The World of Zoe Rose

Baby Lincoln at 10 months

2009-06-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Two teeth and lots of fun!

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T12:09:00.001-07:00

Siblings

2009-04-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

These two kids really love each other. It's fascinating. No one told them that they had to do it, no one bribed them with chocolate. They just completely adore each other all on their own.

Lincoln's Room

2009-04-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

It dawned on me this morning that I never posted a follow up to the Lincoln bedroom drama. His room was built and everyone has been sleeping happily ever after. Here's a photo of my baby's glorified walk in closet:

A few Easter photos

2009-04-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

We're back!

2009-04-12T17:06:00.001-07:00

It's been a while, I know. I hope you can all forgive me. I've just been pretty lazy. Ok, what am I talking about - I have 2 kids, a job, and Facebook to update - the blog just fell through the crack a bit. But, we're back! and better than ever! Yay!

This is what I have to say to all of you who keep telling me to update the blog

2009-04-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Big Love (a.k.a. Cecil's a pimp)

2009-02-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

Seriously

2009-02-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

This kid had better get a tooth soon because I can't find any other reason for all this crying.

Peter got an iPhone

2009-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

So, yes, Peter has an iPhone now too. What this means for all of us is that this blog will now be filled with even more low quality camera phone pictures. But, since we have 2 kids I'm just grateful that we manage to take any photos these days, regardless of the quality.

So for his first photo essay, may I present you with Dad Day (or, well, Saturday). Peter and Bryan had the girls for the morning and did what any good fathers would do. They took them to Home Depot.

And Ikea.

Sylvie had herself a good old fashioned Ikea lunch of Swedish Meatballs and mashed potatoes.

And true to form, Zoe had a lunch of one bite of a muffin.

Looks like it was a good morning all around.

Like Father, Like Son?

2009-02-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

Lincoln Potato Head

2009-02-22T11:41:00.001-08:00

Email from Grandma

2009-02-17T11:51:00.001-08:00

Every time I am with Zoe she says something either funny or adorable, I think I am going to start to write them down, last night while she was taking a bath, she was washing her legs and I said "my you have a lot of bruises" and she said "no Grandma, they are called spots".

Progress on the sleep front

2009-02-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Sleep has been a little crazy around here ever since Lincoln was born. Around 8 or 9 weeks he started to settle into sleeping all night long, but by 12 weeks he decided that he didn't want to sleep through the night if someone else was in the room with him. That's a big problem considering that we live in a 2 bedroom apartment. We always assumed that we'd just have the 2 kids sleeping in the same room, but after 2 failed attempts to make that happen we realized that we were in trouble.

So, Peter and I began sleeping in the living room. This WAS NOT the answer we were looking for. Sure, the kids slept fine but the adults (who are paying the mortgage) were relegated to air mattresses and couches for "sleep".

Next we decided to sell the apartment and move to a 3 bedroom. Easier said than done. This is just not the market to try and move a 2 bedroom apartment. Sure, our place is fantastic, but the market is flooded right now with 2 bedroom new construction places that aren't selling so why would anyone pay a premium for ours? I do think we would have found the right buyer eventually, but I just couldn't stomach the months of open houses while having to sleep in my living room.

Along came plan B. Build the baby a "sleep pod". Not quite a bedroom because it's super tiny and has no window to the outside world, but hopefully a good temporary solution until the time is right for us to sell (in which case the room gets converted into a dope walk in closet). Here's the progress so far:

Our bedroom as it once was:

Last week during the framing:

This morning before the contractor arrived. He SHOULD be finished today. I'm really hoping he will be because we need some normalcy around here!

I'll post photos of the finished product once it's complete and we've figured out how to rearrange all the furniture in our now smaller bedroom.

The Shocking Reveal

2009-02-10T05:40:00.000-08:00

It's shocking because it's less than we all thought (including myself). I think this makes Heather the winner for being the only person to take the under.

I've got a lot to say in this post, but I'll get to the number first: 21 pounds, 10 ounces - which puts him back on the chart at the 95th percentile. And while this is less than expected it's worth noting that this was Zoe's exact weight at her 15 month checkup, so he's outpacing her by 9 months.

I learned two other things yesterday. The first one is that he no longer fits into the infant car seat. I guess he hasn't been in the car in a while because when I put him in the carseat yesterday to head to the pediatrician I couldn't get the harness to buckle. For a moment I thought about putting him into Zoe's seat but then he'd be forward facing and that is just plain illegal, so I just stripped him down to his onsie and managed to squeeze him in, but I guess it's time for a run to Babies R Us.

Secondly, part of Lincolns heft is due to the fact that he's still a big sandbag. He offers no help or resistance when you pick him up and just kind of has jelly arms. He doesn't have any interest in standing or rolling or any of the other milestone's that he apparently should have reached by now. The doctor has ordered him into the early intervention program. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand you don't ever want to be told that there is something potentially wrong with your child, but on the other I'm glad that New York State offers this program free of charge to get him the help he needs and hopefully in 6 month or so he'll be all caught up and this will become a distant memory.

So that's it. There won't be another weigh in until 9 months but I'll keep fattening him up in the mean time!

Now taking bets

2009-02-03T11:21:00.001-08:00

Lincoln's 6 month appointment is coming up this Monday (Feb 8th). I'm taking wagers on his size (Don - I know you can't resist). The child is just comically large at this point. To make the playing field even here are his stats so far:

Birth - 7lb 11oz
1 month - 11lb 7oz
2 month - 13lb 13oz
4 month - 19lb
6 month - ????

I don't have a prize picked out (maybe the winner gets to carry his largeness around for a day and give me a break) And for the record, Zoe was 16lb 14oz at her 6 month appointment, so he passed that around 3 months. I wouldn't be surprised if they weighed the same right now. Good luck!

Lego "House"

2009-01-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

Literally, a house, built around her. I tried standing in there with her but was told that I was too big.

Mobile Uploads

2009-01-29T19:55:00.001-08:00

(notice the giant man hands on this kid)

Frustrating Conversations

2009-01-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know why she's doing this. Peter says it's her way of having a "conversation", all I know is that it's driving me batty. A typical back and forth goes something like this:

Zoe: Mommy, what are you drinking? Is that water or seltzer?
Me: It's seltzer
Zoe: It is?
Me: Yes
Zoe: It's seltzer?
Me: Yes, it's seltzer
Zoe: You ARE drinking seltzer?
Me: Yes Zoe, I'm drinking seltzer.
Zoe: Seltzer?
Me: Yes, jeez Zoe - knock it off
Zoe: It's not water?
Me: AHHHH!

Wanna buy my apartment?

2009-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

We're having our first Open House this weekend. Fingers crossed people!

http://23115thstreet.blogspot.com/

http://realestate.nytimes.com/sales/detail/253-NS90120463

Size Matters

2009-01-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

I was sitting on the couch this evening feeding Lincoln his last bottle of the day and pondering the meal he had just eaten. I served him up a yummy bowl of mashed bananas and oatmeal that was about double the size of what I had been feeding him last week. He ate the last bite and sat there with his mouth open waiting for more. I debated with myself over what to do here. He's only five and a half months old and they're really not even supposed to start eating until 6 months, and even then it's not until 7 months that they're actually eating. But if he's hungry I gotta feed him right? So I give him a bowl of apples. Same thing. I feed him another bowl of apples. SAME THING! I'm out of apples so I just make him some plain oatmeal. He eats a few bites of this and decides he's had enough, but wow, this kid is going to eat me out of house and home.

So, as I'm feeding him and thinking about feeding him I decide to look at the tag on his shirt. I don't really look at sizes anymore when I'm dressing him, it's really more about "does it look like I can squeeze him into this." He had on this cute blue plaid t-shirt that he had never worn before and I was curious about the size. It was a 2T! 2T on a five month old. Zoe wears 2T. At this rate he's going to be eating steak next month and trying out for college football.

Sleeping and moving and stressing out

2009-01-18T06:22:00.001-08:00

Life has been a bit crazy around here lately. Having a second child certainly doubles the joy in the house, but it quadruples the work (and stress).

Lincoln is a joy to be around. When he's awake he's pretty much always happy and rarely cries....but the nighttime has proven to be a whole other story. About a month ago we FINALLY got him sleeping 7:30-7:30. After about a week of that we decided to try and put the two kids in the same room together (attempt #2). It went horribly. The first night was OK, but it went in a steady decline over the next few nights. By night 4 he had a binky all night. They were both sleeping poorly and not napping well either since they were pretty overtired. So, we pulled the plug and put them back in separate rooms. And by separate rooms I mean that Lincoln gets the master bedroom and Peter and I are sleeping in the living room. Turns out this kid just can't sleep unless he's alone. So, we need a 3rd bedroom. Trouble is we're in a recession and no one wants to pay any money for housing, so we are going to try and sell but who knows what we can even get for the apartment right now.

The plan - sell ourselves. As it is we might have to take less than the place is worth so we can't really afford to pay a broker on top of that. Then I guess we're going to try and rent a 3br for a while until we figure out the next move. So, wish us luck and I'll post the info for the open houses on here for you all to pass along to anyone looking for a dope 2 bedroom!

Oh, and ever since those horrible 4 nights in Zoe's room, Lincoln now wakes up at 6:15 every morning which is wholly unacceptable to this house of night owls. I'm trying to break him of this habit but so far no luck. If anyone has any tips please let me know!

Killing time in the bathroom mirror

2009-01-17T16:44:00.001-08:00

Mr. Potato Head according to Zoe

2009-01-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas was good

2009-01-08T05:01:00.001-08:00

Much like everyday life with 2 children, Christmas was a lot of fun and extremely chaotic at the same time (who's going to sleep where, how in the world can we even get anyone to sleep with all these people, baths? do we even bother? etc). Unfortunately, my little camera has crapped out with all the good Christmas photos stuck inside it. I've tried all the tricks I know but I think I need to just bite the bullet and pay to have it fixed.

Here's Zoe on Christmas morning. It took her HOURS to open all the presents because she just wanted to play with everything as she opened them:

Lincoln and Zoe with their cousin Addison (note the size difference between Link and Addison - she's only a month younger!):

Slacker

2009-01-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm sorry, I haven't updated this thing in weeks. There has just been so much going on (I'm trying to focus on work more, going back to school, moving etc), but I'll post more about that later. For now I'm going to just try to post a bunch of photos and play catch up.

Lazy Saturday

2008-12-21T11:40:00.001-08:00

(which of course was immediately followed by Stir Crazy Sunday)

And I thought I'd throw this photo in too since it's rare for me to ever get them in the same frame:

Zoe's school show

2008-12-19T07:21:00.001-08:00

Zoe's school had their holiday show yesterday. They have been practicing for weeks. Every day when I pick her up from school they remind her not to tell Mommy & Daddy what they are doing for the show because it's a surprise - it actually works because she hasn't said a thing about it.

Walking in yesterday I said to Peter "I'll bet you money that Zoe's the only kid not wearing her hat and not singing" - come on now, do I know my kid or what?:

Here's a closeup:

But, on a brighter note I did manage to get a couple of cute photos of Zoe and I:

How did this happen?

2008-12-19T07:15:00.001-08:00

How did this kid go from this little baby to this giant monster baby in just 4 months? He is seriously off the charts! He was 19 pounds at his 4 month visit. Just for a comparison, Zoe weighed this much at 11 months.

What to do when you can't have a playdate?

2008-12-17T18:13:00.000-08:00

Have a virtual one!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

2008-12-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

This is Zoe's first year of really getting to be an active participant in Christmas. I think especially because she's in school they talk about it a lot there. I don't think I ever realized HOW MUCH there is to this whole Christmas thing before. Every day she's confronted with yet another part of the holiday season that is so foreign to her (What's that? That's a snowman. What's a snowman?).

About 5 times a day she tells me that she doesn't want Santa Claus to come into her house, and 5 times a day I reassure her that he won't (I guess there will be no leaving cookies and milk out in this house).

But her favorite part so far has been the tree. Peter and Zoe went together to pick it out, and from what I hear Zoe made the ultimate decision. At first I was none to thrilled by this since what arrived in my apartment was one of the more non-symmetrical trees I've ever seen. I did a little pruning and it all turned out well in the end.

Then there is the issue of the candy canes. Zoe's a bit obsessed with them and she's managed to get all the ones on the lower half of the tree. I've been finding pieces of them all over the house. As long as she doesn't start climbing the tree to get to the higher ones...

Taking the good with the bad

2008-12-12T07:14:00.001-08:00

Last night as I was reading Zoe books before bed she said the cutest thing - she said "remember the muffin at Lindsay's house? Wasn't it delicious?" I guess something about how mature that statement was really struck a chord with me. Perhaps it was the use of "delicious" instead of "yummy" or some other more toddler like word. Maybe it was just asking me if I remember something - that seems so advanced.

I went to bed thinking about how fantastic my kids are. Then Lincoln woke and cried from 3:30-6:30 am, and I finally got him to sleep only to have Zoe wake up at 7:00 and start crying as well. When I finally went in after 15 minutes of her screaming to find out what the problem was she said "mommy, my hair is in my face", then she brushed her hair out of her face, rolled over and went back to sleep. Really? She really needed to cry to get me in there just for that?

Kids.

So funny it doesn't require a title

2008-12-11T21:26:00.001-08:00

Baby Lincoln at 4 months

2008-12-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Baby Lincoln is 4 months old now and he's a pure joy to be around (during the day at least). He smiles and laughs and is starting to really play.

His 4 month check up isn't until next week so I don't have his exact stats, but a rough estimate is that he's jumbo sized. Seriously, the kid is a giant. He's so huge, and yet so mellow and cuddly that when you carry him around it's like holding a big sandbag. Here are a few photos of my little monster:

Worst blogger ever?

2008-11-25T13:37:00.001-08:00

Life has been a little crazy around here and so the blog has been suffering. I've been working so much that it has really turned everything upside down. With me I'm forever working way too much, or not at all - there's never a happy middle ground of working just enough all the time. This subsequently means that at different times I'm either rolling in it or flat broke, because god forbid I learn to manage my money like an adult.

Plus there's the fact that Lincoln likes to cry every morning around 5:30, which means I get the pleasure of waking up every day at 5:30 and then walk around like a zombie for the rest of the day.

Oh, and I've been sick. I had a fever and a flu like thing for 4 or 5 days.

Feel sorry for me yet? Ok, I'll end my pity party. Here are a few random photos of the kids that have nothing to do whatsoever with this post.

Lincoln's playdate

2008-11-13T05:28:00.001-08:00

Part 2 to Mommy/Lincoln weekend is that we went to Long Island to visit my friends Deirdre & Kate and their babies Henry & Gavin. Unfortunately, Kate & Gavin left before anyone thought to bust out a camera. It was Lincoln's first official "playdate", although the babes pretty much slept through the entire thing (Henry in his crib, Lincoln on Deirdre's bed and Gavin on the couch).

It was good to sit around and talk mom talk. I've got lots of friends with toddlers Zoe's age from my mom's group, but I just didn't have the time to join another group for Lincoln. I've been a little worried that he wouldn't have kids his own age to play with, but hopefully I can keep this up with Kate and Deirdre and the boys can grow up being great friends!

Mommy/Lincoln Weekend

2008-11-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

Two years ago when Zoe was 3 months old, the thought of being alone with her by myself all weekend was a scary, scary thought. This weekend however, is Mommy/Baby Lincoln weekend and I've been looking forward to it for days. Peter and Zoe have gone off to Jersey to visit the Chase family and Lincoln and I are holding down the fort here in Brooklyn.
What in the world was I complaining about when I had just one little baby. This is cake. Taking care of a baby all day is WAY easier than running after a toddler. I've gotten hours of work completed, have washed and folded 5 loads of laundry and even went for a walk with the kid. It's been the most productive, yet relaxing day I've had in a long time.

Yes we did

2008-11-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

Marathon Sunday

2008-11-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

For people without kids Marathon Sunday is all about watching the runners and drinking (at least that's been my experience), but for us the day want more like this - get out early to see everyone (the disabled runners as well as the front runners), Zoe gets excited by all the clapping and cheering and participates for about 5 minutes.

Then she eats a steady stream of snacks and quickly loses interest as more and more rude people decide to stand in the street in front of us - therefor blocking the view. I pick her up to give her a better vantage point, but she's far more interested in playing with the zipper on my jacket.

Then only about 15 minutes into the mass of runners we end up abandoning ship and heading to the playground and forgetting about the marathon all together.

Halloween Party

2008-11-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

We went to a party at the Jenkins' house yesterday for Halloween. It was a fun Halloween because the adults could actually act like adults a little bit since the kids are getting pretty self sufficient these days. Zoe played, Lincoln sat in a bouncy chair (and I drank beer).

Sylvie, Zoe and Lincoln on the couch before everyone got there

Baby Lincoln chillin on the couch

Kristen, Andros and Cecil (the monkey/banana family)

The whole group (notice April as Sarah Palin)

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

2008-10-31T06:41:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Zoe puts the babies to bed

2008-10-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Farm (again)

2008-10-20T15:43:00.001-07:00

Zoe's school took a trip to where else but the Queens Farm. I went along as a chaperon (and yes, it made me feel really old to be chaperoning a school function). The day started off really well. Zoe was super excited to ride on a school bus for the first time (despite the look on her face in this photo):

My first mistake was agreeing to let her walk down the stairs of the bus when she declared "I do it all by self". She took the first step, lost her footing and fell out of the bus and landed on her face. Didn't I look like a great mom in front of her teachers and the other parents. If you look closely below you can see the giant welt above her eye:

My second mistake was believing her when she said she wanted to ride the pony like all the other kids. This is Zoe we're talking about and I should have known better. She cried the whole way:

All of this aside I think she still had a pretty good time. If you ask her if she had fun at the farm she says "yes!, but the pony made me cry."

Video monitor use reaches new level of insanity

2008-10-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously now - this is either the best of worst idea we've ever had in this house. I can't decide which one yet. We've been using the video monitor with Lincoln, but let's be realistic here - he pretty much just moves his head from side to side and skooches around a bit - nothing too exciting. Zoe is another story. For months now when I put her down to sleep she proceeds to sing, talk, play and what have you for HOURS before finally falling asleep. All this time I've had no real idea what's been going on in there other than what I can hear from the other side of her door. So I decided the video monitor would be put to way better use in her room.

It's crazy to watch - she has a whole other life in there at bedtime. She swaddles her stuffed animals OVER and OVER and OVER until she has is just right (I'm not kidding here, she'll re-do it 20-25 times). She talks to the stuffed animals, they talk to each other, she says goodnight to everything in her room (goodnight door, goodnight toys etc), she sings, she tries her best to hang over the side of the bed and grab her toys - the whole thing is just fascinating.

All this of course just means that what little free time I once had to myself is now taken up by watching this. I guess the novelty will wear off soon - but for now it's the best thing on TV. Oh that's right - did I fail to mention we hooked it up to the flatscreen to watch it better? Yeah.

How chubby is too chubby?

2008-10-17T18:38:00.001-07:00

The doctor says that he's doing just fine, so I try not to worry...but look at the size of this kid!!

Update on my iPhone

2008-10-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Apparently after you drop and crack your iPhone the camera function enters into the matrix:

View from my arms

2008-10-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

Lincoln after his night feed.

Apple Fest

2008-10-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

We went to the Queens Farm Apple Festival last weekend and had an all around good time. We were joined by Zoe's friends Dylan and Clio (and their parents) and spent time "picking" apples, looking at the animals and sampling all the yummy food. But I think most of all these city kids just enjoyed the grass and wide open space.

Sleep!

2008-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

I know that there has been a serious lack of words on this blog recently, the reason being that I've been too darn tired to write much. But last night, after extensive research, trial and error and persistence, Lincoln finally MOSTLY slept. He got up once to eat, but that is fantastic compared to being awake for hours on end crying for no particular reason. I don't want to start congratulating myself too soon since he's a baby and this could have been a one off event, but I'm hoping the trend continues in this direction!

The resemblance is striking

2008-10-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Zoe Photos

2008-10-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Little girl in a big world, Part 2

2008-09-28T07:40:00.001-07:00

See Part 1 Here

Less like a baby, more like a big girl

2008-09-28T07:37:00.001-07:00

Zoe at 2 years, 2 months:

Less like a newborn, more like a baby

2008-09-27T14:47:00.001-07:00

Lincoln at 7 weeks:

The devil is in the details

2008-09-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

In my quest to get my baby to sleep I decided to buy a video monitor so I could see him better. What it has shown me is that all those times I thought he was asleep in his bassinet he was actually just lying there wide awake and kicking and squirming and just generally not sleeping. Argh. I knew that I was having sleep problems with him, I just didn't know how bad they really were. He's been "napping" for only 30-45 minutes and then is super tired but inconsolable and wont go back to sleep. Turns out those 30-45 minutes he's actually mostly awake and not napping at all!

I've learned a lot about what's been going on in there when I put him to sleep, that's the good part - the bad part is that I now watch the monitor like it's a really good movie. I'm glued to the thing. It's with me everywhere I go. While I eat breakfast I'm looking at it. While I shower I poke my head out to see what's going on. Even as I'm sitting here typing I'm staring at it out of the corner of my eye. Peter bought me a video monitor for Christmas the year that Zoe was born and I insisted that we return it for this very reason. And yet, here I am, an addict to the monitor.

If you look closely at the picture you'll discover my dirty little secret (which was a major factor in the purchase of the video monitor), the kid just sleeps better on his belly - but that's a whole other post that I'm not ready to write just yet.

Big Girl Bed

2008-09-22T08:51:00.001-07:00

It's official - Zoe now sleeps in her big girl bed. For a while she was flat out refusing and I was worried that I was going to have to buy a second crib for Lincoln. But after some crying and some bribing - and finally stripping the crib of all the bedding did she relent. Now she for the most part is sleeping really great in there (except she wakes up earlier now, we'll have to work on that).

Goofing off

2008-09-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

I don't even know how to caption these....

Oops

2008-09-17T06:47:00.001-07:00

I am such a spaz.

Nighttime with a newborn

2008-09-15T09:42:00.001-07:00

Here's a portion of my night last night:
2:00am - Baby crying, feed him. He poops. Unswaddle him, change his diaper, re-swaddle him. He poops AGAIN. Unswaddle him, change his diaper, he pees all over himself while changing his diaper. Undress him completely, fumble around in the dark looking for a new outfit. He spits up. Wipe him down, change outfit, re-swaddle and finally put him back to sleep.
3:15am - I crawl back into bed.

The new family

2008-09-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Patience gets rewarded

2008-09-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Wait for it...

Wait for it....

Wait for it...

Ahhh, sweet reward!

Sicko

2008-09-04T06:52:00.001-07:00

I'm posting this from Lincoln's hospital room. My poor little kid and I have been stuck here since Tuesday evening. The back story is that Peter and Zoe both developed colds on Sunday and I guess by Tuesday Lincoln got it too. He was feeling really warm to me and when I spoke to the doctor she told me that anything at or above 100.4 meant I'd have to take him to the hospital. It hovered around 100.3 for a few hours but then got to 100.8 and I had to go. The problem with taking a newborn to the hospital with a fever? Tests, and lots of them. Even though everyone was in agreement that the most likely source of the fever was from the cold his dad and sister have (a virus), they have to be aggressive and make sure that it's not something way worse (a bacteria - aka meningitis). The little guy had to have a SPINAL TAP. It was the worst thing I've had to do so far as a parent. The poor resident spent and hour in the room with me trying to get me to sign the consent form. Only after some teary phone calls to Peter, a call to the pediatrician, and the realization that I had no choice in the matter did I sign it and then go sit in the waiting room while they stuck a needle in my son's spine. They were doing tests, and taking blood and all sorts of other things for almost 2 hours, and I could hear him screaming in the distance for most of it.

So, even though this has been a pretty awful experience there has also been something a little sweet about it. It's been nice to have a few days of uninterrupted time together. At home he's been a bit of an accessory that gets neglected because of the demands of a 2 year old and taking care of a household. Here in our little quarantine room there's been lots of cuddling and sleeping unswaddled and even (ack!) co-sleeping (which I got a stern talking to for doing). I'm anxious to get home but sort of glad that we had this time together.

Tired

2008-09-01T07:44:00.001-07:00

I clearly have selective memory when it comes to having a newborn. Yes, I knew in theory that they are exhausting - but I forgot HOW exhausting. Lincoln was up crying from 12-5am last night. Man am I tired.

Big Sister

2008-08-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps asking how Zoe is handling becoming a big sister - and the truth is that she's taking it way better than I expected. I was prepared for hatred and jealousy and hitting and acting out and everything else that I've read about and seen in other kids, but instead she's taking it in stride. She really seems to enjoy her new role. She likes to "pick out" his diaper during changes and put the bottle in the sink when he's finished. She likes to give him kisses on his head and tickle his toes. Of course she also likes to push him way too hard in the swing and occasionally "give" him toys way too hard - but still I don't think she has bad intentions.

She has been a little mad at me and has wanted everyone BUT me to do things for her, but even that is starting to fade. Having two kids is a really crazy new way of life but at least Zoe is cutting me a little slack....for now.

Battle of the boob

2008-08-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. I swore that after my experience trying to feed Zoe with a low milk supply that I would never put myself through the torture again. With her it was feeding every 2 hours and pumping in between around the clock for 4 weeks straight. In the end it was determined that it was the PCOS that kept me from really being able to breastfeed. I had myself convinced that things would be different this time. I was able to get pregnant on my own, so I figured my body must have righted itself and that the nursing would come naturally as well. But, 2 weeks in it's pretty clear that it's not going to happen.

I want to quit. I really do. Zoe had formula and she turned out fantastic. But, something, and I don't know what it is, but something propels me on along this absurd path in my quest for breast milk. I'm now taking an illegal prescription medication called Domperidone as well as an herbal supplement called Goat's Rue in the hopes that it will make the milk come in. As I was sitting on the couch pumping today it occurred to me that by taking these 2 pills it's going to cost me over $200 a month just to try and make breast milk. That's insane. One of the benefits of nursing is that it's supposed to be free. Here's what a day's worth of these 2 drugs looks like:That's a lot of pills.

I've already paid for this month's supply, so I'll at the very least give it a shot. I guess this way I'll know that I at least tried everything I could?

I think it's living in Park Slope that makes me so nuts. I am the ONLY person I know that formula fed. Everywhere else in this country women probably feel a bit embarrassed about breastfeeding in public - today I felt like a leper whipping out a bottle to feed Lincoln at the playground. I swear even the nannies were giving me the evil eye.

In need of a double wide changing table

2008-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Room for 1 more?

Another baby photo

2008-08-21T16:14:00.001-07:00

Baby

2008-08-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Asleep on the job

2008-08-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

Lincoln sleeps a lot. And I mean A LOT. I have to wake him up most of the day to feed him, and then try and spend a good hour in the evening trying to keep his eyes open so that he can start to know that nighttime is for sleeping. For those of you who knew Zoe and I in the early days you'll know how dramatically different this is. Zoe pretty much cried all day and refused to nap at all. This kid is so chill I can hardly believe it. But, I know better than to get my hopes up that things will continue this way. One thing I did learn from Zoe is that once you think you have everything all figured out they go ahead and change.

Slowly getting my act together...

2008-08-12T08:15:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, there is a new addition to the family. Lincoln Edward Grossman was born on 8.8.08 at 5:40 am after about 8 hours of an epidural free (and therefor very painful) labor. Thursday evening around 9:00 I started to think that something was up. By 10:00 I had convinced by doula that I wasn't crazy and that it was in fact go time. At midnight I was in triage at the hospital where they almost released me because they didn't think I was truly in labor (luckily the on-call doctor called my OB at home and she told them to admit me). 2 am I was in the labor & delivery room - where I first made the decision to decline the epidural. I was 3 cm in triage and 5cm when they checked me in the room. An hour later (maybe around 3:30? I'm not clear about times) I asked them to check me again. The resident didn't want to because she was convinced that I would still be only 5cm. Turns out I was 7.5. So, at this point the epidural is pretty much out of the question. A little while after that the on call doctor came in and broke my water and then all hell broke loose and I was SERIOUSLY regretting my decision to do this without pain meds. I only had to push twice and out came little Lincoln. By all standards it was an "easy" labor, although to any of you first timers - get the epidural!!

The first photo ever taken of Link

Me getting my first look at a clean Lincoln (there are no photos of the official first meeting of mom and baby)

Big sister Zoe seems to be handling it all quite well. I'll update this status in a few days!

Kiddie rides - Meow

2008-08-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

In the car on the way to Coney Island the other day my dad turned to Zoe and said "are you excited to go on kiddie rides?" Zoe took a moment to think and then replied "kitty rides, MEOW!"

Z and I have been walking around the house saying that for the last 2 days now just for the comedy of it!

Afternoon at Coney Island

2008-07-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Weekend at Linda's

2008-07-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Zoe, my mother and I headed out to Linda's house for a weekend by the pool. It was relaxing for me and exciting for Zoe since she absolutely loved the pool!

Tantrum

2008-07-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Zoe really wanted to watch Barney the other night. I told her she had to eat her dinner first. What followed was an hour long tantrum that ended with neither Barney nor dinner.

My new website! (aka - shameless use of Zoe's blog for my own purposes)

2008-07-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

My new website is FINALLY live! This has literally been in the making for months! Go take a look and tell me what you think!

http://www.statiaphotography.com

Perch Babies turn 2

2008-07-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our mom's group got together to celebrate all the kids 2nd birthdays, or it can be said that we were celebrating us as parents for making it this far!
Heather did a really nice blog post about our group here

And since I forgot to charge my camera battery (can you say preggo brain?) here are other peoples photos from the day:
http://perchbabies.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b344c54f6546
http://perchbabies.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b344cc32a497

And just to give you a comparison of how much Zoe has changed in a year, here's a photo from this years party as well as a photo from last years. What a difference huh?

First day of school!

2008-07-21T11:48:00.001-07:00

So, I know it's the middle of July and that is not typically when kids start school, but I thought it would be best if Zoe started going to preschool BEFORE the baby arrived instead of a few weeks after.

I've been prepping her all week that she was going to start school soon. We talked about the new friends she would make and her new teachers she would meet and the room they would be in and the games they would play. She seemed really excited about all of this, but always ended our talks with "mom too?" So, I'd have to explain to her that I couldn't stay since mommies don't go to school...she didn't like this answer.

This morning was the big morning. She seemed really excited, and was even more excited when she got to wear her new backpack. Of course, I was running around like a crazy person trying to get us out of the house since we usually don't venture out until 10:00, and school starts at 9:00 (don't even ask me what I'm going to do when she starts kindergarten and I need to get her there by the ungodly hour of 8:00!) She was still really happy when we got there and was playing with the toys, but once she realized that I had to leave she started screaming. One of the teachers had to hold her while I left since she was trying to chase after me. Can you say heart-breaking? I got home and made sure that I had both phones at my side since I figured they'd call at any minute to tell me that she's still hysterical and I need to come pick her back up. Well, that call never came. I got there to pick her up at 1:00 and she started crying the moment I saw her, but all the teachers swore to me that she had a great day and only cried for the first few minutes after I left, and didn't start again until just that moment when she saw me come in.

So, success I guess? She was exhausted and covered in sparkles, and to a toddler that must have meant a fun day. The true measure of this whole experience will be her reaction when she realizes she has to go back on Wednesday!

The pictures below are the "before" photos, I meant to get after shots as well but she was so tired I thought it would be best to just get her home and into her bed for a nap!

Coney Island where have you been all my life?

2008-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Before my 1st pregnancy we used to go to Coney Island all the time. Sometimes for the batting cages, sometimes for the Cyclone, sometimes for no reason other than to have something to do. But that was almost 3 years ago. I've been back twice with Zoe, but always just to go to the aquarium and spend a few minutes on the boardwalk. My dad called and said he was coming into Brooklyn to take Zoe and I to Coney Island - and can I just tell you how fantastic it was?? Despite the 90 degree weather and the 9th month of pregnancy we all had a great time. Zoe loved the rides at the kiddie park and the kids play area they had set up at the beach. My dad and I loved watching her have fun and of course for us the Nathan's hot dogs and cheese fries at the end made the trip! This might be the last summer of Coney Island as we know it so I'm going to try and get there as much as possible.

Disco Birthday Party!

2008-07-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Zoe turned 2 yesterday! I can't believe it's been 2 years already, and at the same time I can't believe it's ONLY been 2 years - I feel as though she's been a part of my life forever. So, a while back I thought it would be a fun idea to have a disco dance party for her birthday - but then I started feeling like one of those crazy parents that gets a pony for their 1 year old. At that point though it was too late so I went ahead with the party. While it was a totally absurd thing to do for a 2 year old I think everyone had a fantastic time. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Disco time. It took most of the kids a little while to warm up to the idea of dancing, but the sunglasses and shakers got everyone going.

The true rock star of the day was Cecil who pretty much busted a move the entire 2 hours!

There were a bunch of little brothers and sisters at the party too - here's baby Jack looking super cute.

The best part of the day was the cupcakes. It think it was the kids favorite part, and it was just hysterical to watch. They were all COVERED in chocolate. It was fantastic. There's a link at the end of the post to the full set of pictures so you can see the chocolate faces in all their glory.

Thanks to everyone that came! I was really happy to see everyone and Zoe had a fantastic time. This will certainly be a birthday to remember! Here's the full set of photos (I warn you, there are a lot of them!):
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0UatmLZyzYsLS

Girls weekend

2008-07-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Andrea just sent out a few photos from our girls weekend at the beginning of June and it made me realize that this is one of the few photos I actually have of this pregnancy. My giant belly was quite well documented when I was pregnant with Zoe, but pretty much not at all this time. I guess I should get cracking on that since I only have 4 weeks left!

Photo Op Afternoon

2008-07-08T04:35:00.000-07:00

After months of refusing to look at the camera when I asked her to, Zoe seems to have finally started enjoying mugging for the camera. Finally, the photographers daughter I always knew she could be...

Not ready for a big girl bed (me, not Zoe)

2008-07-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a hard week in the Grossman household, but luckily for me Zoe has been pretty accommodating to MY needs! Most days this week she wakes up, asks to get out of her crib and then declares "toys!" as she runs into the living room to grab as much stuff as she can in one armload (this often requires stuffing toys inside toys, filling up buckets with stuff or filling up her toy microwave with balls and animals and other things that clearly do not belong in a microwave). She then trots all this back over to the crib and asks to be put back in. This has been buying me a good 15-20 minutes of toddler free time to get stuff accomplished in the morning. Thanks Zoe!

4th of July

2008-07-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

I vaguely remember a time when the 4th of July was about fireworks and all day drunkenness. These days I think everything is just about the kids (with a little bit of drunkenness thrown in).

Notice where her legs are

2008-07-04T04:25:00.001-07:00

I don't know if this is funny to anyone other than me, but I came into the living room to find her like this. She had parked her self at the coffee table, with her legs INSIDE the opening of the coffee table where I keep the remotes and was attempting to eat the blueberries with the shovel. Kids are weird.

Ikea comes to Brooklyn

2008-06-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn has an Ikea now. I've never really had an opinion about whether or not this was a good idea until today. I declare it a good idea! Maybe not for buying furniture, but certainly for a play date on a really hot day (or rainy day, or snowstorm) like today was. We met up with Emily and Abe and let the kids explore. They got a big kick out of the "big kid bed" section and tested out all of their options:

There was also a cute little room set up with a mini kitchen and a whole tea party arrangement. They of course turned the whole tea party upside down in about 2 minutes, but I have the feeling that it's someone's job to come along behind us and fix it after the kids are done. Zoe dropped and broke a piece of it, which only made me realize that it would be a terrible idea to buy her a set of her own.

After all the exploring we did we sat down to an Ikea lunch (Abe ate salmon and meatballs - Zoe ate mostly nothing of course). The food was actually pretty good - especially the fries. After lunch the kids took in the lovely view of Redhook, which of course was fantastic to them - I mean come on, a whole big lot full of school buses - does it get any better than that?

Sag Harbor Vacation

2008-06-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

We had a fantastic week's vacation with the Jenkins family in Sag Harbor last week. We managed to do a whole lot and a whole lot of nothing at the same time - and although it was mostly relaxing I was somehow pretty exhausted by the end (I blame that on being 8 months pregnant). Zoe and Sylvie had the time of their lives! We had a pool in the backyard and the beach was a 5 minute drive so they got lots of sun and water every day!

Floating in a "donut" in the kiddie pool in the backyard:

Sitting down by the docks:

We let them zone out in front of Barney for a good hour every morning:

Eating ice cream for dinner - Zoe declared "blow my mind!" while eating it:

Fun at the beach:

Exploring a winery:

Painting in the backyard:

Father's day visit with Grandpa at the Mattituck Strawberry Festival:

I love how seriously she's concentrating on her driving:

A bad hangover?

2008-06-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

Proper sprinkler attire

2008-06-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Friendship

2008-06-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

Whoops - I guess they turned the sprinklers on...

2008-05-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday was the first really HOT day of the summer (in the 80's). Zoe and I headed over to the local playground in the afternoon and much to my surprise found that they had turned the sprinklers on for the day. I don't think I've seen my child this happy in a long time. She just turned to me and said "MOM! WATER ON!" as if I hadn't realized this fact yet myself. Of course she was fully dressed and I didn't have a change of clothes, but if you look in the background of all these photos you'll see that I clearly wasn't the only parent caught off guard. I could go on and on about how much fun she had but I think the photos speak for themselves.

What Barney does to toddlers

2008-05-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Crazy old lady

2008-05-28T14:43:00.001-07:00

Doesn't Zoe just look like some crazy old cat lady here? Oh, this picture kills me!

Quack Quack

2008-05-28T14:35:00.001-07:00

We went down to the duck pond in Prospect Park over the weekend to feed the ducks. In the bottom photo Zoe is demonstrating her new move which is to squat down anytime we squat down to get on her level - which then negates our squatting down in the first place.

Peter's Famous

2008-05-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

Segment from Nightline:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4884806&page=1

Little girl in a big world

2008-05-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Friends & Fried Dough (or, things I love about Brooklyn)

2008-05-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

I feel as if a whole slew of friends have begun making the exodus to the suburbs (Christine is moving to North Carolina and Robin, Stephanie & Melissa are all house hunting in Jersey). And even though I say that I'll never leave the city I'd be lying if I said I wasn't envious of those big backyards, driveways and 4 bedroom houses that everyone else is going to get. Every winter I swear that this is the year we move to California to get some constant sunshine (and driveway, backyard and 4BR house), but then spring hits and I'm over it. Today was one of those great Brooklyn days that make me never want to leave. We walked out our door to enjoy the 20 block long street fair on 5th Avenue and bumped into 5 different sets of friends. We got to eat Mozarepa's, corn on the cob and shish ka bobs (and April got the fried dough & sangria that we all sampled). But really, it's having your friends at your fingertips that is so fantastic. We have at least 10 friends within walking distance and I couldn't imagine having to live without that. I'm sure more posts like this will start rolling in as the weather gets nicer and nicer - my favorite part of the spring and summer around here are the lazy weekend days filled with spontaneous BBQ's and picnics in the park.

Proper use of the slide?

2008-05-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

What to do on a rainy day?

2008-05-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

The answer: Drive to Long Island and spend the day shopping in big box stores!

Because I couldn't have said it better myself

2008-05-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Being pregnant and getting a seat on the subway by Heather:
http://clioconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/05/on-getting-seat-on-subway.html

A love affair ends badly

2008-05-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Anyone that's known me through either pregnancies probably got to know and love (or get sick of seeing me in) my favorite green Gap maternity pants. I bought them during my pregnancy with Zoe and pretty much wore them into the ground - especially towards the end when they were the only pants that fit (anyone that's been pregnant knows where I'm coming from).

I wore them to my photoshoot on Wednesday morning, and while climbing down a ladder I skipped the last 2 steps and went straight for the floor - only to hear a very loud RIIIIP sound. I looked down and to my horror saw that my favorite pants had ripped down the whole length of the crotch. My first thought was "thank god I shaved today" and my second thought was "holy crap - what now?"

Luckily for me the only other person at the shoot with me was another woman - not a room full of publicists and stylists and talent - if that were the case I might have started crying. I ran into the supply room and taped them up with duct tape - very classy. I then got on the phone.

I first tried my friend Mary, but no answer. Then I decided I had no other choice and I called Peter. I explained to him what had just happened and he told me that he was pretty busy and now was not a good time for him to leave the office - to which I calmly yet firmly told him that he was half the reason I was in this mess in the first place and he needed to find the nearest Gap Maternity store NOW and buy me a new pair of pants.

Being the smart husband that he is he showed up about a half hour later with 3 new pairs of pants. About 5 minutes after he left 4 more people showed up at the shoot and I got to merrily go about my day as if nothing had happened at all.

Have I mentioned how much I love being pregnant?