Sacrifices

Obviously you have to give up or maybe I should say "trade" many things when you have a child. No more late night bars, no more international jet setting, fancy nights out are rare and dropping in on friends just doesn't happen like it used to. But the hardest thing so far has been giving up our old pal, Murray. Murray is the sweetest fur ball. A beautiful golden chow mix who loved to play with the cats, he'd hang out at our feet and greet us when we came home with tail wagging, tongue out.

He had to sleep in our room and loved to stick his head on our laps. A great guard dog and all around sweetheart. Unfortunately with Collin crawling, Murray the big clumsy lug got overly excited and Mike and I nervously watched every move for fear of an accident. With Collin getting closer to walking, we were facing a few choices. Always lock Murray out and create an attention-starved dog that thought he did something wrong, risk him seriously hurting Collin, or find him a new home with a family (maybe older kids) that would give him the love he deserved.

So this morning, Mike went to Oregon Humane to see if he would be a good "fit" and after passing the behavior test, they kept him to adopt. I hope he doesn't wake up at night and wonder where his humans are. I hope he doesn't cry out too much. I hope he remembers the affection we gave him. Mostly I hope he finds a new home soon.

Goodbye old friend. We will miss you.

Giftapooloza (aka Christmas), a New Year and 9 Months

I've been a little behind in the blogging so here's a consolidated holiday/Collin update.

Our holiday plans were a little off kilter this year thanks to the snow anomaly but Collin still got to spend time with family and get overloaded with gifts. We barely made it to my parents--a fun adventure of Mike pushing the car and sloshing around on icy streets. But once there, we had a good time playing games and gorging ourselves on food (Collin had his first taste of beef in the form of filet mignon, he gobbled it all up).

From Collin's first Christmas

I can't help buying into American consumerism on Christmas. It's not the receiving but honestly the giving I love (though who can honestly say they don't like getting stuff). Memories of my stockings filled to the brim with the coolest toys that my mom would find made me want to repeat the tradition for Collin. Of course he's a little young to appreciate any of it now. The custom wood rattles from Germany held his interest for about a minute before he attempted to eat ribbon or pull the Christmas lights--general rule, if it has sharp edges or can cause possible electrocution, babies will love it.

A sampling of Collin's gifts: blocks, a train, wood stackers, plush dinosaur, bath time squirters, books, things that light up and make noise and blow balls, a wise college investment and of course clothes (he'll be styling until his 3rd birthday). A quick shout out to family: THANK YOU!! I may put a one gift quota on his birthday!










As much as Collin loves his toys that move and make noise, I must say it's nice when he plays with something where I don't have to worry about the batteries running out. I also prefer hearing the clack of wood as opposed to an off-key version of the ABC's. But I'm not one of these moms that refuses to allow her kid to play with Chinese made stuff or shops all organic. For one thing the light up toys maintain his attention and as annoying as they are, having mommy time keeps me sane. Plus, the sticker shock of "all natural" toys is a little ridiculous ($15 for a rattle, $50 for some blocks, really?).

Now onto the new year: Mike and I miraculously scored a babysitter and enjoyed a five-course dinner at Lincoln, one of the "hip" new restaurants in our 'hood. It was pretty good, worth a second try but a little overrated. We were planning on going to a party or doing something to ring in the new year, but ended up back at our house by 1130 (what can I say, we're old). We did stay up until midnight to hear what you'd think is a warzone with all the fireworks and honking.

It's obviously been a life-changing year. We started out 2008 dreaming and anticipating a new little person and ended it a whole lot wiser and also knowing we have much to learn.

Finally a Collin update: my little Fool's baby is 9 months old today. I can't believe in three months. THREE MONTHS. He will be a year old. He is pulling himself up to stand all the time now and occasionally lets go of both his hands in a baby dare. He squeals and makes lots of new sounds: maaa, daa, gaa. He has mastered so many finger foods: little pieces of toast, carrots, apples, pears, chicken. He has to be able to feed himself at every meal and is definitely on his way to becoming an independent little guy. To the contrast, he also seems to be getting some separation anxiety. When someone he isn't too familiar with picks him up he'll look at me with huge eyes like Mom why are you betraying me? He also sometimes does this with people he's very familiar with (including dad!) just because he wants mommy. In a way it's flattering and makes me feel wanted (though I don't know how much of it is the fact that I'm still a food source). It can also be annoying.

I imagine he'll be walking, then running soon. And we'll be chasing. I'm sure the next three months will fly by and soon my baby will be a toddler.

Snow Daze

Well "Artic Blast 2008!" has hit which basically means no babysitters, no last minute Christmas shopping, no leaving the house unless it's trecking with Collin in his stroller. I plead with the weather gods to give us our mild weather back by Christmas so we can leave the house! Meanwhile feel like I'm in some sort of "Winter Wonderland" version of hell where the song never ends...But I suppose I should try to enjoy it.

From Winter 08-09

That's how mommy feels


No more cold stuff!


We're not going anywhere...


Snow...so much snow

Another milestone!

Collin can now pull himself up to stand! (You can hear the fear in our voices) Soon he will be climbing on things, running, getting into all sorts of hazards! Still it's all pretty exciting. Check it out:

Tropical turkey

We took Collin on his first big trip for Thanksgiving--Maui, Hawaii.

My favorite things about Maui: the rustle of palm trees, the perfect 80 degree weather, the blue, blue, ocean that matches the sky, the exotic looking birds, the bright, fragrant flowers. And hearing "mahalo." It sounds much more laid-back and happy than thank-you (but don't try this in the mainland, it just isn't right).

Mike's parents rented a gorgeous home in Haiku, a little town on the Hana highway. It was a full house and allowed Collin to spend time with all his loving relatives (and gave Mike and I a break!)

Collin got to spend lots of time with his grandma (aka one of our trip saviors)


Grandpa (another trip savior) got to feed Collin lots of yummy food (Collin discovered fresh papaya and pumpkin pie!)


Just hanging with Auntie Virginia and Uncle Tom


Mike and I stayed in the home once before with my parents. It is the perfect place for a vacation away from the tourists. The house has a huge deck with a view of the ocean and beautiful grounds with tropical flowers, and coconut trees, bananas, mangoes and guavas. There is also a pool (with a self-cleaning robot!) and hot tub.











Collin got to finally meet his great grandpa!


4 generations


Hanada guys


Collin also met his Hawaiian relatives. They were so sweet and he bonded with his (2nd, 3rd?) cousins--twins Sarah and Jacob.






Collin had a big crush on Auntie Joanne


Family


And lots of family!


Feasting away on endless amounts of food


We took Collin to Baldwin Beach which had some killer waves. After eating ocean at several failed attempts to body surf I decided laying in the sand with Collin was a safer bet.















We took Collin to see the banyan tree in Lahaina (he wasn't too impressed)


But park benches are cool


And of course the notorious boat trip. Fun at the time, we sailed to Molikini Crater and saw some amazing coral and pretty fishies. Little did we know however that our fates would soon change.





The only parts of our trip I would happily erase from memory are:
a). Flying with baby. I demand a teleporter next time. Collin liked to practice his shrieks and also bang on the tray table of the poor soul occupying the seat in front of us. He also refused to nap on our laps. Overtired, squirmy baby not so fun.

b.) Food poisoning. The last couple days of our trip were spent hovering over ye porcelain God thanks to vending machine like sandwiches supplied on a snorkel trip. Six of us (me, Mike, Chris, Todd, Virginia and Tom) were all stricken with the same horrid illness a day later. Thankfully, Mary Ann and Jon stayed back with Collin and took care of him (and us) as we all went on our "cleanse". They also tended to him on the plane ride home as Mike held the barf bag and made a beeline for the bathroom every 30 minutes and I drifted in and out of semi-consciousness.

But the good memories won't fade and I know we'll be back to Maui with Collin again and again. And just in case you didn't get enough photos, here's the album:

Maui Thanksgiving

Watch out world...

Well after making his way in circles and backwards, today Collin started crawling for real! Just a little over a week ago he mastered getting into a sitting position. I have a feeling we'll need to bring out the baby gates...Before I know it I'll have a wobbly little toddler.

Here he is trying to catch me!
(Excuse the annoying high pitched mommy tone, it's a force of nature I can't control--unavoidable around babies and puppies)

Holy 7 months Batman

Hmm the signs proclaiming his monthly age may end up being a futile attempt at this point. All Collin sees is, mmm paper must eat arhhh!!



Well I was convinced he would be crawling by now but apparently this leaning to move your limb stuff takes quite a while to master. I will say Collin is definitely closer than he has been for the last few months. He now has reverse and circles down and gets on all fours to rock back and forth. I'm sure once he's crawling around and getting into everything I'll miss the days of one position. He is also one steady sitter!

Two sharp teeth are nearly out at the bottom (teething isn't so fun).

A small hearing update: It looks like the aid is helping (big sigh of relief!) He still has a hearing loss on top of the auditory neuropathy in the left ear, which means...I'm not quite sure. I guess the aid will help discern voices, help him localize sound, but the neuropathy still causes background noises to be jumbled, not make sense, etc. Basically they don't want the aid turned up to the point that it just amplifies the noises. Because it's so rare to have this in one ear we're still waiting on some test results and will need to talk with the doctor, audiologist, etc.

The upside--we won't have to worry about purchasing an aid for a while (maybe up to two years) because they want to ensure that it will be the best thing for him and figure out the settings, etc which can't really happen until he starts talking. Hopefully by that time insurance companies will be required to pay for it! (Or at least we'll have enough saved up).

My 7 month synopsis: It makes my day to have this little jolly person laugh and stare with his heart melting eyes. If I could glimpse into the future I see Collin as a happy kid, curious and eager to discover the world.