And since Papa Joe had recently put this water table together (thanks again, Grandma and Papa for the water table... Maia loves it!!), it was a great outdoor activity for the week.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Week Before...
The week before Parker arrived...
My "estimated due date" was 6/12/10. Raymond and Effie arrived on Sunday, 6/13 in anticipating of the baby actually maybe being here. The plan was to take Maia out of daycare (save some cash) since we'd have extra help with Nana and Grandpa here.
Since Parker did not arrive... Ray and I both continued to go to work each day. Me, to save my maternity leave so I'd have more time with the baby, and Ray, because his job has been insanely busy (so much so that his team does not know how they can keep up the pace of projects that have been assigned to them, all of them urgent, all of them demanding significant attention to detail). So, knowing he would be taking a week off soon... he kept working. I, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of essential work to do - most of it had been delegated or postponed until my return. And I was exhausted and restless. And I had quite a few doctor appointments. So I spent that last week working half days (or less) and running a few errands in anticipation of the arrival of the baby, and recovery from surgery, and not being able to run errands later.
As such, there are few pictures of Maia's special two-on-one week with Nana and Grandpa. Ray and I weren't really around much. They all had a great time, and Maia kept them busy (I recommended that they nap when she napped). Nana made sure to follow the general schedule Maia keeps at daycare (meals, snacks, play time, nap time), and she also helped keep the house clean, and prepare meals, which was a BIG help!
And since Papa Joe had recently put this water table together (thanks again, Grandma and Papa for the water table... Maia loves it!!), it was a great outdoor activity for the week.
And since Papa Joe had recently put this water table together (thanks again, Grandma and Papa for the water table... Maia loves it!!), it was a great outdoor activity for the week.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Compare
Okay. So my first thought when I saw Parker is how much he looked like Maia. And, true to form... most of the comments I get about him is how much he looks like Maia (and still, no one tells me either of them look like me). No one seems to gush about him looking like Ray (like everyone did with Maia... well, everyone who didn't tell me she looked like my dad).
Ray, on the other hand, has been looking at Parker lately and saying "I don't see it. I don't think he looks like Maia except for the hair color..."
"And," I add, "the lack of visible eyebrows, eyelashes or skin pigmentation."
So, curiosity got me, and I set out on a hunt for good comparison pics of the two of them at 1-2 days post birth.
Sorry for the delay...
Following up our first week home with Parker was the arrival of Aunt Tara (many hours later than expected, due to weather related flight delays and poor information and staffing by United Airlines).
Aunt Tara, of course, took millions of pictures, and Ray and I took a few... and then, suddenly, our camera broke. Yeah, the expensive digital SLR. Not a major break, just the little spring that holds in the memory card... but not something we could do anything about. So we brought the camera in to the local Nikon dealer, who said they could not fix it, and had to send it back to Nikon. Estimated return: 6 to 8 weeks. Great. This is on top of my digital point-and-shoot camera starting to get even MORE cranky than it's ever been.
We got copies of Tara's pics, but due to various issues, I was having problems editing them (turning them, taking out the red eye, etc.)... and so yes... I know. MUCH TIME has gone by since I've posted pics on the blog.
I'll try to make up for it this week. This coming week which should, incidentally, be pretty interesting. Daycare let us know last week that they decided they will transition her to T2 (toddler 2, the next room up) over the next couple weeks. Timing? Not fabulous. I'd talked with them in late winter when her good friend Celia moved up to find out when they were planning on moving her... preferring they do it in the Spring, maybe early May, so she could get settled before the baby arrived. They told me they would transition her in the fall, along with her other good friend, Claire. Part of the issue was due to space in the next class. I decided this was fine, since the plan at that time was to take her out of daycare during most of my maternity leave.
Since that time, they have changed their minds to move both Maia and Claire up now. And Ray and I have decided to keep Maia in daycare for 2 days a week for the summer. She really LOVES to go, and thrives on the structure and interaction with her peers and teachers. And I think that staying in part time will also help her transition back to full time in the fall a little easier. So we'll save some money (about 1/2), and I'll have some days to do fun things with her: take her to the Meijer Gardens, the Zoo, the park. And some days to get some one-on-one time with Parker (like I had with Maia during my leave with her) and get some things done for our household.
In the mean time, she is LOVING being in the T2 classroom with Celia (I'm told they're both excited to be re-united). Most of the kids in the T1 classroom are now at a very different stage than she and Claire. And while I know that the interaction with the older kids is good for the younger ones, it gets a little boring for the older ones eventually. The verbal skills, for example, are vastly different.
And Parker? Parker is doing well, and finally having more awake time, now that I'm off the pain meds (by 2 weeks post surgery, I'd been off the narcotics for 5+ days, and off Ibuprofen for 1-2 days). He's still been a champion sleeper... sleeping anywhere between 3-5 1/2 hours a night. Amazing! He does seem to really like to be held, and there have been a few times I was not able to get him to sleep without holding him. However, he generally falls asleep easily, and doesn't seem to have as intense a need for a paci or a swaddle. He's really a very good baby so far, and seems to be rounding out already. I finally started driving yesterday (2 weeks after he was born) and we ran some errands together. He slept the entire time (about 3 hours), and did great! It was also really nice to be able to get out independently again.
Alright. Pictures coming. Soon!
Aunt Tara, of course, took millions of pictures, and Ray and I took a few... and then, suddenly, our camera broke. Yeah, the expensive digital SLR. Not a major break, just the little spring that holds in the memory card... but not something we could do anything about. So we brought the camera in to the local Nikon dealer, who said they could not fix it, and had to send it back to Nikon. Estimated return: 6 to 8 weeks. Great. This is on top of my digital point-and-shoot camera starting to get even MORE cranky than it's ever been.
We got copies of Tara's pics, but due to various issues, I was having problems editing them (turning them, taking out the red eye, etc.)... and so yes... I know. MUCH TIME has gone by since I've posted pics on the blog.
I'll try to make up for it this week. This coming week which should, incidentally, be pretty interesting. Daycare let us know last week that they decided they will transition her to T2 (toddler 2, the next room up) over the next couple weeks. Timing? Not fabulous. I'd talked with them in late winter when her good friend Celia moved up to find out when they were planning on moving her... preferring they do it in the Spring, maybe early May, so she could get settled before the baby arrived. They told me they would transition her in the fall, along with her other good friend, Claire. Part of the issue was due to space in the next class. I decided this was fine, since the plan at that time was to take her out of daycare during most of my maternity leave.
Since that time, they have changed their minds to move both Maia and Claire up now. And Ray and I have decided to keep Maia in daycare for 2 days a week for the summer. She really LOVES to go, and thrives on the structure and interaction with her peers and teachers. And I think that staying in part time will also help her transition back to full time in the fall a little easier. So we'll save some money (about 1/2), and I'll have some days to do fun things with her: take her to the Meijer Gardens, the Zoo, the park. And some days to get some one-on-one time with Parker (like I had with Maia during my leave with her) and get some things done for our household.
In the mean time, she is LOVING being in the T2 classroom with Celia (I'm told they're both excited to be re-united). Most of the kids in the T1 classroom are now at a very different stage than she and Claire. And while I know that the interaction with the older kids is good for the younger ones, it gets a little boring for the older ones eventually. The verbal skills, for example, are vastly different.
And Parker? Parker is doing well, and finally having more awake time, now that I'm off the pain meds (by 2 weeks post surgery, I'd been off the narcotics for 5+ days, and off Ibuprofen for 1-2 days). He's still been a champion sleeper... sleeping anywhere between 3-5 1/2 hours a night. Amazing! He does seem to really like to be held, and there have been a few times I was not able to get him to sleep without holding him. However, he generally falls asleep easily, and doesn't seem to have as intense a need for a paci or a swaddle. He's really a very good baby so far, and seems to be rounding out already. I finally started driving yesterday (2 weeks after he was born) and we ran some errands together. He slept the entire time (about 3 hours), and did great! It was also really nice to be able to get out independently again.
Alright. Pictures coming. Soon!
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