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Merry Christmas!

Little Cat
Yesterday
1 comment

Hope your day is going as wonderfully as mine is. I love my family.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Team Vox
Yesterday
4 comments

6acardVOX

Happy Holidays to you, your family, friends and neighbors from all of us at Vox.
See you in 2010!

Opening Presents

Petra had a fine time this morning ripping open her parcels and trying to play with everything at once.

Petra 063

Petra 064

Petra 065

It's a sunny, warm Christmas Eve down here in the antipodes. We have guacamole and salad to prepare tomorrow morning and presents to wrap after Petra's gone to bed tonight. But apart from that we are pretty damn organised.

I can't quite believe that the year is ending already. 2009 has run away, disappearing in a rush of relocation and renovation. It's been a full year, and in some ways, a difficult one, but it has given me great pleasure as well. People have died and others have been born. There have been accidents and engagements, illnesses and parties. Travis has had pneumonia, been made redundant from one job, and acquired another one. Petra has changed from a toddling, gurgling baby into a climbing, dancing, talking little girl. I am learning how to make my way in the world as someone's mother while still retaining some sense of my own identity and purpose.

Dunedin is fabulous. I love having my own house and yard. And I'm really enjoying having so much of my family around. All in all, life is good.

Merry Christmas everyone. And a happy healthy prosperous New Year.

Kids and circuits and cocoa and dance

Here are some sketches from last week completed whilst watching one son blow straw bubbles in his hot cocoa and the other son dancing to The Cure in his Hulk costume.

"Kids and circuits" 12/09

"The apple and the ibis" 12/09

"Every knowing tale" 12/09

A tamale pot arrived in the mail, so Christmas plans are officially complete. My sons are determined to find a way into the presents before Christmas. If all those presents stay wrapped and under the tree till Christmas, it will be a miracle.

Colic Update

margotinto
Dec 17, 2009
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Well, with some very helpful advice from our pediatrician, and a multi-fronted, concerted effort by Getalife and myself, it looks like we've been able to take a significant edge off the colic. Here's what we've done so far:

1. Accept that Colic Happens, and try to make the best of it.

2. The first step is getting the colicky episodes during the day, not during the night, when they are 100 times more painful for everyone. This has required keeping the Little Miss awake for a good period of time in the morning and in the afternoon. Generally speaking, she is up with us from about 7-9 every morning, given the hubbub of getting ReRe off to school and Getalife off to work. Then we do the eat, awake, sleep thing until the evening, when we give her a bath and get her good and awake for a while, then she has managed to sleep for 3-4 hour stints through the night. She's still up to feed a few times, but no major crying jags. Knock wood.

3. Don't forget, she might be crying for another reason. It turns out that she is much more sensitive to wet diapers than ReRe was, so we're changing her much more frequently, and she seems to appreciate it.

4. I've also realized that she eats in little spurts, and I have to let her take a few little breaks during each feed, and not assume that she's done because she's stopped eating. This has meant that she is fuller longer, and the feedings have been spaced out more.

5. I also decided to give some Colic medication a try. For whatever reason (can't really remember) I decided to try Infacol, which is a suspension of Simethicone, which basically just breaks up small bubbles into bigger bubbles, which percolate up and let the baby burp easier. It is given three times a day, and it has been working very well. We saw results (i.e BUUUUURRRPP) very quickly, which was great.

So, we're all getting more sleep, and able to spend more time with a baby who is happy to be awake, and becoming more and more fun to play with. Let's hope this lasts!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas....

Little Cat
Dec 17, 2009
2 comments

Hi Everybody! Sorry for disappearing for awhile, but since my sweet baby sleeps 9-10 hours a night, she rarely naps and I can never seem to type well while wearing her in her Baby Bjorn unless she's sleeping. And when I can put her down to sleep in her bassinet, blogging usually isn't the first thing on my list - it's washing my face!
Her personality's really starting to emerge now - what a little character! She laughs now, and seems to have a mischievous streak. Last night I was irked and scolding the dog for something, and Chiyo started to laugh at the poor dog's torment. Today she is three months old, and weighs about 15 lbs. I can't believe how fast she's growing. Here she is in her newest set of photos!

Chiyo1

Chiyo3

Chiyo2

I'm really enjoying being a mom, especially since she started sleeping through the night! It's weird how much I've changed since her birth though. I used to be self-conscious and a bit of a prude, but now I just whip out my boob in a crowded Starbucks to feed her without feeling the slightest hint of shame. At that moment, we were having coffee with a couple of our childless friends who nearly swallowed their tongues with shock, but I really didn't care. Very strange.
We are spending Christmas at home this year with my mom. It's going to be quiet, as my brother and his wife are in Mexico waiting for her Permanent Residence to be approved, my sister, brother-in-law and little nephew will be with BIL's family and not arrive at our house until Boxing Day, and mom's partner is in Trinidad. I'm hoping to make some new traditions for my little Chiyo.

We started going to church for the first time since we moved to the new city, and we're really enjoying it. It's a very small Japanese United Church with a median age of probably 70, so when we slunk in 43 minutes late last week, everyone was so excited to see a young family with a baby, they welcomed us heartily, put our names in the newsletter, and brought us plates of sushi and manju. We loved it, and can't wait to go back! Nearly everyone is nisei or sansei, with only one other ijyusha like my husband, so people were enjoying practicing their Japanese with Dog too.
Oh, someone's little hazel eyes just popped open! Better run!

38 weeks pregnant

Amy 32 weeks pregnant

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I am currently 38 weeks pregnant with baby number two. (Lisa took this picture in her yard in Portland when I was 32 weeks) Sierra Alexandria will be here before I know it! Everything is ready we are just enjoying just being a family of three while it lasts. I am hoping and praying to make it two more weeks so she can be a New Year's baby!

Soren's first snow!

Soren waving

John & Soren at our front gate

We had a blast in our first winter storm of the season. Soren and John built their first snowman and played all morning until Soren was worn out and not to mention cold. (he wouldn't wear mittens) I hope we get a lot of snow this year!

Chilly up to my knees

Whoa, doggies. So much snow here in Flagstaff. 26" last count. That means loads of shoveling and lots of toasty beverages.

big, fat 26" of snow in Flagstaff

I am considering entering the Mail Me Art competition (http://mailmeart.com/going-postal/submit-mail-art/), so I've been dabbling again in (EEK) acrylics. Been a long time since I've tried that medium. What's interesting is that my hand is applying watercolor techniques with acrylics... and I'm digging it. We'll see what happens. It's all school to me - all the foibles and weird experiments are so much fun, and since I can't be in college right now - THIS is my college. Or, maybe this is my built-in excuse for making a lot of tragic painting mistakes, the ones that I can't even stand to look at. Haha.

maybe Mail Me Art?

This next piece is tres' exciting. A completed commission for an incredible family. It is my first portrait - a surreal and joyful one. I really enjoyed working on this.