Monthly Archives: June 2008

Updates and a Little French Tag

Taking a few moments while Samuel is sleeping to provide some quick updates on life in the Ishida house.
Baby Update
Samuel is doing very well. He still eats like a champ and we even successfully gave him a bottle a week or so ago. We had to wait a long time before Thomas could take a bottle so this is a nice change.  He is also enjoying his binky (pacifier, dummy, whatever you want to call it.
As for personality, this kid knows how to tell me when he’s upset. Yes, he can scream – although there’s usually a good reason, like “you have not paid attention to me for three whole seconds!”. On the flip side though, he is already smiling. His first little smile apperead at about three weeks and I can now usually get a smile or two out of him every couple of days. So cute!
Sleeping is still an issue. I’ll cut him a little bit of slack since he is only four weeks old but I WOULD like more than two hours of sleep at a time if he would only let me. Until last night I had him sleeping with me but I actually put him down in his crib last night and he did pretty well. He didn’t sleep for longer stretches but he seemed to sleep pretty soundly for two and three hours at a time. And I slept better since I wasn’t able to hear every little noise he makes. The crib is in our room so I could still hear him clearly but I wasn’t tempted to settle him down after every little whimper.
We had our first non-scheduled Doctor’s visit on Monday.Samuel has a skin infection that’s a little gross and I am not slathering him in Antibiotic ointment three times a day. Poor kid is looking a little greasy but it seems to be working. I thought it was just a side effect of the baby acne that Samuel is suffering from (I know – horrible) so I’m glad I decided to take him to the doctor. Hopefully this will help clear everything up. I guess those artsy baby shots will have to wait a few days.
Thomas still adores his baby brother but has to be reminded to be careful when he wants to play nearby. But Samuel is definitely getting his fair share of kisses and Thomas is proud to tell people that he is a big brother every chance he gets.
I am going to start keeping a list of things that define being a mother as the come to me. The little things that you wouldn’t do for anyone but your children and that truly show how your life changes with a child. Here are a couple that come to mind today. You know you are a mother when…
  • You are changing a diaper and you don’t think twice about using your hand to stop a stream of pee from making it’s way across the room.
  • You take pride in cleaning out another person’s ears.
  • You are still changing diapers on a two and a half year old – although admittedly it is getting VERY old. Potty training kicks into full gear this weekend.

Here is our very first photo as a family of four. I am usually the photographer so it’s rare that we get a picture with both Kei and me. Mum took this one before she left last week.
 

Photobucket

House Update
The house is nearly done (yippeee). We have about two weeks to go until we can move in although I see a lot of painting in our future. I went upstairs to take a look yesterday and I couldn’t imagine getting so excited about door stoppers and knobs on the vanity drawers. The towel rail has even been hung in the bathroom (although we are still waiting for the toilet and vanity sink to be installed). The glass shower screen was supposed to be installed last week but was postponed after they found a huge scratch in the glass while they were putting it in.
Nevertheless, everything is taking shape and we are just so ready to move upstairs. I am looking forward to having the playroom back and the chance to set up the nursery. Mum and Dad gave us some money for new nursery decor (Trans. sheets) so I am really looking forward to seeing how it all looks. Oh, and the extra closet space will be nice. Did I mention that we included a walk in closet in the renovation? OK, now I am getting VERY excited. 🙂
I will try and take some photos of the little details later today and post them on the blog. It’s been a while…
 
And Finally… A little tag from France
My wonderful CT friend Alice tagged me. Thankfully she provided a translation because as much as I would love to respond in her native French, the best I could do would be a few poorly pronounced words in German. And I wouldn’t want to expose my wonderful blog readers to that sort of horror.
A. How many books have you read in the past year ?
I have actually been enjoying a renewed reading frenzy lately and have been averaging about a book a month. Lately I ave been reading in the middle of the night while nursing Samuel. It helps keep me awake at 4am.
B. Where do you find them ?
I like to research my books before I buy them. And if I have a Gift Certificate it takes me a lot longer. I usually shop at Powells in Portland because they have a lot of used books at great prices. I research the books I buy on Amazon by typing in the name of a book I loved and then looking at recommendations under that book listing. Honestly, it can take me hours to choose just a couple of books and I am always open to great book suggestions.
C. Where do you read ?
In bed, while nursing, at 4am.
D. Anything else but books ?
I would pretty much read anything but a couple of my favourite magazines are Entertainment Weekly and Wondertime.
E. Your favorite book of the year ?
I really enjoyed The Birth House. I have just started to read Twilight and so far, so good.
F. Grab the closest book. Go to page 123. Find the 5th line. Copy the next 3.
From Twilight
-“What was he saying about the Doctor’s family?” I asked innocently.
-“The Cullens? Oh they’re not supposed to come onto the reservation.”
-He looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I’d thought I’d heard in Sam’s voice.
I have no idea who reads this blog so I will tag anyone who’s reading. Please link me up if you play and don’t forget to leave me some book suggestions. I have a very long plane trip in my future.
Congratulations for making it to the end of this post. Phew! It was a long one. I hope to post more regularly (and more briefly). Need to get back on track with my P365 as well although I’m now thinking that may be a weekly update. It’s easier for me to do it all at once and then I can spend the rest of the week contributing interesting updates like this one (ha ha).
Nicole

P365 Day 164 – June 12th 2008

Nan’s last day with the Ishida’s before embarking on the marathon plane trip back to Australia. Just two months until we see her again. Assuming I am able to get Samuel his passport in time, that is. I am praying that his birth certificate arrives this week so I can get started on the application and avoid the last-minute “will it arrive in time” stress. Not to be confused with the “are we really taking a 24 hour plane trip to Australia with a Toddler and an Infant” stress. That comes later.

P365 Day 163 – June 11th 2008

I took Mum out for afternoon tea as a little thank-you for helping us survive our first month as parents of two. So nice not having to worry about laundry or dinner for a whole month. Although I still think she does the laundry too often and I won’t even get started on our differing philosophies about ironing (I mean what is the point of ironing pants that you will be wearing on a plane for 24 hours?). Not that I don’t appreciate it all. I REALLY do. I am just not going to put myself under any pressure to maintain the high standard.

Afternoon tea was at a little restaurant on the Columbia River called Salty’s that I have been wanting to try for a while. Apparently they have a very good (kid friendly) weekend brunch that we will have to try out soon.

P365 Day 162 – June 10th 2008

Sometimes you buy a toy for your child and you know they will like it. They may even play with it for a few weeks before it becomes old news and something bigger and better comes along. But every now and then you buy a toy that becomes a trues obsession. A toy they look forward to playing with when they get home from a day out. A toy, most importantly, that can be used as leverage. EFFECTIVE leverage.

Buzz Lightyear has become that toy. For days after we gave it to him, Thomas would just spontaneously tell us how lucky he was and how much he loved his Buzz Lightyear toy. He would ask if we bought it for him (the toy was a combined gift from Mummy, Daddy, Samuel and Nan). He would get dressed have breakfast and brush his teeth just so he would have a chance to play with Buzz. And truly amazing things happen if we threaten to take Buzz away – anything is possible.

Of course now he is asking for a new Woody toy (the very cheap, small one I bought for him is a little worn out) and he wants Army Men and a Mr Potato Head. And did I mention that we have watched Toy Story about 20 times in the past two weeks? It’s so bad that I had to buy Toy Story 2 just so we could watch something different. Of course Thomas only wants to watch the penguin singing at the very end of the movie so we haven’t had a chance to watch it all the way through.

P365 Day 160 – June 8th 2008

I bought these Sock Monkey slippers fto wear in the hospital after I had Samuel. Thomas loves putting his fingers in under my toes and having me pretend like the monkey is biting them.

I found these at Target. Have I mentioned how much I love Target?

P365 Day 159 – June 7th 2008

Everybody loves a parade right? Well today we had a chance to march in the Portland Rose Festival Parade. Definitely one of those things I can now mark of the list of things I have done. Kei’s company was one of the parade sponsors so we had the unique opportunity to join a group of about 2000 walkers on a 4 mile route through the city.

Not that we walked the entire 4 miles exactly. After an early start and registration, we began the walk and made it about a mile before Samuel’s patience ran out. He was so good until that point but it was obvious that we would have to leave the procession to feed and change the baby (in a small grassed area by the side of the road – classy). By the time Samuel was refueled we had fallen behind the other walkers so it was clear that we needed a quick plan to catch up. Luckily there was a Portland Max (train) station nearby so we jumped aboard and caught it downtown. The timing was perfect and we caught up with the parade at about the 2-3 mile mark.

It felt like we were cheating. I mean we stood by the endge of the road and then surreptitiously walked into the procession like we had been there all along. There is an episode of The Office where they participate in a fun run and a few of them decide to jump in a cab. That’s how I felt.

When we reached the end of the parade route we were able to sit down and enjoy the rest of the parade. Thomas LOVED it. They had every float he needed to see – a Dinasour float with T-Rex, A Pirate float (but only after we assured him they were friendly pirates) and an astronaut float – which was appropriately renamed the “Buzz Lightyear” float. It was so much fun watching his expressions and seeing him enjoy the marching bands as they came past. The horses were also a highlight – especially the Clydesdales (above).

A fun, uniquely American, day. According to Kei, the only thing that would have made it perfect (apart from an improvement in the weather) would have been if every marching band played “Louie Louie”.

P365 Day 158 – June 6th 2008

Mum and I (and Samuel) went to a quilt show in Portland. Yes, a quilt show. My mother is an avid quilter and wanted to check out the “American Style” of quilting. Apparently it doesn’t differ much from Australian quilting save a few Bald headed eagles, stars and stripes and the odd coyote.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the artistry of some of the quilts. Although a lot of them weren’t my style, there were quite a few with incredibly beautiful colours and intricate stitching and design – real works of art. I definitely need the inspiration right now.

This Mama needs a break

So excited. About to head off and see Sex and the City – In an actual movie theater! One of the benefits of having a child who is young enough to sleep almost continuously. Yes, Samuel is coming with me and I fully intend to use my unique mummy powers (aka boobs) to keep him content (and quiet) through the entire thing. Wish me luck.

Back later with some updates on how things are going with the baby, the child and the house.

I feel like it’s been so long but I need to keep reminding myself that my baby is only three weeks old. I remember the first month with Thomas felt like a year but I thought it was just something that happened with the first baby. I now realize that the passage of time is directly related to the amount of sleep (or lack thereof).