7 weeks

09/30/2009
09/30/2009
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Another week has zipped on by. Did I say Cameron’s been alert for only 20-30 minutes at a time? I think it’s actually closer to an hour! Today, after bouncing her on my lap, dancing along with her, putting her on her belly for short stints of tummy time, swinging her in the swing, etc., I finally busted out the playmat so she wouldn’t get so bored! She loved it. She was even trying to maneuver herself onto her side as she craned to get a better look at her toys! She spent quite a while just enjoying swatting, clutching, and staring at the various toys that hang from the top.


09/29/2009 - one day shy of 7 weeks
one day shy of 7 weeks
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

This week, we also had her 1-month well-baby check-up. Yes, it’s late owing to the several appointments we had for her jaundice. She got her Hep B shot and we got her latest stats — 88th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. She’s now at 11 pounds, 23.5 inches! And, her rash and clogged tear duct are much improved. Her tears still don’t drain well, but they’re no longer infected. We’ve also started tummy time with her per the doctor’s recommendation. She gets frustrated with it pretty quickly, but she had a fairly long stint (maybe a minute or two) just this afternoon. Dylan definitely helps in this regard! He has so much to say to her and she’s a fairly attentive audience!


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Ellie swings by

09/27/2009
09/27/2009
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Yu-chen and Ellie went to Natural Bridges Beach today and swung by afterwards to come meet Cameron! We had more pasta with pesto, some paninis (vegan mozarella cheese, pesto and tomato) and enjoyed a little time out in the backyard. Cameron slept the entire time — as you can see, her cheeks are looking much clearer now — but the other two kids played and played and played!


a surprise visit from Ellie!
a surprise visit from Ellie!
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.


DSC_3857
bubbles and scooterin’
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.


DSC_3865
in the back
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.


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to-mah-toes

I have many things for which to be thankful when it comes to my best friend and now I can add Dylan’s pronunciation of tomato among them! It’s testament to just how influential she is on his life — and it’s a good thing because she’s got a heart of gold and is infinitely patient!

In any event, we went tomato picking — or to-mah-toe-picking, as Dylan would say — this past weekend after getting a hot tip from another mommy friend that a near-ish-by organic tomato farm was having their final u-pick day. She’d posted a lovely picture of the San Marzanos she’d picked just the day before….Mariquita Farm was selling them for the amazing price of only 50 cents a pound and we normally buy heirlooms for at least $2/lb. so this was looking like a very, very sweet deal!


collecting heirloom tomatoes
collecting heirloom tomatoes
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

It was a blazing hot day in Hollister — 100F!! — and Dylan was just so unhappy about the heat, but we managed to collect a whopping 61 pounds of tomatoes — 31 pounds of San Marzanos and 30 pounds of heirlooms — before we finally fled the heat! Of course, it was mostly poor Tom doing the picking…and lugging. I was on stroller duty (Dylan was too hot to want to walk) and Cameron was strapped to my front-side in a mei tai!


heirlooms
heirlooms
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Once back at home, Tom made an absolutely amazing sauce with the heirloom tomatoes that got a little smushed on our way home! Heather, Taliana, Assaf and P. came over to join us for U-Pick meal. We had pasta with Tom’s red sauce and my pesto (made from our basil) and apple pie that the girls and Heather had baked using the apples from last week’s apple-picking trip to Gizdich! Mmmm, it was yum!


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6 weeks

09/23/2009 - the 6-week mark
the 6-week mark
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We continue to be amazed at just how quickly time is zipping past. Cameron, at 6 weeks, is now alert for stretches of about 20-30 minutes and she’s now more responsive to us, often delighting us with smiles. The poor thing still has bad acne or eczema…I’m not sure which, but whatever it is, these past few days, it’s gotten a little better after applying some breastmilk (breastmilk has all sorts of anti-bacterial and moisturizing properties and was recommended for her clogged tear ducts as well as her cheeks)! She has been remarkably good about not pawing at her face (thank goodness) and she still seems fairly mellow about it — I’m not hearing a whole lot of crying because of it!


all aboard!
all aboard!
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Wednesday was also pre-school story time at the library. We went to the park with Cora and Anela to burn off some energy before sitting down for songs and stories. Afterwards, we went to Jamba Juice and headed to the fountain in the courtyard near my work to have our lunch (PB&J sandwiches, cashews, an apple and, of course, Jamba Juice). Dylan discovered Birch trees and their neat-o paper-like bark and I was happy to see him do a whole lot of running around the fountain, but alas, all of this activity was not enough to tucker him out — another no siesta day for us! At least, when day is done, we sleep deeply…!

Back Log: At this time last year, Dylan was working on two molars, the last of his full set of baby teeth, and he participated in his first running event!


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Dylan hands out stickers

dylan was distributing curious george stickers this morning!
cameron with sticker
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Dylan was distributing Curious George stickers this morning! He picked the perfect one for Cameron and he gave it to her because she had been crying. What a sweet big brother…!

Back Log: Dylan was as sweet as he is now and apparently liked to “neat” food!


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Dylan and Cameron go “country”

kids like spinny rides...
kids like spinny rides…
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We ended the week with the first session of Music Together, an afternoon and evening at the County Fair and a day of apple picking with Dylan’s preschool.

Friday was a furlough day for Tom — a special treat for Dylan! Dylan’s day started with breakfast out at Walnut Avenue Cafe with Daddy-o (Cameron and I had to stay home while the cleaners continued their job from the previous day), followed by Music Together, lunch at Taliana’s grandparents’ house, and a trip to the County Fair!


model railroad--we spent way too much time here!
model railroad
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Even though we were at the county fair for over 6 hours (!), we didn’t actually see all that much. Dylan wanted to spend the vast majority of the time just staring at the model railroad! Before we saw the railroad, we walked through the Poultry barn (there is something truly disturbing about seeing a barn of animals labeled as food!) and saw some chickens, roosters, and geese (outside). Then we managed to steer Dylan away from the trains to see the Alaskan pig races only by bribing him with the promise of an ice, cold lemonade! After the pig races, it was all about the darn trains again! He didn’t even want to ride a pony with Taliana and P. (I ended up giving his token to another mom we knew that we encountered back at the trains!) or look at the baby piglets with their mama, or see any of the other small animals!! Sigh.

Once the kids started getting hungry, we managed to pry him away from the trains once more. Then, luckily, he was interested in rides. So, before we decided to call it a night, the big kids rode a colorful train, a whale ride, the carousel and the tea cups. While all this was happening, Cameron was, of course, just chillin’ in the Peanut Shell!


apple picking break
apple picking break
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

The following day, we joined Dylan’s preschool for an apple picking excursion at nearby Gizdich Ranch. Since P. is now at the same school, Taliana and P. got to go with us! Dylan had a blast picking and sampling apples, running races with the girls, and later on, climbing hay bales and the tractor back in the picnic area (where apple pie and fresh-pressed apple juice were being served).

After we finished picking apples, we went home to rest for a little while (of course Dylan skipped the nap) before heading to Heather’s house for dinner and a game of Caylus (Tom won again — his second Caylus win in a row!). Through all of this, yep, Cameron hung out in the Peanut Shell! She is a trooper.

Back Log: Here are links from last year’s trip to the County Fair and last year’s apple picking excursion.


Posted in county_fairs, weekly_fun | 2 Comments

dylan days

what's up doc?
what’s up doc?
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

This past week seems to have been a tougher one for Dylan. Today, he tried sucking on a pacifier (!), something he didn’t even like when he was an infant! He’s also had a few potty accidents which simultaneously frustrated us and saddened us! We have to give him lots of credit for being such a good communicator, though….After gymnastics this past Monday (his first class of this session), he had an accident at the park and he was able to tell me that he was “scared of being a big boy because Cameron is a baby.” Hearing him verbalize what we already know was somewhat heart-wrenching, but now we have a basis for talking to him about stuff like the potty.

We’ve also started explicitly calling MWF “Dylan days”. These are the days when we do Dylan activities — gymnastics, library story time, and Music Together. Hopefully, this will all help him transition to big bro more quickly and easily!

This is our first week of Dylan Days. This past Monday, we went to his new gymnastics class and his Mandarin class! His gymnastics class is small (max of 6 students) and the space is small, too, allowing him to focus more on what the coach is saying since he can’t just run around in giant circles like he did at the other gym! He did bell swings on the bar, jumped on springboards, did more balancing, log rolls and forward rolls, pointed and flexed his toes, and learned the “stop” position (which he accompanied with a “ting,” “stop” in Mandarin!). Afterwards, he requested a visit to Coffeetopia (I indulged him) and, later in the afternoon, we saw Taliana and Auntie Heather at Mandarin class.

We also attended Wednesday story time at the library which was followed by a nice little art activity! We hung around downtown for a little while before heading home. Dylan had a full day but, of course, had no nap! He was cranky by the time we returned downtown for the Farmer’s Market because he wanted to ride in the front of the double stroller where Cameron’s car seat sits! But, luckily, he snapped out of it after I said the word “panini” which, for some reason, he finds hilarious. We’ve yet to see if the “Dylan Days” approach will help him! Overall, he’s still a pretty happy camper — he makes us laugh everyday — but we’re eager for him to feel better about being a big boy again.

Back Log: At this time last year, Dylan started spelling his name!


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5 weeks and 1 day

09/17/2009 - trying out the new swing -- "does this mean you won't carry me???"
5 weeks, 1 day
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Dylan never really liked the swing, but Cameron was showing promising signs of enjoying it. We had a broken one which had us manually giving her a shove every few seconds or so, so we went ahead and used some gift certificates to buy and test out a new one.

This was, by the way, the absolute cheapest model they had at Babies R Us, but that’s not really the primary motivation for picking it! The other top choice — selected mostly for dual-option swinging (side-to-side vs head-to-toe motion) and option to plug it in instead of running it on batteries — cost twice as much and, worst, it was a crazy pink and brown color scheme!

She seemed to like it, but hiccups tainted the first trial run, so the jury is still out….

As you can see, when she’s awake, she’s very alert. Her clogged tear duct is improving, but now she’s developed some baby acne (something Dylan managed to completely and miraculously avoid)! Also, since she’s been sleeping for fairly long stretches at night, she and I have gone back to sleeping upstairs (I’d been nursing her downstairs between midnight and 6 or 7am so Dylan wouldn’t get awakened by us). It’s hard to believe that she is already 5 weeks old!


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Cameron’s 1 month mark

dylan with cameron at 4 weeks
dylan with cameron at 4 weeks
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Cameron is already a month old! It really feels like time is just flying by! She’s definitely out of her jaundice phase. She’s more alert and the gas is more noticeable, but she toots away like a champ and is still pretty even-tempered.

We’re still getting a lot of good sleeping out of her. Now, she can sleep up to 4.5 hours at a stretch! This makes doing things (and sleeping) much easier! Tom and I took the Staff of Life loop last Tuesday (the day after we returned from LA), she and I went again on Thursday and, on Friday, we spent another day at the beach. She happily just snoozes along in the Peanut Shell.

Dylan continues to adjust. He’s still an adoring and very loving and affectionate big brother. Every morning, without fail, he wakes up and immediately (still groggy) starts rubbing her back and snuggling up with us! But, we’ve had some issues with getting him to school. One morning, he said that Cameron should go into the baby room making it very clear to us that he felt a little put out that she got to stay home with me while he went to school. We’ve mentioned that Cameron is currently too small to go, but as soon as she’s big enough, she’ll be there as well. Hearing this seems to perk him up again!


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Cameron’s First Trip to LA

tom, cameron and grandparents
tom, cameron and grandparents
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

The highlight of our trip was, of course, visiting family. Since Cameron is pretty much on a 3-hour nursing cycle, we figured we didn’t really have to drive while Dylan was asleep this time. We hooked Dylan up with a DVD, some snacks and some milk and headed out shortly after we picked him up from preschool!

Cameron did, in fact, make it all the way there with only one nursing stop (which coincided with our dinner time — we got Subway sandwiches)! We couldn’t have asked for it to work out better than it did…!

After getting some rest and visiting a little with Grandma Sharon in the morning, we had to head out for Anaheim and Disneyland. But, we returned on Sunday when family came by to meet Cameron. Unfortunately, after nursing, she promptly fell asleep and then she did her sleeping in the Peanut Shell thing that she does so well! I didn’t get much of an opportunity to take pictures….

She slept at Grandma Sharon’s, she slept at Madeleine Bistro, and she chilled at Uncle Michael’s and at Uncle Fred and Auntie Julie’s! Dylan, on the other hand, was sleep-deprived but wide awake and absolutely beside himself with joy the entire weekend. He thoroughly loved playing with Rocky, Uncle Michael and Grandma Sharon! We’re very grateful to have such warm and loving family and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone again in just a few short months!

Many more pictures are on flickr.

Back Log: Here’s a flashback to Dylan’s first trip to LA!


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