the bean has a big ass head.

we just got back from her 4-month check-up. and you'll be SO proud of me - i managed to make it through watching her get three separate shots withOUT crying. not even one tear!

you know how they (don't you hate when people refer to "they"? who the hell are "they," anyway? heh.) always say that babies can sense things - like when their parents are upset, angry, stressed, etc.? well, i figured that if i was all tense and nervous about her shots, she'd be able to feel it, and that would make it worse. i don't know if that's actually true or not, but i forced myself to smile and be cheerful while she was turning beet red and screaming her little head off. of course, inside, i was bawling my eyes out and melting into a big pile of mommy goo.

but just like last time, as soon as it was over and the hub picked her up and rubbed her back and murmured comforting words to her, she calmed down and her little body relaxed again.

before those shots:

and after (once i got her strapped into her seat and in the car):

heh. oh, and here's the stats:

weight - 15 pounds, 6 ounces. 84th percentile, meaning she weighs the same or more than 84% of other beans her age.
height - 25 inches. or, 2 feet, 1 inch. just like i put on her passport application. 76th percentile.
nugget - 16.25 inches. 62nd percentile. i guess the hub is right - she DOES have a big ass head - but she's gotta have somewhere to put all that hair.

speaking of her passport, we finally got the application all completed and submitted to the department of state. we got up nice and early on saturday morning to get to the post office, and of course we ran a little later than we'd wanted to. by the time we arrived, there were about 8 others in front of us. and of course, there's only ONE passport agent.

so we sat down to wait, next to a lady who was getting one for her teenaged daughter to go on a cruise to mexico. over the course of the hour that we sat there, we learned way more about them than we wanted to know - like why she and her ex-husband (the kid's dad) were divorced, how her sister's husband was getting his DNA tested to see if some heffa's baby was fathered by him, the complete itinerary for the cruise, and how long she'd been in labor with her daughter. mm-hmmm.

my favorite comment from this woman was while they were flipping through the brochure for the cruise together - "hmmm, puerto vallarta offers "sparkling nightlife." damn. that nightlife's not going to do me any good with a KID around. oh, well."

nice.

so if the bean sleeps through most of the day like she did the last time she got vaccinated, i'm gonna be able to get through the rest of these invitations. whee! i didn't exactly finish yesterday, after throwing things at the t.v. (while watching the stupid bowl that i didn't really care about, and was dreadfully boring till the 4th quarter) and tending to the bean, who was being particularly fussy last night. but here's an idea of what they look like - these are inside a chocolate brown box:

they're letterpressed, which i LOVE. i still need to do the RSVPs and direction cards, which will be attached to the inside of the lid with a green ribbon band. and lastly, we're printing the addresses on a green paper sash, which will be wrapped around the box and then mailed.

wish me luck.