No Sleep for the Weary

The little guy slept terribly last night which means that I slept terribly last night. Hi.

We spent a good part of the day at Angie & Jessie's house for a playdate. The kids had fun and so did I.

I am tired. This is all you get today. Early bedtime for me, folks.

The Happy Kid

Mal has really enjoyed his playtime at the YMCA's 'Kid's Korner'. It is a great morning activity that helps stave off toddler boredom. Diane, the main caretaker, comments daily about how happy and independent he is. Honestly, I thought all little kids are happy. Many people have remarked to us that Mal is a happy kid. To have a caregiver who watches kids daily make the same remark made me realize that it's not a trait shared by all kids.

From day one, we walked into the toy-filled room and he takes off to play without looking back. He doesn't seem to mind that I'm not around. The only time he fusses is when we leave because he doesn't want to stop playing :)

Pride and Hope

I have been having to fight back tears since the election was called at 8 PM PST last night. I have never been this emotional when it comes to politics. And I am far from alone on this. Far from alone.

Four years ago, there were riots in the streets around the world when the election was called. People getting together to protest out of anger. Last night, there were gatherings AROUND THE WORLD of people celebrating. I am amazed that the rest of the world is celebrating with us.

I am Proud of the people of America.
I am Hopeful of the possibilities of changes to come.
I'm also a little Angry at the reports of many people getting turned away at the polls in the South. That's disappointing.

Every Vote Counts

It is such an exciting day today! I have hope for the first time in 8 years. Our country needs to be taken in a new direction.

We're having friends over tonight to watch the election coverage. Much to do before people start to arrive!

Mal's First Bus Ride

We have a car and live in a city where it's a convenience instead of a necessity. I am very thankful that Seattle has a good public transportation system. I am also very thankful that neither Tony nor I are dependent on the car to commute to and from work as we have been in the past. This allows us to be a one-car-family. I used poor judgement recently and took my car to Firestone to get an oil leak fixed since it's within walking distance of the house. A few months ago, I took it in for the initial leak and they had the car for 4 days and it cost more than they originally quoted. Grrr. About a month ago, I stopped by the Volvo dealership to get a bulb changed. They noticed smoke coming from the hood so they took a peek and noticed the car was leaking oil. Grrr. I took the car back to Firestone and they had the car for 4 days again to 'replace a faulty part'. Last Friday, the car shows a message that there is no oil pressure. I dropped the car off Saturday morning and they still have it. There's another 'faulty part'. *sigh*

My point of the above complaining story is to brag about how good Malcolm was on the 1 hour bus ride to the pediatrician today. It can take months to get an appointment with Dr. Springer so I wasn't going to cancel it just because we didn't have the car. After lunch, Mal and I hopped on a bus in south Seattle and enjoyed the ride to Wallingford. He didn't fuss or get antsy at all. I'm so proud of my little guy! On the 1-hour bus ride home, he took a nap.

If the car isn't ready by morning, we're going to take the bus to the YMCA. I've been itching to get back since becoming a member last week.

Banana

Malcolm LOVES bananas. It was his first table food and since that first bite, he eats banana almost every day. Therefore, it was important to him to learn how to say 'banana' so he could tell me that he wants it. Here's a little video of him saying it while also trying to reach the banana on the table.

Halloween Adventures

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I'm pretty nonchalant when it comes to all holidays so I think it's kind-of funny that I declare that I have a favorite. Malcolm seemed to really enjoy it this year - even as a one-year-old. It started out with Grandma Sherry buying window decorations. They put them up together and she taught him to say, "Boo!" I then put up a few more decorations including a bat. He then learned how to say "Bat!"

I thought about taking him to a pumpkin patch for weeks but never got around to it until Julie called me up the weekend before Halloween. We went to a U-Pick farm a few minutes from her house. Her main objective was to get some cute photos of Eliska, but the set-up and bright sunshine didn't allow for it. Malcolm loved the pumpkin patch and wanted to take home every pumpkin.

I love carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns but could not find the time to do it this year since we got our pumpkins so late. Thank goodness Grandma Sherry sent Malcolm a decorating kit! Mal picked out which eyes, nose, mouth and ears he wanted:

I decorated my pumpkin with the other set.

Next year, I'm going to be more on top of things (like not waiting until the day before Halloween to get Mal's costume) and put up more decorations and get our pumpkins earlier so we can carve them.

Oh yeah - we got a total of ONE trick-or-treater this year at 10 PM. Tony gave her all of the candy, dammit!

Happy Halloween!

Mal dressed up as a bat. We went to The Skellington's annual Halloween party this afternoon. I was going to take him to do more stuff in the early evening, but the car is acting up :(

A Sammich is still a Sammich

Mal will gladly eat cheese and bread, but will not eat a cheese sammich. I am ready to add variety to our lunches (sammiches!) but he is apparently not.

Make it Routine

So I joined Nablopomo for November in hopes that it would help motivate me to post regularly. Let's see if it works!

Picky Eater Update

I've been experimenting with food combinations with Malcolm to see what food it is that he decided he no longer likes. At first, I assumed it was collards and kale, but it's not. I thought maybe it was rice, but it's not. He'll eat all of those happily. It took me a little while to figure it out - it's the egg yolk I would add to his dinner a few days a week. I've been doing it for months now to add good fat into his diet. Who'd a thunk?

Kitchen Gadgets

I love kitchen gadgets, but only if I use them. I use my crock pot weekly year-round to cook beans (I buy dried) and multiple times a week during fall & winter to make soup. My veggie steamer / rice cooker also gets used regularly. My waffle maker was used weekly until it stopped working recently :(

Since Malcolm was around 8 months old, I started feeding him yogurt daily. I buy the 1-quart tub of organic whole milk plain yogurt from Trader Joe's on a weekly basis and it's come to the point where we are going through it in less than a week. I've been told by multiple people that making your own yogurt is really easy, but it seems like too much of a pain to me. However, after reading this post over at Crunchy Chicken, I am convinced that it's definitely doable with a yogurt maker. Making yogurt with a machine seems so simple, produces no waste and is cost-effective.

I'm going to ask Santa for this yogurt maker this year.

I have two kitchen appliances that I'd like to get in the habit of using more often. One: the juicer that Sherry gave us for Christmas. I need to get a container to store the juice in. I would love to break out the juicer daily for fresh juice, but the clean-up is very time consuming. Two: the bread maker that was a hand-me-down from Sunny. The recipes in the book call for a special yeast that I haven't been able to locate. Granted, I haven't looked too hard, but I should. I honestly just need to do a bit more reading on how to make good bread in a bread maker - especially with the continual rise on the price of bread.

Cold Feet

And I mean literally. My feet are cold. I need new slippers as my old ones are worn out.

Fall in Seattle is just gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorite seasons. I love the crisp air and changing leaves. We've been having nice weather - sunny most days with rainy days here and there to keep everything green. The temperature requires a light jacket most days.

I have my good days and my bad days with my back. Lately, it's been mostly bad. I went to the YMCA earlier this week to check it out and we'll give it a trial run next week. I want to see how Mal does with the provided childcare before I sign up. I would have gone this week, but the car's been in the shop since Wednesday (oil leak) and my back's been to hurty to ride my bike there.

Oh yeah. I got a bike a few months ago. I love it. Unfortunately, Malcolm is not fond of the bike trailer. At all. Last time I put him in it, he screamed his little head off. Sad face. I've been wanting to give it a go again but, again, The Back Thing.

More Toddler Speak:

plane
plant
down
up
yes
please
thank you
done
bat
banana
woof
socks
shoes
fishie
birdie
bread

Many of these words and the prior words I listed out are understandable to anyone. However, there are quite a few that we only know what he's saying because he's pointing at the object (like fishie). The way he says 'Thank You' is just so cute and when he says it is even cuter; he says it after he gives you something since that is what we say when he hands us an object.

The kid loves to learn new words. He'll bring us a book, point to a picture so we'll say what it is and then he'll try to repeat it. His favorite books are those with pictures of things that he already knows the names of.

You may have noticed a very important word that is missing from the list: Mommy. He will say Mommy when he hears another kid say it and if Tony prompts him over and over again. He knows I'm Mommy but, for some reason, hasn't felt the need to call out to me by name. Banana also sounds a lot like Mommy.

Time for me to go find another pair of socks before my toes fall off.

Note

Operation Picky Eater is in full effect. I tried to avoid it, but everyone told me it was inevitable. The frequency increases threefold when the little person is tired.

Words

ahchoo
apple
ball
balloon
bath
boo
bye
cheese
daddy
doggie
hi
kitty
no
row
'side (outside)

These are the words Mal can say. I believe there are more, but I just can't think of them off the top of my head. We've been surprised with how quickly he's picked up language. Our little baby's becoming a toddler. It's happening so quickly!

I Blame Heredity

I inherited chronic back pain from both of my parents. What? You didn't know that you could inherit that? Just ask them! They both suffer from it just as I do. My dad gets weekly massages to combat his pain. If only I could do that.

I mention this because the pain has been pretty significant for me for the last 6 weeks or so. On Friday, I went to the chiropractor and on Saturday, the massage therapist. Yesterday, I woke up in pain, but nothing debilitating. That is, until I took a shower. After my shower, my muscles started spasming and seizing up from the bottom of my shoulder blades up through my neck. I couldn't even change Malcolm's diaper without screaming and crying in pain. And folks, let me tell you, it's got to be pretty painful to get that kind of reaction out of me. When you deal with chronic pain, you tend to build up your pain tolerance. I was pretty f*cked yesterday so I called Tony and he came home to take care of Mal. I could barely move. It scared Malcolm quite a bit. It broke my heart to see him crying and I couldn't do anything to comfort him. Once Tony got home, I laid in bed and took the serious pain killers that were prescribed to me after labor.

I'm still in quite a bit of pain today but at least I can change Malcolm's diaper and carry him down the stairs.

This most recent bought has proven that I really need to start taking care of myself. The only thing that has prevented the serious pain is regular weight-bearing exercise. I walk all the time, but that's just not cutting it. Now I'm on the hunt for a gym that provides daycare and isn't too far from home.

Sherry's arriving tomorrow and I can't clean the house. Lame. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I feel well enough to at least vacuum tomorrow.

Constant Mess

I spend a lot of my day picking up after Malcolm. Above is just a sample of the mess on the floor after a typical meal. It's a good thing that I don't mind cleaning so much. If I were working outside of the home, I'd likely hire someone to come in and clean every couple of weeks. It's seriously a full-time job taking care of the kid and the house and the house is rarely in the condition I would like it to be.

How I Have Missed Thee!

The issue with renewing my Flickr Pro account: trying to do it with Safari browser. Stupid incompatibility. Anyhoo, I finally did it using Firefox and I am very happy to see that all of the pictures I have uploaded over the past 3 years are still there. Sweet!

Family Times = Good Times

Make that great times! Our trip to Utah was fun as always. Malcolm loved playing with his cousins. Brenda came over every day and brought Jordan and Collin. When Hannah and Casey were over, Hannah did such a good job of watching/playing with Malcolm and made sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Utah gets pretty hot in the summer. Here's a little video of Jordan and Malcolm playing outside. To keep the porch cool, Jordan was spraying it with water while doing his best not to get Malcolm wet. Mal had other ideas.


Malcolm was constantly amused by Jordan. Here he is laughing his little butt off at Jordan playing with markers:


Here's a picture of half of the cousins (there are 12 total). Tony's step siblings' kids aren't in the picture.


Check out my Flickr page to see the rest of the pictures from our trip.

A week and a half after our return, Jenn, Piet and Cameron came up to Seattle for a long weekend. The boys had a lot of fun playing together (of course!) and we enjoyed hanging out with Jenn & Piet. Their trip was too short as always. I haven't put up the pictures to Flickr because I ran out of room :( I tried signing up for a paid account but it just wouldn't work for me. I'll give it a try again soon. Promise!

As Local As It Gets

I am seriously enjoying our little urban garden. We were a little late in planting things so pretty much the only things we've harvested are peas, lettuce, chard and collards. Our tomatoes have started to turn red which is so exciting to us. I had to thin out the chard and kale because it was too crowded. We also lost our pea plants for some reason.

Today, I thought to myself, "I need to eat some veggies for lunch" (we have minimal produce since I missed the Farmer's Market last week). So, I went out and cut enough collard greens for my meal. I didn't have to figure out what to do with a whole bunch; I could just get what I needed. Love it!

Utah Trip

We're off to Utah today to visit Tony's family. Believe it or not, I can pack all of the clothes including toiletries for the 3 of us in one suitcase (at least for summer weather).

I'm most nervous about keeping Mal entertained on the flight. Fortunately, there will be two of us for this trip. It should make traveling much easier.

A Favorite

Malcolm cracks us up a lot. He's a big goofball. Here's a picture of Tony & Mal taken at the beginning of August. I love it!

Malcolm's First Birthday Party

We threw Malcolm a birthday party on the 9th (what? yes I'm behind on posting this. at least I'm making the effort now!) Since he's one and we knew he wasn't going to remember it, we left it very casual. Our close friends came over as did his little playdate friends. Here's a shot of a good portion of the guests:

We cooked burgers on the bbq and hung out for a bit while the kids played. Here's a cute one of Rowan collecting balloons:

I made carrot cupcakes w/o refined sugar & eggs so all of the kids could eat them:

It wasn't until after the party that I put Malcolm in his booster seat and let him eat one unassisted. He enjoyed it muchly:

Everyone seemed to have a good time. First birthday party = success!

Stand up! Sit down.

Mal's already figured out how to stand up from a sitting position unassisted already. I posted pictures from his birthday party to Flickr. Gotta make this quick cause I need to get lunch on the table!

12-month letter

Hey Little Man!

You turned a year old lasts Thursday. The whole day I kept thinking back to the day you were born. This year has been amazing for both me and your dad and it's hard for us to remember what life was like before you came along.



This past month, you figured out how to walk without holding on to something to keep you upright. Now you are walking around while drinking out of your sippy cup. The other night, you had your worst walking accident. While carrying a balloon that was leftover from your birthday party, you fell and landed on your face which resulted in a bloody, swollen lip. Ow! I'm just relieved that you didn't also chip a tooth.



You love food and you love to eat. I am thankful for this but await the day when you start to protest food. I would have to say that your favorite food right now is cheese and whatever your daddy is eating (still). You are a sweet, gregarious, happy baby and every day me and your dad talk about how lucky we are to have you in our lives. We love witnessing you discover who you are and take joy in being a part of your life and are excited to see who you become. Having you has made us realize what is really important in our lives and brought us a serene happiness that we couldn't have understood without you.

I love you,
Mommy

Forgot to Note

One month ago (June 28th) was my 5-year blogiversary. I started this blog the day before I left Los Angeles. It's so hard for me to believe that I moved away 5 years ago.

Tomorrow is Cameron's birthday. He's going to be 4!

Malcolm's birthday is in a week. Next week is also the 5-year anniversary of when Tony & I met. Next week is also my dad's birthday.

I also moved to Seattle for the first time 10 years ago sometime in August I think. i don't remember the exact date.

Sorry for the lack of substance in the blog. I come up with beefy blog posts in my head, but they never seem to make it out. I need to figure out how to resolve this issue.

Everyone's Vacationing

I just put Malcolm down for a nap. When I came downstairs, I thought to myself, "I should call my mom/dad/sister" and then I remembered that they are all on vacation. Jenn & Mom are on a cruise together and Dad & Carolyn are in Pennsylvania at the annual family reunion. It made me a little sad.

Speaking of sleep, I started working on teaching Malcolm to fall asleep on his own a couple of weeks ago. When he learned how to crawl, our evening routine changed a bit. He started to cry when I would put him to sleep. I thought that maybe it was a phase, but 2 months later it was still happening. I figure if he's already crying while in my arms, I might as well see if he can fall asleep in his crib. The first night, there was lots of crying, but he fell asleep in his crib and only woke up once during the night. I thought that after 2 weeks, we'd be in a routine and he'd be accustomed to me putting him down in his crib to go to sleep. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Every night is different. Some nights, I put him down in his crib and he plays for 30 minutes and falls asleep. Other nights, I put him down and he fusses for an hour and a half. I stay with him in his room until he falls asleep, so the 1.5 hour nights pretty much use up my evening hours. Anyhoo, since we started doing this, he sleeps through the night. Sometimes he'll wake up after 8.5 hours of sleep but I can usually get him back to sleep for a couple more hours. Most nights he wakes up after 10.5/11 hours of sleep. I would have no complaints if this was the only change, but it's not. His naps are really wonky now and rarely does he take 2 naps a day. I never know what to expect. This would be no big deal except that it makes planning things difficult (like a little party for him for his birthday).

Malcolm turns 1 in 3 weeks. Craziness!

Walking Bug

We knew this day was coming, but it doesn't make it any less exciting when it happens!

Oh yeah!

And that news that I was referring to in a post at the end of May? My wonderful sister is now engaged to be married to Piet! He makes her very happy and treats her really well. I am very excited for both of them.

11-month letter

My darling Malcolm,

I sometimes think your Daddy and I procreated so we could have an excuse to laugh and play all the time. You love to laugh and play and explore and it's reminded us how much joy those things can bring into our lives. Sometimes grown-ups forget to laugh every day. It's really hard not to laugh with you around!

We had a very busy month of visiting with family and friends. You and I flew all the way across the country to Florida to visit your JoJo and PopPop. You also got to meet a lot of other family and friends. We first spent the weekend hanging out with friends in Tampa where you got to swim in a pool for the first time. You loved it! Here is your auntie Betsy eating your face:

We then drove down to Naples where we spent a week with JoJo and PopPop:

You went to the beach for the very first time, too:

On the day that we left, your Aunt Rachel brought over your cousins Aiden and Ally so you guys could play together:

The day before we flew home, we hung out with family in St. Pete:


Although our trip was a lot of fun, it was waay too long to be away from your Daddy. We both missed him a lot.

Shortly after our return, your Granpa and Nana arrived for a visit. We spent the days hanging out and taking care of house stuff. Before we knew it, it was time for them to head back home. They got you a cute outfit from their trip to Switzerland:


I missed writing you a letter last month because I got so busy getting ready for our trip. Now we're back home and we're getting settled into our routine again. You've sprouted a total of 4 teeth and enjoy grinding them. It makes my skin crawl to hear that noise. With a bit of prompting and guidance, you can now take a couple of steps on your own. I don't count it as walking yet, but I know that day will be coming soon. Your most recent word is 'row' which is something you say when we read the book, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or you say it when you want us to read the book to you. You actually say, 'row, row, row' and it's just the cutest thing. It also kinda sounds like you've started saying, 'mama', but that just might be wishful thinking.

Love,
Mommy

Back Home

Hi All! Malcolm and I made it back to Seattle from our trip to Florida. We got in late last night and now I'm trying to get the house ready for Dad & Carolyn's visit. I hope to write a much-delayed update soon, but my plate's pretty full for the next week. The PEPS group that I'm leading meets for the first time next Tuesday and there is much I need to do to prepare for that. Gotta run!

And then I said 'Ouch'

A couple of days ago, I was walking. I do that. And then, for some reason, I decided to kick a hard thing. It wasn't on purpose. We all do it. It hurt. It still does. It is quite likely that I broke my toe. See?

This picture does not do justice to the actual color of my toe. I noticed today that the bruising has extended to the top of my foot.

Wednesdays is Farmer's Market day. There was no way I was going to miss it this week since I didn't go last week. I taped my toes together and walked to the market. This was at the point where I thought I probably just stubbed my toe. It actually didn't start feeling worse until Wednesday night. I'm sure all of the walking didn't help. But, I scored some great stuff at the market, consignment store and used book store!

Mal's been sleeping much better the past couple of nights. His bottom left tooth has broken through the gums and he's drooling up a storm. We had a rough day yesterday because he refused to take his morning nap and then fought me a long time when I went to put him down for his afternoon nap. Fortunately, he has not repeated this behavior today.

One week until our trip to Florida! There is much we want to get done around the house this weekend since Dad & Carolyn will be arriving a couple of days after our return from our trip. We need to convert the office into the guest bedroom since Mal is sleeping in his room now and we'd have to take apart the crib in order to move it into our bedroom.

Another Step in Becoming a Domestic Goddess

In an effort to eat locally for longer than the growing season, I've decided to take up canning. On a whim, I bought a few extra pounds of asparagus at the Farmer's Market with the intentions of pickling it. It would have been wise of me to actually read up on how to can before I bought the asparagus. I knew I needed mason jars and lids, but a special rack to put in the pot? Huh? So anyways, I decided to work with what I had in my cupboards which meant putting the jars on their sides during the hot water bath because my largest pot was not tall enough. For those of you that have canned before, you probably know what happened. Out of the 4 jars, only one didn't leak brine. I'm thinking it's no big deal. However...

When I cook, I often eye measurements of dried ingredients. I read today that it's a big no-no when it comes to canning. You need to have the proper ratio of sugar/acid/etc to avoid botulism. Oops. It looks like we're going to be eating a lot of pickled asparagus in the next week.

Now I'm on the lookout for the proper equipment to do hot bath canning. I'm hoping to pick it up second-hand. I'm also going to pick up a book on food preservation because I also want to learn how to properly freeze greens & fruits so they last a long time. I'll freeze soup and occasionally fruit right now in a food storage container, but the fruit gets consumed pretty quickly. I'm looking to keep fruit in the freezer so I can enjoy plums in the middle of winter without feeling guilty that they've been transported from a far-away place.

Drainbrainnotfunction

I love my son. I do. But two nights of waking up ever 1.5 hours (and then some) is KILLING ME. The joys of teething. I gave him teething tablets all last night and they did nuffin. Baby Tylenol = nuffin. I know this will pass soon so I just need to whine about it for right now.

I asked Tony to get up with Malcolm at 7 this morning so I could get a little bit of sleep. Tony likes to give Mal a bottle of watered-down juice in the mornings. Since we were all out of juice, Tony gave him SODA. Granted, it was caffeine free, no HFCS stuff, but still! I really wanted to put off giving the kid junk food for several more years.

Happy June!

Wait? Is it really June already? Where did May go? Seriously!

Tony got a new job about a month ago and it's going well so far. He's working for a small publishing company doing web development and random IT stuff. He's in L.A. today for a business meeting - it was so odd not having him here last night.

Several months ago, I planned a trip to Florida and made it a long trip because it takes a day to fly there and a day to fly back. The plan was to have Tony come out for part of the time. It has become apparent that he won't be able to come out at all because (1) the cost of the plane ticket has doubled (that's conservative) since I bought my ticket, and (2) his boss is going to be out of town the whole time so he can't take any time off. Now I feel bad for taking such a long trip (11 days) because I hate to think of Tony and Malcolm being apart for so long :( What can you do?

Sleep is a precious, rare thing around here lately. Malcolm has another tooth coming in - his top right one. Isn't that odd? I thought his bottom left one would be next. We're going to have a little snaggled-tooth boy running around here! His teeth are slow to come in and wouldn't be obvious in photos yet. Once they are, I'll be sure to post some.

We think he's really close to walking. He's able to stand up w/o support for quite a long time and he can walk around with the support of just one hand. I've been meaning to take a little video but keep forgetting.

Speaking of videos, here's a couple of Malcolm & Screech "playing":


Screech is an incredibly tolerant kitty to say the least.

There is News!

But I'm not sure if it's OK to share it yet. It's not my news, but Jenn's news. If you are saying to yourself right now, "What news could Kris be talking about?" and you know my beautiful sister, then you need to get in touch with her. That's all I'm sayin'...for right now. To Jenn & Piet: I wouldn't mind paying a visit to Tallahassee in the future (hint, hint).

Last weekend, I had a training session for volunteer work that I will be doing with PEPS. Tony took care of Malcolm the whole time. Here is the feeding adventure:


Please note that this is not a normal occurrence. Malcolm does not get this messy when I feed him :p

Eliska Has Arrived!

Please give a warm welcome to Eliska Belle! She arrived into this world on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 9:10 PM weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 19 1/4 inches. After Julie's body showed no signs of being ready for labor, she was checked into the hospital on Saturday since her amniotic fluid was very low. They administered Picodin in the afternoon to help things along and it did it's job. She woke up to contractions around 1 AM and the epidural was administered around 11 AM. I was able to be there for the birth and it was amazing. I'm still pretty flabbergasted at the difference between a natural birth and labor with an epidural. The difference is pretty extreme! Julie did a fantastic job and pushed like a pro when it came time. Everyone is doing great except Eliska's having a hard time figuring out how to latch on to her mommy's boobie. I'm going to head down to the hospital to pay a visit after Mal wakes up from his nap.

I am very thankful to Tony for watching Malcolm for the 9 hours I was gone :)

Facts 5.11.08

In no particular order...

1. Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mom's Day!
2. Malcolm's first tooth sprouted this week. The bottom right was the first to appear.
3. Mal turned nine months old on 5.7.08
4. My cousin, Steve, had a birthday on 5.7
5. 5.7 was also the anniversary of my grandma's passing
6. My beautiful sister celebrated her birthday on 5.9
7. Malcolm now weighs 16 pounds, 10 ounces. He has moved up to the 5% curve from 3%
8. He is now 27 1/2 inches tall. I can now refer to it as his height instead of his length since he can stand up (with a little help).
9. My cousin, Colleen, celebrated her birthday on 5.1
10. Julie's estimated due date was 5.5.08. She's still pregnant and is not pleased about this.
11. My upper back hurts.

9-month letter

My Favorite Malcolm,

You've been out of my womb for as long as you were in it. The thing that amazes me most is how quickly you have changed in nine short months. I realize that this is something that I will be saying for pretty much all of your childhood, but it's true. Nine months ago, you were a tiny, little thing that was as helpless as could be. Today, you are crawling and creeping all over the house, exploring every nook and piece of dirt.

This month, you and I went down to San Diego to visit your Auntie Jenn and Cousin Cameron. We had a lot of fun with them; you were just fascinated by your big cousin. He would come over to you and say, "Baby Malcolm! Hug?" and would then lean into you so you could give him a hug. Being that you aren't really sure what a hug is and have little baby arms, you would reach out and grab onto the hair on his head. Cameron would sometimes say "Ow" in a little voice, but he didn't seem to mind that you were pulling his hair. He was also quite fond of holding you, but you weren't too sure about it. Your Auntie Jenn is, of course, enamored by you, but that is no surprise.

As your personality blossoms, the one trait that everyone comments on is how happy you are. I often hear, "He is such a happy baby!" When we are out in public, you smile and babble at anyone who will look at you. You just love to absorb every activity that is going on around you. Anyone that loves babies REALLY love you and you love the attention.

Your favorite things this month are bread, chasing Screech, playing in the kitties' water bowl and licking the faces of me and your Daddy (we like to think you are giving us kisses. Wet, slobbery kisses). Nine months is such a short period of time, but my life has been changed in ways that I never could have imagine in this brief period of time.

Love,
Mommy

Today's Firsts

It took him just a day to figure out how to crawl 'properly'. I have spent my afternoon chasing him around. I finally put him in his playpen so I could eat dinner (he wouldn't tolerate his high chair). While playing in his playpen, he actually made himself laugh. That's the first time I've ever heard him do that (he was throwing around a ball).

Julie & Jeremiah's house was broken into yesterday in the middle of the day while Julie was out shopping and Jeremiah was at work. Sunny's house was broken into about a month ago while she was at work. Robbery is so wrong.

Nose Eating

He likes to eat my nose, lick and suck on my face. It's very slobbery!

Almost Crawling

We took this movie last night. He's already improved his crawl technique today. He's going to be zooming around before we know it! I think I should go buy gates today or tomorrow.

Giggling

Malcolm laughs at Tony bouncing a ball

Trip to San Diego

Malcolm and I recently visited Jenn & Cameron in San Diego. Needless to say, it was so great spending time with them. Cameron grew up so much in the last year. He was so excited to see us and constantly said, "Auntie Kris and Baby Malcolm!" The cousins are fascinated with each other; I can't wait to see them grow up together. Why oh why does San Diego have to be so far away?

Here's a picture of Jenn, Cameron and Malcolm. Doesn't Mal look like a doll?


We went to the zoo on Sunday. Cameron insisted on pushing his little cousin in the stroller:


I love this picture of Cameron:


Mal loved riding around on Cameron's little plane. Jenn took this picture of me and Mal:


Cameron loved holding Malcolm (with help from Mom):


I miss them terribly.

Little Milestones

Mal's holding his own bottle consistently, lifting himself up to a standing position and then cruising around the table and he just figured out how to get himself into a sitting position from a laying position today. He's going to be crawling before we know it!

The Dreaded Thump

There are things that you never want to hear as a parent. One of them is a very loud THUMP which usually means your child has fallen hard onto something. This morning, as I was flushing Mal's diaper, there was a THUMP. I had placed Mal in his usual spot - the crib. I've always felt it was a safe place to put him when I wasn't in the room. (you know where this is going) I really didn't expect to have to worry about him getting out of his crib at 8 months because he hasn't figured out how to lift up his leg to climb things. Needless to say, I was very surprised to hear the THUMP and then find my poor baby laying face down on the floor, screaming his little head off. The trauma! He's fine - no blood, no broken bones, no concussion. I can only figure that he was reaching for something outside of his crib and he flipped over the side. Poor little guy! I feel like a bad mommy, but I know that these things happen. The mattress will be lowered today and if he's able to fall out after that, his nickname will be Houdini.

In less traumatic news, I turned 34 last Wednesday. Tony and I went out to dinner Wed. night to 22 Doors thanks to Mom & Paul (Christmas gift) while Manda babysat for us. Yesterday, Julie had a bbq at her new house so we could celebrate my birthday with friends. We had an unusual summer-like day in Seattle - it was very sunny and 77 degrees. Seriously! Julie and Jeremiah have a fabulous deck and yard - perfect for bbq's with friends. It was great fun to hang out with everyone.

Speaking of Julie, Mal and I spent Friday afternoon with her at the hospital. She was experiencing pain in her lower abdomen and back. Although it wasn't labor, the doc told her to go to the hospital so they could check it out. It was determined that she had a kidney stone. Poor thing! We went there to keep her company and make sure everything was OK. She's officially full-term tomorrow so we were all happy that nothing was wrong with the little one and that she hadn't gone into labor.

8-month letter

Little Squirt,

You turned 8 months old a few days ago and your adorableness increases by the minute. Currently, your favorite food is peas and you still like to make a mess when you eat. You are getting better and better at pulling yourself up to a standing position from a sitting position, but you have no idea how to get into a sitting position. You cannot wait until you can crawl or walk. I now have to keep all eyes on you all the time because you are lookin' to get into trouble!

Here you are, standing in your crib and looking pretty proud of yourself:


You love to make a mess when you eat, but you hate for me to clean you up. I try explaining to you that I wouldn't have to clean you up if you weren't so messy, but you haven't caught on yet:


Here's you, me and your Daddy at a party we went to at your uncle chris' house. You loved it when all of the pretty ladies held you because unlike me, they had long hair for you to pull on.


This month, you started sleeping in your own bed and seem to really like it. We occasionally have our rough nights and you are still waking up a few times each night, but we can definitely see an improvement in your sleep habits. Most nights, you do not want to go to bed because that would mean no more play time with Daddy. I would have to say your most favorite thing this month is playing with your Daddy. Your face lights up every time he comes into the room and it's the sweetest thing.

Love,
Mommy

Going to give it a shot...

I've been buying little things here and there for Mal like books and stuff. They are things that we could easily do without. I tend to be pretty frugal with spending as it is, so the challenge shouldn't be too difficult for me. I'm wondering if I could get Tony to join in...

How about you? Think you are up for the challenge to buy nothing (excluding food, medications and other essentials) for the month of April? Consider it a birthday present to me!

Sleep Deprived = Me

There were some really good nights at first which made me very hopeful. Lately, the squirt's been waking up frequently during the night and getting up too early in the mornings. Ah, the woes of being parents to a babe.

Our weather here has been funky! In the last week and a half, it has snowed, hailed, and thunderstormed. Right now, it's sunny and fifty-something degrees.

My 34th birthday is in a week. I suppose this means I will officially be in my mid-thirties. If you would have told me that I'd be a SAHM 10 years ago, I would have guffawed at you. Me? Children? Wha? Hee.

Speaking of children, sounds like the little guy just woke up from his far-too-short nap. Must run!

So Unpredictable

Thursday night: up every two hours and then up for the day around 6 AM. Ugh. Yes, I was sleep deprived yesterday.
Friday night: we met up with a few of the other PEPS families at a kid-friendly bar in Madrona (what? yes - you heard me right) for dinner and beer. They have toys and a play area in the place along with a wall of sippy cups behind the bar. Since we got home shortly before 8, I skipped giving Malcolm a bath. He didn't go to bed until 10 PM. The boy is set in his routine! He woke up around 10:45 and we were able to get him back to sleep pretty quickly. He woke up around 2:30 and then around 6. I brought him to bed with me at 6 because I wanted to avoid a repeat of Friday morning and it worked. He didn't wake up for the day until around 8:30.

Tonight is a dinner party at Chris' house so it will be another night out of his routine. I'm looking forward to hanging out with our friends - both Tony and I miss them a lot. I'm hoping that the little guy will fall asleep around his normal time (8pm) and that he'll sleep happily in his car seat until we get home.

I finally got around to filing our taxes and we actually get a refund this year which is nice. We're going to use a bit of it as 'fun money' but the majority of it is going into our savings account to replace the $$ we took out while Tony was out of work. The money that we'll be receiving in May from the government will be going back into the economy. We're going to do as this administration wishes and buy stuff with it. There is a long list of things for the house that we'd like including proper window treatments. We've been in this house for almost a year and a half and still have the temporary window treatments up on many of the windows. I hate it! It's going to be so nice to have quality window treatments; it's really going to help finish off the look of many of the rooms.

My book is calling out to me - I have to take advantage of Mal's naptime while I can!

Transition

After another episode of being awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night, we came to the conclusion that Malcolm may be ready to move out of the family bed and into his crib. I tried having him in his co-sleeper, but he never liked it. The sleep deprivation has been wearing on all of us and I just couldn't let it continue without trying something new.

So, last night, I put him to bed in his crib. I made up the hide-away bed in his room so I could be close by. I put him to bed at 8, he woke up around 9 - 9:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep until around 10:30 (this isn't uncommon), he woke up again a bit before midnight and I was able to get him back to sleep within 15 minutes and then he woke up again around 4. A 4 hour stretch of sleep for him is pretty good - especially when he wasn't sleeping next to me! I tried putting him back down in his crib for the next hour but then gave up around 5 and brought him to bed with me. It was during that time that I realized that I didn't dress him warm enough for sleeping by himself. We then slept until 8. The night went much better than expected. I was sure he'd be waking more frequently, but he didn't. Let's see how things go from here!

When Mal started the new pattern of staying awake for a period of time in the middle of the night, Tony and I talked about the need to move him to his crib. We were resistant because we both really like the practice of bed sharing. But, we always said that we'd move him to his crib when he was ready. In all honesty, we didn't expect him to be ready before we were.

Remember When?

When he was a few days old, Tony took this picture of Malcolm:

Here he is, 7 months later:

Our little guy is growing up!

Other Stuff

Malcolm started pulling my hair, so I got my hair cut:

I also had my 'permanent' earrings put back in because I always forgot to put in earrings. Plus, I only have one pair that Malcolm doesn't like to play with (play = pull). He hasn't tried to play with these yet, but it's only been a day. If he does, I'll be switching to posts.

Please Sleep Now

K? Thx. Bye.

Daylight Savings Time has not been kind to Malcolm's sleep schedule. He's been going to bed anywhere between 8pm and 12am. The past couple of nights, he's gone to bed between 8 and 9, but then will wake up sometime in the night and not go back to sleep for a couple of hours. This makes for a sleep deprived, very grumpy baby. I spend a good portion of my day attempting to help him get to sleep for a nap. In the past week or so, he's been resistant to naps. Who knows why!

Here's the typical day of this SAHM:

- We wake up between 7 and 8 AM and play in bed for a little while.
- We get up and and dress him.
- He then plays in his exersaucer while I get showered, dressed and make the bed.
- We head downstairs where he plays with toys on the floor while I make myself breakfast.
- If he didn't get a good night's sleep, I will then focus on trying to get him to nap. When he's tired, he wants to be held constantly.
- If he's not grumpy, I'll then make his breakfast.
- After he's eaten, he'll take his morning nap.
- Nap time = computer time for me. Nap time can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- When he wakes up, we play upstairs in his room. I will often do laundry at this time.
- Then he gets breakfast if he didn't eat before his nap.
- More play time!
- I make myself lunch.
- If he's showing signs of being tired, get him down for a nap. If he's not tired, it's lunch time and then nap.
- If he doesn't go down for an early afternoon nap (this is a new thing), we'll go for a long walk if the weather permits. He'll pretty much always nap this way. If it's raining or too cold, we'll run errands with the car instead. This will also promote a nap.
- Play!
- Make dinner.
- Tony gets home and spends a bit of time playing with Malcolm while I finish preparing dinner.
- We eat. Sometimes I'll feed Malcolm at this time if he doesn't eat lunch. This often doesn't work out - he doesn't eat very much in the evenings. I've read this is quite common with infants.
- Clean up dinner dishes while Tony & Malcolm play.
- Give Malcolm a bath and do bedtime ritual of bath, stories, quiet play, bottle. He used to fall right asleep after the bottle, but things have been wonky lately.
- Baby's in bed and Tony & I hang out, talk about our day, watch a movie/tv/play Guitar Hero.

The end.

7-month letter

Hey squeaker!

What a fun month this has been. You remember what has made it so fun? You now eat table foods every day AND you are sitting up like a pro. You have really taken to eating everything I feed you with a spoon. Sometimes, though, if I try to feed you when you are tired, you cry the whole time. It seems that eating is torture when you want to take a nap. You also tend to be much messier when you are sleepy.

Now that you are able to sit up, it's all you want to do. Before a few weeks ago, I could put you in your bouncy seat while I took a shower but now you contort your little body so the half of you that isn't strapped in is falling out. How unfortunate for me.

It's a good thing that you love hanging out in your exersaucer. It may be a pain to carry around the house (makes me wish we had two), but it allows me a bit of time to shower, cook, use the toilet, etc.

Your favorite things this month: making a clicking noise with your tongue, saying 'dadadada', bouncing in your exersaucer, the kitties, bananas, holding onto my fingers and pulling yourself up to a standing position, playing catch with your Daddy, the remote controls and getting tickled.
Your least favorite thing is when you are sitting and you fall over. The falling over part isn't the bad part. You haven't figured out how to get yourself into a sitting position yet and it frustrates you to no end. You also don't like spinach very much, but you'll still eat it.

Since you've been learning new things, your sleeping habits have been off. The change to daylight savings time hasn't helped one bit. Me and your Dad try to explain to you that you like to sleep a lot and you are much happier when you do, but you don't want to seem to listen. I've started doing interpretive dances to explain things to you and you seem to respond to it, even if it is with lots of laughing.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Blog

I think about you often. I do, I swear! I think about how I should update progress (or lack thereof) on my goals, talk about the baby shower for Julie & Jeremiah, post some of the pictures and movies of Mal, share stories about the get-together of longtime internet friends that we threw on Wednesday...you know, the usual babble. But, when I think, "I should post something!", I get taken away from my computer.

Right now I'm thinking about how I should be composing a 7-month letter to Malcolm and how I need to take a picture of him today with his Ugly Dolls. He's taking a much-needed, very long nap right now but could wake up any moment. Plus, I just got done writing a long post at tonyloveskris.com because I've recently got the idea in my head that I should upkeep two blogs again. We'll see how that goes.

And now my brain is telling me that I should really be using this time to write down my very long to-do list. This means that my brain is telling me that writing this is a Waste of Time even though my heart tells me differently. Ha. Silly heart.

pictures
movies

Clock watching

I hate this part of the morning. The part where I have to wait to eat and I'm really hungry. I have to take my thyroid medication on an empty stomach and then wait an hour to eat after I take it. I can have water, but that's it. I also have to wait 4 hours to take anything else like multivitamins and Tylenol. Even though I've been on this medication for 4 years now, I still hate this part.

What will happen if I do eat before the hour is up? I imagine that the medication won't work as well and I'll end up feeling like my veins are filled with cement instead of blood. Therefore, the most I'll risk is 10 minutes. I admit, sometimes I just can't wait the full hour and I'll eat food 50 minutes after taking the medication.

The clock is getting close to the magic hour so I'm going to go make some coffee and pour myself a bowl of cereal.

Applesauce

Who knew it was so easy to make? Not me until I made it today for Malcolm. He likes it, but makes funny faces when he eats it. I'm assuming it's a reaction to the tartness.

Co-sleeper update

Monday night, I put Malcolm to bed in his co-sleeper. He proceeded to wake up every half hour. The last time he woke up before I went to bed, Tony went up to settle him. Unfortunately, he's still having difficulty putting him back down and getting him to stay asleep. So, when I went to bed, Mal was put in the bed with me.

Tuesday night, I put Mal to bed in the co-sleeper again. This time, he only woke up once before I headed to bed. The next time he woke up, I was already in bed. I picked him up to settle him, but could not figure out how to put him back down in his co-sleeper while I was sitting on the bed and holding him while sitting up in bed was KILLING my back. So I put him down in bed with me again.

Tonight, he's in his co-sleeper again and I guess that I'll have to get out of bed when I put him back down. We'll see how long I can keep him out of our bed since, in all honesty, he's there because it's easiest for me.

Before this week, I'd settle him by nursing him. I've stopped that and he didn't seem to even notice which is a surprise to me. We're making progress and it's been at the right pace for all of us.

So...

Last Wednesday, I put Malcolm down in his co-sleeper when I put him to bed. That night, he woke up every 1.5 hours. That was an exhausting night. The next night, 2 of his diapers leaked for some unknown reason which meant he woke up twice crying to get into some dry clothes. The second time was around 1:30 AM. He didn't go back to sleep until around 3:30 / 4 AM. For some reason, Tony wanted to stay up with him even though he had to get up for work in the morning. We were both pretty exhausted on Friday. Fortunately, we haven't had any more incidences since then.

Friday night, Chris, Allison, Natalie and Cory came over to hang out. Yay, friend time! Chris brought over his PlayStation 2 to give to us along with Guitar Hero II and Rock of the 80's :D This is a fun thing since my computer's video card is too slow to run the Guitar Hero III game I bought and I can't upgrade since I have a laptop.

Thursday night, Amanda came over to babysit so Tony and I could go out on our first date since Mal was born. Since the restaurant we wanted to go to was only serving a fixed menu since it was Valentine's Day and it was not vegetarian friendly, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. Mmmm! I love Ethiopian food.

Introducing table foods to Mal has been fun. He now eats banana, oatmeal, avocado and yams. The process is slow at first since you can only introduce a new food every 4 days. I think I may introduce rice cereal next so he has some variety in his cereals. I'm a little concerned about making it, though. I don't have a food processor so I puree all of his food with a blender and I'm not sure if my blender can handle uncooked rice. It was suggested that I use a coffee grinder, but I fear coffee residue getting into his food. I know I could just buy commercial rice cereal, but it's incredibly processed and it's so much more expensive than making it myself. What to do, what to do...

The Eleventh Goal

The 11th goal: instilling better sleep routines with Malcolm. This has been the goal that I've been focusing on the most and have been experiencing moderate success. First part = putting Malcolm down for his naps in his playpen instead of his swing or rocker. I gave away the swing to take away that crutch and am able to put him down in his playpen about half the time. The thing is, he has to be completely asleep before I can put him down on a flat surface to where he won't wake up but can put him in his rocker as he's falling asleep. Sometimes, it's hard to tell when he's completely asleep. I feel good about getting him accustom to sleeping in his playpen.

We've been experimenting with the nighttime routine and have recently come to the conclusion that he sleeps much better when he has an evening bath. When I don't give him a bath, he is more likely to wake up about an hour after we put him to bed and not go back to sleep for 2-3 more hours.

Since he was born, we've been following Dr. Sears' theories on sleep. It's what has seemed natural to us from the start. Mal's not the perfect sleeper, but it's unreasonable for us to expect him to be. Honestly, we don't have a problem with his sleep habits; I just worry that he doesn't get enough sleep at night when he stays up until 10:30/11 pm at night. One of the babies in our PEPS group was waking up every two hours pretty much every night. If Mal was doing that, then we'd have a problem. We're still going to see if he'll take to the co-sleeper to see if he's ready to sleep on his own at night. If not, it's no big deal.

Malcolm vs. Screech

Don't worry - he keeps his claws in :)

6-month letter

My adorable Mal,

You turned half a year old yesterday - how exciting! We've spent a lot of this month holed up inside due to the cold, rainy weather. When the sun does come out, we go for walks around the neighborhood. Even though I bundle you up lots, you still seem to get cold.

We were introduced to your second illness this month: the stomach virus. I think we can all agree that it was no fun at all. Both me and your Daddy were so happy that you recovered quickly.

Your Granpa and Nana came for a visit - you loved the extra attention and never wanted to take your naps. You were pretty fascinated by the funny noises that Granpa makes. He invented lots of them when your Mom was growing up because they made me and your Aunt Jenn giggle a lot.

This past Wednesday, we went to the pediatrician's office for your well-baby visit and he gave the thumbs-up with your development. You are currently 13 pounds, 6.4 ounces and 25 3/4 inches tall. Your vocabulary is continuing to expand and you love sitting up even though you still need a little help. Table food is our newest adventure and so far you seem to really enjoy it which makes my job much easier.

Me and Daddy fall in love with you more and more each second; sometimes it feels like our hearts will burst!

Love,
Mommy

Malcolm's first food

Malcolm's first food
Originally uploaded by Snake in Seattle

The little guy turns 6 months old this week so we've started him on table food yesterday. I pureed banana with a bit of formula and he loved it. I made it a bit too liquid, so today I used half the amount of formula. And, of course, it's a big mess.

A Visit from the Tummy Bug

Baby tummies sure are cute and bugs are pretty neat, but Tummy Bugs are no fun at all.

After a very nice visit with Dad & Carolyn, Malcolm got right back to his nap & sleep schedule. Things were looking good. On Monday night, Mal was acting tired earlier than usual so we put him to bed about an hour before his usual bedtime. When he woke up about 45 minutes later, he wouldn't go back to sleep (this is a common occurrence that we're trying to resolve). I brought him back downstairs for Tony to walk him around in hopes of getting him back to sleep. Around 10 PM, Mal threw up all over himself and Tony. He then proceeded to throw up then dry heave every 30 to 45 minutes until 4:30 AM. It was a looooong night.

I call the pediatrician's office Tuesday morning to see what I should do. I was giving him Pedialyte every 15 minutes and the nurse told me to start feeding him small amounts if he was able to keep the clear liquid down for two hours. I started feeding him and things were looking good. He was starting to act like himself again. I thought we cleared the woods until he threw up again around 1 PM. Fortunately, he didn't continue to throw up. So I did the clear liquid for 2 hours and then started feeding him again. When I tried feeding him at 5:30, he was not interested and I knew we were in trouble again. Tony got home around 6 PM and gathered poor Mal into his arms. Guess what happened next...Mal threw up again all over himself and Tony. Ugh.

We waited several more hours this time to feed him again. We had a really hard time getting him to bed because he was pretty hungry. I fed him small amounts throughout the night and he was able to keep it down. When he woke up at 7 this morning, I probably nursed him longer than I should have in hopes of helping him get back to sleep. When he didn't fall back asleep, we got out of bed and came downstairs where he then threw up again. However, it was a lot less this time.

The tummy bug is no fun. There is lots of crying involved. He's either whimpering because he doesn't feel well or crying because he's hungry. Taking care of a sick babe is definitely one of the more difficult parts of parenting. When he whimpers, I hear him saying, "Mommy, why aren't you fixing the way I feel?" When your little ones are sick, all you can do is comfort them until it passes while it breaks your heart a little that you can't magically make them feel better right away.

Recipes

When I cook, I often use recipes more as guides rather than following them exactly except for the first time I make it. For the quiches, I use this recipe. Instead of a 9x9 pan, I use a pie dish. I've used fingerling potatoes, yellow potatoes, red potatoes and russet potatoes. Our favorite is the fingerling and least favorite is russet. I added the caramelized onions because it's good and I use whatever greens strike my fancy. It's definitely the best with fresh herb goat cheese from the farmer's market, but will use plain goat cheese crumble often because it's a third of the cost.

The basics of fried rice are similar in every fried rice recipe. I add in the vegetables that I have in the fridge and always use long grain brown rice because that is what we keep in the pantry and I always spice it to taste. I use VegWeb a lot for ideas and recipe basics. The recipes are all vegan, but I often use real eggs and real cheese when the recipes call for the substitutes.

Goal update

I know this goal stuff doesn't make for the most interesting reading and for that I do apologize. I'm writing these out for myself because if I do not keep track of my progress, I will likely forget about them.

I cooked some good food this week. Mmmmm. I made a delish quiche with caramelized onions, garlic, kale and goat cheese. I also made fried rice with snow peas, broccoli, yellow onion, garlic, pineapple, marinated tofu and green onions. When you make fried rice at home, it's so easy to keep it good and healthy.

My eleventh goal this year is to transition Mal from his current sleeping places into his crib. When he naps, he sleeps in his swing and at night, he sleeps in our bed next to me. Before Mal was born, we intended to have him sleep in a co-sleeper that is attached to the bed thinking that there wouldn't be enough room in the bed for all 3 of us. Once he was born, we found it no problem for him to fit in the bed with us. The family bed has worked out great so far, but now he's at an age where he could be sleeping for longer periods during the night and this is not happening. It's possible that he could sleep longer when he's in his own bed. Transitioning him to his own bed is going to take some work and some loss of sleep. I've started working on transitioning from his swing to his playpen or crib for his naps. The first step has been successful so far - I stopped turning on the swing so he gets used to sleeping in a still place. Unfortunately, when I put him in his playpen when he's pretty much asleep, his eyes pop wide open and I have a difficult time getting him back to sleep.

We'll be trying the methods mapped out in The No Cry Sleep Solution and The Baby Whisperer. The other parents in our new parents group are going through the same thing right now. We are often discussing sleep issues in our weekly meetings. Who would have thought that teaching a little one how to sleep could be so complicated!

Baby steps

No, Mal's not walking yet. He's not even close to crawling. I'm referring to myself taking baby steps when trying to meet my goals. It seems that it's all that I have time for.

Speaking of time, the little guy decided to wake up at 4:30 AM this morning. I tried getting him back to sleep for 45 minutes, but finally gave up and got up. I brought him downstairs to play in his playpen while I laid down. I moved him to his swing around 6:30 and he fell right to sleep. I sure do hope he doesn't outgrow the swing anytime soon!

My sciatica has been flaring up these past few days. This displeases me greatly since I no longer have the insurance coverage for chiro/acupuncture/massage. The other thing that really helps the sciatic pain? Exercise.

This is so stereotypical but I suppose it's a must. Another goal for 2008:

- Exercise regularly

My goals so far:

1. organize the garage
2. organize the office
3. give away the stuff we hold on to and never use
4. move around more (yoga, exercise, whatever!)
5. read more child development & discipline books
6. make a house cleaning schedule
7. start a new hobby
8. get back into cooking good food regularly
9. take more quality pictures
10. exercise regularly

I've done a little bit of the organizing of the garage and office, but still have lots to do (baby steps). I've given away one item and set aside some clothes to take down to Goodwill this week. The cooking part is hard because it really depends on Malcolm :) I've been taking some cute pictures but my camera battery died and I haven't gotten around to recharging it.

5-month letter

Sweet Malcolm,

It sure has been an exciting month! You took your first plane trip to Utah to visit family and you did so great on the plane. You charmed everyone in the family and confused the little ones but only because they would mix you up with your cousin, Collin. You and Collin didn't wrestle like I predicted but he did try rolling on to you every time we put you two on the floor together. Everyone joked that he wanted to eat you.

You loved all of the new faces and getting so much attention. On Christmas day, we found out that you will have 3 new cousins next year, so get the 'new baby' attention while you can!

Things have been a bit out of whack since returning to Utah. Mommy caught a cold on the plane and has been keeping you up with her coughing. Also, we kept you up late a few nights with holiday celebration which made you very grumpy. Now you have a cold and are having a hard time breathing out of your nose. I keep demonstrating to you how to blow the snot out of your nose, but you just can't seem to get the hang of it. When it gets really bad, I use a bulb suction thing to get the snot out for you which you HATE but you then appreciate the results.

You have gotten so strong this month - everyone who holds you takes notice. You are standing up while just holding on to Mommy's fingers and you've been practicing sitting up on your own. You have actually started to play with toys while laying on your tummy which is such a huge improvement from just a couple of months ago. You are still a squeaker and a fist-eater but now you've added in rolling your tongue around in your mouth. Sometimes, you do all 3 at the same time which amuses your parents greatly.

Have I mentioned how adorable you are lately? Do you need proof?


You are doing a great job growing, kid. Keep up the good work!

Love,
Mommy

*Hack*Hack*Hack*

This cough will be the death of me. I'm coughing so much that it has given me a headache. I didn't wake up as often last night, but did wake up too early this morning and also woke up Malcolm. I feel worse for keeping him up. He's taking a long nap right now and is having no problem sleeping through the current hacking.

The plan is to go snowboarding this weekend. I will only go if I am 100% better. We have been getting a good amount of snow in the mountains and I would LOVE to board this weekend, but cannot risk getting sick again and passing it on to Malcolm.

Our friend, Kait, gave birth to Kailyn Elise yesterday morning. Congratulations to Kait and her family! She was able to have a water birth at home with no complications. I wish I could go help her out, but they live in Minnesota.

Another goal: take more quality pictures!

And then we danced

I just can't shake this cold. Ugh. My voice occasionally makes an appearance and when it does, is quite deep.

Last night, we played Sandi's Wii = Dance, Dance Revolution and some bowling. The recent playing of group games has made me want a game console. Since I know I wouldn't get our money's worth from purchasing one, I will just invite us over to friends' houses more often. However, I found out that there is a version of Guitar Hero III for the Mac. So...it was ordered today thanks to Dad & Carolyn (Christmas present!) I bet they never would have thought to buy that for us for Christmas :) Hell, as of recently, I never would have asked for it.

I've been thinking about making some new year's resolutions, but have decided against making 'resolutions' and have decided to set some goals for myself:

- organize the garage
- organize the office
- give away the stuff we hold on to and never use
- move around more (yoga, exercise, whatever!)
- read more child development & discipline books
- make a house cleaning schedule
- start a new hobby
- get back into cooking good food regularly

That's a start! I will be making 12 goals - one for each month. Right now, I must go take care of Mal. He's starting to squawk as if he is bored with the current activity he is doing :)

Happy New Year!

A head cold caused me to be up earlier than I would prefer. Everyone else is still sleeping in bed but congestion would not allow me. I apparently caught a cold on our flight back and have been ill since Thursday. I am not used to illnesses lasting this long. It started with a sore throat and earache for a few days and then moved to my sinuses. I think today has been the worst for my throat but that is because I did something a little stupid last night - I sang the vocal part while playing Rock Band. The first song, my voice cracked many times which made my friends laugh. The second song, I sounded like a foghorn. By the end of the night, my voice was gone. I couldn't resist playing the game - I think it's terribly fun.

We went over to Jill and William's house for a small gathering last night and kept Malcolm out too late. We didn't stay until midnight, but it was pretty close. Our potluck party was a success and I have to admit that I'm glad that not everyone we invited showed up. Our house can only hold so many people! Today, we are going to a New Year's brunch at Sunny's and then a get-together at Sandi's house. It's been fun having Jayne here and I am very glad that she likes little ones and can tolerate a bit of crying from time to time.

Mal just woke up so I'm going to go get him and let Tony sleep for a bit longer :)

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has been enjoying their holidays. We've had a good amount of snow here and we would have had a white Christmas in Seattle if we had stayed home this year. Yep, it snowed there today. Little Mal didn't sleep very long last night and has been a cranky pants today. Poor guy :( He's 20 weeks old today.

It has been really nice hanging out with the family this week. Our vacation here has flown by - I can't believe we leave for Seattle in the morning. It really feels like we just got here. We're going to have fun when we get back. A long-time internet friend, Jayne, is flying in from Australia tomorrow night. She'll be hanging out in Seattle for about a week before she heads up to Whistler for snowboarding fun. We're going to be throwing a little holiday potluck on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the holidays with our friends. It should be fun!

Utah for the Holidays

We're in Utah visiting Tony's family for the holidays. Gosh it's cold here. There was a snowstorm last night that was pretty crazy. We've been having fun with the family - here's a picture of the two cousins that are 4 days apart:

Two quarters down...many more to go

Fall quarter is over without too much grief. Management of IT = done! Here's my review of the class: The instructor, Dr. Diane Lockwood, is very knowledgeable and experienced in the IT field. She assigned us very useful readings. However, the lectures were repetitive and a bit boring. A big part of our grade (30%) was participation in class discussion. Unfortunately, I personally didn't find many of the lectures interesting enough to provoke discussion. The structure of the lectures was pretty much the same for every class. I also didn't like that we didn't receive grades on anything until the end of the class. I did like it when she mixed it up and brought in a guest speaker. Overall, I did gain some good knowledge from the class that will be useful in my career.

I got a B+ on my final and a B+ on the group presentation. I'm expecting a B overall in the class. Of course I would have liked an A, but I wasn't inspired enough to try and force myself to find things to discuss in the class. I was a little surprised that I got a B+ on the case part of my final (I thought it was A work) but am pleased with the grade because I wasn't that confident in the answers I gave to the questions part of the final.

The group presentation is always more of a challenge because your grade depends on the quality of work that each group member puts forth. I felt like everyone put forth a really good effort, but you could tell that we had different presentation styles. When we actually presented, I gave the introduction and the conclusion. Unfortunately, some other members talked too much during their sections and we were pretty much out of time when it was time for me to give the conclusion. Oh well...it happens. It's done and I'm happy that we got a B+.

I'm taking Business Statistics next quarter. I was also going to take Legal & Regulatory Environment, but decided against it because I've been told that it's a ton of reading. I know plenty of people who have struggled with Statistics and I feared overwhelming myself. Although I do have some time during the day to do schoolwork, I never know how much time I'll have.

Little one just woke up from the phone ringing. I'm going to go with Julie & Jeremiah to Babies R Us to help them register. They found out this week that they are going to have a little girl!

4-month letter

My little Mal,

Your Daddy got a job this month so now it's just you and me hanging out during the days. When your Daddy gets home from work, you are so excited to see him. Sometimes, though, you don't take an afternoon nap so when he gets home, he finds himself coaxing you to sleep while I cook dinner.

You improved very quickly with controlling your arms and hands and like to grab things constantly. It's fun because now you can entertain yourself with toys. It seems that you have inherited the talkative gene from your Daddy. This past month, you figured out how to squeal so loudly that people react by covering their ears. You sure do enjoy using your voice! Your sounds have expanded to the cutest coos that make my heart melt.

Now that you are getting stronger, tummy time isn't so bad. I expect you and Collin to be wrestling when we go visit family next week. Everyone is very excited to meet you.

Can we talk about the drool? It's getting a little out of hand. I have to change your bib 2 to 3 times a day - what's it going to be like when you start teething? Now it's your job to figure out how to start swallowing your spit 'cause your Momma is tired of her shirts being wet all the time.

Love,
Mommy

Soup Swap = Delish

Last night, I attended my first Soup Swap and I sure do hope it's not my last. I just finished a bowl of Great Northern Bean & Kale soup and it was very yummy. I love soup! Since my crock pot is only 3 quarts, I made 2 different kinds of soup: Black Bean and Lentil. I should have made 2 batches of Black Bean because I think there were 4 lentil soups there. It was a vegetarian swap, too. I scored the previously mentioned Bean & Kale soup, a spicy tomato soup, a bean extravaganza soup, french onion soup, miso soup and a bean & barley soup.

A spare moment for a quick update

Mal's appointment with his new pediatrician went great. He has no concern with Mal's weight because it's consistently on the same curve. He said that the little guy is exactly where he needs to be in regards to his development and remarked on how strong and vocal he is. Good things! He's currently 11 pounds, 13.6 ounces and 24 1/2 inches tall. I really like his new doctor. He actually took time to explain the vaccines to me and why each one might have side effects.

The company I've been doing the contract work for wants me to do even more stuff for them on a longer-term basis. Horray! Unfortunately, I can't work as many hours as they would like, so I hope it works out. It helps when you have friends in high places.

The Loss of Kitty Companions

I have had two dear friends lose feline companions recently - one to an automobile and another to cancer. My heart hurts for them both. When you have an animal companion in your life for a period of time, you become quite attached to him or her and many people consider their animals a part of their family and most of those people would tell you that they love their pets.

So when your pet dies, it hurts a lot. A big piece of your life is gone.

Both of our kittums are getting up in age and I worry about their health. Fortunately, the vet says they are both quite healthy for their age (both are around 12 years old). I hope they are around for many more years.

Whew!

I've been reluctant to post anything until it was finalized: Tony got a job! Here's the story: he had a phone interview and in-person interview for a Quality Assurance Analyst position at Classmates.com before the Thanksgiving holiday. That Wednesday, they told him they would be offering him the job and sending him the official offer on Monday. Our friends, Cathy and Eric, both work at the company and worked hard at getting him the interview and had a big influence on the hiring manager's decision. Tony hasn't done QA in about 7 years, so his experience is rusty.

He also had a phone interview the Wednesday before the holiday with a small, Microsoft-owned company doing PHP & MySQL Web Development which is what he's been going for this whole time. The phone interview went better than he expected because he honestly didn't believe he was fully qualified for the position. His face-to-face interview with the company was this past Monday. He was upfront with them from the beginning regarding the job offer with Classmates. The interview went really well and they presented him with a job offer on Tuesday morning.

Imagine that - after 3.5 months of job hunting, he gets two job offers. He accepted the Web Development job and started on Friday. The compensation is what he was looking for and the location is just a 15 minute bus ride from our house so we won't need to get a second car. The Classmates job was south of the city and would have been an hour and a half bus ride each way. His first day went really well; he's very excited about the work environment and says that all of the people that work there seem to work together well.

We can now breathe a sigh of relief.

My final was more challenging than expected, but it's done. Malcolm is doing really great - I haven't been taking as many pictures lately. Shame on me! He has his 4-month well-baby appointment next Wednesday. I'm anxious to see how his weight gain has been. He's still a lanky tike, but he does have more pudge and is definitely growing in length.

We might get snow in the city this weekend and the local ski resorts have started opening. It's killing me a bit because I am DYING to go snowboarding but have no clue how to do so while breastfeeding.