered to take turns trying to calm the baby.  Nobody was able to succeed, but we sure appreciated the break!  (And the wine).  We are the only couple among our friends with a baby, and I think that after this particular get together, it will stay that way for quite a while :) Needless to say, there are no pictures of Phoebe's first party.

On Wednesday, we went to our regular weekly infant group.  When Phoebe started to fuss the woman that runs the group asked if she could try to calm her down.  I said "most definitely", handed over Phoebe, and then I briefly considered how far I could get before they realized I was gone :)  JUST KIDDING!  I really like the infant playgroup get together.  It is really nice to hang out with other moms that have kids around the same age - whenever I go out with the baby anywhere else I always am on edge about her screaming (or anticipating her screaming) so it is nice to be in an environment where everyone just keeps talking over the baby noise.  I was skeptical of the group at first and it was actually Jeremy who signed us up, but I am really glad he convinced me to go.

After playgroup, Phoebe and I went to the local baby consignment shop with some of the other parents and babies.  The first week of every month, they have a dollar sale where everything that has been in the store for three months or longer is only $1.  We got a couple of cute outfits for Phoebe and an outfit for a friend of ours who is having a baby boy in May.  Given the speed at which Phoebe is growing and the disgusting things that she does to clothing, it is nice to be able to get a whole sack full of clothes for less than $20! 

My original intent in this picture was to capture a cute photo of one of Phoebe's new outfits, but she spit up all over the top before I could get a picture.  (Imagine these pants with a cute pink shirt with owls on it).  Anyway, so after the giant spit up, I threw this red shirt on her - it was part of an outfit that some friends of ours got Phoebe after she was born.  So instead of showing her cute new outfit, this picture shows how BIG Phoebe is getting.  Clearly the shirt doesn't really fit any more  - I think we've officially graduated out of newborn sized clothes!  It is amazing that a person can grow this fast!  Of course, when we see the six month olds in the class above ours at playgroup it is clear that Phoebe is still a little shrimp, but compared to where she was just a few weeks ago, she is getting huge!

Phoebe is also getting more expressive - here is a sequence of her in her bouncy seat the other day:

Speaking of the bouncy seat - it is one of Phoebe's favorite places to hang out.  We got our bouncy for $5 at a garage sale, and it is probably one of the best purchases we have ever made!  We found out that at night she'll sleep about an hour longer than usual if she is in there rather than her pack-n-play, so she spends a LOT of time in the bouncy.  It is an old-school bouncy seat from before people worried about things like infant head support, so we've rigged up a makeshift head/neck support, and Phoebe does tend to end up scrunched down after a few hours, but she doesn't seem to mind and we are certainly not going to mess with success!  In this picture, Phoebe is sporting one of my favorite baby outfits.  It is a little tie-died sleeper with an elephant on it.  You can 't see it in these pictures, but the feet are also elephants.  Adorable!  Also, tie die hides any number of baby-related stains - they should really make more tie-died infant clothing!

Let's see, back to our busy week.  Today (Thursday) Phoebe and I had our first play date!  We met one of the moms from our group and her baby for lunch.  It was really nice!  Both babies were on their best behavior for the entire meal!  Both of us moms really enjoyed getting out of the house and having some adult conversation.  Both of us have somewhat fussy babies and are nervous about taking them out in public, so it was nice to have each other for moral support!  Half way through lunch I think we were even able to relax (a little) and worry a little less about if something was going to set off one of the babies. 

This has been a pretty busy week all told.  I am getting a little more confident about taking Phoebe out - although the screaming fit at the party on Tuesday was almost enough to make me want to keep her home for the next six years!  Sunday will be the real test - we're taking her to Palo Alto to watch the Superbowl, so it will be her first long car trip AND the longest we've been gone in any one stretch.  Hopefully it won't be too big of a disaster.

Here are some more cute Phoebe pictures:

This picture is Jeremy playing with Phoebe on her play mat.  I don't think that the company that makes the mat intended it for grown men, but Jeremy sure had a good time :)

Another sleeping baby picture.  From the pictures on this blog you would think that Phoebe sleeps a lot - hahahaha!  Anyway, if you look closely you can see her blowing bubbles in her sleep.  I just thought that was adorable.  Not quite as adorable as if she'd slept for longer than 20 minutes, but adorable none-the-less.