Saturday, July 31, 2010
Bay A-rea!!
We're up in the Bay Area right now & will be leaving in a few days. I am furiously working on a paper for my Statistics class (actually, it's called Inquiry Methods) due next Wednesday. So I've left Atticus with Robby, & they're hanging with my three nieces, who have spent every minute since we got here crowding around Atticus face, poking & prodding him, while he grabs a fistful of hair & shrieks when they put their face too close to his.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Our Whole Unit Together Again
Robby is finally back from Oxford University. He had two wonderful weeks sans family, endless days of skateboarding through the narrow, ancient streets that inspired Harry Potter, & all sorts of cultural activities that broadened his mind.
SInce he's been back, he has been a spectacular Mr. Mom. He wakes up twice a night to feed Atticus, so that I can sleep & be better rested for class the following day. He has cooked several times, vacuumed the living room for his cousin's arrival, tidied up the bathroom, & packed boxes for our move to the new apartment. I have never seen him so productive around domestic tasks.
Atticus has had a little trouble acclimating to our family life. With my parents, he received continuous attention in a capacious house. In our one-bedroom apartment, he has had to get accustomed to the noise, and Robby & I talk much more to each other while he watches on. I wouldn't say that we IGNORE him, but we are certainly more parent-centric that most parents & definitely my own parents. He can be a little unhappy about the lack of attention given him. We do fawn over him occasionally, but we don't service him every minute of the day.
SInce he's been back, he has been a spectacular Mr. Mom. He wakes up twice a night to feed Atticus, so that I can sleep & be better rested for class the following day. He has cooked several times, vacuumed the living room for his cousin's arrival, tidied up the bathroom, & packed boxes for our move to the new apartment. I have never seen him so productive around domestic tasks.
Atticus has had a little trouble acclimating to our family life. With my parents, he received continuous attention in a capacious house. In our one-bedroom apartment, he has had to get accustomed to the noise, and Robby & I talk much more to each other while he watches on. I wouldn't say that we IGNORE him, but we are certainly more parent-centric that most parents & definitely my own parents. He can be a little unhappy about the lack of attention given him. We do fawn over him occasionally, but we don't service him every minute of the day.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
My parents are having a ball taking care of Atticus these days while I work & go to school. While I commute tirelessly (NOT) from the OC to LA, they hang out at home with him, take him for walks around the neighborhood, & feed him rice cereal, which he loves. They get him all to themselves, & they only wish that his Gramps, Grammy, Omi, & Opa had all this time to spend with them. I think they know how fortunate they are that Robby & I are living in Los Angeles.
What has Atticus been up to lately?
Well, when Robby returns from Oxford, he will see a more mature little baby! Well, maybe not mature, but his motor skills have definitely improved. For awhile now, he has been gripping my fingers above his body while I put him to sleep. He touches things purposefully now. When I read to him, he is less interested in the pictures & more interested in grabbing the corner of the board book. He deliberately grabs the animals that hang from the play mat.
He is much more comfortable at lying on his tummy, though he still has difficulty rolling to his back. My dad is trying to teach him to sleep on his stomach because babies usually sleep better that way. I know, doctors warn against sleeping on the belly due to higher rates of SIDS, but he rarely sleeps on his belly & only for naps during the day. He can pick up his head now, so I don't think SIDS would be a problem.
He is also very good at sitting up now. He still needs assistance, but he doesn't wobble around as much. Most of his day is spent lying on his back, so sitting up is a real treat for him.
He absolutely loves singing. When he hears my mom or my singing, he freezes & listens intently.
Also, he has gotten into the habit of resting his head on my shoulder when I carry him upright. I love that. He no longer jerks his head up & looks over his left shoulder as much. Sometimes, he nestles his head in my collarbone.
I can't wait for him to see his faraway grandparents!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Work, School, Baby
For the first time, I am juggling work, school, & Baby. For this past week, I have been teaching ESL part-time, going to my summer class at USC, and taking care of Baby. I'm lucky, though. With Robby gone, I'm fortunate enough to elicit help from my parents, who love the opportunity to spend more time with their grand baby. Plus, I've got a small class of friendly foreign students (6 kids from Spain & Italy), a light teaching schedule (3.5 hours a day), & a light teaching load (no homework in this summer ESL class). But what happens after the first week? I get sick!
This schedule is good practice for this fall, when I begin teaching full time & continue taking classes at USC. I have both dreaded & excitedly anticipated these days for many months now. I have never handled such a full workload. Although I have class one evening a week for 6 hours, USC's EdD program is very demanding - lots of reading & analysis, professors with high expectations, & long papers to write at the end of each term.
With the lack of sleep - Baby has been waking up 3 hours - and the commute from Orange County to Marina del Rey, my body is unaccustomed to so much activity. My parents have been generous enough to offer to sleep with the baby through the night. My mom has a small ice chest full of bottled breast milk & a bottle warmer in their bedroom, & she has set up a little diaper-changing station, so they are prepared for the Baby's midnight waking and midnight snacking. Oh it's easy, she says. They have slept with him for 5 nights now, & I hope they don't become too exhausted from the interrupted sleep.
When I get better, I'll take him back to my room, where he'll sleep next to me...where I can listen to his rustling and squeaking and snoring. At least for now I'll be able to sleep through the night & get rid of this cold.
Without my hubby & Baby sleeping near me, I find myself repeating aloud, "I miss my babies" for a few moments before I fall asleep.
This schedule is good practice for this fall, when I begin teaching full time & continue taking classes at USC. I have both dreaded & excitedly anticipated these days for many months now. I have never handled such a full workload. Although I have class one evening a week for 6 hours, USC's EdD program is very demanding - lots of reading & analysis, professors with high expectations, & long papers to write at the end of each term.
With the lack of sleep - Baby has been waking up 3 hours - and the commute from Orange County to Marina del Rey, my body is unaccustomed to so much activity. My parents have been generous enough to offer to sleep with the baby through the night. My mom has a small ice chest full of bottled breast milk & a bottle warmer in their bedroom, & she has set up a little diaper-changing station, so they are prepared for the Baby's midnight waking and midnight snacking. Oh it's easy, she says. They have slept with him for 5 nights now, & I hope they don't become too exhausted from the interrupted sleep.
When I get better, I'll take him back to my room, where he'll sleep next to me...where I can listen to his rustling and squeaking and snoring. At least for now I'll be able to sleep through the night & get rid of this cold.
Without my hubby & Baby sleeping near me, I find myself repeating aloud, "I miss my babies" for a few moments before I fall asleep.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
July 4th without Hubby
Happy July 4th!
Last week was rough. Robby called our Singapore trip "the benefit" & the week(s) following "the cost". We think jet lag is the main culprit for our weariness. Atticus has been waking 3-5 times a night, & with his refusal to nurse & my time at the breast pump, I have little sleep time. Robby takes on the duties of feeding while I pump, so we are usually both up during the night.
Yesterday Robby & I celebrated our second wedding anniversary in the most frenetic, harried fashion. We dropped off Atticus at my parents' house, hung out for lunch & a chat, then bolted back to Los Angeles to get Robby ready for his evening flight to London. We had a quick meal of Korean tacos at the Alibi Room (served by the Kogi Korean taco truck). The sliders are amazing. We shouldn't have ordered anything else. We also had Korean tacos & leaf tacos (cold tofu & Asian pear sandwiched in a large mint leaf). We should have stuck to the sliders.
Robby will have a summer adventure in England while Atticus & I hold down the fort. I will be teaching ESL at Loyola Marymount University to a bunch of affluent foreign teenagers who have mostly come from Brazil, Spain, & Russia. It will be a fun gig.
_________________________
Atticus milestones:
1. We've moved onto big glass bottles. Atticus now drinks from 8oz. bottles instead of 4oz. ones. I'm tired of rushing to heat up bottle #2 after he has gobbled up bottle #1, has decidedly determined that there is a conspiracy against his full stomach, &, upon removing his lips from bottle #1, has screamed at the top of his lungs.
After reading an article in the New Yorker weighing the dangers of BPA & plastics, I decided to use glass bottles by Evenflo. Duh, I should have known...I have always been wary of heating plastic, but this article solidified by fears. If one might interpret it as paranoia, so be it. All I know is that my generation began the habit of heating plastic (in the microwave with Saran Wrap, usually), & though it was occasionally practiced in my family - the TV dinner or ceramic bowl wrapped with a sheet of plastic - this next generation practically lives off plastic & microwave.
2. My maternal grandmother, Atticus's great-grandmother here in Southern California, likes to call his coiffure a "business hair" (roughly translated from Cantonese). He's got a part way over on the right side of his head (created by the second swirl on the back of his head). Actually, the part is so far over near his left ear, that he looks as if he wears a toupee or has a serious middle-aged comb-over. Anyway, with his hair parted & flat, "business hair" suits him well.
3. Atticus & I converse daily. I make a noise, then he makes a noise. We go back & forth a few times until we start laughing simultaneously. Sometimes, he will speak over me, & when I stop emitting sound, he stops as well, suspicious of the sudden silence. When I sing "Baby Mine" (from Dumbo), he likes to talk over my voice as well. It's murmuring that expresses how pleased he is with my singing (I think). He likes singing anyway.
4. He has learned to cover his face when he sleeps. I started covering his eyes with his lovie when he napped in my parents' sunlit family room. My grandmother scolded me for fear of suffocating him, so I stopped. Now he does it all on his own. Yeah, it's pretty cute.
Last week was rough. Robby called our Singapore trip "the benefit" & the week(s) following "the cost". We think jet lag is the main culprit for our weariness. Atticus has been waking 3-5 times a night, & with his refusal to nurse & my time at the breast pump, I have little sleep time. Robby takes on the duties of feeding while I pump, so we are usually both up during the night.
Yesterday Robby & I celebrated our second wedding anniversary in the most frenetic, harried fashion. We dropped off Atticus at my parents' house, hung out for lunch & a chat, then bolted back to Los Angeles to get Robby ready for his evening flight to London. We had a quick meal of Korean tacos at the Alibi Room (served by the Kogi Korean taco truck). The sliders are amazing. We shouldn't have ordered anything else. We also had Korean tacos & leaf tacos (cold tofu & Asian pear sandwiched in a large mint leaf). We should have stuck to the sliders.
Robby will have a summer adventure in England while Atticus & I hold down the fort. I will be teaching ESL at Loyola Marymount University to a bunch of affluent foreign teenagers who have mostly come from Brazil, Spain, & Russia. It will be a fun gig.
_________________________
Atticus milestones:
1. We've moved onto big glass bottles. Atticus now drinks from 8oz. bottles instead of 4oz. ones. I'm tired of rushing to heat up bottle #2 after he has gobbled up bottle #1, has decidedly determined that there is a conspiracy against his full stomach, &, upon removing his lips from bottle #1, has screamed at the top of his lungs.
After reading an article in the New Yorker weighing the dangers of BPA & plastics, I decided to use glass bottles by Evenflo. Duh, I should have known...I have always been wary of heating plastic, but this article solidified by fears. If one might interpret it as paranoia, so be it. All I know is that my generation began the habit of heating plastic (in the microwave with Saran Wrap, usually), & though it was occasionally practiced in my family - the TV dinner or ceramic bowl wrapped with a sheet of plastic - this next generation practically lives off plastic & microwave.
2. My maternal grandmother, Atticus's great-grandmother here in Southern California, likes to call his coiffure a "business hair" (roughly translated from Cantonese). He's got a part way over on the right side of his head (created by the second swirl on the back of his head). Actually, the part is so far over near his left ear, that he looks as if he wears a toupee or has a serious middle-aged comb-over. Anyway, with his hair parted & flat, "business hair" suits him well.
3. Atticus & I converse daily. I make a noise, then he makes a noise. We go back & forth a few times until we start laughing simultaneously. Sometimes, he will speak over me, & when I stop emitting sound, he stops as well, suspicious of the sudden silence. When I sing "Baby Mine" (from Dumbo), he likes to talk over my voice as well. It's murmuring that expresses how pleased he is with my singing (I think). He likes singing anyway.
4. He has learned to cover his face when he sleeps. I started covering his eyes with his lovie when he napped in my parents' sunlit family room. My grandmother scolded me for fear of suffocating him, so I stopped. Now he does it all on his own. Yeah, it's pretty cute.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Our Roly Poly is Stuck in Singapore
Atticus rolled for the first time yesterday as he was being inspected by his pediatrician. He went from stomach to back. It took him a painstakingly long time, but stood next to him & rooted him on as he stretched, arched, & pushed himself over. We love milestones!
He has been gnawing on his hand a lot & some nights waking up 4-5 times a night wanting to feed. He is above the mean on the growth chart. Being 4 months & 1 week & already 16 pounds, he is a large baby, especially considering that breast milk is his only source of food. We've had such trouble sleeping through the night this week. I am a walking zombie much of the day. Can't finish sentences, can't keep complex thoughts in my head...
The pediatrician suggested feeding him rice cereal. Although I read two baby books that stated there was little evidence showing that solids make babies sleep through the night, the pediatrician touted that solids would. So we fed him solids last night, & he happily ate it up & laughed while chomping away.
Our Year-two anniversary is on Saturday. The same day that Robby is leaving for Oxford for two weeks. I joke around and say that he owes me big time for leaving the baby with me & my parents, but I'm lucky that my parents love babies & are willing to help. Still, it's not the same when Daddy isn't around.
He has been gnawing on his hand a lot & some nights waking up 4-5 times a night wanting to feed. He is above the mean on the growth chart. Being 4 months & 1 week & already 16 pounds, he is a large baby, especially considering that breast milk is his only source of food. We've had such trouble sleeping through the night this week. I am a walking zombie much of the day. Can't finish sentences, can't keep complex thoughts in my head...
The pediatrician suggested feeding him rice cereal. Although I read two baby books that stated there was little evidence showing that solids make babies sleep through the night, the pediatrician touted that solids would. So we fed him solids last night, & he happily ate it up & laughed while chomping away.
Our Year-two anniversary is on Saturday. The same day that Robby is leaving for Oxford for two weeks. I joke around and say that he owes me big time for leaving the baby with me & my parents, but I'm lucky that my parents love babies & are willing to help. Still, it's not the same when Daddy isn't around.
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