This is Eric, on the floor at the Louvre, when he was about as old as Sam in my last post. His ears stick out more and his hair is darker, but other than that, I think they look a lot alike!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Picasa, Part 2
This is Eric, on the floor at the Louvre, when he was about as old as Sam in my last post. His ears stick out more and his hair is darker, but other than that, I think they look a lot alike!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Playing with Picasa
Well, I just down loaded Picasa, which is Google's free picture organizer. And I'm just playing around with it to see if I like it. I haven't found a good picture organizer, and we just got a new computer at home. Picasa has a button that says, "Blog This" so I clicked it. And this post is the result. I can't belive how easy it is! Now I can start adding pictures to my posts and posts won't seem so overwhelming! Now if I can only catch up. By the way, this picture is of Sam when he was 6 weeks old. It's amazing how much Sam and Eric look like each other. I'll have to add a picture of Eric too.Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Life and More Sleepless Nights
As you can probably tell from my posts, my number one obsession is getting a good night's sleep--which hasn't happened for a very long time.
A few weeks ago, Sam caught a virus, had a fever, etc. He woke up from a nap and refused to talk to Ivan's mother. He just looked at her. She got scared and called 911. They took him to the emergency room and called it a seizure. Was it a seizure? We'll never know. His best buddy who he had played with for a few days in a row did the same thing to his mom, but we didn't find this out until later. Anyway, that was on a Wednesday. They kept him in the hospital overnight and did all sorts of tests. He was annoyed with everyone poking him, sticking him, etc., but he thinks that the fact that he got to ride in an ambulance is really cool. Even cooler, to him, was his IV (or IB, since he can't say his 'v's.) He still has the tape on and absolutely refuses to take it off. I'm thinking about sneaking in one night and loosening it so it falls off when he wakes up in the morning. I was really glad that Ivan's parents could take care of Eric and that Ivan was home to stay the night with Sam in the hospital.
The next Sunday, Ivan left for Spain for 3 weeks. So we resumed our painting projects. A friend of ours has been painting our house and it's so exciting, even though we feel pretty displaced. One night last week, I put the kids to bed and then began practicing the piano accompaniment for our choir for branch conference last Sunday. I said a prayer and made a deal with God ... "since I'm staying up late (for me) to practice this, please help my kids to sleep soundly so that I can get a good night's sleep." (Especially when Ivan is gone, it's hard because I can't ask him to get up with the kids.) I think God has a sense of humor, because this is how my night went:
10:30-I went to bed
12:30 - 12:50 - Fed Eric
1:15 - Sam woke up, crying that he wanted his music on (this is unusual, as he's been a pretty good sleeper lately). I turned on the music and went back to bed.
2:00 - Sam woke up saying that he was "bery" hungry, so I got him some yogurt.
2:15 - Sam slowly eats his yogurt and then starts choking, because he has been sick, so I get him some chicken and a corn muffin.
2:15 - 3:00 - Sam nibbles on his corn muffin while I get more and more impatient.
3:00 - Sam starts yelling and Eric wakes up.
3:10 - I feed Eric
3:30 - I go back and put Sam to bed. He cries that he's hungry. I feel like a bad mom, but then realize that if he was really hungry, he wouldn't be taking tiny bites.
4:00 - Sam is still crying in his crib, so I get out of bed to write emails, since I can't sleep anyway.
4:30 - Sam is asleep, I'm done with my emails, and I go back to bed
6:15 - 6:30 - Eric wakes up to eat. I feed him and take him up to Ivan's parents.
7:00 - Ivan's alarm clock goes off because I forgot to turn it off.
7:45 - Sam wakes up. I take him upstairs and then go back to bed.
9:30 - I wake up for the day. Thank goodness for Ivan's parents!
I was actually able to make it through the next day, so I learned that even if things don't work the way I want them to, I can make it through the day anyway. :)
Eric is still really funny. He loves to talk, but his talking sounds more like yelling. And so does his laughing. It's really loud and sort of stacotto-y. And I think he's pretty punchy because right before he gets so tired that he's grouchy, he gets really giggly and thinks that everything I do is hilarious. Or maybe his laughs are really polite crys? I don't know, but it makes me laugh. There's nothing better than a baby giggling. Eric loves to chew on things. He's in the mouthy stage. He sucks his thumb, sucks my thumb, sucks anything he can get his hands on.
A few weeks ago, Sam caught a virus, had a fever, etc. He woke up from a nap and refused to talk to Ivan's mother. He just looked at her. She got scared and called 911. They took him to the emergency room and called it a seizure. Was it a seizure? We'll never know. His best buddy who he had played with for a few days in a row did the same thing to his mom, but we didn't find this out until later. Anyway, that was on a Wednesday. They kept him in the hospital overnight and did all sorts of tests. He was annoyed with everyone poking him, sticking him, etc., but he thinks that the fact that he got to ride in an ambulance is really cool. Even cooler, to him, was his IV (or IB, since he can't say his 'v's.) He still has the tape on and absolutely refuses to take it off. I'm thinking about sneaking in one night and loosening it so it falls off when he wakes up in the morning. I was really glad that Ivan's parents could take care of Eric and that Ivan was home to stay the night with Sam in the hospital.
The next Sunday, Ivan left for Spain for 3 weeks. So we resumed our painting projects. A friend of ours has been painting our house and it's so exciting, even though we feel pretty displaced. One night last week, I put the kids to bed and then began practicing the piano accompaniment for our choir for branch conference last Sunday. I said a prayer and made a deal with God ... "since I'm staying up late (for me) to practice this, please help my kids to sleep soundly so that I can get a good night's sleep." (Especially when Ivan is gone, it's hard because I can't ask him to get up with the kids.) I think God has a sense of humor, because this is how my night went:
10:30-I went to bed
12:30 - 12:50 - Fed Eric
1:15 - Sam woke up, crying that he wanted his music on (this is unusual, as he's been a pretty good sleeper lately). I turned on the music and went back to bed.
2:00 - Sam woke up saying that he was "bery" hungry, so I got him some yogurt.
2:15 - Sam slowly eats his yogurt and then starts choking, because he has been sick, so I get him some chicken and a corn muffin.
2:15 - 3:00 - Sam nibbles on his corn muffin while I get more and more impatient.
3:00 - Sam starts yelling and Eric wakes up.
3:10 - I feed Eric
3:30 - I go back and put Sam to bed. He cries that he's hungry. I feel like a bad mom, but then realize that if he was really hungry, he wouldn't be taking tiny bites.
4:00 - Sam is still crying in his crib, so I get out of bed to write emails, since I can't sleep anyway.
4:30 - Sam is asleep, I'm done with my emails, and I go back to bed
6:15 - 6:30 - Eric wakes up to eat. I feed him and take him up to Ivan's parents.
7:00 - Ivan's alarm clock goes off because I forgot to turn it off.
7:45 - Sam wakes up. I take him upstairs and then go back to bed.
9:30 - I wake up for the day. Thank goodness for Ivan's parents!
I was actually able to make it through the next day, so I learned that even if things don't work the way I want them to, I can make it through the day anyway. :)
Eric is still really funny. He loves to talk, but his talking sounds more like yelling. And so does his laughing. It's really loud and sort of stacotto-y. And I think he's pretty punchy because right before he gets so tired that he's grouchy, he gets really giggly and thinks that everything I do is hilarious. Or maybe his laughs are really polite crys? I don't know, but it makes me laugh. There's nothing better than a baby giggling. Eric loves to chew on things. He's in the mouthy stage. He sucks his thumb, sucks my thumb, sucks anything he can get his hands on.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Going on a Trip
So Sam has the travel bug too. Ever since the weather has been nice, he loves to go outside and play. He loves to drive his little car. He always says, "I'm going to go on a trip to Mexico to find Papi." (Ivan works in Mexico and Spain about half of the year.)
Sam is also into his alphabet lately. He likes singing his ABCs. I started singing them when I started brushing his teeth--once on the bottom teeth and once on the top teeth. This is just so I know how long to brush them. But now he likes to sing them too. And yesterday when he was taking a bath, he was playing with bath crayons. He said, "M Mama" and drew several "M"s on the wall.
Eric used to be content to sleep and eat. But now he's a lot more social. He wants to be in the same room with everyone else, and would prefer to be held, tickled, and laughed at at all times. He's very social. Sometimes, he often picks strangers that he likes out of crowds and smiles at them until they notice him. There's nothing more fun than a smiling, giggling baby.
Sam is also into his alphabet lately. He likes singing his ABCs. I started singing them when I started brushing his teeth--once on the bottom teeth and once on the top teeth. This is just so I know how long to brush them. But now he likes to sing them too. And yesterday when he was taking a bath, he was playing with bath crayons. He said, "M Mama" and drew several "M"s on the wall.
Eric used to be content to sleep and eat. But now he's a lot more social. He wants to be in the same room with everyone else, and would prefer to be held, tickled, and laughed at at all times. He's very social. Sometimes, he often picks strangers that he likes out of crowds and smiles at them until they notice him. There's nothing more fun than a smiling, giggling baby.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
It's a Small World After All
Well, I've been back from Paris for a month now. Wow. How time flies. Maybe I'll get more than one a month as I get rolling.
The sleep thing has been going pretty well. Sam now goes to sleep on his own. About a week after the "I need some love" incident, one night as we were singing and rocking, he actually said, "Put me in my crib, Mama. I want to sleep." So things improved. But those first five days or so were rough.
Paris was ... well, Paris. I love Paris. I could go there year after year and never tire of it. There is always somewhere to go. This year we did a chocolate tour, which I highly recommend. Our guide, Iris, was incredible. We got to taste lots of chocolate and hear stories about chocolate and see some places of Paris that I'd never seen. (Actually, it was right outside the Louvre, but I've always stayed inside the Louvre.) Amazing chocolate.
Eric did really well. I'm going to try to post a few pictures of him in his Baby Bjorn. He slept the entire flight over. Then he slept most of the time in the Baby Bjorn in the morning while I took the group to where they needed to be. Then I would head back to the hotel and enjoy the afternoon reading while he slept. I read the Mr. Darcy trilogy. I have to thank my friend, Dona Griffin, for sending me this thin little baby blanket. It was so soft and thin and it worked out perfectly. I could lay it over his head to block the sights, sounds, and wind, and not worry about him suffocating.
So before I left, I was emailing my friend, Anne, whose husband is a traveling opera star, and she goes with him. In January, they spent a month in Paris. She met some people in Paris, who have the cutest little girl with blond curls. She took some photos and posted them on her blog (http://www.stuckihouse.blogspot.com/) My first night in Paris, we were coming home from dinner and I saw this little girl in the metro. I thought, "It must be the jetlag." I rubbed my eyes, and we were going in the same direction. I said to them, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" They said, "Yes." "Do you know Anne Stucki?" They looked at me like I was strange, but said, "Yes." I couldn't believe it. What are the chances? Of the 11 million people in Paris, what are the chances that we would both be in the Rambuteau station at the same time?
This is Eric and I in front of Notre Dame ...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"I Need Some Love!"
It shouldn't be this hard ... to do more than one post a month. Hopefully, I'll get better at this as I go along. February was pretty much a blur, getting ready to go to Paris (more about that later).
After I went back to work, Sam missed me, so he did what he did last year after we went to Boston in June--demanded that I sing to him and rock him to sleep, which could often take an hour to an hour and a half each night. Mostly, he just wants me to sing "Love at Home," so I've sung that song about 10,000 times in the last year. But every once in a while, "Kumbaya" or "Jesus Came to John the Baptist" is acceptable. Around August, I finally told him that I was only singing "Love at Home" five times each night (you have to set boundaries, right) and the whole rocking to sleep took care of itself. After I went back to work, it started up again. Aaagh. But this time, I had another child to take care of and I was already exhausted. I decided to try what I have always managed to avoid: Cry It Out. The first night he was tired enough to fall asleep after the first ten minutes or so. The second night, he was ready for a fight. After about 20 minutes of crying, he started yelling, "I need some love, mama! Mommmmmyyyyy, I need some love." (Of course it sounded more like, "I need some yuv.") I called my sister and we talked for fifteen minutes about all the benefits of healthy sleep for kids (and, needless to say, their parents.) Who know that the childhood bone breaking rate goes from 17% to 42% for kids who don't sleep well? By the time we finished, he had fallen asleep. Thank goodness for sisters who also have kids!
After I went back to work, Sam missed me, so he did what he did last year after we went to Boston in June--demanded that I sing to him and rock him to sleep, which could often take an hour to an hour and a half each night. Mostly, he just wants me to sing "Love at Home," so I've sung that song about 10,000 times in the last year. But every once in a while, "Kumbaya" or "Jesus Came to John the Baptist" is acceptable. Around August, I finally told him that I was only singing "Love at Home" five times each night (you have to set boundaries, right) and the whole rocking to sleep took care of itself. After I went back to work, it started up again. Aaagh. But this time, I had another child to take care of and I was already exhausted. I decided to try what I have always managed to avoid: Cry It Out. The first night he was tired enough to fall asleep after the first ten minutes or so. The second night, he was ready for a fight. After about 20 minutes of crying, he started yelling, "I need some love, mama! Mommmmmyyyyy, I need some love." (Of course it sounded more like, "I need some yuv.") I called my sister and we talked for fifteen minutes about all the benefits of healthy sleep for kids (and, needless to say, their parents.) Who know that the childhood bone breaking rate goes from 17% to 42% for kids who don't sleep well? By the time we finished, he had fallen asleep. Thank goodness for sisters who also have kids!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
"That's Eric. He lives in his carseat."
So. I've been prodded by my cousin in South Carolina. (Thanks, Angela!) I have this tendency to want to do things so completely perfectly (in this case, add pictures to go with all the stories) that I don't do anything. But, then nothing gets done.
So, the last couple of months have been a blur (not surprisingly). On January 13, we took the trek to Utah (4 hours on a plane, by myself, with two babies) for Laura's wedding. I guess it could have been much worse ... in a car or a covered wagon, or with 5 kids, or something like that. I thought it would be fine, because I had our portable DVD player, and I kept promising Sam that as soon as we took off, he could watch Dora. This particular flight is hard for him because the drive to the airport puts him to sleep, but then he only gets a 15 minute nap and can't get back to sleep, and therefore is sleep deprived. We made it onto the flight, and took off, and I pulled out the DVD player, and ... no DVDs. Aaaagh. I had forgotten them. So after crushing crackers all over the place, dumping out water, flinging wet napkins onto the windows, and exhausting all of his other entertainment options, (I was feeding Eric, and there's only so much you can do at that point), Sam announced that he was ready to get off the plane. And that was only 30 minutes into the flight. Thanks to some patient passengers, we made it.
Eric was a month old, and luckily, he just sleeps a lot. This allowed me to focus on helping Sam feel like things were as normal as possible. When we got to my mom's house, the only place for him (Eric) to sleep was his carseat. And because we were so busy, and he's such a good sleeper, he spent quite a bit of time in his carseat. At one point, I was feeding him, and Madi, my two-year-old niece (known for her insightful comments), came in the room. She looked at us and said, "That's Eric." I nodded. Then she said, "He lives in his carseat." I felt guilty. For about ten seconds. Then I realized that babies need their sleep and if he's so comfy there that he sleeps all the time, then I'm not going to feel guilty about it. More on sleep later ...
We had a great time at Laura's wedding. But every time we go to Utah in the winter we get sick. I thought Ivan was being irrational, but sure enough, we got sick. Sam got a cold and I got the stomach flu. Then we switched. So I had the pleasure of changing the diaper of a two-year old full of lime-green something in an airplane lavatory, while having a month-old baby strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn. (At least my stuffed-up nose prevented me from smelling anything!) It's a good thing that Sam was very cooperative, or it could have been really ugly. We brought our respective diseases home to Ivan (who had come out to the wedding just for the weekend), and we were all sick for another couple of weeks. But now, life is back to normal. I'm back at work, and Ivan's traveling again (Minneapolis last week, Mexico next week), and we're all looking forward to the spring!
So, the last couple of months have been a blur (not surprisingly). On January 13, we took the trek to Utah (4 hours on a plane, by myself, with two babies) for Laura's wedding. I guess it could have been much worse ... in a car or a covered wagon, or with 5 kids, or something like that. I thought it would be fine, because I had our portable DVD player, and I kept promising Sam that as soon as we took off, he could watch Dora. This particular flight is hard for him because the drive to the airport puts him to sleep, but then he only gets a 15 minute nap and can't get back to sleep, and therefore is sleep deprived. We made it onto the flight, and took off, and I pulled out the DVD player, and ... no DVDs. Aaaagh. I had forgotten them. So after crushing crackers all over the place, dumping out water, flinging wet napkins onto the windows, and exhausting all of his other entertainment options, (I was feeding Eric, and there's only so much you can do at that point), Sam announced that he was ready to get off the plane. And that was only 30 minutes into the flight. Thanks to some patient passengers, we made it.
Eric was a month old, and luckily, he just sleeps a lot. This allowed me to focus on helping Sam feel like things were as normal as possible. When we got to my mom's house, the only place for him (Eric) to sleep was his carseat. And because we were so busy, and he's such a good sleeper, he spent quite a bit of time in his carseat. At one point, I was feeding him, and Madi, my two-year-old niece (known for her insightful comments), came in the room. She looked at us and said, "That's Eric." I nodded. Then she said, "He lives in his carseat." I felt guilty. For about ten seconds. Then I realized that babies need their sleep and if he's so comfy there that he sleeps all the time, then I'm not going to feel guilty about it. More on sleep later ...
We had a great time at Laura's wedding. But every time we go to Utah in the winter we get sick. I thought Ivan was being irrational, but sure enough, we got sick. Sam got a cold and I got the stomach flu. Then we switched. So I had the pleasure of changing the diaper of a two-year old full of lime-green something in an airplane lavatory, while having a month-old baby strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn. (At least my stuffed-up nose prevented me from smelling anything!) It's a good thing that Sam was very cooperative, or it could have been really ugly. We brought our respective diseases home to Ivan (who had come out to the wedding just for the weekend), and we were all sick for another couple of weeks. But now, life is back to normal. I'm back at work, and Ivan's traveling again (Minneapolis last week, Mexico next week), and we're all looking forward to the spring!
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