The Joy and Strife of the Life of Baby Rife

Jamey's Play List

2010-03-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

I suppose that I should be playing more and more children's songs for Jamey, but most of his favorites are songs on the radio. After discussing music with Jamey yesterday, he and I put together a play list and why he chose those songs. Just like any other famous person:

1. "Bad Romance" from Lady Gaga: Jamey refers to it as Gaga, and bounces to the beat. There is no other reason, other than it has a great beat!
2. "Baby are you down" from Jay Sean: This song greatly features one of Jamey's favorite words-- down.
3. "Three" from Britney Spears: I don't like this choice, personally, but Jamey loves the part where they sing numbers.
4. "Blah blah Blah" from Kesha: Another one that I don't like, but Jamey loves saying "blah blah blah" and I love it when he says this, so.... okay.
5. "Amboss" from our German dance group: This dance usually leads Jamey to ride on Glenn's shoulders, so he likes it.

The Oxford Edition of the Jamey Lexicon

2010-03-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am guilty of not updating in quite a while. Inspired by the requests of a number of people to keep writing on my blog, I have decided that I need to keep a record here for myself, of Jamey's funny moments and growth.

As many may know, Jamey's first word (beyond Mama and Dada) was "dog", although we don't have one. That was in July and in the past six months, his vocabulary has ballooned out of control. He is now our little parrot, repeating the last word of a sentence, whether it be "butt", "dying", or "why". I realize, however, that the majority of what Jamey says is a mystery to anyone beyond Glenn and I. At times, it is the difference of a stressed syllable to show what he is saying. A little bit like Chinese.

Also contributing to the confusion is Jamey's occasional mix of German and English. Thus, I have created a dictionary of common Jamey words that may be mistaken.

-"angle"= triangle
-"dadot"= square; Jamey uses part of the German word "quadrat" for square
-"arnch"= orange
-"Gaga"= Jamey is requesting to hear Lady Gaga
-"adown"= up or down, based on the context
-"eye"= drei, the number three in German
-"un" = one
-"Monsher"= Monster, more specifically the name Jamey has Glenn's Ipod Touch
-"daw"= draw, Jamey wants to color
-"Monca" or "Monga" = Monica, which he seems to say every time I get on the phone, like I am always calling Monica
-"hummer"= hammer; usually this means he wants to hear the hammer song from our dance group
-"Bubby"= Jamey wants to play with his toy Bugsby
-"oh"= show
-"Namey"= Jamey; this is what he calls himself
-"mink"= pink
-"ite"= white

These are only a few of the many words that he says. Some are simple sounds, like when he makes a horse noise, meaning he wants to hear the song used with the horsey dance in our dance group.

He also has a one-word name for almost every book he has, and he loves them all. From "Bar" which is any book featuring a bear to "Em", which for some reason is the book "What Does Baby Do" to "Bubar" which is "Are you by Mother", he knows what book he wants without even seeing the cover.

The latest revelation is his ability to recognize letters. Through various toys which have age limits 3-5 (and many of which he got from Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Jim), Jamey has been encountering his letters left and right. I am guessing this is how, he can now identify at least 23 letters of the alphabet and name them. Every day he points more and more at letters on tshirts and signs, and every day I am still shocked by it.

These are a few of my favorite things....

2010-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

I must apologize that it has been far too long that since I have posted here. I must admit, it is so simple to post on Facebook-- anything from videos to status updates. But really, neither of those things does the justice that a post really does. It can't describe the hilarious stories that Jamey brings.

Thus, two months after my last post, I wanted to fill you in on a few of my favorite "Jamey things..."

-Jamey kisses: Every night, after I rock Jamey in his chair for a few minutes, I stand up to lay him in his bed. Although he is usually half asleep on my shoulder, he picks his head up, puckers up, and kisses me lightly on the lips. Then he lies his head back down on my shoulder and goes back to sleep. I think this must be my most favorite of all favorite things because I don't ask for it. It is a completely Jamey-prompted moment.

-Jamey reading books: Okay, so Jamey can't READ books, but you wouldn't know it from watching him. He will pick up a book and sit with it in his hands. His eyes will go back and forth, as though he is taking in the words. He will flip the pages. Everything anyone else might do.

He will often also hand a book to me to read, but he doesn't want me to read it TO him. He wants me to read while he reads. That is, until he is done with his book, and then he steals mine and gives me his.

The coolest part about Jamey's reading is when he knows the book so well that he can say phrases of it. The other day, he picked up "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" from Eric Carle and just started saying, "Brown bear, brown bear, brown bear, brown bear..." over and over.

-Jamey's Denglisch- As Jamey learns both German and English, a few things get caught in the middle. This is very normal, and I must say, also very cute. When you ask him what a rooster says, he will tell you-- "Kikiriki", which is what they say in German. When you start to play Peekaboo, you may notice he says "Guck guck" instead. For him, this is right. Here is a little Denglisch demonstration.

-Jamey and Friends- Jamey is really starting to get to know people now and lights up when he gets to see his friends. Last week, as Glenn and Jamey started to walk to the park, Jamey suddenly derailed and wanted to go to Jaeda's house, the little girl who lives two doors down. She is only 5 months older than Jamey and they get along great. At practice the other night, I was in a back room with Jamey and spied Monica in the main room. I said to Jamey, "I think Christopher is here!" He immediately swivelled his head around, searching the room. I asked him, "Do you want to go see Christopher?" and he gave a loud "YEAH!" And off he ran. Once he had spotted Monica and Christopher, his run turned into as much of a sprint as Jamey can do.

-Jamey and Ipod Touch- Glenn loaded a few apps on his Ipod Touch that Jamey would be able to use-- kids' games that let him touch the screen without fear of ruining an app. He has gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. Here you can see he knows pretty well what to do. It makes him seem even older when he sits on the couch with the Ipod in his two hands.

Sure, Jamey is starting to show off his temper and starting to fuss more, but it is still the funny things that hold my attention the longest. We have had 2 time outs, which seemed to have worked some. He is also getting into anything and everything, trying to put the littlest things in the most inconvenient places-- namely, behind the couch. We still have to rescue his James train from back there, as he wanted to see if it could drive up and down the wall. Oops.

Our little Plattler

2009-11-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you who said it couldn't be done.... well, there actually aren't any of those, but anyway.... we are beginning to see that Jamey is understanding us in German as well as English. We ask him to do things like "Drum" or "Point to a tree", and he does it. I can ask him in German "Where is ...." and he points to it, no problem. And lastly, we see that he uses the same hand sign for Please whether we speak to him in German or in English, showing us that he understands that it means both Bitte and Please.

To up his Germanic type influence, he is beginning to do some our group dances. Keep in mind he gets no instruction, but that hardly matters. Just look at Christopher dance and that will tell you. Let me preface this story by saying that in our group, we do a dance called "The Miner's Dance." In it, our men are all carrying small hammer and chisels. The setting for the dance is a salt mine and throughout the dance, the guys make music using their hammer and chisels and tapping them together.

So, the other day, I was sitting on the couch when Jamey came to me and began making the sign for "Please." This usually means he wants me to do something. I looked around to try and figure out what he wanted, but there were no clues to be seen. Then I noticed that he had a toy hammer and screwdriver in his hand. On a whim, I began to sing the Miner's Dance song. His face lit up and he began to tap them together and move in a circle. At times, he would put down the tools and begin to plattl, slapping his hands against his thighs, just like Daddy. It truly is amazing to watch him begin to dance just through observation! Here is his performance.

Jamey's New Desk

2009-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

In the past two weeks, Jamey has had an endless stream of visitors. First, it was Grandma V, Granddad and Aunt Gini, who had never met him before. Then, the day they left, Aunt Lindsay came to visit, armed with some gifts for Jamey.

As Lindsay's boys have gotten older, they have begun to give away their old things. Ben, her youngest, decided that Jamey might like his old Buzz Lightyear desk for his room. And like it, he certainly did. The moment he saw it, he walked over and climbed up into it. He would drag a book up into the chair with him and sit at it, reading his book. Just like in school. On top of that, when he is done, he pulls his books off his desktop and stores them in the chair of his desk.

Great gift, Ben! Thanks a bunch!!!!!

And the following weekend, after getting through 103 fevers and double ear infections, Jamey visited with Hoopapa and Grammy, along with cousins Susie, Amanda, Melissa, and her Baby Ian. Not to mention all the Boswells and Aunt Joyce. It was a great November birthday celebration and a lot of fun for Jamey, as he begins to play well with his cousin Isaac!

Halloween, Argh!

2009-11-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

For Jamey's second Halloween, we wanted to find an awesome costume, and wanted to go around as a family one more time. At Party City, I found a $10 costume and a little plastic sword that fit perfectly. It would allow Glenn and I to find easy accompanying costumes to use. And the final touch would be that we would build a pirate ship out of Jamey's plastic car.

In the earlier part of the day, we ventured to Cox Farms, with the help of a Westfield student who gave us a free pass to get in. There were slides galore, which Jamey loved, and every one kept giving him candy. It was all capped with a hay ride, on which it started to rain, and the driver pretended to get stuck, scaring me to no end!

When it came time to really go Trick-or-Treating, we met up with Jaeda and Caden from down the street, and took off, hoping the rain would hold off some more. It sprinkled off and on, but it was still a good time. Jamey tried to go into a few houses, but still enjoyed going up to the doors. He didn't hold his pumpkin to get candy, but Mom took care of that for him. After all, I will be the one eating the candy. I may as well pick it out!

When we got home, I went to the center of the room, turned over his pumpkin and let the candy cascade out. This elicited from Jamey, a loud "Ooooohhhhh!" And it taughth him a new game. Whenever I tried to put the candy away, he would pick up the pumpkin and dump it right back out!

As Promised....

2009-10-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

As promised, I am posting two videos of Jamey that I just love. Both are also on my Facebook. The first shows some of Jamey's talking skills.

And here is one that shows that Jamey knows just what to do when we do "Ein Prosit" at the end of our dance shows. This is what we sing as a toast, and during it, we wave our arms in the air, like we are waving around a mug of beer. Apparently, Jamey has been paying attention.

There-ya-go.....

2009-10-25T17:07:00.001-07:00

It has been a good amount of time since I have updated Jamey's blog. Now that he is walking... no, running... I spend most of my time trying to keep up with where he is going and what he is getting into. Today, while Glenn was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, he disappeared into the kitchen and came back around the corner and immediately dumped the tin of roughly 100 straws that he had found. This was almost as good as the time when he dumped the box of roughly 1000 coffee stirrers when we visited school. Lucky for me, he helped clean up, by handing me the straws to put away.

In any case, I am going to put in a few little snippets of Jamey now-a-days. In one month, he has become quite mobile and quite vocal. From week to week, he changes in that way. About two weeks ago, he had his 15 month appointment, which left him with a positive result and an all-clear from the doctor. He is now 24 lbs (45%) and is in the 80% for height. Determined not to disappoint in the brains department, he is STILL in the 95% for head size.

-As many people have already said to me, you never realize some of the phrases you say ALL THE TIME, until your 15 month old child begins to say them. Luckily for me, one of those things is "Thank you". However, I realize now that every time I give something to Jamey, I say, "There you go." And how do I know this? A good amount of the time, when Jamey hands me something, he follows it with a quick, "There you go", which sounds more like, "There-go". Be careful, though, because it sounds much like his "Thank you".

Other phrases he can do: Up, Tickle Tickle, Gabba Gabba (in reference to his favorite TV show), ball, apple, banana, more, milk, buh-bye, and hi. Of course, there are many Mama's and Dada's mixed in there too.

-Like parents, like baby: Jamey's new favorite snack is croutons. One afternoon, while I was cooking, he went into the pantry and pulled out the bright blue bag of croutons. When I put it back, he went back a few minutes later and selected the same bag. So I gave him a few. After that, it was pretty standard for him to push past all the other bags of food in the way in order get out those croutons. It has gotten to the point where we have to hide the croutons because that is all he wants. One day, he mistook the "Lipton's Ready to Make Tomato Pasta" for his croutons and demanded to snack on it. Instead, we just made the pasta as part of our dinner.

Both Glenn and I, as children, LOVED croutons. We sat at the dinner table the other night, reminiscing about how we used to have our parents smuggle plates of croutons for us from the salad bar. Apparently, even these types of things are genetic.

A video of Jamey talking is soon to follow.... Until then, here is a picture of Jamey and Christopher at one of our shows!

A Birthday Wish for Katie Lamken

2009-09-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is a special day for Jamey and his "girlfriend" Katie Lamken. It is her second birthday, and she is far away from us. We miss her greatly and wish that we could be there to make some of the delicious Elmo cake that Katie's grandma made-- especially since she doesn't like icing. There is a mess that needs to be made of that icing, and Jamey would be perfect to do it. Ah well. Another time.

Because we can't be there in person, Jamey wanted to send a special birthday message to Katie, via my blog. Lately, he has been playing Mr. Cool and allowing us to put his sunglasses on him. Well, the way it works, is Glenn or I put the glasses on our head (quite a tight squeeze). Jamey then sees it, and thinks it is hilarious, and yet also totally cool. Then he grabs them off our face and hands them to us. Tilting his face up, he allows us to put the glasses on him, and then begins to bounce.

Katie loves watching Jamey's videos, we have heard, so we thought this would be a great thing for Katie to get to watch. It would have worked perfectly if Jamey weren't obsessed with anything electronic. He was in perfect dancing position until he saw the camera in my hand. He immediately ran over to me and well, you can see his reaction in the video. Either way, I think it is a totally cute video and I know Katie will enjoy it too!

Happy Birthday, Katie! We will see you soon. Be nice to your little sister when she is born on Friday!!!!

The Evolution of Dance

2009-09-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

As many would have guessed, Jamey has inherited some of Glenn's and my dancing skills. Granted, at this point, his moves aren't quite as advanced as ours. He hears oompah music and flails his arms about, rocking his head around. However, we can already see how his dance style is evolving. He even has his own "personal jukebox."

For his first Christmas, Jamey's big gift was his jungle toy which you could learn to cruise and pull up on. There is a ball that plays music when you hit it, and the monkey also plays music when you pull the arm down. Well, Jamey has known about this for awhile, but only lately has he been showing preference in the "classics" played by his jungle. Often, after he hits the ball and the music starts, he will decide he doesn't like that song and will push on the monkey's arm so that the song changes. He will then try to change the song again, by hitting the monkey's arm once more.

Then begins the bounce butt-shake. I have posted a video of this before, but here is the dance in a longer format.

Now that he has learned to walk, though, his moves have changed a little. We still see some of the butt shake, but now, there is the stomping, as I like to think of it. I first saw this at Grammy and Hoopapa's house, while Jamey was playing with the Pooh tree. He pushes a button which ilicits music, and begins to shift his weight back and forth between his feet.

I have seen him pull this move to the tune of the Yo Gabba Gabba theme song, to the radio, and here, in a video, to Glenn's beatboxing. The video also gives you a look into just how well he is walking now.

Baby's First Haircut

2009-08-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

For a few weeks now, Jamey's hair has been getting very out of control. Hair was curling out from his head at every posible angle. The back was turning into a mullet. Under no circumstances would his hair look anything close to combed and managable. It took me a while, but I finally convinced Glenn that his hair was in need of its first cut. Some people were even calling Jamey "she".

We were thinking of having Glenn's cousin Susie cut it, as she had cut Glenn's the first time. She even volunteered to meet us in Toledo when we are out there next week, but looking through out Gau schedule, our group leader has us on the run the entire time, leaving no extra time.

And so, yesterday, we set out to Cartoon Cuts and had a cute little woman named Mina cut his hair. She sat him in the tall chair and strapped him on around the waist. At first, it didn't seem to bother him. And then came the buzzing machine.

Jamey has a phobia of any machine that buzzes loudly. He screams LOUD when we use the food processor. Thus, when the machinery to cut his hair was turned on, his expression turned quickly sour. It only got worse from there, as he screamed at the top of his lungs, folded his body in half to try and get away , and batted his arms at Mina. Even singing German dance songs wouldn't calm him. When she used the scissors alone, he was fine, but he would not have the buzzing!

Alas, his hair looks great now, but even more than that, Jamey truly looks like a little boy now. Yikes!

Deep Fried Oreos, a Wedding, and a Carnival.... WOW!

2009-08-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

Although we have many adventures during the week, it is still the weekends that hold the most excitement. I keep saying that summer is flying fast, and this past weekend is a prime example of why that is so-- we just keep going and going.

Saturday, we attended the wedding of friends Edie and Johnathan, who both at Centreville with me. They have been dating for a long time and we were happy to see them finally make it official. We were also happy because it gave Jamey a chance to wear the suit we bought for him about 6 months ago.

After returning a gift or two at some point, we had built up some money at one of the department stores found in most malls. While on trips to the mall, we would often walk through both the women's department to look for clothes for Mommy and the kids' department to find "must-have" outfits for Jamey. It was on one of those adventures that we found this little suit with vest and tie. At the time, he was only 6 months old and we had no reason at that point for a suit. We began wracking our brains for an occasion when we would need this suit. And so my mind landed on Edie and Johnathan. I was pretty sure we would be invited to the wedding. So away it went to his closet.

Which brings us to this past weekend. Jamey got all spiffed up. Glenn matched with vest and tie, and we had to wet down Jamey's "Albert Einstein" hairdo. His hair has gotten to the point that it desperately needs to be cut, so we need to look around for a place to do this. In any case, Jamey was good through the ceremony, saying only an errant word here or there, as we paged through "The Hungry Little Catapillar" in the church. As a secondary way of occupying him, we scrolled through the photos on the camera. Anything electronic is sure to keep his attention.

However, it was the reception where he was the true hit. Everyone admired his suit and after a great meal (of chicken strips for him), he went to hang out in the "Kids' Room" for an hour or two. In a stroke of genius, Edie had hired several of her old student divers to take care of the crowd of kids that were at the wedding. (There was also a pinata for them!) I prayed that Jamey was good for them, but let myself have a good time dancing without thinking of him.

The nice thing about the wedding was that because it was two Centreville teachers, half the people there were from Centreville. Thus, there were lots of friends to talk with and hang out with. And some pretty crazy science teachers to dance with. After the cake was served, Glenn and I went and got Jamey, who had apparently cried a little off and on throughout the time. I think, though, that the reason was because he just wanted to get out and dance.

When we brought him out to the dance floor, although it was already about 9:30 or so, Jamey was happy to shake around. Holding him facing out, he kicked and waved his arms around to the music. All the female teachers gathered around to dance with him and asked to hold him. One might guess that he would sleep well that night, but he was up at 7 AM just like normal. That's our Jamey!

Today we headed over to Frying Pan Park for the 4-H Fair. A lot of new firsts for Jamey. So far, he isn't overly fond of any animal that is bigger than him, with enormous dread for the work horses in the barn. Perhaps it was just the smell that turned him away from the pigs, but there was something. We managed to get him to pet one of the goats onhand before he began whimpering. Among other firsts: sitting in a firetruck, eating a Deep Fried Oreo (not NEARLY as good as the ones Drew made last Thanksgiving), drinking some lemonade, and going on some rides.

Along with the various animals, there were also carnival rides there. Although he couldn't ride anything alone, he sat quietly atop a plaster horse on the carousel. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he sat there. To make the ride more personalized for him, I sang one of the most soothing songs for him-- the Gamsprung-- which is one of the dancing songs for our group. As I began to sang that, he loosened up and began his anthem of "Doo doo doo doo".

Thereafter he went on the "Fun Slide" with Glenn. Jamey has taken a liking to slides. He scared another mom at the park the other day as he turned around and went down the big slide on his belly-- without our help. I looked at her and assured her that he could do it fine on his own. And so, he loved this giant slide and especially riding it with Daddy.

Every day these days, Jamey proves his "boy" genes for us. Although he is still figuring out the walking thing (he has taken 5 steps, but then gets tired of going so slow and goes back to crawling), he is a pro at cruising and most especially climbing. If it is possible to climb on something, be assured that Jamey will try. When he gets tired of eating, he tries to climb out of his high chair. When when we put him in his swing outside, he turns around and stands up to climb on it. The activity table that is next to the couch, is just a stepping stool so he can stand up next to the couch. We are beginning to wonder if he realizes that you aren't supposed to stand up on the big ride-on dog that he has. He never sits down on it. To put it short, he has NO fear. As I said to Glenn today, "I see broken bones in our future."

Show me what you got!

2009-07-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

People used to think I was crazy when I said that Jamey could keep rhythm. And yet, I would watch him at dance practice kicking his feet to the beat, while he was only a few months old. There was no denying it.

Now, as he has gotten older, he has continued to keep his musical instincts. He seems to like all music from Pink Floyd to The Ting Tings and of course, the German dance music.

Happy Birthday, Buckaroo!

2009-07-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

While I have had parties at our house before, I think today was the true "Coming Out Party" for our place. It was the first time that every room was filled with people, and most especially filled with kids. And it was the first time I got to do my "Super-Mommy" impression by making everything from Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches to potato salad and the famous "Nuts and Bolts" from my childhood.

Yes, that's right folks. It was Jamey's first birthday party! Lucky for us, his birthday was on a Saturday. With 30 adults and 15 kids, it was sure to be a full event. Full it was, and yet very successful. From the enjoyment of the food down to the opening of the oodles of presents, it was great. I never realized how many kids there are among my circle of friends or how many friends Jamey already has: Christopher, Jaeda, Ciara, Calen, Anthony, Isaac, not to mention all the big kids like Max, Jack, Ben, and the Boswells.

At first I was worried. Jamey was playing his clingy game where he didn't want anyone but Mommy or Daddy to hold him. He didn't want to eat much, but he didn't want to play too much with the kids either. In spite of that, he still did okay. I am not sure meeting so many new people at once is his idea of fun.

Opening presents, too, was not at first a hit. Jamey ripped a bit of paper here and there, but was more excited to open and close the cards. So I quickly assigned he and I roles. I would quickly open the card, give it to him, and pull open his gift. Lucky for me, he soon got some interesting thing to occupy him. Thus, rather than having him pull to crawl away, he was happy to sit in my lap and play with his new drum or kiddie laptop. (Yes, I know, isn't he too young for this, but if you were unable to use your laptop when he was in the room, you would want him to have one of his own too.) Needless to say, he got lots of goodies. The nice thing is that I love all the gifts he got. I can honestly say he will enjoy every one of them.

From there, the next big event was the cake, which turned out to be the highlight of the whole party. Jamey had a trial run of this at my parents' place last weekend and really just liked poking at the icing. I wasn't sure how well he would do. Surprisingly, he let us leave his crown on his head, and stared intently as a crowd gathered around his high chair on the back porch. Thankfully cousin Drew came over to blow out the candle, as it was his birthday too. And then, we laid it down, laid the gauntlet down before Jamey and asked, "Do you dare take on this chocolate cake?"

At first, there was a gentle poke at the icing. Oooh, gooey. Then, I decided to lead by example. I dug my fingers into the cake and stuck some in my mouth. For a few minutes, he got more adventurous. And soon, he was raking the icing up in his hands-- not having put any in his mouth. It was a few handfuls later, and a few minutes, when he dipped one finger into his mouth. His eyes perked and he eyed the cake differently. And soon, the raking was just for fun, it was for food. After that, there was no stopping him. Using his diaper as a napkin, he rubbed some all over himself. And when I leaned down to pose for a picture, he realized maybe he should share this bounty. He stuck his hand in my face and I gladly licked a little from his hand. But it was after he posed with Glenn's parents, that he realized he was tired and wiped his eyes... And that completed the chocolate makeup face.

After that cake, many people left and the crowd tapered down to mainly people that Jamey sees on a regular basis. He was happy to share his new toys with them! In the end, I had to leave a crying child in his crib because he was so overtired. He didn't want to be held of fed. He wanted to sleep, but he wouldn't let himself. At least not for 3 minutes.

Charlie, my photographer buddy, was present to take pictures and I am so glad he was there. I will post up the pictures from the party on Snapfish tomorrow and put a link here. If you have Facebook, you can catch them there too. Otherwise, you will have to stick with the few I post here. Enjoy!

One Year Ago....

2009-07-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

All day today, I have been looking at the clock and asking Glenn, what were we doing one year ago today. When it was 9 AM, I thought, I was still hanging out at home. When it was 10 AM, I thought, I was calling the doctor to see if the leakage I was having was something to be excited about, and hoping that it was. When it was 11:30, I thought, I was on my way to have a goodbye lunch with Norm before Glenn called to tell me the doctor had returned my call and that we should go in. By noon, we were there and by 1 PM they had told me that, yes, I was having the baby. Most of the day went on with labor after that. Drugs to induce contractions, terrible back pain (but in a really nice room), slowly losing my ability to calmly do crossword puzzles between contractions. On and on it went. Around 5 I gave in and asked for the "drugs." And it was around this time right now, last year, (8:40 as I am writing this), that it was decided that Jamey's head was just too big and we were going to have to do a C-Section. At 9:16, as the old classic "Shake It" played on what I can only assume was 99.5 in the operating room, I felt a push and heard the cry of a little man. A "Little Man" who truly has grown into that nickname by today.

And of course, I don't remember the pain of that labor. And of course, the most important thing to me is the memory of my little boy. But when I look back... when I think back... what are the things that I remember most?

-I remember going to the ER upon arrival and having them ask when my due date was, and the look of shock at my answer. I remember getting on the elevator with a bunch of pregant people and being asked, "Are you going on the hospital tour?" I remember walking to kingdom-come to fill out the registration forms so they could admit me. And I remember the snicker when I asked the nurse, "This is probably a stupid question, but am I having contractions?" Both Glenn and I remember the fantastic service of my labor room nurse, who I only know as Kate. I remember staring and concentrating on the letter "R" on my ID band, as they pushed in the epidural. I remember hearing my doctor come in and talk with the anaesthesiologist as they put it in. And I remember thinking, "HEY, REMEMBER ME? The one you are putting the needle into? Let's focus on me and not chitchat." I remember being unable to find a position that would stop the back pain. I remember laying on a table in the operating room, listening to the nurses get completely pissed that my doctor wasn't there yet. And then I remember my doctor coming in, berating them for paging the wrong doctor. I also remember being paranoid that they had waited so long that I would feel them cut into me. Of course, that was all the drama. It was like everything moved in fast forward until suddenly there appeared a small miracle.

From there, it was a different sort of memory. I do remember that as soon as the baby was out, I became extremely sleepy and dropped off to sleep. (I still think they increased my meds at that point on purpose.) And I remember the moment when I first awoke from that drug-induced stupor. I was laying on my recovery bed. I turned my head to the side and noticed I was alone. Except for one person-- one baby. There, laying in his plastic "wagon" was Jamey with his eyes closed in sleep with his head turned to face me. Looking back, I am glad that there was no one else there. That was our moment. And as much as I would like to explain how it felt, I can't. It isn't something you put into words. It isn't possible to do so. It was pure emotion, and I am sure every mom out there has felt that feeling too.

Looking back on the pictures now, and spending time with friends and family on Jamey's 1st birthday, I again realize how blessed we have been. You just have to look at one picture from the waiting room to see how loved both he and I are. There, sitting and waiting, were not just two sets of grandparents. There, too, was an aunt who is always giving. There are two girls who may as well be my younger sisters, who I thank God every day for having in my life. (Love you, Monica and Marla.) There is a best friend who was there from the very first hour of my being in the hospital. Who came over and sat with me as I went through contractions and made sure I got everything I needed and that Glenn didn't go crazy there with me in the hospital. (Thanks, Jess! Couldn't ask for a better best friend.) And on top of those who were there in that moment, were those that came to visit within days of his birth. We were so loved and visited that my recovery nurse put on my goal list one day, "Don't have so many visitors. Tell them you need to sleep."

As Jamey grows, it is good to know that he has so many different people from so many different places who are going to love him and teach him about life. And it is nice to know that a good number of them will be able to say, I was there when you were born.

Happy Birthday, my Baby Boy.

"Baby, come back."

2009-06-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

"Baby, come back. Come back, Baby." So said Katie to Jamey at her goodbye party two weekends ago. Now that Jamey is more mobile and vocal, he is a much better playmate. It was indeed fun to watch the two of them take toys from one another and babble back and forth. In fact, it was hard to tell which one was in control of the other. Who was playing hard to get.

At the party, Katie continuously tried to entice Jamey with her fancy pink straws. He, though, just wanted to use them as drumsticks. As well, Katie was already cleaning up some for Jamey. Each time his sippy cup would fall over, she would quickly walk over and set it upright-- regardless of the fact that it is unspillable.

Perhaps the cutest scene, though, was when Katie was on the first landing of the stairs and Jamey had crawled up to the edge of the top of the staircase. Looking down at her, as she backed into the corner of the wall, Jamey began smacking his lips together, throwing Katie kisses. As Jess and Andy's friend Sean referred to him, Jamey was being a little "player."

And yet, the phrase "Come back" is more appropriate coming from Jamey to Katie, as Jess, Andy, and Katie get ready to move to Wilmington, North Carolina. The three of them came over for a goodbye dinner on Sunday night and once again, it was so fun to watch the two of them interact. Katie sounded like Christopher often does, as she declared all the toys "mine", while Jamey played his usual game of simply taking the toy that he wanted, not understanding "yours" and "mine."

But just before it was time for them to leave, we snapped one shot of the two of them together. It seems to me that it is one of those shots that Jess and I will pull out in 18 years when they are finishing high school, and say "Look how cute you guys were."

And to the Lamken's-- We will certainly miss you, but we will be sure to get the two lovebirds together every now and again. For now, they will each have their first long distance relationship.

When it rains....

2009-05-20T18:14:00.001-07:00

....it pours. And by that, I mean that once a baby starts learning tricks, they just start coming faster and faster. In the moment that he masters crawling, he crawls over to the table and pulls up. After learning to use his pincers to pick up food, he now often demands a sippy cup. And now, after learning to explore quite well, he has figured out that those things called stairs can be climbed. On top of that, he is blowing kisses and learning all kinds of new noises from Christopher. In fact, I know he is a boy because he has learned to make a fart noise, that I have attempted to recreate, but cannot!

Video One: Here is a video to show just how much Jamey can get around and even blow a kiss.

And for his next trick, the Great Jamezilla will climb the towering stairs of doom.

All In a Weekend's Work

2009-04-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

When I last left you, Jamey was working on mastering his army crawl. I am happy to say, he has it down. He can creep and crawl with the best of them, as Christopher can attest while he attempts to keep his truck away from him. Now if he would just manage to lift his body off the floor as he crawls.

However, in the same hour that he mastered his crawl, he was on to another skill-- pulling himself up. Just after he crawled across the living room to get his drum, he took notice of this big wooden object in the middle of the room, which we refer to as the "coffee table." Our coffee table has a shelf about halfway down. Jamey crept over to the table, lifted himself onto his feet at the first shelf and then reached up to stand all the way up next to the table. My jaw stayed permanently dropped.

Lucky for us, we were able to get this skill on camera today, as he now plays the role of daredevil... attempting to pull up on everything possible, including Mommy and Daddy.

(Since I originally wrote this post, Jamey has also learned to "speak" through a megaphone made of his stacking cups and has also finally figured out how to crawl on all fours, but still prefers army crawl.)

2009-04-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

This week, Jamey had a few special visitors from out of town. His cousins Jack and Ben, along with Aunt Lindsay, made the trip up from Raleigh to spend a few days with us.

It is an understatement to say that Jamey loved playing with his cousins and equally an understatement to say they loved hanging out with him. They even took the chance to take care of Jamey for a day, providing Monica with two days off. Taking him on a field trip to the mall, they fought over who would get to push him in the stroller. Seven-year-old Ben even scolded his brother for saying the word "poop" around Jamey's delicate ears, and learned how to use Jamey's diaper pail properly.

But really, it was very cool to see the three of them play together. Jamey wanted nothing more than to sit in the same room with them, and watch them. I can't wait until he can follow them around like a little puppy.

Wednesday, Glenn and I took a day off and we all headed into DC to check out the National Building Museum. It wasn't actually as cool as we had hoped it would be, but we made the best of it. While Glenn took the boys on a scavenger hunt of sorts, Jamey, Lindsay, and I hung out on the steps. After having fun banging a mini can of hair gel on the tiled ground, Jamey then figured out that crawling stairs wasn't all that hard when you have a little help. Wouldn't it be funny if he started to crawl up stairs before he could crawl in general?

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As I finish my blog, I realize that I never relayed the events of Jamey's 9 month appointment. On the 11th of the month, he turned 9 months, and I am happy to say he is finally measuring in at a relatively average weight: 20 lb. 9 oz, which is the 55%. His height is 29 inches, still in the 75%. In true "van Welzen" fashion, his head is still in the 96%. Guess that means he has a big brain.

He is also getting four teeth in and has become quite active with his toys. To demonstrate, I will share a video of him going crazy playing in his Exersaucer.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

After an eventful Spring Break, Jamey also had a busy Easter weekend. Saturday, we headed up to Hard Bargain farm for the Dance Group's Pasta Party, which was fun as always. Jamey fell asleep on the hay ride, but ate a nice meal complete with spaghetti and apples. He also held onto the trophies that Mommy and Daddy won for their archery skills. He likes to think he had something to do with them both winning prizes.

On Sunday, although Jamey can't eat any candy yet, the Easter Bunny still dropped off a special toy and littered the living room with plastic eggs. Jamey had fun rolling around the room finding them.

And as an Easter treat for all, I just had to share a video of Jamey laughing. Monica always says that Christopher makes him crack up and now, Glenn and I have made a habit of finding things that make him laugh too.

Jamey's Crazy "Beach week"

2009-04-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

For the first time in three years, Glenn and I were able to actually both enjoy a Spring Break without accompanying students to a foreign country or hosting students from Europe. And not only was it relaxing for us; it was Jamey's first Spring Break. It had been a while since he had had beach time with Grandma V and Granddad, so we headed down to Emerald Isle for a few days.

Spring Break Adventure, Part 1: A six hour car ride with a baby who doesn't just fall asleep the car is in motion. It used to be so easy. The car moves, the baby sleeps. Now, he looks around, he wants to move around. Luckily, though, he is also great at playing on his own and loves just kicking his musical farm. Getting on the road at 6 AM, the trip actually went faster than I had expected. By around noon, we were there and the weather was beautiful.

And then it wasn't. The second, third, and fourth day we were at the beach, we weren't actually ON the beach. It rained, it was overcast, it was cold and my mom was compelled to continually apologize for Mother Nature. But Glenn, Jamey, and I didn't mind. Being away from home is being away from home. We found other ways to entertain ourselves. Whether it was just rolling around with Granddad or going for a walk with an extra sweater on, we enjoyed the compulsion to not do anything too responsible.

In fact, Jamey even went to the circus for the first time. I'm not talking Cirque de Sole acrobatics. I mean true circus, elephants, camels, and all. No flying trapeze, but I will let that go. Sure, Jamey probably wasn't totally sure exactly what was going on, but he LOVED it. When the acrobats spun from the ropes in the air, he stared with his mouth agape. When the elephants strutted around, he clapped his hands. At one point, there was an acrobat on a pedestal in the middle of the circle. Thinking the spotlight was in his eyes, I put my hand down over his face to shadow his eyes. Apparently, there was no light in his eyes becaused the only reaction I got from him was that he was pulling my hand away, as though to say, "Mom, you're blocking my view."

The highlight of the week was of course the last day. Bright sun, warm weather, and finally the chance to head down to the sand. So we suited Jamey up in his swimsuit and water shirt to see how he likes the feel of the sand in his hands, and not just under his feet. He liked it, for sure. Sure, the water was a little too cold to do much more than drop his feet into for just a second, but the sand was a hit.

Sitting on the edge of the blanket, he first moved his feet back and forth, digging in. Then he realized, I was going to let him put his hands in it. He began to move the piles back and forth. Soon, his wrists were going to work, moving all over the sand. And then it happened. Jamey remembered that he likes to chew on his hands. The rest of the afternoon was spent, attempting to keep handfuls of sand out of Jamey's mouth.

All in all it was a fantastic week. Always nice to show off Jamey to other people. On this beach adventures, a few more subtle firsts: first solid chunks of fruit, first spaghetti, first time seeing an elephant pee (and man, was that loud and violent), and first time playing by himself with books.

And Jamey even got an Easter outfit!

8 Month Update

2009-03-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jamey! He is now 2/3 of a year old! How fast the time has gone. Just like with every month, so much changes. He is able to stand next to his Jungle Toy without help, he desperately wants to crawl, but for now is just "swimming" along the floor, he babbles all the time, and of course, he has developed his own dance moves.

Because we didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, we can only guesstimate that he is roughly 22 pounds. (Glenn steps on the scale alone and then with Jamey and we take the difference.) We will have to wait for official numbers until next month. Thinking about it now, I suppose we could just sit him on the scale now. He doesn't move that fast... yet.

Perhaps the coolest thing happening right now, is that Jamey has moved onto a "bigger pool". Literally. Yesterday, Jamey started his "Aquatots" class and really loved it. Lucky for us, our neighbors up the street had brought their daughter and are in the same class with us, although their daughter Jada is a year old already. As he always does, Jamey took it all in stride, looking around, floating on his belly and back. In the class, we mainly move around in the pool holding the babies, making motions to songs like "Hokey Pokey" and "The Wheels on the Bus." Plus, we pull them along on their bellies, encouraging them to kick. Although Jamey didn't do any "regulation" kicks, he did dance in the water, meaning his butt moved around. Someday it will turn into a fine

butterfly kick.

(For those of you who aren't aware, for the first time in my life, I am not a blonde. At the moment, I have my hair colored a light brown, so that I can let my hair grow out to its natural color-- a dark blond-- without looking strange.)

And now, a video of the "swimming". We didn't know that we could both get in the water with Jamey so Glenn didn't have his suit on. That just means we got photos to show and the next time, we can enjoy the class together.

Jamey's Moves

2009-02-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

After all that Bavarian dancing, Jamey is practicing his dance moves. After countless attempts to capture it on camera, I have finally done it. Enjoy! (Please excuse the crazy chef you hear periodically in the background.)

Ready to Dance

2009-02-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

When Jamey "took part" in our Oktoberfests show, he was still in what our doctor calls "the Blob Phase". He was held by whoever and passed around and fell asleep most of the time. He really wasn't that aware of what was happening.

So imagine our excitement when the Fasching (German Mardi Gras) show came along and gave us an opportunity to dress Jamey in his full Lederhosen outfit and take him out with the group. Nowadays, he is much more conscious of the sounds and motion around him. He looks for the sources of noise, and he loves to check out everything going on.

In our show, the first dance that is done is a plattl by just the men. The women stand in a line towards the back of the floor and wait to be picked up for the next dance. There I stood, with Jamey in my arms. His eyes were locked on the men of the group forming a circle. As the music started, their arms started flying and they starting moving around and dancing. Before I knew it, Jamey was hopping up and down in my arms, as if begging to run out and join the men. Throughout the night, as he was held by a number of people while Glenn and I danced, many of them reported the same thing happening while they were holding him. It seems that Jamey is ready to go out and join the group. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he gets to watch Christopher dancing every day. Give them a few years and it will be very fun to watch them plattl.

Jamey has actually been doing this dancing for a while, proving that he has a great rhythm.

On another note, we have been trying out some more foods with Jamey. Today we bought him some Puffs at the grocery store. In the past weeks, he has proven to us that he has veyr good fine motor skills-- holding things between his finger and thumb. He loves to rub the tags on his stuffed animals between his fingers. He proved very good at picking the Puffs up, but has a little trouble placing them in his mouth. But we keep working on it-- practice makes perfect.

Cookies taste better than paper!

2009-02-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

Although it has only been a few weeks since I have posted, I am lost in a million thoughts of the things that I want to write about. It seems as though every day, Jamey is more fun to watch. Every motion he makes with his hands evokes a look on his face that is new. Perhaps my favorite thing is when an object is slightly in his way when he is looking around. He then leans his head forward, raises his eyebrows and has a grin on his face as his eyes search for what he is trying to see. This face was the inspiration for my favorite game, in which I hide a little and yell, "Jamey, where am I? Come find me." He searches around and when he finds me, he has a huge grin on his face.

In the past weeks, Jamey has begun to give his digestive system a little more of a challenge. About two weeks ago, Glenn and I decided to demonstrate the statement I had made to my sister that when it snows, no one wants to cook and goes out to eat. While it began to snow, we drove over to Red Lobster. We kept Jamey busy by handing him things he could crumple and make noise with. One of the last, while we hurried to finish our dinners, was Glenn's coaster. It was thick, and of course, Jamey decided to see what it would taste like. This was fine until a bit later when we pulled the coaster away from him and saw a little bite mark. Oops!

A few days later, it happened again. Jamey sat on my lap while I played a computer game. He grabbed at a small pad of paper on the desk, that was shaped like an apple. He liked it, cause he could get at one of the pieces of paper and listen to it crinkle. He managed to rip one apple off the stack. Three minutes passed as my game ended. I looked down and wondered, Where did that piece of paper go that Jamey had in his hand? I panicked, reached into his mouth and felt nothing. I looked all around us on the floor and saw nothing. I thought to myself that maybe it had fallen somewhere that I couldn't see. And then... as he unfurled his fist, a tiny piece of wadded up yellow fell out of his hand. Panic set in again. I got Jamey to open his mouth, and there, wadded up on the roof of his mouth was half of the paper. The other half must have safely found its way down into his belly. Needless to say, we are much more careful now of what he has in his hand.

As a reaction to Jamey's relentless efforts to eat things he shouldn't, we bought him his first box of biter biscuits today. These are made by Gerber, especially for babies who don't really have any teeth. It has no sugar or anything that could be bad for the baby. In putting away the groceries, Jamey got ahold of my book of coupons and I was only too happy to trade the book with him for one of his biscuits. He grasped it with curiosity and within minutes, the biscuit was already started to dissolve in his mouth. After half an hour, that dissolving cookie wasn't just in his mouth.... it was on his hands, down his outfit, on his face, and even a little in his hair. Needless to say, it was a hit.
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With as many baby versions of things that Jamey has, from a PDA to a CD Player to a piano to 2 cell phones, it seems that the most fun is to be had from the real thing. One day, he managed to call an 800 number on my cell phone somehow. Thank goodness it was Saturday and the business was closed. But perhaps the cooler toy is the remote for the TV. It lights up, it makes the numbers on "that box" above the tv blink. Believe it or not, Jamey does seem to understand that when he pushes a button, a little pin of light blinks on the box. I know this because he raises the remote in his hand and turns his head to look at the box. He then stares at it and continues to push buttons. All this, with the television off. And what, might you ask, does Jamey prefer to watch on TV?

Well, last night he directed us to a documentary program about 70's singers Peter, Paul and Mary. But more than that, he has twice attempted to access the Latin American Playboy channel, which we, of course, do not have.

As well as learning how to use his hands, Jamey has developed a keen sense of hearing. Whenever he hears a sound, he peers around to find its source. Sometimes that source is the heater, sometimes it is a person. Perhaps the funniest experience is when Jamey came into contact with the radio. In the morning, I put Jamey on our bed while I change for work. Because the alarm is still on from waking us, NPR is usually blaring through the room from the radio next to our bed. For most of his life, Jamey took no notice. Then, one day, he was sitting there playing with his toys and I noticed him lean forward from the pillow behind him and peer around it to look at the night table. His eyes searched for "the woman who was talking". After a second, he went back to his toys. But every few seconds, I noticed his head shift back toward the radio. Luckily, I caught it on camera at least once. (The blue light you see is the alarm clock)

Jamey's first real snow

2009-01-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

Although Jamey and I saw snow back in November when we emerged from CVS Drugstore, yesterday, we experienced our first actual "snow storm." True, it only lasted a few hours. True, the sun came out right afterwards and melted most of it away. True, there was absolutely no snow as close as 7 miles away. But for us, and for James, it was snow nonetheless. Glenn went into the backyard and brought Jamey a little snowball as he played in his exersaucer. It was not a hit, let's just say. Later we went out for a short trip around the neighborhood. Jamey bundled up in the snowsuit that Monica loaned us. Through the entire walk, it seemed that Jamey wasn't really sure what he should be doing or how to react to that white stuff that was all over. In the end, I think he would rather sit in the living room and watch it from inside.

To update, Jamey had his 6 month appointment one week ago today. He did just what he thought he would. He grew up and not out. His height has gone up to 28 inches long, holding at the 90%, but his weight is now in the 75% at 19 lb. .5 oz. And through it all, his head refuses to stop growing. It is still in the 95%. He got a thumbs up on all his developmental steps and even impressed Dr. Eng Tao with the steadiness with which he sits up.

This past week, we also discovered Jamey's first fear. As he sat in his bouncer and Glenn began to run the vacuum, his face wrinkled into the sad face and he let out a scream. Indeed, no matter what room I took him into, he could still hear it and would continue to cry. I laid him on the couch and walked away for five seconds to grab something and when I came back, he looked petrified. That night, he refused to sit alone in his high chair to eat dinner. Instead, he was happy to sit in my lap and eat. We are guessing it was just from being scared, because he has never done that again. No worries, though, he didn't wake up in the middle of the night screaming about vacuums.

Happy Half Birthday!!

2009-01-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

Has it really been 6 months already? Well, yes, as of today, it has. People always say that it goes fast, and I wasn't sure I believed, but now I do. It is crazy to believe one person can go from a blob to this tiny person so quickly. I am sure I have said that 1,000 times, but it never seems like enough to me.

I cannot yet report on his weight and height, as his doctor's appointment isn't until Tuesday, but it seems like his tricks come faster and faster.

Now that Jamey can sit up, it is nice to be able to surround him with small grabbable toys, and sit a bit away and watch him. He loves anything that rattles, and indeed, checks every one of his toys to see which ones make noise. He will reach out, grasp something in his little palm, and then start to "work the wrist." When I say work the wrist, I mean that he shakes his toys without using his elbow. Try, if you will, to shake something in your hand, using only your wrist. This is what Jamey does. Today, he had one thing in each hand, shook them individually, and then scraped them against each other to see what sound that would make.

Bath time has also improved greatly for Jamey now that he can sit up. Thanks to Aunt Sue, who sent him a little chair that attaches to the bath tub, for him to sit in. Rather than laying down on a towel, he can sit and splash. On Thursday, he used it a bit as a recliner and just lounged back in his little chair, but today, he could have stayed in there all night. The irony of which toys interest babies is not lost on Jamey. With all the floatie toys he has received to play with in the tub, he finds the most interest in playing with.... the cup that I use to wash his hair. Figures!

(I just had to share this last picture because it really illustrates the point of how babies can eat away your money."

Yes, that is my credit card. I gave it to Jamey today to play with as his newest toy. Don't worry, I had to cut it up anyway, thanks to something called mass compromise. Did you know that if a merchant's credit card information is stolen, they let Visa know and Visa freezes your account and you have to get a whole new credit card? Well, I know that now!)

Check out my skillz

2009-01-04T14:02:00.001-08:00

Due to a whirlwind Christmas season, I have been unable to post many of the videos I have taken of Jamey, so now I am playing catchup. I will post a few here and will then put the link for my youtube site, so you can look at the others at your leisure. Enjoy!

First off: Here is a video of Jamey doing what we refer to as "giving five." He seems to understand that he should be doing something with my hand, but hasn't quite got the grasp of exactly what to do with it.

Next up: Jamey sure did like hanging out with his cousins, as I mentioned. He tried to chime in as much as possible by babbling. He is really getting the hang of this. He was especially angry one day for his Aunt Lindsay, as she watched her all time favorite football team-- The Dallas Cowboys-- lose terribly. (PS: No commentary necessary from my Philly friends out there! :) )

For some reason, this video won't load on my blog, so I have put it on Youtube as well! It is really cute, so check it out!!!!!

Lastly, Jamey has recently developed the ability to sit on his own. He is still a little wobbly from side to side, but he is really getting the hang of it. Check it out!

On Youtube, you can check out the following other videos:

-Ben making funny faces and motions for Jamey while we chilled at the beach

-If you let Jamey ride your knee like a horsey and then suddenly stop, he will keep on bouncing as if to say, "Let's go!"

-Jamey watches Glenn plattl from in his swing and flails around

www.youtube.com/user/DaFrauW

(. h f bhy rrrrrrr. ns fg RR)-- this is a message from Jamey for all his readers. Let me translate. It says, "Thanks for reading and come see me any time, all of you!")

All he wanted for Christmas...

2009-01-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

In August, when my 7 year old nephew Ben first met Jamey, he made the proclamation that Jamey couldn't talk yet because he didn't have any teeth. At the time, we grown-ups, laughed heartily at the comment. Then, on December 26th, while redeeming a gift card at Old Navy, Glenn informed me that he could feel the first of Jamey's teeth popping through. Lo and behold, a few days later, another tooth popped through. Thus, Jamey is now nursing two teeth.

Before the teeth appeared, Jamey was gooing every now and again. And yet, as posted in my previous entry, when we spent time in Emerald Isle, Jamey opened his mouth a little more to talk and show off his teeth. He babbles now quite a bit and lets you know how he is feeling.

On top of that, he is on the verge of sitting up. He can, in fact, balance on his own, but as soon as he reaches for a toy or his foot, he topples over. All in time.....

The Eastern Kids' Christmas

2008-12-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

Every year, around the 27th of December, we venture down to my parents' place on Emerald Isle, North Carolina and have a little fun in the sun. My brother Jim and his family also come to the Island and we have a Christmas with our parents. Because the two of us are the pair of siblings on the East Coast, my dad affectionately refers to us as the "Eastern Kids". So, on Saturday morning, we packed up the car and started the 6 hour drive down, and sure enough, 6 hours, on the dot, we drove off the bridge and onto the island.

The last time Jim, Lindsay, and his three sons Max, Jack, and Ben, saw Jamey, he was but a little boy of about 5 weeks. The boys could do nothing but stare at him. Imagine their delight to find that their little cousin could now interact with them and beyond that, brought some really amusing toys. Needless to say, they love it, and especially Ben takes joy in making funny faces to make Jamey laugh, or just make him stare at him enthralled.

With the temperature rising to a surprising 70 degrees, we all headed out for a Hardee's lunch on the deck at the clubhouse, and a touch football game for the Big Boys on the beach. Now that Jamey is more aware of his surroundings, I let him wriggle his toes in the sand, which he seemed to enjoy very much. Mesmerized by the sound of the waves, he was asleep in my arms after about half an hour.

After weeks of spending the day with Christopher and now, a few days of watching his cousins run around and talk, I think that Jamey has really begun to find his voice. Now, if only we knew what he was saying. But I suppose that will come soon enough!

Jamey's First Christmas

2008-12-26T19:08:00.001-08:00

Well, it happened. Jamey celebrated his first Christmas. Or at least the first part of his first Christmas. With Jamey here, we have begun to set out a kind of Christmas schedule to follow for years to come, so that we get to spend some time with everyone and still get Mommy-Daddy-Baby time as well. On Christmas Eve, we got to hang out at the West Virginia house, eat a great meal, and open some gifts. On Christmas day, Jamey sat in my lap as I opened presents for both of us. Every now and again, he would reach up and grab at the paper in an effort to help, but for the most part, I distracted him with whichever gadget that made light and sound I had nearby. He loved them all! He isn't picky!

For his big present, Jamey got a Get Up and Go Jungle Play thing from Fischer Price. It has a hippo, monkey and elephant on it, and whenever you move something, it sings. Unfortunately it only has two songs, which I am pretty sure I already know. Ah well. All in all, I think that Jamey really enjoyed his first holiday.

Today, though, he has been a bit more cranky. For one thing, Glenn reached into his mouth today and he felt something we have been waiting for-- the sharp corner of a tooth popping through. And so, I held my breath in anticipation of the crankiness that would ensue. Sure enough, Jamey has been more cranky today. However, the tooth isn't the only bothersome thing. Jamey has also developed some sort of cough. It sounds a little like a wet cough and seems to be a bit of chest congestion. My question to all you mommies out there is-- Is this a coincidence or is this tied to getting a tooth? I know that a lot a lot of other things happen when a baby gets a tooth-- fever, crankiness, other things.... But what about congestion? Baby Center tells me that the jury is still out on this one, but often, the best advice comes from the experience of other moms.

Traditions... and a 5 month Update

2008-12-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

With my return to work and the arrival of the holiday season, my time has been pulled very thin lately. So thin, that I have been unable to update the blog, as you may have noticed. Here, I have gone almost an entire month with no word, and for that, I say, sorry. But as the title says, Jamey is now 5 months old. At this point, he doesn't have monthly doctor's visits, so we had to use our own methods to measure his weight. (Mommy weighs herself and then weighs herself while holding Jamey.) Using this very scientific method, we have determined that Jamey is now 18 pounds 3 ounces. In addition, he is getting ever closer to sitting up on his own, and likes to babble. He is also very much in love with his hands and feet.

But bigger for Jamey than staring at his hands and feet, is the beginning of a new holiday season. As was mentioned in Abby's blog about her daughter, Jamey really has no idea why we are doing what we are doing. Why the tree with the many colored lights? Why the bushy green stuff all over? Why are all the boxes covered in paper?

Really, it doesn't matter to him. All things listed prove very fun for the senses, whether that means staring, pulling, or trying to taste. We have been training him, too, to open presents. It isn't hard. All we have to do is wave a stray bit of wrapping paper in front of him and out pops the hand to grab on. As his arm flails around, he tears the paper here and there.

Along the lines of presents, I have brought to him a tradition that was one of my favorites each year. It is called the 25 Days of Christmas. Growing up, every day, my mom would hide a little gift somewhere in the house, and each of us in the house would read that days clue to tell us where to find the goodies. Sometimes toothpaste, sometimes a toy. Little things. The fun wasn't in the present. The fun was in the finding. As we have 11 grandchildren in the family, my mom has taken to doing weekly gifts. But wanting Jamey to experience the full tradition, I took it on myself. Well, for this year, Glenn helps him a lot.

Now that we have Jamey, I have found that tradition means so much more. One of my favorite things about our tree at home was the homemade ornaments, such as the "colored" in wooden ones from my brothers. At a $5 store (which is conceptually an "upscale" Dollar Store), I found a Crayola ornament kit, which contained ceramic ornaments to be colored with Crayola markers. We decided that Jamey will color in one ornament each year over the next 12 years as a tradition. This year, of course, I had to show him how it is done, but he helped me choose which colors to use... or I think that is what he was doing while he held those markers for me. :)

And he just keeps on going....

2008-11-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

It seems Jamey has gotten to the point where I can't keep up with the developments he has! One day he is eating rice cereal; three days later he is able to down an entire container of Gerber carrots in one sitting. (Not, of course, without getting a large amount on his face, and not without saving a little under his chin for later.)

As if that weren't enough, last Thursday, on the day before I was set to go back to work, he performed yet another trick to comemorate the day, when he mastered rolling over from his back to his front. A few months ago, he managed to flop over from his front to his back, and recently had figured out how to settle onto his side. However, the actual roll all the way over had been eluding him.

Using his stuffed giraffe Carter as bait, I got him to tilt his head back, forcing himself onto his side. I then cheered him on and watched him slowly roll his way over. Finally, he figured out to tuck his arm underneath him so that it wouldn't get in his way. That day, he was still having a few issues pulling that tucked arm out. That is not a problem anymore, though! Now, he just rolls over like a barrel and pulls that arm right out. This evening, I actually watched him roll over and stare into space as he wrenched his arm out from under him! I am not sure, though, if he has decided that he likes being on his belly.

I remember that Jess told me that once they figure out how to go to their belly, they never want to stop. And boy, was she right!!!!

And the last trick of all-- Jamey fed himself a bottle. We have taken to using his high chair as a seat for him to sit in while we do things in the kitchen. The other morning, Glenn leaned him back in the chair and handed him the bottle. We had known for a while that he had the strength to hold the bottle, but until that point, he had just opted to be lazy and let us hold it for him. But no more!

Back to Work!

Last Friday the day finally came when I had to return to my other "children". The ones who had apparently been missing me so badly. The ones who I really hadn't been thinking about for a while. Of course, with my return to work, came the inevitable two questions-- 1: Did you cry? and 2: Are you happy to back?

For one thing, I am happy to say that I did not cry. People often looked at me like I was lying when I answered this question, but I think Glenn put it best when he told the people he worked with, "It's not like he is at a regular daycare. He is staying with someone who was there the night that he was born." I hadn't thought of it that way, but he was completely right. This wasn't just another daycare and it actually wasn't just some friend of ours. This is a person who I consider to be a close friend. A person who was there in the waiting room the night he was born, waiting to hold him. And it is a person who has been doting on him since, and bringing him together with her own son, teaching him to say Jamey's name, which he does with joy.

And as for whether I was happy to be back, it actually is a little hard to explain. It wasn't as though I was overjoyed to be going back to work and the little bit of stress it brought. It wasn't as though I were clammering to be around a throng of teenagers all day, as much as I do love them! But at the same time, it was good to get back there and start picking up the pieces of the classes I had left behind. I had a feeling that they hadn't been learning exactly what I would have hoped, and I was right. As well, I knew that my job would bring me a different sense of accomplishment that I had been missing. Being a Mom is an incredible accomplishment, because I am sustaining this little life with what I do and the choices I make. However, at work, it is a different sense of accomplishment. A place where I make a list and I actually create a work. This was especially true of going back to doing the yearbook.

The two days so far have gone really well! My AP's, who have known me for 3.5 years, were overjoyed to get back to some of my routines. They had gotten quite used to my way of doing things. And all my classes seem to be very friendly. Quite possibly the best compliment I have been paid by one of my new students so far, a compliment that proves to me that I have come back and gotten right back to where I want to be, happened this morning. With ten minutes left in German 1, one of the guys said, "Wow, this class has gone by so quickly! That is awesome!"
For those of you non-teachers out there, when a class goes by quickly, that means that the student was drawn in and really interested. I couldn't ask for more!

And as for Jamey, he loves staying with "Tante Monica" and Christopher. He bounces, he swings, he plays, he laughs! This evening at dinner, he especially loved hearing her name. Whenever we would ask him, "Do you like hanging out with Tante Monica?" he would giggle. We tried to say other names like "Tante Idi" or "Tante Marla", but the only one he would giggle for was "Tante Monica." Hm!

Another Weekend of Firsts!

2008-11-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

Once again, Jamey had quite a weekend! Although we didn't do a whole lot of Saturday besides take a gander over to Target, we went there to buy a very important item for Jamey.... his first box of rice cereal. That evening, we went about giving him his first bit of solid food. It was somewhat successful, but Jamey in the end was too hungry and opted just to wait it out and nurse when we were done trying to get him to open his mouth.

However, we showed Jamey once again that we were more persistent than he, and kept trying. Lo and behold, yesterday, Glenn tried it at a time when Jamey wasn't quite set for a feeding yet, so hopefully wasn't overly hungry. And boy, did it work a whole lot better. Suddenly Jamey viewed the spoon not so much as a thing he didn't want near him; rather he saw it as just another thing that he could grab and stick in his mouth. So he put his hands out, grabbed onto Glenn's and brought the spoon to him. However, his face revealed that he hadn't quite predicted that the spoon would leave anything behind after we took it back out. After the first few times, though, he got used to it, and this is how far we came by tonight...

As for the other firsts, they happened on Sunday. Around 11, we met up with Monica, Chris,

and Christopher and headed out to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum that is out our way. Monica had to go to do some "research" for a paper for one of her classes, and invited us to come along for fun. Because for this museum, the charge is by car, we all piled into the Davids' van, and went in. In order to conserve space, which was already a little lo, as we all packed in, Glenn and I decided to see if Jamey was ready to test out his sitting skills in the "Big Boy

Stroller" we have. (In case you didn't know, Jamey can now hold up his weight pretty well.) Although he leaned a little,he was fine reclining a bit in the stroller, as long as he was

strapped in. And thus, his first excursion in the "Big Boy Stroller".

This was followed that evening by his first "Big Boy Bath" in a bathtub. For a few weeks now, Glenn and I had said to each other, every time we used the baby tub, "We are going to have to move up to the bathtub soon." Finally we said, "Tonight is the night." So we laid a towel down in the tub for him to lay on, and filled it a bit with warm water. Partly because it is getting colder nad partly because he wasn't sure what to make of this bigger area with water, Jamey cried a bit, but made it through-- with few annoyed faces along the way when Mommy did things like pour water out of a cup over his head and body, and rubbed the bath soap on him.

His last first on Sunday was only witnessed by Glenn. Let me preface the "first" by saying that occasionally when I am playing with Jamey, I will take off my glasses, lean down close to his face and just raise my eyebrows. It usually makes him smile and giggle. I also figured at some point, maybe he would catch on. Well, on Sunday, Glenn was carrying Jamey around, facing outwards. They walked into the bathroom to observe Jamey in the mirror, and when they left the bathroom, Glenn was laughing aloud.

"Guess what Jamey did when he saw himself in the mirror?" he said. "He raised his eyebrows at himself!"

And there you have it... Jamey's first "trick."

4 Month Update

2008-11-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Another trip to the doctor brought about the same question we always seem to be answering with Jamey: "Is he always like this? Playing around and smiling?" Actually, he was a little more serious this visit, but once we got him stripped down to his diaper to be checked out, and laying on his belly on the little bench for the patient, he was busy squirming around and tearing up the paper that they lay down over the bench to prevent the spreading of germs. Once on his back, the doctor noted his new favorite game when on his back. He lifts up his legs, curling them a little so he can stare at his feet for a second, and then in a swift motion, he slams them back to the ground. Then he begins again. (I have in fact heard him play this game in his crib when I am downstairs. I sometimes think that he has hit something or that something has fallen, but no, it is just Jamey.)

Of course, he got his new measurements too, and this time around, he is perfectly proportional at the 90th percentile. His weight is now 17 lb. 1 oz., his height 26 inches, and his head 17.5 cm. Apparently when I was in last week and they said he was 17 lb. 5 oz., something was off. He showed off all his newer skills from holding up his own weight to trying to sit up, to sticking everything in his mouth.

It was also time for another 4 shots, but he went through like a trooper. I stood over him and held his arms down. Looking in my eyes, he started out with a smile, which went to serious mode. By the time she was doing the 3rd shot, his smile had turned completely upside down to what I call "the sad face". This is the super-frown that he puts on just before he lets out a loud, prolonged cry. So he let that out, and then we were done. The nurse was shocked because he immediately stopped crying and didn't start up again, as I got him dressed. Glenn and I also got a shot, to make Jamey feel good... and also to prevent the flu.

The biggest news is that Jamey gets to start trying rice cereal now. Don't worry-- as soon as we try it, it will be on the blog!

Mommy Tunes

Often when Jamey and I are doing things up in my bedroom, I will prop Jamey up on my pillow, turn on the radio (and the fan for Jamey of course) and give him a toy to play with. Whatever song is on, I try to insert Jamey's name into it, and of course I am always singing-- much like when I was pregnant. Mommy's hits include, "When you Love a Jamey" by Bryan Adams, "Push It" featuring the line "Ooh, Jamey Jamey, Jamey Jamey" by Salt N Peppa, and the most recent addition to the songs: "Irreplacable" by Beyonce.

Of course, I haven't found a way to insert Jamey's name into Beyonce's tune, but he seems to love the song nonetheless. It is the latest thing to make him stop crying and smile. Or maybe it is less the singing and the "eloquent" words of the song, and more the Mommy rendition complete with hand movements and dancing.

Sleep Update

Last time I wrote I told about the troubles we have been having with Jamey's sleep training. I am happy to say that Jamey is doing great with his sleeping. At night, he has no problems. He goes down, cries for a few minutes, and then falls asleep. He sleeps through the night, wakes at 5 for a quick 15 minute feeding, and then goes back down for another 3 hours.

The daytime? That is another story. As I think I wrote before, Jamey only likes to nap for 30 minutes. He has gotten really good at laying in his crib, crying for a minute or two, and then giving in to the lulling song of his "Ocean Wonders" aquarium. Then, like clockwork, he wakes up after half an hour.

I asked the doctor about this and she told me that because he is so healthy, it is quite possible that he is just a "cat-napper". He takes little naps now and then. Ah well! Not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least now I don't have to let him lay there and cry and cry for an hour.

Oh, and speaking of "Ocean Wonders", we know for sure that Jamey loves it. One morning, we woke up to find the Ocean Wonders music on. Now, the time only goes for 18 minutes and it shuts off, and neither of us had turned it on. Hmm....

So I got up out of bed to check the situation. I peeked through the crack in the door, and saw Jamey laying in his crib facing the aquarium. It wasn't on, and then with a swift kick of his leg, I watched him strike the button on the front that turns it on.

Wonder where he got that temper..... ;)

2008-11-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

When we were in the hospital, I remember very clearly that one of the lactation consultants who came to help me learn to breastfeed noticed that Jamey certainly did have a temper. This was evidenced by his refusal to breastfeed, although we were doing absolutely everything that we should be doing, meaning that the consultant had no advice for us. Five minutes after she left, he ate. Basically, even then, he did what he wanted when he wanted and showed his temper and stubborn streak.

I saw that nurse the day we were leaving the hospital and she said, "He certainly does have a temper. You are going to have a lot of fun with that one as he grows up." I laughed with her and said, "Well, his dad and I both have bad tempers, so I'm not surprised." Indeed, both Glenn and I are absolutely jolly the majority of the time, but when you make either of us mad, WATCH OUT! And so it is, naturally, with Jamey.

If you meet him he is a happy, smiley, and definitely flirty baby about 95% of the time. That last 5% is when he is mad because he wants to be doing something else, because he is beyond hungry, or if he is beyond tired. That is when you hear "the angry cry." The cry where the baby gapes his mouth open for a few minutes before letting out a loud yell. When we drove down to my parents in August, we got to listen to it for an hour, because Jamey simply didn't want to sit in his seat anymore!

As we begin sleep training, we have been hearing a LOT of the "Angry Cry" lately. The time is coming closer that I have to go back to work, and I don't want Monica to have to be the one to get Jamey used to napping in a crib. In the past, he has napped in his swing or simply on me, which was of course my favorite time. And, as hard as it was to give up, I recognized that I didn't want him to get to be able to walk and not sleep in his crib. Better that he learn to soothe himself before he can get up and follow me out of the room.

So we have been using the Ferber method, in which you wait til the baby is tired, and then lay him down to soothe himself to sleep. If he doesn't immediately fall asleep, you simply let him cry. And then, in ever larger increments you check on him, soothe him, and hope he falls asleep. When it comes to nighttime, the technique is working well. He eats and goes to bed pretty easily. On the rare occasions that I have to get him in the middle of the night, I am able to feed him and get him back down in as little as 20 minutes. And the other morning, Glenn and I caught him simply hanging out in his bed, laying on his side, sucking on his hand quietly. We went in and played with him, and he didn't seem to mind being in his crib.

Naps are another story.... Jamey is used to napping either on me or in a swing, or simply somewhere where there is motion. Now suddenly, we are putting him down in a crib and he is a little shocked. One day, he actually cried for about 2 hours before finally falling asleep for his one hour nap. In the last two days, he hasn't needed hardly any time to calm himself to sleep. However, once he is out, he will only sleep for 30 minutes. I am trying to figure out if this is all he needs or if this is just another case of his temper striking again. The coming days will tell.

Jump Up, Jump Up and Get Down!

2008-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Twenty points to anyone who can identify the song that I used as my title....

And to what does it make reference??? Well, Jamey's new favorite toy, of course.

This past weekend, the three of us took a journey to Grammy and Hoopapa's house in West Virginia to celebrate their birthdays. While there, they showed Jamey a bunch of new toys they had gotten passed down to him, one of which is often referred to as a "Johnny Jumper" or a "Jumpereroo" or simply, "That Jumpy Thing." No matter what you want to call it, there is no denying that Jamey took to it immediately.

I had been noticing for the past week, that Jamey is far happier when I sit him up against my leg or in his Bumbo, or hold him standing up. He sees all the grown-ups running around and wants to be part of them. And so, having this mechanism that allows him not only to "stand" on his own, but also jump around and move, is fantastic.

The best part about it, he will happily sit in it for as much as an hour, which allows Glenn and me to run around the house fervently cleaning and doing the things we can't when we are holding him. He wore himself out so much the other day that he literally fell asleep in his Jumperoo. Now if only he would stay asleep when we lay him in his crib....

But that's another blog entry.....

What is this talking machine??

2008-11-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Jamey has gotten very good at finding voices when they talk, but is often puzzled when he doesn't see a person to attach to the voice. The other day, he thought the lamp was talking to him, when it was really the radio down below. And today, he sat on Glenn's lap to call and wish Hoopapa (Glenn's dad) a Happy Day After Birthday. Putting him on speaker phone, it became clear that Jamey could hear that his Hoopapa was somewhere, but all that he saw was this little machine in "Daddy's" hand. So he just decided to grab that.

Jamey's Dance Partner

2008-11-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

After four short months, Jamey is no longer the "baby" of the dance group. It only took that short amount of time before someone else in the group had a baby. For months, we had been debating whether Bill and Lara would have a boy or girl, giving Jamey a dance partner to waltz with, or someone to fight with in the Bankltanz (where two guys plattl and fight over a bench). And then, about a week ago, Leah Nicole was born.

I was excited to meet her, as I know she will be a big part of Jamey's life, as he grows up. Someone to pal around with at dance practice, someone to learn to dance with, and someone to just be a kid with, and get into trouble. Jamey's second girlfriend-- after Katie, of course.

On Monday, our group was invited to a Thank You early Thanksgiving dinner at our favorite

local restaurant-- Euro Bistro. We were all excited to get to meet Leah, and when I walked in and saw how tiny she was, my jaw dropped. I

believe she is 6 pounds and with a now 17 lb 5 oz baby, even I was in awe of her size. Bill held her in one arm, as she slept in his arms. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Where is her dance partner??" I scooped a sleeping Jamey out of his carrier and we posed for a picture. And let me just say, this picture makes Jamey look like a giant! As Glenn says, it's funny to see me, who is pretty small in size, with a big baby, and Bill, who is a big guy, with such a tiny baby. On top of that, as I say, it looks like Jamey could eat Leah!

But really, congrats to Bill and Lara, and I look forward to watching the two of them grow up and see if Leah ever catches up with Jamey in size.

Jamey's Part of History

2008-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

Although I am a little late in posting this, Jamey went out and voted two days ago. We had bought a onesie for him that said "Vote now", and he was over my shoulder as I cast my vote. I must say I was a tiny bit disappointed that we didn't get to use the electronic touchscreens, as I was going to make Jamey push the last button to send the vote out, but it's okay. He got his sticker anyway.

I have to say that having Jamey puts a whole new light on such a big election. It is really cool knowing that a moment of history happened while he was alive, and he will be able to say in 20 years that he "voted"/ was there when Obama was elected.

The Two H's of the Fall: Homecoming and Halloween

2008-11-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

For a baby, the fall has proven to be the most interesting time that there is. Everywhere he looks, there are colors to see, sounds to hear, and crazy people to talk to. Or perhaps the crazy people were just the members of our dance group. Every morning, we take a walk around the neighborhood, and Jamey stares up at the trees and their many colors. Where once was green, is now thousands of shades of orange, yellow, red, and brown.

On top of that, fall is the time for Homecoming, whether it be in the high schools or at UVA. Being in a county with 26 high schools, and with both of us teaching at one, Homecoming parades abound in the month of October. And so, within three weeks, we enjoyed not one, not two, but three parades: Westfield, Centreville, and of course our local high school of Herndon.

I must say, that the Herndon parade was by far the most impressive. This wasn't just a parade for the high school. It was a parade for the community, as throngs of kids marched through the main street in Old Town Herndon. The Girl Scouts were there, the Boy Scouts were there. Even the politicians showed up to shake hands and kiss babies. And of course, every school in the area designed their own float, from the wee ones at the elementary school to the flat bed truck that carried the seniors from Herndon High. What we expected to be a 20 minute stop on our way to the grocery store, turned into an hour of watching and listening. All of which wore Jamey out, as he fell asleep in Glenn's arms. The parade only reiterated to me how happy I am that we were able to find a place in this area. Living in the Town of Herndon, there really is a sense of community and not just a huge amount of townhouses grouped together.

Jamey also got to experience Homecoming at UVA, as we went for a visit to show the Austrian teacher we are hosting what an American university looks like. Although we couldn't get tickets to the football game, we say tons of people of all ages who once went to UVA. On the way out of town, we stopped by the apple orchard that overlooks the city, and tried to make Jamey blend in with the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Much to Glenn's chagrine, the Great Pumpkin didn't appear. ;)

And of course, the season is capped off by the sweetest "H" of them all-- Halloween. Although Jamey isn't quite old enough to understand what is going on, or why all this weird looking people are at the door, we had to dress him up. Inspired by Jamey's Trogdor Dragon onesie, we decided that would be his costume. At first we thought of putting it together ourselves, but in a recent trip to Target, we took the easy way out this year and bought him a costume. That was a month ago, and we were relieved to see that the costume still fit him on Friday night.

Dressed and ready to go, we marched up and down our street, visiting the few families that we know. We also drove the five minute drive over to Katie's house to check out her costume. She seemed to understand much better what was going on. As we stood and talked to Jess, Jamey became cranky, and within seconds of me holding him in my arms, his head turned to deadweight on my shoulder. And that was it for our trick-or-treating. It was just past Jamey's bedtime.

Upon arriving home, I laid him on the couch while I ate some pizza, and when he woke up, I let his grabby fingers get ahold of the pumpkin that held his pile of candy, and watched him as he peered inside at the colors of the candy packages. Sadly, we ran out of candy, and had to use Jamey's

candy to give out to the kids who came around, so

there will be no enjoyment of candy for him this year. That's okay-- I will sacrifice and buy some candy to eat when we go out today. That way, he will still get his dose of sweets!

The Amazing Grabbing Baby

2008-11-02T05:05:00.001-08:00

In the past few weeks, Jamey has developed a habit of grabbing absolutely anything that is within reach. If it is near him, he wants to grab it and not only that, he REALLY wants to try to stick it in his mouth. Doesn't really seem to matter what it is; Jamey figures it must taste good. Whether it is his burp cloth, the cord for the vacuum, a telephone cord, or just simply his entire fist, he is up for trying anything. And while he doesn't seem to understand that you can't just eat any old thing, he has caught on to the fact that this stuff that Glenn and I are sticking in our mouths, is most certainly tasty.

Often when we eat dinner, Jamey demands to sit on one of our laps. So, naturally, we have become multi-taskers, capable of holding him on our laps as we eat with the other hand. The other night, Glenn's salad bowl was within reach, and Jamey dipped his hand in to feel the slimey salad dressing. And then, when we ate out at Corner Bakery, the plate was within reach and he slowly began hitting at the plate and moving it closer to the edge. I didn't think I had to watch out for this stuff for another few months!

Jamey is especially fond of giving his stuffed animals "kisses." When laying on his back, I frequently sit his stuffed giraffe Carter on his belly. He quickly flashes Carter a smile, reaches up and grabs her neck. And then, he gets a little fresh with Carter. Like I always say, "He is a big flirt."

"3 month" update

2008-10-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Although Jamey is now already 13 weeks, he went for his 3 month appointment today. He continues to "overachieve". His weight is now 15 lb. 14.5 oz (92%). His height is 25.5 inches (90%). And his head had a growth spurt up to 17 1/8 cm (95%).

On the way in, the nurse who had helped us previously stopped to say hello in the hallway, causing our current nurse to say, "Hey, stop talking to my patient." At which, every other nurse or doctor we passed on the way to the room stopped to wave at Jamey. "He can't help it," I said, "he is a flirt."

Throughout the entire appointment, he kept up his happy behaviour and Dr. Eng Tow even had to stop her checkup and laugh when he flashed his wide grin at her. "He is cracking me up. Is he always this amenable?" she asked. To which, I sat up a little straighter and proudly pronounced, "Yes, except when he is hungry, tired, or poopy."

And while I am updating, let me just say that Jamey had a BIG week last week. Sunday night, after Christopher's birthday party, he was worn out from keeping up with Christopher, and slept through the night. I thought it would be another fluke, as he did this the night after the Renaissance Fair too. But lo and behold, he continued through the week. And just when we thought he would sleep through the night forever, he didn't. For the past two nights, he has woken up for his one feeding, which I think may have to do with the cold that he caught from me.

As if that weren't impressive enough, on Friday, I put him on his tummy for tummy time. This

usually ends in him face down and shrieking. Today, I was watching General Hospital while we played. Apparently, Jamey wanted to watch too, as judged from the way he propped himself up and gazed up at the screen. I was about to start encourage him to push up and over, when suddenly, he was teetering on the point of rolling over. A second later, he had flopped over onto his back. I jumped to my feet and screamed! Thankfully, he repeated the trick for Glenn once he got home.

Party Animal

2008-10-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

To the naked eye, it may seem that Jamey is something of a party animal and active little man. Well, I must say, it is because he is. He always loves to be a part of what is going on, likes to watch his older friends and learn what is what. And of course, what would a party animal be without parties? What with Oktoberfests every weekend, I think he has it down. But beyond that, he has also attended two birthday parties and he isn't even three months old yet!

Yesterday, we headed off to the Brown's (Monica and Marla's parents) to celebrate Christopher's 2nd birthday with a Curious George themed party. Just as with her wedding, Monica did a lot of the preparation herself. She put together a cupcake cake decorated as Curious George, burned CD's for all the goody bags (with Jack Johnson Curious George music), and even made a beanbag toss type board with

Curious George on it and a hole in the mouth where you threw in bean bag bananas-- yup, those were homemade too, but by Monica's mom. Not to be one to be left out, Jamey took part in all parts of the festivities, from staring at the bubbles coming out of the bubble machine to falling asleep in Mommy's arms while she pretended he was hitting the pinata. And of course, he had some cake-- second hand, that is.

Don't worry, we aren't getting anywhere near time for him to eat cake himself. And what was Jamey's favorite part of the party, you ask? Well, it was a tie between the fan in the Brown's living room and the balloons hanging up outside.

Along the lines of our strong, active party boy, Jamey is getting quite strong. He can now stare at a rattle for a few minutes and then grab for it and shake it.

As well, he falls asleep in his car carrier now with his hand entangling in the rings hanging down. And now and again, he grabs ahold of my finger and won't let go. Perhaps the strangest feat of strength is what I found when I went to get him from bed this morning. You see, when Jamey sleeps, we lay him down on a sleep positioner, which keeps him from rolling over onto his stomach. There is a flat part in the middle and on either side of him a pyramid like tube thingie to hold him in. Except it doesn't really hold him in anymore.... When I went to get him this morning, this is what I found....

In case you didn't know, the positioner SHOULD be under him and opened up more, not crumpled together in a pile below him. This is one of those times when I really wish that we had a camera on him at all times.

A weekend with Friends

2008-10-01T16:24:00.001-07:00

I must admit, it is funny because I think that I am really starting to appreciate "Mommy" friends. I have always had friends who have kids, but now, it seems, that the ones that I feel I can talk with the most are the ones who have kids themselves. Lucky for me, we are in the middle of a baby boom and there are tons of people with little kids.

This past weekend, Jamey and I both got to spend time with two of ou

r favorite people-- not to mention their children. For me, I got to spend time with Jess and Monica, while Jamey got to hang out with his buddies Katie and Christopher. On Saturday, he celebrated Katie's first birthday and on Sunday, we visited the Renai

ssance Fair with Monica, Chris, and Christopher.

I must admit, he slept through the majority of Katie's party, but he got passed around a bit, nonetheless, and even got a hug from the birthday girl! Kind of. At least she didn't try to hit

him in the head. In signing his name on the card of her present, I realized that this is the first of many many many birthday parties we will be attending for Jamey's friends. Granted, this one

also happens to be the daughter of one of my best friends, but whatever.

And Christopher continues to try to guide not

only Jamey, but us in how to take care of Jamey. When it began to rain at the Ren Fair, he was very worried that Jamey not get wet. He even let Jamey use his big boy stroller, if for no other reason than it allowed him to splash in the mud puddles. But Jamey found much to look at when we were at the Ren Fair, from the waving flags to the horses in the joust, to the band that Glenn helped him to conduct.

I am really grateful to have these friends, especially because they afford me an opportunity for Jamey to make lifelong relationships. I hope that in years to come, I will be able to show Katie and Jamey their picture and have them blush in embarassment and say "Aww Mom!"

5 Things that make Jamey smile...

2008-09-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

As I use this blog not only to communicate with all of you out there, but also for the purposes of my own memory, I wanted to jot down a list of things that I have noticed that especially amuse Jamey-- so that I may one day recount them to him.

1. laying on his changing table in his diaper

2. the ceiling fan in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom

3. Mommy speaking French via a plastic giraffe

4. finishing up doing his business in his diaper

5. when someone imitates the sound that the Tivo makes when it fast forwards "Buh-doop, Buh-doop, Buh-doop"

6. flirting with Mommy while he is nursing or Daddy when he is getting a bottle

"Comment tu t'appelle" said the plastic giraffe...

2008-09-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

In reading Glenn's cousin Drew's blog, I saw him mention that there are a lot of firsts as you raise children. Granted, I don't have 4 kids like Drew does, but with a baby, the firsts seem to come every day. Since last Friday, we have had two big "firsts".

For every little boy, there is no doubt that at some point sports will come into play, no pun intended. People have asked what sport we want Jamey to play. Well, really, it doesn't matter. Football, basketball, swimming, soccer... we are fans of it all. But whether he plays it or not, football will probably be something he gets exposed to as a fan, seeing as Glenn and I are both avid UVA football fans (although not so much lately) and of course, there are always the Westfield/Centreville games to deal with.

Last Friday was Jamey's big introduction to sports, as we packed up and headed to the Westfield vs. Chantilly football game. As we knew it would be a later evening, we bundled him up in pajamas and his Grammy-made Westfield bib. As we strutted him around in his carrier, he got oohs and awws left and right. Usually followed by a second ooh and awww as the person saw the bib. While Glenn scoped out the players and the records of the teams, Jamey was probably most fascinated by the enormous stadium lights. I can just imagine what was going through his head, "Those are the biggest lights I've ever seen!!!" He did his usual thing: stare, turn his head, stare some more, take it all in, stare at the lights, and after a while, fall asleep when it all seemed boring. That's right-- our son fell asleep at a football game surrounded by insane Westfield fans. Keep in mind that Westfield is the largest 4 year high school in Virginia, so this wasn't just a dozen groupies hanging around. This was a CROWD! In fact, the only time he freaked out was when Westfield made their second touchdown and everyone around us jumped to their feet and shrieked simultaneously. Not what you want to wake you out of a dream! So I took him down out of the stands and just after that, at half time, we took the little man home, knowing that Westfield would win anyway (which of course they did at 32-7). Needless to say, this will not be Jamey's last football game, and next time, hopefully, he will start to notice those tiny little people running around down there.

And what, might you ask, was his other first this week? Well, it actually

just happened this evening before dinner. It all has to do with the plastic giraffe mentioned in the title of this entry. As part of a package, Jamey received a small plastic squeaky giraffe from my Aunt Pat and Uncle Don in Canada. It made me happy because I remember having such a giraffe named Jerry, when I too was little. This giraffe, though, as stated on its packaging is named Voolee (I don't know how you spell it, but that is how you say it) and Voolee is French (I am guessing he hails from Quebec). Jamey took quickly to Voolee and enjoyed grabbing him by the leg and swinging him around until he hit himself in the head with Voolee.

(Note: The giraffe in the picture is "Voolee's mother", a stuffed giraffe that I have named Carter after the student of Glenn's that gave him to us. Note also, that while Voolee speaks French, Carter is a German. I have yet to meet the father, who I am sure is a Dutch speaker. This allows me to use all the different languages I know, while I play with Jamey)

Lately, I have been trying to entertain Jamey with different toys and today, it was Voolee's turn to take on a whole personality to go along with his squeak. So I laid Jamey down on his blanket on the floor and began to have Voolee speak to Jamey. Now, of course, because Voolee is French, he speaks French with a thick Parisian accent. (Okay, so I don't know for sure that it is a Parisian accent.) But because my French isn't like my German, and doesn't always come

flowingly, I stick to simple sentences that Voolee can say to Jamey.

Things like, "What is your name?", "What did you say", "What do you want to play" "My name is Voolee. I speak French. Do you speak French" and of course, "You are a big boy, but you are also a good boy!" Occasionally, I will say longer sentences, but Jamey doesn't seem to like these as much. I soon found that Jamey was entirely amused by Voolee's French. The intonations probably sound funny to a baby in a way that the German he so often hears does not. Listening to me/Voolee talk, Jamey opens his mouth in his giant grin and his eyes light up.

Tonight, as I was cooking dinner, Glenn was playing with Jamey and Voolee, but had yet to see Voolee come to life. So in a moment of peace in the cooking, I ran over and let Glenn watch how amused Jamey was by Voolee. And this time, when Voolee asked "What did you say?" in French several times in a row, Jamey let out an honest to goodness laugh! First one ever! I have yet to make it happen again, but it was there and we both heard it. So maybe our son was French in a former life and is laughing at his mother's terrible accent, or maybe he is laughing at the idea of a giraffe who speaks French. Who knows....

And speaking of things Jamey does now, this video shows how Jamey can snore, just like some other people that we know... He doesn't do it all the time, but it is just another of those little noises he can make.

2 Month Check-up/ Update

2008-09-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Although Jamey is officially 9 weeks old, he was (per the calendar) 2 months old this past Thursday. As such, he had his monthly wellcare checkup on Friday afternoon. I was a little worried, as I knew that he would be getting 4 shots at the visit. Before the visit, Glenn and I prepared ourselves for 1)the unveiling of his latest weight, and 2)a screaming baby on the way home. We took guesses as to what the weight would be-- Glenn said 4 and a half pounds, I said closer to 4 lb. 1 oz, just to be contrary.

The first thing they check of course is the weight and let's say, Glenn was closer, as Jamey proved to be 14 lb. 6 oz., keeping him right up there in the 95% for weight. For height, he is now in the 80%, as opposed to 90%, at 23 3/4 inches. In true Van Welzen fashion, his head continues to grow well, and is in the 75% percentile at 16.5 inches. Needless to say, he still looks much older than his age.

The end of the visit brought time for the shots. Glenn held his arms down to give him a bit of a feeling of being held tight, as the nurse asked us to do. And then she just put the needle into his leg. A sudden scream filled the air and then it subsided a bit, until the next shot. By the end of the last one, Jamey's entire head was red and he had lapsed into the furious/ hyperventilating cry. I call it that because you see him about to cry before you hear it, with his wide open, building up to the scream. But really, after a moment, he calmed down and just looked around. The nurse stepped aside for Glenn to pick him up and in, what I must guess is his idea of retaliation, he let out a really loud fart, and settled back down. That's our boy. :)

He has become much more vocal in the last week, and yesterday, he seemed to discover that on those hand things he found recently, he also has fingers. I caught him yesterday curling them as though he were waving goodbye. Then, as Glenn gave him a bottle, he used his little fingers to feel Glenn's fingertips individually. I also caught him "plattling" this morning, as he raised his leg and lowered his hand at the same time. I guess watching at the show yesterday really taught him something.

And of course, Jamey loved the recent visit from Grammy and Hoopop (Glenn's parents). They came up yesterday and hung out with him at our show, so we didn't have to worry as much about finding someone to watch him if we were both dancing. Hoopop showed him all the places in the area that he could get into trouble and he and Jamey also planned a fishing trip for some day a few years from now, and Grammy taught him how to splash in rain puddles on the tabletop. And just to show them how much fun he had, he giggled and smiled at them quite a bit. Both Glenn and I were so happy that we got to show off our grinning boy to them, and so happy that he smiled just for them and showed them how much he loves them too. :)

I must admit that, as any Mom would say, it can be very frustrating when I don't know what Jamey wants and he just continues to cry. Every now and again, he decides that he just doesn't want to nurse, and cries until his head is literally completely red. But really, just when I think I am frustrated to no end, he lays in my arms, looks up and me and grins. He has this look in his eyes like, "Aw, come on, Mommy, you can't be mad at me." And indeed, I'm not mad at him, and I can already tell that when he is a little older, he is going to get away with way too much with me.

Oktoberfest Beginneth...

2008-09-06T12:43:00.001-07:00

It is true that Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany doesn't start until the end of September and only lasts a week or so there. But for Glenn, myself, and the rest of our dance group, Oktoberfest started at the end of August, as we began our dancing season. In addition, it doesn't end right away. Rather, it goes on until the beginning of November, with at least one day of celebration each weekend.

Since he was in the womb, Jamey has been hearing Oompah music every Friday at practice. Not to mention, he was just a tiny little group of cells when I went through last Oktoberfest season. Because of that, he is already adjusting well to the shows we have done.

As I said, our first big show was the second-to-last weekend in August at Hagerstown Maryland's Augustoberfest. Our group (Alt Washingtonia) goes every year and entertains for two days and thank God, this year it wasn't that hot. As Jamey was still about 6 weeks old at that point, he was still sleeping through much of the day. And the soothing tones of the Bavarian music put him to sleep through the majority of our roughly 4 hours of shows.

In fact, at one point, we had a "Baby Parking" area for Jamey's and Christopher's strollers as the two took naps side by side. It is the kind of picture that I am sure they will look back on and laugh. And Monica and I will look back and say, See, even then you did stuff together. Being worried about a little too much noise, we brought ear plugs, but they didn't really fit. In the end it didn't really matter, as he didn't seem bothered by the music, as I said. But Monica has a brilliant way of blocking out the noise while Christopher sleeps. She puts on ear protectors that block out noise. They belong to her dad and we decided that we would try a pair on Jamey to see how they would work. From this came perhaps my favorite picture of Jamey. (Forget the fact that he actually only wore the noiseblockers for about one minute, as they proved too tight for his head and made him angry.)

Bumming around at the Beach

2008-09-06T06:54:00.001-07:00

From the beginning, it has been our intention to let Jamey experience everything we have to offer him so that as he gets older, he won't be afraid of these things and so that they will seem natural. For this reason, we took him out to restaurants early, took him to West Virginia to visit Grammy and Hoopop and took him to the fair. The more he gets used to being out and about, the better for both he and us!

And so, that was the thought in mind, when we headed out on our most recent adventure to Emerald Isle, where my parents live. As well, after

having my mom stay with me for a week of transition time as Glenn got back to work, we decided taking her home would be a great opportunity for another quick getaway over Labor Day Weekend. We were further excited when Jim and Lindsay decided to make the trip over for a day or two so that both Lindsay and the boys could meet their latest cousin. Needless to say, they were enthralled, especially Max, who continually asked to hold the baby. I was also excited to find out from Ben (7), I think it was, that Jamey couldn't talk yet

because he didn't have teeth. Well, if that is all it takes, he is going to be speaking sooner than I thought.

Jamey took quickly to being at Grandma and Granddad's house, especially as a large portion of the wall is made up of windows, letting in tons of light in and making everything very interesting for Jamey to see. He was more awake than we had seen him before. This, we soon discovered, was just another building block in his development, as in the following days, he stayed awake for much more of the day.

Back when I was just barely pregnant, Glenn's mom and I had found a special outfit for Jamey, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to get through the summer without someone taking him into the water. And so he had his own swim shorts, surf shirt, and beach hat waiting patiently in his closet to be used. On the Saturday after arriving at Emerald Isle, we suited him up and took him out to the beach. No worries to anyone, he sat under a canopy the entire time, and I kept a cold washcloth on his belly so he didn't get overheated.

But I needn't have worried, as Jamey took the beach like he takes to most things. He just rolled with the punches, sat on our laps, and stared around him at the myriad of sites. Between the glow of the sand, the feel of the small amount of sand that somehow got on his hand, the constant motion of people running around, and the sound of the crashing water, his senses definitely got a workout. Although he didn't go in the ocean or spend more than about an hour or so on the Beach, it was definitely a good warm-up for future visits.

The next day, Glenn and I decided that we did want to take Jamey into the pool. I wanted him to get the feel of being in a lot of water at a young age, so as he gets older, he will feel that the pool is a safe and normal place to be. (Safe to a point, that is) Around 5 PM, once the shade was over the pool and the heat had subsided a bit, we suited him up again and took him on his first golf cart ride over to the pool. Being held firmly by either Glenn or I, we waded into the kid's end of the pool, getting him wet about halfway up his body. Just as with the Beach, there was not a cry to be heard. Granted, there weren't really any big grins either. But Jamey just sat in our arms looking all around, taking in everything that was around him. Probably the thing he liked best, though, was being snuggled in his towel afterwards, judging by how quickly he fell asleep in my arms.

Also, on this trip, Granddad was reminded of the smell of a dirty diaper. With Jamey propped up on his bent legs, my Dad said to me, "I definitely think he just pooped." Well, as a rule, Jamey never just goes once-- as I have heard it is with all babies. I told my Dad to wait just a few minutes to be sure Jamey was done. After a few minutes, Dad seemed to be on the verge of suffocating, so I took Jamey and cleaned him up. One thing of note, that Jamey seems to like-- he loves it when Granddad makes his funny noise that sounds much like a dog howling. Without fail, it always brings a smile to Jamey's face.

A Man of the Same Name...

2008-09-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Over one weekend in August, Jamey had a special visit from his Uncle Jim, who happens to share his name. Although he wasn't named after Jim, them sharing their names is an excellent coincidence. After watching Jim's three boys grow to where they are now, it was wonderful to be able to show off my son to him. Perhaps the coolest thing about Jim's visit was the special gift Jamey received from him.

While here, Jim said that he wanted to get us something that we needed. What with all the

hand-me-downs and gifts we got, we really didn't need anything. The only thing we were still looking for was a toybox for Jamey's room. Suddenly a lightbulb went on over Jim's head. He decided that he would get Jamey a toybox and paint it for him. Well, after fervently searching (for roughly an hour) the local Michael's and other craft stores, we returned to the place we

started-- Babies R Us-and bought an already finished toybox to be painted with a

design. Due to the cowboy theme in Jamey's room, Jim went online and looked up different cowboys. To make a long story short, here is the end result!

All smiles...

2008-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Although I don't have time at this very moment to write a full blown blog entry, I wanted to post another video for all my far away relatives, which tends to be most of my relatives.

Jamey has become very smiley in the last week. He is definitely a morning person and seems happiest after he eats at around 6 AM. After he is done nursing, I put him up in front of my on my bent legs and look into his little face. He stares around the room at the paintings that we have hanging and then studies my face. And suddenly his whole mouth breaks into this huge smile. Plus he is cooing. It is very cute!!! And here is a video as testament to his smiliness. Not his best smile, but any smile is good.

On another note, at a doctor's visit yesterday, we found out that Jamey is now a whopping 12 lbs. 15 oz, or in short, one ounce away from 13 pounds!!! As well, he is already able to walk around in his carrier facing outward and BOY, does he love it. On our walk tonight, he just took in all the trees and especially the sky.

One month report

2008-08-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

Although Jamey is officially 5 weeks old today, I am a bit delayed on the report of his 1 month check-up at the doctor this past Monday. In summary, Jamey is doing fantastically. But that is just in summary. I know that most of you out there are wanting more detail, so here we go.

For one thing, Jamey is growing at a rapid pace. Even we were a bit surprised when we put him down on the doctor's scale and he weighed 11 lb. 7 oz. As has apparently been said, "Melissa must have some good milk!" This put him in the 95 percentile. As for height, he is now 23 inches long, with a growth of 3/4 inches, putting him in the 90 percentile there. Although I don't remember the exact number of his head size, it put him in the 70 percentile. So needless to say, our boy is certainly growing.

Beyond his body size, he seems to be exceptionally strong. He is able to hold his head up pretty much already and if you balance it just right on his hands, he can even hold up his bottle on his own. Not that he knows what he is doing, but it looks like a cool trick! I am very proud of his strength, but it can cause a little trouble when I am trying to burp him when he doesn't want to be burped. I will sit him down over my leg, but when he is angry, he stretches his legs out and won't bend them. Making it impossible to burp him! The doctor says he will probably crawl early, based on how he acts in his appointments... Oh fun!

Little Tidbits from Jamey's Days

2008-08-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

Here I sit at 10 PM, eager to type up the 101 stories I have from our three weeks with Jamey, but with so little time to accomplish that. Thank goodness I can type about 60 words per minute, so this won't take me as long. And yet, I find I still have to pause because Lord only knows where I should start. I will type up little snippets of our days here:

The Long Endless Nights:
I guess the hardest part is the part that comes to mind first-- and any parent can tell you that the hardest part in the beginning is the night time. It seems I can put up with any amount of crying, so long as the sun is up. But when the times comes when it is night, everything seems 1000 times harder. And every night seems to be a different treat. Some nights he is easy to get down. And then there are nights like last night. He decided that he would cry whenever we went to put him down. Sure, pick him up and hold him against you and he is content, but the second he is on his back, and it is like hot coals are in the crib. The easiest thing is just to lay him on my belly in bed and nap together, but we are trying desperately not to make this a habit. So instead I have learned to sleep in his glider-- thank you, Lindsay.

Wakey Time:
But that is the only bad part, really. Jamey is a happy little guy who loves to be held. He has his fussy time, as any baby does, but really, if you solve his problem, he is content. The best parts of our days, we refer to affectionaly as "Wakey Time". These are the times when his eyes are wide and he will just sit in his bouncer and stare out the back door. Or sit in his boppy and study the trees. I know he can't see far, but he must indeed be able to see a lot of contrasts around the house. We have found that he loves to sit in our laps and stare at paintings on the walls. The one above our bed, which is completely black and white, is especially a favorite. I can't wait for the moments when he can actually see the squirrels and birds that traipse around our yard. It will lead to endless hours of entertainment for him. Wakey Time seems to come at roughly the same time every day-- usually around 11 AM and 2/3 PM. It lasts about an hour and then he drifts off the sleep.

Little Superman:
Another thing that surprises everyone that sees him in person is how strong he is. He is doing things he shouldn't be able to. When you put him up to your shoulder to burp him, and he happens to be awake, he will lift his head off your shoulder and move it around. It used to just be that his head would bob around when he lifted it for a moment, but that was a week or so ago. Now, at three weeks, when he lifts his head, he can hold it up for a good amount of time. Every day, he also gets a little tummy time, where Glenn usually lays on his back and puts Jamey on his belly on top of Glenn. Jamey will lift up his little head and gaze around. One day he scooted himself along a little bit, and he has already proven that the sleep positioner is no match for him. One night I enterred to get him up and there he lay, perpendicular to the positioner. Another night, he was down below it. And he does all that when he is swaddled!

Nicknames:
It seems everyone picks a nickname for their child. "Pumpkin, Little Man, Buddy, Momo." I have wondered, what we will call our little Jamey. When we brought him home from the hospital, we called him Hippo. He was a little chunk, and he had a hippo on his outfit. And didn't it just fit that he couldn't seem to get enough food-- our Hungry Hungry Hippo. And yet, the noises he makes aren't any that come from a hippo. Rather, his noises lead to his nickname of "Birdy". When he sleeps or stretches, there are little peeps that escape, and occasionally a squawk even comes out. While Jacquie was here visiting, she called him Froggy. When he sleeps on your chest, he tucks his legs up under himself. And when he is hungry, his little tongue flicks out, much like a frog. Perhaps my favorite of all the little names we have for him helps to describe his habit of passing loud gas and loud poops. The other night, Jacquie and Nick were sitting on the couch, as I played with Jamey. Suddenly, a loud noise came from Jamey-- I won't describe the noise, but rest assured, I knew it had produced some poop. I looked at Jamey and said, "Good job, Vladimir." Nick looked at Jacquie and then at me. The next time, as I went to congratulate Jamey again on "doing his business", I caught a funny look from Nick when I called him Vladamir again. I looked at he and Jacquie and explained. When Jamey is pooping well and we can hear it, we like to refer to him as Vladimir-- as in Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia-- to congratulate him on the good "pooting" he is doing.

Gotta Love Background Noise:
We have discovered that Jamey is a big fan of noise. This is yet another trait that I think he has inherited a little from both Glenn and I. Come into our house and I like to have some kind of noise on at all times. The TV may be on, but I often only have it on just for the noise of it, not for the content. As well, in my classroom, I can't stand to have a completely silent room (most of the time). I like for my kids to work together, to interact with me, to actively take part in their learning. The ultra quiet drives me nuts.

In the same vein, Jamey seems to be most relaxed when there is a lot going on around him. This is best illustrated by how relaxed he has been any time we have taken him out of the house. He has already made "field trips" to Babies R Us, Target, Red Robin's, Virginia Kitchen, Euro Bistro, Leesburg, on a driving tour of DC, to Monica's, to a fair, and dance practice. And in every situation, he will fall asleep with everything happening in his midst. Whether it be German Plattl music or the clatter of kitchens around us, he sleeps through it all. Lucky me...

And now, as I feel my lids begin to get heavy, I am off to pump and then fall asleep until I get up for the 1 AM feeding. Gotta love that one!

Baby's First Outing

2008-07-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this is much in delay, but Jamey had his first outing last weekend. In the morning, we headed over to Target and Babies R Us for a few returns and purchases. Jamey slept right through.

But then, the bigger adventure came that evening. I had gotten a call from Monica and when I called her back, she invited us over for dinner. Although my initial instinct was that it would be so much for Jamey in one day, we decided, "Why not?" In addition, in the parking lot of the high school where I teach, there was a children's fair. Sure, Jamey would be oblivious to it, but the hope was that Monica and Chris' 18 month old (Christopher) would find some things to enjoy.

So we headed over to their place that evening, with Jamey asleep of course. He stayed in his carrier through the whole dinner. Perhaps the best part about the visit was when Christopher met Jamey for the first time. You may remember that I have mentioned Christopher before in my blog. He is the little boy who would put his hand on my belly and declare "Baby" when I was still pregnant. I was anxious to see how he would react when I didn't have my giant belly.

When we first came in, he was overwhelmed to see Glenn and I, and danced around. After about five minutes, he noticed this carrier sitting on the floor. Looking up at his dad, he squatted down and gasped. "What's that?" he asked, in his little Christopher voice. As quickly as possible, I whipped out the video camera. He was very good with the baby, though. He didn't dare touch him. He just squatted right in front of his character and stared at Jamey and then he would swivel his head to one of the adults with a big grin, as though he had made this amazing discovery. At various times throughout the dinner, he would remember that the baby was there, squeal and point at the carrier, screaming "Baby!" It was a cool site to see.

After dinner and a quick feeding, we went to the fair. As may be predicted, Jamey slept through the entire field trip. Nothing bothered his slumber-- not the lights, nor the sounds. It turned out that the rides were all too big for Christopher, but he seemed just as happy to point, stare, and oooh and ahhh them. He also played a game where you pull a duck out of the water and get a prize. He wanted to keep the duck more than the prize that he won, however. Monica also ended up winning them a hermit crab.

We had a very interesting interaction with an extremely well dressed carnie-boy. Glenn had pulled out the video camera to tape a sleeping Jamey in front of the ferris wheel. Just then an 8 year old came over and said, "May I look?" I said looking was fine. He stared, and as he started to talk, I began to wonder if he was somehow a 30 year old trapped in an 8 year old body. "How old is the little guy?" the boy asked. Other statements made by him, "I have two brothers and they are 6 and 7. Where do the babies go to, I tell you?" "Is he your first?" So now, for the rest of time, we will be wondering who this strange little boy on the video is. We noticed later that he was going around offering to help out the various game workers, which is what led us to realize that he must be one of the carnival people.

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Other James tidbits:
-His favorite place to sit is in his bouncing chair. He loves to sit and face looking out the glass door in the living room, taking in all the light that is outside there.
-Just like all other babies, he makes lots of little noises. In fact, when he is sleeping, and is stirring, he sounds a bit like a little chicken. He makes little peeps as he struggles to come out of his sleep. To accompany that, his little arms will flail around with the startle reflex and punch at whatever is around. I could watch it forever!

Speaking of Jamey, he seems to be stirring, so that is all for me at this point!

1 week old

2008-07-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

It has been one week now, and in the last few days, Jamey has been more and more awake. He has been especially wide-eyed around 3 o'clock, giving me the opportunity to take photos.

Jamey loves to sit in his boppy when he is awake, facing out the window. The light fascinates him, and he can just stare for days. (As can Glenn and I-- the only difference being with stare at him!)

Here, a few more photos to enjoy!

-Jamey is a very good baby, as long as you keep him full. He is a big eater, and VERY strong. At times, the main reason, I can't nurse him is because he uses his arms to push me away. At the doctor's visit, he was on his belly, trying to wriggle away from her, and she said, "What are you trying to do? Are you trying to crawl? Yes, you are trying to crawl!"

One more funny story-- I had to go to the OB's office for a check-up on Wednesday, and as I walked in the receptionist gave me a knowing look. As I told her my name, she looked at the other woman and Receptionist 2 said, "told you". At this point, my curiousity is peeked. Receptionist 1 said, "Oh, there was a little rumor and we weren't sure if you had already delivered." She glanced down at my still swollen belly and said, "I can see now, you haven't."

I laughed and said, "Oh, I have. I used to be much bigger."

I didn't care. It was just a funny story!

The Birth Story

2008-07-18T15:12:00.001-07:00

If you have been reading the blog or have been in contact with anyone who knows me, I am sure that you are aware that I have had the baby. Jess did a wonderful job of guest blogging for me, when the only access to the Internet that I had was a keyboard in the corner of my hospital room that plugged in somewhere I couldn't figure out.

Now with a week old little boy napping in his bouncer, I am finally getting the time to start this blog entry. No telling when I will finish it, as I hear his bird chirping right now, which usually is followed by a desire to eat.

In any case, although the facts are out there, I wanted to put out the story of James' birthday, if for nothing else than posterity and for him to read in the future.

When I last wrote, I was still desperately looking for ways to push myself closer to labor. A friend of ours told me that 2 out of the 3 of his children were born a day after his wife went to a grocery store here called Magruder's. Half as a joke, half because we had forgotten onion at the grocery store two days earlier, we went to Magruder's on Thursday. On top of that, when Glenn went out to frisbee, I pulled out the dance mat that goes with our imitation Dance Dance Revolution and did some easy dancing. Jamey and I were very good and I think I even danced better than I ever have when not pregnant! After 20 minutes, I was winded and sat down.

The next morning, I started to notice a little bit of wetness and began to think that perhaps my water sack had broken. I called the doctor and he told me to go into Fairfax Hospital and get it checked out, so off we went. Arriving at the hospital, I wasn't sure where to go, so instinctually we first went to the ER. When I told the woman my problem, she said, "And how far along are you?" I looked at her and said, "Today is my due date." Her eyes bulged and she directed me to labor and delivery. Once there, we were told that before they could do anything for us, we should go back downstairs and register!!! So back down we went, and on the way back up, I felt something that felt a little more like my water breaking, but still no knowing gush of water. Finally, in the triage, they hooked me up to the fetal monitors and determined via pH test, that I had indeed ruptured my water.

Now here is the strange thing.... at this point, I was still unsure as to whether this pressure I was feeling was contractions. I wasn't in a great amount of pain, per se. It just felt like a lot of pressure. So I turned to the nurse and shyly said, "This is a stupid question, but how can I tell if I have had any contractions?" She smiled and said, "Oh, you've had quite a number of contractions. " I said okay and continued lying there.

Once checked in, they put me on pitocin to get the contractions stronger and more regular. At that point, I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. At first the pitocin wasn't bad. I calmly watched some Ellen on the tiny tv, and greeted Jess when she came in from work. But by 4 PM, the contractions were beginning to be unbearable. Frankly, more than the contractions, I was having back labor, and my back was killing me. All I wanted was for that pain to go away. Each time the nurse came in, she asked my level of pain, and each time, when it didn't seem to be enough, she raised the level of pitocin. "I'm really sorry to say this, and it will sound terrible, but I was hoping by this point, you would be in a little more pain."

This sounds sadistic for her to say, but let me say that she was an AMAZING nurse, named Kate, and she was so friendly. Seeing her work made me want to advise all my students who are going to nursing school that they should work in Labor and Delivery. Finally, I told her that I was ready for my epidural. She pulled in the cart for the anaestheseologist, and it sat there taunting me for about 5 or ten minutes before the doctor showed up. By this time, it had to have been between 5 and 5:30 because the news was on. As Kate and Glenn held my hands, the man did his thing, and I must say, it didn't really hurt. So I have put in my vote for that one--- epidurals... not too painful. And if ever I had a test of the use of my breathing and tuning things out, this was it. As they were doing their work, Dr. Berry-- my OB-- came in, and stood in the background, listening to the news. I can't remember what story was on, but whatever it was, Dr. Berry found it fascinating and began to engage the anaestesiologist in conversation about it. I sat there thinking, "UM, hello???? Remember me??" But in the end, I used all my strength to focus on the letter H on my armband and tune out their voices. It worked and suddenly, it was in. And let me tell you... everything that is said about epidurals? Oh, it's true!! Best invention EVER! Suddenly, it felt that the labor could go on forever and I could handle it. I could push that baby out for days, and that would be fine. I was laughing again, and able to hold a conversation.

Every hour Dr. Berry came in to check me, and for two hours, he found that I wasn't going anywhere. As in, I wasn't dilating further, and I wasn't becoming more effaced. He looked dismayed and told me, that my contractions were also not really getting as strong as he would have liked. The reason? The baby's head was too big. In order to dilate more, we needed for his head to come down and press on my cervix. However, my pelvis was too small, so his head wasn't coming down to the cervix. Thus, I was stuck where I was.

I could have laid there for hours and hours, and in the end come to the same conclusion. Or I could take the next half hour and have my baby. So I chose the second option, and was off for my C section. Within minutes, I was prepped and ready to go... with one problem. Dr. Berry seemed to have disappeared. I listened to the nurses slowly get more angry that he was keeping us waiting, and it wasn't for about twenty minutes that he showed up and spit some anger back at them. "You were paging the wrong doctor! You paged Dr. Beery and not Dr. Berry," he bellowed. Apparently Dr.'s Berry and Beery had been sitting in the dr's lounge, but because Dr. Beery was off duty, he/she wasn't answering pages.

With his arrival it began, to the wonderful musical stylings of what I can only guess was HOT 99.5, judging by the song selection. "Shake It", "I Kissed a Girl", and "In This Club" were all among those played. And then, at 9:16 PM, as I lay there, I felt a strong pressure and I heard, "There he is." And then I heard something that made me laugh. It came from Dr. Berry, who til this point, just figured my average sized baby had a big head.

"Whoa, that's a BIG baby!" Dr. Berry exclaimed. "That might be a 10 lb. baby." The funniest part about the statement was the honest surprise in his voice. As I turned my head to the side, I saw them carry him to the warmer, his head alien-shaped from trying so hard to get through my pelvis, and covered in blood. Glenn left my side to welcome James Morgan into the world at 9 lb. 1 oz and 22 1/4 inches long.

The next several hours are a complete blur. I remember waking up in the PACU-- surgery recovery area. I was alone in my little triage area, but I turned my head and there, facing me, was the soft face of my little boy, fast asleep. It was a special moment, and although I couldn't really move, I felt connected to him right away. Eventually, they moved me up to my room, we bonded with Jamey, and "a few" visitors snuck up to see him. My parents were there, Glenn's parents too, and Aunt Joyce. In addition, Jess was still there waiting for Jamey, as were Monica, Marla, and Chris.

The stay in the hospital wasn't that eventful. Lots of visitors, another fantastic nurse, during the day times, and a lot of bonding time with James. Dad claims he has no eyes, but it was just that for the first week, he really likes to just sleep... Oh well!

We have found that Jamey has our temper. Generally Glenn and I are happy people, but when the temper flares, watch out. We were ready to go home after a few days.

James Morgan has arrived!

2008-07-13T11:30:00.001-07:00

This is Jess and I'm posting for the new Mommy and Daddy, while they are still at the hospital. For those of you that haven't heard, I will try to summarize the "birth story" and let Melissa give all the details when she returns. Melissa went to the hospital on Friday and found out that she had broken her water. She checked in around 1pm and was attended to by the great nurses and doctors in Fairfax hospital (I was very impressed). She progressed to 4cm in a couple hours, but did not budge after that.

The doctor thought the baby could be too big to deliver naturally and suggested a c-section. After we all waited patiently in the waiting room, we got the big news!

James Morgan Rife

July 11th, 2008 - 9:16pm

9 pounds, 1 ounce

22 1/4 inches in length

Melissa is doing great and is up and walking around. Jamey has been resting peacefully and Glenn is taking care of everyone.

I've posted a couple different photos and a video on my blog, if anyone wants to see more!

http://babylamken.blogspot.com/

~Jess

Babies, babies everywhere!

2008-07-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

Are they all trying to taunt me? One of the doctors in my OB practice? Jamie Lynn Spears? Nicole Kidman? Matthew McConaghey? And even my high school friend Heather? All of them have alreadey had their babies. Don't get me wrong. I am extremely happy for all of them, particularly Heather, whose little girl is adorable. But everywhere I look, it seems that people are popping out babies. I am wondering if my friend Kris, who was due yesterday, has had her little boy yet. I am guessing no, as she would have sent out word if she had.

And here I am, back from another weekly visit to the doctor. Again, there has been progress, I am dilated more, and apparently, "My water sac is bulging." On a side note, don't ask how much exactly I have dilated. This is the exchange that took place with my doctor today-- my doctor who may be even more laid back than my old OB Dr. Fruiterman.

Him: "How much did she say you were dilated last week?"
Me: "One centimeter."
Him: "Yeah, you are definitely further along than that now."

But, as he said, that doesn't always mean anything. He made reference to a woman who came in, having no dilation, and then went into labor 4 hours later. As everyone says, "The baby will come when he wants to come. Nothing is really a sign."

On the note of info, that I have received today, I can tell everyone that I officially have an induction date. If he is still playing stubborn by then, I will be induced on July 17th at 7 PM, but with a slight change of plans. The induction will take place at Fairfax Hospital, and not Fair Oaks, as originally planned. Somehow I feel that Murphy's Law is going to take over on this one.

And the reason for the change? Remember that doctor I mentioned at the beginning of the blog entry who works in my practice and gave birth? Well, she delivered several weeks early, making things at the practice a little crazy. Due to that, apparently they have moved all inductions to Fairfax.

At first I was dismayed, but the fact is that Fairfax is another Inova hospital, just like Fair Oaks, and beyond that, it is a really great hospital as well. It's just a small amount further away. That's just the way life goes-- you just gotta roll with the punches.

I have, though, instructed Jamey that he better come out soon!

(On a side note, we have decided to spell his nickname Jamey and not Jamie, as Jamey denotes the name James more. Also, it is a little more unique, which is one thing we want to add to his name. )

Everyone loves a pregnant woman!

2008-07-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

It has been my experience that most people are nice to pregnant women, but I didn't know that even children know how awesome pregnant people are! :)

Two nights ago, Glenn and I went out to our favorite Italian restaurant for our 2nd anniversary. It was a very low key affair, as we have so much going on, if you know what I mean. The hostess led us to the table, and as we sat, a little girl, turned to look at me. She was probably about 4 years old, with curly blond hair in pigtails. As we picked up our menus, I heard her say, "Mommy, that's my friend. That's my friend over there." Glenn and I looked over and she had her finger pointed out toward me. She was continuing to say something about me being her friend. Her mom and I shared a knowing grin. I wasn't sure what had brought it on, as I hadn't said anything to or even looked at the little girl on my way in. I figured maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was pregnant.

We enjoyed a great dinner. I watched the little girl out of the corner of my eye, and as the family got up to leave, I noticed something that made me smile. As her mother got up, I saw that she was probably just as pregnant as I am. That made it all come together. By our estimation, the little girl has probably been told that her friend is inside Mommy's belly. And seeing me walk in with that same size of belly, the girl figured that maybe her other friend was inside my belly.
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Well, as you notice, I did what many said I never would-- I made it to July without having delivered the baby. Not that I was trying to hold out so long, but this is what has happened. We had our weekly doctor's visit yesterday, and I have progressed a bit. At the appointment, I was 1 cm dilated and more effaced, but she didn't say by how much. In an attempt to move things along, she scraped my membranes. I'll let you look that up, if you don't know what it means. For many women, this sparks everything and sets it in motion. As long as your body is ready to go. So cramping followed, as it was supposed to, and shortly through the day, I lost my plug. This can mean nothing and can mean everything. Some women lose their plug weeks before they go into labor, and some, just as they begin. We shall see which camp I fall into.

And that is where I currently stand. I get up every day and move around. I make Glenn laugh by doing fake little aerobics. He loves to see my giant belly move around. And of course, I am suddenly eager to go retrieve things I left upstairs. And yet, he still seems to comfortable. What is it going to take??

Okay, Jamie, you are clear for labor...

2008-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

For weeks now, I have been anticipating the excitement of taking part in a wedding. Two years ago, many of you may remember Monica as the pregnant one at my wedding, who sang with her sister. When she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids in November, it was a mere twist of irony that I would be hugely pregnant at her wedding as well. Her mom made all the dresses, so I had one that fit me perfectly and was beautiful, and as the big day came sooner, I would rub my belly and remind Jamie that he just had to wait until the wedding was over, and then he could come as soon as he wanted. And so, yesterday, it happened. No labor. Just a beautiful wedding. After the event, everyone approached me to ask when my due date was and asked how I was feeling. Rumors flew that I was due that day, although what I really said was that I was ready that day.

For a few moments during the ceremony, I felt some pressure and movement. I sucked in my breath, looked down at my belly, and willed Jamie not to do anything. I can definitely say, for one, that he follows orders. :) And as the ceremony ended and the reception began, the real fun started.

As soon as it was clear that the dancing had begun, I was on my feet, ready to celebrate with no abandon. I got Glenn up, and we did a little swing dancing. Then I bounced around to some rock music, and of course, the YMCA. (As I pointed out to one of the other bridesmaids, actual jumping is REALLY uncomfortable, so bouncing would have to work.) According to Kelley, one of the other women in our dance group, the cherry on top of the sundae was when I got out to do the Macerena. If you would stop and think back a decade or so to the last time you did the Macerena, you will remember there is a part where you circle your hips and then do a quarter turn. Now imagine a woman with an enormous belly, circling her hips. It is not the cutest looking image. :) But there I was, having a good time, and really, beyond all else, a good time was the true goal. And I was happy to celebrate with Monica.

After the reception at the church, there was an "after-party" at Chris' parents' house. (Chris being the groom) All guests were invited, and there would be more food and drinks to enjoy. Like the typical Asian mother, Chris' mom cooked more than enough and was more than happy to do it. Barbeque, shrimp, potato salad, nacho dip, broccoli, and even a chocolate fountain. And all this after having hosted the rehearsal dinner at her house the night before. As she told me when I asked her if she had made all the delicious Asian food at the rehearsal dinner herself, she told me, "As soon as my mother got into town, she started cooking, so she helped me a lot."

Their house was crowded and there were various conversations and groups of people around. From the crowd of bridal party watching pictures from the wedding on the giant TV in the living room, to the accordian polka music being played live in the front sitting room. When the time came for a large contingent of the Alt Washingtonia dance group/ family to leave, an impromptu performance was announced in the cul-de-sac outside. Doing a dance called the Gamsprung has become somewhat of a tradition at group parties and gatherings. And so we got together about 8 or 9 of our men and Mark the tuba player, and the men did their thing. The problem was, the majority of the guests inside only found out about the performance after it was almost done. Most of the guys who had been dancing had to leave and we were left with a large crowd calling out for more. So Fritz, Glenn, and Philip got together and decided they would do a dancer called the Gauplattler, which necessitated that each of them get a partner to spin around with them.

Fritz grabbed Monica's hand and told the other two to get a partner. I saw my chance to once again, get Jamie moving, and grabbed Glenn's hand. He looked at me and said, "Are you sure?" And I was. After all, all I would have to do was spin around and then waltz with him. Someone told me later, "You really will do anything you can to get him out." Another person said, "I am predicting here and now that your baby is going to be a dancer."

The next question, I am sure, would be "Did you feel anything after all that moving and shaking?" and the answer is "Yeah, a bit." The day before, he had been bouncing and shifting, and having a good old time. By the end of the evening, I was cramping up a lot. It felt like mild menstrual cramps, but I had a feeling that as soon as I got to bed, Jamie would simply be relieved I had stopped moving around and would settle back in to his comfort zone.

And, naturally, I was right. I woke up today with Jamie basically sending me the signal of, "Okay, Mom, you had your fun, but you won't work me out that easily." If you remember back a number of months to my ultrasound, when they couldn't get him to move enough to take all the pictures, I told you that this baby was stubborn. Well, once again, he has proven this point.

Dinner Done Right....

2008-06-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

One of the chores on the "Before Jamie Comes" list has been, for a while, get some meals ready and frozen so we don't have to cook later. Although we froze a large amount of pasta the other day that Glenn made, today we went to a place that would help us to prepare roughly 16 meals (8 for each of the two of us).

In Centreville, there is a business that is called "Dinner Done." At Dinner Done, you go online and reserve a spot and choose 8 meals that you would love to have to freeze. You go on the day that you reserve and they have all the ingredients set up for you and you just put it all together and put it in little metal pans to put into the oven later. You take these home, freeze them, and when you are ready to eat them, all you have to do is thaw them and cook them.

Not only was this an amazing idea, it was so much fun too! Imagine being Rachel Ray for a moment, where you have a team of people who come in before you and chop everything for you, get the meat separated out, melt butter, and even put the right measuring spoons in each bowl. That is what this place does. So you go to a little station, and follow the prepwork part of the recipe. Usually this involves nothing more than add this and that, and stir.

One would think with such a simple set-up, the meals couldn't be that fantastic. Au contraire! The meals that Glenn and I chose were Mozzarella-Basil Stuffed Meatballs, Asian Pork Tenderloin, Flounder with a Lemon-Caper Sauce, BBQ Chicken with Cornbread Bites, Tatsiki Chicken Skewers, Nori Wrapped Salmon (which involves wrapping the salmon in a seaweed like wrap to cook it in), Greek Chicken Pasta, and Tuscan Beef, in which we stuffed some beef loins with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese, and laid it on a bed of spinach.

This place is a godsend for anyone who is either too lazy to cook themselves, too uncreative to look for recipes, or most of all, people who, for whatever reason are unable to cook. They even have something called a Stork Session. With this, if you have had a baby in the last month, you can order the meals online and the company will not only put them together for you, but (if you live within 10 miles) they will deliver it to you. Unfortunately, we live 12 miles away. Luckily, a friend of ours (Mellinger) lives only 10.5 miles from them, so we are thinking about getting them to deliver there, and Glenn will drive the 5 minutes over to Mellinger's apartment and pick the stuff up. Of course, Mellinger doesn't know this yet.

At this point, we are thinking we may be INCREDIBLY tired about a month after Jamie is born, and in an effort to avoid grocery shopping, we may take advantage of the Stork Session. In the grand scheme of things, it is pretty much the same amount of money as going to the store.

But the taste, you wonder? How good can a meal that has been frozen be? Well, that I don't know yet, but I can tell you that we tried out half of the meatballs with the marinara sauce we made, and they were delicious. The plan from now is to try to remember what we put into the meatballs. I remember the ingredients, but now I have to think back to the amounts. Thank goodness for my photographic memory!

If you are curious, check out their website... www.dinnerdone.com.

Baby Pool....

2008-06-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

My dad tells me that there is some sort of baby pool going on in my family, but I am not sure that there is. In any case, I am curious to have a baby pool. If anyone would care to make a prediction, please go for it.

Personally, I am going to say June 30, but maybe that is wishful thinking. I am in a wedding on Saturday, June 28, and afterwards, Glenn and I are going to do some dancing and eat some Indian food. We have decided to do whatever we can to encourage him to make his grand entrance! SOO, I am saying, maybe June 30, we can coax him to come out.

Anyone else have a guess???

Typical Little Boy....

2008-06-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

I have to share a story from my last childbirth class, last week. The nurse was discussing how the doctors decide when to do a C-section. One day, a woman came into the Labor and Delivery, and the heart rate of her baby would be fine for a minute and then drop suddenly. Then a minute later, it would be perfect again, only to drop once more. It kept doing this, defying all the knowledge of the doctors around. This didn't follow any patterns they had seen before and they were stumped as to what to do. In the end, they decided on the C-Section.

They got in there and got the baby out and found something very interesting. The baby was absolutely fine... but he was a bit of a troublemaker. There he was, with his hand around his umbilical cord and every few minutes, he would squeeze it, cutting off all the things he needed, causing his heart rate to drop. Sooner or later, he would let go and the heart rate would go back to normal. The nurse's comment was, "I wish I could see that kid now, as a 17 year old!"
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So we went to our last class, which was mainly about C-sections, and care of the baby after he is home. Diapering, sponge bathes, feeding... And honestly, I think it was the most helpful of all the classes. I feel ready, but the one thing that makes me nervous is when they showed taking care of the little boy after a circumcision. Now, I have done a lot of babysitting, but most of the babies I took care of-- strangely enough-- were girls. And even if it was a boy, I didn't have to worry about caring for that. I'm sure it will be fine, but it will be something I have to get used to!

I went to the doctor last week, but it was just a routine check. Heart rate is great, his head is down, his butt is up (something I could have told the doctor, from the daily excercises Jamie seems to be doing in my abdomen). This week, when we go back on Wednesday, they will start measuring things again and I am really hoping that they will start predicting his weight.

Initially the doctor told me he doesn't think that Jamie is going to be a big baby. But the more I grow, and the more I look at myself in the mirror, the more I question that assertion. What led him to make that assumption? I mean, he felt around where the baby is and said it? But how can I be getting so big and he isn't? He seems to be everywhere in my belly. We shall see, I suppose.

One month to go!!!

2008-06-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

As of last Friday, I have one month left until my due date of July 11. However, many people have told me that they don't think I am going to make it... What do you think?

At this point, I am going to the doctor's every week. Last week was the first of those weekly visits. I can report a few developments after that. 1) The baby is not breach. 2) I am 25% effaced. I know that 25% is nothing, but it only affirmed to me that he is indeed on his way out. The end process has begun. Once again, everything was normal. Blood pressure was great, and the doctor found the heartbeat right away. He actually seemed almost surprised at how loud and strong it was.

The last two weeks have been filled with oodles of parties, only one of which was for me. With the end of school, as well as the month of June, comes graduation parties, weddings, wedding showers, and an occasional birthday. The frequency of these parties is making it difficult for me to truly cut back on the cake the way I should. But I'm working on it.

Last weekend we went to a wedding, and I was reminded of the fact that Lindsay (my sister-in-law) was as big as I am now when we were at Bryan and Nina's wedding. I remembered how she sat for most of the reception and when she did dance, she felt some heavy pitter patter inside her belly. Four days later, my nephew Jack was born. With that in mind, I had thought maybe I shouldn't dance. But when swing music plays, it is pretty much impossible to keep me off the dance floor. Thus, Glenn and I did a very slow controlled swing dance, and a waltz or two. Of course, after three dances, I was out of breath, and that was that.

So now, I thought about a plan for after the next wedding I am going to-- Monica Brown's on June 28th. For those of you who didn't know, I am actually a bridesmaid in that wedding. Monica is a member of my dance group who I have grown very close with. Her mom is making all of our dresses and I get a special dress with an empire waist. I am telling myself that I really would like to hold out until then, but as soon as that wedding is over, all bets are off.

At the reception, I will do some more dancing, and perhaps the next day, I will go eat some Mexican food, which I have been told also brings on babies. Every day Glenn and I will do a little something and try to make Jamie more than happy to come out and say hello. We shall see....

Drop the cookie and step away from the cake....

2008-06-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

In this entry, I will quickly relate the report from my most recent doctor's visit, as well as the hospital tour we took tonight.

Last Tuesday, we had our last monthly check-up. We will now be having biweekly check ups with the doctor as the big day approaches. As usual, my health is great. My blood pressure is perfect, and the baby is kicking hard and letting his heart beat he heard.

The first thing we do when we get into the doctor's office is get weighed. The nurse took my weight and after I went to the bathroom and "gave my sample", she told me that she wanted to reweight me on the way out because she thought she had misweighed me.

When the doctor came in, and after he did his whole spiel, he repeated this wish of the nurse's. "If she was right," he said, "I am going to have to yell at you." I bit my lip and asked how much she had said, as I didn't think she had made a mistake. When he called out the number she had gotten, I lowered my head and admitted that I was pretty sure that was the right number. At which he told me that I had once again gained 10 pounds in one month. His thought is that the amount of excerscise I am getting doesn't even out with the calories I am eating. Glenn tells me that is really just all the desserts I keep eating. So needless to say, I am trying to be better about what I eat. Fewer cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. I know that at this point, I really do need to slow down. Gaining 50 pounds, which is where I am, is enough. So I am trying to be a good girl.

Beyond that, he predicted that it isn't going to be a overly big baby... more like 7-8 pounds in the end. We shall see how right he is.
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Tonight we went on a tour of the maternity area of Fair Oaks Hospital, where Jamie will come into the world. I knew that they had good maternity care, but actually seeing the rooms where I will be makes me feel better.

My biggest concern with having him is that I didn't want him taken from me right away and not given back for a while. Seeing the labor and delivery rooms in the hospital made me feel better about this. Each LDR (Labor and Delivery) room has an incubator and warmer for the baby. As soon as the baby is born, they put it under the warmer for a few minutes, wipe him off with hot towels, and then return him to his mother for the first 1-2 hours of his life. This was music to my ears. Not only would I get to see him for the first few hours (as long as well went well for us both), but even when they took him away, he wouldn't be leaving my room. After about three hours, they take him to the nursery and give him his first real bath. When that happens, they will move me from Labor and Delivery to Family Care.

At this point, with hospital bag packed, Glenn and I are excited to meet Jamie. Glenn especially is getting ansy to hold his son and play with him.

On a last note, a funny anecdote from a student of mine. As I came around to check homework, he asked me if I ever got scared about having a baby. I looked at him and shrugged. "Not really," I said. "I mean, he has to come out somehow!"

Sympathy Pregnancy Brain???

2008-06-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Something happened to Glenn and I on Sunday that is too good not to share. It may not have much to do with Jamie, but it is just too funny. Every other Sunday, Glenn and I go out to get groceries at Wegman's. Glenn makes the list, I gather the coupons. We know Wegman's so well, that we follow the same path every time we shop there. We start in the produce department and go from there.

We did our usual thing-- grabbed some broccoli, onions. At one point, I went to get bananas and Glenn went to grab our salad greens. Placing the items in the cart, we continued on. Up and down the aisles, we filled the cart with our goodies. On the cereal aisle, I had a question of what was on one of my coupons. "Let me check my coupon" I said. I looked beneath the eggs and bread we had put in the top part of the cart. But I saw no coupon credenza.

My brow furrowed, I asked Glenn where the coupons were. "I don't know," he told me. Upon investigation, I had two reactions. 1: I was immediately disappointed because I put a lot of effort into cutting coupons and saving them up. The thought of having lost my credenza saddened me. 2: I blurted out to Glenn, "Is this someone else's cart?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said no, saying I had just put the coupons in the wrong cart somewhere along the way. I began to accept this when I noticed that there were grapes underneath the eggs.

"You bought grapes?" I said. Glenn looked at me and began to move the veggie bags around. Yes, there were grapes. But where was the onion we had gotten first thing in the store. Where was the broccoli we had picked up? "We took someone else's cart!" I yelled. We stood for a moment, wondering what to do. We glanced around at the carts around us, looking for my coupon credenza.

I suggested we go back to the produce section-- where we had been about 20 minutes or so beforehand. Glenn thought I was crazy... what, would these people just be standing around, calling for their lost cart?

So we raced back to the produce section, and there by the piles of apples, was a lone cart with only an onion, a head of brocolli, and a gray coupon credenza lying inside. I looked at Glenn and said, "And I'm the one with pregnancy brain?"

"Frau W, when is your baby shower..."

2008-06-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

This is a question I was asked yesterday in class by one of my students. When I told him that I would be having shower number 4 in two weeks, his eyes popped open. "Aren't you just supposed to have one?" he asked. I didn't know how to asnwer. "If someone wants to throw me a party, who am I to say no?"

A point that was also made by another student-- Matt-- was that this upcoming shower would, in fact, be number 5. That is to say that the surprise party that my yearbook class threw me last Friday, of which Matt was a part, had already ranked in at Number 4.

For a while, I had been suspecting that some kind of party might be coming my way on behalf of my students. There were just too many times that I saw a paper flip over quickly as I approached to look over shoulders or a paper passed around the room. But I didn't know when or how. I figured that all my students were banding together to throw me a shower afterschool. The problem there was that I wasn't thinking like a teenage high school student.

Why have a party afterschool when it would be just as easy to do it during school and put off work?

So on Friday, I made my way downstairs for 5th period in the yearbook computer lab. Pretty much every day, I am late to this class, as I have to clean up from my AP's, throw my stuff in my bag, ride the elevator downstairs, and walk to my other room. According to our attendance policies, I would have failed long ago for so many unexcused tardies.

As I approached the room, Naema stood outside and ran in before me, closing the door. "Oh, haha," I thought. "They are going to teach me a lesson by locking me out. Very creative." I came up to the door and only made a minor note that the light was off. Naema swept the door open and I walked into the room. As I came in, she flipped on the lights and there were all my "kids" from yearbook waiting. "Surprise", they yelled, and all I could do was grin.

On my desk was a cake. And when I say cake, I mean CAKE. My student Brian, who is both a yearbook and a German student, works at a local bakery and gets a nice discount. So this cake had two layers; it had fondahn (spelling?), which is that fancy thick icing used on wedding cakes. I mean, this was like the kind of wedding cake a small wedding might require. And it was all for me. Atop the cake was my favorite thing so far... a small statuette of a highly pregnant woman in a spandex superhero outfit. Behind her flies a cape and on the pedestal below her, it declares her "Super Mom-to-Be".

Along with the cake, cookies, hot queso dip, soda, and pizza they ordered before I got there, was a pyramid of packages of diapers. Upon second look, I realized how smart my editors are. Rather than getting about 6 packages of newborn diapers, they had gotten a variety of sizes, from Newborn up to 4. (The top shelf of Jamie's closet is now covered in various sizes of diaper.)

The diapers was a fantastic gesture, but best still is simply the idea that they threw me a surprise party in the first place. I had no idea and there were quite a number of people who took part in it.

And guess what... that wasn't the end of it. Brian was in my 7th period class and let me know that he had been trying to get that group to bring food on the same day to keep the party going. Unfortunately, not many students remembered to bring food-- except for two big bags of soda cans. Needless to day, my day had been shot and 7th period still got to watch a movie after they finished their presentations.

But was that the end of it? Oh no.... this morning, I approached my classroom for 3rd period. Strangely enough, there was a sheet of baby wrapping paper over the window looking in my room from the hallway. I walked in and saw Kelly-- one of my AP students-- taping it up. There was another sheet taped across my desk. "You're early" she said!

Although I volunteered to disappear for a while, Kelly let me come in and stay, as one by one, my 13 AP students brought in food. Cookies, cupcakes, homemade ice cream, brownies, this really good dessert one of my students makes, chips, and something healthy--- bagels. (Thank goodness for Robert) In the end, I was sooo full of sugar that I didn't feel so fantastic, and we went outside to play Apples to Apples, as my AP's are pretty much finished anyway.

As a group, they got me an adorable outfit from Gymboree that features a pattern of camping and bears. Also a homemade blanket, and various bathroom products. As I told another colleague who commented on my students frequently bringing me goodies, "They have known me for 4 years. They have to be nice to me!"

"Mutant Belly"

2008-06-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Up until recently, Glenn had felt the baby kick, he had found the hard spot that is probably a baby butt, he had even felt the hiccups. But the other night, Glenn's appreciation for what is going on inside me every minute of every day came to a new high.

We were laying in bed, watching television and I began to feel Jamie doing his usual flip-turns or plattling, depending on whether he is swimming or dancing. I could feel his little hand running up and down my right side. It was one of those moments that Glenn laughs because I like to reveal my belly and watch it move in waves.

This time, though, it wasn't just a subtle short movement. It was a surge of motion. "Whoa!" Glenn said, suddenly distracted from the TV. But it didn't end there. He kept on "performing"-- Jamie that is. For about ten minutes straight, he just continuously swirled around inside me, poking and prodding here and there. And man, was it visible. Glenn couldn't pull his eyes away. In fact, it seemed the moments when he moved the most were those when Glenn was encouraging him. "Do it again, Jamie," he would tell him. And as though he understood, the baby would move his arm to say hello.

Shower #3: Family in Roanoke

2008-06-03T17:05:00.001-07:00

Let me first say, it hasn't been all that long and yet a lot has happened. This is a prewarning that I am about to put in about four new entries. Read at your leisure.

About three weeks ago, we had our third shower in Roanoke. It was a gathering of much of Glenn's family coming from as far as South Carolina and Ohio. Ages ranged from about eight months old to Glenn's grandmother, whose age I don't actually know. A very cool gathering indeed.

Needless to say, Jamie has been further spoiled and Glenn and I find ourselves one more time asking, "What did we do to deserve all of this?" Bags upon bags of goodies. I must admit, I was a bit nervous about getting more and more clothing, although I do love clothing. But at that point, Jamie's dresser was becoming full. But among the cute outfits, I was actually happy to find that we received a lot of the daily grind products that we needed. Diapers, tubes of various creams, wipes, teethers, rattles, and several jars of vasoline. (Might I add that Glenn claims that we already have a lifetime supply of vaseline at our house for some injury or other that he incurred.)

I tried to tell Glenn that we should take my car to Roanoke, but he wanted to take his in order to install his new HD radio. And in the end, Glenn is Glenn and he became determined to get everything into his car. The back window was lost once it was all in there, but he promised to drive home safely, and judging by the fact that i am writing this, he did.

I would like to send out thanks to Dana and Lana, who hosted the shower. Dana opened up her beautiful new home and allowed me to take over a really comfy recliner for a few hours. Not to mention making chocolate fondue and bananas-- my new obsession. An excellent touch.... having each guest fill out an envelope with their address for the thank you note.

Also at the shower, each guest was told to leave me a little bit of advice. Strangely enough, there was a large number of people who agreed that I needed to sleep while I could. And believe, I am doing my best!!!

"Mrs. Rife, I have to say, you are gigantic"

2008-05-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Such was the word from one of the secrataries at our school this morning, after I ran in to make copies. Now before you get too hard on her, she is a very nice person and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Most pregnant women would make a sour face at such a comment, but frankly, she is only stating what everyone else is thinking of.

Indeed, the recent prediction on the part of many is that I will not be making it all the way to July 11. Both Glenn's and my own dad believe that little Jamie will be making an early surprise appearance sometime in June. Frankly, I wouldn't mind him being a little early. And then at school this morning, several people asked me when I was due. Upon hearing that I was due in July and still had roughly two more months, one woman said, "Hmm, you are looking pretty big for July. I'm not sure that you will make it."

I guess we will see, won't we?

For all those, though, that know that I had a pretty easy pregnancy, I am definitely floating into the really uncomfortable part of it all now. Those last two months, when the thought of moving too much is just annoying. After another baby shower this past weekend, I am left with another living room of items to be put away. And yet, every time I look at all that stuff, I just think, "Oh, do I really need to move all of that?" The biggest frustration is the memory of how fast I usually scoot around a room, putting things away. Carrying things here and there and zipping up the stairs. And as much as I would like that to happen now, and as simple to put away all these things would have been even two months ago, now I know that heaving it around will make me out of breathe and take about 3 times as long. Which makes me just look away and go to another room.

And the ankles? Can we talk about the ankles? If that is what those stumps actually are that are attached to my large and swollen feet. For the first time this past weekend, I noticed that my ankles were about twice as big as they should be. Last night, when I pushed on the lump of fluid on top of my foot, I was strangely hypnotized by the fact that it left a little dent for a moment or two. So amazed that I had to demonstrate the concept to two students who hang out in my room after the final bell. Needless to say, those two boys sympathize greatly with me and ordered me to go straight home and sit down.

That is actually, the same prognosis that Glenn has made in the last few days. Seeing how swollen I am becoming, he has ordered me to the recliner for the last two nights. In fact, last night, he yelled at me when I got up to get pillows to prop my feet up further. "You need to say to me, 'Husband, I need some pillows. Go get me some pillows.'" And yes, that is what he said word-for-word. When I came home early from school today, he said the same thing. I was sent to the recliner and he went to the kitchen to make my after-school snack of banana and Nutella on graham crackers, which by the way is fantastic!! And tonight, in light of some nagging belly pains, he helped me make dinner.

The teamwork we show makes me feel confident in our ability to make it through the sleepless nights and rough days full of crying. Not to mention the whole labor and delivery thing.

But before you get all worried, know that by the time I wake up in the morning, my ankles go back to normal (ready to swell again another day).

Getting to know Jamie's to-be best buddy, Christopher

2008-05-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

There's no doubt that, for me, I could watch little kids run around all day and just crack up the whole time. Between all the different babies/ toddlers around me, I get a lot of entertainment. Part of the entertainment is getting to see them figuring things out one day at a time.

My friend Monica has a 18 month old son, Christopher, who I see about every week at dance practice. Over the past few months, Monica has made him aware that the big bulge coming out of me is a baby. At Starbuck's about a month ago, he freely did what he has seen his mom do a lot-- he put his hand on my belly. He even went so far as to move Monica's hand away, when she wanted to feel Jamie move too. Each time he sees me, Christopher repeats this, as though to remind me, that I am carrying a baby.

At practice the other day, though, he took this a step further. Sitting on Monica's lap next to me, Christopher once again reached out to my belly. Putting his hand there, he looked at it, and quietly said, "Baby." I must admit, I was a little shocked. He had never actually put two and two together before.

According to Monica, he has been doing this a lot lately. In the supermarket, he points at strollers and other babies, and just says "Baby." In fact, after he touched my belly and declared it a baby, he revealed that he may still be a little confused. He tried to lift up my tank top, as though to say, "Well, they keep saying it's a baby, but man, they should let that poor guy out!"

Shower #2: The Work Shower

2008-05-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

At the end of any Friday, getting together after work is always a good idea. And thus, I was delighted last Friday as both Glenn's and my departments came together to have a baby shower for us. Naturally, the shower was held at Judy's, as she has the party house du jour. And, even better, we had my favorite type of food-- barbeque. BBQ beef, baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, meatballs, buns, cornbread... I mean, really, what more could I have asked for?

The shower was a success and it left us with a good amount of chocolate cake and another bundle of goodies. We received the last of our big items-- the Pack n Play-- as well as many of the smaller things that we had put on our registry.

All of this meant something great for Glenn-- more stuff to put together. Actually, the Pack N Play is pretty amazing. Well, at least it was from the angle I was waching from. Who is to say how I will feel about it once I have to be the one to put the Pack n Play together.

Also interesting at the shower was a game we played in which everyone had to predict my answers on whether I wanted James to have certain features from Glenn or myself: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, humor, teeth, height, weight, and personality. I am happy to say, at least, that Glenn and I were right on board with each other on this one. And here are the answers, for future posterity: Eyes: Me, Ears: Me, Mouth: Glenn, Humor: Me, Teeth: Glenn, Height: Glenn, Weight: Glenn, Personality: Me. You may have noticed that I left out Nose. However, that is something else that Glenn and I have agreed on-- either way, he is screwed. :)

Thank you to all my colleagues for the great get together and especially for all the awesome food! I'll be asking for some recipes soon.

30 weeks and still growing....

2008-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have now hit 30 weeks, which means I am only 10 weeks away from the big day. It seems to be passing like lightning these days. With another month came another visit to the doctor, which also meant meeting another doctor from my practice.

This time I met Dr. Dobrinksi. I know that isn't how you spell it, but it is close to a phonetic spelling. When she walked in, I thought she looked a little bigger in the same places as I am, but I didn't want to say anything. Lo and behold, she informed me that she was, in fact, due a week after I am. How interesting. A doctor who is going through the exact same thing as I am, at the same time. Needless to say, with so much in common with her, I like her the best of all. Of course, I am sure that she won't be my doctor, as she may be in the same situation I am, at the same time.

In any case, as she sat down, she asked how the pregnancy had been. In her words, "on paper, you look fantastic." Lucky for me, I do, in fact, feel fantastic as well. (Which by the way, is the most common question I have to answer-- "How are you feeling?" For better or worse, I never have a very interesting answer to this.)

The heart rate was good. I measured right where I should. I apparently passed my glucose test two weeks ago, and I even have enough iron and don't have to take added supplements for that. From where she found the heartbeat, it is her belief that he is already turning towards being head down. Normally, this happens at 32 weeks, so I guess I am a bit ahead of schedule. I always was an overachiever. Apparently, I have passed that on to my son.

Frankly, two weeks early would be okay, as long as he is okay. That would be two more weeks I would get to have with Glenn, Jamie, and I all together in the summer. But we shall see...

Coming soon.... Glenn and I start our childbirth classes on Wednesday. Can't wait to watch the video. (Sarcasm)

High five, little guy!

2008-05-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to think that Jamie is REALLY running out of room. The movement I feel with him is almost constant when I am sitting down. When I am standing, I rarely feel much of anything, but as soon as I am still, he feels the need to remind me of his presence-- as though I were going to forget.

However, it is undeniable how amazing and hypnotic it is. Sitting in my recliner, watching TV, with my laptop on a pillow in my lap, there is a wave of motion in my belly. A little brush here, a little bounce there. But really, it isn't so much kicking any more. It used to be, that I would feel a sharp smack somewhere in my belly. Not it kinda feels like he is moving his hand across the inside of my belly. Like might happen if he were rolling over and ran out of room. And from the pictures my book has shown me, he most certainly is running out of room!

The coolest part of all this, though, is when he seems to settle mid-shift. It begins with a normal motion. That usual little skim across my belly, but then the movement stops. Yet, I often find I am left with some tiny pressure in one particular place. His favorite place to press is right up next to my belly button. I can't help but think, is my belly button poking in, making him curious as to what that "button" is. Making him wonder, what happens if he presses it. In any case, when this happens, I can't help but stop and put my hand there.

Undoubtedly, I feel a little hard spot, obviously different from the slightly soft spots everywhere else. So I will gently push down on it and then suddenly, the hard spot is gone. I like to tell my students that he is giving me a high five, as I believe that the location indicates that it is a hand, rather than a foot.

My other new obsession is to sit in my chair and just watch my belly, as he flips and flops around. My whole belly quakes and bounces suddenly here and there. The other day, for the first time, I saw a limb push out and along the curve of my body for a second. I have been told of this phenomenon and it certainly is cool! When I called Glenn over to watch "the show" this morning, he could barely believe that this is happening all the time inside of me.

The next step will be when he does indeed decide to make his presence known while I am up in front of a classroom of 20 some students. I can hardly wait. They are already loving observing my new "almost outie".

28 weeks and 35 extra pounds...

2008-04-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am a little off from my month by month picture, but here I am, in all my glory. My weight gain has slowed down, but I have still added about 35 pounds at this point.

One of my students, Brian, likes to refer to me as "Watermelon Belly", as he insists that it simply looks like I swallowed a watermelon. "The rest of you looks exactly the same. You just look like you have a watermelon in your belly."

In fact, that is the comment I seem to be getting from a lot of people. My face looks like the same, my legs (minus my poor ankles) look the same. Only my arms, Glenn tells me, look a little bigger. I told him that I have to get bigger arms to carry around all that baby stuff.

More and more, people around school are coming up and saying they didn't know I was pregnant. Every day, it seems like I get into the school elevator and have a different teacher from the third floor, who I never see, say to me, "Oh congratulations." There is an Asian custodian, who gets a big smile on my face every time she sees me and says simply, "It's a boy!" She could tell, simply by the way he was sticking straight out.

Another comment I get from my students is that it must be strange to have this feeling inside. Indeed, Jamie is making his presence known more and more. Not too many sharp kicks (unless I poke him, which he hates), but brushes and pokes, little pats here and there. Occasionally, he pokes me in two places at one time, making me think he is practicing his dance moves. According to my sister, he is quite active. While she was here, she felt a lot of little movements.

For me, though, these things are becoming as regular as feeling my stomach growl used to be. A little reminder that it isn't just me in this body, but nothing that makes me stop and take notice. Just a little "hello" throughout the day. It makes me smile and when I am sitting down, I do still find myself pausing to put my hand on my belly. I guess it is like saying hello back.

Today, for the first time, I felt two things that I have heard about. Earlier this evening, he gave two sharp kicks with what I am guessing was his foot, right where my belly button is. Just after the kicks, I felt the area and it was extremely hard. All around it was softer, leading me to believe that I must have come across his foot. Glenn actually got to feel this too and said it was unmistakable.

Later on in the evening, Glenn tried to make him move on command, by calling him "Boy". Imagine Glenn, with a southern accent, saying, "Kick, boy" to my belly. Jamie refrained from answering, as I instructed him not to. However, a few minutes later, as I lay there, I felt a rhythmic tap and realized that for the first time I was actually catching hiccups in progress.

It seems often like this point in the pregnancy brings few new occurences. I am used to this body and these feelings, and it makes it seem like there is nothing for me to write about in my blog. But then he does something like get the hiccups, and I am reminded that there is always something new.

I am Mechanical!!!

2008-04-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

From the shower, Glenn andI had a few things to put together: a swing, a high chair, and (if you really want to count it), the Diaper Champ. Glenn pulled the Diaper Champ out of its' box on Saturday night and took to tackling the High Chair. He thought this was the easier choice. Two hours later he disagreed. Just when he thought he was done, I heard him say, "Why do I have an extra screw?" But in the end, it was put together.

The next day, I felt like it was my turn. I decided that I wanted to prove my independence by putting together the swing all by myself. Glenn grinned at me, got me a screwdriver and sat back in his chair. I must say, it wasn't too tough. Everything fit together logically and I got to flex my muscles with an Allen wrench a few times.

When it was all said and done, Glenn scoffed, "Man, I should have put that one together!"

Baby Shower #1

2008-04-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

And so the baby food tasting, present opening, cake cutting, mingling begins. Yes, on Saturday, the first of our baby showers took place and it was great fun. Lindsay arrived on Friday afternoon with a huge surprise-- her co-host for the shower, my sister Sue. I haven't seen Sue since my wedding about a year and a half ago and I definitely was not expecting her to show up. Apparently, when I saw her in the car, my jaw dropped.

From that first moment when I saw them drive up, the good times began for the weekend. We spent Friday night shopping for necessary supplies and Saturday morning preparing with decorations and of course, Sue pulling out her Cooking Lite cookbooks and her full menu, from baked brie to buffalo chicken tenders to stuffed mushrooms and tomatoes. Needless to say, no one went hungry at the shower.

Speaking of eating, I got my first taste of baby food at the party. One of the games that Linds had planned involved the guests tasting various types of yellowish- orangish colored baby food. I felt confident to start with. I stuck my finger in the first one and tasted it... "Pumpkin", I thought. "This is definitely pumpkin." I wrote it down and moved on. The second one was easy as well and then I got to the third. "But wait," my brain told me, "this one tastes like pumpkin." And so it turned out that the one right after that also tasted like pumpkin. Come to find out from Jess, who kindly offered a hint, that there was no pumpkin baby food at all! Yikes! Now what? I changed the pumpkin to all the things that taste like pumpkin-- squash, sweet potatoes... and ended up getting a bunch right.

Post games began the opening of the gifts. When I was at Jess' shower last summer, I wondered why she was so self-concious about opening her gifts. But now I know. I must have been opening gifts for about an hour and I found that there is a skill to opening these things. You have to move quickly so that no one gets bored, while also making sure that every guest realizes how great their gift is, while also takihg the true time to appreciate what you have been given. It is hard to describe how happy I was with all the things I received. All of the clothing that we got, and there was quite a pile of it, was cute. We got a number of large items, and I even got 4 bottle basket cleaners for the dishwasher.

In the end, the shower was a fantastic time. I got to bring together a large number of people that I really don't see very often, played a few games, and even got the chance to talk to most of them. At times it felt like my wedding reception-- so many people, so little time to have a conversation with them. But just to spend any time with them was worth it. I must send out a thank you to everyone who shared their Saturday with me, and especially a thank you to Lindsay for putting it all together!!!!! And to Sue, for making enough food for Glenn and I to figure out 101 new recipes with buffalo chicken.

For more pictures of the shower, check out: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=186694353/a=9228246_9228246/t_=9228246

How to Build a Nursery in 9 months....

2008-04-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

For a while, it was nothing more than a crib in the middle of the room, several inherited baby devices around the room (Thank you, Norm), and a glider in the corner (Thank you, Lindsay). But now, Jamie's room is really beginning to take shape.

I must say that I got a kick in the pants this past weekend, as I spent Saturday and Sunday with some very crafty people. Glenn and I went down to Roanoke and while he was carted off to move things off the lake property with his dad, his mom and I headed to Aunt Joyce's to visit with her and Glenn's cousin Suzy. Suzy lives in Ohio, but comes out occasionally, and usually when she comes, she brings along her fancy embroidery machine and everything imaginable is created. This weekend, that "everything" included burp clothes and a beautiful blanket. We headed off to Joanne's fabric to check out the patterns they had. After we picked up a bunch of fabrics for the burp clothes, I went to check out the paint supplies.

Painting has recently become my new passion. It all started last year, when I decided to paint some wooden animals for Jess' daughter Katie. I found it to be extremely relaxing and really a lot of fun. Thus, when the questions began arising of what we would be doing to paint the nursery, Glenn and I came up with the idea that I would buy a whole bunch of wooden animals and would paint them to be hung in his room. We didn't want to paint the walls. Instead we just plan to decorate them with various homemade things.

Over spring break, I began work on the first thing I know I want to do. That is a shelf and a bunch of little shapes. It was slow going, as I had two other projects to finish first-- one for my new niece Amanda and one for my pretend little sister Marla. With those now done, I am able to turn my attention to Jamie.

SO, that brings us back to Roanoke. I intended just to look for cheap paints and brushes to add to my supplies, but decided that I would go ahead and buy the letters for his name. Once back at Joyce's the three of them took to the embroidery machine, and I broke out the painting supplies and got started. I didn't give I would finish, as I had a limited amount of paints, but as the weekend wore on, I got it almost completely done.

With the exception of some very fine painting that required a brush I have at home, I got it all done. I then finished it up tonight.

I must say that the cow on the "S" is my favorite.

You may be wondering what the theme of all this is. Let me put a disclaimer on this, though. When I tell you what the theme is, let me say I am not looking for a wide array of items in that theme. It is supposed to be a cute, subtle theme. Just as with most other things, I have an idea in my head and am now bringing it to life.

Although I haven't formally mentioned on the blog, the baby's name is going to be James Morgan. The Morgan is a family name, that being both Glenn and his father's middle name. The James, although also a conveniently cool family name on my side, actually comes from a song by James Taylor called "Sweet Baby James." It is a song Glenn and I have been fans of for a while now, and have always thought it would be a great name for a child.

Thus, we are using the lyrics of that song as a base for the theme of his room. The first line is as such: "There is a young cowboy who lives on a range/ His horse and his cattle are his only companions/ He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons/ Waiting for summers, his pastures to change..." The chorus, though, is my favorite part.

"Goodnight, you moonlight ladies,

Rockabye Sweet Baby James.

Deep greens and blues

Are the colors I choose.

Won't you let me go down in my dreams.

And rockabye Sweet Baby James"

And so from there, his room will be an array of horses and cows. Perhaps a moon or two, which is mentioned in another part of the song. The best part, though, is getting to find out how crafty I really am. Finding some hidden ability that goes to sleep every once in a while. It has often been said that there is an artistic Van Welzen gene and I love being able to assert mine.

25.5 week check-up!

2008-04-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it was off to the doctor again today. Let me say, first off, that I so prefer appointments at the end of the workday. I had to go today around 11 and there was absolutely no parking at the hospital and then, I had to wait 40 minutes in the waiting room!

So anyway, all is still perfectly well with myself and with Jamie. My blood pressure was "perfect", as the nurse called it, and Jamie's heartbeat was "nice and strong", as the doctor said. The appointment itself was very fast, and left me feeling like I really am doing a good job of being a little growing ground for the baby. He never seems to have had any problems, and neither have I. Apparently, I am meant to be pregnant all the time. Haha, Glenn, just kidding.

But really, this doctor, a different one from the last time, didn't seem concerned about my weight, leading me to believe, as many have said, that it was just that one doctor. In fact, I had to ask him if it was okay because he didn't bring it up. For all those curious, I have now gained a total of 31 pounds. Granted, at the time that I was weighed, I must have been carrying at least 2 lbs. of water in my bladder. It felt like that much at least.

Maternity Clothes don't fit???

2008-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

You know you are getting bigger when clothes you bought for being pregnant now don't get over the hips. That's right-- it's getting to be time to look for new pants.

In January, I bought several pairs of pants at Motherhood Maternity. At the time, I was very happy with the purchases. One of them was a really cute sleek (for a pregnant woman) pair of khakis. Too bad I wore them one time, washed them, and they didn't fit anymore. That, I think, has more to do with Motherhood Maternity than to do with me. Needless to say, I was rather unhappy that they no longer fit.

Another pair I bought was an army green pair of cargo pants. They were very cute and were even just a little big. I wore them several times before they got lost in my closet. The other day, picking out an outfit for work, I joyfully came across them. I pulled them out to wear, as I hadn't wore them in quite a while. However, pulling them up, I found that they immediately got snug when they neared my hips. There was no hope for getting them on. So there goes another pair of pants.

On top of that, my Old Navy jeans are getting a little bit tight, as are my black work pants. On those, I can no longer latch them and rely solely on the buttons to hold. Actually, I have found that elastic bands are much better than any kind of buttons on these pants.

All of this has really taught me, though, that I am not really that pleased with Motherhood Maternity's pants. I bought the size that fit me correctly and which even gave me a little room to grow. However, after one or two washes, they were rendered useless. As well, the underwear that I bought only about a month and a half ago, is beginning to unravel. It was my understanding that they really had quality clothes, and I have to say, that I have actually been much more pleased with the quality of the Old Navy and Kohl's Maternity wear. Just putting that thought out there....

25 weeks! And going strong!!!

2008-03-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

So, here I am. Another few weeks bigger and still happy. I am a little late getting my monthly picture up, but better late than never, right? No, that picture is not photoshopped in any way. I really have gotten that much bigger!

I survived my time on my own, had a visit from my parents last week, happily greeted Glenn back on Sunday, and returned to work on Monday. The general reaction after having not seen me for 10 days, from my colleagues was: "Oh my goodness, what happened to you over Break?" Apparently, I bloomed over the break. It could, perhaps, have to do with the Hardee's burgers, chocolate pie, and extra snacks I ate in that week without Glenn. Regardless, I still feel great and have decided not to worry about how much weight I may or may not be gaining. I am watching what I eat, and notice that I'm just not as ravenous as I was for a while.

And who would have thought that a 6 month old fetus would keep to a schedule, but lo and behold, it has to be around 4 every morning that I start to feel the little one stretching out in my belly. Kicks here, punches there. Early in the morning he wakes me up, and when he does start to kick, it is certainly regular. Glenn has also finally been able to feel him on a more regular basis. When I put his hand on my belly in the mornings, he comments at how much the baby is kicking now. He has no idea!!! I feel it all the time!!

Mommy Training

2008-03-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

As I get closer and closer to having the baby, I am finding there are certain things I don't normally like to do, that, as the "Mommy", I am going to have to do. I am not talking about anything too big and scary. It is really the little things.

This week, I am getting some crash course training of being the only one in charge, which will be good training for those times when Glenn is at work or off playing frisbee and Jamie needs something. Say for example, when there is a large camel cricket lurking in the corner, as there was this morning. Normally, I would whine to Glenn, he would come with a plastic cup and capture the bug and set it outside. This morning, when I came across one, I said to myself, "This is Mommy training." Soon I am going to have to temporarily lose my fear of bugs (or at least cover it) and kill them. So I picked up the box of Kleenex and frantically swatted at the bug. Mission accomplished. I, unlike Glenn, don't set the bug free-- sorry to all the camel cricket lovers out there.

And then, again, a mini-crisis occurred this morning. I began my list of "things to do" by lobbing a load of dirty laundry into the washer. I poured on the Downy and the Tide, set the washer and pulled the knob. But.... no noise. No flowing water. No power. Hmmm... At first I thought maybe turned off the water for some reason, but then I tried the dryer. No power. So now what?

Normally, I would wait for Glenn or call him to do the "man thing" and fix the problem. And yet, I had already dumped a bunch of Tide on my clothing and couldn't wait 5 more days. So I started to think about the limited amount of electrical and power related information that I have, and realized what needed to be done. I went to the breaker box, and played around, and what do you know, I got them both to work. Granted, I had to call my dad just to doublecheck that what I was doing was right, but I could have gotten it without him! I swear!

Not sure why it happened, but I got it to work again, so the why doesn't really matter to me. I will let Glenn figure out the why when he gets back. He loves doing that.... understanding the why, that is.

But for now, I am curious to see what my next Mommy training will be. Hopefully not too many more bugs...

Sprechen you English, Little Baby?

2008-03-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Glenn and I began a discussion about how we are going to raise Jamie to be bilingual. It has always seemed a shame to me that both us would be fluent in German and not raise him able to speak both languages. My father is Dutch, and although I was obvlivious to what this meant, as a child, when I was a teenager and in college, I really wished my dad had taught me the language growing up. I ended up learning it, myself, when I studied abroad in 2001, but I am still not fluent in it.

In any case, there are several approaches to how Glenn and I would do this, but each of them comes with it's own difficulties. The most traditional way to do this is to have one parent speak in English and the other in the other language. But neither of us feels like we would be able to hold strong enough to speaking in German the entire time.

Another scenerio has the parents speaking the target language at home and English amongst the rest of the world. For me, the issue there is that for the first year, the majority of the time with us will be spent at home, leading us to mainly be communicating with him in German.

Glenn heard a radio program (on NPR, of course) about raising bilingual children. Apparently, as they grow older, most parents worry about confusing the children about when to speak which language. However, as he says, the children are actually extremely (to a surprising degree) adept at understanding the patterns of when to do each. If you do it from the beginning, they apparently figure it out.

The other big difficult for us would be that no one else in either of our families speaks German, although my Dad likes to pretend he does. Thus, how would Glenn and I communicate with family when they were around.

In thinking, I came up with a solution that, at the moment, seems like the most likely scenerio. It all comes from the fact that in those first months, Jamie is going to be mainly home with me during the day while Glenn is at work. I can't imagine being home all day alone with him and speaking German to myself and to him. Although it would be simple for me, it doesn't always feel 100% natural. Thus, we are thinking that, in that time that he is home with me, I will probably speak English with him, so he is exposed to that, as much as to German. And if I go out, and Glenn is home with him, Glenn will speak English with him. But for the times when we are home as a family with all three of us there, we will speak in German. As well, this means that if we have company over, we will speak in English, so he realizes that with other people, he should speak English. But the main thing is that when we are having family time, we will be speaking in German.

It isn't totally decided that that is what we will do, but as of now, that is where we stand.

My new favorite maternity shirt...

2008-03-03T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I got a new shirt today that I just had to share with anyone. Let me give a little backstory, first. At our school on Wed., we are going to be having Battle of the Classes, where members of each class will be competing in things like tug-of-war. Leading up to the Battle is the Spirit Week. There is a theme every day, and being the fun teacher I am, I have tried as much as possible to take part. I wore my pajamas on Pajama Day (not that that was a big struggle), I wore my UVA shirt on College Jersey Day, and then today, I had every intention of wearing a tie-dye tank top for Tie-Dye Day. But it was Monday and I forgot.

I went into school, shrugging and thinking, Ah well, the tank top probably wouldn't have fit anyway. I checked my email when I got in and had a surpising and exciting email.... "Frau W, Alex (a girl) and I made you a tie-dye shirt. We will try to come by in the morning and drop it off. --Sami" And what a smile it put on my face.

They showed up at 7:17 with my tie-dye shirt and I was really impressed with their work. I could never tie-dye the way they had. And even better... it wasn't just any shirt they had dyed for me. They had gotten a maternity shirt and dyed it. I tell you, I'm not sure what I do to be so lucky to have such great kids, but I really do feel blessed. (And the cotton is so soft too!!!!) Then again, I am touring UVA with Sami over Spring Break, so she better be nice to me. :)

Stop the train on the weight gain....

2008-02-25T18:05:00.001-08:00

So, who would have guessed it-- apparently, I am gaining too much weight too fast!

I went to my monthly appointment today and met Dr. 3 in the OBGYN practice. I liked her as well as the other doctors, although she seemed a little more rushed, than the other two. In any case, for the first time in all my visits, my weight was mentioned. Apparently, in the last month, I jumped up by 9 pounds, meaning that according to the measurements they have taken of me, I have gained 20 pounds at 20 weeks. According to Dr. Couret, they prefer that I would have gained closer to 10.

In retrospect, I think that my eating habits in the last month, have turned to a little excessive on the sweets. My first three months, I was really good. But now cottage cheese has been replaced by cookies, apples have been replaced by chips. And maybe, when I went to Silver Diner at eleven at night, I should have picked EITHER the bread pudding or the large oreo malt shake, not both. So from now on, I will go back to my healthy snacking ways. Don't worry-- I am sure I will still eat as much as I ever did, but maybe I will just make the portions a little smaller and not eat until I am stuffed.

Here is the thing, though: suddenly, everything tastes amazing. Granted, things like crepes with Nutella in them are always going to taste amazing, but even things that are normally "alright" are now awesome! And snacking is just so much fun. These are feelings I have never had before.

Other doctor news:
-the doctor reiterated that everything from the sonogram looked as it should. All the organs are present and now they just need their time to grow and mature.
-for the first time, they used a tape measure to check my belly growth. The tape measure doesn't lie-- I am right on track for where I should be. Apparently, my uterus is now 21 centimeters long. That's just a little scary; I'm not gonna lie! (Scarier is the fact that at first, I accidentally typed inches instead of centimeters and it took Glenn laughing at me to go back and change it. Oops.)

Unborn and already he has a fan club....

2008-02-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

So, I am happy to report that although he isn't born yet, my son already has a Facebook group dedicated to him. If you are unaware of what Facebook is, it is a networking web site, where you create a profile for yourself and people connect with you. It has been a great way for me to meet up with my old classmates from Oakton and touch base with people all over the world, who I may not have talked to in years!

Although originally created for college students, it has also become exceedingly popular among high school students. As such, one of my students created a group on Facebook called "James Morgan Rife". Already he has 21 friends! Can you believe it? So, if you are a member of Facebook and would like a good chuckle, search for his group and take a look. :)

The decoration begins...

2008-02-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

And so it begins... the decoration of the room, that is. Yesterday, the bedding I ordered came in so we spent part of our snow day putting that onto the already built crib.

Ignore the fact that the valance is currently attached to the crib, for lack of a curtain bar to hang it on. It was a great deal for all the pieces and I demonstrated to Glenn how to use a diaper hanger (not pictured). Then, after a jaunt out to see No Country for Old Men (which left me saying, "Eh, so what?), we arrived home to another big box-- the stroller. Or to be exact, the Quattro Tour Travel System from Graco. Coincidentally, the crib sheet that came with the set matches the polka dots on the stroller we decided on.

After much playing around, I think we finally have all the levers and locks and snaps figured out.

Speaking of No Country for Old Men, on our trip to the movie theater, I discovered one of the many things I love about being pregnant-- besides the whole, carrying my child thing. We went to the movie at Reston Towne Center, which (take my word for it) always creates a headache where parking is concerned. Giant parking garages galore and they are all always full. So we drive up with 10 minutes to park, get to the theater and sit down for the movie. As usual, we begin to drive past rows and rows of cars. Amidst them all was the oasis of one single parking spot left untouched. Three spots down from the elevator, no less. As we begin to turn in, my peripheral vision notices there is a sign at the spot and I groan. This is probably a spot for a cop or some VIP of Reston Towne Center. But no!!! My dear friends at Reston Towne Center have had the good sense to install two "Expectant Mother" parking spots in their parking garage. I have yet to figure out why, but I don't really care. It saved us 20 minutes of looking for a spot and we were able to get to our movie on time.

Although I wasn't all that impressed with the movie, Jamie seemed to like it, as he kicked me a lot throughout the film. Maybe it was all the gunshots in the movie. He wanted to know what in the world was going on!!! (In case you are one of the few unknowing ones, Jamie is the baby's name-- short for James)

Other perks of being pregnant:

1. I am going to become really strong, carrying all these baby carriers and getting the stroller around.
2. The obvious one-- ice cream and popcorn are actually recommended snacks over things like pretzels! Who would ever have thought that popcorn is a great source of fiber, but my Cooking Light tells me it is so.
3. Everybody is nice to you (with the exception of scary men at Fudrucker's in DC-- right, Linds?)
4. People constantly spoiling me and insisting on doing things for me that I am sure that I could do....
5. Being able to do really dumb things and then saying, "Ah, it was the pregnancy", so then Glenn doesn't get too frustrated.

Lists, lists, lists....

2008-02-18T17:51:00.001-08:00

Now that we know we are having a boy, the organizational Melissa has come out and taken control. This Melissa is the one who LOVES lists. My mind has begun to be crowded with lists of things that need to be done before July 11, which I realized today is 7/11 (what a great day to be born). So now I have started a list of what needs to be done to make the nursery pretty, what needs to be done to reorganize places like "under the bathroom counter" and the linen closet, lists of the items that I am going to need to buy myself to spruce up the room, lists of all the things I need to research to make a good decision. Don't get me wrong-- I love lists. They make me feel more in control of what I need to do. I am actually wishing I could take off work just to start working on these lists.

And then, of course, this weekend, Glenn and I went out and created the great list of things we need for the baby, otherwise known as "the registry". We walked into Babies R Us today, after many previous "scouting" visits, when we looked at things and figured out what we wanted to buy. I could have done it online, but that wouldn't give Glenn the fun of using the scanning gun. Also, it is just fun to see all these choices before me and choosing one. We made our way around the store, as intimidating as it may be, and I was left with a few questions about various products. Lucky for me, I have so many friends that have just recently had babies that I needn't look too much on the Internet. For example, where else but Jess would I have found out that rather than registering for burp clothes, I should just register for a pack of cloth diapers. I mean, they are made to be ultra absorbent, so why not.

Glenn, AKA Mr. Anti-"Stuff", was pretty good about registering for stuff and didn't put up too much of a fight with things. I did have to explain to him why we would need to get a small plastic carrier for wipes, rather than putting the entire box of wipes in the diaper bag. In the end, he saw my wisdom.

I know that many people are scared of Babies R Us, but for Glenn and I, it was a breeze. That's what you get when you put two planners together. People are still amazed at the fact that we already have the name picked, that we have the crib and the bedding picked, and that we have so little problem deciding on things like strollers and Pack N Plays. That, though, is part of the beauty of our relationship, I guess. We tend to think alike. We just explain our thoughts in very different ways.

On a side and very traumatic note, a bird pooped on my head today. Lucky for me, I was wearing Glenn's baseball cap. We had chosen to go hiking with two friends and were walking under a tree. Somehow bounced off the top of my hat, which I assumed to be an acorn. I squished my face up in frustration and rubbed my head to be sure, it had not left any acorn residue. But "residue" is what I definitely found. Or at least that is one word for it. I screamed in response and hopped around. I think I have heard that when a bird poops on you it is supposed to be good luck, and let's just say, from this incident, I will have some very good luck for a VERY long time!!!! Ugh!

It's a......

2008-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, today was the big day. And I will go ahead and tell you what you have all been waiting for, although many of you already know the news....

It's a boy!

I have no doubt, due to the following picture: (Look for the small arrow pointing to "the package")

The technician-- we'll call him Bob so I don't have to keep typing the word technician-- asked us early in the ultrasound, "Do you want to know the sex?" I told him yes and he immediately said, "It's a boy." No doubt, no hesitation.

He proceeded to take about 50000 pictures and I craned my head to catch every little foot, arm, and leg (all in tact, might I add). I wondered if at first I would disappointed, but as soon as I saws his little hand move in that computer screen, any other thought was gone. That was my little boy and there could be no other way, and there shouldn't be. A little boy to take to football/basketball/hockey/swim... practice. A little boy to teach to plattl. A little boy to play on the already 9-boy-strong Van Welzen football team. What could be better?

The greatest part about the sonogram, that really got the adrenaline pumping, was seeing movement on the screen. At first, I thought it must just be because the man kept moving his little sensor thing. But then I kept seeing the flash of what looked like a little fist and a little arm. I asked the man, "Is he moving?" And sure enough, there before my eyes, he was squirming around. On another occasion, as Bob checked out a face shot, the baby opened up his mouth and you could see the big black hole opening and closing on the screen. According to Bob, he was saying, "Hey Mom, what's up!"

Of course, the baby made the ultrasound "interesting." Apparently he was very cozy down low in my pelvis, keeping Bob from getting all the shots he needed. So we had to do an internal exam, as well as a normal one. I didn't care. I just wanted to keep seeing the baby.

Halfway through....

2008-02-13T18:18:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's Day tomorrow, I will officially be halfway through my pregnancy. I feel fortunate that I have been so healthy this pregnancy. No morning sickness and a normal weight gain. At this point, I am 14 pounds heavier than before the baby. I take pride in the fact that I have been able to do exactly what needs to be done to take care of both myself and my baby. And so, for the new picture of the month:

I have been told that I am getting bigger at a rapid rate. Lindsay saw me just last weekend in Raleigh and when she came to visit with the boys this week, she told me I looked twice as big. So apparently, something really is happening.

I have definitely found some staples in my wardrobe-- the pictured white tank top, for one. It is fun to get to try on a new set of clothes for a while. Some of my shirts are actually cuter than my normal clothes, but then again, I think I like everything more with my new and improved upper body shape, if you know what I mean.

While I am commenting on the pregnancy overall, I must say that today, for the first time, I felt what I know had to be the baby kicking. I was laying in bed this morning, dreading going out into the cold and ice. It was silent and I had my hands on my baby bump. And out of nowhere, there was a tap from under my fingers. Now, I have had what I think are baby kicks. I was unsure of these because it always seemed there was something else that could explain it. A gas bubble, my ever expanding innards, or something else going on in there. But this felt different. I felt it from the outside, a movement outwards. There is no other explanation other than a little arm or leg moving about. It was really cool and I successfully poked the little one until it did it a second time. I haven't felt it as strongly since, but then again, I think if I were laying without noise around me, I would feel it again.

There are so many things with this pregnancy that really, you can't put into good words. As a writer this is frustrating. Not being able to explain how it felt when I KNEW I was pregnant at two weeks along. Not being able to explain the aches and pains I feel each day or the throbbing I feel in my leg in my sleep. And now, I can't explain the way this felt or how I knew that it couldn't possibly be something else. But I did know. No offense to all those out there, but it didn't feel like a butterfly. Then again, I don't really know what a butterfly feels like either.

What can I not live without?

2008-02-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, I went to visit Jess and Katie and she told me about an item I HAD to register for, called the ultimate crib sheet. It led me to think... what would my other mommy friends advise that I HAVE to buy? So if you have a quick suggestion, what are one or two things that you think I really should register for?

Third doctor's Visit

2008-02-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we went to our third doctor's visit and as before, all is well. We saw a different doctor in the 6 doctor practice and I liked him just as much as Dr. Berry. I figure, if these six people are in practice together, they must think alike.

I was delighted when the doctor went straight to the heartbeat this time. No waiting at all and there it was. Then again, my belly is sticking out a little more making a better "target". For all you predictors out there, the heart rate was 150, up from the original 143 at 6 weeks. We shall see. I used to think I had a feeling that it was a boy, but right now, I really don't know either way...

One thing that I find interesting, as I see the differnt OB's, are the different ways that they describe the process of pregnancy and especially child birth. Glenn and I have decided to start a list. And here you go....

1. Dr. Berry: "Your uterus started at the size of an apple and in the end, it will be the size of a watermelon. So it is kind of like being drilled from the inside out."
2. Dr. Maddox: "Not that I have ever been pregnant, but I understand it's like getting a charlie horse in your stomach that lasts at least 30 seconds and then comes every few minutes."

If you had to describe childbirth to a first time mother, what words would you use..... Complete this sentence: "Childbirth is like...."

Mmmm....Barbeque sauce

2008-02-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

So, yes, it has finally happened. I have had a weird food craving.

The other day, I came home from work to be greeted by the lingering smell of the fire we had lit in our wood fireplace the night before. As I walked into the house, the smell reminded me of BBQ sauce and suddenly, I felt, "Man, BBQ sauce would be good right now." The problem was not the lack of sauce, as I knew we had a bunch of that. The question was, "What can one dip nonchalantly in BBQ sauce? There were no chicken nuggets to be found in the house and that is the only thing that came to mind. So I tried to push the thought out of my mind, but as I watched my soap, the nagging desire for BBQ sauce wouldn't go away. So I went to the fridge and searched. At long last, I had a solution. A cheese stick. So I poured the sauce into a little sauce cup and took my typical television watching spot. But the cheese stick went too fast and I had extra BBQ sauce in my cup that just couldn't be wasted. So I looked in the pantry and there was a half a bag of Tostito's left. PERFECT! You could dip Tostitos in anything..... right?

Well, it may sound weird to you, but it sure tasted good and has now become an occasional snack staple. I was delighted when I went to my brother's house and my nephew Ben joined me in my strange new snack. To him, it seemed normal. He likes BBQ sauce. He likes Tostito's. Why not enjoy the two together? Smart man!

My question is, if you are supposed to get cravings based on a nutrient you are missing, what nutrient is in BBQ sauce that I am missing? Perhaps I am not getting enough corn syrup! :)

The Business of Being Born

2008-01-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, I went out to a movie with Jess, my friend who recently became a mom (in September)-- but this wasn't just another blockbuster to eat popcorn through. We went to a documentary called "The Business of Being Born" which was produced by Ricky Lake in order to address the beaucracy that has taken over alot of how babies are born and the maternity care given in the US. The movie focused on home births and midwives and tried to educate people on the misperception that not having a baby in a hospital is a completely ludicrous thing.

Although I, myself, would still never have a baby at home, I did learn that having a midwife with me in a hospital really wouldn't be a ridiculous thought. As a sociology major, some of the facts told made me shake my head. Of all the countries in the world, we are really the only one with so few home births and so few midwives in practice. In Europe and other areas of the world, having a midwife deliver your baby is perfectly natural. But here, it is seen as hippified and crazy. I am not sure exactly what it is about the US, where we think that we must do things different from everyone else in the world. We must find a different way and our way has to be the "right" way. In fact, we have one of the highest infant mortality rates among the developed nations of the world.

I, too, used to think, "Who in their right mind would want to have a baby at their house" or "Who in their right mind wouldn't have their doctor be the one delivering the baby." The film really helped to remind me that, when it comes down to it, women have been having babies for a VERY long time and that our bodies are trained to know what to do when birthing occurs. We need to trust that more and just have a trained professional with us, which could be a doctor OR a midwife. In fact, midwives are often trained nurses who know the process of birth really well. They also know when a women does indeed need to be in a hospital.

So, anyway, the biggest thing I got from this is that it may not be all that bad of an idea. A midwife would be someone who wouldn't go in and out of the room every two minutes to check other patients. She wouldn't be coming in ten minutes before the baby was born to help "pop it out." And really, the best thing is that the midwife can be an advocate for you in the hospital. If things are being pressed upon you that would rather not have, she can step in for you and say, "No, she doesn't necessarily want that petocin." It would take one more pressure off the shoulders of the parents.

When I have my baby in July, I have learned there a few things I want to know. I want to know that my doctor won't just be rushing me to get in and have the baby quickly. I want to know that if I want to get up and walk around, I will be able to move as my body would like to move. I want to know that if I have a normal birth, they will let me hold my baby for a little while before rushing him/her off to be measured and "catalogued." And I want to know that, in an area of the state where the C Section rate in some hospitals is 50%, that I actually have a chance of not having one. Lucky for me, Glenn and I are pretty sure that our doctor is a hippy so I feel like I don't have too much to worry about.

I actually recommend this movie. It doesn't push its ideology on you, it doesn't lecture you that you should have a home birth. Really, it just tells you about the experiences of some women and presents a side of things you may never have thought of.

A genius baby haunts my dreams...

2008-01-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago I had my first full-fledged dream about having the baby. I have been told many times that people dream about holding their baby and knowing the sex of the baby and things like that. Until now, the baby had been mentioned in my dreams, but never featured. Until Friday night!

I don't remember the actual birth of the baby, but I know that for some reason, my parents took the baby home, instead of me doing it. I remember walking into my house in my dreams and saying, "Where is the baby?" I walked into the kitchen and was informed that the baby was a girl. But when my mom handed her over to me, she didn't want me... She wanted my mom-- because she had been separated from me for so long. I took her as she cried and almost dropped her because she was squirming so fiercely.

The strange thing about the baby in the dream was that within a few hours of being born, she was about the size of a one year old, but still being cradled like a one-day-old. And then she stood up and began to walk around. My parents, Glenn, and I marvelled at her quick abilities. And then she looked at Glenn and said, "Daddy." Again, we marvelled that she could also talk. For no good reason, I said to the little one, "Sprichst du Deutsch?" (Do you speak German) and she answered with a clear and somewhat sarcastic "Ja..." as though it was perfectly natural. We all stood back and wondered how it could be possible that she could know German already.

As the dream progressed, the little one began to get a personality much like a petulant teenager. She was sarcastic and independent-- not unlike someone else I know... But she didn't want to be held and babied. She didn't want to be treated like a baby. In my dream, this whole thing made me very sad. I was supposed to be loving the fact that I was a new mom, but all I really wanted was to have a real baby who couldn't talk yet and had no attitude.

I was overjoyed when I awoke and realized it had all just been a dream!!

Baby's First Rave

2008-01-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, I chaperoned a dance at school-- a clean rave at school that was an alternate to your typical school dance with expensive dresses and nervously asking others for dates. It was just a time for the students to get together and have a good time. And the kids that showed up really did have fun. I was in charge of manning the glo-stick table to be sure that no one took any extras that weren't allowed.

Once again, the care my kids have for me came out. They wouldn't let me bend down, they asked me 1000 times if I wanted a chair until I finally said yes, they watched out for me when I went out onto the dance floor to take yearbook photos-- afraid I would get hit. They even made a glostick belt for right around where the baby is. Repeatedly, they would ask how Baby Rife liked the music. I just have to laugh at them. I think that is enough rave music for an entire pregnancy. I'm sure if I could feel the baby moving, I would have felt a lot that night...

14.5 weeks along...

2008-01-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are at 14.5 weeks and I felt like it was time to take another picture. So here it is, on January 14. As of today, it seems I have gained 5 pounds, which is just about right on track.

And for those of you doubters that I am gaining weight, who say that I am just slouching, the outfit in this picture is a maternity outfit I got for Christmas. When I tried it on, on Xmas day, it didn't fit and I knew I needed a little more time. Well, on Saturday, we had a winter party to go to and I wanted to see, out of curiousity, how it fit now. And it worked. This is now my favorite new shirt. If I am wearing maternity clothes, there must be something going on...