Raph officilly accepted a job today at Dover High School in Dover, NH. So we have a short term plan. I'm excited but nervous about the winter. It is beautiful up here right now. The last time we lived in NH together, I moved here in November and left in May so I missed the beautiful time of year. Who knew it could be this nice. This time I'll be getting to spend the fall in New England, which is the most beautiful time of the year.
In other news, Makili smiled at me for the first time this week. The first time I knew it wasn't gas. He has also smiled at Ann. I'm ready for more of those. I probably scared him when he smiled at me because I freaked out. I'm ready for more of those.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Violet
On Wednesday we got to spend some time with Regina and her 8.5 month daughter Violet. She has the biggest most beautiful eyes. A competitor for Gabrielle. She squeaks with delight and wants to touch everything. She loved the giant calculator.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
like a novel.
My friend Camille came to visit yesterday. We went on a hike. We played cards. We sat around. I miss her. Being French, she brought Makili a speedo. It's awesome. She's off to France to bike people through vineyards and make a future with her South African/French boyfriend, who is an international wine exported. Ann says her life sounds like a novel. I have to agree.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
One month of Makili
The First Month
It is actually hard to believe it has already been a month. I got up this morning and picked him up and I swear he got heavier over night. He in fact does have a very big head. At our last appointment he was in the 97th percentile for head circumfrence. (I have my suspicions that this may have contributed to our C-section.) His hands seem big already. And his belly grows at every nursing session. We went for a short walk yesterday with Raph’s aunt Cindy. She asked, “So does it feel like you’ve had him forever already?” And you know it totally does.
Some things I’ve already learned from Makili. I mentioned already that I really didn’t know that babies cried a lot. And just when it seemed that we had figured the kid out and were having really good days with him, he got thrush. The medicine makes him cranky so we’re dealing with the crying all over again. I also wasn’t aware that there was such a thing as projectile pooping. I won’t go into great detail on that one but I will say I was glad we were changing him in the rental car. I’ve learned that I can function on much less sleep than I thought and that I actually don’t even mind. I’ve also come to appreciate so much when he sleeps against my chest. There is possibly no better feeling. I like him a lot. As Anne Lamott said, “I think I’ll keep him.”
Makili came a long way this month. Literally, he came 5000 miles from Hawaii to New Hampshire. He was an angel, sleeping on the planes and in the cars. Sometimes it seems like he understands when we need to get things done. He always is good and happy when we’re moving and traveling. When we are home all day, he tends to be super-cranky. He just likes to be out and about I guess. Thank god, because that trip could have been terrible. Raph and I were barely able to carry all of our carry-on luggage, though it turned out to be a blessing that we brought as much as we did because our checked luggage didn’t show up for 48 hours. We must have been a sight with the baby in the front carrier, a big backpack with the pillow strapped to it, a roller, a diaper bag, a car seat. Good thing that people are fascinated with babies and tend to concentrate on their cuteness instead of the fact that you’re holding them up. At one point we were in a tram changing terminals with all of our crap. Raph had the baby and Makili had started crying because Raph had stopped moving. From the other side of the train I watched every eye on the train focus in on Raph. Women with soft smiles and men with looks of amusement. Looks of kind concern and young girls with looks of desire. And it was the same throughout our travel. People are fascinated by babies.
Makili has also been blessed to receive so much love from friends and family. First in Hawaii with his grandmas and one of his grandpas, an aunt and a cousin. Now in New Hampshire, people stop by every day to meet him, and for the last few days try to comfort his upset belly. He falls asleep on the lucky ones’ laps. He went shopping with Raph’s aunt Gina yesterday who spoiled him by buying him “Raph clothes.” Raph’s other aunts stopped by too (from New York) to meet him and give gifts. What a well-dressed, well-loved boy he is. Thank you.
It is actually hard to believe it has already been a month. I got up this morning and picked him up and I swear he got heavier over night. He in fact does have a very big head. At our last appointment he was in the 97th percentile for head circumfrence. (I have my suspicions that this may have contributed to our C-section.) His hands seem big already. And his belly grows at every nursing session. We went for a short walk yesterday with Raph’s aunt Cindy. She asked, “So does it feel like you’ve had him forever already?” And you know it totally does.
Some things I’ve already learned from Makili. I mentioned already that I really didn’t know that babies cried a lot. And just when it seemed that we had figured the kid out and were having really good days with him, he got thrush. The medicine makes him cranky so we’re dealing with the crying all over again. I also wasn’t aware that there was such a thing as projectile pooping. I won’t go into great detail on that one but I will say I was glad we were changing him in the rental car. I’ve learned that I can function on much less sleep than I thought and that I actually don’t even mind. I’ve also come to appreciate so much when he sleeps against my chest. There is possibly no better feeling. I like him a lot. As Anne Lamott said, “I think I’ll keep him.”
Makili came a long way this month. Literally, he came 5000 miles from Hawaii to New Hampshire. He was an angel, sleeping on the planes and in the cars. Sometimes it seems like he understands when we need to get things done. He always is good and happy when we’re moving and traveling. When we are home all day, he tends to be super-cranky. He just likes to be out and about I guess. Thank god, because that trip could have been terrible. Raph and I were barely able to carry all of our carry-on luggage, though it turned out to be a blessing that we brought as much as we did because our checked luggage didn’t show up for 48 hours. We must have been a sight with the baby in the front carrier, a big backpack with the pillow strapped to it, a roller, a diaper bag, a car seat. Good thing that people are fascinated with babies and tend to concentrate on their cuteness instead of the fact that you’re holding them up. At one point we were in a tram changing terminals with all of our crap. Raph had the baby and Makili had started crying because Raph had stopped moving. From the other side of the train I watched every eye on the train focus in on Raph. Women with soft smiles and men with looks of amusement. Looks of kind concern and young girls with looks of desire. And it was the same throughout our travel. People are fascinated by babies.
Makili has also been blessed to receive so much love from friends and family. First in Hawaii with his grandmas and one of his grandpas, an aunt and a cousin. Now in New Hampshire, people stop by every day to meet him, and for the last few days try to comfort his upset belly. He falls asleep on the lucky ones’ laps. He went shopping with Raph’s aunt Gina yesterday who spoiled him by buying him “Raph clothes.” Raph’s other aunts stopped by too (from New York) to meet him and give gifts. What a well-dressed, well-loved boy he is. Thank you.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Stealing Time
Boy is Makili lucky. We're all lucky, in truth. My sister drove all the way from Mariposa to Oakland (4 hours) with four kids to see us on our six hour layover. We went to their hotel. Raph and Doug swam with the kids. We picked blackberries behind the hotel. We ate the free continental breakfast. It was awesome. Thank you.
Aloha Hawaii
We officially said aloha to Hawaii this week. Our last day wasn't that awesome. I had intended to stop by school one last time and say good bye to people there, to stop in Honokaa and look out over Waipio Valley, say hello to our doula, Shannon, to stop at our favorite beach on the Kona side. None of those things happened. (Goodbye Dara, Betty, Pahoa, Shannon, etc.)
We woke up a bit late on Thursday after being up with Makili most of the night. We cleaned and did our final packing. As I was cleaning up I found a pamphlet that my sister had given me about breastfeeding in the first two months. I had been feeling sore for a few days and read in the pamphlet that soreness after the first week or so isn't a good sign. Afraid that I would need medicine after leaving the island and wouldn't be able to get it, I called the doctor and asked to see him. They told me that I could come at 1:30 and wait for him to come back from surgery. So we headed to the doctor's office. In the meantime I noticed white spots on the inside of Makili's mouth and knew right away that he had thrush. I called the pediatrician's office and they offered to call in a prescription without even seeing him. My doctor, on the other hand, was detained in surgery. We waited for almost two hours only to have him to tell me that I didn't have thrush and that I looked fine. He told me that thrush is painless (which is bullshit) and that I shouldn't give the baby any medicine without seeing the pediatrician. Super upset, we headed for the pediatrician's office. After a tearful explanation as to why we showed up without an appointment, the pediatrician saw him. she looked in his mouth for a few seconds and said, "yup, that's thrush." I was pretty pissed off at my doctor, especially since he wouldn't prescribe the medicine that I need to keep from passing the thrush back and forth between the baby and myself. Luckily the pediatrician said I could use the baby's medicine on myself.
After all that, we sped to Kona and dropped off our overweight bags (having to pay extra for them.) We then left again to drop off the rental car and returned to checkin. We were a half hour early and almost missed the plane. (So much for our first chance at pre-boarding). Every single person was already on the plane and they were all waiting for us. We parted with Hawaii on less than awesome terms, but it was a great year.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Week 3
Week 3 (7-15-07)
Noisy. That would be a important word in describing Makili this week. Righ now, he is sitting on Raph’s lap making all kinds of noises, which of course prompts Raph to ask him all sorts of questions. I like this noise-making. It is wicked cute. At night, his noisiness isn’t quite as cute. While sleeping, he grunts, squeaks, snores, pants, puffs, squaks, occasionally screams (yes while sleeping). All of this would be fine if he wasn’t in our bed. I regularly sit up and prepare to nurse him, certain that he is awake. And I wait and wait and he continues noisily sleeping until I finally give up and go back to sleep. (Then sure enough half and hour later he is awake screaming.) During the day he oscillates between being a complete angel one day (thankfully often on days when we have lots to do) and a gassy terror who screams his head off on other days. I don’t think I really knew that newborns cried a lot. I don’t know how I missed this piece of information, but I’m hoping my friends without kids are taking note of this information. Anyway, it has gotten so much better than the first few days after we came home and we had no idea how to console him. Now we can at least communicate a bit. We’re getting to know him I guess. He does not like a dirty diaper for example. Really doesn’t like a dirty diaper. And he dirties a lot of diapers, so on some days the crying is pretty much a race between gas in his belly bothering him and pants full of crap making him uncomfortable.
Spastic. Having arms is a challenge for Makili sometimes. He has started throwing his arms above him head in little fists, giant stretches. Painfully cute. But then sometimes he misses and punches himself in the face, which really makes him mad. At times it is as though he watches his hands thrash around and it just pisses him off. Of course when he is really mad and screaming he grabs at his face, in an apparent attempt to rip him eyeballs out. We think it’s a bit overdramatic. So much so it actually makes us laugh a lot (and trim those tiny fingernails a lot.) His hands look so much bigger than they did just a few short weeks ago.
A car-lover already. While he doesn’t have a yard-full of priceless cars like his grandpa yet, the kid definitely likes the car. I can pretty much count on him being asleep between our house and our gate which is ½ mile away. Raph is starting to be willing to waste gas occasionally (never before!) just to keep him from screaming. (It usually doesn’t come to that). I’m pretty thankful since we have to drive the 45 minutes to Hilo often.
Ready for adventure. For those of you who don’t know, we are headed permanently (in whatever sense permanence and our lives fit together) to the mainland this Thursday. We don’t know exactly where we will reside this year, though the goal is to be closer to family and friends. We’re hoping Makili will live up to recent travel performances and handle it well, but I think he will. After all, he already misses his grandmas and grandpa. The last grandma left on Thursday and Raph and I have been on own since then. Aside from the fact that I’ve eaten a die primarily consisting of pie and pretzels since then, we’re doing pretty well. I’ll say it again: I can’t imagine doing this alone. I totally picked the right husband. Our stuff is almost packed and the house is getting clean day by day. I’ve greeted the sun almost every day since the moms left (thanks to Makili). Mentally I’m ready to say goodbye to Hawaii for now. I’m ready for family and friends and fall and the Eastern time zone and weddings and good vegetarian food and fireplaces and navigable woods and lakes and art.
Big. He already seems so much bigger than he used to.
Noisy. That would be a important word in describing Makili this week. Righ now, he is sitting on Raph’s lap making all kinds of noises, which of course prompts Raph to ask him all sorts of questions. I like this noise-making. It is wicked cute. At night, his noisiness isn’t quite as cute. While sleeping, he grunts, squeaks, snores, pants, puffs, squaks, occasionally screams (yes while sleeping). All of this would be fine if he wasn’t in our bed. I regularly sit up and prepare to nurse him, certain that he is awake. And I wait and wait and he continues noisily sleeping until I finally give up and go back to sleep. (Then sure enough half and hour later he is awake screaming.) During the day he oscillates between being a complete angel one day (thankfully often on days when we have lots to do) and a gassy terror who screams his head off on other days. I don’t think I really knew that newborns cried a lot. I don’t know how I missed this piece of information, but I’m hoping my friends without kids are taking note of this information. Anyway, it has gotten so much better than the first few days after we came home and we had no idea how to console him. Now we can at least communicate a bit. We’re getting to know him I guess. He does not like a dirty diaper for example. Really doesn’t like a dirty diaper. And he dirties a lot of diapers, so on some days the crying is pretty much a race between gas in his belly bothering him and pants full of crap making him uncomfortable.
Spastic. Having arms is a challenge for Makili sometimes. He has started throwing his arms above him head in little fists, giant stretches. Painfully cute. But then sometimes he misses and punches himself in the face, which really makes him mad. At times it is as though he watches his hands thrash around and it just pisses him off. Of course when he is really mad and screaming he grabs at his face, in an apparent attempt to rip him eyeballs out. We think it’s a bit overdramatic. So much so it actually makes us laugh a lot (and trim those tiny fingernails a lot.) His hands look so much bigger than they did just a few short weeks ago.
A car-lover already. While he doesn’t have a yard-full of priceless cars like his grandpa yet, the kid definitely likes the car. I can pretty much count on him being asleep between our house and our gate which is ½ mile away. Raph is starting to be willing to waste gas occasionally (never before!) just to keep him from screaming. (It usually doesn’t come to that). I’m pretty thankful since we have to drive the 45 minutes to Hilo often.
Ready for adventure. For those of you who don’t know, we are headed permanently (in whatever sense permanence and our lives fit together) to the mainland this Thursday. We don’t know exactly where we will reside this year, though the goal is to be closer to family and friends. We’re hoping Makili will live up to recent travel performances and handle it well, but I think he will. After all, he already misses his grandmas and grandpa. The last grandma left on Thursday and Raph and I have been on own since then. Aside from the fact that I’ve eaten a die primarily consisting of pie and pretzels since then, we’re doing pretty well. I’ll say it again: I can’t imagine doing this alone. I totally picked the right husband. Our stuff is almost packed and the house is getting clean day by day. I’ve greeted the sun almost every day since the moms left (thanks to Makili). Mentally I’m ready to say goodbye to Hawaii for now. I’m ready for family and friends and fall and the Eastern time zone and weddings and good vegetarian food and fireplaces and navigable woods and lakes and art.
Big. He already seems so much bigger than he used to.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
picnic to say goodbye
Raph's mom left this morning. We spend part of the day yesterday at Makenzie State Park where there is lots of shade and lots of ocean. The kid likes the coast already.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Week 2 (7-7-07)
Notes on Makili – Week 2 (July 7, 2007)
I’m watching the kid sleep right now and thinking how he already seems bigger and different than he did just two short weeks ago. He grunts and squeaks in his sleep and lets loose an occasional toot, which seems to allow him to relax. I wonder what he dreams about. His little brow knits itself and his tiny mouth wanders from tiny kisses to smiles, to silent open-mouth screams.
We went on our first walk together this morning in the sling that Cara Puff made for me. It worked great and he went to sleep immediately. I felt pregnant again with that little bundle against my belly. I wonder if he remembers the daily walks we went on when I was pregnant.
Makili started off the week giving his parents lots of sleep. He was sleeping up to seven hours at a stretch (though more commonly 4-5) and spending most of each day awake. In the last few days however he has returned to a more regular baby schedule with sleeping 2-3 hours at a time, which has meant a lot less sleep for us. I regularly fall asleep nursing him in bed. I’ve learned that if I can get him to latch on, I can then scoot back into an almost supine position while he nurses, allowing me to sleep. Pretty passive parenting. Sleeping less in long stretches has made the daytime a bit easier. He isn’t nearly as cranky now that he isn’t staying awake all day. His awake time is spent looking around eagerly checking out the world. This morning when he woke up at 4:15 and showed no signs of going back to sleep, Raph got up and entertained him for 2 hours. I was so grateful for some extra sleep. My mom says she has never seen a man as hands-on with a baby as Raph. I picked a winner.
Makili rolled over four times this week from his belly to his back. When Raph saw him do it the first time, I told him it was a fluke, but when I came in the room, he did it twice more. Then we tried to show our parents the next and sure enough, he performed admirably. What an advanced kid.
Makili’s cousin, Gabrielle, and his aunt, Laura, came to visit this week. Gabrielle at 5 months seemed huge compared to Makili. She’s a bundle of smiles and is very eager to touch or grab anything in sight. We tried to take pictures of the cousins together and Gabrielle reached out to grab crying Makili’s hand. His reflexes made him tear her hand off of him which made Gabrielle scream. Their first fight.
Makili got lots of love this week from my parents and Raph’s mom and Laura and Gabrielle. He returned the favor by making eyes and sleeping soundly in arms. It really is completely impossible to not fall in love with him when he is sleeping. It pains me. Seriously.
He still resembles Yoda at times, which I find cute as hell. Waking up he is. Go I must.
I’m watching the kid sleep right now and thinking how he already seems bigger and different than he did just two short weeks ago. He grunts and squeaks in his sleep and lets loose an occasional toot, which seems to allow him to relax. I wonder what he dreams about. His little brow knits itself and his tiny mouth wanders from tiny kisses to smiles, to silent open-mouth screams.
We went on our first walk together this morning in the sling that Cara Puff made for me. It worked great and he went to sleep immediately. I felt pregnant again with that little bundle against my belly. I wonder if he remembers the daily walks we went on when I was pregnant.
Makili started off the week giving his parents lots of sleep. He was sleeping up to seven hours at a stretch (though more commonly 4-5) and spending most of each day awake. In the last few days however he has returned to a more regular baby schedule with sleeping 2-3 hours at a time, which has meant a lot less sleep for us. I regularly fall asleep nursing him in bed. I’ve learned that if I can get him to latch on, I can then scoot back into an almost supine position while he nurses, allowing me to sleep. Pretty passive parenting. Sleeping less in long stretches has made the daytime a bit easier. He isn’t nearly as cranky now that he isn’t staying awake all day. His awake time is spent looking around eagerly checking out the world. This morning when he woke up at 4:15 and showed no signs of going back to sleep, Raph got up and entertained him for 2 hours. I was so grateful for some extra sleep. My mom says she has never seen a man as hands-on with a baby as Raph. I picked a winner.
Makili rolled over four times this week from his belly to his back. When Raph saw him do it the first time, I told him it was a fluke, but when I came in the room, he did it twice more. Then we tried to show our parents the next and sure enough, he performed admirably. What an advanced kid.
Makili’s cousin, Gabrielle, and his aunt, Laura, came to visit this week. Gabrielle at 5 months seemed huge compared to Makili. She’s a bundle of smiles and is very eager to touch or grab anything in sight. We tried to take pictures of the cousins together and Gabrielle reached out to grab crying Makili’s hand. His reflexes made him tear her hand off of him which made Gabrielle scream. Their first fight.
Makili got lots of love this week from my parents and Raph’s mom and Laura and Gabrielle. He returned the favor by making eyes and sleeping soundly in arms. It really is completely impossible to not fall in love with him when he is sleeping. It pains me. Seriously.
He still resembles Yoda at times, which I find cute as hell. Waking up he is. Go I must.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Internet Deprivation
My parents rented a house while they were here. Washer, dryer, oven, TV. Lots of luxuries. AND high speed internet. Thus all the pictures posted. Unfortunately, the luxury ends today and we return to solar power land and packing. (In case you didn't know we're headed to the mainland on the 19th.) So here a few more pictures and then we're cut off until we have time to stop by school next week. I appreciate all the postings from friends and family. Makili feels loved already (I know I do).
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Post 100
My 100th post! The important men in my life. Good trip to Hilo today. He's been a good baby this week. Sleeping most of the night. More and more awake. I can't complain. It's been a good week.
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