Steelykid!
drorzel | November 18, 2008In this post we present an update to our earlier measurement of the Baby Feeding Correlation Function:
The figure above shows a histogram of the interval between feedings for SteelyKid in the 14 weeks since birth. Error bars represent 1-σ statistical uncertainties.
As you can see, we have added a great deal of data since we last posted. The correlation function clearly shows a large peak between 3 and 4 hours, dropping off rapidly to zero for longer feeding times. The zero value for feedings within half an hour clearly demonstrates anti-bunching, indicating that baby feedings are quantized…
drorzel | November 14, 2008We filled up the last sheet on the legal pad we've been using as a baby-feeding log, which reminded me that it's been a while since I updated this:
Again, this is the feeding pattern for SteelyKid, with darker colors indicating longer duration. Bottle feedings are arbitrarily assigned to 20 minutes for 4 oz of milk or formula.
If you can find a pattern in this, you're doing a whole lot better than I am. In the last couple of weeks, especially, SteelyKid has stubbornly refused to establish any sort of pattern. She goes three hours between feedings during the day (more or less), but there are…
drorzel | November 13, 2008Another Thursday, another picture with Appa. And SteelyKid throws her arms wide to say "I'm this big!"
She was nice and quiet earlier while I taped my half of a bloggingheads conversation that should hopefully appear on Saturday. She's been making up for that the last hour or so, demanding all sorts of attention as tribute.
drorzel | November 10, 2008SteelyKid has recently begun to figure out her hands. As I noted last week, within the last couple of weeks, she's started to be able to reliably grab things near her. Just within the last few days, she's discovered that she has two hands, and they can interact with each other:
She's started grabbing one hand with the other, and exploring them. I've also seen her start to use both hands in concert, holding a hanging toy steady with one hand, while manipulating bits of it with the other, like a good little scientist.
Hands are, of course, critical to science. You can't be a good scientist…
drorzel | November 7, 2008It's SteelyKid's three-month birthday! One quarter of a year, already. To celebrate, she shows off her developmental progress:
Within the last week or so, she's finally grasped the idea that the larger world consists of objects that she can interact with. Just this week, she's begun to reliably grab the hanging animals in her little play gym thing. She can even get two at once:
This may not seem like that big a step to non-parents, but it's a huge deal, because it greatly increases the length of time that she can amuse herself. I don't need to sit there and shake the hanging monkey around…
drorzel | November 6, 2008For lucky Week 13, SteelyKid models an outfit from the Belichick Collection:
Asked about the picture afterwards, she said "It is what it is. Right now, we're focused on next week. We just take it one game at a time."
Well, ok, she's not that advanced. She does, however, know what to do with a stuffed toy:
I think Emmy's been coaching her. "Rule One: Anything you can get your paws on, goes in your mouth."
drorzel | October 31, 2008Today is Kate's first day back at work (part-time), so I'm home alone with SteelyKid. This doesn't leave me much time or mental energy for blogging, so here's a bonus baby picture for the week:
This one's mostly for the grandparents, who bought her the Halloween outfit. You can't see the jack-o-lantern face on the butt of the pants, and I'm not taking a picture of it because I'd like her to still talk to me when she gets old enough to work a web browser.
drorzel | October 30, 2008Today marks twelve weeks of SteelyKid:
I spent pretty much the whole day at work, trying to get stuff done in advance of Kate's return to work tomorrow, which will see me left home alone with SteelyKid all day for the first time. I'm a little apprehensive, to be honest.
As for the picture, Kate took it, so if there's any particularly interesting context, I don't know what it might be.
drorzel | October 23, 2008Your weekly picture of SteelyKid with Appa:
She's getting big enough that it's starting to be difficult to keep them both in the frame, at least in the porta-crib bassinet thing. I may need to change the way I'm taking these.
On the developmental front, Kate reports hearing SteelyKid laugh on several occasions. I still haven't heard it. When I do the Baby Dance with her, she sometimes makes a little coughing sound that I think is the beginning of a laugh, but I have yet to hear real giggling.
She's also getting better with her hands. They're not always clenched in fists any more, and she can…
drorzel | October 21, 2008"Donate to my dad's DonorsChoose challenge, or I will pop you right in the mouth!"
"Bang! Zoom! To the Moon!"
You don't want to mess with her-- she's fierce. So please give generously.
For those keeping track, the current tally, at the time of this typing, is $4,887. Or, for the figure you really care about, that's $1,113 before I have to dance like a monkey.
That offer has brought in a little over $3,000 since last Wednesday, which is pretty impressive. There's been nothing at all since late Saturday night, though, so we may have tapped out the monkeyphiles.
drorzel | October 20, 2008From this weekend's visit home, a picture of my father and me, with our respective babies:
You recognize SteelyKid, I hope. The fuzzy yellow guy is Bodie, my parents' new Labrador Retriever puppy. Bodie is one day older than SteelyKid, and true to his Labrador breeding, he's a born experimentalist, running around the house giving everything an exploratory bite or two. You can even see him eying SteelyKid:
He's thinking "I could totally eat that."
And, of course, as a puppy, he maintains an unassailable dignity at all times, even when sleeping:
OK, maybe not so much with the dignity thing.
drorzel | October 16, 2008SteelyKid is ten weeks old today! To celebrate, here's the weekly picture with Appa for scale, with a special bonus Kate for additional perspective:
This is the "please, won't you go to sleep?" posture, but SteelyKid, sensing the camera, is having none of that.
Tomorrow, we're off to Scenic Whitney Point to visit her grandparents, where she won't be spoiled at all. Nope. Not even a little.
drorzel | October 9, 2008SteelyKid had her two-month check-up in Monday (her two-month birthday was Tuesday), and checking in with the medical profession means we've got the opportunity for some baby science. And it's not science without graphs:
That's SteelyKid's weight as a function of time. Like most babies, she dropped a bit immediately after birth, but shot right back up, and has now been growing at a pretty good clip for the last eight-and-a-half weeks. We don't have enough data points on her length to make a graph, but she's increased substantially there, too, growing by 2.75".
To put these changes in…
drorzel | October 2, 2008It's been eight weeks since her birth, and SteelyKid celebrates by doing the Baby Dance:
I almost didn't get to this today, but I wanted to make sure I got something up to serve as a debate alternative. She's much cuter than Sarah Palin, to say nothing of Joe Biden...
drorzel | September 28, 2008SteelyKid has a new friend, courtesy of my sister:
It's a shlumpy google-eyed dragon, stuffed with pure awesome. I'm dubbing this guy "Wellington," for family-historical reasons. A side shot (with extra bonus baby in the mirror) is below the fold:
In case I didn't mention it before, he's awesome. Thanks, Erin.
drorzel | September 27, 2008Here's an update to the SteelyKid feeding pattern, with almost twice as much data as the previous graph:
Still no solid pattern to the feedings, time-wise, but there has been some change, in that the individual feedings have gotten more distinct. They tend to be longer, and the intervals between feeding are somewhat longer.
It's tough to say whether this is due to a developmental change in SteelyKid, or just acclimation on our part. It's possible that the short-period 9-minute feedings have faded out just because we've gotten better at recognizing when she's actually hungry, and not fussy…
drorzel | September 25, 2008Behold, the incredible expanding baby:
The "Smart Cookie" onesie she's wearing was also featured in the Week 4 picture, and now, it basically doesn't fit her any more (it's not fully buttoned under the blanket). We've already had to retire a couple of boxes of little-baby clothes, and she never did get to wear some of her newborn-sized outfits.
There are definite advances in other areas, too. She's awake and alert for longer periods, now (as you can see in the picture), and somewhat more frequently. She's also greatly expanded the range of little baby noises she makes, to include a bunch of…
drorzel | September 22, 2008Baby push-ups!
She can't maintain it for all that long, but SteelyKid can manage to push herself up and take a look around, when placed on her stomach. This is definite progress from a week or so ago.
drorzel | September 20, 2008SteelyKid is much too young for cartoons, but it's not to early to celebrate the weekend with a riot of bright colors and stylized animal shapes:
We had a really good morning of "Happy Awake Baby" (as opposed to "Happy Sleeping Baby" or "Screaming Awake Baby," which are more common), and she had a grand old time wiggling around and making gurgly noises in her little "play gym." This was aided somewhat by the absence of the dog, who spent the night at the vet's after having a messed-up nail removed-- that play gym is full of things that squeak and rattle and are generally indistinguishable…
drorzel | September 18, 2008Your weekly picture of SteelyKid, with Appa for scale:
Note the addition of the crib mirror. She's started to become more aware of the world around her, and may parents picked up a couple of mirrors when they were here last week. The mirror is the most fascinating thing in the world, when she's awake and happy (clean diaper, not hungry, etc.).