The two cutest boys on the planet both have birthdays this week. The one on the left: 2 months. The one on the right: 2 years. Happy Birthday, my sweet boys!
Slow Death by Rubber Duck
"Slow Death by Rubber Duck" by Smith & Lourie explains common chemical contaminants in your home, how they affect your body, and how to avoid them. This is the most expensive book I've (actually my husband) has ever purchased. The book itself was not expensive, but the decisions we made as a result of reading it were. However, these improvements in our lifestyle will most likely be reflected in the health of our bodies in the years to come. If you're a parent, a scientist, environmentalist, or care about your health or the health of your children this book is a must-read.
Grandma Meets Baby
So, my mom flew home Sunday night, and baby's first night in his own room went very well, the second night not so well, and the third night so-so. The first night, he slept at least 4 hours straight for the first time ever, and I only got up twice all night. I don't know how they do it, but babies can smell mamas and they just don't sleep as well near them.
Watching both of my boys solo is going just fine. For the last couple of days though, the baby had been saving up his poop. He finally pooped this morning. My son, learning about poop and pee, was as usual interested in "helping" me change the diaper. But, because there was so much yellow, he gagged, and puked 5 times. Then, he puked a 6th time from looking at his own puke which was all over the place. We shouldn't have had such a big breakfast. All I can say is he has his father's stomach. He probably understands better now why daddy gags and pukes when his diaper is being changed.
Here are the promised photos from my mom's visit:
Grandma Linda was very excited when she came to Alaska to play with our son and also to meet the baby. She is being silly here!
Things stayed pretty normal around here. More house projects were executed, like reversing the swing on the bathroom door. Btw, as I type, there is hammering upstairs as the boys reset closet doors that were not hung right when we built the house. It never ends when you're a homeowner and want things to stay nice.
But, we tried some new activities too, like making sugar cookies with baby-sized cookie cutters.
And bringing a one-month old baby to the World Ice Festival or whatever they call the big shabang.
We rode on a train /sleigh pulled by 4-wheeler.
And slid down ice . . . about 20 times
The baby had his first bottle of breast-milk.
We did toddler gymnastics one day and visited an indoor playground another.
We sewed a flat pillow for the toddler, a skirt, made bean bags, and 
spent another afternoon making sock puppets for my son's two year birthday party.
We made a turkey with some really fancy stuffing.
We met a new cousin, who's now almost one year old.
And we went ice skating again (this is an in-the-car-shot).
He grumpily made decorations for (his) birthday party.
The baby kept growing bigger and bigger.
And then we partied.
And after it all, we took a nap or two.
Sleep Deprivation
I'm not sure whether or not I'll get more sleep or less sleep after my mom goes home to Minnesota. The baby still does not sleep more than two hours at night and to top it off it seems like he becomes more fussy every day that goes by these last couple of weeks. Well, sometimes he'll sleep three hours if I'm really lucky, but mostly two and sometimes just one. A couple of friends have explained to me that their mothers or mother-in-laws, when they visit, will offer to take the baby all night long, claiming that they can rest when they get home and the mother can't. I even know of a grand-mother of two babies under one year who will watch the grandkids by herself for a whole weekend. What a luxury for those parents! However, because my mom lives so far away, our visits are more like vacations. We do a lot together and take a lot of photos during them, so I think they are actually a bit more exhausting for me than life normally is.
Lets do a replay of last night or any night:
7:30 Begin toddler's bedtime process, baby is colicky at this time also
8:30 Leave toddler in his bed, baby starts to relax and get sleepy
9:30 Toddler sleeps after leading him back to his bed about 10 times in the past hour
10:00 Mommy lies down
10:30 Mommy sleeps
11:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep--takes about 20 - 40min)
12:30 Daddy comes to bed, mommy usually wakes
1:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep)
1:45 Mom falls asleep but baby cries, reinsert pacifier
2:30 Baby sleeps after having rocked and reinserted pacifier several times
3:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep--takes about 20 - 40min)
5:30 A repeat of what happened from 1:30-2:30
6:00 Toddler wakes, someone brings him warm milk in a sippy cup to entice him to sleep 1 hour more
6:30 Toddler wants to go downstairs and play
7:00 Baby wakes (change, feed, up for good)
So, at night I started thinking . . . I bet I get out of bed 30 times during the night. Last night I counted: 20 times. I feel okay this morning. I think the nights during which I get up 30 times are the nights when I am almost in tears in the morning, put the crying baby on my husband's side of the king bed, insert earplugs, and try to sleep, unsuccessfully. Anyway, we put our first son in his own room at 6 weeks. My mom leaves tonight, so we'll try to put the baby in his own room tonight, at 7 weeks old. When my dad comes to visit, we'll have to move the baby back to ours. But, I not sure with this baby whether moving him will make the nights more or less sleepless.
Alright, posting photos of my mom's visit is going to take more time. I apologize, but you're going to have to check back later for those. Beleive it or not, tomorrow (Day 1 of Week 8) is the first day that I will watch both of my children for the entire day all by myself. I'm not sure how this has been post-poned for so long, but I guess we have all of our visitors and babysitters play dates staggered just right. I'm kind of excited to see how I and the boys do together. I think we will do just fine.
Oh My, How Time Flies: Week 6
My sweet baby is 6 weeks old today! He was 8lb 13oz at 1 month, 3lbs more than at birth! And he is much chubbier today. He's already outgrown a Huggies Diaper box full of clothes. And speaking of Huggies, I kept track at first and he used 7 packs of diapers in 4 weeks, which is more than 10 diapers per day. Talk about a jump start on a carbon footprint, eh? Just think, the first about 3 years of everyone's urine is trapped in diapers in landfills.
I'm having trouble finding time to blog or facebook or even send an adequate email. I hope this doesn't have to come to an end. But, things will just get busier once my extra hands are gone for good.
My mom has been here for a week already, and she's been a great help! We've done so much, I don't even know where to start. I know we've had fun and stayed busy, but in my mind it's all a blur. I'll try to post the highlights later, maybe after I get some sleep and can think more clearly!
