RJ and his Girlfriends...

During the week, RJ goes to school where he is the youngest in a classroom that goes up to 2.5 years. Part of his morning routine includes sitting on a couch where his two girlfriends join him. He is around four and a half months in this first picture:



He continued his flirtatious ways over the holidays too:


He seems to like older women.

For crying out loud...

For the love of all that is holy, where are those God damn gosh darn teeth already?

Screw you Darwin!

Enter Sandman...

For the first six months we were concerned with RJ's weight gain. His pediatrician recommended we continue to feed him on demand, never going more than five hours without a feed. Combined with pumping breast milk before bed and first thing in the morning -- for the past six months we were operating on six hours of sleep a night with one or two wake up calls. We haven't slept this poorly since college and that takes a toll.


We didn't really intend to institute co-sleeping so long, but when you are sleep deprived, and have a son who fights sleep with all his might, you will do anything to get that motor boatin' son of a bitch to go back to sleep. After his six month checkup in December though, we were back on the weight chart and had doubled his birth weight. That meant with the weight challenge met, we prioritized sleep, specifically sleeping without the parental units, as the next goal.

This is where some expectations were a little misguided. Like eating, I thought sleep would come naturally -- but on the contrary, there are books, many books about different methods for coaxing a screaming infant into blissful slumber. There is the "cry-it-out" school, the "Ferberizing" approach, and the "Gentle" method. This third approach sounded appealing and our pediatrician recommended reading Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West. The library had a copy so it became tops on our holiday reading list.

The basics of it are:

• go to bed earlier, between 7 and 8pm is recommended
  
• establish a regular and consistent night time routine of bath, quiet play, storytime, nursing, etc.
• two or three regular naps during the day is essential to avoid getting overtired
• observe the signals of the sleep window such as rubbing eyes, laying head down, fussiness, red or baggy eyes, and don't wait too long before the second wind kicks in and the window slams shut
  
• avoid sleep crutches like pacifier, picking him up, driving, stroller walks, bouncing, etc.
• provide a lovey, or attachment object, for him to hug (we chose Morgan the flying squirrel for him at first, but he has gotten himself much more attached to carrot and green bean - so he sleeps with one of the two vegetables and Morgan)
  
• parental consistency means not caving in to the screams
• stay in the room and calm and soothe to help baby learn to fall asleep
• establish a regular and consistent wake up time and routine, ideally after 6am, and make it dramatic to symbolize the transition to starting a new day
  

The book is full of examples of couples who in a few days had to deal with 15-20 minutes of crying but then could soothe their baby to sleep. There really wasn't any guidance for what to do when the child is inconsolable and has the stamina to go longer than an hour when his goal (being held by us) was so clearly within his reach if he could only figure out how to squeeze his head through the rails of the crib. "Hey, I've fit through tighter spaces" must have been his rationale for continuing to bang his head against the side of the crib.

We dragged the mattress from our guest bedroom in and prepared for a few all nighters. We ended the stay in the room strategy after a few nights though because it didn't seem effective in calming him down when we were in view. It felt cruel to both him and us.

We revised our method and started trending closer to a Ferberizing approach where we would check on him and remind him to go to sleep but otherwise let him cry in his room. The first night involved almost three hours of crying before he finally gave up. Over the first week it took less and less time for him to recognize that he wasn't going to win the sleep war.

On January 19th, 2008, RJ's seven-month birthday, we popped open the champagne we bought for his birth (finally!) and celebrated three consecutive nights going to bed without a fuss and sleeping straight through until morning. He slept for ten hours allowing us to get a full eight consecutive hours. Yay!

He's still not a perfect little sleeper. There are some nights where he still cries a little before falling asleep and a few mornings where he is up a little early -- but mostly this seems to be during fits of teething and when the Tylenol wears off.

RJ's First Christmas

This year RJ was introduced to the joys of Christmas. The good food, the sharing of family stories (and colds), and of course the presents.

We were fortunate this year to have an extended period of time to visit back East. DreamWorks closed the office between Christmas and New Years again this year and with paid family leave I transformed 3 vacation days into 16 paid days off. A very hectic fall semester came to a close and left a few weeks before winter term starts back up in January. We were cleared for travel.

We've had some crazy trips in the past, including 8 airplanes in 11 days while traveling in Australia/New Zealand, but this was probably one of the most difficult trips we've had. The trip down to Hollywood wasn't bad and deceived us into thinking travel with baby was easy, but a weekend getaway doesn't scale well when applied to a two week trip for the holidays. Fortunately, we had those 16 days, and an extra 3 days prior to departure to get things settled at home while packing.

The cruel joke that is teething was an issue from the very first day. While we were flying RJ started feeling a little warm to the touch. He was very lethargic and just slept the whole trip. We flew into Pittsburgh and after getting lost due to construction, yes, we got lost in Pittsburgh -- and it would happen a few more times -- we made it to Uncle Jim and Aunt Helen's sometime after midnight. RJ was running a little fever - 102.1, and while we still had some Christmas shopping to do, we spent the first day and a half never leaving the house doped up on Tylenol. RJ who had been a pretty good cereal eater was refusing it, and was fussy and unhappy. The drool and other signs indicated that whether a coincidence or perhaps cabin pressure kick-started it, some teething was happening and his schedule was all out of whack.

We credit the breast milk and good genes to avoiding illness in RJ's first 6 months of life. Other than the surgery, he has been considered the healthiest one in his class. The teething soon turned into stuffiness as a cold settled in. The cold was a nuisance, but he did manage to avoid catching the pneumonia and ear infections of those around us.

Franklin Regional, Lance's high school, never had 5 or 10 year reunions but a grassroots effort resulted in a get together at a local restaraunt/bar in Murrysville. Uncle Jim, Aunt Helen, and Grandma D arrived and provided babysitting services. RJ may have given them some trouble with a bit of separation anxiety, but it allowed Mommy and Daddy to slip away for a little while to go to the party. It was very well attended but had two unfortunate issues: Pennsylvania still allows smoking indoors (heathens) and Cheryl started coming down with a cold; aches, chills, sore throat, and a cough. This cold persisted for both Cheryl and RJ throughout the remainder of our holiday. There was a 3 and a half day stretch where we didn't leave the house in Buffalo trying to get everyone healthy again.


Despite the cold, RJ started adjusting to the new environments and resumed his normal social and charming self. We celebrated Christmas early in Pittsburgh, drove up to Buffalo Christmas Eve for Wigilia. Then there was Christmas morning at Grammie Carola's, and a late Christmas when Luke and Amy got to Buffalo, and yet another Christmas with Cheryl's father. Like all babies at this age, the paper ripping and eating was seemingly more exciting than the presents inside. He certainly had a lot of opportunities spread out over the week to open, and tried to help mommy and daddy, Grammie and cousins open theirs too.

It was nice that RJ got to interact with his many cousins and relatives. One of my favorite comments from Christmas was my cousin Sarah (who's 12) saying that she wanted one of RJ's toys for herself because baby toys were so much fun. So RJ wasn't the only one enjoying his toys!
For New Years we stayed in with Uncle Luke, Aunt Amy and RJ even got to kiss Grammie Carola at midnight.

Heading home was no easier. We had to drive through an Erie blizzard to get back to Pittsburgh on New Years day. We decided to upgrade a suitcase while in Buffalo, buying the 27" Swiss brand bag so our car was pretty full and uncomfortable for the drive. We made it though and when we checked our 3 bags in weighing 49 pounds a piece we were anxious to get home and out of the cold. Our return flight was supposed to have one stop, but they changed the flights on us without warning. We were awarded with an extra stopover in Phoenix. When you are carrying on two backpacks, two laptops, a baby, a baby seat and stroller -- the last thing you want to do is get on and off the plane 3 times. This is likely what led to our car seat handle being broken and losing a wallet. This was not a good start to 2008, but after a week of adjusting back home life was getting back to normal.

Check out more Christmas Pictures here.

Sitting and Mimicking Rock Stars

RJ has been developing like mad the last couple of weeks. He's clearly teething, as evidenced by the fountain of drool spewing from his mouth (and crankiness). No pearly whites yet, but we're sure they're coming soon!

What's even more exciting is his ability to sit all by himself (for pretty long too - at least 10 minutes when he wants to) and make noises that sound more and more like words and conversation.

This video is particularly cute - you can see that he's mimicking the intonation of the phrase and doing a good job sitting up. Just wait til you hear what he "says".

Shrek the Halls...

Tonight on ABC at 8pm you can watch Shrek the Halls, our holiday special. Unfortunately due to the tv format my name won't be listed but I'll make it on the dvd.

It has been getting good reviews and of course includes the dronkeys.

I'm Thankful for Momma's Boobies

You might say that Thanksgiving isn't too exciting for a 5 month old. After all, Thanksgiving is a holiday based on the gluttonous consumption of solid foods.



But we chose this Thanksgiving to introduce RJ to the wonderful world of solid foods. Rice Cereal certainly isn't Duck or Stuffing or Pumpkin Pie, but it's a start. Plus, since he's breastfed, he got all the Thanksgiving goodies reconstituted anyway.

Here is a video of his first "big boy" meal. Feeding a baby is never a clean and orderly undertaking, but I was actually impressed with the amount of cereal that made it to his tummy rather than his face or the bib or the tray. He seemed really ready for the experience.

How did we know he was ready? Well, the incessant reaching for our food and pouting when he didn't get it was a clue. For the last few weeks, he has been really interested in our food and his teachers reported that he was very interested in the other children's snacks. Interest is usually a good indicator that a child is developmentally ready for solids. He has also started teething. He drools and chews on everything (our thumbs, his toys, even his own feet). We haven't seen any pearly whites yet, but all signs point to them showing up sometime in the not-to-distant future. And he's been sitting more and more independently by the day, which is another prerequisite to eating solid food in the high chair. So all signs were pointing to solid foods, which our pediatrician had said that we could start when RJ showed interest. We originally had wanted to wait until he was 6 mos. old, which is the general recommendation of the AAP for exclusively breastfed babies, but we wanted to start before heading across the country for the holidays, so that we weren't introducing something new while traveling. Plus, he was so interested, that we figured starting slow, with only a little would be good for him.

More Thanksgiving Pics here:

Michele's Visit

The week before Thanksgiving, we had a much welcomed house guest! Michele (one of my favorite sorority sisters) was presenting at a conference in nearby Monterey and spent a few days with us and getting to know RJ.

We took RJ to our neighborhood park one afternoon and visited a Livermore winery on another.





On one of our days around town we went to Berkeley. We went to Bette's Ocean View for brunch and Kirala for dinner. Along the way RJ had a meal at the Berkeley Bowl Super Market and our most exciting adventure was a hunt for tree people. What are tree people you ask?

For those who haven't heard, here is an article on the latest developments to the story that has entertained us for a year now. UC Berkeley wants to build a new sports complex, but to do so required cutting down a couple trees. Being Berkeley, people have been living in the trees for the past year to protect them. If I was at Berkeley, I totally would've joined them! It looked like so much fun to camp out in a tree. It came up in the news again recently when somebody fell out of one as described on SFist:

"He was trying to get out of the tree, via a traverse line, to visit his poppa waiting down below. But it seems that he was not, in fact, on the line, and then took a nasty fall while trying to ride the non-existent traverse. Ouch. According to NBC 11, "Hill said although he does not want to place blame he believes the accident would not have happened if the university had not put up a fence around the grove." Oh, come now. One, if Hill hadn't been 40 feet up high in a tree to begin with, succumbing to the temptations of gravity, he wouldn't have fallen. Two, he "thought he was connected to a traverse line but he was mistaken." So? It's your fault, you sexy, klutzy bear."
As always clicking on the pictures leads you to more pictures in the album.

RJ's First Halloween

RJ is one lucky boy. He actually got to have TWO Halloween costumes, thanks to our good friends at Target and UPS. Delivered in 3-5 days, yeah right! The tracking said that the costume spent two days in Oakland (~45 miles away from us) before going out for delivery! So on Monday night, on the eve of RJ's Halloween parade at school, Lance stopped at a costume store and picked up a chili pepper.

Even though it was not our first choice of costumes, it apparently was the, "best costume in the class". According to Teacher Amanda, it was apparently a big hit among the many campus departments visited by his Infant/Toddler class.

Then finally on Halloween, his "real" costume arrived, just in time for Trick or Treating. He was a Dronkey. If you're saying, "A what??? he's a drunk? huh?" then clearly you didn't pay attention when you were helping Lance get his bonus by watching Shrek the Third last May. A Dronkey is the offspring of Dragon and Donkey, who fell in love during the first Shrek and apparently had babies by the time Shrek the Third rolled around. He was taken Trick or Treating by Silent Bob and Momma, who wore Shrek ears but didn't dress up because she had a killer cold and didn't have the energy to.

He even held his own little bag that his teachers at school made him.

And he got a good amount of loot even though we took him to only a few of our neighbors.
For the rest of the Halloween pictures, click here or on any of the pictures in the blog.

Second Credit...

The next movie is set for release Nov 2. I think you'd have to not read magazines (Time, Forbes), newspapers (NY Times, Washington Post), watch tv (the office, 30 rock, chuck, etc.), drive (billboards), go to the movies (cutouts), eat out (McDonalds), or shop (cereal, etc.) if you didn't know that already.

Anyway, today was the friends and family screening so RJ got to see his first movie. He was awake for the entire movie, only spending part of it eating. Even as he was eating, he would unlatch and crane his little neck to see the action on the big screen. And then, he'd realize that he was still hungry and latch back on again. When he was done eating, he sat on Cheryl's lap and watched intently as all the brightly colored characters interacted on the big screen. He particularly enjoyed the credits, which featured a little bee buzzing around and of course his daddy's name.

For those of you interested in the things I do at work since I usually can't talk about it, there are some videos online that give you a bit of the behind the scenes. Since this is all on the web anyway I'll just point you to the right places.

Seinfeld did a series of what they're calling TV Juniors. If you watch the one called "Eat Sleep Drink Animation" you can see my department's building in the background -- "Riverside". That's in Glendale however so I only go there a few times a year.

There is also a new Dreamworks Animation website. The reason I'm telling you this is not only to subject you to flash, but if you click on "Studio" and then "A Day in the Life" you can watch some humorous videos of the various departments and get a glimpse of the cube farms where I work. I work very closely with the "Completion", "Character Technical Director", "Animation", and "Department Technical Director" departments.

Oh, and RJ and I both have converse shoes now. Mine are a company purchase as a shout out to the converse-like shoes worn by Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld's bee character in the movie), and RJ's are brown.

Knock Knock...

RJ has a new first! He can now laugh out loud. We're just not entirely sure what he finds funny.

His first laugh was in response to me saying, "...and Momma got nothing done..", when I was picking him up at school. (I went to breakfast with a friend that day.) I don't remember what elicited the second time, but I was trying to recreate the laugh for Lance, so it's possible that the same phrase worked again. Then the third time, I simply asked him to laugh and he obliged with a small laugh for the video camera:



More recently, he spit up on my shoulder - missing the burp rag and his bib entirely, and then laughed at me all covered in spit up.

So who knows what babies find funny? We can't wait to hear him laugh again!

RJ's Four Month Update

On Friday, October 19, 2007, RJ crossed 4 months. On his 4 month birthday, he weighed in at 10 lbs., 13 ounces. He's still gaining about an ounce a day on average. His doctor, who we saw on Tuesday was happy with his gain. He's still just under the chart for his age (about the 5th percentile), but he's at the 25th percentile for his height (24.5 inches) and head circumference (41 cm). And when we were at the doctor, RJ was a real trooper about getting his four immunization shots. Thankfully, the nurse was really fast; I think she was done in under 30 seconds. He of course cried, but only briefly.



According to "What to Expect the First Year" by the end of the 4th month RJ should be able to:

* lift head up 90 degrees - check
* laugh out loud - check
* follow an object in an arc about 6 inces above the face for 180 degrees - check

and may be able to:

* hold head steady when upright - check
* on stomach, raise chest - check
* roll over - check
* grasp a rattle - check
* reach for an object - check
* squeal in delight - check
* keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - check
* turn in the direction of a voice - check
* say ah-goo or similar vowel consonant combinations - check
* bear some weight on legs when held upright - check
* turn in the direction of a voice - check
* sit without support - not yet
* object if you try to take a toy away - check

RJ has really started to play with his toys. He can even hold the balls briefly - and they're hard to hold! He really examines them - both with his eyes and with his mouth. I love watching how intensely he examines the toys. It's amazing to watch him explore the world. As you can see in the video, he also watches when one of us or the cats moves around. It's a lot easier for him to play now that he's easily propped into a sitting position. He really likes sitting and works really hard at it sometimes. If he slouches over, he will try to get back up. It probably won't be long before he can sit all by himself.



Also, as you saw in a previous post, RJ has also hit a new vocal milestone. He still coos and gurgles, but he now laughs from time to time too. It is the most adorable sound I've ever heard! In another few months he'll really start babbling.

More pictures and videos from this month.

Pumpkin Maze

This weekend we took RJ to the Dell'Osso Family Farm Annual Pumpkin Maze. At the farm they have a number of neat seasonal attractions. The highlight was the massive Corn Maze. It really is a piece of art that you can wander around in, Labyrinth style. They even have 4 bridges to climb up so you can get more of an aerial view of the maze.



There was also a Haunted House - it was a little loud, and dark, and a little startling at times, but not really scary. And of course who wouldn't enjoy the pumpkin blaster? For the uninitiated, it's an air canon that allows you to shoot mini pumpkins at various seasonal targets. It's a lot of fun to watch the pumpkin guts fly.


And of course there are pumpkins that are way bigger than our son. We let him inspect his first pumpkin. He seemed quite interested in looking at the big round orange things!

Onesie up...

A few weekends ago we went to one of the central valley's finest towns -- Modesto, CA. Some of Modesto's claims to fame include worst air quality in the country, highest car theft per capita, home of Scott Peterson, and birth place of George Lucas.

To learn more about our destination we popped American Graffiti in the dvd player. This early Lucas treat was set in Modesto and even makes reference to Turlock High (as in Turlock, 14 miles south of Modesto where Cheryl works).


Anyway, we went to Modesto for "California's Largest Garage Sale". The sale had been advertised on the radio for weeks. Since RJ started busting out of his clothes, we decided it was time to expand his wardrobe. Modesto was a bust, and the "largest" claim was clearly overblown.

This is one of those things that seems obvious, but babies will outgrow their clothes before wearing them out. That makes yard sales an easy way to pick up otherwise expensive clothes for as little as a quarter per item. I set up a little RSS feed to search craigslist for any garage sales in the surrounding towns that have baby items. We spent the past few weekends stopping at these garage sales and did rather well--especially once we started targeting better neighborhoods than Modesto.

For example, this weekend we spent $40 on all the stuff pictured. We got a big Madagascar Alex play mat to fit with our nursery theme. We picked up 9 barely used Gap Kids socks -- our favorite brand. We picked up a jean jacket, an arizona fleece jacket, 2 button down gap kids shirts, a bunch of nighties, a brand new winter bunting with the tag still on it ($28 retail), a brand new pair of converse shoes never worn ($24 retail), a pair of sandals that were worn maybe once, and a bunch more.

Last weekend we were in Tracy and Livermore where for $30 we picked up a bunch of bibs, hats, a few pair of jeans, a few nighties with their tags still on, overalls, blue hoodie (the San Francisco essential), nighties, etc.

Not only can you find clothes, you can also find lead-free toys. A quick run through the dishwasher or sink with soapy water makes them play worthy. In fact, at one yard sale in Livermore after taking a look at RJ and his charming smile the woman just told us to take whatever he wanted. Can't complain about free toys.

Back to School

Some of you may already be aware, but I started taking computer science classes to work toward a Masters degree last year. Not only do I get to take these free thanks to Cheryl being a professor, but enrollment put my federal loans into automatic deferment.

Last winter semester I took two CS classes in addition to our birthing class. Combined with my 50 hour work week and 2+ hours commuting each day it was a bit much. I took it a little easier in the spring semester by taking Drawing 101 (which you may be surprised to learn doesn't count toward my degree).



I took the summer off to adjust with RJ. My course this semester is Data Communications and Networking and taught entirely online. That should give me the flexibility of schedule that I need. While it is not as much fun as drawing, I am also taking a Screen Writing class through work, playing flag football and street hockey.

You may not hear from me again until December.

RJ's Three Month Update

On Wednesday, September 19, RJ turned 3 months old. Unfortunately, it has taken me almost a month to compile the pictures and video from Month 3 to blog about it so imagine the rest of this post to be from a month ago.

In Month 3 we went to Hollywood, Napa Valley and the Lodi Grape Festival, and RJ has had his first babysitter and started school. More importantly he's gaining more weight. He's still small for his age (he's still catching up from the surgery setback), but he's gaining steadily on average of about an ounce a day.

Here's a chart of his daily growth up through his 3 month birthday (where he was 9 lbs and 4 oz) . We started weighing him almost every day since mid-August.
In his third month, he's also started doing some pretty neat stuff.

He has gotten consistently better at holding his head up and he has been rolling over! He first did this about a month ago, but it's really only been consistent recently. I actually was lucky enough to catch his first roll on video, completely by accident. It can be argued that he wasn't fully on his tummy in the video, but since then we have definitely witnessed bona fide rolling over without the help of not being fully situated on his tummy.

We have also discovered the fun of playing "superman", which is good for fostering neck strength. We'll keep playing this game until he inevitably spits up all over me. (He has quite the talent for spitting up.)

Over this last month RJ has been interacting more and more with his toys since his motor control has increased and he has figured out how his hands work. He likes to "talk" to Blue Dog and Lion and he likes to hold onto monkey's ears and feel monkey's knit texture. We also play with the blocks that GG Ho! Ho! gave him. I stack them and RJ knocks them over! This started by accident, like most activities in the second substage of the Sensorimotor Period of development (Piaget, 1966). In this stage, infants typically engage in behaviors by accident or due to a reflex, but then are able to repeat the action through somewhat voluntary means.

We still can't get over what a great baby we have. He has his fussy periods (and even fussy days from time to time), but he really is a pretty happy baby. He's also a very active baby who is alert a great amount of the time. Our biggest challenge is getting him to sleep, but at least he figured out the day vs. night distinction this month. His sleep is concentrated more at night than during the day. We're also still working on getting him scheduled - our mornings are at least getting better - he usually wakes up right around the time we're ready for him - 6:15. But there are days when he's up earlier or we have to wake him up at 6:15 so we can get out the door!

For more pictures and video from Month 3, just click on any of the pictures.

Adventures of a Working Mom: RJ's First Day of School

Well, I'm not crazy about my new station in life as a "working mom". I much preferred being a "stay at home mom" this summer. Life was a lot less hectic, and I got more sleep, and well it's a lot more fun to play with RJ than planning and delivering lectures and attending faculty committee meetings and writing my review portfolio (more on that later).

The First Week of Classes

Classes started on 9/5. However, the Child Development Center, where RJ will spend his mornings while Momma is in class, didn't open until 9/10, which added a whole new level of complexity to my first week back since I had RJ a lot more than I normally will and hence didn't really get a good start because I was basically getting the bare minimum done and not getting ahead at all. Lance took Tuesday and Friday off and watched RJ while I was in meetings and class, between which I breastfed. Then Erika watched RJ for a few hours on Wednesday and Thursday when I was in class. It was hard to fit feedings in around all those beginning of the semester faculty meetings, especially since RJ usually takes about 40 minutes - 1 hour to eat (mostly because he likes to nurse). Last week we were not on a schedule at all, so he would be ready to eat when I wasn't or wouldn't be ready when I was. I really prefer feeding on demand, but it's a little too hard with having a real world schedule.

The Schedule

So this week we're trying to establish the following schedule, and so far, RJ has been fairly cooperative.

5am - Cheryl wakes up, pumps, showers, and gets dressed and ready for the day and runs around packing up any of RJ's stuff that she forgot to the night before. Lance either sleeps if RJ is asleep, or keeps RJ distracted until it's time for feeding.
6:15 - Lance changes RJ's diaper and gets him dressed for the day.
6:30 - Cheryl attempts to eat a bowl of cereal while feeding RJ
7/7:15 - Cheryl and RJ leave
8ish - Cheryl drops RJ off at the CDC
8:30 - Cheryl pumps
9:30 - RJ drinks 4 ounces of previously frozen boobie milk at school
10:30 (MWF) Cheryl pumps
11:10 (TR) Cheryl pumps
12:30 - Cheryl picks up RJ and feeds him
1:30 (TR) Cheryl takes RJ home
1:30 (MF) Erika watches RJ
2:00 (W) Erika watches RJ
3:30 - Cheryl feeds RJ or if she has meetings, Erika feeds RJ 4 ounces of frozen boobie milk and Cheryl pumps between meetings
4:00 (W) Erika leaves
4:30/5 - (MF) Erika leaves
5 - Cheryl and RJ leave school
6:30pm - 5am RJ is fed on demand - but we try to feed him one last time before bed at about 10/10:30 - he usually likes to eat every two hours after his 6:30 feed until he goes to sleep. Once he's asleep I only feed him when he wakes up - which is still variable - or 6:30am if he wakes up between 5 and 6:30.

This schedule seems to be working so far. It's not perfect, but it does minimize how much I have to pump in order to keep RJ exclusively breastfed like he is at the moment and I'm not away from him all day long. (It's hard enough not being with him in the mornings and MWF afternoons!)

Keep the boobie milk flowing!

Why don't I pump more and see RJ less during the day(and hence get more done)? The first reason is that fresh breastmilk is better than frozen, so if I can feed directly, I will. The second reason is that RJ's saliva actually tells my breasts what he needs most, so the milk is dynamic to meet his ever changing needs. The third reason is that RJ is better at getting his fill from my breasts than the breast pump. We've determined that RJ eats about 4 ounces a feed, but in a pumping session, I usually only get 3 ounces at best, but I'm getting better. So I've determined that I need to pump twice in the morning when he's at school, eating once, to replenish the supply. This also means that I do get a little surplus in case he goes through a growth spurt and needs two feeds or more than 4 ounces at a feed at school (I give them 8 ounces of frozen milk every morning).

The CSU Stanislaus Child Development Center ("The CDC")

The CDC is a great place for young children. It's run by the Child Development Program that I teach in, and one of my colleagues is the director of the center in addition to her workload as a professor (she does have a reduced course load to allow time for running the CDC). It is one of a kind in that all of the teachers are students working on their degrees. In fact, along with their paid "internships" as teachers, their CDC experience is also a course, where their assignments are their weekly lesson plans and the state-required assessments of the children. The positions are very competitive, so I know that RJ has top notch care. In his classroom there is at least a 3:10 teacher:child ratio maintained at all times. The school also serves as a lab for the university. Many courses (including mine) require observations of the children from the observation booth (which parents also have access to). And some lab courses require that students enter the classroom and work with the children, performing assessments or experiments to aid in their understanding of child development. These students, along with students earning fieldwork credit increase the ratio even further.
RJ is the youngest in his infant/toddler class, with the next youngest being 9 mos. old and the oldest are 2 years old.


RJ's First Day of School

RJ had his first day of school on Monday. He seems to really like school and he has responded well to his teachers, who all adore him. This picture is of RJ on his very first day with Krishawn, his head teacher on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. He behaved very well, and even gave Krishawn a spit-free day (we have them from time to time - but they're not common, especially when he sucks down a bottle!). He even managed to come home in the same outfit he started out in, despite the fact that he did not give Krishawn a poo-free day.
He was happy when I picked him up and Krishawn told us that he really enjoyed watching all the other children play and enjoyed falling asleep in the snugli on their walk. It certainly won't be long until he's playing right with the other children, and he will learn so much from them! The other children are all very interested in their littlest playmate and seem to be playing very nicely with him when he's accessible. All in all, I think RJ will really enjoy being at the CDC, and I will tolerate being at work and look forward to being a stay-at-home-mom again next summer!

Labor Day Wine Tour

Labor Day was a fun adult day. Our friends Izzy & Jaime, who we haven't seen since we left Boston, were in the area, and they organized a limo tour of Napa Valley where we (us, them, and another couple they know from grad school) tasted at 5 wineries in 5 hours. So, we brought my breast pump, a slew of RJ's frozen boobie milk, and our trusty babysitter, Erika. We went in the limo and RJ had a nice relaxing day with Erika at the Embassy Suites, where Izzy was able to check in early.

It was worth all that pumping I did on top of feeding RJ directly - the wine was fantastic and we had a fantastic time. Remember that for approximately the last year I've been pregnant or breastfeeding. So, I have no tolerance whatsoever. And Mumm Vineyards, our first stop, was generous in their tastings of mostly sparkling wine. And we hadn't eaten lunch yet. And we thought it was a good idea to crack open the complementary bottle of Korbel that came with the limo on the way there. Needless to say, I felt a little tipsy throughout the day!

We also sampled wines at .....V. Sattui, Freemark Abbey, Chimney Rock, and Signorello. That's five more of the 111 wineries that do public tastings down.

Once we were finished with the tour, we were reunited with our little cutie, I joined Izzy & Jaime in a dip in the hotel pool, we drank more wine from the hotel's open bar, and then drove around Napa looking for a sushi restaurant, but couldn't find it and ended up at a Mexican restaurant instead.

Amy & Luke's Wedding Photography

Recently, Amy & Luke's Photographer posted their proofs online. There are a few cute pictures of RJ and even a family portrait of the three of us. And there are a bazillion gorgeous pictures of the bride and groom of course!

There are 505 pictures. But, if you are RJ-centric, he's in photos 95, 96 (p. 4), 166 (p.7), 235 - 237 (p.10). He's also in all the family and some of the wedding party shots. Click here for the album.

Enjoy!

RJ Goes to Hollywood

Lance had to fly down to the Glendale DreamWorks Studio to meet with some people for his current project and since he could choose the day, and we've never spent any time in Southern California, Lance booked RJ and I a cheap flight to Burbank, and we flew down the Friday before labor day, just in time for Lance's first morning meeting. An added bonus was that our flights weren't even close to being full, so RJ got his own seat for free instead of being a lap infant, so he got his first window seat.

While Lance was working hard, RJ and I were hardly working as we spent the morning at Griffith Park, which is home to Mt. Lee, which is best known as the land which boasts the Hollywood sign. We found a quiet, shady area and RJ discovered grass for the first time. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching the leaves gently rustle against the sky and even tracked a distant airplane flying across the sky! He also enjoyed grabbing the grass with his tiny little fists. I was hoping to spot my idol, Lauren Graham, since she is known to walk her dog in Griffith Park, but the 90+ morning temps probably kept her away, or she was in one of the other 4209 acres of the park. Once we were bored of grass, we met Daddy for lunch at DreamWorks and then checked into the hotel in Hollywood.

Once Lance was done working, we decided to spend the weekend focusing on Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Among the highlights were that in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater, RJ got to see how much he needs to grow to match the Governator's shoe size.

We also walked RJ down the Walk of Fame where he got to visit the stars of Mister Rogers, Dr. Suess, among some others that Momma liked (i.e. John Lennon). We had dinner at Farmer's Market, (which for you East Coasters, is a bit like Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall area with all the food vendors and shops) and lunch at Pink's (the hot dog stand of the stars). Unfortunately, due to the heat wave (100+ degree days!), we didn't do a whole lot of walking. Instead, we drove around the sights in the rental car. We went up Mulholland Drive to see the view then drove down Melrose and into Beverly Hills, where we drove down Rodeo Drive. Then we hit the Sunset Strip before heading to Burbank where we sat in a cafe until heading to the airport.

RJ also got to eat at some interesting places. He of course got to eat in the hotel room, but also got to eat at DreamWorks, Farmers Market, and various places in the car, such as Griffith Park, in the airport/airplane, and as pictured here, behind the Beverly Hills sign in Beverly Gardens Park.

This isn't as much as we normally would see in a trip, but considering we had an 11 week old with us who needed to breastfeed frequently (he was going through a growth spurt at the time as well!) and 100 degree heat, I don't think we did too bad! If you click on any of the pictures here, you'll be linked to the whole Hollywood album.