We've arrived in the UK

All is well. The journey was AMAZING. Dori played happily at SFO before our plane took off. He loved watching the people and running around. He slept for the entire flight (obviously nursing several times throughout, but still, he slept for the full flight). He LOVED the two trains we took down to Devon and was as good as gold. He talked and sang in the car ride from the train station to James' parents' house. We were stunned. What a little, happy traveller he is!

We got into the house around 7:30-8pm last night. We had dinner and then talked/played for a bit. We all went to bed around 10:30pm. Dorian woke up at 1am desperate to play. James and I took him downstairs and let him run around. We got Dorian back to sleep around 4:30am, but then James and I couldn't sleep until around 6am. We got up for the day around 12:30pm (4:30am California time, which is when Dorian normally wakes). Oh well. Jet lag was to be expected. We had such high hopes that after the long journey, we'd all crash out and sleep through the UK night. Dori went down for a nap about an hour and a half ago - long nap for the little guy. I'm wondering if this is actually a nap or a long sleep nap. And if it is a nap, well, it is 6:30pm here. This means he'll be up until 2 or 3 again! Is it wrong to give him Benadryl later to try to get him on a UK sleep schedule? We did give him some on the plane; it definitely helped, as he wasn't going to sleep when we first got on.

Anyway, enough about sleep. We actually haven't done much yet. After we woke and had breakfast today, Hannah (James' sister) and her 2 boys came over. Ro and Josh are now 6 and 3. Phil, their dad, couldn't make it because he has an eye infection and a cold. Hannah has a cold too. I read in The Times (UK paper) today that pretty much all of England has a cold or the flu right now - all the bugs came early this year and everyone is sick. You can imagine how happy this made me. We spent last Christmas sick for about 10 days of the trip. Very sick. Dorian actually had to go to the hospital. James and I were miserably ill too. I really, REALLY don't want to get sick this year but it sounds like it may be inevitable. I plan on drinking A LOT of alcohol to try to kill of the bugs!

Pictures soon. The boys love Dorian and Dorian loved them. We took a walk today (James' family's Christmas Eve tradition) and got some great shots of the three little guys. They are all at such fun ages.

If I don't post before tomorrow, Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Tomorrow

We leave for the UK tomorrow. I will post a written update (with perhaps a bonus pic or two) on the 24th regarding the journey and our arrival. Fingers crossed for a drugged, sleeping baby throughout the whole 10 hour red-eye flight. And then a happy baby for the next 6-7 hours of train-hopping.

More Drugs Please!!!

We took Dori to his doctor earlier in the week because we thought he was coming down with another ear infection. Dori's on cold #3 of the month and had a really bad night, screaming, arching his back, pulling his ear, etc. Turns out he's getting 4 more teeth!!! His back molars just came through last week. Crazy. It all happens at once. So glad we didn't resume sleep-training.

While we were at the doctor, I asked if we could give Dori anything to ensure he sleeps on the flight to the UK. He said we could give him Children's Benadryl...most doctors don't recommend it for babies/toddlers or for use as a sleep aid, but ours said go ahead and give him half a teaspoon. And that's why we love Dori's doc! He also advised us to try it one night before leaving because in 10% of children, it has the opposite effect and makes them hyperactive. We tried it last night.

Oh, BLISS!!!!! I adore drugs. I am a huge fan of them. Okay, now this is Dori we're talking about. So did he sleep 10 hours straight? Of course not. Any other child probably would have. But it was a huge improvement. Instead of waking after 2-3 hours as he has been doing for the past couple weeks, he slept 5.5 hours. When he woke up, I let him cry for a bit but he didn't fall back asleep. So I pulled him into bed with us. He nursed, then fell back asleep. I think he only woke up two more times and nursed after that (normally 4-5 times) and he fell back asleep immediately (he often will cry and fuss and writhe a bit before I am able to rock him back to sleep). MORE DRUGS PLEASE!!!!

Would it be wrong to drug my baby every night? (I'm kidding.)

Swiss Genes

This boy loves his chocolate!

Looks like Santa's Elf...

got into the cookies!

The most amazing thing!

This morning, Dorian was crawling all over James, saying "Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada." James said, "Yes, Dorian, what do you want?" Dorian said, "Up!" It was amazing!!!! A real conversation. To reward him, James jumped out of bed, picked him up...and then keeled over. Just kidding. But it wasn't far off. I did take Dorian and let James go back to bed. He's been doing some projects late at night and I was feeling particularly generous since he "let" me buy some new clothes recently (not that he really had a choice in the matter). Anyway, back to our genius boy. Already properly conversing. That boy has good genes!

Cold...

Both kinds. We're all getting over colds at the moment. And it's been cold in the Bay Area the past couple days. The low tonight is supposed to be 34 degrees! That's super cold for Oakland. Dorian and I often go for an early morning walk. He still tends to wake around 5am so by 7am when it starts getting light, he's ready to get out of the house. We got to try out his new gear (specially purchased for our upcoming trip to the UK) this morning...The scrape on his nose is from his first "good" fall a couple days ago. He fell while walking on the sidewalk with James (it never would have happened had I been there).

Silly Boy

So much laughter in our house these days. Makes for a nice change. ;) Dorian is too funny right now. There are a million cute and funny things he has done lately, but I can never remember them all when it comes time to write a blog. Here are a few I do remember:

1. He woke us up this morning, crawling all over us and saying "Up, up, up, up!" He got louder and louder and louder until we got up.
2. He is fascinated watching James pee, and today he just stared at me while I was in the shower. I guess he needs to learn about our different bodies some day; why not now?
3. He keeps ducking under tables, behind doors, etc and jumping out, playing a sort of peekaboo game. But he gets this really cheeky, ecstatic look on his face and he shouts "Ahhhhh!!!" to scare us.
4. We were reading him a book yesterday and he talked throughout the whole story...very quietly, a constant jibberish that sounded like an actual language. It was like he was translating.
5. In Gymboree class today, he crawled up on top of the bridge, picked up a ball, held it high above his head and shouted "Ball!" (The first time he said the word and it was crystal clear.)
6. I left Dori to play in his room a couple days ago while I was cleaning the kitchen. I faintly heard music starting to come from the room. I thought it was odd since I hadn't turned on his little music-machine before leaving his room (we keep it up high on a shelf). I went into his room and found the culprit...

Christmas Wishes

During our walk today, Dorian walked straight up to a toy store and wouldn't leave. They weren't even open yet but he just kept staring through the window, looking at all the toys. Such a cliche.

Christmas Cheekiness

We purchased an Advent calendar for Dorian this year. We wanted to continue on the tradition both James and I had as children. As yesterday was December 1st, we opened the door on the calendar marked "1" and let Dorian eat the chocolate. He loved it. Of course, we weren't surprised as he has loved chocolate every other time we have given it to him (it's in the blood- his maternal grandfather is Swiss). While Daddy and I were talking over our dinner, he managed to open other doors and eat more chocolate. The calendar is now "ruined." Luckily, Trader Joe's sells them for 99 cents (is there a better deal in America right now???) so we'll purchase another one for him. Mama was happy to finish the rest of the calendar chocolate for Dorian last night (it was the right thing to do).




He wasn't too impressed with the tangerine he tried after the chocolate (though he did try to eat it whole by biting into the skin!)

Good Week

Playdates, Gymboree classes, trips to the park, visit to Grandma at work, being introduced to Sesame Street and Teletubbies, Thanksgiving dinner, celebrating Daddy's birthday. It's a hard life.

Playdate with his friend Rowan.
Duet.
Dorian listens while Rowan plays a song.
Gymboree.
Look at the dog sat next to him. So cute ("Dog, dog!!!!")
His fave toy at Gymboree - a red phone. James thinks maybe it's because my cell phone is red.
Parachute time.
Rolling the airlog.
Swinging with Rowan.
Boys and sand.
Eating time again.
Visit to Grandma's work - notice the model brain in his hand.
I love the next 3 pictures...watch the interaction between Dori and Leah (my high school friend Jessi's baby). First, they play together.
Next, Dori steals the toy.
Leah cries.
Gymbo time with the teacher.
Mirror time with Rohm.
Dori stuck his finger up Rohm's nose.
Sesame Street...he loved it! We never let him watch TV.
4 generations at Thanksgiving dinner (at Spenger's Restaurant - we don't do cooking in this family).
Drinking at the bar with Daddy.
We pulled his mattress out of the crib, thinking maybe he'd sleep better in a different room. No luck. He loved playing on it though!
Happy swinging boy!
Best face ever!

Dog!

Dorian's favorite word is "Dog." He loves Stella, my childhood dog, so much. He says, "Dog, dog" whenever he sees her and reaches out for her. She's not that interested. My parents are going to get a second dog, a black lab puppy, by the end of the year. It will be nice to have a puppy grow up with Dorian. My brother loves dogs too so Uncle Kurt and Baby Dori finally have something to bond over. It's very sweet to see my brother interacting with his nephew.

Happy Boy!

***Very-long-video warning*** - D's so cute and happy I didn't want to edit any of it out. This was was pre-walking; he's even happier now!

Not a good time for broken cameras!

So much has happened this week! Dorian is walking. He is talking (he says "Mama," "Dada," "Dog," "Duck" and "Book"). He is changing by the second! Our digital camera broke so we're using our very old digital camera until we get a new one. Please excuse the poor quality. We took some videos but they have been uploading to the computer for over 24 hours - for some reason, the process is taking forever.

But anyway, look, Dori's walking!!!!

TODDLER!!!!!

It was well over a month ago that Dorian started walking (October 1st, to be exact). We were sure he'd be walking on his own consistently after the day we took the walking video you all viewed. But three colds, an ear infection, teething (the big molars!) and major sleep issues slowed him down. He certainly kept walking between us (when we encouraged him) and occasionally took a few steps on his own, but nothing major. Mostly, we've spent the past two months walking him around while holding on to his hands - exhausting and painful for our backs.

Everything changed yesterday...Dorian woke up and obviously decided it was going to be the day. Seriously, he got out of bed and just started walking. He was off! He's doing it! He's walking from one end of the house to the other. He's walking on the sidewalk. He's turning and walking in the other direction. He keeps startling us - we leave him playing in his bedroom and the next thing we know, he's standing behind us in the kitchen. He's trying to run. He's desperately trying to stand up from a seated position (still needs to pull himself up on something in order to stand). He's a toddler!!!!

Music Critic

Dorian loves music. My father and James both play the guitar and mandolin to him and Dori becomes absolutely mesmerized. Sometimes he tries to help them play; other times he just sits back and listens for long stretches of time. James gave Dorian a cheap mandolin to play around with in his playroom. It sits on the floor by his Casio keyboard, toy piano, bongo drum, toy drums, recorder, train whistle, shakers, tambourines, Bose stereo, CD collection and songbooks. Yes, Dorian is probably the most spoiled boy in Oakland and will most likely end up becoming a musician.

James was out of town this week-end. Sunday morning, Dorian dragged the mandolin across the floor to me and shoved it into my lap. He obviously wanted me to play for him. I can not play stringed instruments. James tried to teach me guitar a couple times, but it hurt my delicate, lady-like fingers too much and I decided I'd rather have soft hands than play guitar. So I gave up. Anyway, I didn't think Dorian would care. I picked up the mandolin and started strumming away. He was NOT happy. He kept making his "UNH, MMMMMMM" sounds (he makes these whenever he really wants something, like food we are eating, a story read, etc). I kept trying to play and he kept making his noises, hitting my knee, and eventually throwing a temper-tantrum! It was the funniest thing ever!!!!! Luckily, Grandpa was home that day and played for him. Thank goodness. I hate to deprive Dorian of anything he wants.

What Crockbaby Did on Election Day...

Rode his new scoot-about while naked (one of James' guitar students gave Dorian this for his birthday).
Dismounted from the bike on his own. Clever boy!
Ate his favorite breakfast - whole wheat toast with blackberry jam.
Always incredulous that Daddy can take much bigger bites of toast than he can.
Waited in line with Mama, Daddy and Stella (the dog) so Mama could vote.
Went down the slide with Mama.
Walked on the dangerous ledge with Daddy (always!)
Walked on the safe ground with Mama (of course).
Chased leaves.
Went in his stroller for the rest of the day (while Mama walked around with a "No on Prop 8 sign").
Poor little fellow - probably not the most fun day for him but his Mama felt she had to do her part for Prop 8 (or against it rather). Mama did stop at a couple parks to let Dori stretch his legs, and she watched as he WOLFED down a whole grilled cheese sandwich, fruit salad and cup of juice! We're talking BIG KID portions. He's never eaten so much at once in his life! We think he's had a growth spurt this week. He woke up today with yet another cold. This is like the 4th one in a month. Poor baby (I can still call him that right?). Still, it is so exciting he will have a great man as president for what will hopefully be half his childhood!

Crockbaby endorses...

A very serious issue; even Dorian realizes this.
The man.
I won't actually write anything regarding politics on Dorian's blog (but please check out my blog for new postings on my issues with Prop 8 supporters -http://becomingabetterkelly.blogspot.com). I just had to post these pictures though. Hope you guys don't mind. Surely Dorian is cute enough to help sway some voters?