January 1, 2010
December 24, 2009
Sending You Some Snuggles
Hope your Christmas Eve Day is as snuggly as ours! Wishing you togetherness this Holiday Season.
Watching Sid the Science Kid together.
Love,
Lucian & Keagan
December 19, 2009
Infant Art Appreciation
I recently built for my family a Mac Media Center. It took us some time to save up for this project, but it's finally put together and working out well. (I'll never say it's complete because I'm always tweaking things about it!) Sometime soon I will document all of the components and how I set it up, but here is a preview of just one of the many ways I'm putting it to use here in our home.
In this example is Keagan at 6 weeks old enjoying some artwork I created for him in the form of a screensaver set to music that plays on the TV. I lay him on the bed in different directions so he learns to turn his head and look from different sides. (Sometimes he favors turning his head to the same side, so this helps with that.) I also roll him over or prop him up on his boppy pillow (with supervision of course) for tummy time to watch this engaging screen saver. Research has shown that the combination of high-contrast patterns in black, white and red, and classical music help to stimulate babies' brains and visual recognition. Keagan is just beginning to find visual stimuli very interesting so I'm trying to foster that.
My Mac media center is basically a MacBook Pro hooked up to a flat-screen TV using HDMI among other cables. All the wires and hardware is neatly tucked away inside of a computer armoire. I control it all using the TV remote, my iPhone and sometimes a bluetooth keyboard. (Reviews are in the works for these products, so stay tuned!) I use the MobileAirMouse app on the iPhone and iPod Touch which turns these devices into a wireless remote.
I created this artwork of basic shapes in black, white, and red using iWork Pages. I used the shapes tool and designed high-contrast patterns on twenty four 8 x 11 pages. Next, I exported the document as a PDF, "printed" it to iPhoto and then exported the images in JPG format to my Pictures folder. Then I set the System Preferences Screen Saver to play a slideshow of the images from that folder. Alternatively you could set System Preferences to use an iPhoto Event as your images source.
An iTunes playlist comprised of sample selections of music courtesy of babytraxaudio.com provides the slideshow soundtrack. (Working on a review for this product too!)
Keagan really enjoys this and it helps calm him when he is fussy. Maybe your baby would like this hi-tech toy as well? I know we do!
Keagan really enjoys this and it helps calm him when he is fussy. Maybe your baby would like this hi-tech toy as well? I know we do!
Here is a video slideshow I've uploaded of my artwork so you can see what it looks like. You can even view it in HD on a full screen. Just put on your favorite classical iTunes playlist, sit back and relax :)
Enjoy!
December 16, 2009
December 14, 2009
Strike A Pose - 6 Weeks
Nurse. Sleep. Poop and Pee.
Repeat.
Growing strong and mighty. Developing social skills like smiling and foaming at the mouth. (ok, well, little suds bubbles anyhow.)
Chick magnet when worn in a Baby Bjorn on front of Daddy.
Daddy likey.
Wish I had more time to do other things, but sleep is still so overrated these days.
I asked Lucian if we could keep him or if we had to send him back. Lucian said we can keep him. You're all my witnesses!
Just about over my head cold. Little nagging cough left, but feeling better, just tired and joint pains still. Keagan's diaper rash is healing but it doesn't keep him from launching missile attacks on us come diaper changing time.
He giggles a lot in his sleep and sometimes smiles at us when he's conscious which is becoming more and more each day.
It all goes so fast except when I'm waiting for my turn to snooze!
Love,
Keagan & Mommy
December 2, 2009
November 29, 2009
Week 3 Update
I can't believe Keagan will soon be a month old. Time flies! One day kind of just turns into the next. There isn't really much of a today or tomorrow right now. Many times I just love to watch him sleep. You would think with all the sleeping he does that I'd be getting more sleep! Well, he sleeps a lot, but it's only for 2 to 3 hour increments each time. Sometimes Nate gives him a bottle and lets me sleep so I can get closer to a 4 hour nap but it doesn't happen much. My mother-in-law has been a godsend coming over during the week and helping out. I don't know what I'd do without her. I'm so grateful for her help and so happy Lucian has such a great relationship with his grandmother. It reminds me of my relationship with my own Grandmom.
Right now both Nate and I have head colds. I've since lost my voice and I squeak when I talk. It sounds funny. It's not so funny when I'm trying to give a distracted 3 year old instructions however. We're trying to recover but it's extra hard when we're both sick at the same time on top of having a new baby to care for on top of keeping a 3 year old from feeling left out. Lucian has a sore throat and runny nose but he doesn't act like he's sick. We're debating keeping him home from school on Monday. Keagan is stuffy and has a severe diaper rash from yeast. We went to an urgent care on Friday and got prescription Nystatin for it. I hope it helps because he is really uncomfortable and fussy because of the diaper rash. I would go to sleep but he keeps fussing and then falling back to sleep and I fear the moment I pass out he'll really wake up.
Yesterday, Lucian started playing with a little baby Cabbage Patch Kid doll (it's mine from childhood — a little boy infant named Ian) and it's been so adorable watching him interact with "his baby" and all the pretending and mimicking he's been doing. Today we gave the babies a bath. He puts his baby doll in Keagan's car seat and drags him all around the house taking him "places" like the "kleenex" — which in Lucian Language means "clinic" as in doctor or hospital. He also has one of those Fisher Price doctor kits he likes to play with. It's all so cute. Lucian is a really great big brother and he loves Keagan, but he also likes to pester the baby which can get annoying. I know it's hard for him to contain his excitement and it's even harder to be patient waiting for his little brother to get big enough for him to play with. He's doing a little bit of regressing when it comes to potty training which we were told by many to expect. It's not so bad and we're dealing with it. We try our best to make sure Lucian doesn't feel left out. I try to spend time with just him whenever I can. I keep reminding him how he is the little boy of my dreams.
Nursing is getting a little better except for the yeast diaper rash on Keagan now. He doesn't have thrush luckily. I'm still experiencing some soreness but it's mostly manageable now. Sometimes the pain really curls my toes but I know it won't last forever. The engorgement is better under control now too. Now comes the fun part of trying to figure out what's best for me to eat and what to avoid so it doesn't irritate him. Dairy is going to be hard to cut down, but that's the first culprit I suspect. I've been through this all before but it's amazing what you have to relearn 3 years later. Also there is new information so I'll be doing some research! I've also gone to a breast feeding support group twice now and I really like it and hope I can keep going. It's hard taking Lucian but we'll see how it goes. Even a "seasoned breastfeeder" like myself has much to learn and I've gotten a lot of helpful tips and information. It also feels so good to share my experiences with others in hopes I can help another mom out.
Here are some recent snapshots and notes. I LOVE using my iPhone to snap pics of Keagan. I also love making little movie clips. I wish I had more time to post what I've accumulated. They say the second-born doesn't get much in the way of photos or documentation compared to the first-born. I'm trying to not go overboard, but I also don't want Keagan to feel left out later on. Doing pretty good about that so far. I wish the movies were better quality though. I'm in the process of researching digital cameras. We got a new one we really like but there are just a few things that make me want to take it back and get an upgraded model.
Anyhow....just wanted this to be a quickie update...here are the latest snapshots!
Chillin on my Boppy. It's so luxurious and comfy with this 2-sided cover. Each side is a different fabric and this brown fabric is soooo soft! Mommy and I just love it! It helps make nursing more comfy and snuggly. (Thanks Najeeb! This is something we got with your gift certificate. You're the best!)
ahhhh. so snuggly on my boppy. Mommy just loves to watch me sleep.
Dooood! Wassup?
I just work here.
I'm getting so big! 10 lbs. 2 oz now :) woohoo!
mmmmmm booooobeeee juice. peeing on everyone who dares change my diaper. he he he he
yawn
stretch!
Got milk? I had some issues with plugged ducts the first 2 weeks my milk came in and so I had to pump often to keep the engorgement down otherwise Keagan couldn't latch on and it was next to impossible to sleep with these milk jugs!
Pretty proud of my stash, but I really didn't expect to end up with this surplus. There is close to a half gallon of milk in our freezer now. Luckily I'm doing better and not having to pump much any more. I probably over-stimulated myself in the process but I was terrified of getting mastitis from being backed up so I kept pumping. Things have calmed down a little more now. Moooooooo!!!
P.S.
Please don't tell Ben & Jerry about this!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)