Sleeping on People

Here he is on Tuka/Grande/Ojichan...he slept there for an hour...he never sleeps on people like this:

Uncle

I wish we had more time with Uncle Sean. If only we lived closer. Miss you, bro!

Here they are sharing wisdom.

Uncle handling a squirm worm.

Getting a Bruce Lee kick to the ribs.

Flying with a Baby

Driving home from the airport, with the Bear in the back babbling away, Papa Mike said something like, "Before having the Bear I would hear other kids babble and make noise and it drove me crazy. I actually like hearing his babbles and don't mind other babies' babbles either. I have been on flights where a screaming kid made it a horrible flight and these flights on this trip don't rank as horrible." That is true love, I tell you. Stanley Bear was a dream on our flight to California and pretty much a dream on the way home. He squawked a tiny bit from CA to Chicago but we received a compliment from a nearby passenger on that flight saying, with a thumbs up, "He did well!" I mimed wiping my brow and said "Thank goodness!" On the flight from Chicago to NC he was a bit more moody but he was pretty charming as well, making people smile. He didn't go to sleep until 9 p.m. the night we arrived back in NC and I had to wake him up to take him to daycare the next day...he wasn't happy about that. I think he's got a good case of the jetlag. Poor fella. Here are the things I learned from traveling and flying with the little burrito:


Extra Seat - If you don't buy your baby (2 and under) a seat ask the airline folks at the gate if the flight is full. Thankfully it wasn't full on the first leg to Chicago and the lady at the gate moved us closer to the front with the third seat empty. On the Chicago to CA it wasn't full either but someone had the seat next to us. The gentleman and woman behind us had an empty seat between them and he offered the woman next to us the window seat in their row in order to free up our seat which is what they did. How sweet was that? I thanked them profusely. On our way home we had a similar situation on the first leg. A U.S. Soldier had the window seat in our row and he let us know that he had that seat but that he was going to wait at the back of the plan until everyone boarded to see if there were any other seats. There were and he even got an entire row to himself. We all won! I thanked him on our way to the bathroom and the Bear gave him a big ol' grin. On our final leg home the flight was full but the woman at the gate reserved that third seat and told us she wouldn't fill it. That is why you let them know you have a child and ask if the flight is full. Everyone, fellow passengers and airline employees alike, were super accommodating toward us once they saw the baby or knew that we were traveling with baby.  Having that third seat makes a world of difference. I don't know how we would have traveled without it.
Ear Pressure - My birthing teacher and pediatrician said to nurse the baby on take offs and landings. I nursed him on each take off but not every landing. He did well, no screaming going up or down. The swallowing makes them clear up that ear pressure in their ears, try it! You could probably even feed them food rather than nursing. But nursing will also help soothe them and put them in a relaxed state.
Extra Clothes - Bring at least two extra sets of outfits. He didn't need the extra outfit on the way there but he could've used a third change of clothes on the way home. He peed a lot, so much that it got his clothes wet. This is a nice segway to the fourth thing...
Diaper Changes - Change his diaper right before you get on the plane. I didn't do that the first time he peed through and onto his clothes. I bet I could've steered clear of that had I put him in a fresh diaper before boarding the plane (which I did on the way to CA.) I changed his diaper at least once each flight...even the two hour flight. If you're wondering where the changing table is in the bathroom it's above the toilet. It simply folds down. Plus it's just nice to get up from your seat which brings me to the next one.

Get Up - This is good for a stir crazy baby (and Mama and Papa.) Babies like to look at people, so once the seat belt sign has been turned off get up for a stroll down the aisle. It doesn't have to be a long one - maybe just up and back or maybe it's just waiting in line for the restroom. He handed out his big smiles to anyone who would take them. Of course when you're sitting, especially when the seat belt sign is on, you should be extra attentive and make sure the baby isn't going to fall off the seat or fly into the air when you hit a "bump".
Fanny Pack - I wish I had a small bag like a fanny pack for diapers, wipes and cream. The bathroom on the plane is super tiny. There is a ledge to set stuff on but I'd rather not have anything touch anything in the bathroom! Fanny packs would solve that problem and would be a great hands-free way to carry the baby to the restroom. Plus they're fashionable. Ha!
Bathroom Tip - Since we're still talking about diaper duty here's a tip: don't bring a toy or pacifier into the bathroom they might end up on the floor. I am not a germaphobe but I really don't like public restrooms (and despise outhouses.) Stanbear is a good spitter of pacifiers.  He is a screamer when you change his diaper but it's so loud in the back of the plane that really, it doesn't matter.
Small Toys - I filled one of the small pockets of our diaper bag with small toys. I could alternate them out and they would keep him occupied for small amounts of time. He's teething now so most of them were chew toys but I brought some books too (which he thinks are chew toys anyhow.)

Here he is eating a Mum Mum.

 Eating - I brought an 8 oz bottle of warmed up milk just in case I was sitting next to some crazy, anti-breastfeeding person or a pervert. I never used the milk; I breastfed him. I had my scarf and my cover but honestly I didn't really have to use them because I felt like I was in my own little  cocoon. I also packed 2 containers of solid foods. Thankfully I put them in ziploc bags because the pressure caused the lids to pop off and the food to leak out. I also brought some Mum-Mums which are rice crackers that the Bear thoroughly enjoys. A bib and several cloths or rags are always handy just in case you need to wipe his face or the seat he's sitting on, etc.
Pillow - This is important for sleeping and/or propping up your leg or arm while cradling a feeding or sleeping baby. Thankfully we had jackets and his blanket on the way there. On the way back we had Tomás the bear (given to us by my brother and parent's friend, Tomás) and he is super soft and cushiony (the bear, not the friend (to my knowledge...)) and the bear worked wonderfully as a prop as well as a plaything. Plus it was compact unlike a nursing pillow like a Brest Friend or Boppy.

Pacifier - If your baby is a pacifier user, this is good for pacifying.
Camera - I took a gazillion pics of the Bear on the plane.
Car Seat/Stroller - You can check these at the gate for free (we flew American Airlines.) When you arrive at the gate talk to someone at the desk. First tell them that you have these things to check and then ask them if their flight is full. If it's not full you can ask them if you can bring the seat on the plane. We did that on the first leg. The only downside is that the person who sits in front of that seat can't recline because the seat takes up room (we have a Chicco Keyfit 30). Another plus about the carseat/stroller combo is that you can use it as a luggage cart.
Baby Carrier - I brought my Ergo carrier and strapped the Bear to my front as we walked through the airport so that we could use the stroller as a cart. Easy peasy.
Helper - I'm glad I flew with Mike. Having an extra set of hands is very helpful.

Games on a Plane - "Open the shade/Close the shade"...this entertained him for hours minutes. I would open the shade and he would try to close it. He got really good at it. "Air Head"...turn the air above your seat on high and hold the baby's head up to it, they will love it. "Look Out the Window"...he did that a lot and put his hands on the window as if trying to break out. "Look at the People Behind You"...and smile. Babies love looking at people. He would win every staring contest challenge and then smile at you for losing. 

Laughing Bear

Sorry I'm so behind on posts. We had a long travel day yesterday and the day before that my brother flew back to his Maui casa and along with him went his lap top which was so convenient to post to the blog. Anyhoo. I am back at work today (jetlagged!) and going through my unread emails which included a few videos from Jen (Mike's youngest sis who flew down from Seattle to meet the Bear!) and some fun pics from my pals Alison and Emily. I'm looking forward to uploading all the vids and pics from the trip. For now have a look at one of Jen's videos!

Friends with Babies

Shawnee and I are parents! It's so fun to have a good friend to share this experience with. If only we lived closer. (We're working on it, Shawnee!) Sometimes we don't think that the two kiddos realize that the other exists because they don't necessarily "play" together. Although Stelina is good at swiping Stanbear's paci out of his mouth and Stanbear is good at tugging her feet while she sleeps. They are so much fun.

First Time in the Sand and Surf

 Aki Bear loved the water. He was fascinated.

 He couldn't stop looking at the water rolling in and out.

 He also loved the sand.

 There he is with his buddy, Stelina. They both tried eating the sand.

He really wanted to sit down in the water. We need to get him a swimming diaper. We have lots of video too. I will post those eventually. We had fun!

The Abuse of Alison's Sheep

This sheep is willed to Alison and for some reason the sheep often gets abused. Stanbear has even begun to partake in the abuse, but he does it with such innocence and enthusiasm:

Guess Who's Crawling!?

Stan Pequeno y Stan Grande

Remember this?:

Now look at them:

Just 8 months later! We still don't know what Stanbear will call his namesake, my dad. I called my paternal grandpa Tutu. My Dad called his grandpa Ojichan (my mom's vote). I sorta like Tuka which is like Tutu but a combo of the words Tutu and Kane (Tutu Kane means Grandfather in Hawaiian). I also like Grande, short for Stan Grande (our friend Alan came up with that.) For now we're gonna each call him whatever we please and when Stanbear begins to speak he can choose what to call him. Here's another one for your viewing pleasure:

Nana

Stanbear took to his Nana right away. She's got a way with the little folk. Plus we have similar voices and he loves his mama's fabulous singing voice. Ha.

First Airplane Ride

I have more to write about this but for now just some pics of his first plane trip! I will say this, he was a dream. We even received a superlative from a nearby passenger: Quietest Airplane Baby Ever. 

Booty Shaker

This cracks me up:

Worst Thing in the World, No. 3

You can read about my first two worsts here and here. Number 3 is related to Number 2, which was a sick baby. A baby with a cold is no comparison to a baby with an ear infection. Ear infections are horrible. Giving antibiotics are horrible too. I had to give him 5 ml. of Amoxicilin every 12 hours. I guess I didn't have to as the American Academy of Pediatrics are now trying to talk pediatricians into laying off the antibiotics from the get go and seeing if the ear infection goes away on it's own. You can read about that here. This is good to know. I, for one, don't like taking antibiotics, pain relievers or allergy meds. I like to suffer, just kidding. Bad things about giving the Bear Amoxicilin:

1. He cried 99.9% of the time. He shook his head back and forth and clamped his mouth shut. I'd sneak in shots from the syringe when he cried with his mouth open. It was horrible. 
2. Because he fought hard to not ingest the antibiotics a lot of the antibiotics got all over his clothes and bedding and cowstar and hands. It's pink (like pepto bismol) and sticky.
3. I would nurse or feed him after I gave him the antibiotics because it said to not take on an empty tummy and also it would help calm him down (nursing.) The first several times I nursed him he would bite down on my nipple - a great example of nipple confusion. He thought my nipple was like the syringe. OUCH and NO. Have I mentioned how sharp baby teeth are? 
4. Side effects are: dizziness, diarrhea, tummy pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, white patches in mouth or throat. 

Bad things about ear infections in general:

1. Pain. He woke up crying every two hours the first night before he got the fever.  It was horrible not knowing what was wrong with him. 
2. Ibuprofen. It helps with inflammation but it was like the antibiotic, it was hard to get him to take it and it turned his poop this wacky dark green. It looked like he ate and digested a swamp creature.
3. Not only do their poor ears hurt but they have a head cold on top of it so it's hard for the little one to breathe!

What I learned:

1. He took the medicines more easily from a spoon and when he was hungry. 
2. Put a pillow under his mattress to elevate his mattress while he sleeps so that the liquid in his ear could drain out more easily.
3. Nurse him so that his head is at an angle (no side lie nursing (my favorite)). When his head wasn't at an angle breastmilk would drip out of his nose! 
4. Ear aches usually come from having head congestion and mucus getting into the middle ear.
5. Mullein/Garlic ear drops are supposed to be a good natural remedy. I will try that first if this happens again and report back!
6. Little humans are resilient and strong!
7. If your baby is taking an antibiotic and is eating solid foods feed him yogurt to replenish the good bacteria. 

We went to the Pediatrician on Thursday to check in on the status of his ears and they look good! Back to good health, knock on wood.

Old Wive's Tales

He's got lots of blond in his hair, doesn't he?!

I was telling a co-worker how Mike wants to trim parts of Stanbear's hair, especially the long bits around his ears and how I forbid it. She told me that it is bad luck to cut a baby's hair before he turns one! She also went on to tell me that a baby should have fallen off the bed before he turns one or that could be bad luck too (although falling off the bed itself seems like bad luck enough.) I told her that he's fallen off the couch and she said that counts. Phew! I'm glad because I wouldn't want to push him off the bed in the 24th hour of his 364th day.

First Tooth Brush

He likes chewing on both ends. It cleans his teeth and soothes his achy gums!

Food Strike

This is the Bear on a semi-eatwhiney day. He's not really smiling even though it looks like he is.

 There were a couple of days last week where Stanbear would either eatwhine which is eating while fussing the whole time. Or simply refuse to eat and if I did get a spoonful of something in his mouth he would just hold it in his mouth for what seemed like ages. I wonder if the food felt good against his achy gums? We worried a little but not too much as he was still peeing and pooping a lot. So, I looked up why babies refuse to eat and came upon this post on baby center dot com: Teething and not eating since a week. Posts like that always set my mind at ease. You know that there are millions of other parents with similar baby issues and knowing that you're not the only Mama with an 8 month old who is on strike due to teething is reassuring. Meanwhile, he isn't on strike anymore as he ate 4 oz of butternut squash with a dollop of applesauce and half an avocado yesterday evening. I kept telling him to chew his food and slow down but he kept opening his mouth for more! more! more! Here he is:

This is a good picture of his eye color. Pretty true to what they look like in real life. Greyblue.

Ah! More to the Twinkle

Did you know that Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa Black Sheep and the Alphabet Song all have the same tune? Maybe I knew this before but didn't remember it until I started singing Twinkle Twinkle and the Alphabet Song a lot for Aki Bear. I mentioned this to Mike and of course Mister Know-It-All said, "Yeah, and it is based on a Mozart song." Which is kind of true. I looked into it a little bit more as the first thing I read left me with more questions. Like the fact that I read this, "This piece consists of twelve variations on the French folk song Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman." So, it's originally a French folk song which translates to "Shall I tell you, Mother?" and Wolfie wrote twelve variations of it.

No one knows who wrote the original French song but the Alphabet song was copyrighted in 1834 under the name "The Schoolmaster" by C. Bradlee. Twinkle Twinkle was set to this music in 1838 (but the rhyme was written by Jane Taylor 32 years prior.) Baa Baa Black Sheep was originally sung with a different tune but in 1879 it was set to this catchy French folk song. You can read more details about it on the Straight Dope.

Here are the lyrics to "Ah! Vous Dirai-je Maman" although I must say there were all sorts of lyrics out that that seemed to differ slightly:

Ah! vous dirai-je maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment.
Depuis que j'ai vu Silvandre,
Me regarder d'un aire tendre
Mon coeur dit a tout moment,
Peut-on vivre sans amant?

Il rougit mais par malheur,
Un soupir trahi son coeur.
La cruelle avec adresse
Profite de sa faiblesse;
Helas, maman! Un Faux pas
Le fai tomber dans ses bras.

Can anyone translate? Abby?

Also, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is super long. Check out the original poem, who knew?!:

 Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
     How I wonder what you are.
     Up above the world so high,
     Like a diamond in the sky.
     When the blazing sun is gone,
     When he nothing shines upon,
     Then you show your little light,
     Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
     Then the traveller in the dark,
     Thanks you for your tiny spark,
     He could not see which way to go,
     If you did not twinkle so.
     In the dark blue sky you keep,
     And often through my curtains peep,
     For you never shut your eye,
     'Till the sun is in the sky.
     As your bright and tiny spark,
     Lights the traveller in the dark.
     Though I know not what you are,
     Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
     Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
     How I wonder what you are.
     Up above the world so high,
     Like a diamond in the sky.
     Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
     How I wonder what you are.
     How I wonder what you are.

Peeking Over Papa's Shoulder

Tree Licker

On our hike on Sunday Stan Bear got to see everything from our perspective, up high! He seemed to really enjoy himself. Mike would lean in toward trees so that he could touch them and of course he tried to put them in his mouth. Mike asked him if he needed more fiber. Mike also said that he wasn't a "treehugger" but a "treelicker". That's our boy.

A Hike in His Big Boy Carrier

Mike bought this carrier at the thrift store when I was pregnant. We finally brought it down from the attic today and went on a hike. The Bear LOVED sitting in it. He was our height and facing forward. We all had fun.

So Close to Crawling

He actually pulled himself to standing yesterday but man was it a struggle. He tried it again (after he tumbled down) but couldn't do it. Try, try again.

Finger Touch

Here is a video showing his index finger test before touching. It's one of my current favorite things to watch!

Paper is Fun

One of his new favorite things is paper. During our Christmas break in Maryland he played with newsprint newspaper and got ink all over his hands and mouth. This glossy stuff doesn't stain his hands and the trick to keeping it out of his mouth is to deploy the pacifier. Hours of fun. Plus, check out how he touches things with just his index finger first. I think he's doing it to test out the texture first before grabbing it full on with his hand.

High Chair Shenanigans

This is the norm when it comes to feeding the Bear in his high chair...he seems to always be twisted around, listening for his Pa's booming, deep voice or tracking down Dickie the Cat who seems to zoom back and forth underneath his chair. Here they are just giving eachother the stare down:

Yarn Chewer

Here he is on day 3 of having an ear infection. He's happily chewing on cotton yarn and reaching for the camera, as usual. See below for a video of him after I take the yarn out of his mouth.

Poop Talk

I never thought I'd call the doctor to talk about poop. Or talk to my friends and co-workers about poop color. Stanley had a normal poop color on Monday after a weekend of very dark greenish black poop. It was this color:

My research led me to believe that it was the ibuprofen's fault so I stopped that and he had a good ol' brownish orange poop! Yay for regular poops! The Ped said to just monitor his poops and if I saw any blood in them or if he seemed like he was in pain (poop pain rather than mouth or ear pain...whatever poop pain means...gosh, poor achy head he has!) So, all is well on the poop front.

I wrote the word "poop" 10 times in this post! Now 11 times!

Ears and Those Darned Infections

Thursday night I thought for sure that the worst of the teeth pain for his two new top incisors was over. I thought that a better nights sleep was going to take place. Boy was I wrong! He went to bed around 7:00 p.m. and then was up at 9:47 p.m. Crying in what seemed like utter pain. Wailing. I had given him teething tablets before he went to bed. So I put teething gel on his gums when he woke up and I tried to rock him back to sleep but he wasn't having it, so I nursed him, which calmed him right down and he fell asleep. He woke up less than two hours later. Wailing. I changed his diaper. Mike came in and held him and he seemed to calm down but every time we put him down he would start wailing again. Poor fella. I was racking my brain trying to think of what else could be wrong because I had never seen him in so much pain over his teeth. I figured he was having a hard time breathing with his head cold/cough and perhaps that he had a sore throat. He didn't feel hot but I took his temp. No fever. I tried nursing him, he wouldn't nurse. I thought maybe it was the bread he ate earlier that day, maybe he was having an averse reaction to wheat. So I rubbed his belly and that seemed to calm him down and he fell back asleep. He woke up again a few hours later, crying in pain again. I decided to give him acetaminophen for pain. This seemed to help although he woke up every two hours still, but not crying as hard each time and he never nursed, which is unusual. When he woke up for the day, crying, he felt hot so I took his temp again, 101.1° F. I called his daycare and my work telling them that Stanbear and I wouldn't be there due to his fever. I called the pediatrician and she asked us to come in at 10:15 a.m. So we hung out at home and he fell asleep on my nap (he hasn't done that since he was a wee wee thing) and then drove to the doctor's office. They weighed him, he weighs 22 lbs. still. His lungs sounded clear, thank goodness. His right ear looked o.k. other than a big wax ball in there! His left ear....infected. His very first ear infection. So antibiotics and ibuprofen. The ibuprofen kicked in and my cheery little gnome was back to himself for awhile, despite the temporarily hidden pain in his ear. I hope he sleeps better tonight.

UPDATE:
He did sleep better that night. We have ceased the Ibuprofen early this morning to see how his fever and pain level were. I decided to give him acetaminophen instead because his poops were dark green tending toward black and I was reading about that and the things I read mentioned ibuprofen/ulcers/blood in stool, you know, fun stuff. So I stopped giving him the Ibuprofen. I called the ped this morn to see what she thought, just waiting back for a call. Other than that he is doing better. I just hope he doesn't have to do another round of antibiotics and/or a stronger medicine. Send us healing energies into his little ear canals and into his middle ear!

Image from http://www.hearingaid-specialist.org

Cat Kid 'n Play

More baby and cat fun:

Baby Teeth

That's sort of eerie, isn't it? But it's just an x-ray of a baby's teeth. Isn't that wacky? It's like a tooth traffic jam.

Anyways, I thought we had a sleep relapse last week because he woke up every two hours! The difference was that when he woke up he would be crying or moaning. The next day I looked at the top part of his mouth and his right, top incisor has cut through his gums! The left top is pushing at his gums but is not through yet. No wonder he wasn't sleeping well! Poor fella. So we are making sure that he gets his teething tablets every eight hours and if he seems to be in pain at all I will slather teething gel on his top gums. The tablets and gel seem to really work. Here is the typical timeline for baby teeth to come in; in pink I wrote in when Aki Bear's teeth have come in:

• 6 months 5 months: lower central incisors
• 8 months 7 months: upper central incisors
• 10 months 7 months, 3 weeks: upper lateral incisors
• 10 months: lower lateral incisors
• 14 months: first molars
• 18 months: canines
• 24 months: second molars

At the rate his teeth are moving you'd think he'd have a mouthful by the time he turns one! I was giving him celery to gnaw on but now with upper and lower teeth he can actually get chunks off and has choked a bit. So we've stopped giving those but are sticking with the delicious pineapple cores.

I was reading somewhere that one of the reasons why babies around teething age start experimenting with sounds is that they have these new things (teeth) occupying a once open space(mouth) and they are testing them out.

Image from: todayilearned.co.uk

Observing and Learning

Little humans really are sponges. I feel like he is learning all the time. On Monday Mike was reading him the book, Baby Animals, which was a Christmas present from Auntie Sue and family. It has these big photographs of baby animals and what they are written in bold letters underneath. On the last page there is a picture of three fluffy kittens. Mike said, "kittens." and Stanbear looked at the photo and then turned his head to look behind him to where Dickie the Cat was lying down. He put it together that those kittens were the same as Dickie the Cat. We thought that was brilliant. Good job SpongeStan!