Mateo had his first few jumps in his Johnny Jump Up today. He seemed to enjoy it and did a great job of keeping his head and torso steady, too. Here's a short clip:
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Something new
I figured out how to upload video to YouTube this morning! This was after a prolonged struggle to help our video camera and our computer talk to each other. So, here's our first attempt at posting a video to the blog! I couldn't figure out how to cut it down, so it's a bit long. It's from last week when Mateo looked like he was on the verge of rolling over on his little play mat. He never quite managed to do it, but he babbled intently to himself the whole time and I think it's pretty cute. Hope you enjoy!
Friday, February 23, 2007
President's Day weekend photos
As promised, here are some photos from our trip to Washington.
Also, I thought I would share that Mateo had a big sleep night last night. After some initial waking up, he slept from 8 pm to 5 am! I got up a couple of times to reswaddle him, but that was it. Nine hours! Then, he slept from 5:30 to 8:30 to complete his 12 hours. Amazing. He hasn't slept that much for several weeks. He was such a cheerful and chatty boy when he woke up, too.
We had a really busy and fun day yesterday. Mateo spent some time with his wonderful aunt (technically cousin, but whatever) Rachel in the morning while I went to a meeting. Then I came home and we went out for a walk with our friends Kristi and Liam. Then, we went to visit Sacha at her school. Mateo charmed everyone while I helped with some filing and Sacha planned some lessons. Then we went out to dinner and came home. It was quite a big day for someone who's only three and a half months old. Maybe it inspired him to sleep a lot in preparation for whatever might be coming next!
Here's Mateo with his Bubby:
And his Poppa:
A somewhat rare shot of the three of us:
Getting a bottle and some cuddle time from his Apa:
Showing off his big blue eyes on a play-mat that Eric and Cathe got him:
Playing with me on the floor:
And, back at home, hanging out with Grammy and Joanie:
Finally, spending some time with Mommy and our kitty, Beso:
Also, I thought I would share that Mateo had a big sleep night last night. After some initial waking up, he slept from 8 pm to 5 am! I got up a couple of times to reswaddle him, but that was it. Nine hours! Then, he slept from 5:30 to 8:30 to complete his 12 hours. Amazing. He hasn't slept that much for several weeks. He was such a cheerful and chatty boy when he woke up, too.
We had a really busy and fun day yesterday. Mateo spent some time with his wonderful aunt (technically cousin, but whatever) Rachel in the morning while I went to a meeting. Then I came home and we went out for a walk with our friends Kristi and Liam. Then, we went to visit Sacha at her school. Mateo charmed everyone while I helped with some filing and Sacha planned some lessons. Then we went out to dinner and came home. It was quite a big day for someone who's only three and a half months old. Maybe it inspired him to sleep a lot in preparation for whatever might be coming next!
Here's Mateo with his Bubby:
And his Poppa:
A somewhat rare shot of the three of us:
Getting a bottle and some cuddle time from his Apa:
Showing off his big blue eyes on a play-mat that Eric and Cathe got him:
Playing with me on the floor:
And, back at home, hanging out with Grammy and Joanie:
Finally, spending some time with Mommy and our kitty, Beso:
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Random assortment...
I keep trying to think of a unifying theme for a post, but haven't gotten there yet. In the meantime...
...we used to have a magic sleep potion for Mateo. It was called The West Wing. I would put on an episode, get into a nice bouncing rhythm on our yoga ball, and the little guy would be out by the end of the episode. Once, he fell asleep before the opening credits even finished! Only once before had he ever been awake at the end of an episode, and even then, he fell asleep at the beginning of the next one. We hardly ever watch tv other than this, but it works like a charm during his late afternoon fussy time.
Perhaps I should amend that to read worked like a charm. Last night, Mateo had a breakthrough and now seems to find television fascinating instead of sleep-inducing! I did the West Wing routine in hopes of getting him ready for bedtime and instead he watched the whole episode with me in big-eyed fascination. We had to resort to a walk around the neighborhood to reach the elusive goal of bedtime.
I tried again this afternoon with him facing away from the screen and he conked out right on cue. Sacha and I think maybe he finds the West Wing theme and background music soothing. I just hope I'm not rotting his little brain already.
**********************
We had a great weekend up in Washington! Sacha's dad's birthday party was very fun and Mateo was quite the popular party guest. He was quite good-natured about being passed around and I think Sacha's parents' friends enjoyed meeting him. Sacha's parents haven't seen him much since the winter holidays and it was so cute to see them getting reacquainted.
As well as seeing his Bubby and Poppa, Mateo got to see his Apa again! Zenaido flew out to Seattle to see us and some other friends and we got to see him from Saturday night to Monday morning. He and Mateo are so sweet together and we're thrilled that they seem to be hitting it off so well. I'll post some photos later, but highlights included Mateo getting a bottle of yummy milk from his Apa, taking a walk with him, and lots of general playtime. You can really see a resemblance between them in a lot of the photos!
*********************************
I think there was something else, but I can't remember what it was. Oh yeah - Mateo's doing some fun new stuff! He has learned how to shriek in delight and enjoys practicing his new skill all day long. He's getting the concept of grabbing things and can actually hold toys and attempt to shove them into his mouth. He's really good at sucking on his hands now, as well. He can even get individual fingers in there sometimes. A good example from today: he got a finger in his mouth so far that he gagged on it, at which point he yanked out his hand in confusion and then shoved it right back in, only to gag again! It's fascinating to watch the learning process in action! Also, he loves to stand up and can support all of his weight. We just need to hold his hands or arms to keep him from falling over.
**********************************
My mom and our friend Joanie came to visit this morning and we all had a nice time catching up. Then, this afternoon, our friend and former doula, Rachael, came to hang out with Mateo and it sounds like they had a great time. I really enjoyed having a break and a little time to myself. I went to a wonderful Portland store called Sahagun, which specializes in chocolate. I got some of their amazing and rich drinking chocolate and it was delicious. I realized later that it probably had a lot of caffeine in it! I've been wired all evening and now, even though Mateo and Sacha are both asleep, I just don't feel tired. I'm hoping that it wears off sometime soon!
...we used to have a magic sleep potion for Mateo. It was called The West Wing. I would put on an episode, get into a nice bouncing rhythm on our yoga ball, and the little guy would be out by the end of the episode. Once, he fell asleep before the opening credits even finished! Only once before had he ever been awake at the end of an episode, and even then, he fell asleep at the beginning of the next one. We hardly ever watch tv other than this, but it works like a charm during his late afternoon fussy time.
Perhaps I should amend that to read worked like a charm. Last night, Mateo had a breakthrough and now seems to find television fascinating instead of sleep-inducing! I did the West Wing routine in hopes of getting him ready for bedtime and instead he watched the whole episode with me in big-eyed fascination. We had to resort to a walk around the neighborhood to reach the elusive goal of bedtime.
I tried again this afternoon with him facing away from the screen and he conked out right on cue. Sacha and I think maybe he finds the West Wing theme and background music soothing. I just hope I'm not rotting his little brain already.
**********************
We had a great weekend up in Washington! Sacha's dad's birthday party was very fun and Mateo was quite the popular party guest. He was quite good-natured about being passed around and I think Sacha's parents' friends enjoyed meeting him. Sacha's parents haven't seen him much since the winter holidays and it was so cute to see them getting reacquainted.
As well as seeing his Bubby and Poppa, Mateo got to see his Apa again! Zenaido flew out to Seattle to see us and some other friends and we got to see him from Saturday night to Monday morning. He and Mateo are so sweet together and we're thrilled that they seem to be hitting it off so well. I'll post some photos later, but highlights included Mateo getting a bottle of yummy milk from his Apa, taking a walk with him, and lots of general playtime. You can really see a resemblance between them in a lot of the photos!
*********************************
I think there was something else, but I can't remember what it was. Oh yeah - Mateo's doing some fun new stuff! He has learned how to shriek in delight and enjoys practicing his new skill all day long. He's getting the concept of grabbing things and can actually hold toys and attempt to shove them into his mouth. He's really good at sucking on his hands now, as well. He can even get individual fingers in there sometimes. A good example from today: he got a finger in his mouth so far that he gagged on it, at which point he yanked out his hand in confusion and then shoved it right back in, only to gag again! It's fascinating to watch the learning process in action! Also, he loves to stand up and can support all of his weight. We just need to hold his hands or arms to keep him from falling over.
**********************************
My mom and our friend Joanie came to visit this morning and we all had a nice time catching up. Then, this afternoon, our friend and former doula, Rachael, came to hang out with Mateo and it sounds like they had a great time. I really enjoyed having a break and a little time to myself. I went to a wonderful Portland store called Sahagun, which specializes in chocolate. I got some of their amazing and rich drinking chocolate and it was delicious. I realized later that it probably had a lot of caffeine in it! I've been wired all evening and now, even though Mateo and Sacha are both asleep, I just don't feel tired. I'm hoping that it wears off sometime soon!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Reunion
We went to a reunion of our birth class last night. We had so much fun! We've kept in touch with several couples - I guess I should say new families - and it was great to see them all in one place. As well, we had a great time reconnecting with people we hadn't seen since the last class.
The dynamic at the reunion was so different from when we were all in class together. Sacha and I talked during the process of the class about how many people seemed very introverted...but not at the reunion! Maybe it was something about everyone having had their babies. Everyone just seemed so happy. I mean, people seemed (understandably) tired, but there was a feeling of real contentment in the air.
And, it was so exciting to see everyone's babies! Mateo is pretty much right in the middle of the age range of the babies in the class, so we got to see what's coming next as well as remember where we've been.
We also heard about several couples' birth experiences. It was quite interesting, actually. Out of (I think) ten couples, only one couple ended up with a c-section. From the stats we learned - 25%-30% of all births - that's a very low number. From what we heard, every woman opted for an epidural at some point, which I found surprising since we had all gone to the trouble to take a birthing class! I think six out of ten women were induced which probably led to the high epidural rate. That pitocin is nasty stuff.
One couple had a very scary delivery in which their daughter got her shoulder stuck and broke her collarbone on the way out. Apparently she recovered quickly and I'm sure they were incredibly relieved that she and her mom ended up being okay. Of course, the rest of birth stories were all different, but it sounds like everyone did great and all ended up with healthy babies and healthy moms.
Towards the end of the evening, Sacha and I had an interesting talk with our childbirth instructor. During the class, she never would tell us about her own birth experiences and so Sacha and I, lovers of speculation that we are, had speculated several times about what might have happened. As it turned out, her first child's birth was very similar to Mateo's and her second's was quite a dramatic story. We chatted for awhile on how self-conscious (and, frankly, kind of bad about ourselves) we both felt afterwards about choosing to have an epidural. There was actually an interesting story in the Oregonian recently about that.
Anyway, it was really fun and just so cool to see so many thriving babies and happy families in one place. The babies were all adorable. It's amazing how they can be so small and yet have their own unique personalities already. We're hoping these gatherings will become a regular thing. It won't be too long before they'll be fun for the kids as well as for the adults!
I also noticed, personally, how much my level of comfort with infants has increased. Before we had Mateo, if I was around a baby at all, I felt awkward and often avoided holding them because I just didn't know what to do. After three months of round-the-clock baby care, I can say definitively that that feeling is gone! I spent some time hanging out with one of Mateo's little buddies and had a great time with him.
And, I might add, while we both felt very conscious of being the only lesbian couple during the course of the class (not because of anything negative happening - people were always friendly and welcoming - just because it was a point of difference between us and everyone else), that feeling was not there at the reunion. We felt very much a part of the group and that is always a really nice way to feel.
The dynamic at the reunion was so different from when we were all in class together. Sacha and I talked during the process of the class about how many people seemed very introverted...but not at the reunion! Maybe it was something about everyone having had their babies. Everyone just seemed so happy. I mean, people seemed (understandably) tired, but there was a feeling of real contentment in the air.
And, it was so exciting to see everyone's babies! Mateo is pretty much right in the middle of the age range of the babies in the class, so we got to see what's coming next as well as remember where we've been.
We also heard about several couples' birth experiences. It was quite interesting, actually. Out of (I think) ten couples, only one couple ended up with a c-section. From the stats we learned - 25%-30% of all births - that's a very low number. From what we heard, every woman opted for an epidural at some point, which I found surprising since we had all gone to the trouble to take a birthing class! I think six out of ten women were induced which probably led to the high epidural rate. That pitocin is nasty stuff.
One couple had a very scary delivery in which their daughter got her shoulder stuck and broke her collarbone on the way out. Apparently she recovered quickly and I'm sure they were incredibly relieved that she and her mom ended up being okay. Of course, the rest of birth stories were all different, but it sounds like everyone did great and all ended up with healthy babies and healthy moms.
Towards the end of the evening, Sacha and I had an interesting talk with our childbirth instructor. During the class, she never would tell us about her own birth experiences and so Sacha and I, lovers of speculation that we are, had speculated several times about what might have happened. As it turned out, her first child's birth was very similar to Mateo's and her second's was quite a dramatic story. We chatted for awhile on how self-conscious (and, frankly, kind of bad about ourselves) we both felt afterwards about choosing to have an epidural. There was actually an interesting story in the Oregonian recently about that.
Anyway, it was really fun and just so cool to see so many thriving babies and happy families in one place. The babies were all adorable. It's amazing how they can be so small and yet have their own unique personalities already. We're hoping these gatherings will become a regular thing. It won't be too long before they'll be fun for the kids as well as for the adults!
I also noticed, personally, how much my level of comfort with infants has increased. Before we had Mateo, if I was around a baby at all, I felt awkward and often avoided holding them because I just didn't know what to do. After three months of round-the-clock baby care, I can say definitively that that feeling is gone! I spent some time hanging out with one of Mateo's little buddies and had a great time with him.
And, I might add, while we both felt very conscious of being the only lesbian couple during the course of the class (not because of anything negative happening - people were always friendly and welcoming - just because it was a point of difference between us and everyone else), that feeling was not there at the reunion. We felt very much a part of the group and that is always a really nice way to feel.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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