sorry i've been such a negligent blogger lately. henry has been taking 1.5 hrs to fall asleep most nights, which eats mightily into my computer-y time.
i've also been busy training for a half marathon i'm running in a few weeks and preparing to change jobs tomorrow.
i'll write more soon about henry's wacky adjustment back to eastern time and how it's effecting his sleep schedule and my psyche...
but for now, enjoy some monkey mayhem.
loves the park.can't get enough of it. too bad there are so many monsters on the loose.
henry now LOVES swimming lessons. watch him go!!
this video is a little hard to watch (dramamine helps), but man was he having fun. actually, we all had tummy aches from laughing so hard! :)
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
There is No Henry, Only Zuul.
several times in seattle, and again last night and tonight, henry wakes up in hysterics and is inconsolable. he bats away all attempts for comfort. even being held and rocked, sang to, pacifier...all of it is dead to him when he is beyond himself like that.
it's really hard to see. and he just winds up higher and higher and is screaming- it sounds like it must be hurting his throat. and his little snot nose is running all over....it's rough.
a change of scenery (taking him outside) or turning on "melmo" (the muppets dvd) will eventually calm him enough that he can be comforted and finally ushered back to sleep.
but when he's full throttle, it's almost like he doesn't even see us.
i'm wondering if it's night terrors. or teething- but he's never responded to pain like this before. we give him motrin when he's melting down, but it's hard to know if that, or time, or kermit is what finally relaxes him.
we're going to the peds for his 15 month appt tomorrow and we'll talk to her about it then.
poor angel.
it's really hard to see. and he just winds up higher and higher and is screaming- it sounds like it must be hurting his throat. and his little snot nose is running all over....it's rough.
a change of scenery (taking him outside) or turning on "melmo" (the muppets dvd) will eventually calm him enough that he can be comforted and finally ushered back to sleep.
but when he's full throttle, it's almost like he doesn't even see us.
i'm wondering if it's night terrors. or teething- but he's never responded to pain like this before. we give him motrin when he's melting down, but it's hard to know if that, or time, or kermit is what finally relaxes him.
we're going to the peds for his 15 month appt tomorrow and we'll talk to her about it then.
poor angel.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Part II: Seattle (And Still No Yeti, But Yet More Hills)
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| salmon on the fish ladder, ballard locks |
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| fremont troll |
tuesday, we met up with some friends and henry got to play with their little scooter (about the same age, also named henry. it was a henry-palooza) and i got to drink his home-roasted coffee. soooo nummmy.
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| seattle underground. henry found he preferred to be above ground. |
(oh, on the topic of coffee....loved espresso vivace. also enjoyed drip coffee from caffe vita and several others whose names i cannot remember but i am certain are neither 'starbucks' nor 'seattle's best.' i am also certain that seattle has ruined me for ever being able to tolerate a cup of hospital coffee ever again. instead of "i taste hints of vanilla and oak" it's more like "i taste ass and fire. definitely ass...maybe even ON fire.")
then we got lunch in the U district (university of washington, where all the vegan hippies go, apparently) at a delightful local vegan hot spot and then went to the EMP where henry and i slept in the car and robb explored and saw all kinds of super sweet stuff. i am told. :) then we went on the seattle underground tour to see what happened after this hilly, muddy pioneer square area burned down in 1889 and was then re-built with retaining walls on ground level then intentionally flooded with (somewhat) sturdy stuff while the usable buildings were built on top of all that. very interesting.
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| nirvana exhibit, EMP museum |
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| seattleites are very friendly. |
and that concluded our trip. we saw and did a lot, but also got a lot of good relaxing in. and eating. oh, Lordy, did we eat.
but people are so active (and happy. and polite) there, the donuts and other food don't really seem to stick much. like in most cities, everyone is trim and attractive and has chic hair and clothes. especially there, maybe. this place (portlanders would probably disagree) seems to be the world epicenter of cool, new, and fun. like a friend said, "the city has whimsy." and it does. everyone seems to make an effort to make it more fun, more interesting, more tasty to live there. the collective conscious seems to be WE LOVE IT HERE, not how can we keep making it better?
and that is so fun and refreshing.
we will definitely go back. we would love to see portland and the mountains and more of the oceany-island-y stuff. and the city is friendly, and easy to get around in, and fun and interesting.
but....there are a lot of hills.
it's always good to come home after a long time away. we'll see what the time change, jet lag stuff does to our baby monster. after the red eye landed at 6am, he let us all sleep in until 11am. then fell back to sleep at 6pm this time and was back up, blazing mad at 9pm and its midnight now and we're all still up! so we shall see what tonight/tomorrow brings.
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| quick grocery shopping after returning home. unconscious man. 6pm. |
......more pics........
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| fish throwing at pike place market |
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| flowers at PPM- gorgeous and cheap! those bouquets- $5!! |
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| original starbucks- same stuff as unoriginal starbucks. |
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| "gum wall" at pike place market |
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| kid really likes root beer. a lot. |
Part I: Back From Seattle- We Saw and Ate it All! (Except for the Yeti)
seattle was amazing.
but there are a lot of hills.
first, after all my anxiety about flying with a baby, henry traveled like a total boss. on both flights (non-stop, late night, 1 dose of benadryl), he slept the whole way and the few minutes before take-off when he was awake, he was charming and solicitous to the folks around us, so they all kind of seemed to be on our side after that.
i even got over the fact that, while we waited in the airport, he ran around and ate fallen crackers from the carpet that surely had SARS, MRSA, VRE, and both avian and swine flue's laced into the weave.
ahem. anyway.
our first few days there, he and robb spent a lot of time walking around the central business district while i was in a conference. we're so fortunate that we have some friends and family out there, so they were able to show us around and make sure we got where we needed to be. not to exclude beaches and donut shops. seattle is full of donut shops. apparently you have to have something delicious to dip in your delicious coffee.
i thumbs up this philosophy.
thursday, we flew in late. the drive into town from the airport is lovely- large evergreen trees line the highway and the cityscape is beautiful. i was surprised and disappointed that we did not see a sasquach on our way in, but i hear they can really mess up a front end, and we were driving a rental...so probably for the best.
(incidentally, we also saw no vampires. the trip was a total failure in the mystical creature department. perhaps we were in the wrong parts of the pacNW?)
seattle is 3 hrs behind us at home, so the first few mornings, henry was wide awake and chipper at 3am, but he eventually adjusted. friday, robb shopped and beached with friends and family while i conferenced. and for dinner we all ate a sort of sushi buffet where the food travels past you on a conveyor belt and you just pick and pay for what you want. awesome. so good. want one in my house.
saturday, i conferenced some more and then we met up with some friends and explored pike place market and the aquarium. both were very cool. PPM has some really interesting food (we ate bolivian for lunch!) and the produce is incredible. robb bought some "holy shit" peaches (their name, not mine, but i would have named them similarly) and chocolate covered cherries. we also saw fish get thrown and henry kissed a pig. (see below). the aquarium was a huge hit with monkey. he said and signed "FISHFISHFISHFISHFISH" for roughly 90 minutes straight. then we ate ethiopian for dinner with my wonderful cousin and her hubs.
sunday, before we checked out of the hotel, we went for a swim.
henry had a ball! he's totally comfortable in the water now, after all those swimming lessons, and he and robb are a fine pair of fish. they splash and dive and throw each other around and just laugh until they crap themselves.
no, seriously. henry totally pooped in the pool. robb and i had a quick wide-eyed, guilty-panic-look exchange and then we wrapped him in 3 towels and raced out of the fitness center, up the elevator, and to the safety of our hotel room where we could hose him down and try not to vom in peace.
so, that happened.
after that, we went up the space needle and to the chihuly garden and glass museum and ate great mexican food. then we found our way to my cousin's neck of the woods and we enjoyed a cool craft/flea market, some vegan desserts, and some delicious home-grilled salmon (and veggie brats!).
but there are a lot of hills.
first, after all my anxiety about flying with a baby, henry traveled like a total boss. on both flights (non-stop, late night, 1 dose of benadryl), he slept the whole way and the few minutes before take-off when he was awake, he was charming and solicitous to the folks around us, so they all kind of seemed to be on our side after that.
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| on my lap, on the plane. safety vest for decoration. |
i even got over the fact that, while we waited in the airport, he ran around and ate fallen crackers from the carpet that surely had SARS, MRSA, VRE, and both avian and swine flue's laced into the weave.
ahem. anyway.
our first few days there, he and robb spent a lot of time walking around the central business district while i was in a conference. we're so fortunate that we have some friends and family out there, so they were able to show us around and make sure we got where we needed to be. not to exclude beaches and donut shops. seattle is full of donut shops. apparently you have to have something delicious to dip in your delicious coffee.
i thumbs up this philosophy.
thursday, we flew in late. the drive into town from the airport is lovely- large evergreen trees line the highway and the cityscape is beautiful. i was surprised and disappointed that we did not see a sasquach on our way in, but i hear they can really mess up a front end, and we were driving a rental...so probably for the best.
(incidentally, we also saw no vampires. the trip was a total failure in the mystical creature department. perhaps we were in the wrong parts of the pacNW?)
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| wide awake, chipper. 3:00am |
seattle is 3 hrs behind us at home, so the first few mornings, henry was wide awake and chipper at 3am, but he eventually adjusted. friday, robb shopped and beached with friends and family while i conferenced. and for dinner we all ate a sort of sushi buffet where the food travels past you on a conveyor belt and you just pick and pay for what you want. awesome. so good. want one in my house.
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| puget sound is perty |
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| flashing the sign for "pig"(super proud of himself) |
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| FISH! seattle aquarium. |
sunday, before we checked out of the hotel, we went for a swim.
henry had a ball! he's totally comfortable in the water now, after all those swimming lessons, and he and robb are a fine pair of fish. they splash and dive and throw each other around and just laugh until they crap themselves.
no, seriously. henry totally pooped in the pool. robb and i had a quick wide-eyed, guilty-panic-look exchange and then we wrapped him in 3 towels and raced out of the fitness center, up the elevator, and to the safety of our hotel room where we could hose him down and try not to vom in peace.
so, that happened.
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| space needle |
after that, we went up the space needle and to the chihuly garden and glass museum and ate great mexican food. then we found our way to my cousin's neck of the woods and we enjoyed a cool craft/flea market, some vegan desserts, and some delicious home-grilled salmon (and veggie brats!).
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012
15 Months is Fine, Fine, Fine
well, monkey hit 15 mos on the 8th. he's been going through a lot of changes lately.
he has become SO verbal! he has tons of new words and seems to really be exploring his language. he copies a lot of what we say and comes up with new vocab seemingly out of the blue. on a walk the other day, he points up and says "mooooon," accurately identifying a sliver of the moon. maybe he got it from reading 'goodnight moon?' we don't know. can't recall every pointing and identifying the moon to him before. he also (sometimes) says/signs please and thank you, which we've decided is really important. he also has a sign language book for animals, so he can sign dog and frog and others. it's adorable.
life (work) has been a bit chaotic lately, but this little boy is pure joy, and makes all the other stuff seem like small potatoes. he is so loving and funny and smart and goofy. life with him is a lot of fun.
we spent his 15 month day at a cool kids garden and sculpture park with both grandma's, one of his great-grandmas, and his auntie E. it was a wonderful time. cool place and great company.
enjoy the pics! we're heading to seattle this coming weekend, so follow for "adventures of a baby monster in the pacific northwest."
he has become SO verbal! he has tons of new words and seems to really be exploring his language. he copies a lot of what we say and comes up with new vocab seemingly out of the blue. on a walk the other day, he points up and says "mooooon," accurately identifying a sliver of the moon. maybe he got it from reading 'goodnight moon?' we don't know. can't recall every pointing and identifying the moon to him before. he also (sometimes) says/signs please and thank you, which we've decided is really important. he also has a sign language book for animals, so he can sign dog and frog and others. it's adorable.
life (work) has been a bit chaotic lately, but this little boy is pure joy, and makes all the other stuff seem like small potatoes. he is so loving and funny and smart and goofy. life with him is a lot of fun.
we spent his 15 month day at a cool kids garden and sculpture park with both grandma's, one of his great-grandmas, and his auntie E. it was a wonderful time. cool place and great company.
enjoy the pics! we're heading to seattle this coming weekend, so follow for "adventures of a baby monster in the pacific northwest."
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| can you imagine cleaning up after that horse? yowza. |
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| crushing your head. |
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
It Turns Out Sleep Is Even Better Than I Remembered
sorry it's been ages since i blogged. busy summer with lots of super
fun small trips and lots of crazy busy days at work, etc, etc.
but i cannot blame a lack of sleep! monkey butt sleeps like a champ now! has for about a month. and i don't want to curse anything (could just be a phase, always), but maybe we're over some sort of hurdle.
all the experts say sleep is just another skill they need to learn like walking and flinging pees so they hit you square between the eyes.
it's amazing. all this time, the nighttime ritual we faithfully did seemed stupid because he never went down easily and didn't stay asleep long anyway....but all of a sudden, all it takes is reading to him (we all cuddle in our bed for 3-5 books, depending on how persuasive he is), a few minutes of rocking in his bedroom w/ some lullabies on, and then i put him in his crib ass-end up while he's still kind of awake, and he goes to sleep.
works for naps and bedtime. and he pretty much sleeps overnight from 8p-6a without waking up, although occasionally he fidgets for his pacifier or whatever. and then takes a 2-3 hr nap during the day.
and, man, this is so SO much better than it had been.
and just when robb and i are feeling like we're waking from this year-long sleep-deprived hallucination, all the boneheads we know are asking us if we're ready to have another baby.
uf! not now. wait until we're far enough in the clear w/ henry that we forget just how little sleep it actually is when they're newborns...then we'll talk.
and, PS, there are still LOADS of teeth to come in on our current model, so all this bragging i'm doing right now might haunt me when i'm up at 2am with an angry drooling baby monster.
but right now, all is quiet and peaceful. and i like it. :)
but i cannot blame a lack of sleep! monkey butt sleeps like a champ now! has for about a month. and i don't want to curse anything (could just be a phase, always), but maybe we're over some sort of hurdle.
all the experts say sleep is just another skill they need to learn like walking and flinging pees so they hit you square between the eyes.
it's amazing. all this time, the nighttime ritual we faithfully did seemed stupid because he never went down easily and didn't stay asleep long anyway....but all of a sudden, all it takes is reading to him (we all cuddle in our bed for 3-5 books, depending on how persuasive he is), a few minutes of rocking in his bedroom w/ some lullabies on, and then i put him in his crib ass-end up while he's still kind of awake, and he goes to sleep.
works for naps and bedtime. and he pretty much sleeps overnight from 8p-6a without waking up, although occasionally he fidgets for his pacifier or whatever. and then takes a 2-3 hr nap during the day.
and, man, this is so SO much better than it had been.
and just when robb and i are feeling like we're waking from this year-long sleep-deprived hallucination, all the boneheads we know are asking us if we're ready to have another baby.
uf! not now. wait until we're far enough in the clear w/ henry that we forget just how little sleep it actually is when they're newborns...then we'll talk.
and, PS, there are still LOADS of teeth to come in on our current model, so all this bragging i'm doing right now might haunt me when i'm up at 2am with an angry drooling baby monster.
but right now, all is quiet and peaceful. and i like it. :)
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