You'll see that she actually fits in the "newborn"-sized clothes now. :)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Annika at (almost) 8 weeks
Annika will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Here's what she looks like now - a lot bigger! (and cuter everyday).
You'll see that she actually fits in the "newborn"-sized clothes now. :)
You'll see that she actually fits in the "newborn"-sized clothes now. :)
Rocket Man
On Saturday, going up to Burlington, we listened to a "This American Life" podcast in the car. "This American Life" is a National Public Radio show that is usually brilliant. It is hosted by Ira Glass, and it tells true stories of people, events, phenomena and other things in America that seem to be commonplace at first glance, but that are actually interesting and odd and unexpected when looked at in more depth. The show is on every week for an hour, and each week the show has a particular theme, to which all the individual stories are connected in some way. We like to listen to the podcast while on the road, because that way we get to listen to the whole show at once, instead of getting bits and pieces of it as we try to find different NPR stations in the cities that we drive through. (A podcast is an electronic file that you can download to your computer, iPod or other MP3 player and listen to at your leisure instead of when the show is actually on the radio).
As a side note, the radio show ended up forming a TV show that aired on Showtime. We rented the first season and it was quite good. I believe their second season is also out on DVD now.
So anyway, I just wanted to share the show we listened to on Saturday. It was based on the concept of classified ads, and was brilliant, as usual. Click here for an explanation of the show. For one segment of the show, they formed a band strictly from the classified ads. They called up various musicians that had posted an ad in the classifieds and got them all together for one day to record one song, Elton John's "Rocket Man." None of these musicians had ever met before. Click here for the result - it's actually quite cool.
Post script: Jim would like to add a link to William Shatner's Rocket Man, just for comparison. What a hoot! Here it is on You Tube: Click Here.
As a side note, the radio show ended up forming a TV show that aired on Showtime. We rented the first season and it was quite good. I believe their second season is also out on DVD now.
So anyway, I just wanted to share the show we listened to on Saturday. It was based on the concept of classified ads, and was brilliant, as usual. Click here for an explanation of the show. For one segment of the show, they formed a band strictly from the classified ads. They called up various musicians that had posted an ad in the classifieds and got them all together for one day to record one song, Elton John's "Rocket Man." None of these musicians had ever met before. Click here for the result - it's actually quite cool.
Post script: Jim would like to add a link to William Shatner's Rocket Man, just for comparison. What a hoot! Here it is on You Tube: Click Here.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A big weekend
We had quite an eventful weekend! I can't believe it's already almost over!
On Saturday morning, our niece Madeleine was born. She is only about a half pound lighter than Annie is now. In the photos, she looks about as big as Annie. She is in good health and I believe both mom and baby will be discharged tomorrow. I'm excited to meet her in a couple of weeks! I hope that she and Annie will be good friends for their whole lives. They're only 7 weeks apart.
Then we left for Burlington, Vermont to attend a birthday party for our friend Dave. Annie did very well in the car. We had to feed her once while we were on the road. The party was nice. Then, Annie only woke up once in the night, for the usual 2am feeding. On most recent nights, we've been able to do feedings at 10pm, 2am and 6am and that means we only have to get up once in the middle of the night. Pretty nice.
We got back home around 5pm this afternoon. Jim's out cutting the grass and then we're going to have dinner. We're both pretty exhausted.
On Saturday morning, our niece Madeleine was born. She is only about a half pound lighter than Annie is now. In the photos, she looks about as big as Annie. She is in good health and I believe both mom and baby will be discharged tomorrow. I'm excited to meet her in a couple of weeks! I hope that she and Annie will be good friends for their whole lives. They're only 7 weeks apart.
Then we left for Burlington, Vermont to attend a birthday party for our friend Dave. Annie did very well in the car. We had to feed her once while we were on the road. The party was nice. Then, Annie only woke up once in the night, for the usual 2am feeding. On most recent nights, we've been able to do feedings at 10pm, 2am and 6am and that means we only have to get up once in the middle of the night. Pretty nice.
We got back home around 5pm this afternoon. Jim's out cutting the grass and then we're going to have dinner. We're both pretty exhausted.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Missing: My Head
Today is a good indicator of what happens to your head when you don't get enough sleep.
Last night was actually a good night on the sleep front. Jim was on duty, which meant I didn't have to get up in the night. Annie slept from 8pm to about 10. Jim fed her about half a bottle at 10:15 and she promptly fell back asleep. She only woke up once during the night, at 2:45, for a bottle. Her next feeding was after Jim went to work, around 7:10am. So we only woke up once with her during the night. This has been happening more and more, which is very good.
But today, I don't know what has happened to me. I am so tired and my mind feels cloudy. Maybe all the lack of sleep is catching up with me.
My plan was to meet up with a friend in late morning. I was going to leave the house at 10 to miss the morning rush hour. Of course, this was right when Annie was due to eat, but I figured that she would be OK if we were a little late, and she'd sleep in the car anyway. I got her in the car and left the driveway at 10:05. Things were good. I got on the highway, and then it occurred to me that I had forgotten Annie's diaper bag. With her bottles, diapers, and everything else. And I was already late on her feeding. Ugh.
So I got off the highway and figured out how to turn around. In Boston, just because you get off the highway doesn't always mean that there's an entrance to get on the highway going in the opposite direction. In fact, most exits don't work that way on Route 93, which is the main highway going into Boston from Quincy. But luckily, I knew how to get home from the exit and my mind apparently was clear enough to get me there.
I stopped for gas first, then pulled into the driveway. Because I forgot to turn off the car while the clutch was still in, I stalled the car in the driveway as soon as I took my foot off the clutch. I got Annie out of the car, walked up the back stairs, and saw that the back door was wide open. I had left the house through the front door and forgot to close the back door! The diaper bag was waiting in the kitchen. I seriously considered canceling my outing because I really felt like I wasn't functioning at a level where I should be driving a car. I figured that next I'd lock myself out of the house or lock Annie in the car with it running. Something crazy like that.
But none of that happened and it was all fine in the end. I fed Annie before getting back on the road. (I checked to make sure I had my keys about 100 times). We were at my friend's house by noon. We stayed a couple of hours, had lunch and then came back home.
I'm really tired. I wonder if I'll get a nap in today.
Last night was actually a good night on the sleep front. Jim was on duty, which meant I didn't have to get up in the night. Annie slept from 8pm to about 10. Jim fed her about half a bottle at 10:15 and she promptly fell back asleep. She only woke up once during the night, at 2:45, for a bottle. Her next feeding was after Jim went to work, around 7:10am. So we only woke up once with her during the night. This has been happening more and more, which is very good.
But today, I don't know what has happened to me. I am so tired and my mind feels cloudy. Maybe all the lack of sleep is catching up with me.
My plan was to meet up with a friend in late morning. I was going to leave the house at 10 to miss the morning rush hour. Of course, this was right when Annie was due to eat, but I figured that she would be OK if we were a little late, and she'd sleep in the car anyway. I got her in the car and left the driveway at 10:05. Things were good. I got on the highway, and then it occurred to me that I had forgotten Annie's diaper bag. With her bottles, diapers, and everything else. And I was already late on her feeding. Ugh.
So I got off the highway and figured out how to turn around. In Boston, just because you get off the highway doesn't always mean that there's an entrance to get on the highway going in the opposite direction. In fact, most exits don't work that way on Route 93, which is the main highway going into Boston from Quincy. But luckily, I knew how to get home from the exit and my mind apparently was clear enough to get me there.
I stopped for gas first, then pulled into the driveway. Because I forgot to turn off the car while the clutch was still in, I stalled the car in the driveway as soon as I took my foot off the clutch. I got Annie out of the car, walked up the back stairs, and saw that the back door was wide open. I had left the house through the front door and forgot to close the back door! The diaper bag was waiting in the kitchen. I seriously considered canceling my outing because I really felt like I wasn't functioning at a level where I should be driving a car. I figured that next I'd lock myself out of the house or lock Annie in the car with it running. Something crazy like that.
But none of that happened and it was all fine in the end. I fed Annie before getting back on the road. (I checked to make sure I had my keys about 100 times). We were at my friend's house by noon. We stayed a couple of hours, had lunch and then came back home.
I'm really tired. I wonder if I'll get a nap in today.
Graduation
Fifteen years ago today, I graduated from high school. (Jim's graduation happened 15 years ago tomorrow).
Unfortunately, I missed my high school reunion because of all the stuff going on with Annie's birth. Jim's reunion is next weekend, I think, but he doesn't have any interest in going. Actually, I would be very interested in going to his reunion, since I had a good number of friends who went to his high school. But c'est la vie. The trip to Buffalo is pretty long to be doing it more than once a month.
It's kind of amazing to think about how different life was then. That summer, I was living with my parents in Buffalo, working as a bank teller, and looking forward to college in Washington in the fall. I had never set foot in the state of Massachusetts. My sister was living in another state, Jim was dating someone else, and I hadn't even met most of the people who are my closest friends now. By contrast, I haven't talked to the people who were my closest friends then (my next-door neighbors, who I grew up with) in many years.
In the grand scheme of things, 15 years really isn't that long of a time. Well, maybe it is. It's half a lifetime ago. But I suppose that when I'm 90, 15 years won't seem that long. Are the 15 years that include your late teens and your 20's more formative and transforming than any other period in one's life? I would think not, given the amount of change that happens between one's birth and age 15. Perhaps they are merely indicative of how much one's life changes over time. But then what will my life look like 15 years from today?
Unfortunately, I missed my high school reunion because of all the stuff going on with Annie's birth. Jim's reunion is next weekend, I think, but he doesn't have any interest in going. Actually, I would be very interested in going to his reunion, since I had a good number of friends who went to his high school. But c'est la vie. The trip to Buffalo is pretty long to be doing it more than once a month.It's kind of amazing to think about how different life was then. That summer, I was living with my parents in Buffalo, working as a bank teller, and looking forward to college in Washington in the fall. I had never set foot in the state of Massachusetts. My sister was living in another state, Jim was dating someone else, and I hadn't even met most of the people who are my closest friends now. By contrast, I haven't talked to the people who were my closest friends then (my next-door neighbors, who I grew up with) in many years.
In the grand scheme of things, 15 years really isn't that long of a time. Well, maybe it is. It's half a lifetime ago. But I suppose that when I'm 90, 15 years won't seem that long. Are the 15 years that include your late teens and your 20's more formative and transforming than any other period in one's life? I would think not, given the amount of change that happens between one's birth and age 15. Perhaps they are merely indicative of how much one's life changes over time. But then what will my life look like 15 years from today?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Busy
What a day. It started at 10pm last night. Annie decided that she wanted to be held and would cry if we put her down. She was awake until 2am. Poor Jim was on duty last night and he got very little sleep. I was trying to figure out why she was like this. One guess is that my mom and I took her for a long walk in the stroller yesterday morning and she slept most of the rest of the day. So she was all rested for the night. But honestly, there really is no rhyme or reason as to why Annie stays awake one night and sleeps another night.
In the morning, we bought a car. No kidding. It's a black Mazda 6, manual transmission, power locks and windows. Jim is picking it up tomorrow morning. (He will blog separately about his very bad experience with Boch Honda, one of the dealerships he dealt with before we settled on the Mazda). He had been thinking about getting a new car for a while because our Corolla is getting old. It has 112,000 miles, and more egregious to Jim was its lack of power locks. A lack of power locks is challenging when you're traveling with a baby and all her gear. We had driven several Mazda 6 cars as rentals while on vacation, and last weekend, Jim test drove one (along with a Ford Fusion and an attempt at a Honda Accord). It looks like a beautiful car.
In the afternoon, I went out to lunch with my new moms' group, followed by the weekly meeting at Isis. Annie has been fussy most of the day, but she was actually pretty good through lunch and through the meeting. I fed and changed her right at the beginning of the meeting, and she slept all the way until we got home.
Tonight we had leftovers from Punjab Cafe. I'm going to go to bed soon because I'm on duty tonight and I'm worried that we might have a continuation of last night. We are going to try having Annie sleep in her own room and see if that works. I'm pretty nervous about it.
Tomorrow we have the gas company coming in the morning to replace our gas meter. In the afternoon, I might meet up with people from my new moms' group to go for a walk at Wellesley College, which is somewhat nearby. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!
In the morning, we bought a car. No kidding. It's a black Mazda 6, manual transmission, power locks and windows. Jim is picking it up tomorrow morning. (He will blog separately about his very bad experience with Boch Honda, one of the dealerships he dealt with before we settled on the Mazda). He had been thinking about getting a new car for a while because our Corolla is getting old. It has 112,000 miles, and more egregious to Jim was its lack of power locks. A lack of power locks is challenging when you're traveling with a baby and all her gear. We had driven several Mazda 6 cars as rentals while on vacation, and last weekend, Jim test drove one (along with a Ford Fusion and an attempt at a Honda Accord). It looks like a beautiful car.
In the afternoon, I went out to lunch with my new moms' group, followed by the weekly meeting at Isis. Annie has been fussy most of the day, but she was actually pretty good through lunch and through the meeting. I fed and changed her right at the beginning of the meeting, and she slept all the way until we got home.
Tonight we had leftovers from Punjab Cafe. I'm going to go to bed soon because I'm on duty tonight and I'm worried that we might have a continuation of last night. We are going to try having Annie sleep in her own room and see if that works. I'm pretty nervous about it.
Tomorrow we have the gas company coming in the morning to replace our gas meter. In the afternoon, I might meet up with people from my new moms' group to go for a walk at Wellesley College, which is somewhat nearby. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!
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