Tale of the tape: 6 months

At 9:47 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, I, Elizabeth Catherine Rose, officially turned six months old. And how did I spend that exact moment celebrating? The same way elderly people celebrate midnight on New Year’s Eve – fast asleep in my bed, after a dinner of strained peas and rice cereal. What’d you expect? A party? That’s an hour past my bedtime!

That’s not to say I didn’t have a memorable half-birthday. It was a beautiful day in Seattle, so Mom and Dad took me to the park to hang out with friends Chad and Chau and their kids. And later that evening, we went to the house of some other friends, Kyle and Megan, where Mom and Dad watched “Game of Thrones” while I pulled Mom’s hair and tried to fight off the loving advances of Lillian, Kyle and Megan’s friendly but excitable bulldog puppy.

I also celebrated six months of life by heading to my pediatrician’s office (at the swanky new Polyclinic downtown!) for my six-month checkup yesterday. Dr. Lindsay gave me the once-over, proclaimed me “perfect” once again, and then sent in the nurse to do the dirty work: my latest round of vaccinations. As always, I took ‘em like a champ, and only cried for a few seconds before getting on with my day.

Dr. Lindsay's office had a mirror mounted along the exam bed. Needless to say, I was mesmerized.

Most importantly, my checkup gave me the chance to further track how well I’m growing. So here’s how I stand today, compared to Oct. 22, 2011 (a.k.a., the day after my parents’ last good night of sleep):

Birth weight: 7 pounds, 7.6 ounces.

6-month weight: 17 pounds, 6 ounces.

Birth length: 20.25 inches.

6-month height (they say height now, even though I’m still horizontal): 26.5 inches.

And, in case you were wondering, my head circumference is now a robust 43.5 centimeters.

I’m between the 76^th and 79^th percentile for all three measurements, so I suppose I look about as proportionate as a baby can look. So there’s that.

Also, I had a major accomplishment this week, and I’ll be writing about that first thing next week. What could it be? First word? First tooth? First drum solo? Stay tuned...

Take me out to the ballgame. OK, take me home.

On Sunday, I headed downtown to Safeco Field with Mom and Dad to watch my first Mariners game. Although I suppose “watch” is a subjective term. I mostly took in all the sights and sounds surrounding the field, which included some pretty good people-watching. I touched on it a few weeks ago, but this – taking me to my first baseball game – was something Dad was really looking forward to, and I’d like to think it lived up to his expectations. [Editor's  note: It did.]

All dolled up in my Mariners hoody (a hand-me-down from my cousin Brooklyn).

Through one of her many work connections, Mom was able to score some tickets to the game. Then again, take a look at all of the empty seats behind us. I don’t think it would’ve taken much to track down some tickets ourselves for this one. It’s been a while since anybody’s been beating down doors to watch the Mariners face the A's.

That said, Mom’s work connection was able to get us seats on the Terrace Club level, and this turned out to be perfect for our situation. We could sit in our seats, which had a great view of the field, and when I got a little chilly or tired of sitting, we could head inside to the Terrace Club concourse, which was fully enclosed (thus, nice and warm). On top of that, as soon as we entered the Terrace Club, some nice people gave me a certificate to commemorate my first Mariners game, plus a trading card featuring the Mariner Moose (which I promptly chewed up).

Nice handwriting, Dad.

As it turns out, I wasn’t too keen on sitting for very long, so we were on the move by the middle of the second inning. We went inside, where Dad grabbed a hot dog and a beer and Mom had an iced tea while we watched the game from behind some windows. Sure, it’s not the ideal way to watch a ballgame, but it was a nice way to ease me in.

From there, we did a lap around the stadium, stopping every minute or so to watch the game from various spots. I found that Mom and Dad really liked the centerfield area, since that was the only area in the stadium that was sunny. We also made a pit stop at the Dave Niehaus statue in centerfield, where Dad and I got our photo taken.

Gimme gimme gimme!

I have nothing to add here, other than to point out how adorable I am.

"My, oh my!"

By now, it was the sixth inning, the Mariners were up 5-3, and I was getting hungry. We came back to the Terrace Club, where Mom changed my diaper in a family bathroom and Dad gave me a bottle while we sat in a comfy chair. Check him out, completely ignoring me as he watches the game on TV.

Father of the Year.

We stayed long enough to see the seventh inning stretch, by which time I was making it pretty evident that I had had enough excitement for one day. And although Dad said it went against everything he believed in to leave a game early, he was more than happy to accommodate my wishes. I doubt it’s the last time he'll have to do that.

The final tally? Mariners get the win, Dad gets a few beers, Eliza gets another new experience, and Mom gets to change a diaper in another public restroom. Everybody wins!

Ready to hit the road!

On the third day, she looked adorable

This weekend, I went with Mom and Dad to visit Dad’s parents in the Tri-Cities, and to celebrate my first Easter. As you might recall, the last time I was in the Tri-Cities, I was in a less-than-ideal mood. This time, I was healthy as a horse and happy as a clam (and any other animal idioms you can think of), so everybody had a wonderful time. The weather was great, we went for a walk, I got to see my Auntie Carri and Uncle J, and we had a fantastic dinner on Saturday night. I even got presents from my Grammy (a new summer outfit) and Auntie Carri (a set of books to read with Mom and Dad). Not bad at all.

That beautiful dress you see me wearing came courtesy of my Auntie Sue and Uncle Ric from across the pond in England. They sent it not long after I was born, and Mom and Dad were delighted to find that it fit me perfectly a little more than five months later, just in time for Easter.

So of course I wore this to the Easter service at church, where I fit in quite nicely with all the other kids in their fancy Easter dresses. Naturally, Grammy was all too happy to carry me around and show me off to her friends. More than a few people said that I looked just like my daddy in a dress. I’m not sure which one of us should be more offended by that. Probably me.

Anyway, this turned out to be a big family weekend on both sides of the mountains. After we left the Tri-Cities on Sunday afternoon, we drove to Redmond to visit Mom’s parents for an Easter lamb dinner. Mom’s mom, my YaYa, had hip replacement surgery a couple of weeks ago. She’s obviously a fast healer, because she’s already up and walking around. But she’s still in a lot of pain, so I’d like to think that my happy face helped make her feel at least a little better.

All Hail Queen Elizabeth III

Ruler of all she surveys...