Welcome to parenting hell. I sit, as I type this with one hand, upon my in-laws' couch feeding the boy a bottle with the other hand in desperate hopes that it will lull him in to enough of a stupor that the inevitable next step will be actual sleep.
It is nine am on Friday. We arrived here late Tuesday night. In the intervening time we have ascertained two horrible, unimpeachable facts. Fact number one is that Ruby has the flu. Fact number two is that Lupe is teething. In spite of the awful simplicity, banality of these causes, the truly awful power derives from their effects. The crankiness. The lack of sleep. The whining.
The vomiting.
And horribly, the effects in turn led to further ancillary effects. Crankiness, lack of sleep, and whining from the parents chief among them. There was indeed a brief vomit scare when Natasha was removing Ruby's clothes after one of her bouts. It was close, but somehow Natasha was able to bravely suppress the upheaval of the contents of Ruby's stomach, and so we are spared the ignominy of adding vomiting to the list of ancillary effects.
Ruby, of course, has not been quite as lucky. We have no doubt that she has been attempting valiantly to hold down what little has been in her tiny little belly. She seems to try to hold it in even as it comes rushing up. The horrified disbelieving look on her face, I think, has drawn me in to attempt to provide some modicum of comfort for her, and thus has been my undoing, rendering me much too close to the action. I would like to be able to say that these were rookie, or amateur mistakes made in confused ignorance. Sadly, I can't. I have lost count at this point of the number of times that Ruby has thrown up on me in the last couple of years. Somehow, it seems, whenever she does throw up, I manage to be in the way of the liquid reaching the ground.
I did, at least, manage to avoid doing so on this trip a somewhat remarkable two out of four times. Not that I took any discernible action to avoid the vomit. In fact, in spite of my previous experience in just such situations, I felt inexorably compelled by the look on her face to instead move towards her.
That, apparently, was my mistake.
As I moved towards her, the vomit moved towards me, and we ineluctably met. That, unfortunately, was not my last mistake. Had I availed myself of an opportunity to separate the vomit from my person in anywhere near a timely manner, the incident may have had diminished lasting effect, if you will. I did not, in the end, have the wherewithal nor foresight nor means to do so, and therefore went about the business of the day thusly.
I would like to think of my state in the kindest possible light, and that would undoubtedly be that I stayed that way in soiled solidarity with my poor daughter. Due to the unholy combination of the too-kind hearts of her parents, her enfeebled state, and her avowed hatred of baths (even in the best of times) she did not bathe until Thursday afternoon. I report this out of a shamed sense of duty, knowing full well how unkindly the authorities might look upon such a situation. But, in truth, that poor little child did indeed endure not only the insults of the virus' invasion and the resulting discomforts, but a night, then a full day, and then another half day with not only the residue of the vomit upon her skin, but so much of the stench in her hair that her mother took to pulling it back into a loose pony tail in no small part as an undoubtedly failed attempt to retain a basic level of hygiene.
Poor thing. And poor parents. As the old adage states, when it rains, it pours. Perhaps if we religious, we would look at this as a test, or search for some sense of meaning in the seeming randomness. We would be comforted and our self worth would swell at the knowledge that none is given more than they can bear. Unfortunately we are not, and must face the ergodic charms of life without such talismans. We must stare down such challenges as these with nothing more than a sense of humor and the insanely silly notion buried deep within our DNA that it is our primary duty to protect and provide for our progeny.
How else can one possibly explain our failure to run screaming into the night when we were deprived of sleep during these same days by a tiny tooth breaking its way free through the gums of our son.
Alas, we did not run screaming, although I am sure we were both privately tempted deep in our hearts at some point during the ordeal. Ruby is fully recovered now, and Lupe has been sleeping better the last few nights. But, damn, that was a bad stretch. Either one of them not feeling well would have been ok, and even both of them would have been bad but manageable had we been at home, but to have it all happen at once was truly the stuff of Christmas legend. And so it will go into the lore of our family...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Note from Aunt Amanda
I know I told a story repeated here, but this is Amanda's note on the evening she spent with Ruby before she moved to France a couple of weeks ago...
with your daughter last evening:
"Hold still. I said hold still! (Now in a whisper voice) Be quiet and listen."
(When I was trying to sneak out of her inner sanctum space under her bed, to get my burrito.)
"Do I have to count my books for you? (Picture me playing dumb.) I said, do I have to count my books for you? There's three. One. Two. Three."
(When I was testing her sleepy resolve by judging whether or not I had to finish the third bedtime story.)
"It doesn't fit you. Put it back!"
(When I was pretending to dance with her tutu on.)
"Please don't play with that. It is too late."
(When I erroneously moved a toy out of place.)
But my favorite moments were: Ruby READING her books to me, watching her spell out everyone's name in the room on her own personal laptop, and her deciding that, in fact, Zuzi and Tigger can share us as friends.
RUBY!!!
"She's my rock'n'roll Ruby, rock'n'roll
Rock'n'roll Ruby, rock'n'roll
When Ruby starts a-rockin'
Boy it satisfies my soul."
A bientot ~
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A couple of Videos
I have been feeling really overwhelmed lately, so my posting has been paltry. I apologize. As a very soory recompense, here are a couple of videos of the crazy monkey boy attempting to stand.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving Pictures
We're back from the trip to LA for Thanksgiving, exhausted. Nevertheless, here are the pictures.
Maile rockin' the Santa hat
and with Quinn looking on in admiration
Isabella, the saddest girl in the world
Kissing the saddest boy in the world
Isabella wisely runs from Uncle Kevin
Lupe making Papi proud by going for the good stuff, a growler from Pizza Port
Rby makes Papi proud by rockin' the Pizza Port hat
Ruby and Great-Grandpa John share a laugh
With Great Grandpa John and Erlinda during our visit to Escondido
Laughs all around
and again
Ruby and Quinn having fun at the Getty
The daredevil showing off his skills
The saddest boy in the world, being sad, as usual
The kids table at Thanksgiving
Ruby with her Nana
Some serious eye-rubbing from some seriously tired boys
My first inclination for this picture was to make some crack about how much Tony is going to teach him, but the more that I look at it, the more I think that these two are going to be full partners in any shenanigans they may get into in the years to come.
These two together has trouble written all over it. They are just too happy. I don't trust those smiles.
At least he's not crying, even though he's being held by a female, in this case, Aunt Alisa.
The inevitable post Thanksgiving coma
Maile rockin' the Santa hat
and with Quinn looking on in admiration
Isabella, the saddest girl in the world
Kissing the saddest boy in the world
Isabella wisely runs from Uncle Kevin
Lupe making Papi proud by going for the good stuff, a growler from Pizza Port
Rby makes Papi proud by rockin' the Pizza Port hat
Ruby and Great-Grandpa John share a laugh
With Great Grandpa John and Erlinda during our visit to Escondido
Laughs all around
and again
Ruby and Quinn having fun at the Getty
The daredevil showing off his skills
The saddest boy in the world, being sad, as usual
The kids table at Thanksgiving
Ruby with her Nana
Some serious eye-rubbing from some seriously tired boys
My first inclination for this picture was to make some crack about how much Tony is going to teach him, but the more that I look at it, the more I think that these two are going to be full partners in any shenanigans they may get into in the years to come.
These two together has trouble written all over it. They are just too happy. I don't trust those smiles.
At least he's not crying, even though he's being held by a female, in this case, Aunt Alisa.
The inevitable post Thanksgiving coma
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Off to LA
We're flying down to LA later this afternoon for Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd put up a quick post (with one kid sleeping on my chest and the other watching Sesame Street) because I probably won't while we're down there.
Everybody in the family but me has been sick at some point in the last couple of weeks, which has been fun. Ruby started preschool a couple of weeks ago.
Alright, now you're caught up. I said it was going to be a quick post. OK, one more item.
As many of you know, there is a phrase that has entered the popular lexicon of the sporting world, referring to the baseball player Manny Ramirez, which is "Manny being Manny". For those of us who live in her world, there is the corollary "Ruby being Ruby" under which we can file this latest bit of Rubyrific-ness.
Last night, our friends Greg and Amanda came by, essentially to say goodbye before moving to Paris in a couple of weeks. After some negotiation, Amanda was allowed to read Ruby her three books that she gets as a part of bedtime routine. After two books, Amanda attempted to tease her by pretending to be done.
Ruby, of course, was not amused. She turned to Amanda and said in utter seriousness, and presumably with more than a touch of condescension, "do I have to count the books?"
We can only assume that she was just making sure that the legend of her precociousness travels as potently as possible to Paris.
Job well done, little girl.
Everybody in the family but me has been sick at some point in the last couple of weeks, which has been fun. Ruby started preschool a couple of weeks ago.
Alright, now you're caught up. I said it was going to be a quick post. OK, one more item.
As many of you know, there is a phrase that has entered the popular lexicon of the sporting world, referring to the baseball player Manny Ramirez, which is "Manny being Manny". For those of us who live in her world, there is the corollary "Ruby being Ruby" under which we can file this latest bit of Rubyrific-ness.
Last night, our friends Greg and Amanda came by, essentially to say goodbye before moving to Paris in a couple of weeks. After some negotiation, Amanda was allowed to read Ruby her three books that she gets as a part of bedtime routine. After two books, Amanda attempted to tease her by pretending to be done.
Ruby, of course, was not amused. She turned to Amanda and said in utter seriousness, and presumably with more than a touch of condescension, "do I have to count the books?"
We can only assume that she was just making sure that the legend of her precociousness travels as potently as possible to Paris.
Job well done, little girl.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Touchdown!
The quote of the night goes to Ruby, as it almost always does:
Denver scores a touchdown to go ahead, and I have them in the pool, so I say "Touchdown!"
Ruby throws her hands up as well, gives me a big smile, then turns to Mommy, who does not have her hands up, and says to her,
"Put your touchdown on!"
Which, of course, she did.
Denver scores a touchdown to go ahead, and I have them in the pool, so I say "Touchdown!"
Ruby throws her hands up as well, gives me a big smile, then turns to Mommy, who does not have her hands up, and says to her,
"Put your touchdown on!"
Which, of course, she did.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Live Election Blogging!
Ok, so really it's just a few pictures from when we went to the poll to vote this morning.
Our super, incredibly inspiring polling place. Can't you just feel the pride swelling in your heart to be a small part of the grand American Experience?
The is just after voting.
Someone is excited about election day!
Outside our door as we made our way home.
And, of course, proof positive that voting makes you giddy...
Our super, incredibly inspiring polling place. Can't you just feel the pride swelling in your heart to be a small part of the grand American Experience?
The is just after voting.
Someone is excited about election day!
Outside our door as we made our way home.
And, of course, proof positive that voting makes you giddy...
Monday, November 03, 2008
Just a post
I've been a bit busy lately, with a really busy weekend last week and some mild colds being passed around.
Oh, and the election. Every time I get near the computer these days, I get sucked into the political coverage, sometimes for long periods of time. Well, long periods of time for the primary caretaker of two kids.
The good news is that it's nearly over. And, hopefully, there will be more good news when it is. I had Lupe and only Lupe today, and he is finally over his cold, so we headed out after taking a look at the weather prediction, which said that the rain was past us for the day. We first stopped at Blue Bottle Coffee, where there was a stunningly small group of 3 patrons. The barista said that he'd never seen it that dead either. So, even though I had planned to get the beans and the cup to go, we actually stayed since there weren't enough people to be bothered by (or a danger to) a baby crawling around.
Later, we went to Borders, and since they had the learn to read books in the same aisle as the stuffed animals, I was actually able to read through them and make what I felt was a decently informed decision about which one to get for Ruby. As many of you know, I am mildly anti-academic when it comes to the kids, preferring to let them develop cognitive abilities that aren't necessarily strictly structured into the conventions of academic development as we know it in this culture. That being said, Ruby seems to be getting very interested in learning how to read. She has memorized whole books, and will "read" them, as well as making up story lines for books which she has not memorized yet.
And, she quickly proved to be more than ready for it, when she was able to memorize the entire first book on the second try, thereby earning a sticker and moving on the second book in the series.
In any case, when we walked out the door of Borders, it was raining really hard. I had called John earlier to arrange grabbing a beer and lunch at 21st Amendment Brewery, but was a two block walk away from the bus, and then faced the prospect of another two block walk once getting off the bus in order to get to the brewery. As I stood there under the awning contemplating my options (A cab? Call and cancel? A mad dash?), a man standing beside me, whom I had only vaguely registered as being there, offered me his umbrella. I hesitated, and demurred, but he insisted, and I finally gratefully accepted.
A very nice moment indeed. It led to that beer, some good conversation, a bit of simple joy in Lupe's inherent happiness, and a nice (if somewhat rare, for me) fuzzy feeling for humanity. I am also hopefully anticipating a nice fat fuzzy feeling for all of the people who do the right thing, who make and become a part of history tomorrow...
Oh, and the election. Every time I get near the computer these days, I get sucked into the political coverage, sometimes for long periods of time. Well, long periods of time for the primary caretaker of two kids.
The good news is that it's nearly over. And, hopefully, there will be more good news when it is. I had Lupe and only Lupe today, and he is finally over his cold, so we headed out after taking a look at the weather prediction, which said that the rain was past us for the day. We first stopped at Blue Bottle Coffee, where there was a stunningly small group of 3 patrons. The barista said that he'd never seen it that dead either. So, even though I had planned to get the beans and the cup to go, we actually stayed since there weren't enough people to be bothered by (or a danger to) a baby crawling around.
Later, we went to Borders, and since they had the learn to read books in the same aisle as the stuffed animals, I was actually able to read through them and make what I felt was a decently informed decision about which one to get for Ruby. As many of you know, I am mildly anti-academic when it comes to the kids, preferring to let them develop cognitive abilities that aren't necessarily strictly structured into the conventions of academic development as we know it in this culture. That being said, Ruby seems to be getting very interested in learning how to read. She has memorized whole books, and will "read" them, as well as making up story lines for books which she has not memorized yet.
And, she quickly proved to be more than ready for it, when she was able to memorize the entire first book on the second try, thereby earning a sticker and moving on the second book in the series.
In any case, when we walked out the door of Borders, it was raining really hard. I had called John earlier to arrange grabbing a beer and lunch at 21st Amendment Brewery, but was a two block walk away from the bus, and then faced the prospect of another two block walk once getting off the bus in order to get to the brewery. As I stood there under the awning contemplating my options (A cab? Call and cancel? A mad dash?), a man standing beside me, whom I had only vaguely registered as being there, offered me his umbrella. I hesitated, and demurred, but he insisted, and I finally gratefully accepted.
A very nice moment indeed. It led to that beer, some good conversation, a bit of simple joy in Lupe's inherent happiness, and a nice (if somewhat rare, for me) fuzzy feeling for humanity. I am also hopefully anticipating a nice fat fuzzy feeling for all of the people who do the right thing, who make and become a part of history tomorrow...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Help from the Boys
A fantastic photo at the party, courtesy of Jane.
The way that Jude is positioned makes it look a little like they could be in a band, rockin the nasty chorus of a Stones song...
The way that Jude is positioned makes it look a little like they could be in a band, rockin the nasty chorus of a Stones song...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Ruby's 3rd Birthday Party
Yes, well, she's not quite there yet, but we went ahead and celebrated anyway. We had the party in our backyard, which worked out great, as it was an enclosed area for good toddler containment and tolerably cool (not to mention that we didn't have to drag half the stuff in the house to the park or pick up a ridiculous tab somewhere).
The star of the show
Having a nice moment with Aubrey, actually cooperating over a pile of presents, which shows admirable restraint.
Little bro with Nana
The hit of the party by far was the face painting. My idea, with Karen as the artist. Here we have Karla getting a fish, with her mom Melissa straining to get a peek.
Ruby as a kitty
Jude, already painted with his flower, doing some critiquing of the job being done on the next customer
Aubrey trying in vain to see his rocket in the mirror
The cake has those candles that keep coming back to life, which seemed to just befuddle the toddlers. Maybe we should try again next year, but this year, it was only amusing to the so called adults
Cake!
Opening presents with Mommy
Good sharing!
He's starting to seem like a little puppy, nipping at our heels wherever we go
She named this gift, from her buddy upstairs Rachel, Zuzzie (not Suzy)
Instructing me in some way as I engage in the other big hit for the little ones: tattoos!
Showin' off the tats
And then, the meltdowns. Somehow, they all seemed to happen simultaneously. Karla won hands down for best meltdown. This picture doesn't even begin to capture how fantastic it truly was.
Ruby looking a little worse for wear towards the end.
The aftermath
The star of the show
Having a nice moment with Aubrey, actually cooperating over a pile of presents, which shows admirable restraint.
Little bro with Nana
The hit of the party by far was the face painting. My idea, with Karen as the artist. Here we have Karla getting a fish, with her mom Melissa straining to get a peek.
Ruby as a kitty
Jude, already painted with his flower, doing some critiquing of the job being done on the next customer
Aubrey trying in vain to see his rocket in the mirror
The cake has those candles that keep coming back to life, which seemed to just befuddle the toddlers. Maybe we should try again next year, but this year, it was only amusing to the so called adults
Cake!
Opening presents with Mommy
Good sharing!
He's starting to seem like a little puppy, nipping at our heels wherever we go
She named this gift, from her buddy upstairs Rachel, Zuzzie (not Suzy)
Instructing me in some way as I engage in the other big hit for the little ones: tattoos!
Showin' off the tats
And then, the meltdowns. Somehow, they all seemed to happen simultaneously. Karla won hands down for best meltdown. This picture doesn't even begin to capture how fantastic it truly was.
Ruby looking a little worse for wear towards the end.
The aftermath
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Latest
My mother, Ruby and Lupe's Nana, flew in from LA last night, which is why I have the time to post. I even had time to break out the clippers and shave my hair for the first time since I've been on paternity leave.
Yay for Nana!
The sleep deprivation resulting from the teething has been brutal. It was actually getting slowly better, then they went to the pediatrician and got shots yesterday, which put Lupe in particular in a seriously foul mood last night.
Well, here are a couple of pictures from when he was not in a foul mood, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. This is year eight, and Natasha and I were at the first one, and have only missed it a couple of times, thanks to the price (free) and proximity.
We were able to go on Friday afternoon for a quick look at the set by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, which was fantastic. We then spent the better part of Sunday there with Aubrey, Cecil, Karen, Walt, Chops, and Jude. We spread out a quite large area with quite a few blankets at the stage where they played mostly real bluegrass which is both good in and of itself, but also at a decent volume for the little guys. It was a fantastically sunny day, as you can see in the pics.
Lupe and I then tooled around town with cousins Alisa and Tony on Monday, who were also visiting from LA, which was both fun and exhausting. Lupe hardly slept all day long, yet stayed pretty mellow and happy, which everyone was duly impressed with. They were also still in town on Tuesday, but I couldn't bring myself to inflict more time with children on them while they were on vacation from their own, so we stayed home and cleaned up the back yard in preparation for Ruby's birthday party this weekend. It's going to be a fairly mellow affair as far as these things go, in keeping with our general less is more philosophy (and this kind of thinking). As far as I'm concerned, it's difficult to see how it gets much more exciting for a three year old than having a bunch of other three year olds come over and eat cake with them. Anything above and beyond that is for the parents, I think.
Next year, it may be different, but for now some cake, a big box of sidewalk chalk, and some face paint should be all the entertainment necessary.
Oh, and the keg, but that is obviously necessary for other reasons...
Yay for Nana!
The sleep deprivation resulting from the teething has been brutal. It was actually getting slowly better, then they went to the pediatrician and got shots yesterday, which put Lupe in particular in a seriously foul mood last night.
Well, here are a couple of pictures from when he was not in a foul mood, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. This is year eight, and Natasha and I were at the first one, and have only missed it a couple of times, thanks to the price (free) and proximity.
We were able to go on Friday afternoon for a quick look at the set by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, which was fantastic. We then spent the better part of Sunday there with Aubrey, Cecil, Karen, Walt, Chops, and Jude. We spread out a quite large area with quite a few blankets at the stage where they played mostly real bluegrass which is both good in and of itself, but also at a decent volume for the little guys. It was a fantastically sunny day, as you can see in the pics.
Lupe and I then tooled around town with cousins Alisa and Tony on Monday, who were also visiting from LA, which was both fun and exhausting. Lupe hardly slept all day long, yet stayed pretty mellow and happy, which everyone was duly impressed with. They were also still in town on Tuesday, but I couldn't bring myself to inflict more time with children on them while they were on vacation from their own, so we stayed home and cleaned up the back yard in preparation for Ruby's birthday party this weekend. It's going to be a fairly mellow affair as far as these things go, in keeping with our general less is more philosophy (and this kind of thinking). As far as I'm concerned, it's difficult to see how it gets much more exciting for a three year old than having a bunch of other three year olds come over and eat cake with them. Anything above and beyond that is for the parents, I think.
Next year, it may be different, but for now some cake, a big box of sidewalk chalk, and some face paint should be all the entertainment necessary.
Oh, and the keg, but that is obviously necessary for other reasons...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Still No Sleep
So, sleep is still the issue of the day.
Lupe did well a couple of days after getting home from LA, but Ruby chose this time to become incredibly frightened of things (not just in the dark, but definitely in the dark as well). And then, he started teething. He had three really bad nights because of the impending tooth, and then turned the corner last night. He slept through.
Of course, Ruby did not. She kept waking up, and Natasha couldn’t fall back to sleep, and ended up awake for a good two hour stretch in the middle of the night.
Some day, and I really hope it’s soon, they will both have a good night on the same night.
Aside from the sleep drama, things are going fairly well. Ruby is excited about her birthday party, and Lupe is excited about the whole wide world. Miracle of miracles, I was able to get out for two whole beers at Toronado yesterday.
The other thing that Ruby is excited about is our neighbor upstairs, Rachel. Rachel has been gardening and cleaning up in the backyard, which our living room window overlooks, all summer, and Ruby has become obsessed with her. She will ask excitedly every time she hears some sound coming from the yard, "Is that my friend Rachel?" while she runs to the window.
When it actually is Rachel, she runs outside as fast as she can, and "helps" her. It's super cute, and Rachel does seem to genuinely like her and her company, so it's actually quite fabulous to have some tiny respite every once in a while. It's also great that Rachel has managed to clean up the yard to the point that we can let Ruby run around out there all by herself. Perhaps I'll try to get a picture soon...
Lupe did well a couple of days after getting home from LA, but Ruby chose this time to become incredibly frightened of things (not just in the dark, but definitely in the dark as well). And then, he started teething. He had three really bad nights because of the impending tooth, and then turned the corner last night. He slept through.
Of course, Ruby did not. She kept waking up, and Natasha couldn’t fall back to sleep, and ended up awake for a good two hour stretch in the middle of the night.
Some day, and I really hope it’s soon, they will both have a good night on the same night.
Aside from the sleep drama, things are going fairly well. Ruby is excited about her birthday party, and Lupe is excited about the whole wide world. Miracle of miracles, I was able to get out for two whole beers at Toronado yesterday.
The other thing that Ruby is excited about is our neighbor upstairs, Rachel. Rachel has been gardening and cleaning up in the backyard, which our living room window overlooks, all summer, and Ruby has become obsessed with her. She will ask excitedly every time she hears some sound coming from the yard, "Is that my friend Rachel?" while she runs to the window.
When it actually is Rachel, she runs outside as fast as she can, and "helps" her. It's super cute, and Rachel does seem to genuinely like her and her company, so it's actually quite fabulous to have some tiny respite every once in a while. It's also great that Rachel has managed to clean up the yard to the point that we can let Ruby run around out there all by herself. Perhaps I'll try to get a picture soon...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Divide and Conquer
Natasha flew down to LA yesterday in order to take a civil service exam, and took Lupe with her, so we each have a kid right now.
After we dropped them off at the airport, we decided to get some dinner. Normally, this would have meant one of the several brewpubs in town, but I've been battling a bit of a cold for a couple of days, so instead we ended up at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that is out in the Sunset district where we used to live, which I always liked more than Natasha. Ruby was in a super good mood, chatting and asking questions in the most lively and adorable manner possible. She was excited to be able to get "Chicken Nuggets" at a restaurant, and for the first time actually drank the tea instead of just playing with it (which she did as well, of course).
As we were walking back to the car, I felt my resolve weakening, and started to think that maybe I would get her some sort of treat at one of the many candy/ice cream/yogurt/tapioca drink places in that neighborhood, but was saved by a produce stand that had strawberries. They were even from Watsonville, so I didn't even have to endure a slight pang of guilt at getting something from halfway around the world. Strawberries are her favorite food in any case, so she did get a special treat, which she ate during her other special treat, watching the movie Madagascar. I got the special treat of perusing the latest election news without being interrupted.
Of course, I missed who would have been interrupting me. Lupe has been getting much more active and inquisitive lately, as well as just plain more fun and cute and interactive. Just the fact that he can crawl from one room in to the other on his own is somehow amusing (although it won't be for too long). I realized as I was saying goodbye to him at the airport that I have been with him almost 24 hours a day every day for the last three weeks. I go to work one day a week, but aside from that, I have rarely been not in the same place with him, particularly since Natasha got word that she was going to take this test and has been studying a lot.
It also feels that way because we have been trying to train him to sleep better. When they are tiny, they get fed all night long, any time they are hungry. At a certain point , though, it ceases to be about hunger. Yet, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, the quickest, easiest way to get him back to sleep is the boob. But, getting the boob all the time doesn't exactly encourage him to stay asleep. So, when I went to the pediatrician for his six month check up, I asked how long he should be able to go without food at night.
Eight hours.
Alright, then. So, the solution was to separate him and Natasha. Natasha and Ruby started sleeping on the air mattress in the other room, leaving the boys alone. It started slowly. I put him on a bottle schedule for the night, but comforted him as usual, picking him up of need be. The I stopped picking him up, then cut out all but one feeding, then stopped giving him any but the most cursory comfort, and finally cut that last feeding. It took about three weeks, and was tough at times, but resulted in him sleeping through the night a couple of times.
We then allowed the girls back in, which was a disaster, of course. But, at least we know he can do it, and we'll figure it out. But the reason I tell this story is because the whole process has made me feel like he and I have been spending a lot of time together, even more so than just taking care of him six days a week, which is plenty.
After we dropped them off at the airport, we decided to get some dinner. Normally, this would have meant one of the several brewpubs in town, but I've been battling a bit of a cold for a couple of days, so instead we ended up at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that is out in the Sunset district where we used to live, which I always liked more than Natasha. Ruby was in a super good mood, chatting and asking questions in the most lively and adorable manner possible. She was excited to be able to get "Chicken Nuggets" at a restaurant, and for the first time actually drank the tea instead of just playing with it (which she did as well, of course).
As we were walking back to the car, I felt my resolve weakening, and started to think that maybe I would get her some sort of treat at one of the many candy/ice cream/yogurt/tapioca drink places in that neighborhood, but was saved by a produce stand that had strawberries. They were even from Watsonville, so I didn't even have to endure a slight pang of guilt at getting something from halfway around the world. Strawberries are her favorite food in any case, so she did get a special treat, which she ate during her other special treat, watching the movie Madagascar. I got the special treat of perusing the latest election news without being interrupted.
Of course, I missed who would have been interrupting me. Lupe has been getting much more active and inquisitive lately, as well as just plain more fun and cute and interactive. Just the fact that he can crawl from one room in to the other on his own is somehow amusing (although it won't be for too long). I realized as I was saying goodbye to him at the airport that I have been with him almost 24 hours a day every day for the last three weeks. I go to work one day a week, but aside from that, I have rarely been not in the same place with him, particularly since Natasha got word that she was going to take this test and has been studying a lot.
It also feels that way because we have been trying to train him to sleep better. When they are tiny, they get fed all night long, any time they are hungry. At a certain point , though, it ceases to be about hunger. Yet, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, the quickest, easiest way to get him back to sleep is the boob. But, getting the boob all the time doesn't exactly encourage him to stay asleep. So, when I went to the pediatrician for his six month check up, I asked how long he should be able to go without food at night.
Eight hours.
Alright, then. So, the solution was to separate him and Natasha. Natasha and Ruby started sleeping on the air mattress in the other room, leaving the boys alone. It started slowly. I put him on a bottle schedule for the night, but comforted him as usual, picking him up of need be. The I stopped picking him up, then cut out all but one feeding, then stopped giving him any but the most cursory comfort, and finally cut that last feeding. It took about three weeks, and was tough at times, but resulted in him sleeping through the night a couple of times.
We then allowed the girls back in, which was a disaster, of course. But, at least we know he can do it, and we'll figure it out. But the reason I tell this story is because the whole process has made me feel like he and I have been spending a lot of time together, even more so than just taking care of him six days a week, which is plenty.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Big Sis!
Now, if I can just get to the point where Ruby doesn't need my help, then we'd really have something. As it is, it's just very cute...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
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