BOO!

Hazel is too young to enjoy the spoils of Halloween- the costumes, the candy, the sugar hangover the next morning- but she is celebrating in her own way.

First, she went to childcare while Mom went to Pilates (you know, the ANTI-candy):

Afterwards, she went swimming with Lily, her friend from Baby and Me class (Lily's mom, Kim, is the Pilates teacher and WOW, does she have a difficult class):

To top it off, she was wrapped up in a bazillion fresh-from-the-dryer towels and given a good rub-down:

Next up? Aunt Marissa and Uncle Nate's visit.  If Halloween is THIS good, maybe we should have it every day.

Um...yeah...not quite there yet...

"Guys?  Hey guys?  Can you give me a hand here please?"

Hazel practicing her sitting in her Bumbo seat (or something similar- I don't remember what brand it is).  She still needs a little help!   Silas tried to show her what to do, but Hazel was more interested in taking a little catnap.

"So, Hazel, what you do is sit up straight for a second and flash a brilliant smile at your parents so they think you are the smartest kid ever and THEN you can fall over."

Jogging

If Mom ran on the treadmill one more time on a beautiful, sunny day, she was going to shoot herself.  So, she rigged the jogging stroller to accommodate one fairly small baby who can hold her head up sort of well.  All it took was two receiving blankets and a carabiner and voila!  One infant-ready jogging stroller ready to hit the road.

This is a non-partisan reminder

Hazel says, "Don't forget to vote."

'Cause we're not in love with our daughter or anything

Hazel goes to Upper Punchbowl Falls on a beautiful fall day

"See, Hazel?  This is what sun looks like.  Get a good long look because you won't be seeing it again anytime soon."

Apparently, no one asked Hazel if she wanted to be put in the Moby today.

Those are the falls in the background.  But since this is a blog about Hazel, not nature, you will not see any more pictures of the falls on this site.

Hazel gave the hike a 9.5 out of 10 on the sleepability scale.

Hazel has a very serious message for you

Hazel is SURPRISED to be wearing her bear suit

It was a bittersweet moment today when Mom put her bear suit on Hazel and realized that it was just a tad too small.  *sigh*  She has to grow out of newborn sizes at some point and today was as good a day as any!

Daddy and Hazel

They love each other.  'Nuff said.

Hanging out at childcare

Hazel goes to childcare at the gym every day while Mom works out.  She loves it there and the employees there love her back.  The toddlers there are also really interested in Hazel, as evidenced by the extra hand in this picture!

Hazel's favorite spot

This is Hazel's chair.  It's actually part of a swing but it turns out she hates the swing.  And when we say "hates", we mean HATES that swing.  Luckily, the swing also becomes a chair and she loves the chair.  She sits in it and watches us cook, eat, sing silly songs to her...she even stares at lights from this chair, surprise surprise.  She especially likes to suck on her fists in the chair, preferably both at the same time.

The Moby

We have been using a sling for carrying Hazel around the house, the neighborhood and even Smith Rock.  It is and was fabulous- quick and easy to use and easy to pack.  Best of all, it really calms Hazel down when she's fussy.  But it's only good for about 30 minutes until your shoulder really starts to hurt.

Enter the Moby, my new favorite baby wrap.  You can wrap your baby a million different ways and it distributes the weight evenly across your shoulders and waist.  So far, I love it.

Shown here is what I am calling the Swaddle Hold.  Hazel seems pretty happy and as we all know, a happy baby equals a happy mommy.

Next time someone I know has a baby, I am totally buying them a Moby.

Hazel Finds Her Hand

Hazel hikes in the Gorge

Hazel would rather go rock climbing any day (just ask her), but she will take a day hike in the Gorge if that's what is on offer.  She also enjoys dinners with friends, raging ski movie parties and coffee with Daddy.

Look for her on the rock when next weekend rolls around.

The ceiling fan is SO FASCINATING

Faces of Hazel

Life lessons

We think it is important for Hazel to learn some things very early.  Like the importance of coffee.  To that end, Mom tells Hazel every morning how to set up the coffee maker in the hopes that one day soon, she will wake up, walk downstairs and find that her daughter had not only scrambled some eggs but also brewed the perfect cup of joe.

Look what I found!

After a couple weeks of trying, the hand finally made it to its bullseye: the mouth!  

The aftermath

Hazel had her shots yesterday and she wasn't very happy about it.  Luckily, Grandmom was here to comfort an unhappy baby.  All pain is forgotten when Grandmom is available to sleep on!

The next morning, Hazel woke up much happier and very smiley (maybe because we drugged her so much- wink, wink).  Mom tried in vain to snap a shot of Hazel smiling (which she has been doing for a couple weeks now), but every time the camera makes an appearance, the smile disappears!  C'mon Hazel, it's time to ham it up for the camera like all the other Kaisers!

DOUBLE DIGITS!

At her two-month appointment today (she is really 10 weeks, but who's counting), Hazel almost broke the scale with her weight of 10 lbs. and half an ounce!  Okay, the scale didn't really break, but we're proud that can finally enter the world of double digits.  That puts her in the 21st percentile for weight.  (The doctor's take on things? "She's in the top of the bottom one-fifth!")  Oh yeah- and she is 23 inches, putting her in the 65th percentile for height.  Remind you of something?  That's right- The Banana Baby.

Family Lunch

While Mom and Hazel were in Seattle, the Kaisers had to get together for lunch at Aunt Ailey's (and Ritchie's) place.  No one paid attention to Hazel at all.  Nope, no love in this house.

(Naptime for Grandad and Hazel was a requisite part of lunch!)

Hazel is showered

Hazel has been feted a lot lately- first by Mom's work (pictures forthcoming) and then, this past weekend by family friends in Seattle.  She was, of course, the superstar.  Mom and Hazel are extremely grateful for the love shown to them by so many people in their lives.  What an amazing community we are part of.

Mom is thrilled by the handmade quilt Janice gave Hazel.  And she eats her hair at the same time.

Hazel makes gang signs in the Kaiser women picture.  She is letting her homies know that all is well in the North.

Lisa comforts Hazel and gives her a talking to: "Look, please don't cry- we're all here for you!"

Chris, one of the wonderful hostesses tells Hazel not to listen to Mommy: "You can wear a dress EVERY DAY if you want."

Hazel swaps skis at the ski swap

Mom worked the Mt. Hood Snow Sports Swap on Friday while Hazel was watched over by Leann, Mom's former student.  We wanted to see what Hazel would sell for so we scanned her.  Her price was so high, we didn't believe it so we scanned her again.

Yep- still priceless.

Hanging out at the bouldering wall

Usually, the Barkers are climbing snobs and eschew the climbing gym as LAME, but Mom had a bit of a freakout when she looked at the fall calendar and woefully realized how few weekends were dedicated to climbing (Dad probably looked at the same calendar and woefully realized how few weekends were dedicated to cross races).  So...Hazel and Mom bit the proverbial bullet and went to the climbing gym which has a 30% discount during the day and allows well-behaved babies in car seats.

Hazel gave Mom a good 30 minutes of bouldering before she started to scream, but that was all Mom's muscles could take anyhow.

 After the climbing session, Mom and Hazel headed to the OTHER gym so Mom could go to Masters swim practice.  Hazel hung out in childcare while Mom cursed the swim coach who had listed over 1000 yards of PULLING in the workout.  Her arms are kind of dead now.

Hazel was pretty pooped too.  All this climbing and playing in childcare really wears a baby out.

Afternoon nap

The seventies are back

And Hazel is ready to disco with the best of them in her velour track suit.  Still really big on her, but as everyone knows, we must suffer to be fashionable.

Bring on John Travolta!

P.S. Hazel would like to thank Silas for the rad outfit.

Dressin' up

Mom's work gave Hazel a baby shower last Thursday where Hazel received lots of lovin' and CLOTHES.  Today, Hazel dressed up in one of the many outfits she received.  Now, tell me that's not just too adorable!