Dr. Lee, Junior

The other day, I arrived home to find a mystery package that Dae had already delved into. In it, we found this:

We sleuthed a bit (made a phone call), and discovered the generous giver was Auntie Ev! Stinky is just thrilled with his first set of scrubs! Now he and dad can really be twins.

Dae and I have been trying to be thrifty. Trying being the operative word, as I'm not even sure thrifty was really in our vocabulary until recently. Anyway, with the recession in mind, we have re-discovered Michael's craft store and their 40% off coupons (Ok, so 40% off of 59 cent craft pieces is not the deal of the century, but every little bit counts!) So in lieu of store-bought wall art we have tried our hand at crafting and come up with some passable, but by no means spectacular, results.

Note: The actual wall art above the monkey was not done by us! That we purchased on sale at the Goodnight Room (a splurge - $29.90). Now Christian will not have to gaze into the white oblivion of ceiling and wall anymore!

We did, however, splurge on some patio furniture yesterday (pics to come). We couldn't resist, what with our huge new deck and the perfect northwest summer upon us. The timing was also perfect for Kerrie and Kevin's visit into town yesterday with their 3-year old Stella (along with Ellie the elephant, and 'shirtie'). I had not seen Stella in almost 2 years and boy is she absolutely adorable!!!

I miss Kerrie and our campouts on the hide-a-bed, late night mac & cheese at the sorority, laughing about "Tukwila", and the list goes on and on and on! It was wonderful to see her and her family and Christian was very tickled to finally meet them!

D-Day

The Dreaded Day (return back to work day) came and went last Tuesday. I miraculously managed to hand Christian off to the nanny without a tear and drove to work, hoping I would still remember how to handle a mirror and explorer. The day passed without incident and the minute that clock hit 5:30pm I was on the road, speeding, to see: 1) if the nanny had quit, or 2) from how far away I would hear the wailing. Imagine my surprise to return home to a non-crying baby (and nanny) and a spotless kitchen! I could not believe how much I missed that ratty Gonzales. The feeling seemed mutual, as he welcomed me home after the long separation by latching on for a marathon feeding session, and I did not mind one single tiny bit. :)

The other day I think my subconscious must have been speaking loudly while I was dressing Christian. Dad arrived home to find his long-lost twin.

Christian was going for the casual look: untucked shirt, collar unbuttoned. It took a root cause analysis to figure out why I was unable to button his shirt even close to the collar. The culprit? No neck, of course! With a twinge of disappointment we took off his nice collared shirt and placed it away for a future, neck-filled day. The fashion statement just wasn't worth the oxygen deprivation.

We've also noticed two new developments: 1) a new cry and 2) slobbering. He has a new, higher pitched but surprisingly lower decibel cry. Dae is not a huge fan; I, on the other hand, welcome any reduction in decibels with open arms! The slobbering seems to go hand-in-hand with his new fist obsession, so we've taken to bibbing him...

Folks, what's with this monkey business?

Lastly, we turned over a new leaf by officially beginning what we have heard is inevitable: Crying it Out (or, in Stink's case, Shouting it Out). I piloted the first night when Dae was out, letting Christian 'shout' for the better part of 2 hours. My maternal instinct experienced some anguish, but my sleep-deprived alter ego argued that he had been fed, was clean, and unless he was shedding tears (he wasn't) he was, indeed, going to live. Night one he shouted for 2 hours. Night two: 45 minutes. Night three: 10 minutes. Dare we say success?

Stay tuned!

People to See, Things to Do

Many things are backed up in our household: 1) blogging updates and 2) Christian. First things first, Christian. This guy, who was once so regular, had not had significant 'movement' for a better part of 3 days. He has been concurrently fussy beyond belief the past week, so we think it's a classic case of constipation grumpiness. Perfect timing for my return back to work. He also has begun to boycott the bottle - again, perfect timing for my return back to work. So, I am dreading dreading dreading returning to work. This is another one of those things I didn't understand until I am now experiencing it. I would always hear about mothers being heartbroken about returning to work and leaving their little ones and now I can attest to the heartbreak firsthand!

The past 1 1/2 weeks have been absolutely packed! So much so that list format is the only format that will do. So, here we go:

1) Mom visited last weekend and it was, as always, excellent. Here we are at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Everytime mom visits she gets a slew of hand-me-downs courtesy of me and my compulsive spending on unnecessary items. Here are her new-old Keen shoes and pants.

2) Megan also visited last weekend. She drove down from Seattle on Saturday (after work) and drove back on Sunday, only to return back to work on Monday. We hit up Cuban fare on Saturday at Pambiche restaurant where I took this photo - I thought the blue post in the background was so cool and although Megan looks great, the photo turned out less artistic than I thought (imagine that). Between the two of us that evening we managed to polish off a plate of chocolate chip and dried cherry cookies, 2 cuban entrees and a glass or three of wine. Things went South with Christian toward the end of our meal but he thankfully gave us a peaceful evening of sleep.

3) Christian's new favorite toy is his fist. He likes to see how much can be jammed into his mouth in one sitting. So far, nearly an entire fist!

4) The UW Dental Alumni Director was making his rounds in the Portland area last week and asked to come by, visit with us, and take a photo. So, Christian might be in his first publication, the auspicious UW Dental Alumni Newsletter! We shall keep you posted...

5) My doula, Sara, long ago recommended something called craniosacral massage for infants. I politely listened and more or less forgot about it until I saw a free infant craniosacral massage clinic offered by a local midwife, Carol Gray. Last week Christian and I visited Carol's home in NW Portland and had a lovely, relaxing visit and treatment. Carol was teaching 6 students and Christian was her guinea pig (and a good little pig if I do say so myself). This type of massage uses about a nickel's weight of pressure and is used to "align" infants, children and adults. Not sure if there is some placebo effect taking place here, but I am convinced that Christian is now more symmetrical...

6) Big changes are taking place on our changing pad...crying has all but ceased entirely! A diaper change used to entail massive crying, clenched fists and ferocious sucking of pacifiers. Now, I actually look forward to changing his diaper (big gasp!). He just loves being naked, smiles and "talks". I absolutely love it.

7) On the talking note, I like to think, in my warped, sleep-deprived mind, that we now have conversations with him. He is getting very verbal and likes to talk and shout with fervor. I have made it my personal mission to talk and sing to him as much as humanly possible, so he is probably shouting in protest.

8) At Great Grandma Ni-Ni's house this past week in Richland, Christian got his first taste of aquatic life. Neither his dad nor I are strong swimmers (a gross understatement. I'll leave you with a mental image of Dae floating on his back during the required 3-lap swim test at Cornell University), so I am hoping to start the introduction to water early and fierce. Here he is at the pool, hanging out in the sun tent. (Ok, so introduction to real water life will have to wait.)

If this is the pool life, I'm in!


Didi aka Ginger, plastered in sunblock, and a Maui-tanned Ev

9) Ev and I left the kids with Dad and Joanne last night so we could have a night at the movies ("The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds). As we ascended the steps to dad's apartment on our return, the musical notes of Christian's wailing greeted us from well outside the confines of dad's unit. As it turns out, of the 3.5 hours we were gone, he had cried for about 2 of them, and yelled or been unpleasant for the remaining. That Stinky! He promptly passed out on our return to Ni-Ni's and slept a night of peaceful sleep. I am not sure if I should thank dad and Joanne for my first good night of sleep in ages or apologize profusely for an indefinite period of time. Probably both.

The Drop-Off, when everyone was still innocently happy

10) All in the name of an iPhone, Ev and I dragged the entire crew to the AT&T store at 7am Friday morning to wait in line for the iPhone 3G-S. This, apparently, is what happens, when you're camped out in a van to wait in line with 3 kids age 3 and under...

A red mini-throne

Success ensued and Ev was able to purchase 2 iPhones. Hooray!!! All was not in vain!

10) Continued Apple stories: Dae's big Father's Day present was a Mac laptop. He had been pining for one ever since Sung wowed us last Christmas with all of his different Apple tricks. With Dae's archaic Compaq (circa 2001) and his big research year coming up, the timing was perfect. We also happened upon a free printer and iPod with purchase...Score! Here is Stinky at the Apple store amidst the mayhem...he had better things to do than worry about a silly Mac computer.

You guys and your crazy Macs

11) Last and final note: This morning we ran a 5K "Race for Justice" around the NE Portland neighborhood. Dae and Christian met us at the finishline with coffee. Love those guys.

Moved!

Moving stinks. Conversely, Stinky is loving his new accommodations!

I can really spread out in this place!

Mal helped

Dae is off for a weekend golf jaunt in sunny Palm Springs (hmmm, suspicious timing! haha). Not to be deterred, Ev and I celebrated the big move by breaking open a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape we purchased in France in 2003!

Don't let the fancy name fool you. I know nothing about wine; the shopowner said "you don't want to open this for at least 4 years", hence the classy Post-It I immediately placed

Not for another 20 years, Did's!

The kids celebrated, too, by spreading out in the new place and making themselves comfortable:


Didi not happy about Leelee's sudden growth spurt

Cousins!

Christian marked the big new move by presenting with a goopy right eye. We promptly called sister-in-law Linda (pediatrician) and friend Dawn (optometrist) and are assured it's probably nothing more than a blocked duct. Meanwhile, we have been getting a good chuckle at night, when Christian's eyelashes are pasted to his upper or lower lid, or both.

Spider lashes - tried to get a better photo but couldn't focus. *Note oily mohawk - we decided to oil up his cradle cap and remove the offending layer. Poor guy was a huge mess.

Fine, if you folks are just going to laugh at me I'm covering them up!

And here, a photo of Christian's new white jeans (why white jeans are so funny to me, I don't know!) purchased from Gymboree. Thanks to Dawn for the 30% off tip!

Not terribly excited by his new outfit

Yes, quite true

Last but not least, Dae had a graduation banquet last weekend celebrating the end of his 5-year residency. Congratulations Dae! We love you and are very proud of you!!!

Now, only 3 more years...

Movin' On Up to the Eastside

We're moving (across the courtyard to a 3-bedroom condo)! Stinky gets his own room and an actual crib...woohoo!

Posts to come, but one photo in the meantime. Last week 3 of us from Baby and Me group met for a walk and a Mommy Matinee at the Kennedy School - a showing of "I Love You, Man" (not necessarily kid-friendly but pretty funny nonetheless). Here is a photo of Christian, Ronan, and Quinn, fast asleep.

Poo and Vaccines

Christian had his 2-month appointment at the Pediatrician's office today and weighed in at an official 11 pounds, 15 ounces. He is now 22 3/4-inches long with a 16-inch head circumference. This makes him about 50th percentile in everything except head, which is in the 60th percentile (we were surprised as we thought it would be bigger!). The highpoint of the appointment: Christian remembered his manners throughout and was mostly quiet as a mouse. The lowpoint: Vaccines! Three different shots in his legs. We hadn't really heard a 'pain cry' before today and it was definitely a bit of a heartbreaker. Since returning home this afternoon, he has been alternating between periods of heavy crying and passing out. Here he is during the latter:

His new summer outfit from Costco ($5)

As you can tell, my latest thing is documenting the exact amount we spend on every item of clothing. We have also become, much to Dae's dismay, big fans of Costco apparel. Dae didn't used to be a believer but I think he's finally coming around...slowly but surely his entire wardrobe is turning into "clothes by Costco" and it looks like his son is following in his footsteps, like it or not! Below is the other $5 summer outfit we snagged from Costco...love that Costco!

Outfit #2

So in reference to the other portion of the title (Poo) Christian has decided to hold in all of his goodies until he is good and ready to release, on average once a day, and usually in explosive form. So much so that we made a semi-frantic trip to Babies-R-Us this past weekend to get some sort of Huggies ultra leak-protection-with-a-back-pocket diapers, all in the hopes of preventing outfit damage. Last week we learned the hard way when one of our favorite onesies, formerly white, was now a lovely, bright yellow! Thank goodness for Shout spray.

This morning I decided to try Christian out in his lavender Bumbo seat, on loan from my boss from work. I wasn't sure about his neck control and posture, but he managed to impress me.

Super cute monkey outfit from Megan and Jane

Tomorrow we are heading to a mommy matinee at the Kennedy School...Christian's first flick!