It got a little hot and we did what we could to break up the outdoors with some nice air conditioned indoors activities. Poor Nico tried to rock a long and short sleeve pumpkin shirt, but it was just too hot. Mom had to strip off his long sleeve to cool the buddha off some. I
Saturday, October 18, 2008
At least we got one more year out of her cute ladybug costume from last year. She got more than her share of compliments from the other parents. Afterwards we tried to have lunch somewhere nice in Lake Mary, but the day's running amok finally got to the kids and they passed out. We ended up having a nice lunch/dinner in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot. Home now and I'm looking forward to a little nap myself.
What The Hell?!?
Pretty amazing the things your body gets used to and I don't mean that in a good way. When I was considerably younger I remember being able to be up and out til the wee hours and then be able to sleep for twelve hours straight. That was a LONG time ago.
Since we've had our first child I've experienced a huge change in my sleeping habits. While I still can stay up pretty late if I have to (I don't necessarily want to) my sleep has been reduced to maybe 2-3 at a time. Back then the new father experience kept me wired and ready to go with diaper changes, feedings, and bad dreams. Now with Nico the same reasons to get up in the middle of the night X2 is caught up with me. I'm definitely slower, less patient and feeling beaten down.
Isa has gotten into the habit of not wanting to go to bed until she's totally asleep on the couch or our bed anywhere from midnight to 2am with the tv on. I've debated with El on the trying to kick this bad habit with little success. I feel like we're such pushovers when it comes to sending Isa to bed at a much earlier time. She's tried to have her eaten dinner, bathed, teeth brushed, books read and to bed before I get home from work at 10:30pm but the routine never seems to stick. I've tried to have all the lights dimmed, the tv off, and some soft music played at night to get her tired, but sometimes I'm just too damn tired and wound up to do this routine when all I want to do is eat dinner and veg out in front of the tv.
The past two nights I've forcibly put Isa to bed around 8:30ish to give El and I some downtime before we turn in. This means dinner, wash up, change into pajamas, read books, pray and then lie down for the little girl. She's fought us on this both nights. It ends up me calmly trying to explain to her that we can do things the next day, but now it's time for "night night." This equals to me closing the door on her room while she screams for 15 minutes until she passes out from exhaustion. El hates this part, but I feel adamant about this. I have to lay the law down and be the dad.
I've read somewhere that in a week or so Isa will accept this rule and not put up a fuss. Hopefully she'll also accept the fact that she has to stay in HER bed at nights and not crawl into ours at 4am. Nico still has his nightly feedings and El's face at the end of the day tells me she can't handle the brutal hours anymore. I'm trying to find a solution that will benefit the entire family.
You've heard/read the stories about lack of sleep and its effect on the human body, right? Development problems and such? I don't want this for Isabella, but come to find out one of the main results of a lack of proper sleep is WEIGHT GAIN... FOR ADULTS... WTF?!? This would explain the massive weight gain in me these last two years...in addition to the crappy work schedule (until 10pm), eating crap for dinner at work, and no time for a proper workout like I used to.
Tonight I had Isa dressed and in bed by 8:30. Early enough for El and I to have some quiet time together and watch the new Indiana Jones movie on dvd. We didn't even get halfway thru the film and we were asleep by 10:30 (VERY rare for us). The drawback? I woke up wired at 1:30am.
So here I am.
Again.
Blogging.
Even with the opportunity to get some sleep I can't. Odd what your body gets used to after so much abuse for so long. This blows.
Since we've had our first child I've experienced a huge change in my sleeping habits. While I still can stay up pretty late if I have to (I don't necessarily want to) my sleep has been reduced to maybe 2-3 at a time. Back then the new father experience kept me wired and ready to go with diaper changes, feedings, and bad dreams. Now with Nico the same reasons to get up in the middle of the night X2 is caught up with me. I'm definitely slower, less patient and feeling beaten down.
Isa has gotten into the habit of not wanting to go to bed until she's totally asleep on the couch or our bed anywhere from midnight to 2am with the tv on. I've debated with El on the trying to kick this bad habit with little success. I feel like we're such pushovers when it comes to sending Isa to bed at a much earlier time. She's tried to have her eaten dinner, bathed, teeth brushed, books read and to bed before I get home from work at 10:30pm but the routine never seems to stick. I've tried to have all the lights dimmed, the tv off, and some soft music played at night to get her tired, but sometimes I'm just too damn tired and wound up to do this routine when all I want to do is eat dinner and veg out in front of the tv.
The past two nights I've forcibly put Isa to bed around 8:30ish to give El and I some downtime before we turn in. This means dinner, wash up, change into pajamas, read books, pray and then lie down for the little girl. She's fought us on this both nights. It ends up me calmly trying to explain to her that we can do things the next day, but now it's time for "night night." This equals to me closing the door on her room while she screams for 15 minutes until she passes out from exhaustion. El hates this part, but I feel adamant about this. I have to lay the law down and be the dad.
I've read somewhere that in a week or so Isa will accept this rule and not put up a fuss. Hopefully she'll also accept the fact that she has to stay in HER bed at nights and not crawl into ours at 4am. Nico still has his nightly feedings and El's face at the end of the day tells me she can't handle the brutal hours anymore. I'm trying to find a solution that will benefit the entire family.
You've heard/read the stories about lack of sleep and its effect on the human body, right? Development problems and such? I don't want this for Isabella, but come to find out one of the main results of a lack of proper sleep is WEIGHT GAIN... FOR ADULTS... WTF?!? This would explain the massive weight gain in me these last two years...in addition to the crappy work schedule (until 10pm), eating crap for dinner at work, and no time for a proper workout like I used to.
Tonight I had Isa dressed and in bed by 8:30. Early enough for El and I to have some quiet time together and watch the new Indiana Jones movie on dvd. We didn't even get halfway thru the film and we were asleep by 10:30 (VERY rare for us). The drawback? I woke up wired at 1:30am.
So here I am.
Again.
Blogging.
Even with the opportunity to get some sleep I can't. Odd what your body gets used to after so much abuse for so long. This blows.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More Visitors!
Did I mention that Eleanor's sisters came by a couple of weeks ago to see their new nephew? Here's a few pictures from the visit.
EJ from Tampa even managed to swing by to have a few drinks with Lal and Em at Blue Fartini. Ugh! Before long the visit was over and everyone, including Lola Lisa were gone and El and I were back to a quiet household. At least we get some solitude until the next round of visitors at the end of the month.
Isabella's second birthday is coming up (November 11th) and unfortunately we won't be able to have a nice soiree like last year. No trips to Charleston. No catered food. This time we'll celebrate a little early at Halloween. Just us and a cake which reminds me to look for something nice for her to open. Time has flown by this past year. Too fast. Too much going on. And then before we know it...Christmas season...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Aaahh Fall...
Finally the cooler weather is creeping in. It's been a hot summer in Orlando and I can't wait to get back into the fall and winter - it's the one thing that makes our summers bearable. I like snow, but only for a very short time. Winter here is killer. Like we did last year we made the drive to Celebration for Oktoberfest. Lots of live music, food from the local restaurants, face painting, giant inflatables and people make it a nice visit, but we had to be mindful of crowds and noise cos of Nico.
The real reason we came was for the pumpkin patch. The local church there organizes a pumpkin sale to raise money. Tons of families brought their kids with lots of picture taking. Isa was so excited she immediately ran off to play. At least until she saw some other children's balloons and tried to hijack them off of their strollers.
This year Auntie Cherilyn and cousin Gabriel are coming to visit with Lolo Ric for the holiday event. I even bought tickets for the Disney Not-So-Scary-Halloween event Thursday night. Nico and mom have to sit it out so I'll be sure to bring my video camera along so they can see the evening's festivities. On Friday, Halloween, I planned on taking everyone to Celebration for some trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood sucks for this. I don't plan on buying candy this year since only the older kids, sans costumes (unless count dressing like an assclown counts), come around trying to act too cool to dress up but still begging for candy.
I love Halloween. El doesn't understand my fascination with the holiday, but my brother and sisters grew up on it. Getting dressed and trick or treating around Men-Riv Park was always an exciting time. Doing it around the naval base housing where we grew up was very safe and kid-friendly much like Celebration. Moving to Orlando I didn't realize how into it the adults were until we went downtown one fateful year. Of course, this was a very different scene. Now that I'm older I want Isabella and Nicholas to have fond memories as I did.
This year I've updated the old Addams Family theme. Of course, I'll go as Gomez, but Cher will take up El's Morticia costume. Meanwhile Isa will do her part as Wednesday complete with axe and Gabriel will play the role of Pugsley with his sticks of dynamite. Isa already did a test run of her costume, which her Lola Lisa helped sew together, and looked cute as hell in it. I'm so stoked!
My Little Girl Is Trying.
The other night El spoke to me about her being more patient with Isa. I wouldn't say we've been hard on her, but our patience has been tested quite a few times these last few weeks. I know a lot of it has to do with fatigue and I know our situation is not unique, but we're going to try harder.
She's gotten so much better about being careful round her little brother but she is, after all, a toddler. She runs, climbs, plays and does what kids her age does. She's just not used to being second fiddle.
She kisses and hugs him with an "awww...don't cry-y-y Nico." Last night in the car she even tried to console him in the backseat of the car while going home by holding his hand. She's going to be a good big sister I think.
She's gotten so much better about being careful round her little brother but she is, after all, a toddler. She runs, climbs, plays and does what kids her age does. She's just not used to being second fiddle.
She kisses and hugs him with an "awww...don't cry-y-y Nico." Last night in the car she even tried to console him in the backseat of the car while going home by holding his hand. She's going to be a good big sister I think.
Even Nicholas is growing so fast. He's already started to hold his head steadily for extended periods of times when we hold him and smiles when his mother lightly kisses his cheek. I'm still amazed at how big he's gotten in so short a time. It's odd cos when we look at him we see his great grandfather Gregorio, his namesake. El insists he looks like me, but I really think he has his great grandfather's face. We even went back to an old blog entry to compare...
Lola Lisa Lends A Hand.
Soon after my mother left for Charleston, Nicholas and Isabella's Lola Lisa arrived to take her place. She was able to stay for about three weeks before she had to go back, but her assistance helped out. For about three weeks she was able to care for Isabella late at nights and early in the mornings. Isa has proven to be quite the handful - competitive at times with her brother - so it was nice to have another set of hands around to handle the toddler's antics when needed.
It's been debated about her retirement and possibly moving in on a semi-permanent basis so this was a good gauge to see how well everyone meshed together for an extended period of time. For a long time it was touch-and-go with when she would actually retire and move in for the past two years.
It's been debated about her retirement and possibly moving in on a semi-permanent basis so this was a good gauge to see how well everyone meshed together for an extended period of time. For a long time it was touch-and-go with when she would actually retire and move in for the past two years.
I know Ellen worries about her mother living alone in Charleston, especially with her recent surgery and treatment. And it would solve the money issues with us working with daycare (which El and I both don't want) vs. a family member living with us (we'd be giving up privacy) to help watch the kids while we both worked. Sounds good on paper so it was a good experience to see how things went.
I usually felt guilty about El's mom just being home with no personal freedom (no car for her to use while she was here, having to watch kids all day all night, no friends to hang out with) so I did what I could to take everyone out periodically for a change of venue, eat out, shop, stretch out their legs. It is hard to get everyone's schedule together, go somewhere that's agreeable to everyone, etc. Her mom did her best to not infringe on anything, help with chores, and never complained about anything really, but I couldn't help wondering if she was happy herself. It's a huge imposition on her and the lifestyle she's gotten used to in Charleston.
I usually felt guilty about El's mom just being home with no personal freedom (no car for her to use while she was here, having to watch kids all day all night, no friends to hang out with) so I did what I could to take everyone out periodically for a change of venue, eat out, shop, stretch out their legs. It is hard to get everyone's schedule together, go somewhere that's agreeable to everyone, etc. Her mom did her best to not infringe on anything, help with chores, and never complained about anything really, but I couldn't help wondering if she was happy herself. It's a huge imposition on her and the lifestyle she's gotten used to in Charleston.
I was certainly glad tho that for awhile she was able to spend time with her grandkids and see Nicholas grow up some as she did with Isabella. Plus, I know it was a relief for Ellen to be with her mom. Eventually her sisters came to visit at the end of her mother's stay which I know made El even happier. I was glad that more of her family came to see her and hang out - she'd been missing them tremendously.
Now that we're alone again we've talked more about her mother retiring and moving in. I do feel better about her watching Isa and Nico vs. a daycare. We even talked about helping her with some of bills (vs. paying daycare) to solve her not working and still being able to take care of her financial responsibilities. I don't know. So much to think about. My sensibilities vs. what little freedom I have left. I guess it would be better in a bigger house. In a cooler climate. Away from Florida. So I could start thinking about hanging up my design hat. And getting rid of my boat. And...
Now that we're alone again we've talked more about her mother retiring and moving in. I do feel better about her watching Isa and Nico vs. a daycare. We even talked about helping her with some of bills (vs. paying daycare) to solve her not working and still being able to take care of her financial responsibilities. I don't know. So much to think about. My sensibilities vs. what little freedom I have left. I guess it would be better in a bigger house. In a cooler climate. Away from Florida. So I could start thinking about hanging up my design hat. And getting rid of my boat. And...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Happy One Month, Nicholas!
Time seems to be going by so fast recently. I can't believe Nicholas is already a month old, but in that month I've seen him grow substantially. He's definitely chunked out a good bit. His cheeks are puffing out and his arms and legs are starting to get their little rolls in them. Unfortunately, he hasn't flipped his sleeping schedule yet and it'd be great if he could cut his mom some slack and allow her some shuteye in between feedings at night. I think one more month should do it, but damn it's catching up to us. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to try and get Isa used to sleeping in her bed. These past three nights she's been getting up at 4am-ish to crawl into bed with us and waking up again 730-ish to ask for milk. I even installed a bed rail last night so she wouldn't roll out of bed, but it only lasted so long before she was up again.
I have noticed, though, that letting him sleep in the crib in our room has helped some vs. the bassinet. He seems to sleep more contentedly during the first part of the night and El gets a ti-i-i-iny bit more sleep early on. Or maybe I've been getting used to his cries at night and sleeping thru more...
Either way my little boy is growing up fast. I reminisce about what it was like with Isa and have to remind myself that it gets easier as the the weeks go by. I'm just glad that we have him now and am just as excited about his "firsts" and finding out what kind of person he will become.
He may become an outgoing social butterfly, like his sister, who likes to make you laugh and is mischievous, but I like to think he'll be more like his namesake. His great grandfather Gregorio was a patient, caring man who enjoyed life and knew how to take things in stride. So far Nico has shown himself to be generally an easy baby to care for, but with a voracious appetite. He doesn't cry unnecessarily and seems to settle down quickly. And he has a nice shaped head.
Happy One Month, Nicholas!
I have noticed, though, that letting him sleep in the crib in our room has helped some vs. the bassinet. He seems to sleep more contentedly during the first part of the night and El gets a ti-i-i-iny bit more sleep early on. Or maybe I've been getting used to his cries at night and sleeping thru more...
Either way my little boy is growing up fast. I reminisce about what it was like with Isa and have to remind myself that it gets easier as the the weeks go by. I'm just glad that we have him now and am just as excited about his "firsts" and finding out what kind of person he will become.
He may become an outgoing social butterfly, like his sister, who likes to make you laugh and is mischievous, but I like to think he'll be more like his namesake. His great grandfather Gregorio was a patient, caring man who enjoyed life and knew how to take things in stride. So far Nico has shown himself to be generally an easy baby to care for, but with a voracious appetite. He doesn't cry unnecessarily and seems to settle down quickly. And he has a nice shaped head.
Happy One Month, Nicholas!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Another Step In The Right Direction.
Isabella took another transitional step away from being a baby to becoming more of a little girl. Her crib has officially become her brother's. Tonight after work in an effort to search for a way to get Nicholas to sleep better I decided to switch out Isa's toddler bed from our room to her nursery and the crib to the master bedroom.
I know that it'll take time for Nicholas to flip his sleeping schedule from days to nights and over time he'll sleep longer between feedings, but Isa has been also been trying to climb out of her crib at times. Even with Eleanor's mom here to help (which she has done a great job of doing) poor Ellen has been suffering from sleep deprivation and it's been in the back of my mind do try anything to make it easier for her.
I know that it'll take time for Nicholas to flip his sleeping schedule from days to nights and over time he'll sleep longer between feedings, but Isa has been also been trying to climb out of her crib at times. Even with Eleanor's mom here to help (which she has done a great job of doing) poor Ellen has been suffering from sleep deprivation and it's been in the back of my mind do try anything to make it easier for her.
Once in a while Nico would be put down in his sister's crib to nap during the early evenings and he seems to sleep more contentedly in it than his bassinet in our bedroom. So one stone and two birds later I made the executive decision.
After finagling on disassembling the damn crib and reassembling it back in our room it was finally done. Isa's bed was quickly reassembled in the nursery and seemed excited about having it in her room. For months it sat in ours unused for the most part, other than for the occasional use as a perch to look down on her brother sleeping. Tonight her mom and I set new sheets in it and arranged it for maximum safety (she's rolled out of it on several failed attempts to get her used to it in the past).
After finagling on disassembling the damn crib and reassembling it back in our room it was finally done. Isa's bed was quickly reassembled in the nursery and seemed excited about having it in her room. For months it sat in ours unused for the most part, other than for the occasional use as a perch to look down on her brother sleeping. Tonight her mom and I set new sheets in it and arranged it for maximum safety (she's rolled out of it on several failed attempts to get her used to it in the past).
Once we had her room set and the lights dimmed Isa picked out a few stuffed toys, a book, her water bottle and her beloved Bunny and said,"night night!" Cute. I took a few snaps to commemorate this moment. The novelty wore off quickly and she made her way back to the routine of camping out with mom and dad in their bed until she fell asleep. By about 1am I picked her up and put her to bed. Of course, I knew at some point she would roll off the bed, get upset and want to come to our room again so I left a few lamps on along the way and left our bedroom door a crack open. Sure enough by 4:30am she rolled off the bed, cried a little, walked over to our room and climbed into bed. No problem. She's back in her bed again now and here I am at 5:30am doing what I do. Patience is a virtue - she'll get there.
** SPECIAL UPDATE 5:51am**
Everyone is awake again and back in our bed. Oy.
** SPECIAL UPDATE 5:51am**
Everyone is awake again and back in our bed. Oy.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Isa Struggles With Trying To Find Herself.
Just as Nicholas has been growing and developing daily - I've noticed significant changes in Isabella as well. Maybe she's starting to feel the competition and realizes all the negative attention she was getting just doesn't help her situation much.
Either way she's been speaking more (and clearer) every day with longer sentences. El has been constantly reading books, doing flashcards, and generally teaching her new words and Isa has been retaining it all.
She's been eating MUCH better lately ( I don't know if it's cos her Lola Lisa, who arrived last week, has been coaxing her better than we have) and even looks to be adding a little more weight to her petite frame.
Toys she had no interest in or didn't understand how to use previously has piqued her interest again. She even learned the game of dress-up. I know all little girls learn this eventually, but the way she does it reminds me vaguely of something I've seen before somewhere...
Either way she's been speaking more (and clearer) every day with longer sentences. El has been constantly reading books, doing flashcards, and generally teaching her new words and Isa has been retaining it all.
She's been eating MUCH better lately ( I don't know if it's cos her Lola Lisa, who arrived last week, has been coaxing her better than we have) and even looks to be adding a little more weight to her petite frame.
Toys she had no interest in or didn't understand how to use previously has piqued her interest again. She even learned the game of dress-up. I know all little girls learn this eventually, but the way she does it reminds me vaguely of something I've seen before somewhere...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
I Had It Coming...
I've got a filthy mouth I admit. For as long as I can remember I've dropped all kinds of tasty expletives like it was going out of style and living in Orlando with shit AWFUL drivers hasn't helped me curb the habit. Ever since Isa was born El and my younger sister, Cherilyn, has warned me about my mouth and it finally bit me in the ass.
Sitting at dinner with El and Isa I let out a "oh shit!" while doing something. Isa immediately repeated it and me and El looked at each other surprised. Well more like El giving me the "I told you" look. For the last two days Isa would arbitrarily drop it. Oops. My bad. Luckily I haven't heard her say it today. I hope she forgot it cos I'll certainly remember from now on.
Shit.
Sitting at dinner with El and Isa I let out a "oh shit!" while doing something. Isa immediately repeated it and me and El looked at each other surprised. Well more like El giving me the "I told you" look. For the last two days Isa would arbitrarily drop it. Oops. My bad. Luckily I haven't heard her say it today. I hope she forgot it cos I'll certainly remember from now on.
Shit.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Cat Nap
A rare moment presented itself this afternoon. The house is perfectly quiet. Mom was asleep after a long night caring for Nicholas and me taking care of Isa who awoke in the middle of the night crying. We all didn't get much sleep. Anthony Bourdain was on Food Network. I looked across the couch to see El napping while the kids were all cuddled around her. Must be nice to be the source of comfort. I couldn't help but to take a few snaps of them.
Friday, September 05, 2008
FINE! Here's More Pictures...
and semi-clever captions to go with them. In no particular order, I'm adding these cos of Cherilyn's complaints of wanting to see more of Nico and what's been going on this past week. Sure I could've put them in some kind of order, but screw it. It's 3:05am and I'm beat.
Uncle Ricky departs, but not before giving a kiss to his nephew. Isa seems quite happy at the moment, but not for long when she realizes her pushover uncle will no longer be around to allow her to destroy the house, eat all the Hershey chocolates and let him know that "she's the boss when the boss ain't around."
Happy 9th Anniversary!
Talk about a busy week. Soon after Nicholas' arrival Ellen and I celebrated our ninth anniversary today. NINE YEARS. WOW! And that doesn't even include the years we dated (was it 8?). It was pretty hard to get anything planned considering how busy we've been, but I wasn't about to let an anniversary slip through the cracks for any reason. Earlier I had ordered white gladiolas to be delivered to the house - the centerpiece flowers for our reception. Simple, clean, elegant.
Although we promised we wouldn't get anything for reach other this year I couldn't resist getting her something to make life a little more comfortable for her considering she was going to be stuck in the house for quite awhile with a baby attached to her. My gift? A few sets of comfy lounge pants and tops. Nothing crazy or extravagant.
Shown here is Isa displaying proper technique of "The Pig-Out."
Shown here is Isa displaying proper technique of "The Pig-Out."
Today the best I could do was cater to her cravings as best I could. Lunch consisted of sushi (the cooked variety of course) and seaweed salad. Since El LOVES seafood we had discussed earlier a treat of lobster, but instead of the typical selections I decided to do up some mussels in a white wine and garlic broth. I don't care for mussels myself, but damn these were pretty tasty. The spread was simple, but ample enough to satisfy.
Featured here: Steamed lobsters served with garlic butter, American Mussels in a seafood broth with white wine, garlic, cracked black pepper, fresh ginger, onions and butter; fresh corn on the cob served with ripe baby toes.
Featured here: Steamed lobsters served with garlic butter, American Mussels in a seafood broth with white wine, garlic, cracked black pepper, fresh ginger, onions and butter; fresh corn on the cob served with ripe baby toes.
It's been awhile since I've whipped up something completely new so it felt good to stretch my culinary legs again. El even put together a refreshing dessert of a toasted vanilla cup with fresh mangoes stewed in coconut milk and topped with coconut and pineapple ice cream - something she tried a year or two ago for another special occasion. It was just as tasty as I remembered if not tastier.
Monday, September 01, 2008
An Early Visit From The Stork.
Wow! It's been quite the weekend. Since July El and I have been busy with getting things ready for Nicholas' appearance. On top of that I've been trying to clear my plate of any and all freelance work knowing that the next few months would be overwhelming with the expanding family. My brother Ricky even offered to come down from Atlanta for the week in case El went into early labor before my mother could show up. Good thing he did.
Last year, Isa made an unexpected appearance one week early while I was out one night with friends celebrating my last night as a childless guy. Bravely, I considered going out again this past weekend playing it safe with an earlier time and no power drinking involved. Even that wasn't going to play out. At 5am Thursday morning El started complaining of some pains in her abdomen. Checking her time she was having contractions about 5-6 minutes apart. We couldn't tell if they were false, but it being one week out and our prior history of early delivery guaranteed I wasn't about to take any chances. I woke Ricky up and broke out of the house after gathering a few things. Unfortunately, El's contractions were getting shorter too quickly and I barely made it to Winter Park Hospital before rush hour traffic kicked in full swing at 7:30am. By the time we got into a delivery room the contractions were getting too intense and the nurse called for an epidural - too late it seems.
By 5 til 10am the anesthesiologist appeared, but too late. The epidural didn't even have time to take effect and after five minutes of painful pushing Nicholas popped out - he was literally in position to come out as they were inserting the tube into El's spine. I can't even explain how intense the situation was. In between screaming, digging her nails into my arm, kicking me in the shin and banging her head against the bed rails she managed to bear down and push him out. At least she'll never have to wonder what a natural childbirth would feel like. What a trooper.
Everything else went smoothly. By Friday I was able to head home to pickup Isabella and let her meet her little brother. The best way to describe the encounter was "stunned surprise". She had no idea of what to make of him and was hesitant to touch him. By 3:45pm Friday we were given the ok to take him home. Shockingly Isa attempted to swat him several times in the head with a toy or pillow. Despite El and I trying to make her understand previously about a new arrival I couldn't help but sense she felt threatened/jealous about Nicholas. Over the course of the weekend she did many things to garner attention (mostly negative). I felt awful about scolding her and making her cry, but I guess it's just a necessary step. I didn't want to be the bad guy and we even tried each spending time with her one-on-one with trips to the pet store, reading books together, even buying her a little musical keyboard to play with.
The frustration finally got to me some last night with her last blow up at 7:30 and I was forced to spank her and send her to bed crying. She fell asleep that way. I felt awful and had to chill in another part of the house to decompress a little. A couple hours later I decided to wake her up for some dinner and a bath. At first she seemed ok (just a little hazy - you know how toddlers are when they first wake up), but then she actually remembered she was mad at me and slapped me before going into another crying rage. Haha! Wow! Sad and cute at the same time. I did what I could to console her and managed to bathe her despite her refusals. After she was refreshed and dressed for bed she asked for juice which sealed the deal. A firm hug and kiss from her and we were friends again. She even stayed with me watching TV the rest of the night and fell asleep in my arms. Kids are forgiving like that. It's hard to get upset too long with a little girl like that.
Today has gotten better. Her mom sent me a picture of her peering over the bassinet at her brother and I haven't heard any news of bad behavior while I've been at work this Labor Day. Meanwhile, Nicholas has proven himself quite the eater/pooper whereas Isa had been slow to have her first bowel movement as an infant and a picky eater now. Although Nico was smaller than his big sister at birth I think he'll easily surpass her as they age. He even shows enough strength to hold his head up and move it around - something that takes a month or so with newborns from what I understand.
His mom has been trying to get what sleep she can in between feedings. I've been doing what I can to keep the household running and keep her from trying to do anything other than caring for Nicholas. Saturday morning Rick had to leave back to Atlanta, but Rachel was able to fill his spot to watch Isa while I was away at work today. Why work so soon after having a baby? Money. Today I get double time and a half. It's too bad I misread my schedule previously and thought I had to work the first shift. I ended up working a double and my brain is tapioca right now so forgive me for any mispellings or grammatical errors as I type this. It's been busy at Golf Channel with live shows and with the lack of sleep I've been getting since Wednesday night it's actually getting to me. That's it for now. Quite the read - I know. Sorry.
His mom has been trying to get what sleep she can in between feedings. I've been doing what I can to keep the household running and keep her from trying to do anything other than caring for Nicholas. Saturday morning Rick had to leave back to Atlanta, but Rachel was able to fill his spot to watch Isa while I was away at work today. Why work so soon after having a baby? Money. Today I get double time and a half. It's too bad I misread my schedule previously and thought I had to work the first shift. I ended up working a double and my brain is tapioca right now so forgive me for any mispellings or grammatical errors as I type this. It's been busy at Golf Channel with live shows and with the lack of sleep I've been getting since Wednesday night it's actually getting to me. That's it for now. Quite the read - I know. Sorry.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Happy Fourth of July!
Without wanting to get too crazy with the celebration I kept it fairly simple this year. I invited Rachel over to grill out with us and watch some fireworks. El had to work, so i wanted to have the food ready when she got home. I even bought some simple ground fireworks and sparklers for Isa to play with. Dinner was simple - steaks, hotdogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and some beers.
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