Luke On the Go

Luke has been a busy little boy these past 2 1/2 months. He had his first 2-night stay away from home in the bay area when he was 5 days old because our heater AND gas fireplace went out at the same time! (Not the greatest day for a brand new mommy.) At a month he stayed in his first hotel for our cousin's wedding in Aptos (near Santa Cruz). And at two months and some change he went on his first mini-vacay with mom and dad in Monterey where he got to fall asleep to the real live ocean as opposed to the wave sounds coming out of his white noise stuffed animal. Not to mention the two times he's been to the movies, the two UOP basketball games, and the countless upon countless times he's been on walks or out to eat. I estimate he has eaten out at least 50 times in his short life. (We may sacrifice some of life's luxuries, but food is definitely not one of them!) I don't know what we're going to do when he stops sleeping in his carrier and becomes less portable! Oh well, these days of being on the go are about to slow down as Justin heads back to work next week (thank you Bank of America and your 12 weeks of FULLY PAID paternity leave!) and I follow on March 1st.


Luke at the El Torito in Monterey at almost 1 month


Luke in Monterey at 2 months 1 week



Getting ready to go to a Pacific basketball game. Go Tigers!

Two Months!

Luke had his two month check up and vaccinations today. He smiled at the doctor several times (yay for a friendly baby!) and only cried a little after the nurse stuck him (3 times!) Mom did good too. :) It must have been shot day today at Kaiser because there was a whole chorus of screaming babies in the rooms around us. I tried to prep Luke (as much as you can prep a 2 month old) for a few days, reminding him that daddy has to give himself lots of shots everyday for his diabetes, so it wouldn't be a big deal. :)

He's been going through a real growth spurt his week, wanting to eat non-stop in the evenings for hours at a time. Thankfully, I think we're past it today. The girls are tired. Despite this, he's still a skinny guy and I'm proud of every single one of the 55 ounces he's added since birth. :)

2 month stats:
Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz (um...under 5th percentile)
Height: 23.5 inches (50-75th percentile)

Yea buddy! :)

Celebrity Doppelgangers

Since Luke just finished eating and is out cold with every appendage completely outstretched, I thought it'd be a good time for a quick blog. I was inspired by Shelly's recent post about celebrity doppelgangers. I've always secretly hoped that if someone were to play me in a movie (and would stay true to my more natural hair color), that that someone would be an A-lister like Jennifer Garner or Anne Hathaway. Or, if we decided to go with a shorter, blonder Becky, then it would be Reese Witherspoon. Although, I am pretty positive that those personal favorites are just wishful thinking. Ha ha.

The only celebrity I have been compared to - a couple of times actually - is a random throwback to the 80's.



Yes, Dana Plato from Diff'rent Strokes. Sadly Dana grew up to be a drug addict who robbed a convenience store and eventually OD'ed. Nice. Awesome. I added this recent photo for a comparison. Not sure if I see the resemblance...



So, since Dana isn't available to play me in the major motion picture about my life, I am hoping that Jen or Reese will answer the call.

Who's your celebrity doppelganger?

For good measure

I have to post something of Luke. Here he is in a too big onesie - but it's from the O'Neill shop, so it's basically one of the coolest things he owns. He's being squeaky and wiggly. Typical. This video isn't that interesting, but Grandma will like it. :)

Getting Lost Again

I was a big fan of Lost for the first 3ish seasons. Then I got frustrated and got behind on my viewing - lack of cable can do that to a person. Recently hulu.com posted all past episodes of Lost and I was able to watch season 5 to gear up for the final season starting next week. Even through the all the frustrating plot points, the ridiculous number of characters, flashbacks, flashforwards, back stories, time traveling, polar bears, etc. I have wanted to stick with the show because I am hoping for a big payoff at the end. I am hoping that loyal viewers will be rewarded with a killer finale that will be on par with other kooky endings like Newhart and St. Elsewhere. Although, if Lost ends with a kid holding a snow globe I'm gonna be pissed.

Mallow Out Zippy

It appears that my cat, Zippy, is a fan of marshmallows. She normally doesn't try to eat people food, so this is an odd development. We have had an almost empty bag of them sitting on the counter for a few weeks now and she has succeeded in getting into it on more than one occasion. I have found squishy, moist marshmallows on the ground three times, which means she has not only gone through the trouble of getting into the bag, but actually sampled the goods while she was at it.*

And because I seem to make random confessions on this blog, I will say that the only reason I haven't thrown the marshmallows out is because I enjoy standing in the kitchen and eating handfuls of rice krispies out of the box with the marshmallows. It's like an instant rice krispie treat in your mouth! That's probably gross and sounds like something I will yell at Luke for doing in a few years.

*A google image search for "marshmallow cat" turned up a few photos and youtube videos, so apparently cats and marshmallows aren't an uncommon combination.

Kind of Ridiculous

I've blogged about my love for animated produce before, but I felt the need to reiterate it with this photo. I cannot express how happy this picture makes me - and it's only partly due to the cute baby. I mean, look how excited they are all lined up in a row with their bright smiling faces. I think the orange and the lettuce are the most photogenic, don't you? The corn is pretty cute and the banana is just being modest.

Okay, maybe I AM a little sleep deprived and delirious...

Non Sequitur

This is kind of a gross post, but I realized tonight* that Justin has used one of the bowls to my Kitchenaid mixer for several inappropriate things. Fortunately we have a back up bowl, but it's not as nice as the big one, which is probably why it's Justin's go-to bowl.

Here are some not so great uses for said bowl:

1. Moving dirty and/or clean water to and from the fish tank.
2. Holding soapy water and rags when washing the car.
3. Housing dead/presumedly dead/transient fish

Brownies anyone?

*I came to this realization as I was washing the bowl that goes to my salad spinner - the latest victim to Justin's fish tank cleaning process. Note to self: Buy a bucket and a special receptacle for Justin's nasty fish water.

The Escape Artist: And So It Begins

We bought the Snuggle Nest a couple of weeks after Luke was born so mommy would feel more secure during the night. The second night we used it (when Luke was just shy of 3 weeks old), we awoke to find that our little wiggle worm had almost succeeded in squirming his way out of the nest. After being repositioned, Justin found him in the same position about an hour later. Needless to say we gave up on the Snuggle Nest rather quickly. It wasn't a total waste though and still comes in handy for nights away from home and the occasional morning nap with mom and dad. I fear the day he decides the crib itself can no longer contain him.

Zippy Meet Luke

When we arrived home from the hospital with Luke, Zippy immediately checked out the car seat to see what we brought home. She was not pleased with what she found. Thus began two weeks of evasive manuevers on her part, some vigorous hissing, and a self-imposed banishment to the living room at night. She has since warmed up to Luke, albeit cautiously. She no longer runs away when he cries, but instead runs in to check on him. One morning Justin and I didn't get up quite fast enough when Luke was crying. When I went into his room, I found Zippy crouching on the floor looking out for him. She gave me a very disapproving glare.

The Baby Story

It's hard to believe that two weeks have passed since Luke entered our lives. On Monday, November 23rd I was finishing up dinner for Justin, my mom (who was visiting for a couple of days before Thanksgiving), and our good friend Nancy (who was trying to squeeze in one more baby-free evening with us). As I was making the salad (well opening the bag of lettuce), my water broke. I had read that only 1 in 10 women actually have a semi-dramatic water breaking experience and doubted that I would be that person. Surprise! I went out in the living room to tell the waiting guests that dinner may have to be cut short due to my HAVING A BABY! We all kicked into overdrive, calling the hospital, taking a quick shower, grabbing final items for the suitcases, eating the proverbial last supper, etc. We got to Modesto Kaiser around 8pm when I had barely started feeling light contractions. By the time I got into the birthing suite they had gotten a bit stronger, but I still wasn't convinced I wanted an epidural. So we watched Elf and I rolled around on a giant exercise ball. I didn't want to get the drugs too soon and prolong my labor, but as the contractions started getting harder it became clear that modern medicine was the way to go for maximum comfort. It took about 45 minutes for an IV of saline to get into my system and then another 30ish for the anesthesiologist to get everything going. I tried not to look at the contraction monitor after the drugs kicked in, but my mom said they looked pretty crazy. By time the drugs kicked in I was almost fully dialated. Around 2:20am on Tuesday, November 24th, the midwife and nurses came in and I pushed for about 30 minutes before Luke arrived. There was a tense moment when they lost his heartbeat and gave me oxygen, but overall it went pretty smoothly. I know I had a pretty easy labor compared to some people, but in the immediate hours that followed I kept wondering how and why I would ever be persuaded to do it again! It's true what they say though, you do start to forget. And I've found that the early days of parenthood are longer, harder, and more tiring than the labor itself. Breastfeeding is hard, the early post partum emotional days were hard, not getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep at a time is hard. Last night I got nearly 5 hours and I was amazed at how refreshed I felt! It's crazy how quickly you can love someone though. It's hard for me to follow the "sleep when he sleeps rule" because I just want to stare at him and hold him all the time. My favorites are nap times together on the couch - him completely safe from being smothered or rolled on of course. This parenthood thing is harder than I ever could have imagined, but it's pretty amazing and I'm trying to savor every single moment of these early days. I'm not looking forward to 10-ish weeks from now when I have to become a "working mom." In the meantime, I'm trying to stay off the Internet, not let the household chores or the undecorated Christmas tree in the corner bother me, and just enjoy every moment with my Luke.

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street

Dear Sesame Street,

You have brought me many years of education and enjoyment. I remember the days when everyone thought Snufflepagus was a figment of Big Bird's imagination and being gravely disappointed when I missed the episode where he was revealed to be more than just an imaginary friend. I remember the sadness when Mr. Hooper died. I remember finally being old enough to understand the adult references in many of the sketches and the deep appreciation I felt when I realized what a high quality educational program the Children's Television Workshop had created. I remember the money spent on t-shirts, watches, keychains, and other paraphanelia from the now defunct "Sesame Street Store" and how nerdy I probably was for wearing said clothing in high school. (Don't judge me.) I remember the long philosophical conversations about my dislike of Elmo and the disdain I felt for his meteoric rise to fame in the Sesame universe. I remember getting my first checkbook before going to college and choosing the Sesame Street checks. (Again, don't judge.) I remember getting excited about communication journal articles and books that used Sesame Street as an example of the media's effect on children.

My love for you Sesame Street has not wavered over the years and, as you usher in your 4th decade of quality children's programming, I am excited to introduce your world to my children. Although, I'm not sure how successfully I can do that without cable...but that's beside that point. (That's what classic Sesame Street dvds are for.) So, happy birthday Sesame Street. Thank you for bringing me many years of laughs, teaching me that "cerrado" means closed in Spanish, that counting to 12 can be lyrical, and that sharing is caring. I am forever grateful.

Love, Becky