Thanksgiving

we are thankful indeed for family, friends, our apartment, our car, food, wine, love, literature, on and on.
we are in california - going back in time to autumn. while chicago is getting frosty northern california is just turning leaves. the air is full of wood chips, and blooming flowers. the landscape still colorful - not like the bleak midwinter scapes of the mid west.
thanksgiving here is simple - slower, calmer. even with christian, if you can believe it.
we made the flight all right. the Lord was gracious to get us through security and onto the plane without much ado. christian didn't make many peeps either.
and now here in the gemutlich home of my in-laws. christian has made great 'strides,' though he isn't walking, in his progress toward crawling. however his sleeping is so off with the time change.
he didn't wig out at all coming here. he does what he does at home when he enters a new environment - checks it out and when alls well he starts smiling and hanging out as normal.
we visited friends today who had a son a month before christian. it was nice to commiserate about our similar experiences with the shock of labor, delivery, and entrance into parenthood. it wasn't seemless for sure. christian got to experience a doorway jumper and loved it. so we may look into buying that gadget. it's hard to say no when christian takes to toys and things so well and so lovingly.
the time here has been so relaxing. it's so nice to not have to get up, prepare for the day while trying to give christian quality time, and then depart to mess with traffic and then the work day and all its tasks, colleagues, meetings and such. i am grateful for my job and everything - but the simpleness of waking up, taking it slow - playing with christian, nursing the cup of coffee, spending time in thought (who does that anymore?!) - is refreshing. it's the first time that we've almost yearned for suburban life (sshh! don't tell the city dweller friends:)).
i should stop now though - isn't this blog about parenthood? ha!
black friday's closing - tomorrow dan and i may go out by ourselves! imagine that.
ciao.

Cold and colder

Christian has his third cold. I think. And I think it's because he was in the church nursery this past Sunday. Sad, because it's so nice to give him the chance to interact with other babies and because we get to interact with our peers. But it's almost worth not putting him in the nursery so that the rest of the week isn't messed up. Oi!

And colder - the winter is already here! I am excited for holiday things but the 20 degree days are so uncool! That's January weather, not November!!! I never know if Christian is warm enough at night or when we go for walks, etc. Another Oi!

But we are flying to Sacramento on Tuesday to visit with Dan's parents and sister. We aren't looking forward to the flight, but the weather and vacation time will be SO appreciated. I wish we were staying longer than the 5 days. Oi Oi! :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Christian and Elodie

Hey good looking! Can we be friends? Elodie and Christian don't know it, but they met long before birth! (This picture is them at about 6.5-7 months.) Their mothers became pregnant around the same time and then met together over the 9 long months to discuss pregnancy, hopes, fears, etc. Now that they are in this world, they get to play together while their moms continue to share hopes and fears, etc.

Life is hard

This week I think Dan and I perhaps understood adulthood for the first time. Maybe we've understood parts of it before, but it was coming on pretty strong. It's the acceptance of chaos and of 'the way things are.' It's the not talking to one another the whole day due to work and kid and schedule. It's the dishes piling up, the bathroom piping leaking to the levels below, which forces the plumbers to come and knock down part of your bedroom wall and leave it exposed for a few days. It's the breaking of the crib your baby sleeps in. It's everything at once!

It's realizing that you don't even want to complain because you're sick of hearing yourself!

It's being faced with the choice to become more selfish - to shrink away from the stress - or to become more selfless - to endure, to change, to grow, to mature.

Which will we choose this week? ...

But we have faith that this is ultimately for our good. We just need some reprieve.

I've never been one to say this, but THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!

Sleep

Christian slept all night last night!
But I'm not that encouraged. Yesterday, Dan had an awful time getting him down for naps. I think he only slept an hour during the day. So I put him down at 8:30-ish for bed. I went to bed shortly after (just to make sure I had some solid blocks of sleep). And at 4AM I woke up with a start. I went to his crib and had to wake him up to nurse. I did so because I was scared he'd wake up for the day within the hour. But he didn't. He fell asleep again (he didn't really wake up while nursing) until 6:30!!!

I haven't felt that rested in so long. What a blessing!

I just pray that this is a shift in his sleep patterns. Though, I don't want Dan to suffer just so I can sleep well.

Christian is 8 months tomorrow. He's really trying to crawl. And he's just so active and fun. He's starting to cuddle more and to reach for us. It's sweet.

All Hallows Eve

Christian will dress up like a penguin tonight. Too bad he will be too young to enjoy candy:) His uncle Peter bought him the costume last month. We are excited to take pictures:) Maybe I'll get around to posting one here!

Other than that, he is still teething and trying to crawl. This next month I want to focus on getting him 'back' to falling asleep on his own. He's had some tough nights and to make up for my working full time, I baby (ha!) him back to sleep more often than I should.

I also want to work on introducing more solids to him. I feel like we've just been getting by. We are so busy but I need to make sure that the variety is there. Especially the finger foods! He does eat cheerios, but isn't that interested in them.

The 8th month is upon us! Can't believe it. This next month we will fly to Sacramento for Thanksgiving (he'll actually be able to eat Turkey and mashed potatoes!!) and then the next month to Germany! The time is flying in some ways.

But back to the present. He will arrive here at work soon with his dad. We'll dress him then go off to church for the 'Slime Fest'!

Enjoy the candy everyone!

4 teeth and no sleep

Christian has four visible teeth. They are not yet all the way through - but I think the cutting stage is over. Thank goodness! Because he has not been sleeping well and has been what Dan calls 'evil Christian.' Poor baby! He doesn't understand what's happening to his body. (Probably won't until he's an adult and perhaps not even then!)

He's also rolling and scooting and stretching and really trying to crawl. I'm excited for that but I think Dan would like him to hold off. We definitely have to 'baby proof' the apartment. I would like to use the opportunity to rid ourselves of some junk we've accumulated over the past 3 years of living there. Definitely books can go! Articles say to get on your hands and knees in order to see what Christian will. So I see so many problems everywhere! Pack n play may be his prison until I have time to sort and dispose! Oi weh!

Generally we are doing better. We are used to the business of life. I'm still desiring a slower pace, but am glad for business mostly. It keeps me from being too pensive and too existential.

the hood of parenting...