More pictures

For those not on facebook, here's the link for the Beach photos. Goleta Beach
More CA photos to come!

Someone is missing Papa

Frédéric has been gone since Sunday.

Angelina has handled it better than usual, but still not easy. Tonight, after a crisis about something I couldn't figure out, she finally cried "I want Papa!" and then it was clear.

I managed to distract her with a trip to Friendly Spot (or rather, Lily and Wilson and a few other kids did the distracting). Then to bed.

Angelina: "Mommy, Papa needs to come home and sleep in his bed."
Me: "Honey, he's in Sweden right now but he'll be home tomorrow to sleep in his bed."
Angelina: "He's in Sweden? But he can't sleep! he doesn't have his bed! He really really really needs to sleep in *his* bed!"
Me: "I'm sure he has a bed in Sweden."
Angelina: "No Mommy. There are no beds in Sweden. He has to come home to sleep!"

And there you have it. There are no beds in Sweden.

But then, she's always been a Daddy's girl, even from a couple of weeks old:

A college reunion!

And lucky for me I went to college in a gorgeous place: Santa Barbara. I can't believe I haven't been back in about 15 years or so. Now I've visited again, I wonder why I ever left. University ON the beach. Who could ask for more?

Thanks to facebook I've reconnected with some old college friends. One, Hyun, I credit for getting me through my first year at UCSB. See, he was the only one on our floor with a computer in 1987. Many a night my roomate Jen and I sat up in Hyun's room writing papers on a PC with a dot matrix printer.

Hyun still lives in SB with a wonderful wife and two of the cutest kids ever. He's also a great photographer. You need to check back for the rest of the photos (they're too big, so I need to do some work to manipulate them so I can post them, though they are on facebook already). But here are a few:






2.5 weeks in California = a lot to tell. So check back for more stories and pictures.

Starting a New Life

or at least the Next Phase in my life.

Since I was about 15, I've never not worked (i.e. had some sort of paycheck coming in), except a few months here and there during transitions. As of August 1, 2010, I will be officially unemployed. Fortunately, by choice. And by "employed" I just mean some sort of organization giving me a regular paycheck and me being responsible to some boss. I will still be employed, only now I won't have a regular paycheck (unless you count Frédéric's) and I'll be responsible only to two munchkins demanding my time and attention. Yup, just call me "Dr. Mom."

I suppose I should be a little scared, and I was initially when, despite thinking about this for the past few years, we finally looked to it as a real possibility. But really, I'm just excited. I know many people manage to work full time, raise kids, take them to all sorts of events, volunteer for boards, etc etc. Me? I can barely find time to make it to and from work. Between the demands of both our jobs, something had to give, and I was all too happy to give my job back :)

I like what I do - I still occasionally convinced myself I was out saving the world from infectious diseases - but I'm tired, and the day to day minutia is just not worth the time away from the family. I want to be able to do all the little things I can barely manage now, and then some. I feel really fortunate that this is even an option. Frédéric's job is pretty demanding and requires lots of travel. Until now, we've been coordinating it ok, but it's a challenge. My not working will ease up the pressure on him a bit too, although I've made no guarantees of a home cooked meal on a nightly basis (now, he cooks about 75% of the time).

As for my many many years earning an MPH and then a PhD? Some may say I'm "throwing it all away." Not really. My student years, though trying at times, were not a means to an end. I didn't sacrifice anything really for the hope of something greater at the end (ok, I did sacrifice a larger paycheck, but working in non-profit wasn't exactly a windfall either). No, those years of graduate school were, in hindsight, wonderful years of exploration and opportunity and enlightenment. While doing my research, I got to work on 3 other continents and an isthmus (or whatever Central America is considered). I met and learned from an amazing assortment of people. I am definitely a richer human being for the experience (if not richer in my checkbook...). It was all worth it, and I would do it again.

I'm sure being a Stay-At-Home-Parent will have a similar impact: full of wonder and exploration and enlightenment. Just in a smaller package, though some might say Angelina and Lenaïc have personalities which are not exactly "small." Rather, they are larger than life. There's a whole new world to explore. I'm ready!

Two Peas in a Pod

Nothing's better than sharing a treat with a friend!














And don't forget little brother.

Happy Home-Day Angelina

We had two weddings (June 26 in Switzerland and Aug 7 in San Antonio), so we get to celebrate our anniversary twice. Angelina was only born once, but she also has a second "birthday" or rather, "home day." When she was born, the doctors weren't so sure she'd even go home. It didn't take her long to prove them wrong, and 4 years ago today, at 17 days old, we brought her home


We will forever be grateful to her fabulous neonatalogist who was our biggest supporter: when the nurses insisted she bottlefeed (and not breastfeed), despite her refusing the bottle, he stepped in, wrote medical orders not only to let me breastfeed but to let me room in with her. And while some of the nursing staff (mostly fabulous, but a few really difficult ones) resisted, the doc said "Take her home!" And we did.

So July 20th is her other birthday, of sorts.

Happy Birthday Angelina!

Four years ago our adventure began. Our bright eyed angel came into our world and everything changed. Hurricane Angelina continues to fill our days with laughter and love (and a few other emotions too). She's teaching us humility, and love.






Happy Birthday Pucinette!

The Friendly Spot

Or What I love about Lavaca part XXIV

Late last fall, a new watering hole opened in our neighborhood. Actually, technically it's not Lavca but King William, which with Lavaca = Southtown. The Friendly Spot is the perfect place for this 'hood. It's an ice house, otherwise known as a bar. But why so special? It has a playground. A playground in a bar you say? Well, in England, a playground at a pub is not that unusual. Indeed, the local watering hole is also the local community gathering spot, and with community comes kids.

Since it opened, despite the freezing winter, The Friendly Spot has become the center of the neighborhood. It's simple, outdoor bars, big shady pecan trees, lots of room for kids to run and a fenced playground. As one of the owners has a 5 year old and one on the way, this was genius. A place for kids to play and parents to socialize. With good food too. At any time, you can wander over and you're bound to see a neighbor or other kids for yours to join in play. Very important when you have an uber-social 4 year old desperate for other kids.

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed The Friendly Spot with our good friend Dawn who came to town with her daughter Lily, born a month after Lenaïc, to see her sister Amy and her new nephew Kenny.

Parties

Angelina turns 4 this year! To avoid the holiday weekend, we celebrated last week, which, coincidentally, was our 6th wedding anniversary. We were happy to share it though.


Angelina has been looking forward to her birthday for about a year now. She's asked often "When's MY birthday?" and she was practicing singing "Happy Birthday to me" for weeks.

Since we belong to the Clan of "The More the Merrier," we invited everyone: School friends, neighborhood friends, dance friends, parents' friends. I had no idea how many would finally show up. As usual, we had a great crowd and a lot of fun. And a special treat, my friend Monica from Switzerland was in San Antonio visiting one of her other friends (who was 40 weeks pregnant) with her two kids, Elliot and Ivy.



It was hot as can be, but that didn't stop kids from jumping to their hearts' content.


Or moving to the pool to cool down.

Angelina took the notion of "Birthday suit" to heart: before I knew it she'd ripped off ALL her clothes and jumped in the little pool. Other kids followed suit, although most managed to leave some clothing on.

Lenaïc, for his part, has clearly inherited the party gene. He was happy all day, letting everyone carry him and play with him.

And the birthday celebrations continue.....today I brought cupcakes to her school so she could celebrate with her friends there. She was telling everyone she turned 4 last week at her party. When I explained her birthday was actually tomorrow and she'd have another celebration at school today, she said "So I will turn FIVE now?! Yeah! I get to be FIVE!"

Six Months!

Where did the past 6 months go?

How is it my little guy, so slow to gain in the first two weeks of life all the powers that be fretted about a possible "FTT" (failure to thrive), suddenly 6 months old?

He rolls over. he sits up. And never seems to stop moving. When I had my 20 week ultrasound, the technician said she'd never seen a baby so active. Having spent the past 3+ years with our Happy Hurricane Angelina, we thought "no baby can be more active than her."

We were wrong. Lenaïc is in constant motion. He hasn't managed to crawl yet, but he kicks and squirms so much I have no doubt he'll find some way to move on his own soon.

He laughs. And laughs some more. And more. He pretty much never stops smiling.

And whom does he smile the most at?

Big sister Angelina.



At his 6 month appointment yesterday (really 6 months + 2 weeks):
18.6lbs (8.4kg) 75th%
26in (66cm) 50th%
All on mommy's milk

Alligators and Camping

So I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated. By the time I finish nursing Lenaïc to sleep, prepare his bottles and diapers for the next day, clean the kitchen, etc…

And then there’s been the World Cup. More on that later….

In our effort to make use of our State Parks annual pass, our new tent, and teach Angelina the joys of the outdoors, a few weeks ago we went camping to Choke Canyon State Park. It was hot. I mean HOT. And HUMID.

But that didn’t stop Angelina from having fun. It’s a nice park with “walk in” tent sites that are only 50 yards from the carpark. This means it’s basically car camping, but without RVs/generators. When we arrived, the first thing I saw was this sign:






Not exactly what you want to see when you have two small children. Now, I love seeing wildlife and normally most creatures don’t scare me. But I have seen alligators up close and I know how fast they can be, and that they’ve been known to snatch small creatures – i.e. kids. However, I figured that if they let us camp that close, it probably just means alligators *exist* but are rarely seen (I didn’t hear until after we returned about my friend who felt an alligator brush up against his tent on another weekend).

Angelina, however, was very keen to see alligators. She kept asking “where are the alligators.” Mommy, on the other hand, was very happy we didn’t see any. What we did see were a ton of birds. There was an amazing variety, but since we were so focused on taking pictures of the kids, we didn’t take any of birds.

We saw our first armadillo! Well, first live one. He was strolling around our tent, cute as can be.

For more pictures, go to CAMPING.

Fun with Friends

So many stories, where do we start?

Sibling Love

Two peas in a pod

Angelina is so in love with her baby brother, she never wants to leave his side. This will be interesting in a few years. You can bet I will remind her of this as she yells "Lenaïc! Leave me alone!"



She often wants to sleep with him.
We don't normally let her, since she has a tendency to move all over the bed and throw her blanket around, and that's not safe for him. However, one morning I let her crawl into bed with us and after I left (checking in on them frequently) she moved over closer to him.

It's very sweet, and it's amazing how much space two very small people can take.

Smiley Buddha

This picture pretty much shows Lenaïc's personality: Mr Smiley. He is always laughing. Even when sick.

We had an ER trip in the wee hours of Sunday April 25 due to a high fever and some vomitting. The nurse on the 24-hr on call line suggested we bring him in. Through it all, he was smiling. Yes, even with a fever of 103.3F (39.61C) he was smiling. Well, except when the nurse couldn't find the vein in his fat arms and was digging for it.


They didn't identify anything specific, just elevated white blood cells suggesting an infection. After some rocephin and more motrin, fever came down and stayed low-grade all week, so I figured he was getting better.

Then Saturday night hit again. What is it with Saturday nights? Good thing we're not wild partiers.... he woke up near midnight, this time 104.3F (40.17F). I couldn't remember the cut-off for panic...so I called the 24-hour nurse line for guidance. Panic button is 105F, so we took a lukewarm bath and gave some more motrin which brought it down to 102F and no ER trip. And yes, he was still smiling and laughing. Ended up at the pediatrician on Monday who said it looked like an ear infection, so now he's having his first (and hopefully only for a very long time) course of antibiotics. Finally after 2 more days of high fever, it's back down to low grade. Hopefully it stays that way. It's no fun having a sick kid, but he makes it easier by smiling so much. :)

School Fiesta Parade

Not to be outdone by the Battle of Flowers, Flambeau or King William Parades, Angelina and Lenaïc's school also had a Fiesta Parade.

Each class dressed in different themes. The infants were the "T-birds and Pink Ladies." Angelina's class weren't meant to be hippies, but that's how she looked ;) The classes then walked the parade route and ended up with a big picnic. It was our first school event. Lots of fun for all!







Lenaïc, however, was more interested in a nap...


More Fiesta photos are HERE

Fiesta Fun

And so ends the 10 day extravaganza that is Fiesta San Antonio. I confess we do comparatively little for Fiesta, but we're still worn out...




For the first time I took Angelina and her "sister" Felice to the Charreada, or Mexican rodeo. We didn't see much of the actual rodeo, but we did see the ladies in pretty dresses with horses "dancing."


And there was the King William Fair. This is an event in which all of Southtown participates. The parade is the best, in my opinion - it's everything goes, from kids in flower costumes to men in drag to everything in between.

This year's Southtown Kids in the Hood float was "Green Gets Down with Southtown" and was all about recycling.

The best part was probably the Float Decorating party at Friendly Spot








Because the next morning all the kids were exhausted.... Still, the parade was fabulous!

More Fiesta pictures HERE

Big Sister

Occasionally Angelina wants to be like Mommy too. And what does Mommy do with her baby brother 90% of the time? Nurse him.

So what does Angelina want to do? Nurse her brother.

I didn't manage to get pictures of her attempt, as he was a bit too frustrated ;), but I did get lots of snaps just before of her trying to play peak-a-boo.

Papa's Little Girl

Angelina is SUCH a daddy's girl. Anything Papa does, she has to do too. His normal attire is jeans and a t-shirt. Nice jeans. Nice shirt. But still, jeans and t-shirt. Twice this week he wore a suit (he looks great in a suit, by the way, just weird since it's so not his style).

Angelina, seeing him put on a tie, insists she must have one too.

Alas, she wouldn't pose for me, but she did wear her tie to school all day.

Is this the same baby?

That's what the pediatrician said when she saw his weight at his 4 month appointment. Yes, he's already 4 months old!

At 48 hours old he was jaundiced and still losing weight.







At 3 weeks old he'd only just regained his birth weight (hope is to regain by 2 weeks). The pediatrician was concerned and we had to go in for multiple weight checks in the first few weeks, and continue breastfeeding on demand. He seemed to catch up, despite some food sensitivity issues: he can't tolerate dairy proteins (even hidden dairy. Do you know how many foods contain dairy in some form? just about ALL!), soy, and it looks like eggs. If I have any of those, it goes into the breastmilk and he gets green mucousy poops, stuffy nose with trouble breathing well, and painful gas as well as a small rash. It takes a couple of weeks to clear it all from his system, but once it does, all is well and normal. Obviously, it's not hurting his weight gain.




As of 9 April 2010:
15.6lbs (7.1kg) 75th%
24 inches (61 cm) 10th%

We call him the "Happy Buddha."

(which also means he appears to have my body so far - short and stocky)