Graduation! (Holy cow!)

Oh, April. I thought you would never come.

But, fortunately, you did. And I graduated. Probably 3rd down on the "coolest things I've ever done" list. (1st and 2nd are marrying Mike and having a Katie.)

You know what's especially funny? Mike did this "running start" thing where he went to community college concurrent enrollment instead of his junior and senior years of high school, so he'd never been to a graduation ceremony before (9th grade commencement doesn't count). So he was super funny about all the rules and the ceremony and the goofy outfits and everything. It was great.

Several things I noted during this big 'ole graduation situation.

#1 - Most parents of new college graduates are almost as bad of drivers as women's conference participants. No offense to either of you. You just make my life horrible with your driving because I live on campus.

#2 - Leis somehow became a BYU graduation tradition. How did a bunch of landlocked white kids get this way? Oh, wait. Most of our football team is Polynesian. Their fault? We'll find out.

#3 - I saw only one person during the entire weekend who got the white collar thing right that they give to girls to wear. And I don't know how she did it.

#4 - When they say "wear a low heel," first of all, people don't listen. Second, they aren't kidding. I hate wearing heels in that ridiculous Marriott Center. The seats and stairs there give me vertigo.

#5 - No matter how inconvenient some people were during the weekend, it was fantastic. I really accomplished something tangible and real, that I can show people and that really means something. I did it.

Three levels of adulthood I have achieved:

Find a spouse? Check.

Be a parent? Check.

Get a college degree? Awesomely, amazingly check.

Yup, I'm a grown-up now.

Better than American Idol!

Welcome to The Cutest Baby Ever and her Daddy. Here is their rendition of "I'm a Child of God." Be prepared to be overwhelmed with cuteness.

Now try to tell me she's not the cutest thing that ever happened. She sings along all the time when we're singing, but especially primary songs, and especially that one. She loves it.

COMING SOON TO MY BLOG: Ever had trouble getting your baby onto a sleeping schedule that didn't make you feel like a zombie? Hey, me too! Get ready, because I'm having a "tell me how to make my baby sleep" contest. There will even be prizes. So get your commenting fingers ready for next time. (Are you excited? So am I!)

Tribute to the Food Bloggers

I know what you're thinking. I only ever write about my baby. Well, news flash: I'm 24/7 around my baby. It's true. Well, for the last week it's true.

But today I have something else I'm going to write about. And also my baby. Two food things and one baby thing. Good compromise? I think so.

Food thing #1: My tribute to those who can make (and take nice pictures of) pretty food. Because I can't. This weekend I got all domestic, making cinnamon rolls for conference and then various other new recipes I found in my cabinet full of never-used recipes. (It's not that I don't like them. It's just that using a real recipe means buying real ingredients and then really standing over a real stove for like an hour. I'm not into that very often.) Apparently I wanted to stand over a real stove all weekend. And I made very tasty food.

But it was not pretty.

Not pretty at all.

For example, stuffed shells (tasty, but really ugly):

Or this marble cake I attempted to make:

Which actually looked like this:

Yeah. I'm good at tasty food. But not pretty food.

Food Item #2: Concerning Mike's irrational fear of cloves.

Sunday night I was making a lunch for Mike to take to work the next day, and it required my going back to our food storage for a new jar of jam. Whilst I was there, I yelled to Mike, "Hey, I forgot about this jar of apple butter. We should try it sometime." He said something about "Yeah, maybe." And I suggested he put it on his toast sometime.

Well, I guess he was hungry enough (which is fair when we have dinner at like 5) that he decided to try it right then and there. He was holding Katie when the toast popped, so I opened the jar to put it on the toast. And we smelled it.

Before I go on, you should know something about my husband. Most of the time, when I'm cooking and use any kind of spice, all Mike thinks is, "Huh, that smells good." He has no idea what it is that smells good. But if in any circumstances something has cloves in it, Mike will know the instant he smells it. And when it does, he somehow magnifies his sense of smell to know it across the room. And he hates it.

So when we smelled the cloves in the apple butter, he almost chickened out. I managed to talk him back into eating it, and when he did, the first thing he said was, "It tastes like Christmas!"

But he only made it through one piece of toast and got rid of the other. Silly boy.

Baby item: It seems the Katie is going to take after her mama. And by that I mean, never stop talking and sing all the time.

Seriously! About a week ago (maybe a week and half), Katie was lying on her changing table and just started talking to us. Now, when ever she is happy, she just starts talking and cooing. It's the best thing in the entire world!

It's a little bit funny sometimes because she'll start talking to us with this seriously concerned look on her face, like she's saying, "Mommy, there are few issues I think you should be aware of. For example, you never let Daddy feed me chocolate . . ."

Also, she loves to sing along whenever somebody else is singing. During conference (when she managed to stay awake) she cooed along with the choir. Whenever I sit and play the piano and we sing hymns together, she joins in.

We've discovered her favorite song is "I am a Child of God." Regardless of her state of fussiness, she will at least calm down and will probably start cooing along. Seriously. If you're ever with us, try it sometime. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen.

But we have yet to get her to sing along on camera.

This video happened last week, when I managed to go to class after my deathly illness (don't worry, I'm better now). Mike and Katie came home and she told him all about our day. I hope she didn't say anything to embarrass me.

Two and a half months my foot, Mommy. I'm outta here!

So, everywhere that is medical that has to do with babies (such as the hospital, Katie's pediatrician, and the health dept where she got her immunizations) gives us some kind of milestones chart we're supposed to follow to see if our baby is developing properly.

Please note: I'm about to brag incessantly. My baby is a super genius.

Also please note: she's two and a half months old. Ten weeks. Not even three months.

Here are the milestones for three months: rolls to side, props herself up when on her tummy, inspects fingers, brings hands to mouth, reaches for parents, follows objects, regards toys.

Guess how many of these she has met? Yeah, all of them.

Here are some milestones for four months that Katie has already met: clutches at clothes, plays with rattle, reaches persistently, holds onto breast, mouths objects, stares longer at new faces than familiar ones, shakes rattle.

Yeah, she's way too smart. Also, she can hold her weight when standing up. She just hasn't figured out the balance thing yet.

BIG WEEKEND BONANZA!

So, Katie survived her first road trip this weekend. But first, the story I began writing last week and never posted.

In case some of you have never seen a baby, they spend 98% percent of the time with their hands curled into very tight fists. This is most assuredly the case for my kid. The result of this: fingerjam. I mean, anyone who's worn socks with their sneakers knows what toejam is, but fingerjam? Come on. It's become a habit for me to use my free hand to clean the lint out of her fingers while I'm feeding her.

Also, she tends to suck on the aforementioned fists, so I feel obligated to keep her from eating lint. Not to mention stopping her from sucking on her fists because sometimes a finger gets loose and she tries to gag herself. Geez, kid.

Now back to our program.

We decided to go to Boise this weekend for two reasons. First, things are getting crazy stressful down here as we approach the end of the semester (and graduation!!!!!!!) and we needed a break to help us power through our tests and projects and finals week. Seriously, it was direly needed.

Second, my dad is going to India. His company is sending him out to train the new people after they outsourced the rest of his department. So he has to go for a month. He isn't all too thrilled about missing the concerts and recitals and my brother's Eagle project, not to mention the beginning of baseball season (my dad=Little League in Boise). So we thought we'd come bring a grandbaby to cheer him up before he leaves tomorrow.

However, this weekend quickly turned into a giant brawl over who got to hold the baby next. Which means it was "who can stress the Katie out the fastest?" I won't lie, she loved all the attention (and for some reason thought Parker's monkey face was hilarious), but getting passed around to a lot of people who were not her mommy made her a little tired. She slept a lot on the way home, and has spent most of today sleeping also.

The good news is that Katie is a happy traveler. She spent several hours in the car staring out the window and giggling. She likes going outside, LOVES her stroller, and we figure likes the car when she's not hungry. She's pretty stellar.

But I think this trip was really good for my parents. The next month is going to be hard for both of them, what with my dad being off in a foreign country where cholera and dengue fever are still rampant and my mom being alone for a month with a herd of elephants. They both really needed some Katie time and some love.

And some priesthood. Mike was able to help their home teachers give both my parents a blessing to help get through all of this. I missed the whole thing because Katie decided on that moment to get fussy and loud, but I think it really helped.

So now we must press on in the madness that is March. (Speaking of, BYU beat Gonzaga on Saturday. Pretty good. Did you see it?)

Top Reasons 2-month-olds Have More Fun

#1 - Gaining weight is a GOOD thing.

#2 - It is not unacceptable to grunt loudly while pooping in a public place. And then people love it when you giggle about it.

#3 - Bathing means a full-on massage. All you gotta do is lay there.

#4 - You can remain the center of attention while napping and it's not because you've got something embarrassing on your face.

#5 - Entire stores are devoted to your entertainment, and it doesn't cost as much as a TV or video games.

#6 - Swings with mobiles are AWESOME.

#7 - As a follow up to #2, it is perfectly acceptable to be naked whenever you want. Well, whenever your mommy lets you.

#8 - Responsibility doesn't exist. Rather, everyone is responsible to you.

#9 - All you have to do is squawk loudly enough and anyone will play with you.

#10 - Come on, guys, baby shoes and headbands are the cutest thing that ever happened ever. Ever.

How's that? If it weren't for chocolate and husbands and getting to be the mommy of a 2-month-old, I'd want to be one myself.

This morning Katie had her two-month well-baby appointment at the doctor. She was 11 lbs even! Holy bananas! Kid's huge! I woke her up when I got her wrapped up to take to her appointment, so she was all cranky, until I stripped her down to measure her. Naked on something that feels like her changing table? She loved it!

She was marginally less happy when the doctor started poking her and moving her legs around. But everybody was impressed with how good she was doing, especially with how well she was holding her head. Apparently she's not supposed to roll over or be able to hold things until 4 months, but today when she and Mike picked me up from class, she picked up her binky and threw it at me.

How's that for precocious?

Confession Time

One thing that multiple older moms/grandmas said to me when I was pregnant was "don't let her sleep in your bed or she'll never stop."

Well, I let her. Sometimes it's the only way to get her to go to sleep without bouncing in the dark for several hours or until my knees fall off. Whichever comes first.

And . . . maybe I like cuddling her to sleep in my bed as much as she likes it.

Whew! I said it!

Seriously, as long as I keep her on the side opposite from Mike (man sleeps like he's in the middle of a shark attack) we both love snuggling. When Katie had her cold, I snuggled her all day too, and I guess she got a snuggling-mommy addiction. Well, I have a snuggling-Katie addiction. Who wouldn't want to snuggle this kid?