Day 103 - Walking the Dog

"Weeee, Come On Kaija, Let's Go!"

Paige and I took Kaija for a walk tonight when I got home. It was the first time I took her out of the house in the Baby Bjorn all by myself. She did very well. I am sure we will be doing this more since the weather is starting to warm up. (Well, at least I tell myself this. It was up to 38 degrees tonight when I came home from work.) I guess this also qualifies as a self-portrait, since I held the camera out at arm's length and turned it around to take our picture since we were home alone. I'd say it turned out ok.

Day 102 - Iron Chef Minnesota

"What are you making on that fire daddy?"

Valerie brought Paige into the kitchen to watch me making dinner, and she was pretty interested in what I was doing. If you notice the blue light in the background, that is actually the last remnants of daylight coming in through the window.

Day 101 - Fun in the Sun

"This "Sun" thing you speak of, what does it do exactly?"

Slowly but surely the Sun is starting to stay up longer which is great. It is fun watching her experience sunlight more and more. I still think she is a little unsure of its usefulness as she mostly just squints. It is hard to imagine, but the first two months of her life were the two months of the year with the least amount of daylight. Every day is more daylight than she's ever experienced. Pretty amazing.

Day 100 - Hug Me!

"Even though I'm still sick, this makes me feel better."

Wow, Day 100. Maybe we need to look back at Paige's "First 100 Days." Nah, much more fun to look at what is coming in the next 100 days. She and I are making steady progress at feeling better, but we aren't out of the woods yet. She is occupying her time by hugging her Valentine's day present from Valerie.

Day 99 - MMM.. Duck.

"Boy, duck tastes good. Doesn't taste gamey at all."

Yep, we flew right past the fingers and hands in her mouth stage and moved right on to everything and anything she can wrap her little fingers around getting shoved into her mouth stage.

Day 98 - Wonder

"Wow."

Paige is starting to stare at things for more than just brief moments. Makes it much easier to focus.

Day 97 - Little Ranger

"Go Rangers!"

Paige is sporting her Forest Lake Rangers Pajamas. As you can tell, she is a big fan. She told me that she wants to wish them good luck in the post season!

Day 97 - Sick.

"Cough, Cough, Achoo, Achoo!"

Yep, as you will note in the image above, Paige is sick, she started to get a runny nose and a cough on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, now I am sick too. The thing is, I get to take medicine to make me feel better. She just has to feel miserable, because they don't let babies that small take medicine. She sure pulls off sick pretty well though. She looks beautiful even with a nose full of snot!

Day 96 - Baby Eyes

"OK daddy, I'll sit still so you can get a good photograph."

Isn't there something amazing about the eyes of a baby? Perhaps it is the amazement at the world around them, or perhaps it is that they are not hiding anything from you, each look is made with just sheer wonder. Either way, I like em.

Day 95 - Gratuitous Smiling Baby Photograph

"Word."

There is always room for one more smiling baby photograph right?

Day 94 - Great Success!

"Uhhhhh, I did it! [Insert Applause]"

Yep, she has now mastered the holding up of her head when laying on her stomach. She still isn't a huge fan, but hey, I'll take it! She was able to hold her head up for a bit, took a couple face plants in stride, and then pushed herself back up again. She is still relying on the muscles in her eyebrows, but to a lesser degree. ( see http://paigejulia.blogspot.com/2008/12/day-20-tummy-time.html; http://baby365.blogspot.com/2008/04/day-12-tummy-time.html).

Day 93 - Hanging at Work

"Boy this is hard work!"

Paige spent the afternoon with mom in the athletic training room. I went up and watched the basketball game. Paige was pretty wiped out. Long day I guess.

Day 91 - Happy to be Home

"Time to relax, have a refreshing warm bottle of milk, and put my feet up, ya know?"

Paige has officially completed her first week of daycare. She has only had to have two sets of clothes sent home as a result of an "accident." Has mastered winning over the staff with her smile, apparently loves to listen to music (wonder where she gets that from?), and according to the staff is enjoying tummy time (I think they are lying to us to make us feel better). Oh, and she made a Valentine's day card for her Mommy. Very thoughtful and considerate for one so young.

Day 90 - Slipping By

"..."

Sometimes the end of the day sneaks up on you. I think this is why tripods were invented.

Day 89 - Links

"Gimme That!"

As documented above, Paige is getting very grabby. Anything she can get her little maw on, she is going for it. It will also likely end up in her mouth. Seems reasonable.

Day 88 - Goodbye For Now.

"Later Mom. It Has Been Real."

Well, today was Paige's first day at day care. She took it like a champ, hardly batted an eye. The same can't be said for her parents. It was pretty hard. Harder than I had imagined, and I have had to leave and go to work pretty much every day since she was 1 week old!

Day 87 - The Monkey Party!

"Not Sure What To Think About That Over There. Kind Of Freaks Me Out."

Is it me, or does she look like she should be in the etrade commercial in this one? Paige is sporting her Monkey Hat courtesy of her aunt Stephanie. It was quite appropriate for her to wear it today. Our friends Rachel and Andrew had a birthday party for their son, and it was called "The Monkey Party" and it was monkey themed. Paige made it for quite a while before she started to get fussy because she needed a diaper change and a bottle. First in a long line of parties I am sure.

Day 86 - Nap Time

"zzz."

Paige taking a little nap in the mid-morning. She has been starting to take naps a little bit longer at a time. Perhaps it will soon be a normal thing for her to nap for more than 40 minutes. Only time will tell.

Day 85 - Life as Usual

"You Going For A Run Mommy?"

We're gearing up for the next big change in our lives. Paige is going to be starting day care on Monday. Trying to get our lives into a schedule that will work for the three of us has been hard. It is amazing how much she changes the way you handle even the simplest of things, such as going for a run. We'll work it out, just takes some time.

Day 84 - Precious Times

"Nice Way To Relax, That's For Sure."

Trying to experiment with some lower light and lighting sources. This one loses a bit in the conversion process, but I think it still holds up pretty well. Paige is still doing well, happy to eat, sleep and cry a lot.

Day 83 - Angles

"Watch Out, I'll Step On You!"

She is starting to gain interest in what I am doing when I take her picture. That or she is contemplating whether or not to vomit on the camera. I guess it is a toss up.

Day 82 - Self Portrait in a Portrait

"hehehe"

Her facial expression set is growing on a daily basis. As you can see here, she has mastered the open-mouthed baby smile. If you care too, you can click on the photo which will take you to my flickr page. A larger version is on there. (click on the "all sizes" link above the image in case you don't know where to find it.) If you look at the larger version, you can make out my image reflected in her pupil. This image doesn't really show it well, but her eyes are lightening up, I am predicting they will probably be blue pretty soon.

This also marks the return of me behind the lens. It was pretty strange not having her to photograph every day. I had to do crazy things like go to Minnehaha Falls (which is "under construction" and you can't get down by the frozen falls by the way), take a picture of my neighbors door, and photograph the food I was eating (a Crab Rangoon shot is posted on my flickr page.) I also spent some time working on post-processing of images I have meant to get to for about two years.

Day 81 - Bonk

"I Think I'm Getting This Holding Myself Up Thing. Not Sure If I Like It Though."

Documented proof that Paige is starting to prop herself up using her hands. Granted, she was on an incline, and not totally on her stomach, but I'll take it.

Day 80 - Mirror, Mirror on the Floor, with a bunch of stuffed animals stuck on the front...oh wait.

"Hey, Who Are YOU?"

Mirrors are quickly becoming a favorite for Paige. I don't think she realizes that it is her yet, but they certainly catch her attention.

Day 79 - First Snow Experience

"Yeah, It Is About As Cold As I Thought It Would Be."

Valerie was able to take Paige out to experience her first real snow experience since it warmed up to 40 degrees outside. (Up until now it has been freaking cold in Minnesota). At first she wasn't sure what to think. Then she put her hand in the snow, and quickly realized that cold snow on bare skin kind of sucks.

Day 78 - Happy Accidents

"...?"

Turns out that having the flash deactivated during the night, while in selective color mode on a Canon point & shoot doesn't make for sharp photos. Not always a bad thing.

Day 77 - Chillin

"Jealous of My Blanket?"

Conscious Efforts were made to have Paige spend some time not being held. (I understand this was largely unsuccessful...)

Day 76 - Puppy Love

"Uh, Bailey, That Is My Ear."

After arriving in Wisconsin, Grandpa Roger and Grandma Denise's dog Bailey decided to get up close and personal with Paige.