Food is food, right?

Ah, if only life were as simple as Frankie eating breastmilk or formula when it is offered her and she's hungry. She started refusing bottles (of anything) about a month ago, and we've been working with her ever since to get her to take them again. We bought new bottles thinking maybe she didn't like her old bottles, we tried to give her the milk at various temperatures, times of day, and with Mommy in the room and with Mommy not allowed in the room. We got almost superstitious about the procedure - she seemed to take the bottle, but it had to be the brown non-silicone naturalatch slow-flow nipple, just the right temperature, I had to be out of the room, and Chris perfected his bounce, shush, and feed technique. We also made an effort to give her a bottle when she would be most hungry - first thing in the morning. All this effort has been made due to the fact that she needs to take bottles two days a week from Heather, her babysitter, while I'm at work. We saved any pumped breastmilk I had to give to Heather, thinking that if she prefers the breast to the bottle, she'd prefer breastmilk from a bottle rather than formula, and would eat better for Heather.

WRONG. Her behavior in the last week has indicated that she prefers for breastmilk to come from the boob, and formula to come from the bottle. Her favorite is still breastmilk from the breast, but she's learned to tolerate (again) formula from the bottle. We can even switch up the bottle, the time of day, and I can even feed her from the bottle, as long as it's formula, and as long as she's hungry. Chris did a quick experiment with her where he had one bottle of breastmilk and one bottle of formula - he'd give her the breastmilk and she'd scream, give her the formula, and she'd start sucking right away.

So tomorrow Heather's going to try to give her formula instead of breastmilk - here's hoping that she takes the bottles!


Milk Stupor (and full on milk-beard) after Mommy (yeah Frankie!) was able to feed her some formula from a bottle.

Reading girl

We thought we'd get Frankie started early on the books:

Bumbo love

Kristen Polk posted a similar entry on her blog, and Frankie seems to enjoy the Bumbo chair as much as Nathanael. We borrowed the Bumbo from the Bergs; it's a chair that helps babies learn to sit up, and it's hilarious. We've been calling her "Empress Baby" the way her arms fan out on the chair arms - it makes it look like she's on a throne. Or watching the game from her lazy-boy. She discovered her toes while sitting in the Bumbo, but has yet to really play with them. Here are 2 videos because it's just so funny to see her in this thing:

Wells Beach, ME

We had a wonderful 6th anniversary and Memorial Day weekend. Chris took Friday off from work, and in a nod to the 90+ degree day (and to our good friend, Wells Wulsin), we went to Wells Beach in southern Maine. The beach there is dog-friendly until June 15th, so we were able to bring Maisy as well. We bought a beach umbrella and set up camp for the morning. Frankie took a nap on the beach and was covered in sand by the time we left for some lunch at the clam shack and an afternoon splurge at Dairy Queen. Maisy decided she likes the woods better than the beach: she wasn’t allowed off her lead on the beach, and was a little nervous about the waves, but still liked being out for the day.

Back to work

I am woefully behind on my blog postings, and I'd like to think that in part this is due to the fact that I have started back at work! I've been back for two weeks now, and am going two full days a week, and working a few hours from home the rest of the week. Frankie is staying with our friend from church, Heather, and her daughter, Elizabeth while I'm at work. It really hasn't been as hard as I imagined it would be, I think due to the truly part-time nature of my job, the fact that we have ideal child care and I don't worry about her while I'm at work, and that my workplace has been so great about welcoming me back in my new part-time capacity.

Frankie's biggest hurdle to overcome has been that she decided about two weeks before I went back to work that she doesn't like bottles anymore (we're breastfeeding). My pediatrician said it's pretty common for babies around 2.5 months old to start refusing bottles, and since she knows how to do it, when she's hungry enough, she'll eat. Heather has been very patient with her, and she takes enough in during the day to make it through (about 2/3 of what she 'should' eat during the day). I just feed her an extra time or two after we get home, before bed time. Fortunately, it hasn't interrupted her night time sleeping habits, which I'm very thankful for because she has been sleeping consistently from 7-10 (when I get her up for a dream feed) and then from 10:30-6am.

All of this sleep has made my life much rosier. It’s amazing how much brighter the world looks when you can get 7-8 hours of sleep in a row – consistently. I started running again this weekend, and have run the last two days now. I was able to do about 2 miles yesterday, and 3 today (with some walking breaks both times, and nice and slooow). Chris, Frankie, Maisy and I all headed down to the river today for our run. It was nice to have Chris’ support as I figured out how to jog with the stroller. Frankie slept for most of the run, so I don’t think we need to worry about the bouncing of the stroller affecting her adversely. I don’t think I’m running fast enough to really bounce her around!

McFadden Family visits and Happy Mother's Day!

Frankie has now met all of Chris' family - her Grandad McFadden was here for her baptism on May 6th:

Her Uncle Matthew also came for a weekend and loved to play with Frankie:


Uncle Matthew was here to help celebrate Mother's Day, which we did by going to Ryles for lunch. I've decided I like Mother's Day - my friend Lisa pointed out that it's like an extra birthday. Frankie (and Chris) gave me an original painting from a local artist, Bret Bataclan, to hang in her room:

She also donned one of her baby tats compliments of the Zimmermans to honor the occasion.

Howie's here!

William Howard Stevens was born on Tuesday, May 16th at 10:54 am, after a long labor on my sister's part. He weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 2oz - Howie was hungry indeed! We are so proud to be an aunt, uncle, and cousin to this marvelous little (little?) boy. Here are my favorite pictures of him, but you can see more on the Steven's Family Blog.

There's Becky and Howie looking awesome - I can't believe she just had a baby!


Check out those thigh rolls!

Frankie, a tour

Many have heard about Frankie's ear hair, her finger-toes, and the fingers that look like she might be a piano player one day (and I'm also convinced look just like her Uncle Matthew's). Here's an up-close tour:


Frankie's ear hair (seriously, they're like elf ears, and I'm told I won't have to start waxing them - it will fall out on its own soon!)


Piano player fingers (and Uncle Matthew's hands)



Finger toes

Frankie at 11 weeks -- video

Here's a video clip of Frankie at 11 weeks. She loves to eat her hands, smile at us, and kick her legs.

Frankie's Baptism

Sunday, May 6th, 2007, Frances Adele McFadden was baptized at Christ the King Presbyterian church in Cambridge, MA. Chris and I have promised to raise her in the church so that she may be able to understand her need of Christ's salvation and accept the forgiveness God has offered us through Christ's death on the cross. She has been dedicated to God, and we are happy to count her as one of our Covenant Children.

Fortunately for all you out-of-towners, we caught the whole thing on video. She was beautiful in her christening dress from her Great-Grandmother (and namesake!) and was well behaved through the whole ceremony.

Video trial

I finally decided to do something about the fact that I hadn't figured out how to post our videos on this blog yet, and thought I'd dip into the archives for some good ole fashioned wheelchair racin' fun. This is Chris and Marty racing for the crown at the Ben Franklin museum in the city of Brotherly Love in November, 2004. Marty cheered us on that weekend as we ran the Philadelphia Marathon.

A second chance

I have to give Nathanael a lot of credit for his brave "can-do" spirit. After a disastrous attempt at Easter to win Frankie's affections, it looks like Nathanael has been given a second chance. I'm not sure what this means for Sam...

She's not sure she's ready to hold hands yet, although who knows, maybe Nathanael just thought they looked tasty.

But seriously, what girl could resist such an adorable little man!

Alecia and Melanie visit!

Alecia, Micah, Melanie, and Sam came for a visit last weekend. We had a great time!