Rebecca

I am an American expat in Australia with my husband and infant son. While my husband works downtown, I spend my days changing diapers, grocery shopping, and mopping the floor. This is my webpage, where I write about my life (being a mother), my developing hobbies (cooking, photography, reading, and writing), and my spiritual development (my weekly Sunday school lesson, the scriptures, and my testimony).

April and Australia

May 082012
 

Caroline is busy being adorable. Here are some pictures from April 21, 2012, the day before she was two months old.

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One of these days I’ll get a good picture of her gorgeous smile. It’s so adorable! I treasure her little coo’s and goo’s!

Paul learned about his birth country, Australia, this month. Here’s the giant Australia cookie we made at the beginning of the project.

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Beyond making a giant cookie, we didn’t do much other than reading lots of picture books about Australia. Are we There Yet? by Alison Lester was a child’s perspective of a month-long road trip around Australia. Paul enjoyed learning about the various landmarks and it was fun to show him the family picture in the Victorian mountains and a picture of himself with me by The Twelve Apostles when he was about six months old.

A number of books were about the animals of Australia. Koala Lou by Mem Fox, Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan, Snap! by Marcia Vaughan, Possum Magic by Mem Fox, and My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch by Graeme Base. I wanted to do more with the learning about animals, but Paul did not have much interest beyond reading the picture books. We did watch a brief documentary about the Great Barrier Reef and then we enjoyed watching Finding Nemo and making a Finding Nemo game based on the Great Barrier Reef facts he remembered. (He is already forgetting these facts, but it was fun making the game anyway! He will remember what a “predator” is at least.)

I also tried to give him a very basic introduction to Aborigines and culture, but it didn’t go over so well. We liked Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein, which had Aborigine style artwork. We looked at the boomerangs we purchased when we lived in Australia and we talked about how the art of dots and lines created symbols. He didn’t much care, so we’ll have to return to that sometime! And we read a very silly folktale called Whale’s Canoe (by Joanna Troughton) which is supposedly based on a Dreamtime tradition.

And then he summarized all he learned in this video.

(Yes, Caroline is crying in the background. Ryan was holding her, so it wasn’t like I was just abandoning her. But my, it sounds pretty bad watching the video and hearing her crying!!)

It was fun! He wants to move on to Asia now, although I must admit, I’m not sure which direction to go in first as “Asia” is a huge continent!

Update: 2 Months Old and 4.5 Years

Apr 292012
 

I cannot believe how quickly time is passing this spring. I treasure this newborn baby stage and very rapidly, Caroline is becoming an infant, not a newborn.

Last Monday, we had her two month check up. She’s right on track developmentally. She coo’s and goo’s all the time. She smiles when she sees a face. She loves watching her mobile going around and cries when it stops. Other times, she cries when we turn it on because she’s figured out that means we are going to leave her and she’d rather look at us and be held. She’s adamant about eating Right Now when she wants to be. She’s strong and eager to try standing and laying on her belly (most of the time).

She was 9 lbs. 8 oz., 22.5 inches long, so in one month she gained a full pound. That still leaves her in between the 10th and 20th percentile. The doctor isn’t concerned “She’s just petite,” he said.

Caroline did not like her first round of shots. She got three shots with a total of five or six immunizations. She had been starting to have a schedule but that really threw it off! I still can’t figure out when she expects naps so she’s not really on a schedule: some days, she sleeps 7 hours at night and then naps for a long three hour stretch, with cat naps through the day. Other times like last night she is up every 2-3 hours at night and doesn’t sleep more than 30 minutes at a time all day.

This no sleeping at night might be somehow related to her growing up and changing body systems: now she no longer poops 10 times a day, but goes two or three days between huge explosion poops, like Paul did when he was an infant. The downside is that I’ve noticed wakes frequently the nights when she has not had a poop for a few days. Personally, I’d really like the 7 hours of sleep at a time to continue. That is very nice when that happens. I feel like a human!

Paul is still very much an attentive big brother. He loves that she is now responding to him, smiling and otherwise excited to see him. She definitely recognizes and loves him already! Paul doesn’t try to take over her care (thank goodness) but simply tells me what she needs as best as he can guess. He occasionally has his own “newborn baby” to take care of, an imaginary one. He pulls the stool over the changing mat to “change” his baby; he lifts his shirt and pretends to feed his baby. His baby is not always around, but appears a few times a week.

Paul has been going through a painful transition phase. Ever since Caroline joined our family, he’s regressed in a number of emotional ways. Things he’d been doing by himself for months (getting dressed, putting on shoes, floating on his back at swim lessons, buckling his belt in the car, carrying the family-sized Book of Mormon) suddenly became “too hard,” inducing tears. He’s also developed a sense of entitlement that results in tantrums when he is does not get what he wants.

This has been trying for me, since I’ve had a newborn to deal with. It’s also a bit worrisome in general, simply because we’d like him to develop into an emotionally mature person, of course. I just reread Awakening Children’s Minds about helping children learn by reaching them at their emotional level, and I’m planning on reading Raising Your Spirited Child next.

Paul also has some speech issues right now. Ryan has mentioned he’s getting harder to understand. Many times I need him to rephrase what he’s saying because I simply can’t understand him. “I’m sart, Mommy!” (Short? No, I’m Smart.) When the preschool teacher also mentioned it to me last week, I decided it’s time to look into intervention. I’m not sure how it will work, but I’m talking to the school district about next year.

Beyond that, he’s still an impressively smart boy, a cheerful boy most of the time, and a very creative individual. We’re still doing some fun “school at home” and I’ve decided to begin doing some kindergarten work with him next year and not send him to preschool. I’m signing him up for a kindergarten class at a local homeschool co-op, and I’m looking forward to getting more one-on-one time with him. It’s exciting to think of all the time we’ll get together. It will be incredibly exhausting to homeschool with a young baby who will be learning to crawl and walk, but I can’t think of anything more exciting and rewarding than watching my son blossom into a critically thinking individual.

Here’s to the next few months of parenting! Right now, I’m loving this journey.

April pictures to come as soon as I get a moment….

Hallelujah!

Apr 192012
 

This post of celebration is a few days late, but there is still cause to celebrate! Caroline, who was eight weeks old yesterday, has begun to separate night from day!

On Sunday night, she slept for seven hours straight for the first time. The next two nights she slept for five hours and last night it was three hours and then four hours. These longer stretches of sleep have been wonderful for this mama. I was beginning to feel a bit insane in the two or three hours sleeps I was getting. After almost two months, such sleep deprivation is quite discouraging. Now I feel like a human again. Monday I celebrated by cleaning the house.

Yesterday I fell asleep again mid-afternoon. I hate taking naps like that! It feels great at the time but then I wake up feeling groggy and lazy. I don’t get things done that I intended! Ryan says drinking lots of water helps stave off sleepiness. Do you have any other suggestions?

Caroline smiles regularly now. It’s such a pleasant thing to go to my baby and be greeted with a happy face of delight. I have been awful at taking pictures of her. I find I’d much rather hold her and cuddle and coo with her than run get my camera! Caroline notices toys and has begun to enjoy her mobile, much as Paul enjoyed it at the same point in his life (see his video here!)

Caroline lays there staring at the mobile without moving. Then I turn it on and she smiles or kicks or flails her arms. She definitely likes it!

Here she is in a new dress getting ready to go to church! (April 15)

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I had the force the toy into her hand but she grasped on to it for a while. I love her expression in this picture. (April 14)

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Six Weeks Already!

Apr 062012
 

Caroline turned six weeks old this week. She is a fantastic baby. She loves to eat. She smiles to us all now (although the smiles are still a rarity, so I treasure them!). She is incredibly vocal about what she needs: food (NOW!!), diaper change (NOW!!), attention (!!). I feel like there is a lot of crying at various points in the day but I’m trying not to feel to guilty about letting her wait a few moments sometimes when really, I just can’t hold her all day long (much as I sometimes want to).

She is strong. During tummy time (if she’s happy), she’ll lift up arms, legs, and head/neck and just float on her tummy for a few seconds before relaxing. She tries to turn her head from side to side then too. She grasps hold of my shirt or arm. She tries to get her tiny hands into her mouth, a difficult task since she doesn’t realize she controls them. She’s clever because when she’s hungry, she knows the binkie is not going to do much for her and promptly rejects it with an angry yell. She’s sensitive because she recognizes the love surrounding her and responds with coos and a gentle six-week-old smile.

No, she’s not sleeping through the night — or more than 2.5 or 3 hours at a time (except for one night when she slept 4 hours!!). But that’s to be expected. I’m doing much better with the sleep spurts though. The first few weeks were a blur for me. It’s been a while since I had sleep deprivation (and Paul began sleeping long 5-7 hour stretches very early!) so these first six weeks required some readjustment, but I’ll make it.

Caroline is a precious addition to our family. Sometimes I stare at her and think “oh yeah, I have two kids now, that’s weird.” But other times I am only excited and grateful and excited to see her developing personality. I love having her in our family, and I am delighted to treasure these moments with her now when she’s still so innocent. And unknown: it will be great to get to know her too, but this little “doll-like” blank-slate stage has some precious bonuses too.

And Paul simply loves being a big brother. Yes, he’s had his moments of jealousy, (such as his frequent requests that I put Caroline down to do something for or with him). But in general, he can’t wait to greet her in the morning, and he’s just living for the days when she’ll understand that he is her Big Brother, a role he is incredibly proud of.

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(Apparently, someone’s head always has to be cute off.)

Caroline’s Blessing Weekend

Apr 022012
 

Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul joined us last weekend! Then, my brother and his family and my mother and father came up on Sunday for Caroline’s blessing in church. None of these picture are very great (and I’m sad I didn’t get any pictures of my brother or his wife or Grandpa S with Caroline either!) but we were too busy enjoying each others’ company and holding that cute baby to take pictures, I suppose.

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Paul was very excited to host a “party” for our Friday Fun Night with Grandma and Papa. It was full of made-up games that he enjoyed inventing for us. Here is one of them.

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IMG_2813 This picture is very out of focus but I love Paul’s ear to ear smile, so I had to include it!

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(I promise, we will get real family pictures in the next few months.)

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Paul saw me warming the bottle and asked, “But how are you going to get that back in to you to feed her?” So I had to let him give her her first bottle.

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Reading bedtime stories with Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul.

Caroline’s Curtains

Mar 292012
 

It isn’t just my mother-in-law who is a pro at the sewing machine. My mother is too; she offered to make the curtains for Caroline’s bedroom! Here’s a video of the day she finished and we put them up.

March 19, 2012

Caroline 3 weeks, five days old.

Caroline’s Blessing Dress

Mar 222012
 

Grandma Peggy made Caroline Rose her blessing dress and slip. What a talent! Here is Caroline Rose in all her cuteness! She slept through the photo session.

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Thirty-one years and two months ago, these fake roses and the heart were given to a different little baby with the middle name of “Rose.”

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And with her brother, of course, who felt a bit left out of the picture taking. He gave her the doll when he first met her.

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More pictures of Caroline with family to come this weekend!

One Month Old

Mar 222012
 

All day long I’ve been close to tears: my baby is already one month old! I cannot believe how quickly that time passed by. I pick up Caroline and she is heavy (comparatively). Her tummy is chubby and her face is squishy. Today, I saw her eyes have tears for the first time when she cries. She is smiling more regularly at me and staying awake — happily — more frequently. Her going-home-from-the-hospital outfit is almost too snug for her. She’s almost no longer a newborn!

I just want to sit and cuddle her a long while. I can’t believe I’m losing the newborn baby stage so quickly! I miss her little crooked legs and her newborn innocence already.

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Spring has sprung this week in Chicagoland. It’s been in the 70s and 80s all week, so Paul, Caroline, and I have tried to get out a little bit each day to enjoy it! Here Paul is telling about the city he drew on the driveway.

I know this is new Mommy emotion, but I’m choked up as I type this, thinking about how big my little girl already is getting. On to month two for her, despite my desire to cling to the newly newborn baby!

This weekend Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul and more family are coming to celebrate Caroline’s recieving a name and a blessing in church on Sunday. We’re so grateful that Daddy honors the priesthood and can give her that special blessing.

The Earth Game

Mar 192012
 

Paul and I have not done much “school” since I posted at the beginning of February about our “school at home” progress. Obviously, this was due to the fact that I was in the uncomfortable last stages of pregnancy and then actually having a baby and taking care of a newborn.

Never the less, we have read through a book about the Earth from a fabulous Early Bird Early Learners series by Lerner Publications (this particular book). It’s written for slightly older kids, but by reading together, one chapter at a time, Paul and I enjoyed learning how the Earth’s crust moves, what volcanoes and earthquakes are, and what all of that means for us.

Since neither of us have been in the mood for worksheets lately, I was trying to think of a way to make remembering and reviewing these details fun. We weren’t interested in sitting in the school room, but Paul always wants to play board games with me!

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Voila! We turned Earth’s Crust into a game!

I found a mostly blank game board online. Paul found pictures in the book that he liked and I found similar ones online as well as a few clip art images to illustrate the game board. Then we added squares to correlate with the images: each of these squares gives or takes away an earth “token.” So, landing on a volcanic eruption may cost you two tokens, and the squares before and after it are labeled “volcanic ash” and may cost you one token. A “sleeping volcano” gets you a token.

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And then we made questions, Paul reading me sentences he liked from the book and me rewording them as a question or as a true/false sentence. When we land on a blank space on the board, we have to answer a question. Right answers get us more tokens. Whoever has the most tokens when we’re done playing the game wins!

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Paul and I have played this every day for two weeks now. He loves it! For the first days, he’d have to read the book to find the answer; sometimes I had to help him by finding the page or picture that correlated to the question. But now he knows the answers without having to look for them. How many four-year-olds care about magma (the name of a new imaginary friend, apparently) and lava and the plates of the Earth’s crust, which are moving? It’s quite fun to see him get excited about these things.

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Caroline is usually on my team. She usually sleeps through our turn. Sometimes Paul wants her to play by herself. She sleeps through that, too, and Paul takes her turn. He loves to include her, though.

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 All pictures on this post taken March 8, 2012. Caroline, age 2 weeks, 1 day old.

An Early Spring

Mar 182012
 

It has been an incredibly mild winter here in Chicagoland. Here it is, the middle of March, and it’s been in the 70s and 80s. Paul has enjoyed playing outside this week.

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Three-week old Caroline has been outside with us too, of course. I’m a bit concerned about her being out in the sun, so we’ve been going out in the later afternoon. She usually stays under wraps in her carrier in the shade.

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She is wearing a boyish outfit from Paul’s infancy. Most of Caroline’s newborn clothes are pink outfits, long sleeved and footed. I thought it would be cold this time of year! Silly me. So when it’s warm, out come the short-sleeved blue outfits. Again, who’d have thought that it would be so warm already?! Not that I’m complaining.

Ryan and Paul were sick with colds this week. Paul was still in good spirits for the most part, although he did have a day or two of temper tantrums and unpleasantness. Ryan was out with a flu-like cold for two days of not feeling well. So I tried to keep everyone else away from Caroline, which resulted in me be exhausted. I felt like I was in a daze all week.

And then, of course, I got sick too. So now I feel pretty icky. Caroline and I stayed home from church this morning and took naps.

Better this week than next, however! This week, Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul are coming. Next Sunday, Caroline will receive a name and a blessing during our Sacrament meeting! What a special day it will be.

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I think it looks like she is smiling in the second picture here. It is said that babies don’t smile with meaning until six weeks or older. But, as happened when Paul was newborn, I am certain she has smiled at me because I am me. She sees me and smiles. It feels great to be recognized. She is so beautiful!

All pictures on this post taken March 14, 2012.

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