Recent Fortunes

S--You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life.

J--You will become a philantropist in your later years.

R--He that climbs the tall tree has a right to the fruit.

Our Tree

Decorating the Tree

Every year J and I talk about getting a real tree. And every year we decide against it--because of the cats, because we'll be travelling, because there isn't room, etc. This year was going to be "the year". We were really going to do it! And R was just going to decorate our little tree--the tree we've used since Christmas 2002--for fun.

Things didn't turn out that way, though. The week we were going to go get the tree, both kids were sick with colds. R was sick enough to stay out of daycare for a week, and we'd have only had the tree up for a week before we left to visit Grandma and Grandpa anyway. So we decided it wasn't worth the energy and expense.

But, I'm very pleased to announce that next year is officially "the year" that our tree will be large enough to actually put presents underneath. J's parents are giving us their fake tree. So no matter what, we won't have any excuses next year!

Snowflakes!

One of J's favorite holiday traditions is to make snowflakes out of paper every year when we start decorating for Christmas. This was the first year R was able to really help out. Here she is modelling one of their creations. It's really fun seeing the snowflakes hanging on our kitchen windows.

A is for Alligator . . .

. . . B is for Bee and C is for Cupcake!
We made these letter crafts a few weeks ago-- on several separate afternoons J and I busted out the construction paper, crayons, and glue and helped R make these letter creations. We keep meaning to move on to "D" is for.... something, but with the holidays we've been super-super busy. Maybe we'll find some new colors of paper for the next ones!

For the alligator, R got to glue on the teeth (I helped-- she actually insisted that we alternate turns gluing on teeth. Two guesses which teeth I glued on and which ones she glued on!). For the bee, R glued on wings, 3 legs, 2 antennae, and a stinger, and for the cupcake, R colored in the cupcake and glued on sprinkles. If you need a quick way to entertain your toddler, just come up with something that they can glue on to something else!

Talent Show

Growing up, one of my family's big Christmas traditions was a talent show on Christmas Eve, after church services and before opening family gifts. Usually we played whatever musical instrument we happened to be learning that year, but there were other talents as well--A drew something one year, for example, and often my talent was reading the Christmas story aloud.

Now that my brothers and I are so far-flung, the talent show takes on new forms. This year we've got some pretty impressive talents on display.

Local Hero and his girlfriend, Local Heroine, ran a marathon. Local Hero finished in just under 3.5 hours. Nice!!

A is currently deployed in Guam and he reports that he is the BBQ King of Guam.

So you can see that I've got a couple of tough acts to follow.

But I am proud to announce that I have been working on mastering the art of "Baking With Toddler." I've baked four loaves of applesauce bread, snickerdoodles, two batches of French buttercream cookies, peanut blossoms, two batches of peanut butter chocolate pillows, 6 or so dozen sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a failed batch of peanut butter oatmeal cookies (failed because the sugar got left out... long story!).

Things I've learned along the way:
1) Always keep the toddler busy. Let her scoop, scrape, stir, and otherwise get her hands dirty.
1a) Give the toddler her own spoon, bowl, etc. This helps prevent the "helping" from throwing off the precise measurements you need for baking.

2) You cannot stop the toddler from eating whatever is in her bowl, no matter how gross it is.
(At this point, in this picture, I don't think there was anything other than flour and baking soda in her bowl. Didn't stop her from taking numerous fistfuls of the stuff and trying to eat it--thinking, perhaps, that it had magically turned into cookie dough since the last time she took a bite?)

3) Sprinkles are a toddler's best friend!
4) Licking the batter off of a beater can occupy up to 15 minutes! A lifesaver when you are trying to get cookies onto a cookie sheet!

Snow Report

12.5 inches and still snowing.

A Couple of R Funnies

Both said to J a few mornings ago.

****

J is washing his hands at the bathroom sink.
R: Need my stool, Daddy?

****

While eating breakfast in her high chair and talking to J. I am in bed, lingering as long as I can until RUS officially wakes up.
R: You will wake Mommy up.
J: I will wake her up? Why?
R: She will make a surprise face.

A Drive-By Update

This will be a quick blog post, as I only have a few moments to throw this up.

--We had RUS's 2-month appointment yesterday. He is 11 lbs 14.5 oz (50th percentile) and 23.5 inches. He looks to be growing very well. He also has a cold. BOO. The doctor said his breathing sounded good so it was all up in his throat.

--R has also been sick with some coughing but is definitely on the mend. It was just a virus so no antibiotics. We're glad she's getting back to her "usual self".

Evidence that we read her a lot of books

A dinner conversation.

J: "R, would you like some salsa?"

R: "More salsa, said R!"

Hilarious

Untitled from Stephanie Kerschbaum on Vimeo.

password: hilarious

RUS, Weeks 4 through 6

In Honor of My Father

For Grandpa from Stephanie Kerschbaum on Vimeo.

password: grandpa

Pre-Bath Picture Time

Lately, before her bath, R has been having fun running around the house with her shirt pulled up on her head so that it hangs like a wig. She insists that we take her picture almost every time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year--so many wonderful blessings.

My favorites: that RUS is here and healthy and thriving, and that R is such an amazing child to spend our days with. We were specially blessed with many opportunities to see family this year, and we're so thankful for all of the time we've been able to spend with those near and dear to our hearts.

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this month, first with a Tofurkey and a bountiful feast with Grammie and Grampie two weekends ago when they were in town
and then again today with a delicious potpie, more sweet potato cornbread, and brussels sprouts, as a family of four.

Legs

J, getting up from the floor after reading R a story as she sat on his outstretched legs: "Ooh, my legs are asleep!"

R: "My legs are TIRED!"

A House Full!!!

For the first five weeks of RUS's life, we had a constant influx of visitors. First it was Grammie, who was in town for the birth. Grampie came down from CT that Friday. Then on Saturday, four days after RUS's arrival, Surf, Cali, and Little T came by and stayed through early Sunday afternoon. Grammie stayed with us until Halloween weekend, when Grampie, GiGi and PopPop also came by. We had one full day at home, and then our house was bursting at the seams with seven members of my family-- my parents, Local Hero, his girlfriend, M--, my sister-in-law, M, and our nephews G and Trucker-- all staying at our house.

Family Photos

We had some family photos taken the other week and the photographer posted a sneak peek up on her blog. Go check it out here!

Turning the Corner

Things have gotten a LOT better sleep-wise around here. We can lay RUS down to sleep at night in his bassinet and he's sleeping for good stretches. This has made a HUGE difference in how well we sleep-- there's something about holding a baby all night that is not entirely restful.

RUS is looking bigger and bigger. We weighed him yesterday and he is 10 lbs 11 oz, up about another 1/2 lb from his 1-month check up a week ago. He is chunking up, and totally looking more like an infant than a newborn. He's lost just about all of his newborn look, and boy is he cute.

I have a slew of posts I want to make-- including one about my family's visit and all the photos I have from that visit, and some cute things R has been saying and doing lately. I'll just add one thing here. You know how I told you she's been saying "I get bigger" lately? Well, the other day she wanted to eat food with her hands and we told her to use utensils instead. She did, and then said, "I eat with my hands when I get smaller?"

R and G at the park

"I Get Bigger"

Last week or a couple weeks ago now, J was trying to get R to stay on the potty one day so he started teaching her how to snap. She can totally do the hand movement, but she doesn't exert enough force to make her finger slap on to her palm in order to make the snapping sound. He told her she could do it when she got bigger.

Later that day she announced to me, "I can't snap."

I told her she could and started trying to teach her (not having been privy to J and R's earlier conversation). She kept insisting she could not snap, and then said, "I can do it when I get bigger."

So the last week or so she's been saying, "When I get bigger?" in response to just about everything she's not allowed or able to do.

Yesterday at the dinner table we were all talking about whistling, and I told J he had to be the one to teach R how to whistle, because I can't whistle at all.

R looks at me and says, "When you get bigger, Mommy!"

Some RUS Tidbits

In keeping with my commitment to writing down "the boring stuff", here are some tidbits about RUS's first month.

--He hates the pacifier and will not take one. We have tried four different kinds, at various times, when he's calm, when he's upset, when he's half-sleeping, when he's wide-awake, all to no avail. He does not like the thing. He chews on it a bit and spits it out almost immediately. If he is upset, he gets more upset at being offered a pacifier. Sometimes his gag reflex is activated and he looks as if he's going to choke or throw up. They really are not working.

--Just in the past week and a half or so I've been watching his hands unfurl more. At first when he would be nursing, he would have his fists laying on my chest, but now his hand is usually open and he often grabs at my finger.

--Smiles have been coming more often but I'm not sure we're seeing fully-social smiles yet. I'm waiting on those, they're my favorite.

--When he is doing tummy time, which he actually doesn't seem to mind at all, he can already lift his head up and turn and look in more than one direction with his head up. Granted, he can't do it for very long, but he's got terrific head/neck control for a 5-week-old, in my opinion!

--He still, at 5 weeks, does not sleep well when he is not being held. We've had some success at laying him down in the bassinet after he's fallen asleep, but then he tends to make a LOT of noise-- grunting, groaning, moving around, kicking, etc. He's not awake-- his eyes are closed and he doesn't open them-- but he's definitely not as peaceful a sleeper as he is when he's in someone's arms.

Growing!

We have officially moved RUS out of his newborn-size clothing! He still fits into some of it, but it's tight, and the 3-month stuff is only a little big.

RUS 1 month

Dear RUS,

You are one month old. You've survived your first month, spending 90% of it laying in someone's arms, sleeping, yawning, grunting, or looking around contentedly. You are a (mostly) happy baby as long as we've got you in our arms.

Over the last week or so we've been able to lay you down in your crib or bassinet to watch your mobiles, but you still don't really sleep well unless someone is holding you, so we do an awful lot of that.

One of the strangest things about having a second baby is the feeling that even though you've done this before, you kind of haven't. I feel as if I'm learning all over again what it means to have a little baby. Thank goodness for your Aunt M, who gave us some great tips about recognizing when you have gas, and how to exercise those pesky gas bubbles out of you.

You love to look around at things and people, and you eat like a champ! We expect you to have made big gains in the weight department at your 1-month checkup. Everybody thinks you look like Daddy although as you develop we are seeing your individual features distinguish themselves. For now, it looks as if you'll have your dad's dark blue eyes (of course, knowing that your eyes can still change) and his cowlick!

Love,
Mama

UPDATE: We had your 1-month well baby appointment today and you are 10 lbs 3 oz, for a 3 lb weight gain since your 1-week check! You are also 22", having grown 2.5 inches since birth.

Drawing . . .

the sky!
There are a lot more pictures and blog posts coming in the next few days-- as I can get to them-- but here is one photo of R playing with this awesome Fisher-Price magnetic doodle thing that her cousin G brought when my family came to visit the first week of November. R had a blast with this thing and she really got a kick out of drawing and erasing things on it. We have a mini magnadoodle, but we might have to snag one of these larger ones for her, especially for long car rides!

Cousins!

Mine, this time--my only girl cousins on my dad's side. Seeing them made me wish all over again that we lived closer. They are so great. R had a blast with them--showing off all her toys and wearing some foot rattles she got when she was born.

What's for Dinner?

R: Chocolate Cheese!

R 28 and 29 months

Dear R,

I may need to start calling this your "bimonthly newsletter" since that's been the pattern with the last two. I'll do my best to stay on track from here on out, though. I actually started a draft of this last month but then things got wild once your little brother was born!

Before he came, we were seeing lots of new developments in terms of your ever-growing independence. Grammie was in town visiting from the end of September through the end of October, and you and she quickly developed a great morning routine. The two of you would get up around 5 or 5:30 a.m. and she'd brew a pot of coffee while hanging out with you eating cold cereal for breakfast. You're quite good at eating cereal with a spoon, although I have yet to see you eat a complete bowl without getting at least a few handfuls of cereal.

One of your favorite things to do during breakfast is drink the milk out of your bowl. It's so cute. What is slightly less cute are the tantrums you throw--and the yelling that we're sure the entire neighborhood can hear--about the most arbitrary things in the mornings. It could be as simple as you requesting a bowl of "Daddy cereal" and someone guessing wrong exactly what kind of cereal "Daddy cereal" is. You certainly aren't the most chipper creature in the morning.

It's even worse if you've leaked out of your diaper and we have to try to wrestle you out of your pajamas before you've had food. Yikes.

But even better than watching you assert your new-found independence is hearing you tell stories, and to practice "reading" every chance you get. When we read stories at night, you almost always pull two books off the shelf, one for me to read and one for you to read. At first when you did this, I thought you wanted us both to sit silently and read our individual books together. But what you really want is for me to read my book aloud while you hold yours and occasionally flip through the pages. Then we switch books, and you "read" my book while I read yours.

You're getting very interested in imaginative play, and your favorite the last few months has been to put one of your dolls in one of your baby strollers and make one of the following announcements, while you leave whatever room you happen to be in (usually either your room or the living room):

"I put the babies in the stroller"

"I going bye byes"

"I going to the restaurant/aquarium/store"

You love all things baby-related. We bought you some items to help you take care of your babies, including a Fisher-Price doctor's kit (almost identical to one that I had growing up) and Grammie got you a new, more realistic-feeling baby doll for after RUS was born. Unfortunately, while you found these items lots of fun, and have played with them a bunch, they really don't distract you from wanting-- all the time-- to hold RUS. When we try to encourage you to imitate Mommy or Daddy by doing a similar thing that we're doing with your babies, you get very upset and say, "NO! I want to hold that baby!"

Other things you've told us many times over the last two months:

"Shh! The babies are sleeping," after laying your dolls down on various blankets around your room and/or the living room. You also frequently drag your baby crib out of your room down to the living room and watch your dolls sleep in it.

Now that we've moved, we're a little farther away from work (only about a 25-minute walk, really, but less convenient than the previous 7-minute walk) and we drop Daddy off in the mornings before heading to day care. You like to imagine that you're the one doing the dropping off, rather than the one being dropped off, as you sometimes announce "I drop Mommy off at school!"

Imitation is the word of the day here. I'm having a BLAST teaching you new signs almost every day. We don't really use them in everyday conversation, but it's great seeing you be able to move your fingers and imitate what I'm doing with my hands. I've been practicing signs most when we read together at night, although this is sometimes hard because I'm often holding the book at the same time. We also remember during meal times, but we haven't been really consistent with it. You regularly use the sign for "full" as you indicate that you're "all done" at the dinner table. You also like using various animal and color hand signs but not regularly. You've really been practicing the alphabet though, and I'm proud to say you can actually form signs for just about every letter and number although I'm not sure if you know them all yet. You definitely know "R" though!

Love,
Mama

Rough Day

Today was difficult.

RUS did not sleep last night--he was wide awake at 2 a.m. until after 4, so, of course J and I were alternating being awake, too.

R has a cold and spent a lot of today insisting on being held and moaning. We think her 2-year molars may be coming in.

RUS spent a lot of today not napping and being fussy. He took his best, sustained nap at 4:45 p.m.

R did not nap at all.

RUS is going through a growth spurt and wanting to nurse A Lot.

Sigh. Tonight will be better, right?

Feeling Like a First-Time Mom All Over Again

Since RUS has been born, I've been playing the memory game... the one where I go, "Did R do this when she was 3 weeks old? What did J and I do when R did X, Y, or Z? How did we handle this or that thing?"

So now I have new advice for first-time moms. Keep a journal. Write stuff down. Boring stuff. Stuff like "All I have done today is hold the baby: I held him from 8-9:30 and then got up to pee."

And other stuff like "When nursing in bed, I like using the Boppy as well as the brown pillow under my left arm."

And of course not to forget stuff like "The sling in the baby tub is just for when you are sponge bathing them. You can use the newborn side as soon as you are ready to bathe the baby."

For the record-- I did RUS's first immersion bath today. It went well, I think. He looks so cute when his hair gets washed. It fluffs out and looks lighter and more brown. When it is dirty it gets slightly greasy and looks darker--almost black.

I really can't believe how much I don't remember about taking care of a newborn.

More on this soon, but I also don't remember much about taking care of a 9-month-old! We had a ball with our nephews this week-- Trucker is 9 months!!-- and I kept thinking to myself, "I can't remember when R was doing this stuff." And dang if I didn't start this blog until she was almost 1. Boo.

Not making that mistake this time.

More Halloween Fun

Halloween was a big production in our house this year, It all started with pumpkin carving-- Grampie bought three small pumpkins from the grocery store, and a few days before Halloween, Grammie, R, and J carved them up. I abstained from the carving because I was feeding RUS and then holding him while he slept. He really sleeps best when someone is holding him, so we do a lot of that. In fact, I am typing this blog entry one-handed with him in my arms.

Scooping out seeds! We roasted them the next morning. Yum!
I love R's faces. It's kind of hard to get a photo of her where she is looking at the camera and not making a ridiculous face.R, as you might have guessed, is not to be trusted with sharp implements so she spent her time using a small plastic poker-thing to poke holes in the tops of the pumpkins. The funniest moment of the day was when Grammie snapped the poker-thing J had been using and R got hysterical. She was so upset! And kept saying over and over, "Grammie broke Daddy's poker!" and wailing. It took quite a bit of reassuring to convince her that it was okay and that J wasn't upset about it.Finished products!
And here's R after returning from trick-or-treating on Halloween. She made out with a TON of candy!

Some recent photos of RUS

RUS at 11 days old....
a few days later...and on Halloween with GiGi, 2.5 weeks old

Happy Halloween!

R was a scarecrow for Halloween this year. Here she is wearing her costume at our town's annual Halloween Parade, after which there was trick-or-treating at a bunch of local businesses.

We found most of the items for her costume in the dollar bins at Target, and Grammie skillfully arranged the raffia/straw around her shirt and hat. I love it!

Reading Stories

S: Okay, R, it's time to get ready for bed. Let's read some stories. Go pick out a few stories to read.

(R runs to bookshelf and pulls Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She was Extinct off of her shelf.)

R: You not read this story, Mommy.

S: You don't want me to read the story?

R: No. Only teachers read stories.

S: Oh, really?

R: Yeap.

(R climbs into her rocking chair and looks as if she's going to start reading the book.)

S: Are you a teacher, R?

R: Yeap. (flips a few pages, to a page where a bunch of children and Edwina are holding hands in a circle). Ring around the Rosy. Pocketbook full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

(flips a few more pages)

S: Tell me the story. What's happening here?

R: It's a boy. (quickly flips a few more pages, to the end of the book). Cookies!! (pretends to pick up a cookie and eat it). Yum yum yum!

(R gets up and runs back to her bookshelf. Returns with Is Your Mama a Llama?)

S: Oh, this book is fun. Tell me this story!

R: Once upon a time . . . there was a cave!

S: Oh! What was in the cave?

R: Aminals.

S: What kind of animals?

(R proceeds to flip very quickly through the book's pages until she gets to the end)

R: The end!

I think we've found our newest babysitter