Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Hello Everyone!
This is Michael, hijacking my mommy's blog. I think it is only fair that I get to write too since both my Mom and Dad do all the time. Yesterday, my mom made me go to the market on Rue Mouffetard. She said something about needing salad and fruit, which gave me gas just thinking about it. Surprisingly, she didn't put me in my big puffy blue jacket. To be honest, I am not a big fan of that jacket because it keeps me stiff in this position where I can't eat my hands or really move. Instead, I got to sit in this cool stroller blanket thing that Uncle John and Aunt Kelli got from a bean store in Boston. Again, that gave me gas too. My initial reaction? THIS:
However, I LOVE that pouch! I can move my hands all around, play with the flap, bring it over my head, AND mom stuffs burp cloths down in it! SWEET.
After she walked all over the bumpy cobblestones that made my head jiggle, she parked me in front of this fountain and practiced those dreadful crooked pictures she's always trying. She's not terribly good, but I don't have the heart to tell her.
Then, we walked over to the bus stop to greet my dad when he comes home from work. We do that about 2-3 times a week.
Last Sunday, my mom LEFT ME AND MY DAD at home by ourselves. Incredible. She somehow got wind of Galeries Lafayette Maison being open on a Sunday and didn't want to change my diapers anymore. SHOCKING. Anyways, she hadn't even left the house but 5 minutes and calls my dad on the phone ALREADY. So my dad brings me to the window and we look outside to see my mom in the street taking a picture of some rollerblading rally down our Gobelins Avenue:
Eventually, she did come back and she bought another duvet cover. Shocking.
Oh, yes, I also rolled over all by myself in my crib yesterday. I made sure Mom was away and only Dad could see. From the way he reacted, it was like I had won the Nobel Peace Prize or something.
Anyways, that is all for now. My mom is crying in the other room so I have to go give her a teething ring.
Love to all,
Michael
Monday, March 26, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sleep Training from a Baby's Perspective
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great-- I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night).
At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for anyreason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn' t matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great-- I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night).
At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for anyreason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn' t matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.
Friday, March 23, 2007
I can't wait to have THIS lady do our family portraits in August when we get back:
http://www.jroephotography-thenextchapter.com/
She also did our wedding pictures and now has branched into children's photography. She is doing PHENOMENAL work!
Back to surfing on the web,
P
http://www.jroephotography-thenextchapter.com/
She also did our wedding pictures and now has branched into children's photography. She is doing PHENOMENAL work!
Back to surfing on the web,
P
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
I had my medical exam at work today. They called me up at 2:50 to ask me where I was. But I didn't know I had a 2:40 appointment so I handed off the phone to our Portuguese intern to get some information and translate it into English. He tells me that they need to see me immediately at the infirmerie. I was working on something so I finished that up. Then I had to pee real bad so I went and then went to the infirmerie. I opened the door, and lo and behold, they tell me to wait outside, which I did for like 15 minutes. They had a miniature television running some educational anti-drug use shorts whose plotlines reminded me a lot of Requiem for a Dream but without the 'attention to detail'.
Finally I get to enter, and she asks me some simple questions regarding my identity and medical history. Then she asks me to take a pee test, but I had just gone so I was as dry as a West Texas creekbed. While we're waiting, she makes me take a vision test instead. So I'm sitting there with my bottle of water with my head pressed against the apparatus staring at these tiny little numbers and letters. Actually, I didn't even know they were there for the first 30 seconds of the test until I shifted my gaze so I could see the display. Anyways, I'm supoosed to press a button when I hear the number or letter being said. But it was more like a French test than a vision test. They said 'uh' (which turns out to be E which I had thought was pronounced 'ay') like 5 times so I'm pretty sure I missed all of those. After the numbers and letters, they had a test where they would show the circles and you had to click if one was deeper or more to the fore than the others and another with lines and you had to press the button if one was darker or thicker than the others. But the instructions were in French so by the time I figured out what they were asking me for, the pictures were already gone and a new one with a new set of undecipherable instructions had appeared. Finally they had a rectangle and a circle on the upper right, just outside of the rectangle. I gathered, or thought I did, that I was supposed to click the button when the circle got inside the rectangle. So the circle starts moving slowly to the left into the rectangle and just as it's about to get into the rectangle, the machine shuts off, and the nurse tells me I am done. She gets a printout of the results, too bad it wasn't from a dot matrix, and she tells me I did pretty well. So that makes me think that the Frenchman are either blind or retarded, but I'm pretty sure she was being nice and that they think I'm color blind with no depth perception and an inability to discern differing line thicknesses. Then she ended her diagnosis by telling me I have a problem confusing R's and B's; I'm pretty sure this is not the case, but who knows, maybe on they're on to something.
After my body filtered the bottled water I had drank, I let out a few droplets earning me the right to enter the doctor's office for a regular physical. I had to strip to my undies; I was wearing some nice light blue boxers with easter eggs all over them, looking dashing. I don't know where I got those from, but they are pretty comfortable, perhaps a little silly to be wearing in front of a 55 year old woman especially since there's a hole that's been worn in the crotch from extensive use. I might have made a different choice had I actually been told I had an appointment today. The doctor weighed me (just a shade under 90, fat-belly kilos), and since she was a wee one, she was looking right at my belly the entire time I was on the scale. Then I had to lay down on the examination table, the type with the crinkly paper, and she listened to me breathe, looked in my throat, hit my knees with a hammer, and banged on my ribcage to see if I was hollow I guess. After she had finished examining me, I was able to redress but not before I found an impressive piece of bellybutton lint that I promptly removed and threw on the ground. Overall, I don't think the ladies at the infirmerie were too impressed with ol' B.
Come to think of it, I guess it's possible they told me I had a physical scheduled. My phone has this red light that's been blinking for like a month. I assume the phone is desperately trying to tell me I have messages, but I don't know how to check them. I had set up a passcode at one point, but my voicemail never picked up; it always was answered by some woman whose identity we never discovered. Then all of a sudden one day the flashing red light appears. Last week, I talked with Sabine, the German girl, and she said her phone does the same thing, and she hasn't figured out how to check messages either. Her French is better than mine so I figure it's ok not to check my voicemail until she learns how to figure her own phone out and can teach me how to work mine. Her phone has caller id and a little display panel while I just have a crappy phone that I am thankful is not a rotary.
Finally I get to enter, and she asks me some simple questions regarding my identity and medical history. Then she asks me to take a pee test, but I had just gone so I was as dry as a West Texas creekbed. While we're waiting, she makes me take a vision test instead. So I'm sitting there with my bottle of water with my head pressed against the apparatus staring at these tiny little numbers and letters. Actually, I didn't even know they were there for the first 30 seconds of the test until I shifted my gaze so I could see the display. Anyways, I'm supoosed to press a button when I hear the number or letter being said. But it was more like a French test than a vision test. They said 'uh' (which turns out to be E which I had thought was pronounced 'ay') like 5 times so I'm pretty sure I missed all of those. After the numbers and letters, they had a test where they would show the circles and you had to click if one was deeper or more to the fore than the others and another with lines and you had to press the button if one was darker or thicker than the others. But the instructions were in French so by the time I figured out what they were asking me for, the pictures were already gone and a new one with a new set of undecipherable instructions had appeared. Finally they had a rectangle and a circle on the upper right, just outside of the rectangle. I gathered, or thought I did, that I was supposed to click the button when the circle got inside the rectangle. So the circle starts moving slowly to the left into the rectangle and just as it's about to get into the rectangle, the machine shuts off, and the nurse tells me I am done. She gets a printout of the results, too bad it wasn't from a dot matrix, and she tells me I did pretty well. So that makes me think that the Frenchman are either blind or retarded, but I'm pretty sure she was being nice and that they think I'm color blind with no depth perception and an inability to discern differing line thicknesses. Then she ended her diagnosis by telling me I have a problem confusing R's and B's; I'm pretty sure this is not the case, but who knows, maybe on they're on to something.
After my body filtered the bottled water I had drank, I let out a few droplets earning me the right to enter the doctor's office for a regular physical. I had to strip to my undies; I was wearing some nice light blue boxers with easter eggs all over them, looking dashing. I don't know where I got those from, but they are pretty comfortable, perhaps a little silly to be wearing in front of a 55 year old woman especially since there's a hole that's been worn in the crotch from extensive use. I might have made a different choice had I actually been told I had an appointment today. The doctor weighed me (just a shade under 90, fat-belly kilos), and since she was a wee one, she was looking right at my belly the entire time I was on the scale. Then I had to lay down on the examination table, the type with the crinkly paper, and she listened to me breathe, looked in my throat, hit my knees with a hammer, and banged on my ribcage to see if I was hollow I guess. After she had finished examining me, I was able to redress but not before I found an impressive piece of bellybutton lint that I promptly removed and threw on the ground. Overall, I don't think the ladies at the infirmerie were too impressed with ol' B.
Come to think of it, I guess it's possible they told me I had a physical scheduled. My phone has this red light that's been blinking for like a month. I assume the phone is desperately trying to tell me I have messages, but I don't know how to check them. I had set up a passcode at one point, but my voicemail never picked up; it always was answered by some woman whose identity we never discovered. Then all of a sudden one day the flashing red light appears. Last week, I talked with Sabine, the German girl, and she said her phone does the same thing, and she hasn't figured out how to check messages either. Her French is better than mine so I figure it's ok not to check my voicemail until she learns how to figure her own phone out and can teach me how to work mine. Her phone has caller id and a little display panel while I just have a crappy phone that I am thankful is not a rotary.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Michael's been sleeping very poorly of late. He'll sleep for a few hours and then wake up all throughout the night. Then he whines for a bit, which was new, and we never knew why. Well, we think we have the reason now.
Phuong gives him the knuckle test to see if he is hungry. If he dives at the knuckle, then he is hungry; otherwise, something else is likely bothering him. Well, yesterday, fat little baby tries to eat the entire knuckle and Phuong jumps back in pain. We look in his mouth and he has his first tooth poking through his lower gums. And there is another one right next to it that is about to burst through. So I guess we're in for a long few years until we die.
That's pretty much it.
Phuong gives him the knuckle test to see if he is hungry. If he dives at the knuckle, then he is hungry; otherwise, something else is likely bothering him. Well, yesterday, fat little baby tries to eat the entire knuckle and Phuong jumps back in pain. We look in his mouth and he has his first tooth poking through his lower gums. And there is another one right next to it that is about to burst through. So I guess we're in for a long few years until we die.
That's pretty much it.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Who here has a go-zillion digital pictures on their computer in a jumbled mess? Who here DOESN'T? We don't want to know who you are.In one of my scrapbooking message boards, a friend of mine recommended this free service by Google called Picasa. It is a program you download onto your computer that locates every image you have on your computer and helps you organize them. Cool right?
Well, with my limited free time, I have managed to download it, but have not managed to use it yet? So I throw a poll out for those who want to try something new...use this Picasa thing and let me know if it is SUPER fantastic or not so super fantastic. I am hoping it is the former!
Here is a link to it on the web:
Post in the comments sections your thoughts!
My non-mobile baby play group was cancelled today. Boo.
Love,
P
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Brian is the only person that ever calls me on my cell phone. Yes, feel sorry for me.So imagine my surprise when "Unknown" showed up on my callerID! Since I have no idea how to check my messages, I actually picked up and VOILA! It was David Simcik, my old friend from college and senior plant design group mate!
He was actually visiting Paris right now and proposed to this fine young lady in the picture, Laura Goldman! And that ring was BEAUTIFUL! Talk about the BLING! :o)
Anyways, they were so nice to take time out of their trip to come and visit us in our new place. We caught up on what we had been up to, and Brian and I were most impressed with this great couple! It was a wonderful and welcome surprise to visit with an old friend from home!
We were lucky to get this pic of all of us by carefully balancing David's Canon camera on a bunch of boxes (we have PLENTY of those around). And let me tell you, if you need a digital point and shoot, get a Canon. David's looked like it had been dropped in a chemical bath and it still took this fabulous pic!
Love,
P
Monday, March 05, 2007
Four Month Teddy Bear Pictures!
What Michael normally does with all of his toys:
What Michael normally does with all of his toys:
If you have a baby and want a great camera, get the Nikon D50 or D80 DSLR.
It is FANTASTIC and will not miss any of baby's funniest moments. I am LOVIN' mine.
More pics are available in our photo album, linked to the right. See March 2007 Album.
Enjoy,
P
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Today, Michael is talking! He is starting to babble, "ba..ba...ptha...da...pttthhhaaa....ba..." It is amazing! He is an actual PERSON now and not just a mini-bioreactor! We are constantly surprised by this little fat baby!
After breakfast, our nuclear family went to the market on Rue Mouffetard, where we invested in our most favorite item: FOOD.
Voila,
P
After breakfast, our nuclear family went to the market on Rue Mouffetard, where we invested in our most favorite item: FOOD.
- Rotisserie chicken, pork tenderloin, pork ribs
- Small potatoes seasoned with the fat drippings of the above things roasting in the rotisserie
- Croissant, sugar brioche, baguette, small apricot tarte
- 6 different cheeses
- Milk
- Bananas, apples, pears
- Fresh french salad greens
We also went to another open air market at Place Monge. Next week, we will go again and I will post pictures.
Until then, revel in Brian's favorite way to hold The Boy. I call it The Football Hold:
Voila,
P
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Items accomplished in one day PRIOR to getting internet in the house:
Took care of Michael, played with him, and moisturized him 4 times a day
Ate my 2 day time meals
Dinner/baguette for the day purchased
5-6 loads of laundry washed/dried/folded/put away
4 boxes unpacked
Items accomplished in one day AFTER getting internet in the house:
Took care of Michael, played with him, moisturized him 4 times a day
Ate my 2 day time meals
Dinner/baguette for the day purchased
In other words, my efficiency and accomplishments has drastically reduced. But on the UP side, I get to keep in touch with my most fabulous family and friends from back home.
Love to all,
P
Took care of Michael, played with him, and moisturized him 4 times a day
Ate my 2 day time meals
Dinner/baguette for the day purchased
5-6 loads of laundry washed/dried/folded/put away
4 boxes unpacked
Items accomplished in one day AFTER getting internet in the house:
Took care of Michael, played with him, moisturized him 4 times a day
Ate my 2 day time meals
Dinner/baguette for the day purchased
In other words, my efficiency and accomplishments has drastically reduced. But on the UP side, I get to keep in touch with my most fabulous family and friends from back home.
Love to all,
P
Brian is at IKEA today buying us buttloads of stuff for our apartment! In France, almost everything is closed on Sunday EXCEPT IKEA! So last Sunday, we rented our Citroen C4 and went as a nuclear family to check things out. IKEA is as crazy here as it is in the U.S.I felt like I was in a river where the current of people took you through the store, and the only way to stop was to grab onto a branch, which at IKEA is like grabbing onto the armoire that you are looking at.
We are getting this couch and matching "recliners." Unfortunately, they will not arrive until AFTER April 13th, so we will be sitting in our Target camping folding chairs until then! YEAH Target!
Yesterday, Michael had his first cell phone conversation! I put Brian on the speakerphone of my cell phone and Michael would laugh and coo back every time Brian would say something! It was hilarious. And to make sure Michael wasn't just laughing at the cell phone, I put it on the voice message voice and he just stared at it with a furrowed brow. How neat that he knows his Dad's voice, even on a cell phone!Speaking of cell phones, I got the girliest cell phone I have ever seen:
Random Finding for Today:
There are MORE Outback Steakhouses in Korea than all of Europe. NONE in Paris. :o(
A free night stay at the Besancon Paris B&B for the person who knows where this quote comes from:
"How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different the saints."
Post your answers in the "Comments!" Thanks goes out to Amy Bowman who noticed that I didn't enable Comments in my blog! Now, everyone can post to their desire...
Have a most GLORIOUS FRIDAY!
P
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Welcome to the Paris Besancons Blog!
I decided that instead of bombarding everyone's e-mail Inbox with family SPAM and shameless pictures of Baby Michael, I would start a blog where people can check in on us at their own leisure.
I do solemnly swear to post often (at least 2-3 times a week) so that it would be worth your while to visit. No one likes to go to a blog and find that it's not been updated in the last 30 days. :o)
So welcome to our lives and we hope you enjoy! Post comments too!
Love,
B&P
I decided that instead of bombarding everyone's e-mail Inbox with family SPAM and shameless pictures of Baby Michael, I would start a blog where people can check in on us at their own leisure.
I do solemnly swear to post often (at least 2-3 times a week) so that it would be worth your while to visit. No one likes to go to a blog and find that it's not been updated in the last 30 days. :o)
So welcome to our lives and we hope you enjoy! Post comments too!
Love,
B&P
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