International Dinner Follow Up

FIASCO!

We left our house at 5:30 to make it to the dinner at 7:00. Markus fell asleep in the car, and woke up when we got to our friends house (after 7:00 -- traffic really sucks). He knew he was in a different environment with different people. At first it was okay, but then he wanted his bottle around 8:30 or so, which was normal, but he didn't go to sleep right away. He then started to get upset and crying. I told Sandra that she should go eat dinner and I'll try to get him to sleep. It wasn't working and then I started to get upset as well. Here are the factors that were at play:

• He normally poops two or three times a day, but hadn't done so all day
• We were in an apartment that had an oven on all day (cornish hens - WOW so good) and it was very hot.
• New location and he just slept an hour or so before we got there

Sandra then came into the room to help and Markus promptly spit up a few ounces as he was choking on his own tears from crying. Now we were both uncomfortable and wondering if this was a good idea. How do parents do this?

Then he let out a massive S-bomb, which made us feel great! lol. We could then eliminate an upset stomach as the problem. We fanned him and consoled him and it seemed to work. Sandra stayed with him and I went to finally eat my dinner. The dinner was pretty amazing, but it was difficult to focus. I felt embarrassed, but in no way was I made to feel that way. Everyone was so supportive.

As if that wasn't enough, after 10 minutes, Markus started crying again. This time Sandra was with Ericka and Diane and I stayed at the table. Again, it was hard as hell to stay focused when my little guy was in the next room crying. It was at 10:30 that Sandra decided to put him in the car seat and give him one of his favorite toys -- Henrietta. It worked. He finally calmed down enough to fall asleep. We enjoyed the rest of the night until about 1:00. Well, by enjoyed I mean we were interactive while having a giant anxiety pit in our stomachs from time to time.

Afterward Sandra and I were glad that we went through the experience because we learned a lot. We have to continue to take Markus out to different places, but we should probably get there a little early. Markus doesn't like to mess around during his bedtime. In fact, we went to a birthday party the next day for a few hours in the early afternoon and it was fine.

So, that was the experience. Slightly different from our plan (have him fall asleep soundly at 8:30 in the pack n' play). =)

Here's a picture of Markus with Henrietta:

Markus Attempt at Solid Food

As promised, videos of Markus attempting to eat "solid food". First Sandra's attempt:




Then mine:



As you can see, he did NOT enjoy that one bit. The doctor said not to use a bottle as that was for babies who spit up. Luckily Markus does not, so we'll continue to try.

We're going to our friends apartment today for International Dinner (Egypt). We're excited. Our hope is that Markus goes to sleep around 8:00 (like normal) and stays asleep so we can enjoy dinner with friends. That's our PLAN. We'll follow up on how it goes.

Markus' First Cranford Walk

Last Saturday, while Raph was playing with his friends in the backyard, my mom, Natalie, and I took Markus out for his first walk around our block. Our block is private, and there is only one outlet into the main street, so it's pretty quiet. The weather was decent, about 60 degrees. It was overcast, but warm enough that we didn't need jackets. Markus, as usual, fell asleep during the walk. Keep in mind this was the day of his 4 month vaccinations, as well, so he was a little out of it all day anyway. The walk was so enjoyable, we did it twice! I saw neighbors every few houses, and they were all nice enough to say hello. Well, except for one older couple who just kind of stared...

Big Weekend for Markus

Saturday morning was Markus' 4 month checkup at the pediatrician. He started acting fussy when we arrived at the Doctor's office and it was unexpected because it had only been 1:45 minutes since he last ate. Nonetheless, he wanted a bottle. I had to run to the car, get a bottle, heat it up in the bathroom (he didn't like the cold formula) and then feed him. We had to stop in the middle of the feeding so the pediatrician could administer his immunization shots. Poor guy. He was crying, but it was all over in a minute and he was okay once the bottle came back.

At least he didn't pee all over the place like last time.

Markus is now 26 inches long and weighs an even 20 pounds. That's 4 inches (18%) and 6 pounds (43%) more than his 2 month appointment.

We were glad to hear that he is doing well, and not overweight or anything. The doctor said that he is just growing fast.

Markus passed out, so we took the opportunity to do some grocery shopping with him in the stroller.

Afterwards my friends Mike D. (l.) and Wally (r.) came over to finally meet Markus, see the house, and hang out in New Jersey. Wally was moved by the quietness of our block. It might have been the first time in years that he heard actual birds chirping. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we sat in the backyard, drank a couple of beers, listened to some music, played some dice, and chatted. Which is pretty much all we've done for the last decade or so when we hang out.

Sandra's mother and sister also came over and started playing with Markus. They all took him for a walk around the block.

Markus was pretty tired from all of the excitement, plus he was a little fussy from the shots in the morning. He fell asleep around 7:30 and woke up the next day at 6:30 (7:30 daylight savings).

One thing the doctor told us we can try is to introduce Markus to rice cereal. Although babies can go up to a year on formula alone, Markus may benefit from rice cereal since he is growing so fast and eats so much. We thought that he would eat it up! Amazingly, he didn't like it at all. In fact, he HATED it. We were shocked! We tried three different times and each time he went nuts. We took a video of it, which we will post soon.

Anyway, it was a nice weekend with nice weather, spent with great friends and family. Good times.

Random Markus pictures:

Someone is copying someone else. I will let you decide who is the copycat.

Markus' latest effort to flip himself over. Almost there.

Finally, here is a video of a what I see each morning when I go to see Markus in his room. He is a little shy because he notices the camera (around the 9 second mark), but otherwise pretty typical.

Feeding Markus

Sandra and I decided that we were going to use glass bottles instead of plastic ones due to the new information about BPA. If you're not aware, BPA is basically a chemical used in plastics (think of the clear, hard plastics) that is harmful to infants and can be released when the plastic is heated.

Wiki article here

Anyway, we are using Dr. Brown's bottles and we're happy with them. They have this anti-gas system that has a bunch of little parts inside (you can see the funnel in the picture), which can be annoying, but since we started with these bottles, we're used to them and don't find them annoying at all. Markus likes them and doesn't have any problems with gas. He burps after he eats and that's it.

We originally were using a sterilizer from a company called The First Years, but it broke after about 3 months. Looking at the reviews on Amazon.com, this is not uncommon. It's a pretty simple design. It boils some water on a hot plate on the bottom and the steam sterilizes the parts above it. It worked well in the beginning, however, despite it's size, it couldn't fit all of the bottles AND parts, so we had to use it twice each time. This may have led to the failure. It also took about 10 minutes for each cycle. It really shouldn't be too hard to make a better product.

We then picked up Dr. Brown's microwave sterilizer, which fits 4 bottles and parts and works in 6 minutes. It's great, although it takes a few times before you learn how to put all the pieces in the bowl. It's pretty complicated. I think I mastered it after 3-4 uses. Again, I'm surprised nobody could come up with a better solution. It works fine and since it's just a bowl with some water on the bottom, it shouldn't break.

The whole sterilzer thing is debatable anyway. You don't have to sterlize your bottles all the time, but it satisfies parent paranoia.

Markus has been eating Similac Advance Earlyshield formula. It's the one that we got from the hospital and he has had no problems. In fact, he LOVES eating. lol. It smells like crap and according to Sandra it tastes like it smells. Since Markus hasn't eaten anything other than this in his life so far, he's happy! We buy the powder form, make a pitcher, fill up his bottles and put them in the fridge. We then warm them up when Markus is hungry (~2-3 hours) using The First Years bottle warmer, which is basically a small version of the sterilizer (plate heats up water to heat up bottle). It's still working and we haven't had any problems so far.

Anyway, that's takes care of his bottle and food system. Oh, we use Dr. Brown's formula pitcher to mix the formula (it's supposed to reduce gas). I think that's it. Unless you include that we use Palmolive to wash his bottles.

Here is a video of Markus grabbing on to a toy and holding on to it. A big milestone that made us happy this past weekend!

Markus sleeps!

For the last week or so, Markus has been going to sleep around 8:00-9:00 p.m. and waking up around 6:00-7:00 a.m. pretty consistently. From what we hear, we're very lucky. On the one hand it's nice because Sandra and I get to relax at night, but it's tough for me because I miss the little guy. I get home and I get to bathe him, change him, and feed him his last meal. He then falls asleep (although that can be difficult sometimes as he gets fussy before falling asleep).

When I walk in to his room in the morning, he's usually waking up. The first thing he does when he sees me is smile and make noises. It's truly heart-melting.

Don't get me wrong...I'm glad he's sleeping peacefully and not crying all night, but I also miss him.

Our next appointment with the pediatrician is on the 7th (next Saturday). More shots, and we're also planning on introducing some foods to him (rice cereal, or something like that) after the appointment. We'll see how it goes.

This is the picture I currently have of Markus as my desktop background:

Back Home!

We successfully moved back home last weekend, although I ended up with a slight fever Friday and Saturday. We even managed to host the International Dinner on Sunday! We were scrambling to find our glasses and plates during the last few minutes, and we even had some help from our friends. Just like the Beatles.

After the dinner was over, we put the dishes in the dishwasher for the first time, put some Cascade in it, and turned it on. An hour or so later, the cycle was finished and when we opened up the dishwasher, there was just a streak of detergent and a blast of heat, to accompany the dirty dishes. Strange. Our solution (after multiple bottles of wine)? TRY AGAIN! You can only guess the outcome.

I was pretty upset and Sandra realized that there was no water going to the dishwasher! Ahh, those idiot contractors didn't turn on the valve! Well, I remembered that the valve was in the basement, but it was in the ceiling. I opened up a hole, but to no avail. Upset, I went to sleep.

The next day (wine has left the system), I said, "all new plumbing must have exposed valves to each separate unit"...and in that moment I realized just how dumb I was. Underneath the sink! Of course, there was the valve. I turned it, counterclockwise, and "wooosh"...I heard the water start flowing. Sandra already thought I already checked there, which is why she allowed me to poke a hole in our basement ceiling. After that, the dishwasher worked great! So, a lesson to anyone who may have a new dishwasher installed in the future...MAKE SURE THE WATER IS ON! lol.

Yes, I blame the wine.

The two of us also couldn't find the "vent" button on the microwave. Again, I woke up the next day, read the manual, stared at the microwave buttons, and BEHOLD! There, all of a sudden, appeared the vent button. No excuse there, as both Sandra and I checked for that button before any alcohol consumption.

On Tuesday, Sandra turned on the oven and that resulted in smoke, a horrible smell and the smoke detector going off. WTF? Sandra was "freaking the hell out", and she opened the doors and windows. It turns out that there was some more of that blue protective plastic underneath the vent on the stove. SO, a lesson to anyone who may have a new range installed in the future...make sure to take off ALL of that blue plastic crap before igniting! lol.

Nothing wrong with the fridge or wine fridge yet. We're still finding a way to screw that up.

Okay, here's a picture of me, Sandra and Markus!

(Markus is making a funny face)