Baby Tuesday

I call this her 70's Elton John look...if he wore a tiny polka dot swimsuit of course.


Get away from me! You with the camera! You are scarey!


Still scared, but pretending not to see me.


Baby C loved the doll that Granny GiGi sent her for Easter. :)


It's snowy in the east, but we're sporting swimwear on the left coast.


I love it when she charges the camera.


We took Baby C to her favorite park where our church/Beautiful Day was holding a big free egg hunt. It was one of many many sites hosted by churches all over the south bay. Anyway, she was confused most of the time. It started when she normally would take a nap, so I gave her this big sugar cookie to keep her awake and lively so she could participate. But effects of the cookie didn't set in until most of the eggs were already snatched up by other kids.



Very serious.


Finally! The fun sinks in!


She liked the plastic eggs more than the candy anyway. Most of the booty she collected were little plastic bugs that we're hidden in the grass with the eggs, 'worked out perfect.
She didn't find any "golden tickets" in her eggs, but since her mommy is part of the Beautiful Day machine, one of the guys running the prize table gave her a ticket to get a stuffed bulldog with bunny ears. :)



Here is Baby R on Easter with his great-grandmother, wearing his little Ralph Kramden shirt. Great-Grandma-Bobby has 4 sons, 6 grandkids, and two greatgrandkids (provided by yours truly ;) )


Here are the 4 generations of Thayer men...all in blue-- no pink here.


And 4 generations of Thayer women, all but Baby C are Thayer-by-marriage.


Saturday morning she wanted to play in the water. And by the end of it, I had stripped her clothes off and put her in her swimsuit because she kept pouring the water on herself as if her pants were on fire.


BTW, I had my first dueling baby meltdowns Monday afternoon. Whoa doggies, Baby C was screaming and freaking out (and I still don't know why) and Baby R clearly had some serious gas (what we have dubbed B.I.B.S, Baby Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I was carrying both of them and they were both screaming in each ear. I finally had to put the boy down in his bed while I fed her chocolate to calm her down. Then once she was appeased, I rescued him and fed him. Whew! I'm sure it's just the beginning of things to come.

TV Guide

point of interest: TV Guide will forever make me think of my Dad. And the section titled "Cheers and Jeers" taught me the meaning of the word jeer.

Since this blog isn't all about babies, though I know most of the people who read this blog are just here for the babies, I gotta post something between the Tuesdays.
I watch more TV than usual these days-- recorded TV in the wee hours to watch with my wee one.
And for those of you who think the sun rises and sets on American Idol, allow me to share my favorite shows, in no particular order:

Deadliest Catch- A&E
It's reality TV on various crab fishing boats off the coast of Alaska. Deadliest job in America makes for riveting television. I love it. Tt makes me feel warm and safe.

Flip This House- A&E
Way better than it's doppleganger, Flip That House on HGTV. Better because they swear and get mad and do illegal things while they're flipping real estate for profit.

What Not to Wear-TLC
Oh the library of fashion knowledge I have attained by watching this show! I would probably look 20 lbs heavier if it wasn't for Stacy and Clinton. (You can keep Nick and Carmandy though, you know how I feel about hair and makeup stylists.)

Battlestar Galactica- SciFi
I promise this is the only SciFi show I have liked since I was 12 yrs old and we didn't have cable and had to watch Star Trek(TNG). It really is a good show. Well written, with somewhat notable actors and good directing. The downside is that there won't be anymore episodes until 2008. I...am...outraged.

24- Fox
Yes, okay I watch 24. It's like a bad addiction. Half the time I'm watching it I'm rolling my eyes at the completely ludicrous script, but every week I watch it again. I just want to see Jack Bauer hook some guy's nostrils to a car battery in order to tell him where the nuclear device is hidden, is that so wrong?

Househunters International- HGTV
Did you know that in Sweden, real estate is always auctioned to the highest bidder? Or that in Merida Mexico, you can buy a beautiful 18th century villa for $75K?
I did, because I watch this show.

Conan O'Brien- NBC
Do I need to explain Conan? Probably not. But if you don't watch him, just know that he's twice as good as Jay or David.

Andy Barker PI- NBC
Speaking of Conan, here's his old boy wonder Andy Richter playing Colombo. It's silly and I like it. Surprisingly, Kevin likes it too.

Run's House- BET
I'm not black, and yet I enjoy a program on Black Entertainment Television, it's a beautiful thing.
The Reverend Run (of RunDMC fame) was on Oprah, and it hooked me, I had to see him and his family be the anti-Osbornes. It's almost like a learning-program, I mentally take notes on his outstanding parenting skills.

Oprah- ABC
Like I said, I watch Oprah. Kevin calls it "TV for Ovaries." Which it totally is. Even when I see something on one of her shows I think he might care about and I save it to show him, he shuts down like I'm making him walk through the lingerie section of a department store.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition- ABC
Each time I watch a new show I think, okay I know the formula and I'm gonna fast forward during the parts where they try to make viewers cry and I won't cry.
But I cry EVERY TIME. Darn them!
If you've never watched it, you need to, just once. It will give you new faith in humanity.
Even Jimmy Fallon admitted he cries when he watches it.

The Daily Show- Comedy Central
I remember watching the Daily Show when I was still in high school when Craig Kilborne was the host. And then I don't know what happened, I just didn't watch it anymore. And then this year I decided to record and I'm mad at myself for not watching it all these years.

Ninja Warrior- G4
Although it can get a tad repetitive, what I call the Japanese Gladiators, is pretty entertaining. It's essentially 100 Japanese people trying to make it though this elaborate obstacle course with English subtitles explaining their squid fishing occupations and why they might be wearing a thong and socks.

Dog the Bountyhunter- A&E
Much like Run's House, Dog is a "colorful" man of the Lord. He demands satisfaction from fugitives, but it always ends in love, forgiveness and second chances...and a wicked mullet.

King of Cars- A&E
Yes! Car salesmen are desperate for your commission and will do anything to sell you any car. The proof's all here. It makes me never want to buy a car, but the show is fun.

okay, there's more but I should go to bed...so I can get up in two hours and feed the baby and watch some more TV!

Baby Tuesday

Lots of videos this week...some were supposed to go on last week, but that business about not enough hours in the day is truer than ever.


Here is a failed piggy back attempt.


Kevin started this piggy backing trend. Now somehow she thinks I'm a horsey too. Oye.


Franklin, our sexy bean dog, is not a trick dog. Even if his blanket or piece of bread hangs in the balance, he's not an achiever. He quickly freaks out and loses focus and just twitches and looks nervous.
But behold, there is a trick that Franklin can do that Mojito can't!








Chillin' in his custom covered Boppy.


I always said if I had a little girl I would put her hair in pig tails everyday. This has proven difficult with the bug. She has made up a game of when I put clips in, she takes them out and then tries to put them back herself. And then wants me to put them back in so she can take them out again, and-- you see where this is going. So this photo is more amazing than it first appears.


The fact that Baby R looks uncannily like his father in this photo concerns me. Will none of my children look like me?!




Have a I mentioned she loves her brother? First thing in the morning, she asks where he is. If he's crying, she tries to pick him up or give him a pacifier or her doll-bottle. It's very cute. Even when she accidentally pokes his face, still cute.


Sorry I haven't fixed the photos this week, brightness and contrast wise. Grandma Sue is blessedly watching the babies so I can blog and I oly have 15 more minutes until she leaves!!




Okay this last one is a photo of our kitchen, but isn't it nice and shiny? The inspector finally signed off on it. So in the eyes of the law, it's complete.

t minus 4 months

We bought our airline tickets to Hawaii last night.

Aaa!

We haven't been on a real vacation since our honeymoon.
And it's only a thursday night to sunday morning (yes, 3 nights) trip, because we have babies that will be left with very very very gracious grandparents.

We still haven't booked a hotel, because it didn't save anything to book it together and unlike the *one* flight we needed, I don't think they'll be booked up anytime soon.

Aloha.

"like totally!"

Like everyone else, I have an internal voice, that is different from my spoken voice. It sounds normal and articulate like a narrator in a movie.
And then when I open my mouth, I sound like a mallrat.

My name is Charlie and I have a qualifier problem.

It's nearly impossible to have an exchange with someone without over-using "like."
I can trace this habit back to Katie Buckland in the 2nd grade. I'm sorry Katie, but you started me on it and 19 years later I still can't quit it.
This is the least of my problems.

The worst is qualifying almost every sentence by interjecting "actually" or "technically."

I call it the Ty Pennington disorder. If any reader has seen Extreme Makeover Home Edition, you will know that Ty uses too many adverbs in his sentences.
Like, "really kinda" or "like kinda really great" or "actually really bad." These sort of sentences would be marked up and down by any junior high grammar teacher.
It makes my eyes roll when I hear him say things like that, but then here I am doing the same thing!

I can't stop myself from doing it unless I speak overly carefully and sound like I have a speech problem.

So everyone, I'm sorry I talk like a big dummy.
I swear I've been to college!

Baby Tuesday

This is my current baby dilemma:
Baby R sleeps really well from 5pm to 3am. But I don't want to go to bed at 5pm. And then of course Im miserably tired at 3am when he says "Good Morning! Time to start the day!" by way of crying and wanting to be held.
Yep, right now he's fast asleep and I'm up, just asking for punishment in about 6 hours.

UPDATE (@4:52AM)
He woke up and I fed him at 9pm, then I went to bed at 10pm.
He woke at 12am, I fed him and he stayed up for 3 hours until I fed him again at 3am.
Then at 4:30am, he awoke screaming with gas pain, and he's still up.
Grand total of sleep for me: 3hrs.
(And Kevin wonders why I'm in a bad mood in the morning!)

Sam called me out and said that last week's 3 photos was not enough.
So I'm making up fo it this week with [too] many photos.


General wakefulness. One of 3 moods he has.


Although he is prone to crying, this is in fact, a yawn.


Here's that crazy eye again! I wish he wouldn't do that, it creeps me out!



I don't know why I like this pic, but I do.


"you put what in my cup?"


"well that does it!"


Sleepiness. My favorite mood of all.


He only smiles in his sleep. They get bigger and cuter than this, but my clicker finger wasn't fast enough.


She loves him. He's not so sure about her, but she loves him.


Please, anything but a nap.




Look at this piece of artwork! I scored it from one of the pastors at church. He was just gonna rip out the painting and repaint the frame but I went on and on about how fantastic it was, so he let me have it, begrudgingly.
It now hangs in Baby C's room.
She loves it too. She constantly points to it and says "Dog! Dog!" She, like me, can appreciate the finer things like black velvet and gold trimmed chihuahua paintings from 1972.

someone's got alot of ugly to throw around

I check my inbox this afternoon and see that I have two new anonymous comments on my blog, both for pretty old posts.
They are so c-c-c-crazy that I had to share them.
Besides, I have to be last one to make fun of somebody.
Last time I got a comment like these, it ended up being written by my own mother, so Mom if you're the cuckoo, fess up.

This one was on my last wig post.

Yeah first of all you do have to wash them. How gross are you that you want hair thats never been washed. If you spent any time in a good wig shop you'd know they sell special shampoo just for wigs although Suave works fine. Also why exactly isn't it socially acceptable to wear a wig unless you've had Cancer. To me that statement is socially unacceptable. I have 10 wigs which are nothing like my real hair and I haven't had Cancer so does that make me immoral in some way to want nice hair I have no trouble brushing? I see nothing abnormal about wearing a good wig since no one should be able to tell anyway. Are you really that insecure of what people will think of you?

To answer your first question, yes I'm pretty gross.
I try not to spend time in wig shops, because even I know they're for drag queens and women who take too many pills with their gin.
Hmm, insecure? I think that would be you, hater-lady.

And then on my spider post-

What kind of moron leaves their kid's stroller outside? Then complains when animals get on it duh. You had to know that would happen especially if you live in an area overrun with Spiders. Perhaps the next time you move you should do some research beforehand. You're like those dimwits who move to Arizona and then complain about having Scorpions in the house.

Moron? Dimwit? Ouch, that's harsh from a stranger.
Geez, the Jehovah's Witness guy was more civil than you.
And does this surprise anyone that she's an Arizonan?
Who wouldn't complain about scorpions in the house?!

Do I remind you of someone that has wronged you?

Are you possessed by a demon?

If this insanity happens again, I will be convinced I have a stalker. (Easily recognized by the freshly washed wig and the dream-catcher sweatshirt)

Shameless plug

A friend of mine graciously gave me a Hooter Hider and I am in turn advertising for her company here on the blog. She didn't ask me to, I just want to.

If you are a mommy who doesn't like to show her goods to all the people on the playground everytime the little nipper needs a snack, Hooter Hiders are for you!

Public decency, here I come.


"Nothin' to see here, go about your business!"

updates goods and bads

Today:

bad news- Baby C hasn't taken a nap for the last two days. I hope it isn't a pattern. I think I need a toddler treadmill for her. She's been steadily protesting the idea from her crib for the last hour.

good news- we don't have to replace the floor in the bathroom. After more hard labor from Kevin, we were able to air out the wet subfloor. All we have to do is put back what we tore up.

bad news- None of my clothes fit right anymore and I've already spent April's allowance. Dammit.

good news- It's "Pile Week" in Santa Clara and we're throwing a ton of trash out.

and more good news- I mailed off a packet today that is a big step toward my secret project. Some of you may know about the project, in which case it isn't a secret to you. But since I'm not supposed to discuss the [best] project [ever] until my cohort has given his blessing, it shall remain a secret until then. Cone of silence to those of you who know!

Things Fall Apart

It's begun-- the mind-losing. If you could see me, you'd know something is wrong. My hair is terrible, I'm wearing ugly house-clothes, two sizes two big-- I'm not myself.
I can't remember the last time I have been so tired. In college I was this tired the night before a speech or a research paper was due, but then I eventually was able to sleep.
Now there is no sleep ('til Brooklyn).
Yesterday we realized our toilet had been slowly leaking into the floor of our bathroom and then into the floor of our closet, also into the drywall and definitely the carpet. So while Baby R slept all afternoon, because he's noctural like a possum, Kevin had to rip up the carpet, pull out baseboards and drywall. Needless to say, everything that was on our closet floor had to go.
Go where?
All over the house, especially the laundry--which has never been so out of control in my life.
It's literally in every room in piles of either clean or dirty.
I can't really do anything with the clean clothes because the closet is a war zone, and why clean the dirty clothes when I can't even make sense of the clean ones I have?
Right now, the baby is crying next to me on the couch, he's been angry all day. His nose is snotty and he has gas. After Mylicon and walking around with him has brought no relief, what else can I do? I think he may be turning to the dark side, Baby C must have coerced him.
I was so hungry at lunch time I wolfed down mac n' cheese and a ham sandwich in about 30 seconds. I was in crazy starvation mode, I wanted to eat everything in sight. I think this is how house-mommies get great-big-fat. Babies make ya' binge.
So back to the toilet leak problemo: Kevin has had the fans blowing on the exposed floor for about 24 hours now and a giant section of wet carpet is airing-out in our driveway. He slept on a mattress in Baby R's room. I, like most nights, slept on our couch. And by "slept" I mean about 4 hours total.
I don't know what we're gonna do about the floor. We all packed into the car last night to price replacing the padding and laminate, but it's a can of worms I can't fully take in right now.
I'm so tired I don't even want to get up off the couch.

This is what I want- to sleep in my own bed, for about 30 hours straight (without waking up in a puddle of milk).

...he's still crying, and Baby C just woke up and is now crying...

Baby Tuesday

Both babies are asleep! Let's see how long it lasts...



Kevin took the night shift a couple of nights ago, bless him. I came into the living room in the morning and found the two of them like this.



I took this photo of Baby C...


...and Kevin took this one. I'm trying not to take it personally that she looks annoyed and confused in mine and totally cute and sassy-pants in his.

*videos coming later*

sometimes I want to stuff them in boxes

People say that when you have kids, your pets get the shaft.
With just one baby, that wasn't really true for us. They got more walks and more food scraps fell on the floor.
But now that we have two babies, my patience is stretched to a new limit and anything the dogs and [especially] the cat do that is remotely annoying, I want to kill them.

For instance, just this morning:

Baby R had only slept about 45min-1hr at a time last night (because I ate garlic and gave him gas, my bad). So I crawl into bed with him, despite his fussiness and attempt to get him to fall asleep so I could go to sleep.
The cat made it her priority to meow like she was in heat until I finally got up to throw her out. She tries to make me hate her.

AND THEN, we finally got Baby C to fall asleep for her nap around 1pm. At 2pm, the dogs , in the bathroom next to her room decided to wrestle and growl and flop around so loudly that it woke her up.

She is currently meddling next to me as I type this-- instead of sleeping, thanks to our pets.

I love the dogs, but right now I want to make coats out of them.

Baby Tuesday

Clearly this B.T. shows a bias towards the new baby, seeing that there is only one of her and the rest are of him.
But how cute is the one of her?!
She was still kinda sick, that's why she's not a blur of motion like she usually is.




Here's the first of his Don Rickles impressions.



There are tons of photos of him in his swing, because that's where he sleeps, for now at least. And this isn't the swing cover I made, this is the car seat cover I made, but since his diaper leaked onto the swing cover, the car seat cover, spangled with 1970's American muscle cars, took it's place for a while.


In that last one he's giving me the crazy eye!


He hiccups alot- too much for my liking. They keep him awake in the wee hours!

I get a "unsatisfactory" mark in "following directions"

You know how new moms are supposed to "sleep when the baby sleeps"?

Okay, it's been a week and I just want to play on the computer or do something other than sleep on this couch at odd hours of the day.

I'll be sorry later. But I'm obviously not sorry now.

Plus, he slept like 6 hours (not in row) last night, so hey that's good right?

Baby Tuesday

or shall I title it, All My Gassy Children?

Hello everyone.

The birth went perfectly..
Well, there was the wrong-number-guy who kept ringing my delivery room as the anesthesioligst was inserting needles into my spine(!).
Can anyone think of a worse time to have the phone keep ringing than when you're being told "hold completely still and relax, I'm inserting a catheter io your spinal cord." ?!
And then when it came time to push, the midwife was with another patient and the nurse tells me "Can you wait 5 minutes?"
Yeah, I barely made it. I was mentally preparing myself to have Kevin catch the baby.

Otherwise everything went really really good. I won't go into the gory details of what normally happens for those of you who don't know but let's just say I can sit just fine. It only took 3 pushes, just like last time.

I got alot of comments from the staff like "hey you're good at this," or "see you next time" etc.
And I started to get brainwashed while at the hospital, thinking "hmm, maybe I shouldn't stop at 2, maybe I should have more babies." I mean, Baby R was sleeping most of the time (unlike his sister) and all I had to do was lie in bed and feed him when they brought him in.
But then when we got home, I snapped out of it real quick. Baby R was no longer so quiet and need-less which was compounded with Baby C's general neediness and the wheels fell off. "No, no more babies, 2 is it! That's enough! 3?! What was I thinking?!"

Like I said, Baby R is gassy. And usually not the kind that produces a burp.
He's got a little bit of the baby IBS like Baby C did. He's still doesn't hold a candle to her in the fussy department, but he's not exactly the marshmallow lump that the stork brings to other lucky mothers.
It's pretty much impossible to make him sleep horizontally. He prefers to sleep upright against a parent.
I'm mostly using the cues from the Dunstan Baby Language theory, which I totally believe in. The problem is, when the cry means feed me, burp me, I'm sleepy or I'm scared, those are easy things to aleviate. But "lower gas" there's not much to help that. Two nights ago, I tried Mylicol gas drops again and again, but they didn't make a difference.

I'm really hoping it will work itself out and I can put him in his own bed. He's yet to sleep in there. Since we've been home, I've slept on the couch and he's slept on my chest, no more than 2.5 hours total a night. I've learned by giving up the idea of ever going to bed myself, it's less maddening when I don't sleep. I just say "self, you are not going to bed tonight at all."

The nights have gone something like this:
9pm-2am, watch alot of TV while walking around with him, feeding him, etc.
2am-5am, sleep on couch with baby
5am-8am, watch the same 5 news stories over and over again until Kevin gets up with Baby C and then Baby R and I can get in bed.
8am-noon, sleep in my bed with baby (which makes me nervous, but it's the only way I can sleep at all)


We all went on a walk today because Baby R has a slight case of Jaundice. I know the peditrician said little bit of yellowing is normal and not to worry about it.
But then I also know there is a point at which it's too yellow.
How to know where to draw the line?
I called the nurse and she just beat around the bush for like 15 minutes while every baby in the house was screaming and the cordless phone was beeping because it was losing it's charge.
What I could make of her "advice" was to put him in the sunlight or bring him in if I think it's getting worse. Oye.


Here's his going-home outfit. I'm a sucker for anything with ears. He was still fooling us into thinking he would sleep (flat in his bed!) for the next 3 months.


This video is pretty pitiful (I think Sam was trying to take a still shot), but it is moving footage of the night he was born, so I included it. Turn your head 90 degrees before clicking the play button.


Baby C is taking to Baby R very well. She likes to bring me the boppy and his pacifier and try to "help" as much as possible. Kevin is assigned to Baby C care during the day since he gets a full night's rest (since he's the parent that doesn't produce milk).


Baby C stayed with Grandma T and Granpa T (and partly with Great Auntie Sandi as well) while we were at the hospital. She saved her puking sessions for us though. Yesterday there was much barfing. We are praying that none of the rest of us et sick, especially her brother. Y'all can pray too. That might push me over the edge.

since it's not Tuesday yet...

Just one pic. :D