Through Bear's Eyes

I used to wonder what Bear's view of the world was like...what she sees and how she sees it. For her birthday she got her very own camera. Apparently this is how she views the world...Hope you enjoy her version of our trip.

The rest...

So our trip wasn't all bad. There were some good memorable moments...



...celebrating the fact that it was Chipmunk's first Christmas.







...visiting the Snoopy store and ice rink in Santa Rosa, CA.



...Bear learning the word "zamboni."



...celebrating a birthday.



...spending time with loved ones.

Hope you all had a wonderful...virus-free...holiday.

Sick in Sacramento

Christmas was rough this year. The kids were sick. Yup, again. This time wasn't so fun though. We ran the whole gamut from fevers to upset stomachs. It was one messy Christmas...ew.

Bear was fine after about a day or so, but Chipmunk is still not doing so well. After peaking at a fever of 104.1, we took him to see a doctor who basically told us that there wasn't much to be done, prescribed some meds and sent us on our way. Currently he's still running a lowgrade fever, and just not eating much by way of solid foods. Plus, he's super unhappy and seems to be only wanting the comfort of mom.

So Chipmunk spent his first Christmas very much the same way Bear spent her first Christmas...ill.

So amidst all the icky symptoms we've tried to have as normal a Christmas as possible.

Tried.

So we're still here...sick in Sacramento.

3 years

I can't believe our little girl is three years old today.



I still remember that night three years ago...coming home from a family Christmas, feeling like I ate one too many scoops of super cheesy mashed potatoes...Matt felt it, too (indigestion...ugh). We couldn't sleep that night and little did we know that we wouldn't sleep that night. I remember it was 3 am when I decided that I just couldn't sleep so I propped my pregnant self up with pillows to read a book. About 5 minutes into my reading I felt really weird and decided to get out of bed. As soon as I stepped into the bathroom my water broke, surprise hit my face and with a weak voice I managed to yell out to Matt who responded, "what! are you serious?!"

Calmly, yet quickly...we were out the door, into the car, driving quietly into the night to the unloading zone at the hospital...I remember a security guard wheeling me into labor and delivery...getting settled into a room and then the constant questions, check ups, contractions, ivs, whirlwind of procedures...

And then it all stopped...at least that's what it felt like to me. It was as if time slowed down as my little girl was being placed into my arms...my tiny baby girl with her chubby cheeks and soft mound of black hair. It was surreal.

And today, she's three years old. She's no longer my baby, but rather my child. She's roasting bears, drawing monsters and calling firemen on the phone. With her constant conversation and her insatiable curiosity (why? why? why?) and her beaming personality, I'm still as amazed now as I was back then.

3 years old. Wow.

Happy Birthday, Little Bear!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

From 2008

Climber

I think because his sister didn't start crawling (and combat crawling at that) until she was 10 months old, it feels like Chipmunk is on the fast track. He crawled a little before he was 6 months old, pulled himself up to standing a month later and has been cruising ever since. When he hit 10 months old he started doing something Bear didn't start until she was almost 2 years old...climbing.

He climbs on top of plastic tubs. He climbs onto the kitchen play set (as you can see above). Lately, he's been climbing into and out of the exersaucer on his own, too.

I hope he doesn't figure out how to climb out of the crib. Scary thought.

What's Cooking?

Roasted Teddy Bear. Yum.

Just don't tell Chipmunk what his sister did to his bear.

Chipmunk Bites

Since we are traveling to see family this week, I scheduled some random posts to pop up during this week...just in case you miss us and need to read more about what we've been up to.

Chipmunk has this thing about biting.

See this?



And this?



He also bit out chunks of wood from the 30 year old vintage crib at his grandparents house.

Occasionally, he takes a bite of my knee or arm.

At our visit to the County Fair last Fall, I found a hole in the map right where we were trying to look for information.

He's ripped holes, made scratches and punctured with those eight little teeth.

Man, he's got strong teeth.

Another ha ha moment

Lately, Bear has been enamored with talking on the telephone. This is one of her most recent "imaginary" conversations.

"Hello? Dire Dighter (Fire fighter)? We need help. You coming? You come in the truck. Okay, Dire Dighter. See you later!"

She's not yet three and already imagining about firemen rescuing her. Hmmm.

Chipmunk's latest attempt at talking? "Whooooaaa!" whenever he sees something worth the exclamation. Oh, and "ssssssss" which in baby talk is "cheese" as in whenever Bear points her camera at him.

Silly kids.

Internet Hiatus

We've been having withdrawal these past four days. Why??? Our lovely internet was out. Gone. Nada. Not only the internet, but our cable service was out, too. So we were put on a non-self-imposed internet hiatus (no paying bills, no online Christmas shopping, no updates for our Tivo service). Yup, no tv, no internet...Whatever did we do with ourselves these past four days?

So for all of you waiting for our Christmas cards (my address list was online) or return emails, they're coming. If you noticed that my commenting on Facebook was non-existent or that our blogs have been mysteriously quiet, well we've been sitting here twiddling our thumbs instead. Right.

Surprisingly, it felt twice as busy. Who knew?

Why We Love Costco

After spending an hour or so looking for Chipmunk's teddy bear, we left Costco resigned to the fact that we would never see "Bear Bear" again. Today Matt called and they had found the bear and kept it for us to pick up.

Besides the cheap hot dogs, that is why we love Costco.

The Budding Artiste

Bear has been loving "art" lately. Whenever she gets a chance she runs up to me and asks, "I do art?" This means pulling out her box with her crayons and glue and scissors and a quiet 45 minutes of her "creating." Her favorite part being when her work is completed and she runs up to show either Matt or myself her masterpiece. Before her work consisted of random blobs and scribbles, but lately her work is starting to take actual shape and form. So now for you, our blog readers, we present Bear's gallery of her latest artwork.



"Monster," 2008. Medium: Magnadoodle.



"Monster has Belly Button," 2008. Medium: Magnadoodle.



"Orange Fish," 2008. Medium: Orange Crayon.



"Daddy, Mommy, me and Baby and Sonja," 2008. Medium: Purple Crayon.

She really enjoys her "art." She's like a little Miro.

Thanksgiving Recap 2008

Busy weekends have a way of sneaking by in a mad rush. Thanksgiving weekend was almost "thankless" mostly because we didn't have enough opportunity to give thanks through all the busy-ness. So better late than never...here are our thanks:

Wednesday: We're thankful for arriving safely, despite the rain, traffic and 10 hours stuck on the road. We're thankful for a warm place to sleep and seeing Matt's family again.

Thursday: We're thankful for family gatherings. We're thankful for great-grandmas and aunts and cousins and dim sum. We're thankful for smoked turkeys and full tummies and ample relatives to watch over our happy children. We're also thankful for home-baked apple pie and ice cream.

Friday: We're thankful that Berkeley is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Sacramento. We're thankful for seeing my family healthy and well. We're thankful for fondue and artichoke and purple yams. We're thankful for B the dog, who put up with Bear and kept her company most of the day. (We're also thankful for Black Friday sales at the Apple store...hee hee)

Saturday: We're thankful for the newly renovated Science museum at Golden Gate Park which had Bear and Chipmunk exclaiming "wow!" from the moment we arrived. We're thankful for R and her forethought in getting tickets online weeks ago because otherwise we wouldn't have been let in. (By the way, I highly recommend it...super-cool exhibits for nerds like me).

Sunday: We're thankful for Sunday mornings, catching up with friends and celebrating soon-to-be parents. We're thankful for long afternoon naps and chances to bake with grandmas.

Monday: We're thankful for being able to come home safely, settle in and rest up from a long, fun weekend.

And some pics...

Ill Effects

My kids are ill again. It's becoming a little too common for my taste. They also have this knack for getting sick a week before we see the grandparents. Doesn't matter whether the grandparents are coming here for a visit or we're traveling to see them, they just have impeccable timing. And of course, now that Thanksgiving is fast approaching they seem to have caught another bug.

Bear caught the bug first. The fever was so sudden that it caused her to have another febrile seizure. And yes, I know it's a normal reaction to a sudden, rising fever for many young kids...nonetheless, it's still hard to watch. At least this time I didn't panic...just went down my mental checklist of to-dos (tylenol, lukewarm bath, lots of liquids, wait...). She was over the worst of it after a day of rest...

Next it was Chipmunk's turn (minus the seizure). He just felt warm tonight, so to be cautious I took his temp and the thermometer blinked 101.9 at me. So just to be safe, we took the same precautions and went down the fever checklist. Now he's sleeping, feels cooler to the touch, and I'm holding my breath because I know it's going to be a long night of wakings.

I know they'll be fine, they have strong immune systems, but every time they get sick my head runs through lists of questions usually starting with "Is it my fault??

I know I can't control what germs they come in contact with, nor would I want to be constantly covering them with antibiotic junk (not good!), but I start developing this itch every time they fall ill. It's the itch that tells me that my kids got sick because of something that I did or didn't do. I didn't clean the house enough. I didn't give them proper naps. I didn't wash their hands after letting them play somewhere. I let them eat that cheerio that fell on the carpet.

I know that it's not true, but I still think this way despite. Is this normal? Or am I the one that is sick?

Nine Months...

Well Chipmunk has now officially been outside the womb just as long as he's been in it, and I must say that it's quite impressive how much he's grown.

Weight: 21 lbs, 12 oz (70%ile)
Height: 29 and three quarters inches (90%ile)

All the doctor had to say was, "he's a big boy!"

Yup, he is a big boy. Oof.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry that we've been neglecting you lately. As much as we'd like to keep up and post our daily thoughts and adventures, it's just been hard getting to the computer to do anything besides mindless internet surfing (or computer games).

It's been busy. Mostly because now that Chipmunk is at a place where he's more content doing things on his own...playing, falling asleep, eating...I've been working more on those goals that I've left by the wayside since his birth.

So papers are finally getting organized, Bear is potty training and learning her alphabet sounds, I've been finding some time to read and to craft, we've been utilizing our local library, and Matt has been keeping himself busy, too.

The other reason we haven't had much to post is because well, life has gotten to a rather routine point. Our days are filled with organized naps and meals and I always said I didn't want to just write fluff. But perhaps now that the holidays are coming we'll at least have some trips and merry diversions to post about in the near future.

Until then, dear blog, sit tight. We'll catch up with you soon.

Sincerely,
Us

Our library visit

Today, at our visit to the library, Bear outdid herself. I couldn't stop laughing at her comments.

On the weather outside:

Bear: Exiting the library "Wow, whatta nithe(nice) day! Nithe, thunny (sunny) day outside."

When you realize perhaps there should be more visits to the library and less television:

Bear: Sitting outside by a water fountain "I see a quirl(squirrel), mommy! A quirl like on tv like on Curious George!"

On being sixteen:

Bear: Getting into the car "I want to drive the car, mommy. I want to drive home."

Me: You know, you're not supposed to drive the car unless you're sixteen years old.

Bear: "Sixteen? Oh, okay."

Hungry?

I just watched Bear finish two hard-boiled eggs, 1 bowl of cereal with milk, and a whole banana and then ask for more. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table Chipmunk ate a whole container of baby yogurt, a quarter cup of oatmeal, one egg yolk and then follow with a whole banana himself. Then he pounded the table asking for more, so I sprinkled the table with Cheerios.

Yes, I do feed them regularly.

People are always commenting on my kids' eating habits. Not just about how much they eat, but what they eat. My daughter would rather eat her salad than her slice of pizza. My kids could sit through a whole meal scarfing just broccoli and tofu. So when Bear asks if she can have a little ice cream, I indulge, only because I know it won't curb her regular appetite for things like celery and carrots.

I'm not complaining, especially since I've seen families who run after their kids with spoon in hand forcing them to eat something. It's just that I've noticed how much more I've been purchasing at the grocery stores and how much more often I have to visit these establishments just to keep up with their little bellies. Plus, what goes in, must come out as they say, and I often get the short end of the stick on that one.

One day I'll tell them about what good eaters they were as babes. I'll tell them stories about how strangers at restaurants always commented on how they loved watching them eat or at the amount of greenery that inhabited their plates. I'll tell them about how meals were no problem because they sat the whole time and ate. But I'll also remind them how blessed they were that they could get their fill on a regular basis and how blessed they were for never having to want.

In the meantime, I think I need to go cook. I'm running out of cooked broccoli.

Bear's Vote

While throngs of citizens around the nation are casting their vote for what is probably the most historic election that I've witnessed in my lifetime, Bear is sitting in her room trying to decide what shoes will adorn her tiny feet.

Carefully she pulls pairs of shoes out of her shoe drawer and inspects them. She makes comments here and there and tries each pair of shoes on. Then when she's finished she replaces her shoes carefully back into the red plastic drawer. And it goes on for an hour or so.

"Oh, wow! Nice shoes!"

"So pretty!"

"I like these shoes!"

"These my dance-y shoes!"

"Oh, shiny!"

In the end she decided on her "dance-y shoes," well, because they're "dance-y" and they matched her shirt. That's our little girl for you.

Next vote: Purses

Priorities

So we realized this week that we haven't taught Chipmunk how to do any of those basic baby things...oh, you know, like clapping hands...yet he already knows how to signal a touchdown. We have priorities in this household.