First Day Of Preschool

Owen is officially a preschooler!  Last week, we did a trial class at a local co-op and Owen loved it.  Today was our first day as an actual class member.  He did great!  He participated in circle time, painted a picture, played with toys, let a Ukrainian kid play doctor with him (not in a gross way, but it was a little weird,) ate snack at a big table with the rest of kids which included pouring his own water and clearing his own place, played with playdough, used a rice table and then did more circle time! 

This place is pretty fun.  It's 2 hours, twice a week with the option of only coming once a week (we're only going to go on Wednesdays.)  The parents come and assist in the classroom so there are a lot of eyes on the kids at all times.  I was worried about how helpful I would be with Adam in the Bjorn, but it worked out ok.  They didn't expect much of me since this was my first day too. 

Next week is class picture day, so hopefully I'll have a photo of the whole class to share.

Firstish Snow

Today was not the first time Owen has seen or played in snow.  Last year, there was a slight flurry and I rushed Owen out to play in it (it never ended up sticking to the ground.)  It also was not the first time it snowed this year.  But, it was the first time Owen and I got to play in some snow on the ground!  It's also the first time we played in it when Owen understood what it was.  He REALLY liked eating it.  I can't wait to get more than a couple inches so he can really wade around in it!

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

I'm not sure how the whole poem goes, but I know it has something to do with snails.  Owen is obviously into boy activities (can you count the number of trains and garbage truck toys in our house?)  Today, Steve took Owen outside and since his usual activity of ant and spider hunting is on hold until the weather warms up, Steve had the bright idea to go worm hunting.

All I can say is, I'm glad I was on a playdate with Adam during this activity.  (PS: by "playdate" I mean, "shopping at IKEA with a friend of mine who has a baby the same age.)

Choo Choo Park

Yes, another post about trains.  Although, this one is just some cute pictures from our day at the choo-choo park (Owen's favorite park is Titlow Park in Tacoma which, as you can guess, has a train track that runs through it.)

We've been going to the park fairly often since Adam's arrival (we went often before, but I'm surprised at how we've kept it up.)  The camera usually stays home since juggling a baby and a camera isn't the easiest thing.  But, the last few times I have wished I had brought it because Owen is adorable in his little cold weather outfit on the swings (and I'm also worried that I'm not going to have enough pictures for Owen's 3rd photo book since we've been taking so many pictures of Adam.)  So, I brought it today and was able to snap quite a few keepers.  My favorite is the one of the train tracks Steve made in the dirt for Owen to "go fast" over.  He loved them.

An Evening With Nana

I think the photos speak for themselves.  Everyone loves it when Nana comes over!

I'm A Big Kid Now

Owen went pee pee in the potty!  Not sure if he will do it again any time soon, but hopefully the cheering and the chocolate was enough to encourage him!

Happy Place (Hint: It's A Train)

Steve and Owen are out riding the rails this evening.  I just received this video and had to share it.  It truly is Owen's happy place.

While I'm typing this, I just got another email saying that Owen got to blow the train horn.  Oh...man...better than Christmas.  I can't wait to get the scoop when he comes home!

Our Valentine's Day Gifts

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are horrible parents.  I opted to not give Valentine's Day gifts to the kids this year.  Owen has no idea what the holiday is and he's been showered with gifts for the last six weeks.  Adam definitely won't know the difference.  Their gifts from Nana are going to have to fulfill their Valentine's Day needs this year!

They, on the other hand, are giving us gifts.  Dad is taking Owen on his 3rd and 4th train trip this evening (riding the train from Kent to Tacoma and back) which always results in the gift of watching your child doing the thing he loves most in the world.  Mom and Adam might join them, but Adam had a fairly traumatic morning accompanying mom on her last postpartum checkup.  We'll see what kind of mood he is in this evening.

Adam has been giving us the gift of smiles for the last week or so.  But to coincide with the holiday, yesterday and today I managed to get a couple on camera.  They still aren't perfect (the first was on a cell phone camera which is always horrible quality and the second was holding the camera over my head again which is proving to be a difficult task for me!) 

Best Valentine's Day ever!

Double The Pleasure, Double The Fun

What is it like having two kids, you ask?  It's twice as fun.  Here is a video to illustrate my point...

By Yourself?

Owen's newest phrase we hear multiple times during the day is, "By yourself?"  (He really means, "By myself?"  He also calls Captain Feathersword on The Wiggles, "Captain Dinosaur" but that is really not part of this story.  It's just cute.

I have been dreading the day Steve returns to work.  I actually think about it 100 times a day during different situations when I imagine he is gone.  My biggest fear has been having to start the morning when Owen wakes up.  I haven't seen Owen get out of bed for the last 6 weeks.  Steve gets him up, downstairs and fed and I take my leisurely time joining them after I feel like I've squeaked out every last minute of sleep I can get. 

Today, Steve had an early morning appointment so I woke up when Owen did and helped get him downstairs (although truth be told, Steve still got him dressed.)  Then, Steve left and I was in charge of both boys from 9am to noon by myself.  And, everyone survived!

There was a little bit of crying and tantruming - but nothing I couldn't handle.  Owen found his groove after breakfast and entertained himself quite a bit.  Adam fell asleep in the Moby so I decided to clean up a bit.  Yes, instead of playing with my older son - I cleaned.  BUT...I did make a game out of mopping the floors.  I did the old "skate around with two swiffer wet jet pads on your feet" trick and I let Owen do it too.  So, you could argue that I DID play with him - it was just the game I felt like playing.  We also went out to check the mail together and I let Owen use the key (his favorite.)  So I don't think he felt too neglected. 

Next time - we'll do the park instead (but I still don't want Steve to leave.)

Jello Neck

Adam's neck muscles were non-existant for the last 6 weeks.  Today, they made an appearance!



Six Weeks & A Cold

Adam is officially six weeks old today!  And he has his first official cold.  I was very scared he was going to catch Owen's cold and tried to wish it away...but here it is.  I have never seen such a young baby with a cold before and it's pretty sad.  Luckily, (knock on wood) this doesn't seem to be TOO bad.  Just a hoarse voice and sneezing with lots of goo coming out of his nose.  He's still able to eat and he's super fussy - so hopefully this will be the worst of it.  Fingers and toes and legs and arms and eyes crossed.

Fun fact: one of the baby books I'm reading say that 6 weeks of age* is when infants are the most fussy in the evenings.  So combine most fussy age with a cold and I'm sure that equals lots of fun at the Santoki house.  Or, just no sleep in our case...Little Adam likes to wake up a lot at night and I'm not sure I can tell the difference between sick nights and normal nights?

This photo was taken a few days ago but it was during a sneeze, so I think it's appropriate for today.

*Six weeks from the baby's due date - not actual age.  So Adam's "peak of evening crankiness" might be another week away.  I'll keep you updated.

Little Rascal

What can you do on a rainy day at home when you have a cold?  Ride your Thomas The Tank Engine Ride On.  Today, Owen got a little brave and decided to give his friend Mr. Bear a ride.  It is seriously the cutest/funniest thing and it doesn't come out well in still photos.  You have to see the speed this thing goes (about 2 miles an hour) paired with how Owen rides it like it's a Harley.  I hope he rides this thing until he's forty years old.  He's so good at it now, he can ride it from the play room...down the hall...into the dining room...around the dining table...into the kitchen...and back to the play room.  It's his little mobility aide.

PS...Another noteworthy moment worthy of a blog mention: Today Owen started using the phrase "Damnit!" rather often and in correct context.  It was when his Thomas Ride On got stuck in a corner.  "Damnit...DAMNIT...Uggghhhhhh....Damnit."  I was laughing so hard I could barely take the pictures.  We had a little chat that the word "Shoot" might be a better choice.  We'll see what comes of this new development.

First Smile!

Adam has been smiling and LAUGHING in his sleep since the day he was born.  It's so cute, but I have been anxiously awaiting his first real smile.  Well, the official first smile happened on 1/31/11!  These smiles haven't been very easy to produce and he's gone days since without smiling, but today he was super smiley all morning.  I tried to take a picture to share with you all, but it was a little hard to hold the camera over my head while I made funny faces at him.  So...this is the first official smile "on camera."

Oops.  I'll keep trying.

Happy One Month Birthday, Adam!

The past month has flown by…I can’t believe it, actually. Although, I thought by now we’d be getting a *teensy* bit more sleep so I’m wondering how fast the next month is going to go if that doesn’t change here soon…

We went to the doctor on Thursday and his “stats” are as follows...

Weight: 9 pounds, 1.5 ounces (34th percentile)
Height: 21.25 inches (44th percentile)
Head: 37 centimeters (27th percentile)

So he’s trending a little lighter and shorter than his big brother, BUT we went to the doc 2 days before his one month birthday and I looked at Owen’s numbers and we went to his doc 5 days after his one month birthday. I actually weighed Owen at home on his one month birthday and he weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces! So…they seem pretty similar even if the numbers don’t match up exactly. The doctor said that as they age, these tiny differences won’t sway the percentiles as much as they do early on. We’ll see what happens in the next few months!

As far as sleeping goes, there isn’t much! We’ve been going to bed around midnight lately and he’s been sleeping 2 hours at a stretch at…the…most. Last night, he was regularly waking after an hour all night long. Another difference between Adam and Owen is, Adam will ONLY sleep on his back. Hates sleeping on his stomach or on my chest (Owen would have slept on my chest until he was 18, I think.) Adam prefers his back or his side and wants to have his head in the crook of my arm which is not the most comfortable position for me – but I’ll take the snuggle any way I can get it.

During the day, Adam is pretty happy as long as he has a full belly. His cranky time is in the evenings, but usually the yoga ball or the baby bjorn will make him happy. He hates his car seat, but again – if he has a full belly and if we’re on the freeway (no stop and go) he’ll usually fall asleep.

He is starting to make some cooing sounds – right now it’s when he’s a little unhappy, he’s starting to make sounds instead of crying immediately. I’m thinking some real happy coos and maybe a smile or two is right around the corner!

So happy birthday, my little man…it’s been a WONDERFUL first month with you.

xoxo

Who Is This Big Boy?

Owen has been growing and maturing by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. I don't know if the timing is just coincidence with Adam’s arrival or if his arrival has accelerated Owen’s growth…Regardless, sometimes I look at him and it seems like he is a completely different kid than he was just yesterday.

His vocabulary has exploded – he’s consistently using 6+ word sentences. He is becoming more independent (and opinionated, sheesh!) in almost all areas. And today, we saw his motor skills advance right before our eyes.

We met Debi, Shane and Grace at an inflatable jump place in Gig Harbor. It was the weekend which meant it was “all ages” versus the 7 and under crowd we are used to. Owen hasn’t been to one of these places for nearly a year and the last time we went, we would have to climb up these inflatables with him because he wasn’t very skilled and/or confident at climbing by himself.

This place was BUSY! I was nervous for Owen because there were plenty of older kids and the kind of kids that think nothing of pushing and shoving the littler ones out of their way. Owen decided he wanted to go on the big slide and the only way up was a steep inflated ladder with rope railings. He started to climb up and before Steve could follow him, four older kids jumped in behind Owen. So, Steve let him attempt the ladder by himself. He was nervous at first and became a little of a bottleneck, but eventually made it up to the top! The second time, an older little girl helped Owen up (mostly by encouraging – very little physical help.) The third time, Owen raced up on his own. He even used alternating foot steps like a pro! Owen probably went down that slide about 50 times. Steve and I were blown away.

Here’s a little video of why he thought it was so much fun…

No More Bottles For Bunny - Part Deux

About four months ago, I was a little premature in thinking Owen weaned himself off his bottle.  Well, I'm going to put it out there again that we are NOW done with the bottles.  Owen is eating enough calcium during the day in other things that it makes me more relaxed if he refuses milk in a cup.  And, he's not drinking the milk in his bottle anymore anyway. 

Steve suggested that we take away his pacis too, but when I started crying and protesting - he decided to drop the subject for awhile.  One small step for Owen - one big step for Mom. 

Hey, Steve!

Another photo of something that has nothing to do with the content of the blog post, but whatever - it's cute!  Owen is definitely happy to have Charlie home from her 3 week stay at the doggy condos...I'm not sure if Charlie feels the same, but I think so.

This is one of those moments where I feel like I should write it down because it's a memorable moment, but there is no place in the baby book for it.  Blog it, Laura...blog it.

Owen has been going to The Little Gym weekly for about 4 months now.  Last week, he picked up some new language from one of the kids in class (no, not what you are thinking.)  Apparently, one of the little boys recently began talking and one of his first words is "Mom."  Steve tells me that all during class, the little boy would call his mom to get her attention - over and over.  So, Owen has now started referring to me as "Mom" as well.  Argh!  I was already having a hard time giving up "Mama" for "Mommy" which he had been doing occasionally and now I'm supposed to like the much less melodic, "MOM?"  Steve thinks it's hilarious.

Well, turnabout is fair play...Today we were sitting in the living room and we heard Owen in the play room yelling, "Hey, Steve!"  "Steve!"  He came in using his toy cell phone.  I think Steve was supposedly on the other end.  So far, it has only been happening in conjunction with the cell phone.  But, Steve is not happy about his new title.  Hee, hee.

Three Weeks

We went from two weeks to three overnight! 

Adam is growing like a little weed - I weighed him at home today and he was 8 pounds, 3 ounces.  Sleep is still a little hard to come by - 3 hours has been our longest stretch to date.  Oh well, at least he's cute enough to be worth the bloodshot eyes! 

Not too many milestones yet.  We did take our first bath this week at home (we had previously been doing sponge baths because his little bellybutton was still oozing.)  He actually didn't mind it!  He HATED the sponge baths, but once his little bottom was completely submerged in the water, he seemed to be pretty happy!  However, we are not a fan of water on the head.  That's okay though - it will come.   He seems to be pretty close to cooing - he's starting to make little noises before he cries that sound like little complaints or grunts - I'm sure the happy coos are close behind.  And I can't wait for his first real smile.  He smiles like crazy while he's alseep and has started full blown laughing in his sleep.  Why do babies do that?  I'll have to Google it to find out.  In the meantime, I've seen the previews and now I'm ready for the real deal!

Tomorrow we are going on our first playdate - to a coworker/friend's house who has a son who was born 2 weeks before Adam.  It's our first mom & Adam outing by ourselves (not counting the trips to the doctor.) 

Until next week...

Audrey's Second (Born) Cousin

For the past few days, we were lucky enough to have Michael, Kelly and Audrey here visiting us.  Michael and Kelly were able to meet their second (born) nephew and Audrey was able to meet her second (born) cousin! 

It was really nice having everyone here.  As anyone with an infant knows, your days can easily be your own personal version of the Groundhog Day movie.  Each day consists of largely the same things.  So not only did I get to visit with my neice Audrey who I don't get to see nearly enough - selfishly, my days were much more exciting having them around!

It was also so crazy to take a step back and watch myself and my brother as parents of toddlers.  Our past family visits generally consisted of lots of activities, outings, alcohol and games.  Now it's all about the kids and their schedules (meals, naps, play and bedtimes.)  Michael and Kelly are natural parents and it reflects in how cute and happy Audrey is.

My only regret during this visit was that the weather wasn't better.  It would have been nice to get the older kids out and about, but the rain and cold made that really difficult.  But, Audrey seemed happy to hang at the house and for another selfish reason, it was nice to have them inside since the kids would stay close by and I could get more time with them.  My experience with toddlers and outside activities is that they always run in opposite directions.  Makes socializing all the more difficult!

As far as my kids go, we couldn't have been more proud of Owen.  We constantly feel like we are pushing him in new directions and unfamiliar territory and he's been handling it like a champ.  Anytime he gets pushed too far, he takes it out on Steve and me - never on Adam or Audrey.  He has such a good heart and soul.  We are so lucky.  Adam was a very good boy too!

Michael, Kelly and Audrey left today and I was very sad to see them go.  Since they are the only ones who read this blog - what can I do to sweeten the pot to get you guys to move back?  At least West Coast????