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.