Time has passed. We have a daughter!

Claire was born Aug 25 2009, 11:35pm at Oakland Kaiser. We were supposed to have her at Kaiser Walnut Creek, where I was being seen and where John was born. I went in, two days late, for a non-stress test and then an ob/gyn appointment to discuss if we should induce. At the test, the ultrasound showed I was seriously low fluid and my blood pressure was up. They were afraid I had pre-eclampsia (eclampisia is the cause of most childbed maternal deaths in the US). So, they wanted me monitored in a delivery unit. Unfortunately, the Walnut Creek unit was totally full. They told us to drive to Oakland and check in there. We had to go fast, and we couldn't drop by home and drop off John, who was with us! So we went. I didn't feel like I was dying, and I've has false high blood pressure before, but as we drove I started having mild contractions 5 minutes apart. I thought it was "false" labor. I went into triage and they hooked me up to fetal monitors and took my blood. I was there for several hours. They checked my cervix, 1 centameter dialated, which can be that way for weeks before birth. While there my blood pressure is perfect, but my fluid is low. I want to be induced and be done with it. my contractions get worse and closer together. Finally, I'm screaming through them, still insisting its false labour!
After hours I'm told my bloodwork is fine and I can go home. John has been runing around the hospital causing trouble, being loud and taking daddy away, leaving me laboring alone in the empty triage (empty except for a early pregnancy low class woman with a cough they think is TB, great, yelling and crying at her cell phone, and complaining if John is making any noise). I had been screaming through contractions 2 minutes apart so before I am discharged, I ask them to check my cervix again. 5 cm in 1 hour! They rush me to delivery as I am now in precipitus labour. I'm in lots of pain now, and they are delayed getting the anetheologist, he's in with a C-section. I'm screaming and john is passed out finally at 5pm, needing a nap. He slept until I finally got an epidural, then he woke up and got kicked out by the guy stabbing me in the back, and Charles has yo go with him. I get the epidural alone. I had a very kind nurse who let me lean on her while they tried to steady me. The epidural has to go in during very strong contractions and I can't control myself from writhing in pain. Finally, the epidural is done and I feel 90% better. My mom finally comes for John (we were supposed to call her, but Charles kept holding off, thinking we would be sent home). I was fine until about 9 when my light epidural wore off and I was screaming and writhing again, while the doctors were saying its not possible it wore off. Finally, a worried nurse runs and gets the senior anethelogist and he's a great guy.He asks if I think I can push with a complete epidural and I said I know I can, I did so with John. So he injects into my epi catheter tube (its very very thin and taped to my back). I'm numb to my toes. Perfect! I'm happy for an hour, and then

The phantom Puker

How did this happen? I was watching TV and mindlessly patting and burping Claire. She didn't burp. She didn't make a sound. I noticed I was cold. When I looked down and she had puke on her face, nose, ears, hair, the burp rag, the shirt under the burp rag, my neck my hair. She looks up and her eyes say, "what? who came in here and barfed all over us?"
How did I not notice?
Until the puke got cold. On my neck..

Things John Says That Confuse Me

Really, these are things for which I have no good explanation.

patootie: I am a patootie. So is mamma. How we got this status is beyond me. Neither of us use that particular word. I could see 'touchis' or 'backside.' we usually just say 'butt.'

ghosts / monsters: OK, I understand that he's going to 'see' monsters and ghosts and stuff at his age. He will look into a dark room and say 'there's a ghost in there.' I say 'is the ghost happy or sad or angry?' He'll answer 'happy' and I say 'no problem then. if it's a happy ghost then just say hi ghost.' He looks back in and says 'hi ghost!' I'm confused because I'm not sure what to do if he starts saying that the ghost is angry or sad.

Addendum to 'monsters': Sometimes John tells us that he has monsters in his eyes. We ask if they're happy or sad or angry. I'm not sure how he can tell, but he knows.

doodie: this is another one that he didn't get from us. He also seems to understand the word in context, as in: 'You have doodie in your butt.' My confusion is in two parts (1) how did he know and (2) why is that so funny.

mackers: for macaroni and cheese. I don't know where he learned it, but it's cute.

Working, I'm working!

So John keeps watching me (dad) working on my schoolwork. I sit at the desk in the spare room, typing away on my laptop, checking books and so on.

Watching me type is apparently better than playing with any of his toys.

He especially likes to come over and sit on my lap and try to grab the keyboard and mouse. After "the incident" (go ahead, ask me why my laptop is missing 5 keys... ) I don't let him type.

Yesterday I was working on a paper and got up to refill my coffee. When I came back, John was in my chair trying to make the mouse do something. I said "Hey John, come over here."

"I'm busy, I'm working. Go away."

They start so young these days.

Bug House

in progress

lawerence hall of science

in progress

Oh Mama!

I was watching the first prime-time presidential address one night (I tivo'ed it) and I decided to teach John about presidents. I pointed to the TV and I said, "John, do you know who that is?" and he said 'its OH Mama". I said, that's our new president, President Obama. and John said "President Omama" Now he says it whenever he sees Obama on TV.

saying "eeeeeee"

John was excited tonight when Daddy came home from work. He has been getting more anxious about us going to work/school lately, I guess because we are working 5 days a week again. I stayed home with John and Charles went to work.
When Charles came back, John started running around the house. He was running back and forth across the length of the living room yelling "eeeeeeh! eeeeeeh!"
It was getting annoying so I stopped John and said "What are you doing? (angry tone of voice)"
and John replied " saying "eeee." Then he went upstairs.
Charles said to me well, ask a stupid question...

#2's first photos!

We went in for our first gynecological checkup Monday. The blood work I took two weeks ago came out normal, including some screening tests for genetic problems. They took an ultrasound in the office, so its not that clear. I'll post the image when I get it scanned. The nurse measured the length of the embryo and it appears younger than my last menstrual period would predict by about one week. So, I must have conceived toward the end of my cycle, rather than the middle. The new due date is then August 23, 2009.

My next appointment is in 6 weeks, and they will test my blood again, this time for downs syndrome and neural tube problems in the fetus. I will also be tested for blood sugar.

March 29th, a Sunday, is my next ultrasound. This is the detailed one done with a special machine, and will hopefully show the gender.

Croup? Like for Chickens?

For the past week John has been sick. He has had a sore throat, very nasty thick nasal drip and a deep barking cough. The cold seems stuck in his larynx, giving John a deep raspy voice. The internet tells me this is croup. He's getting better now, but I had to cancel a playdate with Lily last Saturday, which disappointed John (and Lily). The cough was especially bad at night. For the first two night, it would scare him and he'd cry and then his cough would get even worse. Now he says Go away cough! Go away snots! He can blow his own nose now, but he doesn't like it.

Free day at the Academy of Sciences (is not worth the money)

This last Wednesday, we tried to get up early and go to the new California Academy of Science, which has been under construction for the past 5 years and just recently opened up. Its a new eco building, with a green roof, as you can see. Admission is $25 and $12 for children so we thought we would go on the once a month free day. It seems everyone in the Bay Area also wanted to not pay $25, as there was a line around the building and down the park, out of golden gate and down the road. We never did find the end of the line. It was literally the worst line I've ever seen.
We had already bundled ourselves and John up and drove down, paying bridge and parking, so we went the the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park instead. John ran around a lot and made friends with a girl his age. They tore around together and climbed inside the Zen Rock Garden exhibit, throwing rocks. That got John a time out and he had a temper tantrum (dad's note: the girl's mom and I watched them walk up a flight of stairs, and we started following them. When we got to the top of the steps they were GONE! We couldn't believe how fast they were! Finally after about 2-3 mins. we found them behind the barrier, as mom noted)
.

John liked climbing this bridge. He climbed it 3 times, with only minimal help from dad (mostly spotting to make sure he didn't fall).
After a few hours, it was time to go home. John had a nap to take and Charles and I had to go to work.
Next time I decide to go to the Academy, I'll plan to pay!

Winter Fairyland

We went to the special winter Fairyland. They decorated the place for Christmas, and were open until 7pm. They had Santa and a dwarf elf there to see for free (well, for the price of admission). It was waaayy better than some sleazy mall Santa visit. There was plenty to play and climb on, plus some large slides, tame baby rides, and animals to look at.

John remembered this dragon from our visit on Halloween and ran to it saying hi dragon! he has a long serpentine body with bumps to sit on and climb on.

This guy blows bubbles and the babies like to stand under him and catch bubbles. He's toward the entrance, near the long dragon.

We looked at all the pretty lights and ran around and rode some rides, but John wouldn't even enter the chapel where Santa was posted. He's sick of churches. when we made him go in, he cried No Santa, and drooped to the floor and crawled backward out the door, I guess so he wouldn't attract attention from "the Claus"


(I stole this photo off the internet, the dragonhead and bubble guy on mushroom too.)


He eventually had a long fit (missed his nap) and it was very very cold out (48 degrees or so). John finally calmed down and we saw one of the famous puppet shows. He like it, but at the end tried to run up and catch the "dolls."

We stuck it out to the end and John danced with some of the "animals"(people in costume) but refused to get too close or shake their hand. He wouldn't get near Santa. Oh well, next year.


Proud tradition of scary Santa...

more fairyland

these dark pictures are inside the little Children's Chapel, which was decorated for Christmas. Santa was sitting in here on the right of the fireplace, but John wouldn't go near him. I took these photos after the Red Demon left and the chapel was left empty.

There were giant paper flowers hanging from the ceiling.

They had an Indian Diwali festival room too, as well as a Hanukkah display. the Diwali room was beautiful and smelled like exotic spices. The Hanukkah display was kinda lame. Wish I got a picture of them as well, but it was hard keeping up with John

inside Meistro the Whale's mouth. There is a fish aquarium down there.

here is John in the big sandbox they have

we went to Children's Fairyland for Christmas

Here is John on the Alice in Wonderland Merry-Go-Round. This was for babies and went really slow, even for a Merry-Go-Round. There was no one in line, so John rode it 3 or 4 times, getting on a different character each time.

John wouldn't smile while on this ride. He would just sit there looking completely zoned out, but satisfied.

John sat in this flower throne without prompting.

A sheep with her holiday color on.

Even the spider from Miss Tuffet's garden decorated her web for Xmas.

John loved this guy in a fox suit, he kept running up to him and talking about him. He wouldn't actually shake his hand or hug him, but he touched his tail a few times.

Guy in full body fur suit, he's cool.

Santa, no way! Be gone, Red Demon!

Horse wearing her Christmas hat. there was also an alpaca here, some chickens, ducks, goats. You couldn't touch any of them, but they were dressed up.

Horse again.

Cookie Monster

I made a batch of sugar cookies and I had some left in a tupperware container. Last night I put John to bed at midnight and turned on Toy Story for him to watch. He seemed to be settled into bed so I went upstairs to our bedroom. I got up at 8am this morning to make Charles coffee and feed the cats. There was John asleep in his bed. He had gotten up in the middle of the night and found the cookies and he was passed out in the middle of them. They were spread all over his bed, with one bite taken out of most of them, and half the cookies totally eaten.

Amy's Wedding

weekender

Uncle Bob came to visit us on Saturday. Charles had to work in the morning for Revolution Test Prep. Then Bob came over before I had a chance to clean up the tornado that hit my living room! Charles brought home a flank steak and we grilled it and some zucchini. John was a little shy of Bob, but when I told him to go take his nap, he ran to Bob for protection! He actually climbed in his lap and cuddled down with him and his blanket. Then I gave him his bottle and he lay next to Bob on the couch, drinking. It was too much excitement, though, and he couldn't go to sleep. I had to take him and make him lie down in his crib, where he protested for a minute and then went to sleep. We chatted with Bob for awhile and then he had to go.
On Sunday, we went to church and John actually played with someones 14 month old grandson, who was much smaller than John. They were running around playing tag together in the nave during service. Then we went to Berkeley, and John slept in the car while Charles and I parked outside of Totland and ate a sandwich. I had to wake up John and put him in the park so Charles could go to GoB and play 40k.
John had a lot of fun running around the park. It was quite warm, and he played at the water play tables for while (I knew this was there and I brought 3 extra outfits and extra shoes this time!)
Someone was having a birthday and they rented a bouncy house and put it up in the park and let everyone use it for free. I made John wait an hour so the bigger kids could have their fill of active jumping before I let him go in. By the time we went in, it was full of the little kids and their moms and dads. I went in with John and sat in a corner. John was too afraid to jump. He just stood there, and then he came and sat down in my lap. He watched the other kids for awhile. Then he got up and walked around a little, and then crawled out the opening. I guess he had enough. I went with him, and we went back to the sand and swings.
There were a bunch of ride on cars and pushers people have brought to the park when their kids out grew them. John was very interested in these. He got into a Flintstone type car, foot propelled. But he could only manage to go backwards. So I had to push him around. We must have done 10 laps!
Finally it was time to go. It was getting dark and I thought John was getting sleepy. We went back to GoB, but Charles wasn't ready to go and John wasn't sleeping. I took him to Ben and Jerry's and we got some chocolate ice cream. John usually won't let me feed him off a spoon, but he did for ice cream!
Then we went back, washed our hands for 10 minutes, and went home.

Seminary weekend

We all went to seminary on Friday for orientation.
I wish I had a picture that fully shows how beautiful the campus is. This is a picture of the chapel.

We packed up John and went early for 9am breakfast. There was another little boy staying with his mom and dad in the dorm there. He was 15 months old and his name was Jackson. I was hoping John would play with him, but he was not interested.


We ate breakfast and then we started on the tour of the campus. We went to the dorm for the out of state students, and John wanted to play with the piano in the meeting hall there. He did not want to continue on the tour. He started throwing a fit, so the group with Charles went on and I took John out of the dorm. I turned my back on him and I thought he would follow me, but he got up and ran in the other direction. When I turned the corned to find him, he was jumping in the sprinklers, getting all wet! I let him do it for a good long while (he was enjoying himself and the damage was already done). When he finally got cold from that cold water, he got out and I changed him. I had thought ahead and packed 2 extra outfits, but I neglected to bring extra shoes! So, John and I spent time wondering around campus with no shoes on.
We caught up with Charles an hour later. He was sitting in on a class. Then we went to a prayer break with him. John relaxed on the couch and drank some milk. Then he got up and left, and I had to go with him. We wondered around some more and talked to the groundskeepers. Then it was lunch time. We got in the car and went to a near by golf course in Tilden Park to get lunch at the cafe there. John was restless and running around the cafe and the putting green. Then we went back to campus and John finally passed out in his stroller. We went to an informational meeting about class requirements and financial aid, and John slept for 2 hours. Then it was time for me to go to work. We got in the car and Charles dropped me off at work, then took John home, dropped him off with Nana and then went back to the campus for a BBQ dinner.

I'm a big kid now! John uses the potty

John used the potty for the first time today. At the doctor's appointment, he said to not even worry about potty training until he was 2, and that boys usually took until 3 before they were ready. But today I changed his poopy diaper and he wouldn't let me put a new one on, so I let him run around naked for awhile. So, he went to play with his truck, look at his books, play with his coloring pencils etc, naked. I had to go upstairs and use the bathroom, so when I was done, I had John take his potty downstairs, just in case.

Eventually, he was sitting next to me, naked, watching TV. He said "uh oh!" and got up and went to the potty. However, he wasn't trying to use it, he was just messing with it. He was lifting up the seat and pulling at the little boy pee shield thing that pops up. So, I thought he was just investigating. This potty my mom bought (when he was about 6 months old) makes music when it gets wet. I think John was trying to get it to go off, he was messing with the little metal conduits at the bottom.

All of a sudden, he started peeing on the leg of the potty! On the carpet! I ran over and said "Uh oh! Pee goes IN the potty, not On it!" And then I figured out he didn't want to sit on the potty while the boy pee shield was up, so I popped it off (its detachable) and he sat down and finished peeing in the potty. Then he sat there a minute and peed again in the potty. I told him Good Boy! Then I said we had to go flush the pee and wash our hands. He started washing his hands IN THE PEE! Ahhh! I picked him up and took him to wash in the sink (which he loves to do). The potty music didn't go off, because he managed to unplug it when he was messing with it. Too bad!

I let John wash his hands for 10 minutes while I cleaned up the carpet and dumped the potty in the toilet. Then I let him flush!

Then we went downstairs (John still buck naked) to go tell Nana what a good boy he was! After that, I had to leave for work.

Apparently, Nana tried to get him to go potty a few more times, but he just peed on the floor near the potty. He doesn't quiet get it yet, but he's certainly thinking about it. We decided to give it a rest for awhile and wait for him to want to try again. He isn't ready to pull down any pants or pull-ups yet. He can just barely predict he will pee just before he does it. The doctor said to not even think about potty training until after 2 years old. Hopefully, he will just train himself when the time comes!


After work, I went to the used book store across the street and bought all their potty related material and warped the books up separately. When I got home, I gave him his first present, a board book about using the toilet and going potty with a button that you can push to make a flush sound. He likes to flush and flush it.

The day before this, by the way, he peed and pooped in the bath! Yuck! I made Charles clean that mess up!

18 month check up

Ok, so John is more like 19 1/2 months, but I had to wait so I could get an appointment with his pediatrician, Brad Lewis. So, he was checked over and then sent for his two shots, DTaP(diphtheria, Tetnus, and , Pertussis or whooping cough) and HepA.

John ran into the injection room and Charles held him on his lap and we read him Baby Animals, asking him to find the duck over and over (he loves ducks). He got one shot in one leg, and then the other and he didn't even cry! What a big boy! We was a little upset but then it was done, so I grabbed him up and kissed him.

Now, for the numbers:



Height 3 feet and 1/4 inches (99.44% percentile for height for age)

Weight 30lb, 6 oz (89.81% percentile for weight for age)

Body Mass index 16.25

Head circumference 19.5 inches (86th percentile for age)