Eating at home.
Playing at Gymboree.
Playing with his friend Ethan.
Aren't Ethan and his dog so cute? I can't wait for Dori to have a puppy soon (my parents are getting another dog).
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Is this not the cutest child you've ever seen?
Eating out.
Eating at home.
Playing at Gymboree.
Playing with his friend Ethan.
Aren't Ethan and his dog so cute? I can't wait for Dori to have a puppy soon (my parents are getting another dog).
Eating at home.
Playing at Gymboree.
Playing with his friend Ethan.
Aren't Ethan and his dog so cute? I can't wait for Dori to have a puppy soon (my parents are getting another dog).
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
role reversal
So, I just tried a new appraoch to nap time. Given he loves to copy what I'm doing (computer, writing, dishes, playing guitar etc), I thought I would pretend to fall asleep. In his room, I lay on the bed and gave an oscar-worthy performance complete with yawns; tossing and turning; and, ultimately, snoring. It was more like a coma really. I 'slept' through Dorian sticking his fingers up my nose, hitting me on the head, shouting at me and tickling my toes. Eventually, he realized I wasn't going to be woken. He went over to his music box and started his bedtime music. Then he bought a book to the bed and sat up with it on his lap, 'reading' aloud. Next he gently put his face next to mine and then finally he left the room! It was amazing. It's 2:30pm and he still hasn't taken a nap but I feel ready for one!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
So many changes!
Alright, I cave. I have been on strike for the past week because this blog is supposed to be more of James' responsibility now that I'm back at work and in school (and because this blog was started for the benefit of his family in England). However, to be fair, I never actually told him this. :D Plus, he was away all week-end with the band and now he has the cold I had last week. So, we'll let him slide this time. Poor guy had an allergic reaction to DayQuil on top of the cold yesterday - he was covered in itchy, swollen hives. No fun.
Dorian has now been off the boobs for 9 days! The changes in him have been incredible. I wish I had weaned him months ago. Actually, no, I wish I had never nursed him at all (not really, but oh my god, he is a different kid now). He is starting to sleep for the first time. We had a 5 hour stretch last night...in his own bed!!! Then he woke up and came running to our bed so I pulled him into bed with us and cuddled him and he fell right back asleep for the rest of the night! No milk or cottage cheese or anything during the night for the past few nights. And...wait for it...he took a 3 hour nap today with no interruptions. This is huge! He went down easily tonight too - no crying.
The sleep changes are AWESOME and hopefully will be here to stay. But the biggest changes have been developmentally. He has turned into a different child over the past couple weeks. He is talking like crazy! Most of it jibberish, but still. He is talking ALL THE TIME and he obviously thinks he's saying something because he'll talk while he's pointing to things or in response to something we've said or when he wants something. It is incredible. He was in the BEST MOOD EVER today. Seriously, no crying, no tantrums, just a happy, happy, happy child. If he was like that all the time, I wouldn't have been so eager to return to work. I could easily be a stay-at-home mom with a kid like he was today. It was a total change.
He is dancing to music all the time now. He starts bopping his head when we read any rhyming books. He giggles. He is very cheeky. He knows when he does something he shouldn't be doing because he always looks over at us, waits for us to say "no" and then chuckles hysterically. He roots around in the fridge and picks out what he wants to eat for every meal (he always picks healthy stuff - his favorite foods at the moment incluce any kind of fruit, avocados, cottage cheese, cream cheese, fruit-flavored yogurt, broccoli, Weetabix cereal, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, and tofu). He can almost feed himself with utensils...he can do it, but we still have to put the food on them usually. He can hold ice cream bars and eat them on his own. He can drink out of his sippy cup or a small cup with a straw on his own. He draws (scribbles) using pens and crayons. He loves playing with playdough. He plays the recorder beautifully, and of course, still loves to play his piano and guitar. He "reads" to himself and to us all the time. He loves spending time with his grandparents and will happily spend the whole day with them - no separation anxiety or mama's boy anymore. He gives us hugs, kisses and high fives depending on which one we verbally request. He understands so much now. He points to his nose and mouth, and to ours. He sings. He has moved up a level in Gymboree. He is the smartest one, even though he's the youngest. Seriously! There are things they have the kids do and he gets it before the others do. It's amazing. He also always wants to be the first to do things and he watches the teacher quite often, even when he should be sitting down with the other kids (see the pic below). He climbs up stairs and ladders and goes down slides. He is very serious when he is learning something new. You can tell he is really thinking about things. He is obsessed with my dad. He cries when he leaves, much like the way he used to cry when I left (he doesn't cry when I leave anymore, only when my dad does!) He loves James' shoes and feet for some reason and was desperate to get James' Docs on today. There are so many things I know I'm forgetting to mention. He is just such a grown-up boy now!!
Dorian has now been off the boobs for 9 days! The changes in him have been incredible. I wish I had weaned him months ago. Actually, no, I wish I had never nursed him at all (not really, but oh my god, he is a different kid now). He is starting to sleep for the first time. We had a 5 hour stretch last night...in his own bed!!! Then he woke up and came running to our bed so I pulled him into bed with us and cuddled him and he fell right back asleep for the rest of the night! No milk or cottage cheese or anything during the night for the past few nights. And...wait for it...he took a 3 hour nap today with no interruptions. This is huge! He went down easily tonight too - no crying.
The sleep changes are AWESOME and hopefully will be here to stay. But the biggest changes have been developmentally. He has turned into a different child over the past couple weeks. He is talking like crazy! Most of it jibberish, but still. He is talking ALL THE TIME and he obviously thinks he's saying something because he'll talk while he's pointing to things or in response to something we've said or when he wants something. It is incredible. He was in the BEST MOOD EVER today. Seriously, no crying, no tantrums, just a happy, happy, happy child. If he was like that all the time, I wouldn't have been so eager to return to work. I could easily be a stay-at-home mom with a kid like he was today. It was a total change.
He is dancing to music all the time now. He starts bopping his head when we read any rhyming books. He giggles. He is very cheeky. He knows when he does something he shouldn't be doing because he always looks over at us, waits for us to say "no" and then chuckles hysterically. He roots around in the fridge and picks out what he wants to eat for every meal (he always picks healthy stuff - his favorite foods at the moment incluce any kind of fruit, avocados, cottage cheese, cream cheese, fruit-flavored yogurt, broccoli, Weetabix cereal, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, and tofu). He can almost feed himself with utensils...he can do it, but we still have to put the food on them usually. He can hold ice cream bars and eat them on his own. He can drink out of his sippy cup or a small cup with a straw on his own. He draws (scribbles) using pens and crayons. He loves playing with playdough. He plays the recorder beautifully, and of course, still loves to play his piano and guitar. He "reads" to himself and to us all the time. He loves spending time with his grandparents and will happily spend the whole day with them - no separation anxiety or mama's boy anymore. He gives us hugs, kisses and high fives depending on which one we verbally request. He understands so much now. He points to his nose and mouth, and to ours. He sings. He has moved up a level in Gymboree. He is the smartest one, even though he's the youngest. Seriously! There are things they have the kids do and he gets it before the others do. It's amazing. He also always wants to be the first to do things and he watches the teacher quite often, even when he should be sitting down with the other kids (see the pic below). He climbs up stairs and ladders and goes down slides. He is very serious when he is learning something new. You can tell he is really thinking about things. He is obsessed with my dad. He cries when he leaves, much like the way he used to cry when I left (he doesn't cry when I leave anymore, only when my dad does!) He loves James' shoes and feet for some reason and was desperate to get James' Docs on today. There are so many things I know I'm forgetting to mention. He is just such a grown-up boy now!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Weaned!
It has been 80 hours since Dorian last nursed! Check out my blog (http://becomingabetterkelly.blogspot.com) if you're interested in reading about the challenging nights we've been having. Last night was pretty rough, BUT he is now drinking whole milk! He drank about 12 ounces of whole milk last night and has been having loads today too. Phew. We were worried there for a bit (he didn't seem to be drinking ANY fluids for the first couple days of weaning). Once Dorian has calmed down a bit after the weaning (maybe in a week?), we will re-focus our efforts on sleep training. So far, weaning has not helped his sleep as so many people told us it would. Last night he woke crying every 45 minutes. It's harder to get him back to sleep now since I'm not nursing him. I just have to rock him, pat his back, sing to him. We're still co-sleeping and know this isn't ideal either. We'll work on it. But in the meantime, wow! I feel so free to have him weaned!!!! This is HUGE.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Final Wrap-Up: London
Long overdue post on London. We left for London via train on Friday, January 8th. The original plan (months earlier) had been for me to go to London for 5 days without James and Dorian. Of course, Dorian decided he was not going to give up the boobies at 12 months as we had hoped. So James and Dori had to come with me. We compromised and only went for 3 days. James is not a major fan of cities, and obviously would have preferred to have stayed in Devon with his family for a few extra days. But fair's fair. I had wanted to do London the previous year when Dori was a newborn but there was so much family stuff going on in Devon (and no one had met Dori yet, or seen James in 3 years) so we didn't get the chance to go.
The train ride was beautiful. It took about 2.5 hours and the views were lush. There was a dusting of frost on everything so it looked like it had just freshly snowed. Even in winter, everything in England is so green, so bright and pretty. It is such a stunning country. Shame about the weather. When we arrived at Paddington Station, my good friend Sam was waiting for us. Sam used to live in Devon - I met her when we both worked at a bank in Exeter in 2003. She became my best friend while I lived in England. She has visited us in Oakland once, and miraculously, we've both managed to keep in touch via long emails for 4.5 years. She's a really good friend. One of those few people you click with in life and can go years without seeing and then pick up like you never left off, you know?
We took a taxi to Sam's flat in Westminster (near Chelsea and Kensington) and OH MY GOD. She lives in the nicest part of London and her flat was stunning. It's quite small (though probably not by English standards) but the street is gorgeous. Pristine white Victorian apartment complexes (freshly painted) with black iron gates and fluffy, green trees (at least, I imagine they are in the summer) lining the street. Cobblestone paths. Exactly what you think of when you think of London! Inside, we had to go up 4 flights of tiny, winding stairs to her and her boyfriend's attic apartment. It was very sweet with a kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. I forgot how tiny British apartments are - it was about the size of James and my second apartment in Exeter.
Sam and I left James and Dorian at Gymboree (yes, they had Gymboree play classes a few blocks from her house!) and went to Portobello Road. There's a market that takes place there every day and it was so cute. The street was gorgeous. I bought the cutest knit Indian hippie jacket for Dorian - it will be in some pictures soon, I'm sure. I didn't take many pics in London because I figured I could find thousands of pics on the internet and didn't want to be walking around with a camera out. I wanted to enjoy my trip. Taking pics can be exhausting! Luckily, I was right...
Here are some pics of Portobello Road, Portobello Market, and Notting Hill (couldn't find exact photos of Sam's place, but the picture with the apartments below is similar):
On Saturday morning, Sam had to work so I went for a walk on my own through her neighborhood, Notting Hill and Kensington. I am in love with London! James and I also took Dorian on a walk through Kensington Park. Dorian hated the cold. Absolutely hated it. So we didn't get very far. But here are a couple pics of this gorgeous city park:
On Saturday afternoon, Sam and I went to a couple pubs, then met up with James, Dorian and Sam's BF Jamie for Indian food. We had a really good night, though boy, is my tolerance low. I got massively drunk after 4 glasses of wine (over several hours) and promptly crashed when returning to Sam's around 9pm.
On Sunday, Sam and I took a double decker bus to Camden Market which was soooo cool. It was like a classy, English version of the Haight Ashbury. It was such an interesting mix of bright colors, new items, ethnic items and old architecture. I was in love. I bought so much stuff for ridiculously cheap, even by English standards. The best buy was an Indian tapestry, cushion covers, and a colorful throw for our couch in red, gold and purple hues. I bought wool tights and cool knit hat for me (the look in England at the moment is wool tights with riding boots, short skirts, peacoats and floppy hippie hats - a look I very much love and have been recreating over here)! I thought of the men in my life and bought a hippie shirt and guitar clock for James, English candy and a VW clock for my Dad (his birthday was Dec 31st), and colorful African art and wooden animal toys for Dorian. I also bought massive quantities of tea, Marmite (for James; I can't stand the stuff), Cadbury chocolate and HobNobs (the yummiest cheap English oatmeal cookie) to bring home. Here are some pics of Camden Street and Camden Market:
Then, Sam and I took the tube to Spitalfields Market, which was awesome too. It was great to see the East End, since I have always heard about it. Every part of London has its own feel and was one of the things I loved most about London. It is like 10+ different cities in one area. Then, Sam and I went to a couple more pubs. A couple pics of Spitalfields:
While we were out boozing and shopping, James and Dori went to visit with James' friend Jim from university. Here are some pics they took (doesn't Dori look thrilled to be in London?):
On Monday, we flew home. It was a short week-end in London, but very fun. And it even snowed lightly a couple times! I could totally see myself living in London - I LOVED it. I am much happier in a city. I don't know what it is. But I just love cities!
The train ride was beautiful. It took about 2.5 hours and the views were lush. There was a dusting of frost on everything so it looked like it had just freshly snowed. Even in winter, everything in England is so green, so bright and pretty. It is such a stunning country. Shame about the weather. When we arrived at Paddington Station, my good friend Sam was waiting for us. Sam used to live in Devon - I met her when we both worked at a bank in Exeter in 2003. She became my best friend while I lived in England. She has visited us in Oakland once, and miraculously, we've both managed to keep in touch via long emails for 4.5 years. She's a really good friend. One of those few people you click with in life and can go years without seeing and then pick up like you never left off, you know?
We took a taxi to Sam's flat in Westminster (near Chelsea and Kensington) and OH MY GOD. She lives in the nicest part of London and her flat was stunning. It's quite small (though probably not by English standards) but the street is gorgeous. Pristine white Victorian apartment complexes (freshly painted) with black iron gates and fluffy, green trees (at least, I imagine they are in the summer) lining the street. Cobblestone paths. Exactly what you think of when you think of London! Inside, we had to go up 4 flights of tiny, winding stairs to her and her boyfriend's attic apartment. It was very sweet with a kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. I forgot how tiny British apartments are - it was about the size of James and my second apartment in Exeter.
Sam and I left James and Dorian at Gymboree (yes, they had Gymboree play classes a few blocks from her house!) and went to Portobello Road. There's a market that takes place there every day and it was so cute. The street was gorgeous. I bought the cutest knit Indian hippie jacket for Dorian - it will be in some pictures soon, I'm sure. I didn't take many pics in London because I figured I could find thousands of pics on the internet and didn't want to be walking around with a camera out. I wanted to enjoy my trip. Taking pics can be exhausting! Luckily, I was right...
Here are some pics of Portobello Road, Portobello Market, and Notting Hill (couldn't find exact photos of Sam's place, but the picture with the apartments below is similar):
On Saturday morning, Sam had to work so I went for a walk on my own through her neighborhood, Notting Hill and Kensington. I am in love with London! James and I also took Dorian on a walk through Kensington Park. Dorian hated the cold. Absolutely hated it. So we didn't get very far. But here are a couple pics of this gorgeous city park:
On Saturday afternoon, Sam and I went to a couple pubs, then met up with James, Dorian and Sam's BF Jamie for Indian food. We had a really good night, though boy, is my tolerance low. I got massively drunk after 4 glasses of wine (over several hours) and promptly crashed when returning to Sam's around 9pm.
On Sunday, Sam and I took a double decker bus to Camden Market which was soooo cool. It was like a classy, English version of the Haight Ashbury. It was such an interesting mix of bright colors, new items, ethnic items and old architecture. I was in love. I bought so much stuff for ridiculously cheap, even by English standards. The best buy was an Indian tapestry, cushion covers, and a colorful throw for our couch in red, gold and purple hues. I bought wool tights and cool knit hat for me (the look in England at the moment is wool tights with riding boots, short skirts, peacoats and floppy hippie hats - a look I very much love and have been recreating over here)! I thought of the men in my life and bought a hippie shirt and guitar clock for James, English candy and a VW clock for my Dad (his birthday was Dec 31st), and colorful African art and wooden animal toys for Dorian. I also bought massive quantities of tea, Marmite (for James; I can't stand the stuff), Cadbury chocolate and HobNobs (the yummiest cheap English oatmeal cookie) to bring home. Here are some pics of Camden Street and Camden Market:
Then, Sam and I took the tube to Spitalfields Market, which was awesome too. It was great to see the East End, since I have always heard about it. Every part of London has its own feel and was one of the things I loved most about London. It is like 10+ different cities in one area. Then, Sam and I went to a couple more pubs. A couple pics of Spitalfields:
While we were out boozing and shopping, James and Dori went to visit with James' friend Jim from university. Here are some pics they took (doesn't Dori look thrilled to be in London?):
On Monday, we flew home. It was a short week-end in London, but very fun. And it even snowed lightly a couple times! I could totally see myself living in London - I LOVED it. I am much happier in a city. I don't know what it is. But I just love cities!
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