Hanukkah doesn't actually start until sundown of the 21st - but that's the day we leave for Washington to see Matt's family.
Soooooo. We started last night.
Night 1 brought our 3rd annual Hanukkah Dinner - but we decided neither of us is a big fan of matzoh ball soup...so we subsituted jalapeno cornbread. It went quite well with our brisket and latkes....
For the first night of Hanukkah:
Matt got this soap. It's locally-made, and smells great - even to my scent-picky husband!
Matt got me the book A Christmas Story (the one that inspired the movie). I had mentioned once that I wanted to read it, and he sweetly took note and got me a copy :-)
Bennett got a winter coat. It doesn't fit. It's too big. Oh well!
For the second night of Hanukkah:
Matt got 4 bars of a soap (Bee and Flower Sandalwood) that he used regularly when we met in college. It dries out his skin like crazy, but he loves the smell of it. It's difficult to find in stores, but the smell of the soap I gave Matt on night one made me think of it, and I found it online! When the box of soap arrived, the smell brought back memories of when we first met.
Matt got me a datebook - which, seriously? Was one of the things on my amazon wishlist that I was most hoping to get this year. I'm a dork. And, yes, I'm going back to paper after spending MAY years using my computer and/or a PDA. I don't even know how may PDAs have been handed down and gifted to me!
Bennett got mittens. They're too small, I think. Two gifts in a row that don't fit. At least he's too young to remember the crappy shopping his mom did!
Other than Hanukkah, the big news is that Bennett is finally sleeping better again (as of the past couple days)! Matt and I think we're in the eye of the teething storm. Bennett was working on 7 teeth at once. the first 3 are clearly through. The next two might be in enough to not bother him, but I'm not sure. The last two seem like they could start bothering him any day....we'll see.
I'm just glad he's no longer screaming in pain all day, waking up every couple hours, and generally being sleepless, cranky, and unhappy. He's back to being his smiley, social, deep-sleeping self. Hooray!
He was only up once last night. Tonight I think he was woken up by the dogs barking at the vacuum cleaner in the living room (Bennett is terrified of the vacuum, by the way....), but he went right back down - so we'll see!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sickness + many teeth = no sleep = no blog entries
We're starting to get sleep again, thank goodness! Last night Bennett at one point slept for 5 hours straight. HOORAY!
When he first got sick about a week before Thanksgiving, he was waking up every 30 minutes to 2 hours. It was miserable. Matt and I were losing our minds, quite literally, to exhaustion.
Then I got the sickness - waaaaay worse than either Matt or Bennett. I still have a cough and it's been 2 weeks.
Anyhow, when Bennett was pretty much over the cold, we discovered 2 new bottom teeth and his first top one on its way through -- so no wonder the poor guy was hardly sleeping! Now he's got another top tooth that is teasing - it is SOOOOOO close to really popping through. It almost seems to come down, then go back up!
It also looks like his two top front teeth are just about ready to come through, so I think we'll be dealing with messed up sleep for awhile still. And then I hear that around the first birthday they often get their first molars?!?!? And those are supposed to REALLY hurt. Ugh. I now appreciate even more how good a sleeper Bennett was as a newborn. My hat's off to anyone gettin' the hang of this motherhood thing on zero sleep, because I so rarely had to do that when he was teensy.
Anyway, Little Ah-Goo is now napping nicely. He's on a pretty reliable nap schedule/routine now. Next I'd just like for him to sleep some nice, long, reliable stretches at night!
And for anyone who's wondering - he is sleeping pretty well in his own bed these days. We put his crib mattress on the floor in the corner of our bedroom, next to our bed. We put a night stand at the foot of it, so he's totally blocked in. He can't yet climb out, so it's basically a crib that I can get into and nurse him in pretty easily! And, if he's sleeping crappily or I just don't want t move, I reach down and pull him into bed with us when he wakes in the night.
Basically, we're still doing whatever gets everyone the most sleep. Having him in our room while he's still nursing a few times at night means that I am a little less of a zombie during our waking hours. I'm just hopeful that, once these teeth are in and he is healthy, he'll start sleeping those lovely 5-7 hour stretches of sleep again!
When he first got sick about a week before Thanksgiving, he was waking up every 30 minutes to 2 hours. It was miserable. Matt and I were losing our minds, quite literally, to exhaustion.
Then I got the sickness - waaaaay worse than either Matt or Bennett. I still have a cough and it's been 2 weeks.
Anyhow, when Bennett was pretty much over the cold, we discovered 2 new bottom teeth and his first top one on its way through -- so no wonder the poor guy was hardly sleeping! Now he's got another top tooth that is teasing - it is SOOOOOO close to really popping through. It almost seems to come down, then go back up!
It also looks like his two top front teeth are just about ready to come through, so I think we'll be dealing with messed up sleep for awhile still. And then I hear that around the first birthday they often get their first molars?!?!? And those are supposed to REALLY hurt. Ugh. I now appreciate even more how good a sleeper Bennett was as a newborn. My hat's off to anyone gettin' the hang of this motherhood thing on zero sleep, because I so rarely had to do that when he was teensy.
Anyway, Little Ah-Goo is now napping nicely. He's on a pretty reliable nap schedule/routine now. Next I'd just like for him to sleep some nice, long, reliable stretches at night!
And for anyone who's wondering - he is sleeping pretty well in his own bed these days. We put his crib mattress on the floor in the corner of our bedroom, next to our bed. We put a night stand at the foot of it, so he's totally blocked in. He can't yet climb out, so it's basically a crib that I can get into and nurse him in pretty easily! And, if he's sleeping crappily or I just don't want t move, I reach down and pull him into bed with us when he wakes in the night.
Basically, we're still doing whatever gets everyone the most sleep. Having him in our room while he's still nursing a few times at night means that I am a little less of a zombie during our waking hours. I'm just hopeful that, once these teeth are in and he is healthy, he'll start sleeping those lovely 5-7 hour stretches of sleep again!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Sleep is a wonnnnnnderful thing!
I am making an effort to blog once a week! And I have no pictures to share this week - I'll try to get some of Bean standing up this week and upload them to the computer.
Also, Matt is hopefully getting some more storage space sometime soon and will upload VIDEO, and we'll start having VIDEO on here. Woot!
Anyhow. Sleep. Sleep is AMAZING.
Last night Bean nursed at about 10PM and then sprawled out in our bed. When Matt and I went to bed quite a bit later, we didn't want to move him. I was feeling cramped, so ended up going to sleep on the couch. I woke up at 4AM with a rock-hard left boob, wearing a sopping wet flannel shirt! Bennett slept from 10PM to 4AM and, since he's been nursing quite a bit at night lately (read: every 1 to 2 hours, sometimes wanting to nurse for hours on end at 5 or 6AM.... It's been a ROUGH few weeks!), this amazing amount of sleep was not quite what my body has become accustomed to!
Anyway, he's been sleeping so well for about the past 3 nights. Thank GOODNESS! He is still a little difficult to get down to sleep. And his naps are hit or miss - sometimes he napes for 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes 15 minutes. But by golly, I'm just glad to be sleeping again!
For a little while there, he was sleep crawling, sleep sitting, and just wanting to comfort nurse. Poor little guy was falling asleep, then he'd start crawling and hit his head repeatedly on the wall before he woke up!
And speaking of Bean hitting his head...
Last Saturday, Bennett pulled himself up to standing using our ottoman. He was waving a hand around, keeping the other hand on the ottoman. And then, all of a sudden, he flung himself forward - face-first onto the floor. And he had momentum....so he ended up with rug burn on his forehead!
Matt and I comforted him and, sort of chuckled at the rug burn. And the bruised goose egg on his right temple. And the v-shaped red line on the back of his head.
And we called the pediatrician to ask what constitutes a reason to bring him in for a head injury.
I said something like, "soooooo....I know that he's going to hit his head. I know he's going to get bumps and bruises. I'm ok with that. But, you know....when does he need to see a doctor?"
The very nice nurse gave me a list of things to watch for. So, if you see me shining a bright light in my son's eyes, just know that I am checking for a concussion :-)
Also, Matt is hopefully getting some more storage space sometime soon and will upload VIDEO, and we'll start having VIDEO on here. Woot!
Anyhow. Sleep. Sleep is AMAZING.
Last night Bean nursed at about 10PM and then sprawled out in our bed. When Matt and I went to bed quite a bit later, we didn't want to move him. I was feeling cramped, so ended up going to sleep on the couch. I woke up at 4AM with a rock-hard left boob, wearing a sopping wet flannel shirt! Bennett slept from 10PM to 4AM and, since he's been nursing quite a bit at night lately (read: every 1 to 2 hours, sometimes wanting to nurse for hours on end at 5 or 6AM.... It's been a ROUGH few weeks!), this amazing amount of sleep was not quite what my body has become accustomed to!
Anyway, he's been sleeping so well for about the past 3 nights. Thank GOODNESS! He is still a little difficult to get down to sleep. And his naps are hit or miss - sometimes he napes for 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes 15 minutes. But by golly, I'm just glad to be sleeping again!
For a little while there, he was sleep crawling, sleep sitting, and just wanting to comfort nurse. Poor little guy was falling asleep, then he'd start crawling and hit his head repeatedly on the wall before he woke up!
And speaking of Bean hitting his head...
Last Saturday, Bennett pulled himself up to standing using our ottoman. He was waving a hand around, keeping the other hand on the ottoman. And then, all of a sudden, he flung himself forward - face-first onto the floor. And he had momentum....so he ended up with rug burn on his forehead!
Matt and I comforted him and, sort of chuckled at the rug burn. And the bruised goose egg on his right temple. And the v-shaped red line on the back of his head.
And we called the pediatrician to ask what constitutes a reason to bring him in for a head injury.
I said something like, "soooooo....I know that he's going to hit his head. I know he's going to get bumps and bruises. I'm ok with that. But, you know....when does he need to see a doctor?"
The very nice nurse gave me a list of things to watch for. So, if you see me shining a bright light in my son's eyes, just know that I am checking for a concussion :-)
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Halloween - and other great photos!
I've been sooooo bad! Time to insert photos from the last couple of months so you won't notice...
To start, Bennett discovered dishes around 4 months. He digs dishes and they often allow both of us parents to eat with two hands!
Having pretty well mastered the art of sitting (he just couldn't get himself into a sitting position at this point), Bennett REALLY got into bath time. The addition of bath toys from cousin Chelsea totally sealed the deal on bathtime as happy time (except when it's over).
As always, Daddy and Bean love their books.
During a September trip to San Antonio to see Uma and Umpa, Bennett mastered the arts of sitting and spatula eating. He also had some beautiful photos taken, which you can see at www.jwilkinsoncoclients.com. Go a-lookin' for Bennett's feet in the grass to see the photos!
In September, fall came. And summer came back. And fall came again. And so on. Bennett looks really cute in fall clothes. Note the baby Smartwool socks from Grandma Diane and Grandpa Mark!
This was a face that Bennett started making. He would scrunch up his face and sort of pant/snort. I dubbed it the "Demon Face." He's not doing it anymore, and it was pretty difficult to capture on film. We never did figure out what prompted that face!
Sleep was gotten.
Guitars were played! (And standing up from a crawling position began...)
One day in October, Mommy gave Bean an ice cream scoop. He crawled around with it for a couple hours - taking it everywhere! He banged on a FedEx box....
And eventually he took a nap, clutching that precious ice cream scoop the whole time!
The day the following pictures were taken was the day Bennett REALLY started pulling to a stand. He had spent 3 weeks attempting to crawl forward, but only succeeding in going backwards (it was very frustrating for everyone in earshot.). He had just days before FINALLY figured out how to army/alligator crawl forward...so decided it was time to start standing up. Oy. Here are a couple pictures of him in pull-to-stand action!
And, finally, the turtle! Bennett was a turtle for Halloween. We headed off to a BABS Halloween party, planned by myself and a fellow BABS mom whose son, Ivan, is about 2-3 weeks older than Bennett. We've known each other (from childbirth class) since before the boys were born. Venus is starting up a fabulous baby photography business and took incredible pictures of all the costumed babies at the party! The first two photos are by her. The others are just candids by yours truly.
Other than what's shown, we're getting through some major sleep disturbances with Bennett, caused by all the milestones he's hitting. The little guy sits up, crawls, and rolls around restlessly in his sleep these days. Adventures for all! It's pretty frustrating for him when he crawls into the wall and repeatedly hits his head...while still asleep! We've a couple times seen him sit up still seemingly asleep, then suddenly wake up and get verrrrrry upset!
He's also currently sporting rug burn on his forehead, a nicely-bruised goose egg on the side of his head, a lovely bruise on the BACK of his head, and a bruise on one cheek and on his forehead. Poor guy. Our Little Goo is struggling mightily against gravity!...and we're not always fast enough to save him :-/
To start, Bennett discovered dishes around 4 months. He digs dishes and they often allow both of us parents to eat with two hands!
Having pretty well mastered the art of sitting (he just couldn't get himself into a sitting position at this point), Bennett REALLY got into bath time. The addition of bath toys from cousin Chelsea totally sealed the deal on bathtime as happy time (except when it's over).
As always, Daddy and Bean love their books.
During a September trip to San Antonio to see Uma and Umpa, Bennett mastered the arts of sitting and spatula eating. He also had some beautiful photos taken, which you can see at www.jwilkinsoncoclients.com. Go a-lookin' for Bennett's feet in the grass to see the photos!
In September, fall came. And summer came back. And fall came again. And so on. Bennett looks really cute in fall clothes. Note the baby Smartwool socks from Grandma Diane and Grandpa Mark!
This was a face that Bennett started making. He would scrunch up his face and sort of pant/snort. I dubbed it the "Demon Face." He's not doing it anymore, and it was pretty difficult to capture on film. We never did figure out what prompted that face!
Sleep was gotten.
Guitars were played! (And standing up from a crawling position began...)
One day in October, Mommy gave Bean an ice cream scoop. He crawled around with it for a couple hours - taking it everywhere! He banged on a FedEx box....
And eventually he took a nap, clutching that precious ice cream scoop the whole time!
The day the following pictures were taken was the day Bennett REALLY started pulling to a stand. He had spent 3 weeks attempting to crawl forward, but only succeeding in going backwards (it was very frustrating for everyone in earshot.). He had just days before FINALLY figured out how to army/alligator crawl forward...so decided it was time to start standing up. Oy. Here are a couple pictures of him in pull-to-stand action!
And, finally, the turtle! Bennett was a turtle for Halloween. We headed off to a BABS Halloween party, planned by myself and a fellow BABS mom whose son, Ivan, is about 2-3 weeks older than Bennett. We've known each other (from childbirth class) since before the boys were born. Venus is starting up a fabulous baby photography business and took incredible pictures of all the costumed babies at the party! The first two photos are by her. The others are just candids by yours truly.
Other than what's shown, we're getting through some major sleep disturbances with Bennett, caused by all the milestones he's hitting. The little guy sits up, crawls, and rolls around restlessly in his sleep these days. Adventures for all! It's pretty frustrating for him when he crawls into the wall and repeatedly hits his head...while still asleep! We've a couple times seen him sit up still seemingly asleep, then suddenly wake up and get verrrrrry upset!
He's also currently sporting rug burn on his forehead, a nicely-bruised goose egg on the side of his head, a lovely bruise on the BACK of his head, and a bruise on one cheek and on his forehead. Poor guy. Our Little Goo is struggling mightily against gravity!...and we're not always fast enough to save him :-/
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Instructions for Budget Decadence
Gather the following materials:
Come home and start some water boiling for the oatmeal while you put away your produce. Get the oatmeal cooking while you get your 6 month old down for his morning nap. While he sleeps, enjoy your oatmeal with craisins and brown sugar and a cup of coffee with some hot frothed milk - all in your nice bowls and teacups. Finish the meal with the baby in his high chair, banging a spoon against a plate.
Spend the day enjoying eachother's company - watching the baby get closer and closer to being truly mobile. Do dishes periodically while your spouse makes the baby giggle in the next room.
Snack throughout the day. Enjoy napping with the baby in the afternoon. Have leftovers for dinner that create minimal dishes.
Get the baby to bed for the night and then enjoy some of that sipping chocolate with some more frothed while you watch a movie or tv show with your sweetheart.
For Team Carlson, this is decadence.
It's been a good day.
That milk frother was one of the greatest Hannukkah gifts I ever got for Matt :-)
- a French press
- a milk frother
- some excellent coffee
- A decent grinder (we'd love a burr grinder, but are little blade one works just fine)
- milk
- some sipping chocolate
- your nice dishes
- steel cut oats
- craisins
- brown sugar
Come home and start some water boiling for the oatmeal while you put away your produce. Get the oatmeal cooking while you get your 6 month old down for his morning nap. While he sleeps, enjoy your oatmeal with craisins and brown sugar and a cup of coffee with some hot frothed milk - all in your nice bowls and teacups. Finish the meal with the baby in his high chair, banging a spoon against a plate.
Spend the day enjoying eachother's company - watching the baby get closer and closer to being truly mobile. Do dishes periodically while your spouse makes the baby giggle in the next room.
Snack throughout the day. Enjoy napping with the baby in the afternoon. Have leftovers for dinner that create minimal dishes.
Get the baby to bed for the night and then enjoy some of that sipping chocolate with some more frothed while you watch a movie or tv show with your sweetheart.
For Team Carlson, this is decadence.
It's been a good day.
That milk frother was one of the greatest Hannukkah gifts I ever got for Matt :-)
More photos
I'm making up for my delinquency.
We actually had a fun time travelling by plane to Washington State in August. Here are a few photos from the plane:
Now, meet Maggie. Maggie's mom is a frequent poster, named "mlarkin" or "goodtobethelarkster" depending on the epoch, on The Nest (where Brea spent many many hours during her pregnancy). Brea and "mlarkin," as Matt calls her, decided to meet up while in Seattle (where "mlarkin" lives). So. Maggie. She's cute, isn't she?
Bennett thought so, too. That's why he tried to eat her head.
He's 4.5 months in these if anyone cares :-)
We actually had a fun time travelling by plane to Washington State in August. Here are a few photos from the plane:
Now, meet Maggie. Maggie's mom is a frequent poster, named "mlarkin" or "goodtobethelarkster" depending on the epoch, on The Nest (where Brea spent many many hours during her pregnancy). Brea and "mlarkin," as Matt calls her, decided to meet up while in Seattle (where "mlarkin" lives). So. Maggie. She's cute, isn't she?
Bennett thought so, too. That's why he tried to eat her head.
He's 4.5 months in these if anyone cares :-)
No it has not been a month since my last entry! NO WAY!
Sorry :-/
I'm bad. Evil, even.
"More pictures?!? Really? You're crazy, Mom." (3.5 months old)
"Oh! Hi, Dad! I was just in the midst of torturing Mom, but doing it very cutely. Wanna join in the fun?" (4 months)
"Yeah...I'm sitting up. What's the big deal?" (4 months)
"I am one. cool. dude." (4/4.5 months)
I'm bad. Evil, even.
Here are lots of pictures!
"More pictures?!? Really? You're crazy, Mom." (3.5 months old)
"Oh! Hi, Dad! I was just in the midst of torturing Mom, but doing it very cutely. Wanna join in the fun?" (4 months)
"Yeah...I'm sitting up. What's the big deal?" (4 months)
"I am one. cool. dude." (4/4.5 months)
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