Koobi Blogga Serving up great big slices of the banal

by Ethan on November 10, 2009

Time is really flying by. And we’re finding it hard to make room for niceties like blog posts (it’s much easier to drop 140 characters on Twitter). That said it’s time to make time.

Things are going well.

Elise is getting up 2-3 times a night and April is continuing to avoid dairy, which isn’t exactly fun for her. Suffice to say between a very active Gage and a 4-month-old, April’s been a champ.

I feel we’re getting close to ‘turning a corner’ now. The smiles Elise been flashing for weeks are being joined now by something like a giggle. She is showing signs that she’s emerging from the infant haze and ready to interact with the world.

It’s especially great for Dad, because I miss out on the closeness she enjoys daily with Mom. So it’s just starting to get to the good part for me. More soon - hopefully sooner than 3 months from now.

by April on September 1, 2009

Our little girl is already 6 weeks old and she’s getting big. I am taking her in for weekly weight checks to make sure everything is OK with her milk protein allergy. I now have been dairy free for four weeks and Elise has had no GI issues — yippie! She has also been a very good sleeper already, sleeping 7 hours straight the last two nights!

Overall, we all feel great especially looking back to our experience as first-time parents with Gage. We are getting a lot more sleep this time around and it helps that WE are more relaxed. We have done multiple outings as a family—the pool, a train ride, hiking and trips to the mountains. We even went on a 4 hour hike with Elise and Gage. Gage walked almost the entire time while Elise slept in the baby bjorn. Nana and Papa have also been a huge help. They have been taking Gage on little adventures to get him out of the house and give me couple-hour breaks.

Gage has adjusted really well. He also started preschool and is loving it - no crying at all. He can sing 4 new songs that he learned in school. He also likes to play school at home. He gets to be the teacher and I am Gage. It is hard to believe he is old enough for school already. I miss having him home with me but he is thriving in his new environment.

by April on August 1, 2009

After waiting almost 40 weeks to meet our baby, Elise was born on July 19th at 12:08pm. She weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce - much smaller than Gage was at birth. Elise made a dramatic entry into the world.  There was no waiting once she decided she wanted to be born. My labor lasted only 4 hours and we were at the hospital for about 30 min before she was born.  Nurse Helen ended up delivering her since the doctor did not make it in time.  We are thrilled to have a daughter. Many people say she looks like me but I think it’s too early to tell. At times I see a little of Gage in her but usually she seems to just have her own unique features.

Gage loves being a big brother and does not even mind sharing the spot light. He enjoys holding her and he says he can’t wait until she can sleep in his bunk bed. Elise did buy Gage a bouncy castle, something he was been asking for for months. When we returned as a family from the hospital we told him there were big presents down in the basement for him. The look on his face was priceless when he realized he now had a bouncy castle. We’re hoping this will keep him entertained for a long time and it certainly has helped distract him from the big changes in routine in our home.

Elise has been a very good sleeper up until the last couple of nights. The pediatrician warned us that she had a higher risk of a milk protein allergy because Gage had the problem too. I guess 1 in 100 babies have this, and we have the bad luck to have 2 in our family now! The protein in cows milk is very large and is passed in breast milk. Sometimes a baby’s immune system will see it as a foreign object and start to attack it which can lead to bowel inflammation and related symptoms. Gage had a hard time gaining weight because of this but eventually we reintroduced dairy and he is fine. Because of Elise I am now on a dairy free diet (including butter and obscure ingredients that one might think has nothing to do with dairy). We are hoping Elise will recover quickly. She is gaining weight so hopefully she will feel better soon.

Overall I think we’re having a much easier time with Elise than we did with Gage. We’re sleeping more, we’ve had more experience as parents and we have Gage to keep us laughing.

We posted more photos in our Picasa Gallery »

by April on July 12, 2009

A couple of weekends ago we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park to camp. It is less than a two hour drive from our house in Denver. It was our second trip there.

We decided on camping only one night in a tent since I was35 weeks pregnant. Gage loves to camp.  He was so excited to go that he sat in the car with his belt on the entire time we were packing up the car. Having him sit still for 20 plus minutes is a very rare event. Nana and Papa had the camp site adjacent and it was their first experience camping in Colorado.

We had great camp sites with amazing view of the mountains. Forecast predicted a 50% chance of rain but the storms held off. We hiked around Bear Lake and it still had a lot of snow around it, especially along the northern shore. Gage even was sliding down on some of the snow. The park is absolutely breath-taking, check out the pics for the proof! We look forward to heading back soon.

Highlights were the elk, which Gage and Ethan got extremely close to (again, see the pictures), Bear Lake, and the overall views from every angle.

For more photos, visit the Picasa photo album »

by April on June 10, 2009

I am not sure where all the time has gone but I am already 34 weeks through my pregnancy.  Only 6 weeks to go, give or take! I went 40 weeks with Gage so I am not expecting to go early. All the check ups are going well and baby is measuring within normal limits. I am very curious to see how much this baby will weigh. Supposedly baby’s in Colorado are smaller here because of the altitude. We are starting to get the baby’s room ready and the nesting instinct has kicked in (poor Ethan).

I am still lifting weights, doing cardio workouts and attend yoga once a week. My hip and knee has been hurting so I am not running as much now. Maybe I will learn to relax and take the last 4 weeks off - not likely! We still have not picked baby names so I guess we better start on that.

Gage has mixed feelings about the baby.   He usually says he does not want a baby in the house.  However, the other day he said he wanted three babies and that he would share is toys.  I think he will be a great big brother.

by April on April 29, 2009

We recently flew to Southern California (Fullerton, specifically) for a long weekend spent relaxing with family there. We primarily wanted to take care of a few goals: We wanted to visit our relatives in California, spent some quality time with Gage as ‘just the 3 of us’ and take Gage to Disneyland and the beach.

We planned two days at Disney - a Friday and a Monday to try and avoid crowds. In between the went to the beach and spent a bit more quality time with family, particularly Grandpa.

Friday at Disneyland was overcast and cooler with few lines. In short, perfect conditions. Mara, Kathleen, Henry and Kathleens S.O. Victor joined us. We started in Fantasyland but eventually made it just about everywhere in the park. Gage’s favorites from Day 1 were: the carousel, “Gumbo” (Dumbo), Winnie the Pooh and, a bit surprisingly, the Toontown roller coaster - which is short but pretty ‘adult’ in terms of speed. The rollercoaster was hands-down his favorite, though he had fun everywhere we went. During lunch we sat right behind the stage in Tomorrowland. I totally dig the name “Tomorrowland”. During the Star Wars performance, Darth Vader strode behind the stage and stared down at Gage silently for a long moment while Gage just stared back in awe, mouth hanging open. Over a week later, back in Denver he asked me “Does Darth Vader push his buttons?” I could only reply “er, of course!” (wouldn’t you?) He’s still putting bubbles on his tummy at bath time and calling them “buttons”. Priceless.

During the weekend, we went to Crystal Cove State Park - renowned for tide pools and natural beauty. The water was freezing but Gage wouldn’t leave it, always waiting for one more wave. As the afternoon drew on and the tides receded, we ventured out across the tide pools, finding starfish, anemones and small crabs.

Also during the weekend Grandpa and I went together to the free La Mirada Pops symphony which we both enjoyed. We went to a Fullerton park as well, and it was encouraging to see Grandpa do a good bit of walking (though with some discomfort).

On Monday, our last full day, we returned to Disney. This time just April Gage and I. It was sunny, much hotter and spring break crowds were in full effect. Our focus on kid-oriented rides helped us avoid some of the most crowded attractions. Using our ‘ride reservations’ smartly, we went on Buzz Lightyear 3 times with barely a wait in line. Gage loves Toy Story (2 especially) and the ride was among Gage’s long list of favorites. Overall we enjoyed many of the same rides as we had on Friday, with one major exception. I asked Gage if he wanted to try the Matterhorn after he had so much fun on the Toontown coaster. He was game. We waited in a very long line, stubbornly refused to break ranks during a 20 minute shutdown and found ourselves in the very front seat of our “bobsled”. It’s a bumpy ride and the mountain is infested with mean-tempered Yeti with glowing eyes. Gage absolutely loved it. Since our return to Denver, on every hill during car rides Gage cries out “Downhill Yeti!” or “Uphill Yeti!”.

Since we are so late posting this recap, we have the opportunity to assess the impact the trip made on Gage. It was, in a word, amazing. Beyond the examples above, there’s one short case-in-point to share. Gage recently wandered from the backyard into the garage with two friends. April followed to find the youngest in the baby seat in backseat of the car and Gage in the drivers seat with his “girlfriend” beside him. When April asked Gage what he was doing, he said “We’re going to Disneyland!”

Safe to say the trip was a success.

p.s. we have some video to edit and post, but that will have to wait for another day

Many more photos in our Picasa album »

by April on April 7, 2009

24 Weeks

20 Weeks

I am now a little over 24 weeks and continue to feel great.  I am having some sciatic pain/hip pain at night but I am hoping Yoga will help me with this.  I went to a prenatal yoga seminar  to learn how to adjust my poses. I am still running, swimming and lifting weights. Of course my speed has slowed down but I try to not let that bother me.

We had another ultrasound at 20 weeks and  bonded with our tech.  She ended up doing  a 3D one for us for free.  Since there are very few surprises in life, we decided to not find out the gender of the baby.  We’re struggling to choose a boy’s name but I already have a girl’s name picked out.

Gage is starting to understand that he is going to be a big brother. He likes to give the baby kisses and hugs, and sometimes he asks to feel baby kick. Just wait until he realizes the baby is not going to be able to play with him for a while! He is starting to have some anxiety about having a sibling. He said the other day “no brother. no sister.” He also is asking a lot of questions about the baby. He wants to know if the baby can hear and see. The other day he asked if the baby gets dirty with food when I eat.

by Ethan on February 24, 2009

(a very belated post - backdated this to fit in chronological order)

Todd & Kate, long-time friends from back in the Hartland Arrowhead Highschool days, made the trip from Brooklyn to Denver with their new son Sam in tow. It has been difficult seeing Todd & Kate much lately as work has reduced my travel to NYC and we are all busy starting families. They came for a long weekend that nevertheless passed by in a blink.

We haunted some of our favorite spots which seemed fair as Todd & Kate had not spent time in Colorado before. Next time we’ll be forced to work harder! Since we had children to wrangle, and because Todd still blames me for a “black diamond mishap” during a ski trip from our youth, we did not make the trip into the mountains. For me the mountains, towns and resorts out there are the crown jewel b/c of the breathtaking views and unique activities, but we found plenty to do along the front range.

See more photos in Picasa »

The weather was on the cool side and more overcast than normal, but the weather was mild by Colorado winter standards. The entire winter has been unusually mild and dry. We did the easy stroll through beautiful Roxborough State Park, hiked Chautauqua Park outside Boulder, met another friend Tim Foss for lunch on Pearl Street. One evening we got a babysitter to watch Gage and Sam and hit “the town” of Denver (really the outskirts) by hitting The Elm for drinks then having a quiet dinner together at The Cherry Tomato in Park Hill. We spent a lot of time playing Guitar Hero in the mornings and evenings. Todd displays a proficiency that must be natural talent!

So we did not spend any time in downtown Denver or in the mountains - guess we’re leaving some surprises for the hoped-for return visit

Above all it was excellent to reunite with the Brooklyn Brunners again and above all meet their 9-month-old Sam who is shaping up to be a fine boy.

Todd & Kate posted a summary of their visit [www.BrunnersInBrooklyn.com]

by April on February 10, 2009

I am now a little over 16 weeks and every thing is going well - I feel good and have a lot of energy. Gage went with me to my last checkup and helped the doctor find the baby’s heartbeat. Gage got to turn on the Doppler, put the gel on my stomach and then helped us find the heart beat. He liked playing with the machine but was not too sure about the baby! I guess we need to find him a good “Big Brother” book.

At 15 weeks, I started having contractions (Braxton-Hicks of course). I had contractions all the time when I was pregnant with Gage; when I worked, ran, lifted weights, had a full bladder and sometimes for no reason at all. Countless times with Gage they would be 5 min apart for a couple of hours and once the contractions were 5 min apart for 7 hours and I was only 7 months along! I did get admitted to the hospital for that episode and was given IV fluids which helped them subside.  Since dehydration is a top cause of pre-term labor my doctors orders are to stay well-hydrated and to not exercise the two days a week that I work.

So I’m being a good patient and drinking lots of water.

16 week bump

by April on January 16, 2009

We are excited to announce that we are expecting a baby this summer! The due date is July 22nd.

My experience this time around has been totally different than when I was pregnant with Gage. I have had pregnancy symptoms from the start and had ALL of them! Looking back I realize now I was very lucky to have felt so good with Gage. This time I had extreme morning sickness (all day long) and fatigue. I also was not able to eat/drink a lot of things that I enjoyed before I was pregnant.

I saw my OB at 8 weeks and had a US done to confirm the due date. In Wisconsin they waited to do a US until 20 weeks but this is the standard practice in Colorado.  My OB also told me I was high risk because of my “advanced maternal age”! I told her I hated that term and did not want to hear it again.  After all I am in great shape and still feel young.  Anyway, a second US was done closer to 12 weeks because of my high risk. This time it was a high tech US that measures the fluid on the back of the baby’s neck. My results came back very positive; the risk for having Down’s baby was equivalent to that of a mother 10 years younger (that’s good).

So far I have gained less weight than I did with Gage but have a baby bump already. It happened so fast this time.  We’ll post more as we head on towards July.