Wow, mobility really changes things. M is now mobile in all ways except walking. He proved this two nights ago, when he woke up and Sacha went in to comfort him...and found him sitting up on the opposite end of his crib that he started from, crying his little eyes out. He had gotten up (presumably by rolling over, crawling to the other side of the crib, and then pushing himself to a sitting position) and didn't know how to get back down. So cute! But oh my gosh, it has abruptly changed his sleeping habits.
We've been doing really, really well with sleep lately. Mateo goes down in 5-10 minutes most of the time for naps and at night. He's sleeping well and getting up once or twice a night to nurse. Every so often he has a rough night and even after our very soothing routine still takes 20 or 30 minutes to get himself to sleep...but that's pretty rare and overall, we consider the sleep situation to be fabulous. Fabulous!, as my mom would say, in a high-pitched voice (hi Mom!).
Unfortunately, Mateo's awesome new mobility has gotten him all turned around in the sleep department. We thought it was adorable when Sacha went in and found him sitting up at naptime. How cute, we thought. He's confused but will figure it out, we thought. It got less amusing as yesterday progressed and nearly every time we went to check on him at naptime, he was either sitting, in a crawling position, or standing at the railing of his crib.
Then, at bedtime, things completely deteriorated and every time we went in (at ten-minute intervals), he was up in some fashion and upset about it. We would calmly lie him back down, shush him, insert the binky and leave...and pretty soon he'd be up again! After an hour and a half of this, he finally went to sleep. Ugh. I know that he'll learn how to get to sleep again pretty soon and everything will be smooth for awhile...but we're all a little bit frustrated to have our old nemesis, the going-to-sleep monster, rear its ugly head!
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In other (happier) news, we went to our baby-and-me group today and Mateo quickly charmed a group of visiting Japanese midwifery students! We confused them at first, apparently, which we realized after one of them repeatedly asked me if I was the baby's brother? His father? I had just gotten what must have been a rather confusing haircut.
However, once we crossed that hurdle, things went much better. After our little social butterfly visited most of the other parent/child combos around the circle, he crawled up to the Japanese midwives and boy, did they love him. I looked over at one point to see him having a great time in the middle of a circle of five of them. It was so funny and cute. Almost as cute as at the end, when they took a couple of group photos with him. I gave one of them my email address and am crossing my fingers that they send me the photos so I can post them. Apparently, Mateo loves Japan and its citizens love him right back.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Gardening: finished zone 5!
Alayna and I, inspired by our friends Katie and Ashlee, decided to have a theme for each week this summer. Last week's theme was the garden, or budding botany. We divided the garden into five different zones, and each day spent one hour just working on the zone. We only ended up finishing four of the zones, though, because we went to the beach and it was raining on Sunday, when we came back.
Today, before making a whole batch of pizza roll up meals (for dinner and to freeze!!!), we worked in our very last zone. Now, the hammock is up, weeds are pulled and it looks really nice. After ten hours of gardening, we have a garden that is ready for the summer!
This week our theme is adventure. We went on a new hike today and tomorrow we have some ideas: u-pick farm to make a pie, ride the new tram, take a different new hike, fly a kite etc.
Tomorrow, here we come!
Today, before making a whole batch of pizza roll up meals (for dinner and to freeze!!!), we worked in our very last zone. Now, the hammock is up, weeds are pulled and it looks really nice. After ten hours of gardening, we have a garden that is ready for the summer!
This week our theme is adventure. We went on a new hike today and tomorrow we have some ideas: u-pick farm to make a pie, ride the new tram, take a different new hike, fly a kite etc.
Tomorrow, here we come!
Sand!
We went to the coast this weekend and had sooooo much fun. The last time we were there, I was hugely pregnant and we had made sure to find the nearest hospital in case I went into labor. This time, things were quite different!
Mateo is at a great age for the beach, as it turns out. We took him to a beach when we were in Cancun when he was three months old and he did fine, but this time he had FUN. He loved playing in the sand and kept laughing and holding up two fists full of sand, as if to say "Look at this stuff, Moms!" Sacha also took him to the water and dipped his toes in, but he didn't go for that as much. Actually, he cried. I think the cold was a bit much for him!
In addition to it being fun for him, Sacha and I had a great time, too. Going to the beach with a baby gave us a whole new appreciation for playing in the sand.
And, we had a wonderful rest of the weekend at my grandmother's beach house. She bought it as a retreat years ago and it really does have a wonderful quality of being away from everything. Mateo had a blast crawling around the main room and trying to pull himself up on everything, and Sacha and I made a fire and roasted marshmallows and actually managed to sleep in (in shifts). We're so glad that we packed up and went out there. Thanks, Grandmommy!
Here are some photos of the weekend.
Riding to the beach in style:
Heading for the ocean after laying waste to Mama's sand castle:
Fun in the sand with Mommy:
Appreciating that ocean breeze:
Getting to know the Pacific:
Riding high!:
And one last look before heading back to the beach house:
Mateo is at a great age for the beach, as it turns out. We took him to a beach when we were in Cancun when he was three months old and he did fine, but this time he had FUN. He loved playing in the sand and kept laughing and holding up two fists full of sand, as if to say "Look at this stuff, Moms!" Sacha also took him to the water and dipped his toes in, but he didn't go for that as much. Actually, he cried. I think the cold was a bit much for him!
In addition to it being fun for him, Sacha and I had a great time, too. Going to the beach with a baby gave us a whole new appreciation for playing in the sand.
And, we had a wonderful rest of the weekend at my grandmother's beach house. She bought it as a retreat years ago and it really does have a wonderful quality of being away from everything. Mateo had a blast crawling around the main room and trying to pull himself up on everything, and Sacha and I made a fire and roasted marshmallows and actually managed to sleep in (in shifts). We're so glad that we packed up and went out there. Thanks, Grandmommy!
Here are some photos of the weekend.
Riding to the beach in style:
Heading for the ocean after laying waste to Mama's sand castle:
Fun in the sand with Mommy:
Appreciating that ocean breeze:
Getting to know the Pacific:
Riding high!:
And one last look before heading back to the beach house:
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Two milestones, one day
Mateo had two fabulous milestones today - he rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time and he pulled himself up to standing.
As you may remember, Mateo has never been much of a roller. He's been much more interested in crawling and things of that nature. However, recently, he's been working on rolling for a little while now, albeit unconsciously. Lately when he sleeps, he has been rolling to the side and sleeping on his side as he falls asleep. I think he does it because maybe it is darker with half of his face covered. Or maybe he does it because when he was little he would fall asleep nuzzled into one of our chests in the Ergo. Either way, he likes to sleep on his side these days.
Then, today, he was on his back in our living room playing with a ball, which rolled away . . . and he rolled right there with it. Actually, I think that Alayna was encouraging him with the ball. He then almost rolled over two more times, but then popped back onto his back. We were so excited! He finally did it!
The other new thing is that at dinner, he pulled himself up on the bottom of my chair! We had made a celebratory dinner of baked potato salad (amazing I must add), blackened peppers, home grown salad, and cheeseburgers grilled in the back yard. Yummy. We were celebrating the summer solstice: the shortest night and longest day of the year! Mateo got into a celebratory mood and pulled himself up to standing right rather suddenly in the middle of dinner. We were so proud of him. He had quite the afternoon of milestones!
Cruising, here we come.
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Also, we went over to Alayna's grandma's house this morning for brunch with her, her caregiver, Susan, and Alayna's mom. It was so cute to see them all together and we got some great pictures of the baby with his great-grandmommy and his grammy.
************
Finally, we ordered our Cowmooflage this afternoon! We are soooo excited for it to get here and are looking forward to showing it off on our upcoming trip to California. Alayna says that everytime she thinks "California" these days, she says it mentally with an Austrian accent and thinks of the Governator.
As you may remember, Mateo has never been much of a roller. He's been much more interested in crawling and things of that nature. However, recently, he's been working on rolling for a little while now, albeit unconsciously. Lately when he sleeps, he has been rolling to the side and sleeping on his side as he falls asleep. I think he does it because maybe it is darker with half of his face covered. Or maybe he does it because when he was little he would fall asleep nuzzled into one of our chests in the Ergo. Either way, he likes to sleep on his side these days.
Then, today, he was on his back in our living room playing with a ball, which rolled away . . . and he rolled right there with it. Actually, I think that Alayna was encouraging him with the ball. He then almost rolled over two more times, but then popped back onto his back. We were so excited! He finally did it!
The other new thing is that at dinner, he pulled himself up on the bottom of my chair! We had made a celebratory dinner of baked potato salad (amazing I must add), blackened peppers, home grown salad, and cheeseburgers grilled in the back yard. Yummy. We were celebrating the summer solstice: the shortest night and longest day of the year! Mateo got into a celebratory mood and pulled himself up to standing right rather suddenly in the middle of dinner. We were so proud of him. He had quite the afternoon of milestones!
Cruising, here we come.
************
Also, we went over to Alayna's grandma's house this morning for brunch with her, her caregiver, Susan, and Alayna's mom. It was so cute to see them all together and we got some great pictures of the baby with his great-grandmommy and his grammy.
************
Finally, we ordered our Cowmooflage this afternoon! We are soooo excited for it to get here and are looking forward to showing it off on our upcoming trip to California. Alayna says that everytime she thinks "California" these days, she says it mentally with an Austrian accent and thinks of the Governator.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Pride weekend
We had a fun and busy weekend here at Casa Two Girls and One Boy. Zenaido was visiting, as you may have surmised, and we had fun catching up, seeing friends, eating good food, marching in the Portland Pride parade, and buying the aforementioned carseat. Which, by the way, we are probably going to get a new cover for. Thanks for all your comments, via the blog, email, phone, and in person.
We think the whole issue of what color goes with what gender in our society is pretty fascinating and were interested to hear all of your opinions. I have become obsessed with all the covers out there and am currently leaning towards Cowmooflage (thanks Briar!) because it's different and fun and totally non-gendered. Sacha has not yet warmed up to this idea, however, so we'll see where we end up! In any case, Mateo looooves his new carseat and has already managed to fall asleep in it more times (practically) than he ever did in his old one. Wahoo!
Anyway, in addition to a carseat cover update, I thought I'd post a few photos from the parade. It was only our second experience of actually being in a pride parade and it was unquestionably the better of the two. We felt like rock stars with all the people cheering. It was cool to get clapped for just for having a kid! Zenaido was such a good sport about being the only (adult) male in the group and we were very proud to have him there with us.
So, here are the photos.
Before the parade with our fabulously decorated stroller, courtesy of Zenaido. You can see other fabulous gay people behind us milling around :)
Our PLOP contingent. About 30 people and kids showed up, which was amazing for a city the size of Portland!:
Hello balloon! How did you get on my stroller?:
Checking out the action:
Hanging out with Mommy after the parade at Voodoo Doughnuts:
And finally, crashed out with Apa after the parade and long walk back to the car. Awwww...:
We think the whole issue of what color goes with what gender in our society is pretty fascinating and were interested to hear all of your opinions. I have become obsessed with all the covers out there and am currently leaning towards Cowmooflage (thanks Briar!) because it's different and fun and totally non-gendered. Sacha has not yet warmed up to this idea, however, so we'll see where we end up! In any case, Mateo looooves his new carseat and has already managed to fall asleep in it more times (practically) than he ever did in his old one. Wahoo!
Anyway, in addition to a carseat cover update, I thought I'd post a few photos from the parade. It was only our second experience of actually being in a pride parade and it was unquestionably the better of the two. We felt like rock stars with all the people cheering. It was cool to get clapped for just for having a kid! Zenaido was such a good sport about being the only (adult) male in the group and we were very proud to have him there with us.
So, here are the photos.
Before the parade with our fabulously decorated stroller, courtesy of Zenaido. You can see other fabulous gay people behind us milling around :)
Our PLOP contingent. About 30 people and kids showed up, which was amazing for a city the size of Portland!:
Hello balloon! How did you get on my stroller?:
Checking out the action:
Hanging out with Mommy after the parade at Voodoo Doughnuts:
And finally, crashed out with Apa after the parade and long walk back to the car. Awwww...:
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Welcome to the jungle
We marched in the Portland LGBT pride parade today and had a great great great time. It was so cool. We got some good photos and I will hopefully post them tomorrow.
But first, a dilemma. We went to a baby superstore today to get Mateo a new car seat. We realized last weekend that he had already outgrown his infant seat and were hoping he could wait one more week for a new seat, so we could shop after Sacha finished school. He made it and today the four of us (me, Sacha, Zenaido and Mateo) headed out to get one. We ended up deciding on the Bri*tax Mara*thon (asterisks inserted to prevent spamming), which is an awesome seat. Bri*tax is renowned for their fanatically safe (and expensive) carseats and the convertibles are cushy and comfy to boot. We loooove Mateo's new seat. After we brought it home, Sacha, who isn't exactly a fan of the car, said she just wanted to drive Mateo around in it all the time now. So cute!
We are very happy with our purchase. There's just one thing. The baby store was out of seats in gender neutral gray/black fabric, and Mateo needed this car seat NOW, so we got the seat with the only other fabric option: the Olivia. Here it is:
Yep, it's pink and yellow with little flowers in the center. This photo doesn't do it justice. It is sooo cute! And so pink. We all had quite the debate about it in the store, with some of us expressing the opinion that it wasn't that pink and even if it was, there's nothing wrong with having a boy in a pink car seat. Others of us thought that while that is true in theory, it might be easier on all of us if M was sitting on a more gender neutral or boyish fabric.
We've been going around and around about it and decided we need more opinions. We want to hear what you think! Should the Olivia stay or should it go? We have some thoughts but wanted to hear other opinions first. There are a zillion covers out there, including these from the company and many others that are exclusive to particular stores or are knock-offs. There is a whole world of obsessed online carseat cover shoppers out there which we have only begun to delve into! If you have an opinion, please leave it in the comments. Thanks! We'll let you know what we decide.
But first, a dilemma. We went to a baby superstore today to get Mateo a new car seat. We realized last weekend that he had already outgrown his infant seat and were hoping he could wait one more week for a new seat, so we could shop after Sacha finished school. He made it and today the four of us (me, Sacha, Zenaido and Mateo) headed out to get one. We ended up deciding on the Bri*tax Mara*thon (asterisks inserted to prevent spamming), which is an awesome seat. Bri*tax is renowned for their fanatically safe (and expensive) carseats and the convertibles are cushy and comfy to boot. We loooove Mateo's new seat. After we brought it home, Sacha, who isn't exactly a fan of the car, said she just wanted to drive Mateo around in it all the time now. So cute!
We are very happy with our purchase. There's just one thing. The baby store was out of seats in gender neutral gray/black fabric, and Mateo needed this car seat NOW, so we got the seat with the only other fabric option: the Olivia. Here it is:
Yep, it's pink and yellow with little flowers in the center. This photo doesn't do it justice. It is sooo cute! And so pink. We all had quite the debate about it in the store, with some of us expressing the opinion that it wasn't that pink and even if it was, there's nothing wrong with having a boy in a pink car seat. Others of us thought that while that is true in theory, it might be easier on all of us if M was sitting on a more gender neutral or boyish fabric.We've been going around and around about it and decided we need more opinions. We want to hear what you think! Should the Olivia stay or should it go? We have some thoughts but wanted to hear other opinions first. There are a zillion covers out there, including these from the company and many others that are exclusive to particular stores or are knock-offs. There is a whole world of obsessed online carseat cover shoppers out there which we have only begun to delve into! If you have an opinion, please leave it in the comments. Thanks! We'll let you know what we decide.
Friday, June 15, 2007
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