March 29, 2007

Drooly Teeth Monster

That is what Sam has been the past few days. He is getting tooth number 7, on the top, and it is one of the worse ones. Some just don't seem to bother him as much, but this is definitely one of the tough ones so far. I can't wait for molars.... He has been drooling a ton and generally fussy. I'm sure this is also the cause of the bizarre schedule on Sunday night. Lucky for us, Tuesday night he went to bed at 10:15 and woke up once at like 1:00 or so for a bottle (we were still up), then slept until 10:15 the next morning! Hallelujah! Last night he did sort of the same, down around 10:30 and I got up with him at 10:30 this morning. He did wake up last night around 1:30 or so, then again around 5:30. When woke up at 5:30 Justin and I were so tired that we decided to just let him cry and see what happened. He cried for about 15 minutes then was back to sleep. Yay!

I am hoping this tooth will come through and start bothering him a little bit less before next week. We have a big couple of weeks ahead of us! Mom is coming down this weekend for some kind of conference in Tacoma, then she's going to come over here on Saturday night. Next week is her spring break, so she is going to take Sam back up to Bellingham with her for a couple of days so we can have a couple of days of freedom. Woo! I almost don't know what I'll do! We have really great family, it is so wonderful to have people who love him so much that they want him to come visit and love us so much they want to give us a little break! We'll see if they still want to do it later when there's more than one.

Speaking of which, we have officially started trying for baby #2. I had a doctor appointment last week to discuss a couple of things. We aren't sure exactly how it will go since we had so much trouble last time, hopefully it won't take 2 years this time around! We'll actually make the transition to fertility doctors much earlier this time if things aren't working on their own since we know sort of what the deal is.

Anyhow, since Sam will be in Bellingham next week, we'll probably come up there to get him and stay over for a couple of nights. I'd like to see Rob and Susan and Maggie again, visit with Leela, and maybe see Esme and Ty. Plus we definitely want to get out to visit Justin's Dad while we're up there, we don't really see him enough. Maybe while I am there I'll also get to meet Jeff, Leela's boyfriend, and Mom's new boyfriend! They both seem to be very nice from what I've heard and I'm looking forward to meeting both of them.

On Monday we went to Best Buy and used up the rest of our store credit. We got a big TV for the bedroom that you can actually see from the bed - okay, it's bigger than TOTALLY necessary, but whatever. We also bought a DVD player since our old tiny TV had a built in DVD player. We don't use it as much now that we have more than 2 rooms in our house, but it's nice for when people are staying on the sofa bed downstairs, or for sometimes when Justin is up working late and wants the noise, or for if we get sick. We also got an XBox 360! It is pretty cool. I have been getting more into video games since we started playing RibbitKing on the Gamecube and I've actually gotten pretty good at it. So, I am sort of obsessed with Viva Pinata. That was my choice of games - Justin got a couple of other ones including a racing game and a couple of other things. I have played this game for hours already. It's the kind of thing where I can literally sit down and play it for two or more hours at a time and have to force myself to stop. Plus it's really cute, and all the animals have funny names like Fudgehog (Hedgehog) and Sparrowmint and Raisant and Syrupent. We also played the demo of Lego Star Wars, which was pretty fun, so I might see if we can borrow that one from the Bergman's or something.

Well, that is about all that's going on here. I should really get to sleep so I'm not too sleepy tomorrow. I might go to the mall or toy store to shop for Lorelai's birthday, plus Brooke, Seamus, and Lorelai are coming over tomorrow while Justin and Dave go to the Tragically Hip concert. If it's nice out, we might walk down and feed the ducks and play on the playground for a while.

Oh, also, I have been totally dawdling on getting up pictures from when Susan, Rob, and Maggie visited, plus random pictures from after that. I will do it soon!

March 26, 2007

Sam and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Night

In case you aren't aware, I'm not THAT cynical - my title for this blog is actually from a book title (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). However, we DID have an interesting night which I would not classify as 'good'. Why? I don't know, but this was Sam's schedule for the last 24 hours:

Sunday 9:40 pm: Sam goes to bed at his normal time. Seemingly, all is well!

11:00 pm: Sam wakes up. We give him a bottle. He's been waking up at night sometimes, and he went back to sleep after drinking the bottle, like normal, although it was early for him to wake up.

12:30 am: I attempt to go to bed, and am just reaching full, satisfying, restful sleep state when...

1:30 am: Sam is up again, screaming and crying! I am roused and give him a bottle while Justin continues to work. Sam is sort of sleepy/drifting. Justin tries rocking him.

2:00 am: We decide to put Sam back into bed and try to let him cry to sleep, which usually would work.

2:30 am: Sam is still crying and screaming bloody murder, and it is obvious that he can keep it up. We get him out of his crib. He is awake. He is fine. We take him downstairs.

2:30 am - 5:20 am: Yes, that's right! We were AWAKE with Sam for three hours in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! What the heck?? He just crawled around the basement and played and seemed to be having a grand time. We feed him some oatmeal and another bottle.

5:20 am: We just can't take it anymore. We take Sam upstairs and put him back in his crib. He CRIES for 12 minutes, then finally goes to sleep. When I tell Justin he was only crying for 12 minutes, he doesn't really believe me. At one point, my tiredness and motherliness almost makes me cry listening to him wailing.

8:30 am: Wow, three WHOLE hours of sleep. Sam is up again. I give him a bottle. He sleeps in our bed next to me after he finishes.

9:15 am: Sam is up for the day at his normal time! Despite the fact that he slept for only half of his normal time, if that, he is up and ready to play! I climb out of bed like a zombie and feed him some breakfast and then we go to the basement and I watch a couple of TV shows while he plays, then put on Dora the Explorer, which he seems to like. When I got out of bed Justin wanted to sleep until 10, but I figure there is no point in both of us being up and dead tired, so I let him sleep.

12:30 pm: I finally give in and go wake up Justin because I want a nap. He takes Sam. I attempt to fall asleep.

1:45 pm: Sam finally goes down for a nap. At his normal nap time. No sign of him being more tired than usual. He sleeps for 1.5 hours. Just like normal!

3:15 pm: I am awakened by Justin and Sam. Unfortunately I had some kind of issue falling asleep and only slept for a bit over an hour. Grr...

4:10 pm: I decide if I take Sam in the car he will fall asleep. I think he needs sleep, and I want to get out of the house. I decide to just take a drive and hang out in the car driving and listening to the radio.

4:15 pm: Sam falls asleep in the car. He sleeps for an hour until we get to the store and spend an hour there. We drive home and continue our normal day.

9:30 pm: We start "Quiet Time" when we turn off the lights and start calming down for bed. Sam gets his oatmeal and gradually drinks a bottle. I decide to let Sam stay up for a while because I would rather he be really ready to go to bed so he sleeps tonight (fingers crossed).

10:15 pm: We put Sam down for bed. It's been an hour and fifteen minutes, and so far, so good. He only cried for about 2 minutes when he went down. I am going to bed now. Sweet, sweet bed....

March 23, 2007

Has it really been almost 11 months?

I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated! I've been meaning to do it and next thing I knew, it had been over a week! Crazy.

Things here are pretty good! My big exciting news is that I finally got a laptop! I am very excited about it. I have been wanting one for a while, but since I don't really NEED one, it wasn't something that we would spend the money on. Well, long story short, we had a lot of trouble with Justin's old laptop and aservice plan at Best Buy that resulted in them having his computer for over 2 months, him buying a new one somewhere else, and us ending up with an enormous store credit. So, we decided that I could finally get a laptop, and Justin got a couple of other computer things that I don't understand. Anyway, I am sitting here now typing this on my new laptop and watching 'Jericho' from a couple of weeks ago and SAm and Justin are upstairs napping. TGIF? Haha. I am really looking forward to working more on my writing again, I've been getting more back into it lately, which is one of the reasons I wanted a laptop. It also means I can work downstairs on e-mail and stuff, which is nice. I'm also excited because I'll be able to take it with me on my trip to California next month.

Sam is still doing well! He had a pretty hard time with the last tooth he cut, but it seems to be getting better. There hasn't been many other developments around here! I finally got out the bins of 9 month clothes and 12 month clothes. Justin pointed out that some of the clothes in his dresser were too small and when I went through it I emptied out about 1/2 of his clothes! So, I'm in the process of getting his new stuff in there in between loads of laundry, meals, and dishes.

Last Monday Rob, Susan & Maggie were down in Seattle for some doctor appointments at Children's Hospital and came over here afterwards to hang out with us. Courtney and Elena came over too, and we ate Thai food and stared at each other's babies. Maggie is so cute! I can't believe how big she is! She and Sam weigh about the same amount, but Maggie is more of a little chubster. She has this VERY cute laugh when she gets really happy. She is just so adorable, and I really enjoyed the little moments I got to share with her playing with her and just looking at each other. I am obviously much older and we won't have the same kind of relationship I have with Kira, but I really want to make sure we are close as she grows up. It was much too long between visits this time, almost 3 months, and I would like to see the three of them more often! I got some really cute pictures, I'll post them online soon!

Not much else has been happening around here. After next week we're in for a busy month. Lorelai's birthday is April 1, so we'll be going to her 5th birthday party the day before that. The first week of April is Mom's spring break and she wants to take Sam for a few days. It will be a welcome little break for us, and fun Grandma time for Sam up in Bellingham. The week after that I leave on Thursday for my trip to California with Brooke and we'll be gone from the 12th to the 16th. We are really looking forward to a real vacation in sunny California! Then sometime after I get back Justin is going to have to go to the Philippines again for work, probably for 2 weeks. Then we'll be into May and Sam will be turning ONE! Can you believe it? I can't!

Well, I think that's all for now. I will write more soon!

March 13, 2007

My Amazing Baby

He really is amazing, you know. I know that all Moms think that about their babies, so that's why it's okay to say it. Everyone's baby is amazing to them! Sometimes to other people too, but most often to their parents.

Sam is getting so big! I just can't believe how much he's grown and how much he has learned, and how much new stuff happens every day. I think that for the rest of my life, I will be in a constant state of amazement. Amazement that I actually have a child, for one. I still look at him all the time and can't believe that I'm a mom! Amazement at how beautiful and perfect he is. Amazement at all of the things he learns and does. It's just crazy, all of it.

Sam hit a big milestone on Sunday. Justin and I have been talking about going to church for a while. It used to be a bigger part of Justin's life, and it's not something that we've done together much in the past, but now that we have Sam we both have ideas about how we want to raise him spiritually, and going to regular church services and forming a community of spiritual people has something to do with that. I've been to Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church several times with Brooke & Dave, who have been going there for around 5 years. One reason we decided to try it out is because they have really good kids programs there. The first nice surprise was that it took us under 25 minutes to get there, which was great! I didn't know it would be so easy, but traffic is non-existant on Sunday mornings at 9:30! We both really enjoyed the service, and met some nice people already! But, the big milestone I'm talking about was for Sam. When we got there around 10:05 we took Sam to the nursery, dropped him off, and left him until about 11:20 when the service was over and we went to pick him up. It was his first time in any kind of nursery/day care environment, with adults and children that he didn't know. He didn't cry when we left, and when we got back to pick him up, he was being rocked by one of the volunteers and falling asleep in her lap! It made me feel so good about everything - about having him around so many people and trying to encourage him to be comfortable and safe with the people we introduce him to. Justin and I have been talking about joining a local gym, which would also require him to go into the daycare at the gym, and I feel a lot better about it now. It's funny, it was a little bit of an emotional experience even though it was only an hour and I was right there. But it made me feel great and confident that we're doing a good job and he is doing well too!

Yesterday Sam learned how to drink out of a straw! He is having some trouble with sippy cups because he understands the sucking part, and he is starting to understand that in order to get the liquid out, he has to tip the cup. But he doesn't really understand tipping the cup without tipping his head at the same time, and usually looks like he is going to be pulled by his giant head and topple over backwards. So, I thought I would try the cups with straws since that's what Seamus and Lorelai have always used, and the doctor said he is old enough to learn. The first time we tried it I thought he wasn't ready - he just wanted to chew it and tip the cup. But then he got it! He looks so cute when he drinks with his little lips puckered up on the straw. So, we are using that so he can have some juice when he eats, and I'm going to start offering him formula in it. My goal is that when he starts drinking cows milk he will just drink it from a cup and we'll phase out the bottles at that point. As it is, he mostly has bottles before his naps and bedtime, so that will make the transition easier. He doesn't seem particularly attached to his bottle, but we'll see when we try to take it away!

I have found that one thing about being a mom is that you look for milestones and signs that your baby is learning, and often you think they are starting to do something. Like, "Oh I think he is starting to learn how to smile on purpose". But then, one day, sometimes several days or weeks after you think this thing happened, your baby ACTUALLY does the thing, like smiles for real. And you look at them and think, "OH! I see! He's really doing it now!". I started experiencing this during pregnancy - I believe this is where the phrase "When you're really in labor, you'll know it" comes from.

My most recent experience with the phenomenon had to do with what people now call "cruising". Cruising is when babies walk around a room by holding on to whatever they can get their hands on - walking along the side of couches, toys, coffee tables and shelves. We're now in the "He's really doing it!" phase. He walks all around our downstairs, around his kiddie table, back and forth along the wall and mirror I mounted for him, around the couch. He's now confident and interested enough to walk along with you if you grab both of his hands, and can use the walker we got him to take some steps.

He's also getting more confident with standing on his own without holding on to anything. He can stand on his own for several seconds now. I know it doesn't sound like a long time, but when you're sitting there watching him do it, it's pretty cool. He's starting to learn how to balance - when he's standing on his own and starts to topple, he can catch himself a little bit and sometimes right himself to standing for a few more seconds. It's so amazing to watch him learn all of this! If I had to guess, I'd say he'll take his first steps sometime before his first birthday!

I just can't believe it's been almost a year already - Sam is going to be 1 in less than two months! I'm starting to think about birthday parties and stuff, we'll probably do a joint thing for Justin and Sam since they're so close together and Sam's only turning one and won't know what's going on anyhow. He'll just be happy if he gets some ice cream.

Well, Sam has been asleep for quite a while and I want to get in a shower before he wakes up so we can take a trip out to the grocery store, so I better go.

Oh, also, NEW PICTURES! I just posted a ton of pictures from Seamus's 3rd Birthday party and from Brooke's Birthday on Sunday. Check them out for some totally cute pictures of Sam enjoying Birthday Cake and Cheerios! There are a few pictures in the ones from Shea's birthday of Sam and Rebecca hanging out - does this count as his first date? :-) Also, I'm not sure if I posted this before, but in the pictures from our play date a couple weeks ago there are some good pictures of Sam's play area in our basement so people can see where Sam plays and spends a lot of time.

I will be back again soon with more updates!

March 1, 2007

Happy Spring... oh... wait...

Holy cow! Has it really been 2 weeks since I updated? Sorry about that, things have been a little bit busy around here and I let it fall behind again. Isn't it funny that I actually ended up updating more when Justin was out of town?

So, I would expect that on the first day of March, it might be sunny, and it is. Clear blue skies and lots of sun today. I would not, however, expect that what the sun is doing is working on melting the 5+ inches of SNOW accumulated in my yard from yesterday and last night! I couldn't believe it yesterday morning when Mom woke me up (why she was here on a Wednesday morning is a whole other story...) and told me it was snowing. It continued for a few hours, let up, then started up again and really started piling up in the evening. Crazy. Maybe later today I'll take Sam out in his snowsuit to experience his first snow... we'll see.

Things have been pretty good around here. Well, other than the sickness! So, Justin got back from the Philippines on February 16 - the original date he was supposed to come back! It was really a great surprise for me that he didn't have to stay longer - I was missing him, and having Sam get sick while he was gone was a real challenge. Unfortunately he still had a lot of work to do when he got back - the good news was that the investors liked the demo of their new software, but they also wanted it on a tight deadline, so he's been working really hard to get it done. Despite the pressures of his work, I have managed to get out of the house a few times and am now fully recovered from my cabin-fever of being alone for 2 weeks.

The week after Justin got back I suddenly realized that if Sam goes to bed at 9 or 9:30 I can actually leave the house AFTER he falls asleep. I went and got coffee and read, then went to a movie one night. It was relaxing, and worth the me-time despite the fact that I didn't get home until after midnight and felt a little sleepy the next day. Who am I kidding, I am tired half the time anyhow, but it's not enough to stop me from my regular activities! On the 22nd I had my monthly Girls Night Out. It ended up just being me, Tara, and Courtney this time, so we just went to a restaurant in Redmond and had dinner and some drinks. It was a really good time, and we were all glad to get out of the house!

Last weekend Mom came down on Friday and on Saturday Justin and I went to Gryphon's fifth birthday party down near Tacoma. It was fun to see the family, and we got to see some really adorable 10 day old kittens that Stormy's Mom had with her. One of the cats in her current litter was a totally white little Pixie Bob! It's very rare because it's a recessive gene and both parents have to have it. We have been thinking about getting another kitten, and if she has another white one in the next litter and no one else wants it, she said we could get it. So, we may have another little cat soon! We'll see.

Sunday we had people over to watch the Oscars, and Brie and Kyle madeit up from Olympia with Ginny and Roman! They are real cuties. Roman is still skinny, but Ginny is starting to get little round cheeks and a little baby chin. Sam was somewhat fascinated by them. I can't wait until they are all old enough to play together and interact more! It was really great to see them since we don't get to that often. I think I'll try to head down there for a visit sometime in the near future.

~Okay, I wrote the above on the 1st, but I had to go get ready for people to come over, and I'm just getting back to it now!~

Unfortunately, right after people left on Sunday, Mom said her stomach didn't feel good. And it progressed into the same thing Justin had last weekend, only maybe not quite as bad. Mom did not feel good at all, and ended up bedridden for Tuesday and Wednesday. I was glad that at least she got sick before she drove home so she could lounge around on our couch and have people to bring her pretzels, Coke, and Gatorade!

This week has gone by fast! On Tuesday night I went out in the evening and Justin stayed home with Sam. I went and finished my book for book club, and then went and saw "Breach", which was very good. Yesterday Brooke, Dave, Lorelai, Seamus, Courtney and Elaina came over, and we all played and had a good time. Elaina is finally coming out of her shell and was fully involved in playing, payed lots of attention to Sam, and had a good time with Justin. It was really great!

I'm getting ready to dowload all of the recent pictures from the camera and upload more pictures to Flickr, so check there for new pictures!

Tomorrow Seamus is turning THREE! I can't believe how big he is. And only another month until Lorelai turns five. Crazy. We will be hanging out at the Whalen-Robinson's tomorrow for Seamus's birthday party, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Sam is doing great. I added a mirror on the wall in his play area, and we got the DVD cases baby-proofed using plexiglass, and added a cord cover to cover up the cords between the TV and computer in the basement. His play area is pretty cool - I took some pictures so I'l put those up on Flickr too. He is crawling like crazy and starting to be a little more confident about standing up. He walks a little side to side while holding the furniture, but doesn't seem that interested in standing or taking steps on his own. I think we've probably got another month or two to go before he takes his first real steps.

That is about all for now! I will get back again soon and write more!