Friday, February 27, 2004
We have such the baby...
...in Chase that is!!!
That's right, for those of you in the area, remember that monster storm that dumped massive amounts of rain on us the other day? Well I have a story for you...
For some reason Kristen and I decided to close the door (vs. leaving it ajar) to the master bedroom when we went to bed after Kaitlyn's last feeding that day. However the baby gates to the bedrooms remained open. Chase was sleeping soundly on his bed in the family room minding his own business when things got a little hairy. The rain came down hard after we went to bed and 50mph winds howled around the house. Kristen claims she heard Chase trying to join us in the master bedroom without any luck. He left us alone so it was assumed that he would be okay.
Time passes. Eventually, Kaitlyn slept her mandatory 3-4 hours before starting to scream and waking Kristen up, which seemed to coincide with the peak of the storm that night. Kristen got up (while I snoozed like nothing was happening) and went across the house to tend to the baby. When she got to the nursery, guess who else was in there??? That's right, Kristen saw a big, frantic, frazzled yellow lab come through the doorway just as she got to the hallway. Chase was scared out of his wits! Poor doggie. We hung him out to dry all alone in the big, dark, scary house in the worst storm since he was a puppy! He did what he could and went into Kaitlyn's room to find the only love and companionship around!
Okay, maybe it wasn't that scary and Chase wasn't that frantic, but it makes for a good story.
And yes, this was more of a Chase story than a Kaitlyn episode, but K and I thought you guys would enjoy it anyway. Poor, poor Chase....he's 90 pounds and has a big bark but when it comes down to it he's just a big baby at heart.
That's right, for those of you in the area, remember that monster storm that dumped massive amounts of rain on us the other day? Well I have a story for you...
For some reason Kristen and I decided to close the door (vs. leaving it ajar) to the master bedroom when we went to bed after Kaitlyn's last feeding that day. However the baby gates to the bedrooms remained open. Chase was sleeping soundly on his bed in the family room minding his own business when things got a little hairy. The rain came down hard after we went to bed and 50mph winds howled around the house. Kristen claims she heard Chase trying to join us in the master bedroom without any luck. He left us alone so it was assumed that he would be okay.
Time passes. Eventually, Kaitlyn slept her mandatory 3-4 hours before starting to scream and waking Kristen up, which seemed to coincide with the peak of the storm that night. Kristen got up (while I snoozed like nothing was happening) and went across the house to tend to the baby. When she got to the nursery, guess who else was in there??? That's right, Kristen saw a big, frantic, frazzled yellow lab come through the doorway just as she got to the hallway. Chase was scared out of his wits! Poor doggie. We hung him out to dry all alone in the big, dark, scary house in the worst storm since he was a puppy! He did what he could and went into Kaitlyn's room to find the only love and companionship around!
Okay, maybe it wasn't that scary and Chase wasn't that frantic, but it makes for a good story.
And yes, this was more of a Chase story than a Kaitlyn episode, but K and I thought you guys would enjoy it anyway. Poor, poor Chase....he's 90 pounds and has a big bark but when it comes down to it he's just a big baby at heart.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Oooooh... pretty pictures...
It's only been about a week and a half since I started my sabbatical and it's been a joy. Let me tell you, if you ever get a chance to take a sabbatical from work, do it. It's definitely worth it. =)
Anyway, since I've been home full time now, I've been able to help out with Kaitlyn much more. I'm almost always on diaper duty (which have been getting steadily stinkier by the day), burping duty, and top flight servant while Kristen is nursing Kaitlyn ("Darrin? Do you mind getting me a glass of water?"). It's not like I'm complaining. In fact, tag teaming with Kristen has been a lot of fun, even though it's been a lot of work.
Kaitlyn has started to really mature as a baby. She's now a full 11 pounds heavy, basically a 50% increase from her birth weight. She's sleeping a bit more and giving us about 4 to 4 1/2 hours of uninterupted sleep during the night. We're still waiting for that 6 hour rest that supposed to come sometime soon, but with the both of us at home, 4 hours of sleep between feedings is ok for now. Kaitlyn is also starting to coo both randomly and when she's happy. It a welcome sound after listening to mostly cries and screams come out of her mouth.
Just these last few days, we provided some new things for Kaitlyn to experience. Kristen found a cool set of geometric pictures that we printed out and plastered all over Kaitlyn's crib, her nursery, and the family room. If you're really bored check it out here. Kaitlyn loves to stare at these pictures while she's awake. The contrasting black and white pictures really capture her attention (I even find myself staring at them from time to time -- Kristen will tell you that my brain hasn't fully developed either). Kaitlyn has also started to play/hang out on her tummy, also known as tummy time. We'll put her on her boppy or a small cushion/pillow, so that she doesn't have to struggle with her head as much. You can tell she's really enjoying it. Kaitlyn also enjoys laying on her butterfly play gym and staring at the hanging toys. Now she just has to work on hitting the toys on purpose instead of randomly.
The family also took it's first major outing to a Chinese New Year party out in Rio Vista, about 40 minutes away from home. Kaitlyn loves car rides and was a perfect baby during the four hours we were out of the house. Previously, she's been to the doctor (of course), Target, Babies R Us, Old Navy, Old Spaghetti Factory, and had her first experience at an In-N-Out drive-thru just two days ago. =)
Okay, enough for now. We'll post some more pictures soon, don't y'all worry!
Anyway, since I've been home full time now, I've been able to help out with Kaitlyn much more. I'm almost always on diaper duty (which have been getting steadily stinkier by the day), burping duty, and top flight servant while Kristen is nursing Kaitlyn ("Darrin? Do you mind getting me a glass of water?"). It's not like I'm complaining. In fact, tag teaming with Kristen has been a lot of fun, even though it's been a lot of work.
Kaitlyn has started to really mature as a baby. She's now a full 11 pounds heavy, basically a 50% increase from her birth weight. She's sleeping a bit more and giving us about 4 to 4 1/2 hours of uninterupted sleep during the night. We're still waiting for that 6 hour rest that supposed to come sometime soon, but with the both of us at home, 4 hours of sleep between feedings is ok for now. Kaitlyn is also starting to coo both randomly and when she's happy. It a welcome sound after listening to mostly cries and screams come out of her mouth.
Just these last few days, we provided some new things for Kaitlyn to experience. Kristen found a cool set of geometric pictures that we printed out and plastered all over Kaitlyn's crib, her nursery, and the family room. If you're really bored check it out here. Kaitlyn loves to stare at these pictures while she's awake. The contrasting black and white pictures really capture her attention (I even find myself staring at them from time to time -- Kristen will tell you that my brain hasn't fully developed either). Kaitlyn has also started to play/hang out on her tummy, also known as tummy time. We'll put her on her boppy or a small cushion/pillow, so that she doesn't have to struggle with her head as much. You can tell she's really enjoying it. Kaitlyn also enjoys laying on her butterfly play gym and staring at the hanging toys. Now she just has to work on hitting the toys on purpose instead of randomly.
The family also took it's first major outing to a Chinese New Year party out in Rio Vista, about 40 minutes away from home. Kaitlyn loves car rides and was a perfect baby during the four hours we were out of the house. Previously, she's been to the doctor (of course), Target, Babies R Us, Old Navy, Old Spaghetti Factory, and had her first experience at an In-N-Out drive-thru just two days ago. =)
Okay, enough for now. We'll post some more pictures soon, don't y'all worry!
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Kaitlyn's growing up fast...
That's right! Kaitlyn is already six weeks old...where did all the time go? It's pretty amazing how qucikly babies grow. Kaitlyn now weighs ten and a half pounds and is approximately 21.5 inches long. She gains about 1.5 ounces a day, which is just over the 1 ounce a day recommended by doctors. Oh, and the 0-3 month clothing that was once swimming on her is now actually starting to fit. About time! So how about our sleep deprivation? Well, Kaitlyn now goes up to four hours between some of her feedings. Now if we can only get those feedings to occur during normal sleeping hours instead of in the middle of the day. Our litle baby girl is definitely growing up.
Kaitlyn's personality is also showing more of its true colors each day. As we mentioned before Kaitlyn's temperament during the first two weeks was very easygoing. In the beginning Kaitlyn pretty much just ate, slept, and pooped. Parenthood seemed way too easy. I remember us feeling a little disappointed that we didn't have more baby stuff to do. We were starting to wonder if she was okay as she was hardly ever awake and rarely got fussy. Well be careful of what you wish for. As of day 16 Kaitlyn discovered her voice. Now she really makes it known if she's hungry, needs to be changed, or just wants to be held. If you don't attend to her needs fast enough she has the ability to scream until her face turns purple. Overall though Kaitlyn is a very good baby. But she definitely has us wrapped around her little finger already.
Since the last post, Kaitlyn has reached a number of milestones. She has been smiling since two weeks old. She can hold her head up, follow objects with her eyes, and has just started to coo and bear weight through her legs. As we like to jokingly say "She's really advanced." =)
The following is a list of some of Kaitlyn's likes and dislikes:
Likes:
* Staring at daddy's forehead or anything else that shows a lot of contrast in color
* Being held...especially upright and while being walked
* Laying on her changing pad (haven't figured out why she likes this one yet)
* Being carried in her Baby Bjorn
* Car rides (just don't stop for a red light), walks in her stroller, or any other form of continuous motion
* Laying in her crib watching/listening to her Winnie the Pooh mobile
Dislikes:
* Taking Baths
* Having her face washed
* Sleeping in her Pak N Play (refused to sleep in Pak N Play after two weeks and had to move her out of our
bedroom and into the nursery...much to the dismay of Kristen)
* Pacifiers
*Drinking from a bottle
Okay, enough rambling for now. On to the more interesting stuff...pictures. Kristen has taken hundreds of pics in just a matter of weeks including some awesome one month pictures. They are hosted on Ofoto.com. Find the link to our Ofoto album on the Baby Chen Download page.
p.s. For those of you who don't know, I just started my eight week sabatical (a wonderful perk thanks to seven devoted years to Intel) so check back for more frequent updates. No more excuses.
Kaitlyn's personality is also showing more of its true colors each day. As we mentioned before Kaitlyn's temperament during the first two weeks was very easygoing. In the beginning Kaitlyn pretty much just ate, slept, and pooped. Parenthood seemed way too easy. I remember us feeling a little disappointed that we didn't have more baby stuff to do. We were starting to wonder if she was okay as she was hardly ever awake and rarely got fussy. Well be careful of what you wish for. As of day 16 Kaitlyn discovered her voice. Now she really makes it known if she's hungry, needs to be changed, or just wants to be held. If you don't attend to her needs fast enough she has the ability to scream until her face turns purple. Overall though Kaitlyn is a very good baby. But she definitely has us wrapped around her little finger already.
Since the last post, Kaitlyn has reached a number of milestones. She has been smiling since two weeks old. She can hold her head up, follow objects with her eyes, and has just started to coo and bear weight through her legs. As we like to jokingly say "She's really advanced." =)
The following is a list of some of Kaitlyn's likes and dislikes:
Likes:
* Staring at daddy's forehead or anything else that shows a lot of contrast in color
* Being held...especially upright and while being walked
* Laying on her changing pad (haven't figured out why she likes this one yet)
* Being carried in her Baby Bjorn
* Car rides (just don't stop for a red light), walks in her stroller, or any other form of continuous motion
* Laying in her crib watching/listening to her Winnie the Pooh mobile
Dislikes:
* Taking Baths
* Having her face washed
* Sleeping in her Pak N Play (refused to sleep in Pak N Play after two weeks and had to move her out of our
bedroom and into the nursery...much to the dismay of Kristen)
* Pacifiers
*Drinking from a bottle
Okay, enough rambling for now. On to the more interesting stuff...pictures. Kristen has taken hundreds of pics in just a matter of weeks including some awesome one month pictures. They are hosted on Ofoto.com. Find the link to our Ofoto album on the Baby Chen Download page.
p.s. For those of you who don't know, I just started my eight week sabatical (a wonderful perk thanks to seven devoted years to Intel) so check back for more frequent updates. No more excuses.
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