Gametes In Love

S2 and I had the following exchange this morning:

Me: I love you!
S2: buuuuuurp!

That’s boy-speak for ‘I love you, too!’, right?

G trying to whistle. Why does he always have to pick the hardest thing to start with? Neither S nor I know how to do the two-finger whistle

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCr_Zapu-w8]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi6TE1XvEM8]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99FjACKMVRQ]

S2 doing his own impersonation of Flip the Bird and Spank the Monkey

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrEsJfQId50]

I came out of the shower the other day to this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa-hAcxOOIU]

3 out of the 4 bipeds in our home have been claimed by a cold. The only one not (seemingly) yet affected has been S, and I’ll be harassing him to get himself an Airbourne IV drip at this point. The progression of said cold seems to go something like this:
Day 1: scratchy throat
Day 2: full on raw throat, congestion/sinus pressure and low grade fever. The latter two work in unison to scramble your brain.
Day 3: better throat, congestion and congestion’s resilient friend: cough Day 4: better throat still, still congestion, worse cough. Although I’m only at the start of day 4, so ask me later

I don’t know which of the kids I feel sorrier for: S2 because he’s so little or G who tells you when it hurts. All 3 of us seem to be at various days of the cold.

Looks like today will be a proclaimed pajama, bed and Dinosaur Train day.

Neko’s new favorite nap spot (although last week he was pretty partial to one of S2’s clothes bins)

Chillin’ with the daddy

How is this not the most peaceful sleep ever? It hurts to have to wake him

Fascinating!

Child loves to floss. Wierdo!

I figured no one would care for continuous daily crib sleep updates.

In short, it’s been good and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised how quickly S2’s acclimated to it.
I do have to make a journey out to him twice a night on average. S takes a non-feeding shift too, but it hasn’t been bad. If S2 does make his way back in the room with us it’s close to 5am, and the past two nights he hasn’t needed to because his second ‘mommy’ call has been around 7 which is a respectable time to get up for the day, anyway.

One very exciting side effect is how quickly his head is re-shaping. Within a week, even a big part of the back flat spot started going away. It’s not back to perfect by any means, but I’m hopeful that by the time we see Dr. M for S2’s 4 month check-up there will be even more progress. I still ocassionally use the swing during the day for a nap here or there, but am really making an effort to have him sleep more in his bed.

At daycare they still use the swing for him a lot. Mostly because he sleeps terribly otherwise. My theory on that one, though, is that they don’t swadle for naps, and the only way he’ll sleep recumbent is if he’s wearing his straight jacket.

The one thing I wasn’t prepared for with the move to the nursery, is how empty our bedroom feels (to me) when he’s not here. It’s pretty amazing how much a 2-foot tall person can make a space feel whole, and if you’ve ever seen our monstrous-sized bedroom you know that’s saying a lot.

I miss him but this transition was clearly needed. And I love waking up to him cooing to his mobile 🙂

So yah, good bye flat-head condition. I won’t be missing you!

G (aka G-5, aka G-man, aka Griff-monster, aka Griff-Griff)
vs.
K (aka Special K, aka Katie-Bean, aka Beeb).

Guess the bum!

Having K and G so close in age is awesome. It’s like having twins… except that no one set of parents does twice the work.

Yey babies!

G had his 4mo well checkup today. I’m so proud of my little guy. He’s in the 10th percentile for height (on track with his curve). He’s also over 10th percentile for head circumference. Best of all, is that he’s rebounding weight-wise. He had fallen below the 3rd percentile during our weight fiasco (starting in the 10th) and today he’s at least in the 3rd percentile. I’m hoping we can get him back on his curve in the next few weeks!

We will also start solids in another month. Rice cereal, food messes and splats across the room: here we come! I feel like he’s growing up so fast.

Of course today’s appointment brings the next installment of vaccines. He got two today, one oral and the other a shot. A&B talked about the shrieks that Special K (their little one, and G’s betrothed) lets out during her shots, so we have a little video comparison going on. If you can’t stand the sound of a crying baby, don’t play the video below. On the other hand, if you’re looking for reinforcements for birth control and a reminder why you don’t want a(nother) baby right now, knock yourself out!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0pd0syaNpc]

I will note that G calmed down as soon as S picked him up, and then within 5 minutes we had this: a zonked out baby.

My milk testing results also came in yesterday. My average caloric content is 22 cal/oz (formula contains only 20 cal/oz, so I’m above here) and my fat content is 42%, with average between 30% and 50%, anything over 40% being very good. This kinda confirms that G’s weight issues are about him, not me. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

I leave you with this pic of G looking extra cute:

Our first Christmas with G was just about perfect. I say just about because S has been sick over the last two days and is feeling stuffed up and miserable.

G gave me the best present possible: an extra hour of sleep by having a nice and long morning nap, allowing me to do the same. This was followed by a generally fuss free attitude with several good naps sprinkled throughout the day. I’d like to think that this is a gift, anyway, and not G getting sick himself. I’d hate for this to become G’s first cold instead of G’s first Christmas.

My dad and sister came out to spend the Christmas with us (my mom is in Bulgaria again helping care for my progressively deteriorating grandfather).

S and I have spent almost every Christmas with his family since we started dating. I love their big family celebrations, the excitement on the kid’s faces… However, spending time with my family this year has been a big treat for me. We’ve hung out in our PJ’s, had some great dinners, good wine, good talks, and even a round of Tangrams last night after G went to bed.

I didn’t make any of the traditional Bulgarian breads this year (being a new mommy doesn’t jive with baking for hours right now) BUT we did observe an old custom that I’d forgotten about: growing up, the morning of the holiday, kids go from relative to relative and pat them (lightly) on the back with a decorated wood called “survachka”. While doing so, they wish them well for the new year and a long life. The tradition is rooted in wishing a good harvest, a plentiful year and health to the family. The decorated wood is typically made out of a branch from a cornel tree, which is the last tree to loose it’s leaves and the first to bloom. It’s decorated with popcorn, dried fruits, and wool. While children pat their relatives and family friends, they recite a poem, which loosely translates to:

“Let the year be blessed and joyous,
with green grain on the fields,
big grape on the vine,
yellow cob on the corn,
red apple in the orchard,
full house of silk;
be healthy and merry
til next year and forever!”

The best part (for the kid that is)? After this is done, your relative turns around and gives you cash.

So my dad made G his first survachka. Our yard lacks cornel bush branches, so he made do with our growing vegetation. We’re also a little short on loose wool, but some sewing thread seemed to do just fine. It came out really nice!

Then after we opened gifts, he received his first annual survakane by G.

… and G, in turn received, his first, hard-earned $20. Not quite the Jolie-Pitt twin millions, but not too shabby for a morning’s work 🙂 Of course this is going straight into G’s college fund.

G’s been enjoying several of his gifts all week long. His diapers have been keeping his little bum dry for a week now (and they rock by the way). He’s enjoying time in his new Pikkolo carrier, and is thrilled hanging out in his Jumparoo. Since his feet aren’t long enough to touch the floor, I put an empty cardboard box under him to give him that long needed “boost”. He is bouncing himself up and down now, which is awesome. He can’t quite reach the toys around it yet, but boy does he want to. I see this thing being my saving grace for a long time to come. Can you say un-interupted cooking/eating time (I hope)? I need to take a picture of this to show you guys.
He also received several really fun developmental toys, ornaments for his tree, and some great clothes. We’re really appreciating how loving and generous our family and friends have been to us this year. Thank you all!

Before I sign off,  I wanted to show you our Christmas tree.

For several years now I’ve talked about adding photo ornaments from each year, growing our tree with memories of loved ones. Well, this year I finally started. Not sure how practical this idea is, but it did turn out nice!

And of course here’s Neko reminding us that as our first child he is a gift too! (PS, he got a brand new catnip sock for Christmas: his favorite. It’s already being smacked around the house)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

It’s G’s first Christmas tomorrow.

May it be a good one for you too!

Have you noticed that some places only have changing tables in the ladies restroom, but not in the guys restroom? What gives? Is the female gender the only one capable of handling a diaper?

We’ve come across this enough that it’s starting to get to me. Three reasons mostly:

1) In restaurants, I am now an opportunistic human vacuum cleaner. I have a limited amount of time to consume food with both hands before G needs to be nursed, comforted, or what-not. If I can eat like a grown-up without needing S’ assistance in cutting my food, I’m thrilled. I eat as much of my grown-up, utensil-requiring food whenever the chance arises. S’ 5 minutes in the bathroom changing G is that opportunity for me, and I relish it.
2) I really don’t mind changing diapers… really — I don’t… but on an average week-day, I’ll change 7-9 diapers while S maybe 1-2. I’m not complaining about the unevenness in effort here, but S should be given the ability to do change G as well.
3) If S was out with G on his own, and G needs a change, what is S expected to do? Go in the ladies restroom? Change the baby out on the dining table?

So my new mission now is to call up management whenever we encounter places like this.

And guys… the next time you walk into a restroom, look around? Is there a place for you to change a baby if you had to? Trust me — a baby crying ‘cuz they’re wet or dirty is much worse then handling the diaper itself.

Feel free to join my changing table cause! Do you think I need to make wrist-bands?