Saturday, August 30, 2008

Someone will not be a baby much longer...







Last night

Worst night ever. This ALWAYS happens. Sleep training works, then stops working again.

I know this isn't supposed to be the complaining blog anymore so just stop reading if you're not interested. I am so tired (how many times have I said this phrase over the past year?). I got about 2 hours sleep last night. Dori and I are supposed to go see James perform today but I am worried I'm not going to be able to drive, let alone sit in 90 degree weather while caring for a baby-toddler. At the moment, I'm so tired I can't see straight and I feel like I'm going to keel over. But, we haven't seen James play in 4 months and he's been super excited about us coming to today's gig. ARGH! Why won't Dorian just sleep already?

In other news, does anyone want to babysit for a few hours tomorrow? I really need to study. I'll provide snacks, drinks and gas money if you can do it. And the little guy is ridiculously cute and interactive at the moment so it should be fun!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

11 hours!!!!

Not much more to say, really. 11 hours glorious, continuous sleep without so much as a whimper! He doesn't do things by halves.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

genes

Dori has looked like me from day one and everyone comments on it. I heard a theory that newborns more resemble their fathers in order to reassure the dad the baby is theirs. The dad is more likely to stick around and, consequently, the baby more likely to survive and reproduce offspring with the same trait. (Sorry for evolution 101, but only 14% of Americans accept evolution! Don't get me started...)

Anyway, my parents have dug out some old pictures of me as a baby and toddler to compare and contrast. Recently, D has begun to look more like Kel so I'll find some early pics of her soon.

Fashion Warning! Please remember this was the seventies.

newborn

a little older

with my dad (Dori's Granta)

with Dad (during his Elvis period) and new arrival Hannah

with Han and Lamby (now one of Dor's toys)

annoying my sister

looking good!

camping (I remember this picture being taken)

Monday, August 25, 2008

San Diego Pictures, Part 1

With Kelly's college roommate Juleane.
Waving at the camera!
With Mama.
Getting into it.
Splashing!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Still no camera...

Crazy that it hasn't arrived yet. I'm telling you, USPS sucks. I don't know why Jessica hasn't sent me her pictures from our San Diego week-end. She obviously doesn't read this blog very often. ;) I'll get James to take a video of Dori this week and post it.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures taken on my phone's camera. I can't upload them, otherwise I'd take more pictures on my phone and post them to the blog. Seriously, James even tried. Something's wrong with my phone. I get all the defective items...bad laptop, bad phone. Anyway, I texted these pics to Jessica and she was kind enough to upload them to her Facebook account.

They were all taken over the past 2 weeks.

With fake pout, taken at SFO while waiting for our flight to San Diego.
With Annie, my colleague from the accounting firm (and our photographer last week-end).
With Dorana, another one of my colleagues from the accounting firm.

With waffle, his new favorite food.

Friday, August 22, 2008

All change...

From the moment we played our final chord at the Philadelphia Folk Festival I was ready to be home with Kel and Dor. We drove the whole distance in 52 hours (apparently a Tempest record) and arrived in Oakland at 1am. I tried not to, but somehow I managed to wake them both up... OK, so I didn't try too hard; I really wanted a cuddle. I'm not sure whether D remembered me that night, but the next morning he certainly did. We giggled, smiled, chatted, played and laughed all day long, so much so he barely noticed his mum was away at her first day of nursing college. Having been away for a month, I was expecting huge changes in the little guy, particularly in light of all the blog updates recently: first words, stair-climbing etc. Actually he seems very similar to when I'd left and I'm glad; I don't want to miss a thing. The main differences I see are: he squeals/sings much more melodiously and it really seems like he's trying to sing; he laughs at things and situations where before it was just when I blew a raspberry on his stomach (his favourite game at the moment is grabbing my necklace, yanking it and collapsing in hysterics when I nod my head); he crawls much quicker and is a little steadier on his feet when pulling himself up; if he's standing and you hold his hands he 'walks', leading you around. It's a somewhat drunken lurch but I think he'll be walking unaided very soon. Watch this space...; he stares at things and people (particularly other kids) intently. Other than these few developments he's just as he was when I left - the cutest little baby/toddler ever.

So, now that Kel is studying hard I not only get the child-care duties but also I'm in charge of blog updates. I'm probably not going to be as good as Kel, but I do know how to use the camera and video so I'll make sure there's always something interesting to check out.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Changes

James will return home late tonight. I start nursing school tomorrow. Dorian's front teeth are almost through. All three of us have colds. Hopefully, the digital camera will arrive soon. I will blog again this week-end.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Laughter

Dorian has started laughing at so many things (when he's drugged up on Tylenol or Motrin and not feeling his toothy pegs). He has been laughing for months when we tickle him. But now all of sudden, he's laughing at random things. He couldn't stop laughing at my friend Erika's kittens playing on Saturday. I've never seen him laugh so hard.

Yesterday, my friend Erin and her boyfriend Ryan came over. Dorian loved Ryan. He interacted with Dorian in exactly the same way James does. Lots of gentle roughhousing and "rolly polly" games. Dorian thought it was so funny!

Then today, he's been very mischievous. He always tries to grab my glasses. He rarely succeeds. Well today, he was staring at me intently and then grabbed them all of sudden at lightning speed. He snatched them off my face and then started laughing hysterically.

Just now as I was feeding him in the kitchen, he grabbed the spoon from me, spilled the food everywhere and laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever done. When I laughed too, he laughed even harder.

These are the things that make all the sleep-deprivation work it. Keep up the charming, little Dori, keep it up. Maybe I won't put you up for adoption after all.

Teething & Blisters

Bad night last night, very bad. Mama is so tired. But you can go to her blog for excessive complaining. Crockbaby is now a happy blog!

This morning, Dorian has a swollen blue blister on the gums where one of the teeth is coming in. Totally normal with teething babies, but blood blisters can be painful. So I am sure that is why he was up last night. The good news is that both the front teeth are sooooo close to coming through. You can feel the one on the left poking through the gums. The one on the right has the blister. I wish he would take the cold compresses and frozen toys I give him to chew on, but he just wants to bite my nipples! Monster.

Once these teeth come through, we'll give him a couple days to settle and then resume the dreaded sleep training. With a vengeance. I am going to make James cancel his week-end gigs if he has to. ;) Chain him to Dorian's room and seal his eyes open so he can't sleep...make him listen to the horrible sounds of our baby crying nonstop. It's his turn for a little sleep-deprivation! Oh wait, sorry this is a happy blog. I forgot.

Sleep training will work next time around. It just has to.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

At last!!!

PICTURES!*













*A big thank you to our photographer, Annie.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Pictures A-Coming!

Still no sign of my camera (Jess mailed it on Tuesday, but you know how USPS can be). Luckily, I'm seeing my friend Annie tomorrow who is eager to do a photo shoot with her new camera (her words) so expect some pictures of the little guy this week-end. He is sooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Sleep training again....

I started it last night as there is less than one week before James gets home and I start nursing school. I am doing modified sleep training (ie pulling him into bed eventually if it gets to be too much). Don't even tell me it's not consistent. You try caring for a baby on your own for a month with no sleep. You do what you have to do. He did fairly well last night...slept for 7 hours (woke up a couple times crying but not for too long). I then pulled him into bed, nursed him, he slept for 2 more, nursed, then slept for 2 more. Not bad. I'll take it! He's also been going down easier for naps the past few days and sleeping longer. Oh, please say he's getting it!!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Becoming a Better Kelly

I have decided to start my own personal blog. I realized I do a lot of complaining on this blog and some of you may not come here for that. You want pictures and updates on Dorian...this is his blog!

You can now visit Becoming a Better Kelly for your daily dose of complaints.

Don't worry, I will still aim to post to this blog as often as possible. It will not be as often as before (since I'll be in nursing school), but I will push James to take pictures when he is with Dorian and we'll post them on the week-ends. Maybe James will even become more involved in this blog. And pigs will fly too!

Monday, August 11, 2008

We're home...

Poor little Dori got fussier as yesterday wore on and slept horribly last night (the second night in a row of truly awful sleep - up every half hour). He was a little crank monster this morning too. I decided it best to stick with my original plan (the plane ticket was for today; last week I thought perhaps I would extend the trip). Dori has two new teeth (the top lateral incisors) and I think the top central incisors are coming in too. The broke through in reverse (normally babies get the central ones first) - we were kind of hoping the central ones didn't come in for awhile because it would look like he had fangs on top! Poor little teething guy. Plus I think he was actually really homesick and obviously his routine was off so he was all out of sorts. We got home and he immediately started smiling and playing his piano and with his blocks. When we went into his bedroom for bedtime he started chatting away excitedly while reaching for his familiar ball and stuffed duck and looking at his books. It was very sweet.

Of all the things to leave in San Diego???? My digital camera! ARGH! Jessica is going to mail it to me tomorrow and hopefully forward me the pictures she took on her camera so I can post some this week! More tomorrow...

Sunday, August 10, 2008

San Diego, part 1

Our trip is going well. Juleane picked us up at the airport on Thursday and we drove through downtown San Diego and past the ocean. Both were stunning. There's a real Mediterranean feel to downtown San Diego, at least the part I saw. I can not believe we're still in the same state - everything is so completely different to the Bay Area. We stayed with Juleane in a brand spanking new suburb for a couple days. I have never experienced life in the suburbs before and it was a total trip to me...more on this later. I think it deserves a whole blog...if you've seen the show "Weeds," that's exactly like the neighborhood I just stayed in. It was surreal. I also saw Pacific Beach yesterday, as I joined Juleane on her birthday pub crawl - they even let us bring the baby in the bar! Pacific Beach looks a lot like Isla Vista (the student town near UCSB, where I attended college). It brought me right back...so weird to be there with my own baby though.

We arrived at Jessica's parents' ranch last night. Wow, talk about different and very cool. Total change from Juleane's house so I am experiencing two very different sides of San Diego living. First off, I saw a tarantula last night!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! Big, fat, hairy spider. BIG. Effing big. It was climbing up the screen door in the living room (on the outside). Then, Jessica's sister saw another one in the garage! Yeah, it took me hours to fall asleep because I was thinking about tarantulas. And I'm not even a person who is that scared of spiders. Not like Hannah, my sister-in-law. :) Apparently, there are rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, lizards and frogs around too. The view is stunning - the backyard looks out over the mountains. I'll post more on this later too, including pictures.

It is is very, very hot here and even humid. Not my kind of weather at all. I didn't pack the right kind of clothes. I've worn the same tank top and skirt since I arrived! But it is so nice to get away and see my friends and have a change in scenery. As mentioned, I'll definitely post more when we arrive home, which will probably be Wednesday, though I'm not sure - could be Tuesday, could be Thursday. If I see any more tarantulas, I may come home tonight!

Dorian is doing great, by the way. He was awesome the first 2 days (and on the trip down). A bit fussy yesterday and today so far but I think those killer teeth are coming to get him. He is charming everyone though. I don't think he could possibly be any cuter.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Internet Access

So I won't be online again until Sunday. OMG, whatever will I do? I think I'll experience major withdrawal! Seriously. I am sooooo addicted. My friend Juleane just moved house and doesn't have it set up yet. She does have a swimming pool and a TV with cable (a real luxury since we don't have any of those things) so I guess we'll survive. Mini-blog to come on Sunday!

Sleep, oh sleep...

Is it totally a thing of my past??? Dorian has been awake now for over an hour. I couldn't take it anymore and put him back in his crib. And now, of course, the screaming baby is keeping me from sleeping. He has been sleeping horribly for the past week. Just horribly. But tonight takes the cake...it's like he's decided it's morning and time to get up. Ridiculous.

I'm also freaking out because we had some man come to our house earlier looking for a motel room (he said he thought this was a motel). I hate being home alone. This neighborhood really creeps me out sometimes. When James and I have more money, we want to get a burglar alarm and all the bells and whistles put on our apartment. Or better yet, buy a house in a nice neighborhood! I love our apartment and even though the neighborhood has improved vastly from when I grew up here, it still has a definite shady factor at times. And my parents' dog is useless since the other dog died. Poor girl.

This sleepless night would happen the day before I have to travel alone with a baby. Great. Just great.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

2 weeks left...

Oh my god, I start nursing school in less than 2 weeks. I am terrified. I had planned on cracking the books this summer but yeah right. Single moms don't have time to read textbooks!

Dori and I are off to San Diego tomorrow for a week to stay with my college roommate Juleane and my good friend Jessica (of Crockbaby commenting fame - "jessierose129"). I am very excited to get out of the house and to have built-in babysitters for a week. I will try to blog at least once or twice while away.

Here are some of my fave pictures taken of Dori this past week (that haven't already been posted obviously)...

Nature boy.
Dori's proud of his grandpa.
The bathtime photos never get old.
Gifted, reading boy. I just don't give up, do I?
Love this shot. Don't know what's going on here.
Look how insanely big Dori has gotten!!!
Could he be any happier?
Cutie-pie.
Why so sad?
Cheerios!
He can feed himself!
And bite his hand.
Ouch, that kinda hurt!