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Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Standing up
Look who just stood up on her own for the very first time!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, February 27, 2012
Rosa's 11-month letter
Dear Rosie,
You are 11 months old today! This means, of course, that you are nearly a year old, which we can hardly believe. We can hardly believe it because it seems like you have been part of our family forever. We'll get to a year in our own good time, though, so we'll just focus on what you're up to right now, at 11 months.
You are learning to communicate with us more and more all the time. You are a talkative kid! You can now say mama, bye bye, and dat or da doo, which are both your versions of kitty cat. You can sign milk, bye bye, cat, and sometimes food. In between your beginning words, you babble in your own language. And, you love to play mimicking games by alternating sounds with someone else, like saying "ba!" back and forth or making kissy noises. One of the cutest things you do is to lean in close and say "mmaaa!" while glomming onto our faces for a big kiss. You also like to interact with other kids and babies, seeming interested in playing with them more than just parallel playing.
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Speaking of your mouth, you still love to put things in it. We are getting better at fishing things out of it, as well! That doesn't stop you from constantly mouthing everything you see. You find the tiniest things off the floor and eat them. Today, you tried some droppings of homemade playdough and found them to be most unappetizing, but you managed to swallow them nonetheless, despite our best efforts. You may have a career ahead of you in tasting food or something like that. You love to put one other thing in your mouth: your thumb! You suck it in a distinctive fashion, with your whole hand open and always your left hand.
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You love to eat, still, and you do it often. Your favorite foods this month were beans, lentils, avocado, banana, baby oatmeal, pureed fruit, and yogurt. You eat yogurt by the truckload, mostly the plain whole-milk kind (which is, by the way, SO DELICIOUS that your mama always has a spoonful or two for herself while she is feeding you). You still love your mommy's milk at night and your bottles during the day. You can hold your bottle and drink it on your own now, which probably makes you feel very grown-up.
You have perfected crawling. You have also perfected pulling yourself up on furniture. You can cruise a little bit and we have a feeling that this will increase in the next month. You can also get yourself up to a kneeling position with one knee on the ground and one up in a crouch, so that you are on the cusp of standing up. You are fearless when on the ground, exploring at will. We were at the playpark today and you just crawled away from your mama repeatedly, without looking back. You never look back! You are on the move and raring to go exploring all the time. It's pretty cute. We are going to have to watch out when you start walking!
You continue to have a love affair with your brother and sister. You tolerate them hauling you around and 'helping' you do things. You seem excited when we pick them up from preschool, and you laugh at their antics in the car. They love to entertain you and help get things for you. For right now, there is no sibling rivalry at all between you and them and it is a beautiful thing.
Finally, you are sleeping like a champ. You had a brief time of waking up in the night when you had a cold for a week, but you are back to sleeping though the night now. Thanks!! You continue to nap for about 15 minutes a couple of times a day. That's not much and you often seem to need more, but you sleep so well at night that we can hardly complain. You do take the occasional longer nap in the car every so often, which makes your moms very glad that we have a garage now and we can just let you sleep in the van after we get home.
Last but not least, we think you are just absolutely adorable. You are so cute, we want to eat you for dessert.
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Rosie, we love you infinitely. You make us so happy. We can't wait to see what the next month and your first birthday will bring!
love,
Mama and Mommy
You are 11 months old today! This means, of course, that you are nearly a year old, which we can hardly believe. We can hardly believe it because it seems like you have been part of our family forever. We'll get to a year in our own good time, though, so we'll just focus on what you're up to right now, at 11 months.
You are learning to communicate with us more and more all the time. You are a talkative kid! You can now say mama, bye bye, and dat or da doo, which are both your versions of kitty cat. You can sign milk, bye bye, cat, and sometimes food. In between your beginning words, you babble in your own language. And, you love to play mimicking games by alternating sounds with someone else, like saying "ba!" back and forth or making kissy noises. One of the cutest things you do is to lean in close and say "mmaaa!" while glomming onto our faces for a big kiss. You also like to interact with other kids and babies, seeming interested in playing with them more than just parallel playing.
.jpg)
Speaking of your mouth, you still love to put things in it. We are getting better at fishing things out of it, as well! That doesn't stop you from constantly mouthing everything you see. You find the tiniest things off the floor and eat them. Today, you tried some droppings of homemade playdough and found them to be most unappetizing, but you managed to swallow them nonetheless, despite our best efforts. You may have a career ahead of you in tasting food or something like that. You love to put one other thing in your mouth: your thumb! You suck it in a distinctive fashion, with your whole hand open and always your left hand.
.jpg)
You love to eat, still, and you do it often. Your favorite foods this month were beans, lentils, avocado, banana, baby oatmeal, pureed fruit, and yogurt. You eat yogurt by the truckload, mostly the plain whole-milk kind (which is, by the way, SO DELICIOUS that your mama always has a spoonful or two for herself while she is feeding you). You still love your mommy's milk at night and your bottles during the day. You can hold your bottle and drink it on your own now, which probably makes you feel very grown-up.
You have perfected crawling. You have also perfected pulling yourself up on furniture. You can cruise a little bit and we have a feeling that this will increase in the next month. You can also get yourself up to a kneeling position with one knee on the ground and one up in a crouch, so that you are on the cusp of standing up. You are fearless when on the ground, exploring at will. We were at the playpark today and you just crawled away from your mama repeatedly, without looking back. You never look back! You are on the move and raring to go exploring all the time. It's pretty cute. We are going to have to watch out when you start walking!
You continue to have a love affair with your brother and sister. You tolerate them hauling you around and 'helping' you do things. You seem excited when we pick them up from preschool, and you laugh at their antics in the car. They love to entertain you and help get things for you. For right now, there is no sibling rivalry at all between you and them and it is a beautiful thing.
Finally, you are sleeping like a champ. You had a brief time of waking up in the night when you had a cold for a week, but you are back to sleeping though the night now. Thanks!! You continue to nap for about 15 minutes a couple of times a day. That's not much and you often seem to need more, but you sleep so well at night that we can hardly complain. You do take the occasional longer nap in the car every so often, which makes your moms very glad that we have a garage now and we can just let you sleep in the van after we get home.
Last but not least, we think you are just absolutely adorable. You are so cute, we want to eat you for dessert.
.jpg)
Rosie, we love you infinitely. You make us so happy. We can't wait to see what the next month and your first birthday will bring!
love,
Mama and Mommy
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Rosie's first corn on the cob
She just had the corn after we ate the kernels, but she love love loved it!
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Three
So, it turns out that having three children ages five and under is really a lot of work. I know this is an earthshaking announcement, but really, truly, wow. They can be handful!
This is especially true when one of them, namely our middle child, comes down with her first bladder infection. Poor thing is feeling a bit better now, but has spent the last few days frequently on the potty and miserable. We spent several hours at urgent care with her last night and came home with some antibiotics that taste awful and are hard on the stomach. Fun times! Luckily, she is feeling a little bit better now, in that there was much less wailing surrounding bathroom trips today, so that is a very good thing. And, we owe a big thank you to Apa for hanging out with Mateo and Rosie so we could hit urgent care last night.
Also, poor Sacha is also sick, probably with Rosie and Tali's cold from last week. She got a sub for the second half of the day so she could come home and sleep.
Needless to say, everyone is feeling a little fried tonight. Tomorrow, our new but already sainted babysitter is coming in the morning and I'll have a few hours for myself. I'm looking forward to it! And, to the weekend with the whole crew. Happy Friday eve!
This is especially true when one of them, namely our middle child, comes down with her first bladder infection. Poor thing is feeling a bit better now, but has spent the last few days frequently on the potty and miserable. We spent several hours at urgent care with her last night and came home with some antibiotics that taste awful and are hard on the stomach. Fun times! Luckily, she is feeling a little bit better now, in that there was much less wailing surrounding bathroom trips today, so that is a very good thing. And, we owe a big thank you to Apa for hanging out with Mateo and Rosie so we could hit urgent care last night.
Also, poor Sacha is also sick, probably with Rosie and Tali's cold from last week. She got a sub for the second half of the day so she could come home and sleep.
Needless to say, everyone is feeling a little fried tonight. Tomorrow, our new but already sainted babysitter is coming in the morning and I'll have a few hours for myself. I'm looking forward to it! And, to the weekend with the whole crew. Happy Friday eve!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Getaway
Sacha and I just got back from spending two days at the beach...alone! Apa took all three kids for Friday and Saturday nights, which was a stupendous act of generosity that we won't soon forget. We had two nights and parts of three days to have some time for just the two of us. It truly was a wonderful gift and we so, so appreciate all the energy on his part that the weekend must have taken. It was a real win-win for us and the kids, because we got time with each other and they got special time with their dad. Great all around!
We had a great, great time at the beach. We stayed at my grandmother's beach house, where we have been many times before. We enjoyed it, just like always. We had a fire both nights, slept late, got up late, had breakfast and dinner out, made smores, got facials, went shopping, I went for a long run, etc. We basically did everything except walk on the beach, because it was wildly windy and the tide was WAY in when we got there. We did admire the ocean, though. And, we had a lovely time just chatting and spending time however we felt like it! It's amazing for both of us that we still have plenty to talk about after 11 years together.
We got home this morning and loved seeing the kiddos again. We spent a nice day together and are looking forward to tomorrow, when Sacha has no school!
We had a great, great time at the beach. We stayed at my grandmother's beach house, where we have been many times before. We enjoyed it, just like always. We had a fire both nights, slept late, got up late, had breakfast and dinner out, made smores, got facials, went shopping, I went for a long run, etc. We basically did everything except walk on the beach, because it was wildly windy and the tide was WAY in when we got there. We did admire the ocean, though. And, we had a lovely time just chatting and spending time however we felt like it! It's amazing for both of us that we still have plenty to talk about after 11 years together.
We got home this morning and loved seeing the kiddos again. We spent a nice day together and are looking forward to tomorrow, when Sacha has no school!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Six years
It was six years ago today that we found out we were expecting our first baby. Valentine's Day! It was all very exciting, except that I was so afraid that it wouldn't work out. I was besieged by anxiety that things wouldn't work out, that I would have an early or late miscarriage. I remained that way through to the very end of the pregnancy, finally breathing a sign of relief as Mateo breathed his first breath and we met him for the first time. If someone had told me, on the day we first got our positive pregnancy test, that six years later would find us with three healthy, wonderful children, I would have been beside myself with joy.
And, I am. Beside myself. I can't imagine being luckier: I have a fabulous wife and three inquisitive, insightful, playful children. And, a cat! Some days, I am beside myself with frustration at the way things are sometimes chaotic, but mostly I am beside myself with gratitude. I am so grateful for our happiness and for the fullness of our lives. I am grateful for the way our house is overflowing with toys and the remnants left by small children. I am grateful for having a loving, wonderful, supportive spouse, and equally grateful that we live in a place and time where we can openly share a life together.
On this Valentine's Day, six years after our family first began to expand, I am simply, overwhelmingly, grateful.
And, I am. Beside myself. I can't imagine being luckier: I have a fabulous wife and three inquisitive, insightful, playful children. And, a cat! Some days, I am beside myself with frustration at the way things are sometimes chaotic, but mostly I am beside myself with gratitude. I am so grateful for our happiness and for the fullness of our lives. I am grateful for the way our house is overflowing with toys and the remnants left by small children. I am grateful for having a loving, wonderful, supportive spouse, and equally grateful that we live in a place and time where we can openly share a life together.
On this Valentine's Day, six years after our family first began to expand, I am simply, overwhelmingly, grateful.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Three things
1. We have a sick baby. It is just a cold, but she is not feeling great.
2. We went to the museum at the end of the Oregon Trail this morning. The big kids had fun loading up a covered wagon and making candles.
3. We came home early because of said sick baby and now the kids are playing in the sink. That is all!
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2. We went to the museum at the end of the Oregon Trail this morning. The big kids had fun loading up a covered wagon and making candles.
3. We came home early because of said sick baby and now the kids are playing in the sink. That is all!
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Saturday, February 11, 2012
A moment
Sacha just sent me this photo from her phone. It is from a few weeks ago, when Rosa was first learning to push the little pushcart that we have. It goes too fast for her when it's empty, so she does much better when it has something heavy in it...such as, hey, her big brother! She got some added assistance from her big sister, making it quite the sibling affair. I think she looks really proud of herself!
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Friday, February 10, 2012
Applying
We are applying to a private school for Mateo for next year. The application process for this school, and I imagine for most private schools, has been like applying to college. There were application essays, a tour, and then, today, an interview of sorts. The school had all their applicants divided into groups of 10 to 12 kids, and then they scheduled them to come in 90-minute shifts to experience an abbreviated kindergarten day. During this group session, the admissions people watched them and took notes on...well, who knows what. I can only assume that they were looking for particular red flags and also for kids who distinguished themselves in some way. The whole thing was kind of funny - because, really, how does one evaluate a five-year-old, or anyone, based on one meeting? - but we made it through anyway.
We have had this date on the calendar for a long time and Sacha did a great job of prepping Mateo for the experience. She told him lots of stories about "Rafael," his pretend alter-ego, and how Rafael had a visiting day at his prospective kindergarten. Mateo was beyond excited about the whole thing, and, even though he had a blip of nervousness right when we got there, he put on his brave face and got through it. The parents walked all the kids into the classroom and then they sat in a circle and we went out to wait, and wait, and wait, for what seemed like an eternity. Luckily, I had brought the iPad, so I could read after my conversation with the guy next to me sputtered to a halt. Um, awkward!
Anyway, the whole process was a little sobering, because there is a lot of competition for the 12 spots they have available for next year. On the other hand, watching Mateo go through the process today made me feel at peace about the whole thing. I was just so proud of him. Watching him deal with a new situation with confidence and excitement made me realize that no matter where he goes, he is going to be just fine. If he doesn't get in, then we'll go to our back-up plan of the neighborhood school or possibly entering the lottery for some Spanish immersion programs, but, in any case, he will be fine and good.
In related news, at the interview I talked to a very nice mom who had taken the train up from the Bay Area with her two daughters for this interview. Later in the day, the kids and I met Sacha at a local indoor playpark and, lo and behold, met this same woman and her kids there! Small world. Long story short, we invited them to go to dinner and they said yes. We found a local brewpub (very Portland of us, eh?) and had a great dinner. We left having made some new friends and planning to meet up with them next time we're visiting the Bay, or possibly to see them up here if they end up moving here. It was really cool and I am grateful to Sacha for putting the dinner invitation out there.
This weekend, we have the Celebration of Love and Friendship (ie, Valentine's Day. Why can't we just call it that?) at Mateo's and Natalia's school, followed by treat-making with some friends that we often celebrate holidays with. Also, I am going to squeeze in a 7.5 mile run. Should be fun!
We have had this date on the calendar for a long time and Sacha did a great job of prepping Mateo for the experience. She told him lots of stories about "Rafael," his pretend alter-ego, and how Rafael had a visiting day at his prospective kindergarten. Mateo was beyond excited about the whole thing, and, even though he had a blip of nervousness right when we got there, he put on his brave face and got through it. The parents walked all the kids into the classroom and then they sat in a circle and we went out to wait, and wait, and wait, for what seemed like an eternity. Luckily, I had brought the iPad, so I could read after my conversation with the guy next to me sputtered to a halt. Um, awkward!
Anyway, the whole process was a little sobering, because there is a lot of competition for the 12 spots they have available for next year. On the other hand, watching Mateo go through the process today made me feel at peace about the whole thing. I was just so proud of him. Watching him deal with a new situation with confidence and excitement made me realize that no matter where he goes, he is going to be just fine. If he doesn't get in, then we'll go to our back-up plan of the neighborhood school or possibly entering the lottery for some Spanish immersion programs, but, in any case, he will be fine and good.
In related news, at the interview I talked to a very nice mom who had taken the train up from the Bay Area with her two daughters for this interview. Later in the day, the kids and I met Sacha at a local indoor playpark and, lo and behold, met this same woman and her kids there! Small world. Long story short, we invited them to go to dinner and they said yes. We found a local brewpub (very Portland of us, eh?) and had a great dinner. We left having made some new friends and planning to meet up with them next time we're visiting the Bay, or possibly to see them up here if they end up moving here. It was really cool and I am grateful to Sacha for putting the dinner invitation out there.
This weekend, we have the Celebration of Love and Friendship (ie, Valentine's Day. Why can't we just call it that?) at Mateo's and Natalia's school, followed by treat-making with some friends that we often celebrate holidays with. Also, I am going to squeeze in a 7.5 mile run. Should be fun!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Rosa's 10-month-old stats
I took Rosa in for her 9-month well-child exam today, only a month late, and I thought I would jot down her stats. She weighed in at 18 pounds, 1 ounce, which puts her in the 20th percentile, and at 28 inches, which is the 41st percentile. Her head circumference is 17 inches, which is the 15th percentile.
In other words, for those of you following along at home, she is a whopping baby! That is, in comparison to our other babies, most notably her older sister, who hangs out mostly in the single digit percentiles. Rosa seems huge to us, in a good way! She's getting big and tall and she also learned how to crawl up the stairs today, which was a rather startling development. Make that two baby gates for the stairs ordered and anxiously awaited from Amazon! We never had to deal with the stairs thing in the old house, except for the ones down to the basement, so we don't have the right gear yet.
Unfortunately, there was one part of her doctor's appointment that didn't go well. It took place at the lab, where I took her to get her blood drawn for a lead test. It turns out that her veins are not great for taking blood, which we found out after they dug around in both arms for much too long with no success and much screaming. I felt so bad for her and was quick to say no when they asked me if I wanted them to try a third time. Let's just hope she doesn't need an IV anytime in the near future, because it probably wouldn't be easy to get it in.
In other news, Mateo went to preschool this morning and came back with his pants on backwards and with no idea how they got that way. He kept them that way all day, reiterating to anyone who asked that he had no idea how they got that way. Funny!
Lastly, we heard from our first-choice preschool for Tali and she's in!! We are very excited and think it will be a great fit for her, and hopefully a great year, too. Yay!
In other words, for those of you following along at home, she is a whopping baby! That is, in comparison to our other babies, most notably her older sister, who hangs out mostly in the single digit percentiles. Rosa seems huge to us, in a good way! She's getting big and tall and she also learned how to crawl up the stairs today, which was a rather startling development. Make that two baby gates for the stairs ordered and anxiously awaited from Amazon! We never had to deal with the stairs thing in the old house, except for the ones down to the basement, so we don't have the right gear yet.
Unfortunately, there was one part of her doctor's appointment that didn't go well. It took place at the lab, where I took her to get her blood drawn for a lead test. It turns out that her veins are not great for taking blood, which we found out after they dug around in both arms for much too long with no success and much screaming. I felt so bad for her and was quick to say no when they asked me if I wanted them to try a third time. Let's just hope she doesn't need an IV anytime in the near future, because it probably wouldn't be easy to get it in.
In other news, Mateo went to preschool this morning and came back with his pants on backwards and with no idea how they got that way. He kept them that way all day, reiterating to anyone who asked that he had no idea how they got that way. Funny!
Lastly, we heard from our first-choice preschool for Tali and she's in!! We are very excited and think it will be a great fit for her, and hopefully a great year, too. Yay!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Back in town
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We just returned from a great weekend up in Washington. It had a number of highlights, among which were Sacha's dad's 65th birthday party and seeing her uncles and aunts who had come to town for the occasion. We enjoyed spending time with everybody and especially with the Michigan crew, whom we hadn't seen for quite some time. By the end of the weekend, tentative plans for a family reunion were circulating, so we will see what happens with that. There are a number of babies that have been born this year, all close to Rosa's age, and it would be really fun to get them all together. Maybe this summer? Hopefully!
Speaking of summer travel, at the birthday party we got to talk at some length to an old teacher of Sacha's who now runs a tour-planning business. We asked him all about going to Europe with kids and he had some really good suggestions for us. He suggested that, first and foremost, we ask ourselves what our goals are for the trip and what sorts of experiences we would all like to have, kids and adults. Then, we can plan from there. He even offered to do some research on kids' activities in Barcelona and Paris for us. We will be taking him up on that!
I had a personal highlight over the weekend, which was that I started training for a half-marathon! I had been planning to do the Portland one in October, and I still am, but in the course of signing up for that, I found another half on April 15th in Vernonia, which is a tiny town outside of Portland. I got so excited about the closer date and the rural setting that I went ahead and registered for that, too! My body doesn't take too well to running frequently, but I'm going to add another run per week so that I'm running three times a week, and I'll stick to my cross-training schedule for the other days. I'll build up my long weekend runs by about a mile every weekend.
Since I ran about five miles last weekend, I went with just over six this Saturday, and it went really well. I have a cool app on my new phone that keeps track of every run via GPS and gives out periodic updates of how fast you're going and how far you've gone. That helped me keep a pace of about 8:30 per mile, which was faster than I had planned to go, but it felt good. I really have no time goal for the race; I just want to finish it! I felt really good at the end of my run this weekend and it felt good to know that I had run almost half of the distance of the race and still felt like I could go farther. I'm really excited about the whole thing and having something to train for!
Finally, on a completely different subject, we did something new this evening before bedtime. We had heard Sacha's aunt and uncle recount their recent house fire in rather terrifying detail, including how their entire house filled with smoke in under five minutes, and it kicked us into gear to finally make a fire escape plan for our house. It's pretty simple, and mostly involves me grabbing the baby while Sacha runs upstairs to get the kids up and down the stairs (this is for a nighttime fire scenario). We decided to do a fire drill and the kids LOVED it. We ended up doing it three times. They got faster and faster every time. It's a relief to have a plan and to have practiced it, as I sometimes get nervous about the kids sleeping upstairs while we sleep downstairs. Hopefully we will continue to practice periodically, just to make sure everyone knows what to do if a fire actually happens.
On that note, it's almost bedtime for Sacha and I. Rosa kept us up for close to two hours last night, just fussing for no apparent reason except possibly for being in a different house, so we are ready for a lot of sleep tonight!
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