Favorite things: Stroller frame

I am copying this blog idea from  Kateri's cooking blog where she writes about her favorite tools. I thought long and hard about what to write my first one about, and I decided that the one piece of baby equipment that I use a ton and have the fewest complaints about is the frame to my baby stroller (Graco SnugRider infant car seat stroller frame).

I am terrible at maneuvering anything on wheels, so I didn't want a huge stroller that I would end up running Noah into bushes with, or falling off curbs with, etc. Additionally, we have no space to store a million different types of strollers. So we ended up asking just for a frame that you attach your infant car seat onto. Thanks to our friends Lorin and Natalia, we got the frame.

The frame is not much to look at. In fact, it looks like a piece of junk. It's super light-weight, so it feels like it is going to break apart at any moment. But it is awesome! In fact, it is great because it is so light. It folds up flat and fits into the trunk of our Civic. The best thing is that it has awesome turning radius and I find it really easy to push (this is key since Noah is so heavy). I've logged so many miles on that thing, and it is still going strong. I plan on using it until Noah outgrows his infant car seat, and hopefully by then he'll be able to sit up and we can use the umbrella stroller.

Night time hilarity

For the last week, Noah has been waking up between 1-3 in the morning and won't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. He isn't crying, but he is wide wide wide awake! He is actually pretty hilarious when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Lots of talking and shrieking (happy shrieking, but shrieking none the less). He also does what we call 'donkey kicks,' where he brings both of his legs straight up in the air, at a 90-degree angle from his body, and then will kick them straight down into the mattress, which makes a really loud, hollow sound. If Grant or I go to the side of his crib and tell him to go to sleep, he give the biggest smile, like he is so happy to see us and wants to play. It's so cute.

I can't decide whether we should just let him play in the crib by himself until he goes back to sleep on his own or if we should pick him up and help him to go back to sleep as quickly as possible. If we didn't have to get him up at 5:45 a.m. to go to work/day care, I wouldn't care if he played in the middle of the night. But since we can't let him sleep in, I worry about him getting enough sleep at night. I need to do some internet research for my internet baby regarding what to do. (My mom calls Noah an 'internet baby' because Grant and I are always running to look up online how to raise our child). Anyway, hopefully this phase will pass and he'll go back to sleeping most of the night soon.

Noah chuckles

Noah giggling with Grant. Sometimes when he giggles he gives himself hiccups, which is why he looks so concerned in the middle of it all.

Nose aspirator

Noah still has a bit of a stuffy nose. Luckily, he hasn't been so stuffed up that he can't nurse, as I have a great fear of the nose bulb sucker contraption. I get freaked out because he's usually squirming like an alligator while I'm trying to do it and I have visions of accidentally sticking the tip all the way up into his sinuses. But Grant has gotten awesome at using the sucker! He just goes for it like a pro. I am so happy and proud of him! I will happily let Grant suction away from now on!

Noah in bouncer

Not really much to this video, just want to show the grandparents Noah in action. Thank you to the Ash, Karen, Clancy, and Nate for this bouncer. Noah really likes it.

Bane of my existence: Part II

The much awaited second installment...day care is the second bane of my existence. The number one problem I have with it is that, frankly, I don't want to have to send Noah to day care at all. I wish I was rich and had a nanny by my side so that I could still work and have Noah with me all day. Unfortunately, Noah is not a good napper and I can't get anything done when I stay home with him, so off to day care he goes.

That said, I do like our day care person. She is an older woman who raised 5, now grown, kids. I have always felt that she seems like a very nurturing, motherly lady, and I think that she genuinely likes Noah and that Noah likes her. She takes care of Noah, a 9 month old, and two 2 1/2 year olds. I think this is a pretty good ratio of kids.

But of course I also have my complaints:

1) Very expensive. I don't want to put price tag on the care of my child, but the truth of the matter is that we are paying nearly as much for day care as we are for rent. We interviewed other options, which were cheaper, but we didn't like anyone else as much.

2) Distance. I drop Noah off in the morning and Grant picks up after work. It takes me 1 hour to walk my giant baby in his car seat, in a stroller, with all of his stuff (at least 25 lbs. total) to the day care place. The other day I got caught in a torrential down-pour and had to walk 30 minutes while it was pouring rain. Noah, please note that again I expect Mother's Day presents because of this. I don't drive, so I feel this complaint is kind of my fault, but then again, with as expensive as day care is, we couldn't afford a second car anyway. 

3) Language barriers. Our day care lady is Persian and her English is passable, but it is definitely not as easy to communicate with her as Grant or I would like. For most situations, it is okay, but I often worry about unusual situations popping up and how we'd get what we need across. 

The latest drama that made me write this blog is that, evidentially this past week Noah has wanted to be carried constantly. So she basically asked us not to carry him so much over the weekends because he gets used to constantly being in someone's arms. I do understand her point, because she does have another baby she needs to deal with. And I will admit that lately Grant and I have been carrying Noah more than previously because Noah likes to lay on his back, but we're so freaked out about the back of his head being smushed on the ground, that the second alternative is to hold him upright. But still, the fact that we are having this conversation at all makes me feel really bad. Really bad. Plus, (and I am going to sound like one of those annoying parents who thinks their kid can do no wrong), I don't believe that she has to carry Noah ALL day. Even with the additional carrying we have been doing, we still leave him alone sometimes and he is fine. Maybe this week he just wanted the attention. Poor little guy.

Dissection of Noah's Features

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since Noah is a mixed-race baby (officially, he is 1/2 Japanese, 1/4 German, and 1/4 other European mutt), one of the common things people do is comment on whether he looks "more Asian or more White." This is a fun game. Interestingly, Grant's parents seem to think he looks absolutely like me, whereas my parents think he looks entirely like Grant.

Here is what I currently think. Look at the picture of Noah (taken today) and you can play too.

Hair: Currently dark brown, thus an even contribution from both of us. For some reason, in some pictures his hair looks red. I think that it is lighting, because in person it is definitely brown.

Forehead and eyebrows: Definitely Grant. He has adorably dainty little eyebrows just like his dad. Most women, including me, would be jealous.

Eyes: I feel definitely takes after me. I don't know how much white people talk about 'single vs double' eyelids, this might be a uniquely Asian person thing. Anyway, I have one single eyelid and one double eyelid eye. Noah does as well. As an aside, I once tried to explain single vs. double eyelids to Grant, and was trying to compare and contrast his eyes with mine, but interestingly enough, Grant also has single eyelids. We have always said that that is the Asian part of him.

Nose: Hybrid. Nose is interesting because the Grant's family nose is a very strong trait. All of Grant's nieces and nephews had the same nose as infants and to some extent, still do. I think baby noses change quite a bit, so only time will tell on this. But while I see some evidence of a Grant's nose, I also see some evidence of my nose too. I personally hope Noah gets Grant's nose.

Mouth/chin: Undetermined. I think baby mouth and chins change too much to make a call on this quite yet. I will say that both Grant and I have pretty square jaws, so this might be a non-issue.

General head shape: Also a non-issue. Grant and I both have gigantic heads, so I'm guessing Noah will as well. Sorry kid.

Finally, I will end with this. Grant was discussing with his boss what percentage Noah looks like me versus him. This is what she wrote to him in an email:

"Or 100% Noah. You will appreciate that he is his own self when he throws parties at your house while you are gone, crashes the family car or gets really bad grades. That way, you won't have to blame yourselves too much."

Amen.