post post partum

Bye-bye, mama's milk

2011-01-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Oscar said good-bye to nursing. I think that the fact that it barely fazed him is a sign that he was more than ready. He was sad and protested a little. I told him I was sad, too, but that it was hurting me and that it was time to say bye-bye to "mama's milk," as he called it. I told him I'd still hold him and love on him and sing to him at bed time, but that mama's milk was going away. We've been talking about it for weeks and weeks now (as I've gradually weaned him), and he's known it's been coming.

So. I think that is that. I'm a little bit sad, but also relieved at this point. We'll see how tomorrow night goes!

Birthday at the Tulip Festival

2010-06-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

I love tulips. Fortunately, they're usually in bloom during my birthday. So for the last couple of years, I've taken off work on my birthday and we've headed up to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival near Woodburn and drunk in the beauty of the fields of color.

This year, Oscar was old enough to enjoy some of the family activities on the farm, which meant we all enjoyed them!

Oscar and me in front of one of several steam powered tractors. I couldn't believe the custom detail paint jobs!
Oscar and Adam getting a close up look from the driver's seat. We could climb on all of them.

We decided to try the Cow Train--a bunch of cows made out of plastic barrels pulled by a crazy kid on a Kubota. Safety Girl was impressed that our cow compartment came with a seatbelt on the bolted-in plastic grade-school-style chair. The driver insisted I wouldn't need it.
The driver let Adam ride for free so he could take pics & video of us. Cool!
I could not stop laughing, in part because the ride was so bumpy, the wind was in our hair and Oscar was alternately squealing "Whee!" and "Moo!"

And here's a tiny bit of video from the ride.

Oscar explored a hay bale play structure, including this irrigation-tube type slide.

Oscar tried out another slide that was super fast (short & steep).

And then there was the slide that was the granddaddy of them all. The ladder and height of the slide terrified me. I couldn't brave it.
Oscar was determined, so I cajoled Adam into assisting him.
The hay-bale-mover slide, with Adam and Oscar near the top.

Here's Adam & Oscar's second ride. I was too nervous and then laughing too hard to take video of the first ride (Once he got to the top with Oscar, Adam hollered that he didn't think he could fit through the railing at the top! He could.). When Oscar got to the bottom, he hit the ground hopping and screaming with joy, turning in circles, arms in the air. It's an understatement to say that he was excited.

Adam showed Oscar how to do the duck races. Oscar was interested in all the other (bigger) kids, especially that girl on the end. If you listen closely, you can hear him say "hi" as he stretches out his arm to wave to her. When she waves back, he does a full-spin dance of happiness.

A nice woman who was in charge of three littles was able to snap our best family picture of the day. What a wonderful birthday!

Stats

2010-06-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Oscar had his 2-year check-up today (only a month late!). Dr. Weiler was impressed with his willingness to go along with everything during the appointment, starting with when he raised his arms so she could lift him onto the exam table to when he voluntarily said "Ah!" and opened his mouth so she could peek inside.

He's growing well, seems to be on schedule for everything developmentally and seems to get along just fine with only about 8 hours of sleep at night, thank you very much. The ~2 hour naps help, but we were possibly hoping for some edict to get that boy more sleep.

He weighed in at 29 lbs. 13 oz (68th percentile) and is a half-inch shy of being 3' tall (71st percentile)!

He also experienced his first for-hire babysitter tonight. She proclaimed him an angel. The feeling is mutual.

His language has exploded since the last post. "Please more WordGirl!" "Ulysses drink water from cup." And my favorite, on the last day of our recent vacation, "Joe home." He was ready to head home, bless his heart. Oh. He calls himself Joe. He said Oscar a couple times yesterday, but he often shortens words or phrases to the last word or sound. We call him Oscar Joe, so he's shortened it to Joe.

So our camera took its last bounce on that recent vacation; we haven't tried to upload photos.

Crazy fan yelling

2010-05-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Oscar likes to turn on the fan in his room and then yell into it.
He's also replaced "Dada" and "Mama" with "Daddee!" and "Mommee!"

Oscar, age 2

2010-05-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

If you ask Oscar how old he is, he will tell you "Two."
If you ask Oscar how he's doing, he will say "Uh good," with his inflection rising.
If you ask Oscar what he ate or would like to eat, his answer is "Meat."
Oscar likes to watch "Car? Eye?" and "Truck? Eye?" videos on YouTube. That's how he refers to Pixar's "Cars" because all the cars and trucks have eyes.
On the street, he will identify Jeeps, trucks, cars, rigs (SUVs) and Neenee (Mercedes Benz, like his Naunie drives).
He has started to string a couple words together like "Mama work" and "Dada home." Tonight we think he uttered his longest sentence: "I don't want to." (when asked whether he wanted to put away his toothbrush and toothpaste)
Today he marched through the kitchen and into the bathroom and shut the door. Adam checked on him. He was using Mr. Potato Head's nose to "unlock" the door and told Adam "key."
"Key" is also what he says for cookie, Monkey and cat. Context is very important when trying to understand toddler speak.

Lately when we go for a walk, Oscar's often walking instead of riding in the stroller. Here's a nice family walk we took last week.

Waste Management

2010-04-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Our friends Will, Stacy and Sam are on vacation at Playa Viva in Mexico. This morning Oscar and I were checking out the resort's Web site (Will had tipped me off to a cool video of baby turtles). Oscar wasn't too impressed with the baby turtles, but there were many other videos available to watch, like "Nature Preserve" and "Tree Houses." Which one did Oscar want to watch? "Waste Management." Chip off the old, old block, eh?

Is it any wonder it was on his mind? Tonight he pooped in his potty for the first time. Yea! Photos available upon request.

In the meantime, here are a couple recent pictures to tide you over plus a video.

Oscar sporting, sort of, his new hat from Gramma's trip to San Antonio.

Punk Rock Bath Time

Happy Easter

Mr. Sandman, I love you

2010-02-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

Oscar after his 3-hour nap, bringing Mama a giant cookie at work. Right after this shot, he bit right through the plastic into that chunk of sweet goodness. Photo by Jillian Daley.

Many, many of you have listened to our family's woes about lack of sleep. Every night. Every day. Ugh.

The beloved Sandman paid us a nice visit yesterday (3 hour nap for Oscar) and last night. Oscar was up 3 or 4 times by 10:30 p.m., so we gave him some baby pain killer for the excruciatingly huge molars that are cutting through his sweet, soft baby gums. We've done that before, so it's likely unrelated, but he slept—like a baby—until 6:15 a.m.

Adam got to bed after we dosed Oscar, and he didn't have any insomnia. Yea!

I was up for a work project until midnight, but I got a solid 5 hours in, until I started worrying that we hadn't heard Oscar yet. I slept fitfully for the next hour or so until he woke us up.

I'm not foolish enough to hope that this will continue. But I am grateful that my family got a good night's sleep. We needed it.

Babbling

2010-02-02T23:00:00.001-08:00

Oscar has many, many new words, both verbal and signs.

He also tells us stories, talks on whatever he's using as a phone and asks questions (we can tell by the way his voice goes up at the end of the babble).

He is obsessed with a mole on the bottom of his left foot and will show & tell anyone who's interested, "mole!" as he pulls off his shoe and sock and grips his little foot as close to his eyes as possible to make sure the mole's still there.

Another of my favorites is when he says "home." He really draws out the o-m sound.

The other day, he was making fake crying sounds and hugging George, his stuffed monkey, and patting him consolingly. I got a little teary seeing my son's compassion for his distraught friend.

One of the fun babbles Oscar does is...well, I can't figure out how to spell it on here. In any event, I managed to capture it on video tonight, so thought I'd share.

Making cookies

2009-12-15T22:30:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to bake cookies for days. I've also been wanting to try to have Oscar "help." For fun. For both of us.

We did make cookies tonight and it was mostly fun. But I have to admit, I was a bit stressed out. He was standing on a chair. He was flipping dough all over the kitchen while "stirring."

And he ate cookie dough! How did he know that tan goo is so good? I was all, "No, no, salmonella!" He just laughed.

He didn't want to relinquish the spoon. Ever. He also snapped up about five chocolate chips after he poured them in the bowl. And didn't want to relinquish the bowl. Ever.

And then he made some music and told some fibs and cracked up. The end.

Oh, he also helped clean up and then ate a warm cookie. The end.

New dance moves

2009-12-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I just posted a video of Oscar dancing. But he has some new moves, people, and they're irresistible. Adam called me at work the other day to tell me he was in trouble. "Why?!" I asked, worried. "Because Oscar's figured out that he can shake his bum and look me in the eye when I'm trying to get him to do something and I'm completely powerless to continue." Here's a little taste.

18-month checkup

2009-11-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Oscar went to the doctor today for an 18-month checkup. All's well!

He weighs 25 lbs. 4 oz. and is 33 inches tall. He's in the 38th percentile for weight and 64th for height. His head's 49 cm (not sure why that's the one metric measurement at the doctor's office), which is 79th percentile.

And here are some recent pictures of my favorite little person.

Oscar discovers Tom Jones

2009-11-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

Oscar and Ulysses

2009-09-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

Oscar and Ulysses met in July 2008 at Parents Infants Plus, a parenting group run by Silverton Together. Here are some shots of them taken at one of our last classes, just about a year ago.

We eventually figured out that Ulysses and his parents Kat and Eli live right around the corner from us. Yea! Since then, the boys have gotten to know each other a little better.

Ulysses and his mom Kat
Eli, Kat & Ulysses at Willamette's Cherry Blossom Festival

To be continued...

Fridge toy

2009-09-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

Oscar likes his magnetic and musical barnyard animal toy. He has a hard time deciding which tune to play sometimes...and then there's that annoying towel...

Learning to feed oneself

2009-09-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Who knew feeding oneself could be such an adventure?

Oscar's starting to use a spoon:

drink from a cup (no pics yet--I still need both hands when he's attempting this one) and eat from a bowl that's not suction-cupped to his high chair tray:

The end result is a happy boy!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

2009-09-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, Oscar was helping Adam make my lunch in the morning before work. I was on the phone, but we were all in the kitchen. Suddenly Adam stops what he's doing and crouches down to help Oscar with something. I can't tell what's going on, but I can tell something's wrong. Oscar's been vigorously rubbing his nose and face and I can see red on one of his fingers, so I figure he has a bloody nose. I get off the phone at the same time Adam realizes that Oscar swiped the dollop of Sriracha, or rooster sauce, off the top of the bottle while the fridge was open, and he popped it in his mouth! Ouch! We got him some milk and gave him some frozen blueberries to try to wash the taste--and burn--away. It wasn't pleasant, though, poor baby.

I don't think he's been back in the fridge since then, though...

Note: the photo I included is one of Oscar sort of fake crying--I didn't run to the get the camera when he was suffering from hot sauce ingestion!

Rockin' Robin

2009-08-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Oscar and I were dancing to one of my favorite oldies, "Rockin' Robin," the other night. I thought I'd share some of our evening:

Indulging mama

2009-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

How big is Oscar?

Drumming and cooling off

2009-08-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I was really hoping to get something up during July. Ah, well. Here's something for the beginning of August!

Oscar likes hanging out with us in the kitchen. To keep him out of the cat food and trash can, we gave him some music makers.

And here's something from today's (!) trip to the River Road Park:

Oscar loves broccoli

2009-06-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

Disco fever

2009-05-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

My Auntie Barbara made this video on JibJab and sent it to me on Facebook for my birthday last month.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I will admit that it kind of freaked me out, but fascination and hilarity won out in the end. Enjoy!

Dancing fool

2009-05-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Instead of getting ready for dinner or bed or our roadtrip to La Grande tomorrow, here's how our family spent a good deal of time tonight:

Three clips for a total of about 4 minutes. Enjoy (I know we did!)!

Serendipity and stuff

2009-04-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today's my 40th birthday. I have had one of the best days of my life! Thank you to everyone for all the kind wishes. I'm so full of life and love and joy that I had to log on to blog about it (I was wishing I kept a journal so I could write about this day when I remembered my blog).

So when I logged on to my blog I noticed I have had 39 posts. Crazy that this is my 40th, eh? Love that stuff.

I promised this photo to Beth a long time ago (it was taken March 15). She painted these awesome blocks for Oscar's Christmas present. We love them. They are beautiful--detailed critters that spell out OSCAR (and some other letters, too).

Oscar and his Christmas blocks from Beth (March 15)

Here's a rundown of my day:

Got up with Oscar at 6 a.m. and nursed and snuggled while listening to birds chirping outside his window
Got Adam up so I could go back to bed and "sleep in"
Woke up to coffee and donuts and a flower that Oscar picked for me:

Opened a beautiful card from Adam that included exactly what I wanted for my birthday: a gift certificate for a massage. Ahhhh.
Got a call from Beth that opened with the happy birthday song solo--had a great visit with her. Also opened a package she'd sent me that included hand-drawn (and some colored) birthday wishes from everyone in her family, a heartfelt card from her, some festive confetti and a book called The Church of Dog that looks really interesting.
Adam put Oscar down for a nap, then decided to take one himself. Those boys slept for two hours!
Talked to my Dad and opened a little gifty from him (I already knew what it was, but waited to open it), Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover.
Listened to voicemail previously left for me from Dad and Rebecca, a great rendition of the happy birthday song that makes me smile.
Got a call from Vicki that opened with the happy birthday song! I walked around in the sunshine while we visited and caught up and made plans to see a Salem Film Festival movie (The Linguists on Thursday).
Sat on the porch, enjoying the sunshine, reading my new book and eating chips, salsa, beans and sour cream. I couldn't believe what a great day I was having already and it was only like 11 a.m.!
The boys woke up and I danced around the living room with Oscar.
Got a call from Mom and opened the beautiful card she sent. Also opened the card from Aunt T.C. Had a great visit with the woman who brought me into this life!
Met the mailman at the door and he handed me a package from Amazon. It's a book from Auntie Barbara, Stuff White People Like. I only knew about the website!
Started getting ready to head to the tulip festival. Here are some pics from that:

Wow. I felt like I was drinking in the beauty of the tulips, the color, the sunshine. Okay, I'm changing the format here because there's still a lot and my birthday's almost over and I have to go to bed!

We came home, I got a call from Angela and opened an e-card from her, fed Oscar dinner, took a walk around the neighborhood and I put Oscar to bed. Adam made albondigas for dinner and he remembered that the Portland Trail Blazers' second playoff game was on TV tonight. Yea! And then my brother called and we had a good visit. The Blazers won the nailbiter of a game and Adam went to get Blizzards. And then Tanya called and we got to talk about turning 40 together! Our conversation reminded me of a quote she told me, "The days are long but the years are short."

There were a lot of great moments today. Thank you, all.

Haircut

2009-03-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Oscar's bangs were in his eyes...and had been for weeks, now. I took my time thinking about getting those little baby locks cut off, his original hair, the tips that were the first wisps on his tiny newborn head. I would get a little teary thinking about it, but not too bad. And I thought it would be better to mourn in advance than to make a big weepy show of it at the salon or after.

So we headed to Americuts on Saturday for his appointment with Debbie, the owner. Here's how it went.

Checking out the joint.

In our capes, checking out Debbie the hairdresser (and owner of Americuts).

The first cut.

Taking some off the top.

Getting the hang of it.

Clutching the iPuppy that Debbie had for Oscar play with.

Oscar seemed to enjoy getting his haircut.

Mama and baby are happy with the results.

Papa and baby are happy, too.

Time for a celebratory ride in the big boy firetruck chair.

Oscar got a certificate and some of his locks for the baby book.

Oscar crawls!

2009-01-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Oscar's been scooting around backwards and in counter-clockwise circles for weeks now, and he's recently started pulling himself forward with his forearm, one scoot at a time. But this weekend he really went for it, and he was so excited!

If you listen carefully, you can hear a little toot escape, I'm sure from all the exertion.

It's definitely time to babyproof!

Oscar eats "real" food

2008-12-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Oscar started eating rice cereal about 6 weeks ago or so. Here's a video clip of that milestone.

He started eating jars of organic baby food a couple weeks ago. We started with peas. Here's that video clip.

I've missed updating my blog, but can't make any promises about how often I'll be able to. Thanks for checking back!

Rollin' along

2008-08-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Tummy time at Gramma's in August.

Tummy to back
Oscar rolled from his tummy to his back on Sunday morning. He wasn't even trying, he was just playing on his play mat and ! just like that, he was on his back, looking at me with juicy spit bubbles on his lips.

I felt several things all at once: protective (I thought the sudden change might have startled him), proud, excited, relieved I'd been looking right at him, sad that Adam wasn't home to witness it...I felt like swooping him up in joy (and comfort) and at the same time I felt like playing it cool, like I didn't want to further startle him or just generally have a first-time parent freak-out. So I kind of did all those things in the next moment. I said something like, "Wow, look at you, Oscar, rolling over from your tummy to your back, what a big boy you are!" as I calmly dabbed the spit bubbles away with a burp cloth. The next second, though, I had grabbed him up and was hugging him to me, just loving him and being happy with the moment.

Keeping an eye on Gramma. And the camera.

Back to tummy
Tonight, Oscar was laying on his back and ! just like that, rolled over onto his tummy. What the?! I thought it would be a while longer before he could roll from back to tummy. I thought he'd be practicing his tummy-to-back roll first. I also thought the back-to-tummy roll would require much more effort. He did it without any at all. As soon as he was on his tummy, he was kicking his legs like a frog and he was grunting with frustration. He still doesn't love being on his tummy. I eventually helped him roll back onto his back. He continued to throw a leg over and turn onto his left side, but he didn't roll completely over again. Yet.

Metal baby

2008-08-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

Rock on, little man.

Willow Creek Railroad

2008-08-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

Journey, Adam and Oscar waiting for one of the trains to take off.

We made our second visit this summer to Willow Creek Railroad, this really cool place that's part of Antique Powerland.

Oscar contemplates a life ridin' the rails.

Beth reserved the place for a 3-hour party a couple Sundays ago and several of us showed up to picnic and take our little ones on the trains. The day turned out sunny and warm; a lovely time was had by all. Thank you, Beth, for organizing such a fun family outing!

Beth and a tuckered-out Eli.

Oregon State Fair

2008-08-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Getting dressed for the fair in a onesie with tractors and cows!

We went to the state fair tonight and had a fantastic time. It was perfect. Saw the cows, piglets, sheep, draft horses and my favorite, the poultry barn; looked at some farm equipment (saw this crazy, tall and narrow thing that turned out to be a crop sprayer, for row crops); saw some textiles and vegetables (again, got to see my favorite, the oddities and entries for "cutest vegetable"), decorated cakes, including our friend Marion's, fine art, calligraphy (a kind calligrapher gentleman wrote Oscar's name on some poster board for us, for free!), voted for Peoples Choice in the kids division and amateur art; ate fried food while listening to a Johnny Cash cover artist, who was pretty good.

Oscar watches me eat a hand-dipped pronto pup and brick o' fries for dinner. Mmm, fair food.

Here's my favorite part: We were sitting on a bench outside the Jackman-Long Building (art exhibits). I'd just finished nursing Oscar and Adam was burping him. A couple of women were sitting across the path from us. When they saw us preparing to leave, one of them came over and told us that she raised two children and her friend had raised "Oh, seven or eight," and that they both thought we were the nicest family they'd seen all day. I thanked them and told them that meant a lot to me and that, in fact, it had made my fair experience. I got teary as we walked away and told Adam how I remembered strangers making similar comments to our family when I was a kid and what an impression that made on me. Thinking about it now, how willing are you to go up to a perfect stranger and give them your opinion, no matter how well-intended and kind, about their family? I've done it a couple times in my life and it's always paid off with more kind words and big smiles.Here we are in front of the big tomato.

First dip in a swimming pool

2008-08-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Oscar had his first dip in a swimming pool a little over a week ago at his buddy Dixon's first birthday party. Most of the time he stood (with a little help from me), dropping his bum in only a couple times. He didn't mind it at all.

The party was great fun and all four SJ boys got to celebrate together (it's kind of tough to get all of us in one spot at the same time, it seems).

Thanks to Marion for playing photographer!

Broken alarm clock

2008-08-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

We haven't had to use an alarm clock since Oscar joined our family. He gets us up around 5 a.m. every day and ordinarily he sleeps very fitfully in the mornings, thrashing about and making noise.

This morning I had the scare of my life. Oscar went to sleep at 9 p.m. A little early for him, so I figured I might be getting up twice during the night to feed him. Sure enough, he was up at 2 a.m., about an hour earlier than usual. I expected to be up again at 4:30 or 5 a.m. So my heart stopped when I woke up in a light bedroom, looked at the clock and saw 6:48 a.m. I leaped out of bed and looked at Oscar. As I mentioned, he usually thrashes about and makes a lot of noise in the mornings. But there he was, lying in his bassinet, one arm out of his swaddle. I had to put my hand on his chest to make sure he was still breathing! And then about one minute later, I had to do it all over again.

Later, Adam and I will laugh at ourselves about how awfully frightening it is to get more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep.

For now, Oscar's up checking email with his Papa. Good morning!

Happy to be home

2008-08-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic road trip last week: we drove from Salem to La Grande on the 7th and stayed with my dad and Rebecca; drove to Nampa, ID, on the 8th and stayed with my brother and his family for two nights; returned to La Grande on the 10th and stayed with my mom and returned to Salem on the 11th. Whew! Our hosts were wonderful and we saw too little of all of them.

Grampa and Oscar
Justin and Oscar
Gramma and Oscar
The purpose of the trip was to attend Adam's 20th class reunion for Centennial High School. It was fun to see Adam's best childhood friend Aaron, along with his wife, Deb, and to meet the folks who used to live in his neighborhood when he was a kid. It was also great to see Mrs. Billingsley and Deb and Aaron's kids. Back in La Grande, we had a lovely visit with Beth, Kevin, Tess and Colm.

Aaron, Elizabeth, Adam and Oscar
Beth and Oscar
After staying in three places over four nights (setting up good middle-of-the-night spots to nurse and change diapers was interesting!) and an 8-hour trip home on Monday, we were so glad to be home. I'd wisely taken Tuesday as a vacation day, so the three of us just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Here's a video of just how happy Oscar was to be home:

My boys

2008-08-03T22:53:00.001-07:00

I love these guys.

Adam and Oscar on Saturday morning, coming out of Oscar's room

Oscar is almost always smiling until he notices the camera!

Cloth diapers

2008-08-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

We started using cloth diapers on Saturday. Finally! So far, so good, except Oscar has diaper rash. Any suggestions?

Some of our cloth diaper supplies, including some wraps from Angela and homemade wipes from Nicole. Thanks, girls!

Fun and full weekend

2008-08-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update...Saturday, Oscar and I attended Kate's baby shower, along with a lot other mamas and babies and kids. Kate looks fantastic! It was fun to meet some of her family and other friends and to shower her with gifts and wishes for her little one.

We buzzed home from the shower to pick up Adam and head to the wedding shower for Murray and Pedi. We got there shortly before they had to leave, unfortunately, but we were there long enough to appreciate how happy they both are. They make a great couple.

This morning we headed to brunch in Portland with Devon. Devon has this great ability to bring people together. This morning, he invited another couple to join us with their 5-month old daughter. They're new to Portland and are interested in meeting new people, particularly those with kids. Leslie, Rob and Stella are great! We ended up spending almost three hours hanging out together at Biscuits for breakfast and Cosmic Monkey. Welcome to Oregon, new fine family!

Adam and Oscar pose with Devon and Stella

Rob, Stella, Leslie, me, Adam and Oscar in Cosmic Monkey

We were hoping to see Adam's brother's family while in Portland, but the girls were sick. I hope they're feeling better now and that the rest of the family escaped the illness and that we get to see them all soon!

Back to work

2008-07-30T22:04:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know I survived my first day back at work.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a crier. Happy, sad, proud, relief--many emotions evoke tears from me. So last night and this morning I cried and cried. I told Adam I didn't know how or when it was ever going to stop. I thought maybe I'd stop when I climbed into the shower. Nope. At least not right away. I was starting to tear up again when I thought of my Mom and heard her concerned yet stern voice: "You're going to make yourself sick!" She used to tell me this when I would cry for a long time (I've been racking my brain all day trying to remember what ever made me cry like this and can't remember. Weird.). And it was true: I'd exhaust myself and would often get sick shortly thereafter. Remembering that admonishment from my mother helped me settle myself. That, and imagining that my tears were using up all the liquid I need to make milk for Oscar!

Folks at work welcomed me back warmly and enthusiastically. I spent most of the day going through email and vmail. Adam brought Oscar by to nurse at 11:45 a.m. The little rascal wouldn't take much milk from a bottle at home; he also really struggled nursing. He did much better taking a bottle from Adam for the afternoon feeding. They walked in to pick me up from work just after 5:30 p.m. and we all walked home together, with a trip to the store on the way. Lovely.

Once home, I nursed Oscar while Adam made an incredible dinner of wilted spinach salad with all kinds of goodies in it and an equally yummy side of squash & onion sauté.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and support to both Adam and me as we faced and now are making this transition. It helps.

Rattle update

2008-07-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Oscar's pediatrician assured us today that his lungs are clear and that his rattle is just saliva that sort of collects in his throat because he's a juicy little boy who doesn't yet know how to clear his throat. Whew.

For rattle-free bedtime, we can elevate the head of his bed a little and/or use a humidifier. Will try either/both of those things if the rattle continues.

Touch and go

2008-07-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

I've been touch and go today because I go back to work tomorrow. For some of the day I've been necessarily oblivious to the fact. Tomorrow morning may not go smoothly at all as I haven't pumped in a couple of weeks and don't have a purse ready (I've been using the diaper bag as a purse for three months!). Other parts of the day, I've been struck by practical thoughts like, "do I have clean clothes to wear?" and "do we have food to make my lunch?" Much of the rest of my day has been spent mourning the end of this magical time we've spent together as a family and being grateful for my happy and healthy son and my incredible husband. Lots of tears and sighs, lots of time holding Oscar and playing with him, lots of sustaining hugs from Adam. A new chapter in our lives begins tomorrow. I'd better go get some sleep so I have a chance at starting off well.

Knotty boy

2008-07-28T19:26:00.001-07:00

We've cut three knots out of the back of Oscar's hair. His hair thinned a little after he was born, especially up front, but he didn't really lose a lot of it. I know a lot of babies get bald spots on the backs of their heads from rubbing out their fine baby hair. Oscar likes to turn his head from side to side when he's tired, but his bald spot is going to be from us cutting out knots! Also, when he's nursing during the past few weeks, he will manage to get all four fingers in his hair with a pretty good grip.

Reunion

2008-07-28T10:57:00.001-07:00

Oscar and I picked up Adam at the airport last night. It was a joyous reunion.

This morning we're so happy to be back together as a family in our house.

The fists

2008-07-27T00:53:00.000-07:00

Oscar's discovered that his fists are part of him, conveniently located at the end of his arms, which he has enough control over now to slowly and steadily move them so the fists end up in his mouth. Satisfaction!

I keep trying to get a picture of him focusing on his fists, but he almost always becomes aware of the camera before I can get a shot of the profound concentration on his face. Here's the closest I've come:

Ambifistrous!

And just a happy baby shot:

Solo: Day 3

2008-07-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

Today we hung around home almost all day.

Oscar's breathing has occasionally sounded a little ragged and I really started worrying about it today, so I called the doctor's office and spoke with an incredibly helpful, patient and kind nurse from Emanuel Hospital (the local pediatrician's office contracts with their nurse line on weekends or something like that). She asked a ton of questions and had me put the phone to Oscar's mouth a couple times so she could hear his breathing for 15 seconds. She also had me put my hand on his belly and count his breaths out loud to her, put him on his tummy for a few minutes to help clear congestion and then she had me make a saline solution and drop it into his nose and suction it out, all while she waited on the phone with me. He sounded better after all this and she told me to stay close to him (not a problem!) and listen to him throughout the night (I usually do this anyway). Tonight after nursing him and laying him down to sleep, his breathing sounded pretty rough. I carried him to the couch so I could recline with him on my chest and hopefully keep him asleep or at least from fully waking up. It worked really well. He's back in his bassinet, still sleeping and his breathing sounds perfectly clear. If he's rattly tomorrow morning, I'll take him in to the pediatrician office.

Our big outing today was to a barbecue at the Blairs'. Kobbi, Brian, Journey and Dixon were there, of course, as were Aaron and Alex, and Victoria. Beth even showed up a little later! When I put Oscar in his car seat to go to the bbq, he was pretty happy. He even cooed and laughed during the drive over. He's such a happy little guy. Once there, I left him in his car seat because he seemed perfectly content (and it was a little break for me to not hold him). He sat outside under a big tree, looking around and smiling at Journey and whomever else chatted with him. He was so mellow! We moved inside later and he even nursed and fell asleep. I thought he might be too distracted, but not so. It was really great to see everyone, be outside, eat a hamburger and fresh pineapple (not together), and watch Oscar starting to interact with others.

Oscar and me at the barbecue (thanks for the photo, Kobbi!)

Dixon, Journey and Oscar enjoy the barbecue in the Blairs' backyard.

The barbecue took a turn for the worse when Dixon (held by Kobbi) took a swing at Oscar (held by Vicki). The boys eventually settled down and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Journey was very sweet with Oscar. She made a lot of arrangements so she could sit by him to eat her barbecue dinner.

So we didn't make it to the store for more disposable diapers. I think I have three or four to make it through the night and early morning. Wish me luck! The cloth diapers are in the clothes drier now; they need to be washed and dried twice more before they're ready to wear...could be tomorrow, though!

We pick Adam up at the airport around 8:45 p.m. tomorrow. Sigh. It will be wonderful to be together as a family again.

Poop management

2008-07-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

If you're not interested in reading about bodily functions, please skip this post.

Poop management. That's what we call it at our house when Oscar has a diaper blowout or there's a changing table incident. This morning's activity was beyond anything we've experienced thus far.

We got up to nurse at 5:50 a.m. and were headed to the changing table by 6:15. I'd heard a lot of diaper activity while he was in his bassinet so I expected a full diaper. And I wasn't disappointed. What I didn't expect was for the fun to continue. We staggered away from the changing table at 6:50 a.m.

The final toll: countless squirts of poop, 7 diapers, 4 wash cloths, at least 2 full-on fountains of pee, 2 blankets (changing pad covers that I kept folding over to cover the latest barrage), 1 diaper wipe, 1 bewildered mama, one exhausted baby.

I walked Oscar around, hoping he'd sleep more. We dozed and nursed 'til 9 a.m. Whew! I know what I'm doing the rest of the day: laundry and buying more diapers.

Solo: Day 2

2008-07-25T22:51:00.001-07:00

Oscar slept in 'til 7:30 a.m.! Unheard of. And oh so nice!

Here's the little sleepy head after breakfast.

He was fairly fussy throughout the day. Sure cure: going outside. We walked over to Salem Nurse Midwives to finally get a picture of Oscar with Karen Armstrong, the midwife who helped Oscar enter this world. I hadn't ever walked there and ended up taking a long route. Oscar didn't mind--he was zonked out in the stroller about two blocks into the journey.

Nurse Midwife Karen Armstrong and Oscar

Later in the afternoon, I was playing with Oscar, talking to him and loudly kissing his neck. He laughed like I'd never heard before. A full-on laugh. I kissed him again, he laughed and laughed. One more time, and then I burst into tears, holding him to me, struck to my core how much I love this little person.

Tears of joy

In preparation for our visit to Indigo Wellness Center to visit Tara, my prenatal yoga instructor, I put this "Om" onesie on Oscar. I knew the opening for the head was tiny so I stretched and stretched it before trying to get it on him. It was still a panic-inducing struggle and left a long red mark on his head! I promised I'd cut him out of it while he was sleeping tonight. I couldn't imagine taking it off him (the arms were difficult and I swear the leg holes were cutting off his circulation!). It's labeled 3-6 months, but it should be newborn. I was able to take it off without incident.

Chant "Om" in order to put on this onesie without personal injury.

Last, but not least, here's Tara, Oscar and me at Indigo Wellness Center.

While at Indigo, I also got to see Eryca, who's due today. Good luck, Eryca! And thank you for taking our photo!

Solo: Day 1

2008-07-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

Today was the first full day Oscar and I were on our own because Adam's in San Diego for Comic-Con. We had a great day, due in part to the fact that we were both asleep before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. It also may have helped that I think I forgot to order my latte decaffeinated. Oops. I was so hung up on remembering to order it with soy....

Here are a couple more shots from our day:

Hello? Operator? Can you please ring my Papa? He's at table M9 at Comic-Con in San Diego. I gotta tell him I miss him!

I sang "Everybody knows I love my toes" to Oscar today and he smiled and laughed. It's a song we learned at Bilingual Storytime at Salem Public Library. I sang it in English today!

And, just for fun, here's a shot of Oscar on our walk yesterday.

Rub-a-dub-dub

2008-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today's all about getting clean.

First up: Oscar enjoyed a swing session and then slept so I could do some laundry (including folding and putting away--crazy!).

Next: I gave Oscar a bath. It was my first solo attempt (Adam and I always bathe him together). So I was a bit nervous, but I couldn't stand the sour, spit-up smell he gets after just one day. It went off without a hitch even though I forgot to play our usual bath CD, Graceland by Paul Simon.

Finally: My turn! I got a shower while Oscar slept again (no pictures for this one).

Chicago, Van Morrison and Prince in tha house

2008-07-23T10:59:00.001-07:00

This morning as Adam was preparing to leave for a five-day trip to San Diego for Comic-Con International, I overheard him singing Chicago's If You Leave Me Now: "Ooo no, baby please don't go."

I had Van Morrison's Baby Please Don't Go looping through my head: "Baby, please don't go, baby, please don't go, baby please don't go down to [San Diego], you know I love you so, baby, please don't go."

Then I heard someone humming Prince's Take Me With U: "Don't care where we go, I don't care what we do, I don't care pretty baby, just take me with you." I traced the sound to Oscar, trying to stow away in his Papa's suitcase!

I wouldn't be surprised if Adam denies singing Chicago...I don't think he was aware of it. He wasn't singing the whole song, just that one line here and there throughout the morning.

And regarding my song lyrics choice, I just want to state that I am happy that Adam's going to San Diego for Comic-Con! Oscar and I will miss him terribly, but he's going to have a great convention and be home before we know it.

My Family

2008-07-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Wait, has it really been more than 10 days since I posted? Uh-oh. Life happens.

Here are a couple photos of our little family (the first ones to finally appear on my blog. Yea!).

This one (above) was taken by Aunt T.C. during her visit at the end of May. She made a good point: pictures of the whole family are hard to come by at this early stage. Thanks, Aunt T.C.!

And this one I took back in May, too. Looks like it's time for another family portrait!

Boozin' and snoozin'

2008-07-06T09:47:00.001-07:00

Oscar's been hitting the bottle pretty hard this week. Here are a couple milestones: He took more than 1 oz. of milk from me (while stuck in I-205 traffic for 2.5 hours on July 3). Yea! Prior to this, Adam's always given him the bottle and I've left the house/area so Oscar couldn't sense me and reject the bottle in favor of the real thing. Because of some bank robber/high speed chase/police activity on the freeway, we were forced to consider other options while Adam was stuck behind the wheel and I was in the back seat trying to comfort Oscar in his car seat. On Saturday, Oscar took 3 oz. in one feeding from Adam. Yea! Prior to this, he'd only take an ounce or two and then play with the nipple and spit out mouthfuls of milk. Good job, boys!

Oscar's also been hitting the hay pretty hard this week. Friday and Saturday nights, he got up only once to eat! I can't remember the last time I slept more than 3.5 hours in a row. It was fantastic. I can't believe it happened two nights in a row. Last night, Adam and I were so thrilled with our well-rested selves, we watched half a movie (“The Usual Suspects”) before turning in for the night. We're not disillusioned, however. We realize it's probably not a pattern, just a pleasant surprise, and we're taking it for what it is.

2-month checkup

2008-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Oscar's two-month checkup was Wednesday and he's doing great. He weighed in at 12 lbs. 11 oz. (54th percentile); his length is 23.5 inches (51st percentile) and his head measures 41 cm/16.2" (56th percentile).

We're going to submit a stool sample next week because there is still a little bit of blood in his stool despite my dairy-free diet. His pediatrician isn't concerned because he's so healthy and happy otherwise, but she wants to make sure there's not anything else unusual going on.

We're foregoing his immunizations for now and will likely stick to an alternative vaccine schedule suggested by the pediatrician. We made the decision after discussing the issue with friends, coworkers, nurses, Oscar's pediatrician and lactation consultants. The main factors in our decision are that Oscar's exclusively breastfed and therefor has a more robust immune system than formula-fed babies and that he won't be exposed to many other kids because he's not in daycare, church, etc.

At Last

2008-07-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

I was dancing and singing with Oscar in my arms on Wednesday afternoon in his room, seeing if he would drift off to sleep. I chose the wedding soundtrack that Adam created on iTunes for our wedding (we just celebrated two years of marriage Tuesday!). Oscar was enjoying the tunes "Joy," by our friend Dan Jones, "Message of Love," by The Pretenders and some others. Then the song "At Last," sung by Eva Cassidy, came on. His eyes locked onto mine and he stared and smiled at me during the entire song. He may have been tuning in to me more deeply because I was emotional--my eyes filled with tears as I contemplated the lyrics I was singing to my newborn son, and remembered choosing the song to be performed at our wedding because those lyrics spoke to Adam and me. And now they take on a whole new meaning. Here's an excerpt:

At last
the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
the night I looked at you

You smile
you smile
Ooh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
for you are mine at last

Bleb: Adventures in breast feeding

2008-07-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

A bleb? Yep, that's what they told me I have.

I consulted about the small, white bump on my nipple at the B.A.B.I.E.S. breast feeding support group today and the diagnosis was bleb.

At least I haven't had cracked or bleeding nipples (knock on wood)!

Bottle feeding update

2008-07-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

We're still trying to get Oscar to eat a full meal of breast milk from a bottle. We skipped a few days of trying and are now back at it. He ate a little bit yesterday, and we're going to try again this afternoon.

Hair that moves

2008-07-01T12:01:00.002-07:00

Oscar has a knot in his hair, on the back of his head. We're going to have to cut it out, I'm afraid. I think it's because he turns his head from side to side so much (while lying down).

After Oscar's bath last night, Adam was telling him that he would have "hair that moves" when he grows up, and "that's something Papa never had." I'd never thought of hair in that way before.

My New Favorite Thing

2008-06-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing is watching Oscar's eyes while he lays on my lap and I talk to him. He focuses on my mouth--he loves it when I stick out my tongue and say "mamama"--then he looks at my eyes and back to my mouth. A few times, he's also watched my eyebrows wiggle expressively, then looked into my eyes, back at my mouth, back into my eyes. This is the height of entertainment for him at this point, I think. I know it is for me!

Also new: he grabs onto things like Adam's shirtsleeve or the edge of the Moby when we're carrying him around.

His eyebrows are "coming in," thick like his Papa's.

Labor tunes

2008-06-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to some of the songs on the "Labor tunes" play list Adam and I started in iTunes when I was just a couple months pregnant. We didn't listen to any of it during my labor, so I thought it'd be cool to listen to it tonight as I try to calm Oscar in the Moby and fold laundry in the semi-dark of his room (the crib currently serves as the clean laundry depository). It worked! Oscar's sleeping soundly, the laundry's folded and here I am blogging.

Here are the songs I'm listening to, over and over, tonight:

"We're Going to be Friends" by The White Stripes
"Hearts and Bones" by Paul Simon
"2000 Miles" by The Pretenders
"Alright for Now" by Tom Petty
"Blow Away" by George Harrison
"You Are My Sunshine (Pt. 1) by Elizabeth Mitchell
"Froggy Went a Courtin" by Elizabeth Mitchell

I'll leave you with some lyrics from "Blow Away:"
All I got to do is to love you
All I got to be is, be happy
All it's got to take is some warmth to make it
Blow away, blow away, blow away.

Diflucan, Nystatin and vinegar, oh my!

2008-06-19T11:55:00.001-07:00

I'm happy to report that after more than a month of treatment, I appear to be thrush-free.

Fortunately, Oscar's symptoms cleared up after a day of treatment (Nystatin), back on May 13. I started Diflucan the same day (pills). After two weeks and no change in my symptoms, I started an increased dosage, plus Nystatin topically four times a day. Early on, I also started taking acidophilus and Vitamin B6, both recommended by the midwives, and using a vinegar rinse on my breasts after each feeding/pumping, recommended by Mary at the breast feeding support group I attend weekly in Silverton.

Finally, I can say that breast feeding no longer causes me pain and anxiety. I don't have the intermittent deep tissue pain nearly as frequently as I'd been having it and my nipples aren't plagued by the constant (when not nursing) pins-and-needles/burning/stinging sensation.

Whew. It was a very long haul and not without tears and frustration. One of the things that saved us (I say us because this affected Adam and Oscar, too) is the B.A.B.I.E.S. Clinic in Silverton (affiliated with Silverton Hospital). The support, encouragement and information we received there was a life-saver. Of course, another thing that got me through this is Adam's support and encouragement.

Up next: introducing the bottle to the little man.

Good bye, DQ Blizzards

2008-06-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

And probably good riddance. Last week, we saw Oscar's pediatrician because we'd noticed a tiny bit of blood in his stool. The pediatrician suspects that it's a reaction to the milk protein in my diet. Apparently it's common for infants to be unable to digest dairy until they're 6 months old or so. It's not an indication of a later milk allergy for Oscar, thank goodness.

So it means I'm off dairy for the next several months. So far, it's OK. The downside: all the frozen meals we stocked up on for the postpartum period have cheese or cream sauces; I haven't been able to find soy ice cream yet (thanks to Angela for recommending some good brands, though!); cheese substitutes suck; my DQ Blizzard Fan Club coupon expired. The upside: we have our CSA (community supported agriculture) fruits and veggies, giving us lots of healthy meal options; Adam is a very willing and capable chef who feeds me well sans dairy; I'm not getting all the bad parts of the dairy I usually eat (cholesterol, fats and stuff).

It can take up to two weeks for the blood to disappear from the diapers, but so far, so good. Oscar's two-month check up is on July 2, so we'll know more then.

The Name Game

2008-06-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Before Oscar's birth, we decided to not tell anyone the names we were considering. I actually liked telling people the names we were tossing around, but Adam was against it, so I stopped telling folks. It was difficult!

We took a list of several names with us to the hospital and Oscar was a few hours old before we named him. Adam was getting ready to send an email announcing his arrival and we realized we needed to be able to tell people his name. I asked Adam what he thought and he said, "Oscar." I said, "Yeah? You think he looks like an Oscar?" and Adam answered, "Yeah." I quickly agreed. I think I made him run through our list again, just to make sure. And then Adam went to the nursery where Oscar was under an oxygen tent to tell him his name: Oscar Joe Kreutz Gallardo. We chose Joe for his middle name in honor of both of Adam's grandfathers, his father and his brother.

So for those of you who were curious about what we were considering, here's the list we took to the hospital with us:

Oscar
Augustus
Stafford
Walter
Addison
Cheverdak

We'd discovered that we both liked Oscar long before we were married.
We liked the nickname Gus; Augustus is a pretty big name for a kid.
Stafford after poet William Stafford.
Walter is just a great name, as is the nickname Walt. Also a big name for a kid.
Addison literally means "Son of Adam." I love this name and its literal meaning. Unfortunately, it's being used more and more frequently by girls...and it was Adam's least favorite on the list, I think.
Cheverdak. By November, Adam was getting tired of regular names, their connotations, what others had to say about them, their wacky origins and meanings. He decided to make up a name for our baby (at this time, we didn't know it was a boy, so this name had to work for a girl or a boy). And this is what he came up with at the dinner table over Thanksgiving holiday with lots of friends and family around. He also imagined that it would give our son or daughter ample opportunity to get creative when answering the inevitable questions throughout his or her life about the name, where it came from and what it means. Pronounced shev-er-dack.

Post-postpartum?

2008-06-09T10:17:00.001-07:00

Today is the first day of my official post-postpartum life. Six weeks ago yesterday I gave birth to Oscar, my first baby. According to most sources, the postpartum period is six weeks long and during this time, you're supposed to rest and recover from pregnancy, labor and birth, and also to adjust to life with a newborn. So, now that I'm at day one of post-postpartum, what better time to start a blog?