Sunday, August 30, 2009
First Trip to the Coast
Rich and I took a trip to Crescent Beach on Thursday.... a first! We'd been to the beach at Sebago lake but our first time to the seashore.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Child Care
I;m taking a couple of minutes to enjoy having two hands free! We returned from a quick trip to Whole Foods and a whistle-stop at Jen's to pick up some lovely dinner (I've already been nibbling.. and it's delicious!!!), and Raf eventually fell asleep in his car seat. And, two hours on, his car seat is sitting on the breakfast bar and he's fast asleep still.
Not sure how long this will last so I'll be brief... but I'm already frantically worrying about child care. I am soooooo lucky to have maternity leave, and whilst my sis and sis-in-law enjoy extended time off from work - being in the UK, of course - I do feel very fortunate to have until January off. Even so, I am very worried about child care. I just dont know what to do. I have yet to leave him with anyone but Rich, and when I think of leaving him with anyone else I almost have a cold sweat. There are very few people who I'd feel okay with right now. Of course he's only 6 weeks and I'm sure things will change, but, in the meantime, I'm having to think ahead to child care in the very near future..
Here are some of our options.
A nanny/babysitter to come to our house. This was our original plan, but it's extremely expensive and I'm feeling squeamish about someone being here alone with the boy. The advantage of this scenario is that we can have someone start before I go back to work so I can be in the house whilst Rafi gets used to the person. The ideal would be to find someone who is a bit crunchy, and even someone we know.
A stay at home parent looking for another baby to look after. Raf will be almost 7 months and I hear at that stage they're really into watching other kids. I like this idea.. and also the idea that we can find someone, again a bit crunchy, who holds a similar view to parenting. This would probably be much more afforable.
A home based nursery. This makes me the most nervous, probably because they're less regulated compared to other forms of nurseries, BUT, one of the medical technicians at Deb's office has a nursery/day care, and I have to say that I'd send Rafi there in a heart beat if they a) took infants, b) lived close by. But how do you determine if other home based day cares are right for Rafi?
A daycare center. We're planning - and even excited - for Raf to attend a good learning center, There are some great ones around, too. But I would like him to be a lot older - at least a year. I imagine it could be quite overwhelming for a little tyke.
Any other ideas? We of course don't have any family to help out.
I really wish I could stay home the full year. Oh, to be independently wealthy :)
Would love people's thoughts/experiences.
Not sure how long this will last so I'll be brief... but I'm already frantically worrying about child care. I am soooooo lucky to have maternity leave, and whilst my sis and sis-in-law enjoy extended time off from work - being in the UK, of course - I do feel very fortunate to have until January off. Even so, I am very worried about child care. I just dont know what to do. I have yet to leave him with anyone but Rich, and when I think of leaving him with anyone else I almost have a cold sweat. There are very few people who I'd feel okay with right now. Of course he's only 6 weeks and I'm sure things will change, but, in the meantime, I'm having to think ahead to child care in the very near future..
Here are some of our options.
A nanny/babysitter to come to our house. This was our original plan, but it's extremely expensive and I'm feeling squeamish about someone being here alone with the boy. The advantage of this scenario is that we can have someone start before I go back to work so I can be in the house whilst Rafi gets used to the person. The ideal would be to find someone who is a bit crunchy, and even someone we know.
A stay at home parent looking for another baby to look after. Raf will be almost 7 months and I hear at that stage they're really into watching other kids. I like this idea.. and also the idea that we can find someone, again a bit crunchy, who holds a similar view to parenting. This would probably be much more afforable.
A home based nursery. This makes me the most nervous, probably because they're less regulated compared to other forms of nurseries, BUT, one of the medical technicians at Deb's office has a nursery/day care, and I have to say that I'd send Rafi there in a heart beat if they a) took infants, b) lived close by. But how do you determine if other home based day cares are right for Rafi?
A daycare center. We're planning - and even excited - for Raf to attend a good learning center, There are some great ones around, too. But I would like him to be a lot older - at least a year. I imagine it could be quite overwhelming for a little tyke.
Any other ideas? We of course don't have any family to help out.
I really wish I could stay home the full year. Oh, to be independently wealthy :)
Would love people's thoughts/experiences.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
He's getting so big!
More tummy time!
His new Baby Bjorn carrier
Lounging about in the beautiful outfit given to him by aunties fia and laur
His new Baby Bjorn carrier
Lounging about in the beautiful outfit given to him by aunties fia and laur
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
5 weeks. a day in the life of..
Raf is 5 weeks today. It hasn't been the most auspicious day, He's not a happy camper today.. It started well with Rafi sleeping in until 3:15am, which meant he slept for 6 hours! I fed him, nipped to the gym, and when i got home he was ready for more grub. Usually he falls asleep mid morning, but not today. I thought I'd try and help him sleep by putting him in the car and taking him for a drive. That sort of worked. I put him in his sling when we reached Target and after a few minutes he started to howl. He usually loves his sling so I was a bit stumped as to what to do. Fortunately Rich happened to be in the area for a meeting so he came and rescued me and helped me get to Babies R Us so I could feed and change him. I managed to finish up the chores and made it home... Since then he has been quite the grump. Nothing is really helping him to settle down, so I think he's overly tired now. The only thing that helps is continua nursing which, honestly, is exhausting. We couldn't even get out for a walk this evening because he was so fussy.
Poor baby.
Frankly, he is generally a very easy going little guy. There are, though, some real challenges. The biggest, perhaps, is the challenge of nighttime parenting. We're co-sleeping, which is a lovely, lovely thing. he sleeps in a snuggle nest which sits in the middle of our bed. As the night progresses his body sort of falls out and his little arms and legs flail out touching my own arms and body. He is a noisy sleeper, though, so while he sleeps for good stretches, I wake up constantly making sure he;s okay. Thankfully I don't have to get out of bed for this!
the other issue around night parenting is the negotiation between Rich and I around who does what. Inevitably I am responsible for the majority given that we're nursing and haven't yet expressed and used bottles, but Raf has a hard time falling back to sleep after he's nursed and who gets to deal with that is a thorny issue. Mostly it's been me - as Rich works - but operating on hours of broken sleep is not so good for someone looking after a newborn. all that said, we seem to be developing some routine...
Here's a typical morning:
Raf stirs between 2-4am (sometimes he has a midnight feeding, too) and i get up, change him, take him downstairs (he doesn't love to nurse in bed much to my dismay). I stumble down, pop him in his swing whilst I grab a couple of drinks.. one being iced water, the other (hiding my face in shame) is a large diet pepsi. I know, I know.. who would have thought that I'd be drinking something with so many horrible chemicals and substances.. but I learnt through all the food aversions to eat and drink whatever I can.. and pepsi is turning out to be a good friend!). After an hour of nursing (raf eats for a LONG time) he falls back to sleep but will NOT go back to bed... I can wait until he's in a deep sleep and he'll still wake up and protest about going back to bed. So, I either sit with him for a couple of hours or I pop him in the swing where he generally likes to snooze. Around 4:30am I get Rich up to sit with the boy whilst I nip to the gym...
And then it's back again to feed the Raffman, shower, and eat breakfast... hopefully before Rich leaves for work. There are variations.. one of which sees me going back to bed if the wake up call has been super early (i.e. before 3ish)). Another variation is a bike ride.. or me sitting with Rafi on the couch watching everymore TV.
I have watched so much TV, I can barely believe it. Law and Order, Royal Pains, The Listener - are just some of the classics I'm working my way through. Oh, yes, also old episodes of Cheers!
We don;t just watch TV. We do daily doses of tummy time, we go for many walks, sometimes on our own, someimes with Rich and the boys, and sometimes with friends. We usually take a trip out - even if it's just an adventure to Whole Foods. But nonetheless we do a lot of sitting, me with my laptop on the sofa so I can at least keep in contact with the outside world. Unfortunately I generally have only a finger to type with, so the extent of my interaction are profile updates on FB. Yes, I feel a bit of a sad case for that, but frankly I'll take any human contact! Status updates and wall interactions, then, are a bit of a god send!
I'm fast losing the battle with my eyelids so I'll have to stop writing... hopefully this little sleep seal who has AT LAST fallen asleep - is ready for bed. Wish me luck!
Poor baby.
Frankly, he is generally a very easy going little guy. There are, though, some real challenges. The biggest, perhaps, is the challenge of nighttime parenting. We're co-sleeping, which is a lovely, lovely thing. he sleeps in a snuggle nest which sits in the middle of our bed. As the night progresses his body sort of falls out and his little arms and legs flail out touching my own arms and body. He is a noisy sleeper, though, so while he sleeps for good stretches, I wake up constantly making sure he;s okay. Thankfully I don't have to get out of bed for this!
the other issue around night parenting is the negotiation between Rich and I around who does what. Inevitably I am responsible for the majority given that we're nursing and haven't yet expressed and used bottles, but Raf has a hard time falling back to sleep after he's nursed and who gets to deal with that is a thorny issue. Mostly it's been me - as Rich works - but operating on hours of broken sleep is not so good for someone looking after a newborn. all that said, we seem to be developing some routine...
Here's a typical morning:
Raf stirs between 2-4am (sometimes he has a midnight feeding, too) and i get up, change him, take him downstairs (he doesn't love to nurse in bed much to my dismay). I stumble down, pop him in his swing whilst I grab a couple of drinks.. one being iced water, the other (hiding my face in shame) is a large diet pepsi. I know, I know.. who would have thought that I'd be drinking something with so many horrible chemicals and substances.. but I learnt through all the food aversions to eat and drink whatever I can.. and pepsi is turning out to be a good friend!). After an hour of nursing (raf eats for a LONG time) he falls back to sleep but will NOT go back to bed... I can wait until he's in a deep sleep and he'll still wake up and protest about going back to bed. So, I either sit with him for a couple of hours or I pop him in the swing where he generally likes to snooze. Around 4:30am I get Rich up to sit with the boy whilst I nip to the gym...
And then it's back again to feed the Raffman, shower, and eat breakfast... hopefully before Rich leaves for work. There are variations.. one of which sees me going back to bed if the wake up call has been super early (i.e. before 3ish)). Another variation is a bike ride.. or me sitting with Rafi on the couch watching everymore TV.
I have watched so much TV, I can barely believe it. Law and Order, Royal Pains, The Listener - are just some of the classics I'm working my way through. Oh, yes, also old episodes of Cheers!
We don;t just watch TV. We do daily doses of tummy time, we go for many walks, sometimes on our own, someimes with Rich and the boys, and sometimes with friends. We usually take a trip out - even if it's just an adventure to Whole Foods. But nonetheless we do a lot of sitting, me with my laptop on the sofa so I can at least keep in contact with the outside world. Unfortunately I generally have only a finger to type with, so the extent of my interaction are profile updates on FB. Yes, I feel a bit of a sad case for that, but frankly I'll take any human contact! Status updates and wall interactions, then, are a bit of a god send!
I'm fast losing the battle with my eyelids so I'll have to stop writing... hopefully this little sleep seal who has AT LAST fallen asleep - is ready for bed. Wish me luck!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Weekend in Pictures
We had a pretty nice weekend. it began on Friday after Rafi's one month appointment. He is such a BIG boy! On Tuesday the traveling nurse came to weigh him, and he was 9 pounds 15 oz. By friday he was 10 pounds 4.5oz. He is gaining more than a pound a week... what a chuffer he is. On the other hand he's not very long, so Rafi is turning into quite the Buddha baby :)
And then I went on a walk with Kate.. Raf stayed home with Pops. It was my first walk in over a month without a little poppet hanging around my neck!
Here's a few snapshots of the rest of our weekend.. including a trip to Sebago:
This is where Rafi and I spend a lot of our time together.. to my left is my computer, water, remote controls...
Tummy Time!
Check out this strong neck!
Having a breather...
He's almost walking!!
Then we took a trip to the trail and hiked down to Otter Pond where we like to swim...
And then I went on a walk with Kate.. Raf stayed home with Pops. It was my first walk in over a month without a little poppet hanging around my neck!
Here's a few snapshots of the rest of our weekend.. including a trip to Sebago:
This is where Rafi and I spend a lot of our time together.. to my left is my computer, water, remote controls...
Tummy Time!
Check out this strong neck!
Having a breather...
He's almost walking!!
Then we took a trip to the trail and hiked down to Otter Pond where we like to swim...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
photo-shoot
I mentioned a while go that we took Rafi for a newborn photo-shoot. We just received note that the photo proofs are ready to be viewed. If you're interested in looking you can follow the instructions below and take a peek! Let us know which ones you like so we can choose the best to order!
# Go to our webpage at www.demersphotography.com
# From the menu on the left, select Recent Photo Sessions
# Once on the page, there will be a link to the Campbell Portfolio on the right. Click that link.
# That brings you to the log-on page. The username is Campbell and the password is Rafael. Feel free to share this link with anyone you would like to see the photos.
# Go to our webpage at www.demersphotography.com
# From the menu on the left, select Recent Photo Sessions
# Once on the page, there will be a link to the Campbell Portfolio on the right. Click that link.
# That brings you to the log-on page. The username is Campbell and the password is Rafael. Feel free to share this link with anyone you would like to see the photos.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
rafi on his gym
We bought a flip camera yesterday so that even I can take video clips of the poppet. Here he is playing/snoozing on his baby gym. I edited it to a song, which won't play because of copyright. Dang it. Forgive the rough footage and edit.. I'm just getting the hang of it!
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