A most eventful day

Holy CARP!
Yesterday was quite a loo loo.
It started bright and early at 5:30 when Domingo decided to stop spinning and kicking in bed and wake up. Then he and Chris left the girls for some beauty sleep, only to discover the air conditioner in the (as it's now called) nursery had gone haywire and spit water all over the carpet. So we called maintenance to come unclog what ever was messed up and bring a giant fan to dry the carpet.
Then Chris went off to work and Domingo decided to lock himself in our bedroom. I was nursing Amalia and heard the door close and then some chatter from the other side of the door. I got up and turned the knob only to have my stomach fall out of my body.
Domingo had locked the bedroom door and was clamoring for more milk. I kept asking him to turn the knob to open the door and I'd get him more milk. I heard the knob turning, but the door wouldn't open.
I had to call maintenance again, this time a great deal more panicky, to free my child from my bedroom. Domingo was fine, just a little startled to see a strange guy with tools on the other side of the door. It turned out this door was different than the other doors in the apartment and has one of those turning things not just a button that pops the door open when you twist. Chris kept saying, don't panic, I'm sure there's an easy way to open the door, just wait for maintenance. The maintenance guy was like, "you have to be really careful, these doors are impossible to get open from the outside." HA! But my moral victory was cold comfort for some reason.



I was genius enough to make Chris turn the knob to the other side so Domingo can't lock himself in the room again. I will feel smug up until the point when Domingo locks me in the bedroom from the outside. Then I will feel like an idiot, but maybe then I'll be able to get some sleep, or go to the bathroom by myself for once.
Unfortunately, Amalia must have picked up on all the angst and excitement because last night she was out of control! She cried from about 6 until about 9:00 and the only thing that would soothe her was to be held, but not by anyone but me. How is that possible? She was fussy like this the night before too, just not to the same extent.
I remember through a delirious and hazy fog that Domingo had a period of weeks of calm before the storm, I vividly remember the night before his baptism (5 weeks) he was up crying ALL NIGHT, and slept like a little cherub the whole next day through the entire ceremony. The priest thought I had drugged him.
I'm hoping against hope that Amalia is just nearing her 6 week fussiness peak(six weeks will be Saturday, but six weeks from her due date wouldn't be for another 2 weeks), but who knows. Maybe I just thought Domingo was particularly fussy and he was actually just normal and Amalia is going to be the same. If so, please someone shoot me right now.
Ok, fine. Don't shoot me.
I know we'll get through it, don't ask me how, but now since everyone's finally asleep, I'm going to too.

They might be giants

We had our 1 month check up yesterday, and I am officially raising an army of giants. Heaven knows it didn't come from me. I'm not even sure I'm related to these monster children.


En Guarde! Perfect tonic reflex!

Amalia is just an ounce shy of 11 pounds at 5 weeks, she's only one pound 13 ounces away from doubling her birth weight! At the rate she's going that should be by nightfall. I think that's crazy. She's 90% for weight for those who are interested.
She's also quite leggy. She is beyond the 95% for length at 23 and 5/8 inches(using their very precise measuring tools). And just like her brother, she's at 50% for head circumference. Giant babies with little heads.


See how he dwarfs the mighty dinos.

Speaking of the other big baby, we continue to have myriad clothing related meltdowns over here. Please tell me the "need to be naked at all times" phase ends soon, like before he starts school. In other Domi related happenings, we've completely caved on the no t.v. before two rule. It's no longer even mildly a rule. Judge me all you want. BUT, in my defense, the t.v. that we let him watch is in Spanish, so it's reinforcing his language! THAT's why we let him watch t.v.! That and I love the "Bob Constructor" theme song, I could listen to that all day. But a max of 2 shows is what we try to stick with. It gives me a chance to put Amalia to sleep, or make lunch or dinner, depending on when I need it most. It is definitely a weapon of last resort, but we do use it and often. No wonder I have "Si Podemos!" in my head all day. At least it's a good message!

This Dinosaur is Happy

No I'm not referring to how old Chris is now. Domingo is picking up English at an alarming rate! I'm going to just chalk it up to a love of language, it's not like we are trying to get him to speak in English, but he hears us and is just picking it up.
This afternoon, Domingo said to me "Este dinosaurio esta contento. Esta contento con sus dientes." I thought it was really cute, so I told Chris. I handed him the dinosaur in question and I have to admit, he looks pretty happy, and his teeth may very well be the reason. Then I left the room and Chris yelled for me to come back in. He asked me if Domi had said that phrase in Spanish or English, I said Spanish. Then Chris told Domi to say what he just said. Domi looked up and said "Dis deenosaur ees hoppy". He has a bit of a SloPoke Gonzalez accent, but it's definitely English.
I have to admit, it's pretty cute. There is no use trying to fight it, and I don't really want to, I just hope that I have enough patience and energy to keep up with the Spanish. It's difficult enough when both parents speak the language to keep it up throughout childhood. I remember my brother having to go away to Paraguayan language boot camp because he just did not speak Spanish at all. I guess that's always an option when the time comes!

37 years ago today...

Happy Birthday Chris. Without that fateful day we'd have none of this:


or:




and especially:


So enjoy some of this:

You've earned it. And as your present I've given birth to these two beautiful children, and will keep them from you so you can watch the game. You're welcome.

One day down...

In case anyone was wondering, we made it through day one without Papa, or any other adult intervention and there is a house total of 30 fingers 30 toes, no major meltdowns, and every one was fed. So what if we were all still in pajamas when Chris got home?

Very First Monthday!!

HORRAY! Amalia it's your first Monthday! Only a short month ago today you looked like this! We have lots to report. The last month has been quite a whirlwind. We've been super lucky to have had so many places to crash this past month. We went to Abuela's house first for two weeks, then came home for a little while before going out to South Bend and then the cottage in Michigan. We had such a wonderful time.


At 4 weeks, already a beach bum.

You had so many people wanting to hold you that you spent your first month pretty much going from arms to arms.




You spent the majority of this month asleep, but sadly for mama, in short increments. That's ok, I'm sure once you're a teenager we'll get lots of sleep.
You are eating like a champ and are growing right before my eyes! You were already over 8 lbs at our last doctor visit two weeks ago, and I can tell you are much bigger. You graduated from N diapers into size 1 and are filling those up NO problem!
Thank goodness there is no baby prom, because you have a case of cradle cap and baby acne, what's a gal to do? Maybe regular bathing might help?

I seem to recall Domingo being bathed very regularly early on, (what else did we have to do) but you my dear will have to get used to not getting the 100% undivided attention of your parents 100% of the time. Such is the lot of the second child. Both your father and I can sympathize, but it doesn't change anything!
But even if the baths are sporadic, you are still quite a beauty. You vacilate between looking like an angry gnome who is afraid we are stealing your gold, and a sleeping angel.



It's been such a wonderful month, I'm a little scared for what's to come. I know that it's going to get a little trickier, especially because this is going to be your fussiest time coming up (hopefully).

Papa goes back to work tomorrow, and a real adventure for us begins. We'll try and make sure that Domingo and I keep you entertained.
Your tia Leticia gave me some really good advice that has helped me put this early very hard time in perspective. It goes by really fast, and then it's over, forever, so enjoy it. So I am. I am really enjoying and relishing every possible moment, even the all night feeding sessions.


You'll see we're a good bunch of folks, even if we do put baby in the corner!

Finally, I know this blog is called Domi's world, don't worry we're getting around to updating that. But when the only sleep I get looks like this:



I hope you can cut me a little slack. But really I wouldn't have it any other way.
Love,
Mama

Give me a head with HAIR!

House full of hippies no longer!
Even though the Tribune just ran an article about how it's super trendy to have a long-haired boy-child, I just could not stomach the mullet any longer. I didn't think Chris would have the heart to go through with it, but he said ok, so we went to the famous kidsnips after Amalia's dr. appointment today. (p.s. she's PERFECT according to Dr. #2 Favorite -- by the way, I LOVE YOU. Weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz, up from 6lbs 12 oz at birth 2 weeks ago, everything looks absolutely perfect and we're doing a great job! Take that Ms. "We need to talk about your skinny baby, wake her up every two hours to eat" aka Dr. Loco Mc-stinkface!) .
Ok, back to the action: and we paid more than for Chris's regular do for 3 minutes in the chair. And there weren't even any girly mags to be had!
But the chair was a little yellow Hummer with dinosaurs glued to the hood. Domingo was pleased with his seat. He did great and was completely distracted by the toys and the video of Dora the mermaid.
And the best part is the commemorative certificate they give you, complete with Polaroid. I don't know if you can see it very well, but Domingo has the most perfect smirk on his face. It's truly worth the price of admission.



Not only that now he is baby-hippy no more! He looks like a little Alex P. Keaton. Actually, he looks like such a handsome little boy it's crazy. But his baby curls are all gone. I must admit, I had mixed feelings about it walking into the salon, especially because Chris brought the camera but forgot to put in the battery pack, so we couldn't even document the occasion. But it was time. It was probably well over due. Hopefully Ana's weird superstition doesn't come to pass and Domingo doesn't stop talking. Doesn't seem likely since on our way home we passed by the zoo and he was asking to see the lions, and bears, and wolves, and pigs, and tigers, and...

22 monthday!

Believe me when I say that this post was being composed in my head two days ago, and I'm just now able to get pen to computer. Domingo you turned 22 months this month, and I can't believe it! Actually, I had it in my head that you and your hermanita would be 22 months apart, so in my mind you already turned 22 months, and I was expecting 23!
There has been a change or two around here this past month, and you've handled them all with aplomb.


You have been such a superbaby when it comes to your new little sister. You smile and laugh and coo at her. Sometimes you get a little wild and reckless around her (the other day you accidentally kicked her in the head) but in general you are terrific. You are such a good big brother, and even though I was a little worried about you, I knew that you would be great.



I know that you get a little jealous, like when I have her in the Bjorn and you want oopa too. But it's all part of the process of learning how to deal with others and how to be patient.
We've both been super lucky to have Papa around these last few weeks, and you and he have been spending loads of time together which is awesome. Every morning Daddy-Domi time continues and you guys hang out, play, take walks, watch "fotos" (what you call little movies on the computer or t.v.) and read lots of books. You have been swimming in abuela's pool with Papa almost every day we were there and have really gotten pretty good! I remember last summer you were more than just a little cautious, and now we have to hold you back and to get you out requires more than just a little negotiation, and often ends in tears, and not just from Mama.


This past month you've gotten a little clingier, a little whinier, and a little more apt to cry when there is really nothing wrong.

I think this is in part you coping with your hermanita and the fact that the attention is no longer always on you, and in part due to the fact that you are only 22 months old. You are still just a baby, and are right in the heartland of the super-needy 18-24 month stage. We are doing our best to let you know how much we love you, and that you are still the king of the castle, but I know it's hard.
Other than that, you are still just as wonderful and amazing as ever.



We've stopped counting the words you know because there are so many. You speak in phrases and sentences now and repeat just about everything we say. (See the video post from a few days ago for proof!) You are picking up more English, which I suppose is fine, although its very important to me that Spanish stay with you as long as possible, and hopefully forever.
You are still pretty shy around strangers and in big groups of people, but cut loose when it's just us, or when you are around the primas. It becomes a shouting match of who can be the loudest, run the fastest and eat the most dessert. Sorry fella, but they have you beat on all fronts by a country mile!

You are becoming such a sweet and wonderful little boy. You are so big and talkative and fun, I have to keep reminding myself that you are still only 22 months after all! But remember no matter how big you get, how fast you can run or how many words you learn, you'll still be my baby no matter what.


Love,
Mama.

What happens when mommy is sleeping

Remind me never to leave Domingo alone with his father ever again

TWO WEEKS! and Happy Fourth of July!

Amalia is two weeks old today. Phew! We did it! Oh wait, you mean there's more?
She's actually doing great. I think at her doc. appointment this week she will have more than surpassed her birthweight. She is a super eater just like Domingo was. Man, if there is one thing my children know how to do, it's eat. Sleeping, sharing, and wearing clothes, that is another story, but eating has not yet been a problem. Which is why I was so shocked when the pediatrician (not our favorite who is out on maternity leave) told me that I had to start waking Amalia to eat every 2 to 2.5 hours because she still wasn't back at her birth weight. Yeah, that happened, what was the old adage about waking a sleeping baby? Oh, right, YOU DON'T!!! So she wakes herself up when she's hungry, which during the day is unfortunately every 3 hours or so, and at night is closer to every 2. (Besides, everything I've read -thanks dr. google, says that it can take some babies upto 2 weeks to get back to their birth weight, and she was just 3 ounces off) Hopefully this pattern won't last forever, but through my bleary sleep-deprived eyes it feels like it will be.
My other fountain of complaints comes from this old bag of bones. Let me just say, the old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be. I seem to remember two weeks after Domi was born having dropped 22 pounds and marveling at my body's ability to turn ice cream into weight loss. Of course it stopped pretty quickly after that and I remained 10 pounds or so over my pre-Domi weight, but still. This time two weeks post, the scale remains stubbornly 14 pounds over my pre-Amalia weight- I've only lost 14 pounds. Granted, I'm SURE at least 5 of those pounds have redistributed themselves to my chest, because seriously people, I look absurd and constantly smell like milk -blech. But still that leaves a good 17 pounds that has got to go. That and this kangaroo pouch that remains when I try to look at my toes. I realize it's a little soon to start thinking about strenuous workout plans and I am still on an ice cream every night diet, but after having spent the last two and a half years either pregnant or nursing, I really would like to take charge of my body. I know it'll be another year at least (hopefully) of nursing, but I want to be done with as much extra weight as possible since the longer it stays on, the harder it is to take off. I vividly remember last time around how hard it was to get back to running, my rib muscles were sore! But this time, since there was no bedrest, hopefully I haven't fallen into such terrible disrepair, and it won't be so bad. I'm starting up my no impact exercises that I was doing while pregnant, so we'll see if I can keep it up.
Finally, I hope everyone had a great fourth of July! I was just thinking about it, and it's really one of my favorite holidays-(besides the food ones obviously). Here are some pictures of us enjoying a true midwestern Fourth complete with sugary drinks, pig judging, and of course fireworks.

Domi meets Amalia - June 22, 2008

A baby story

When I was on bedrest pregnant with Domingo I spent countless hours on the couch watching these baby being born stories, mostly of baby animals, but it's all the same. I mean how much cuter is a baby alpaca than a baby human, quite a bit actually. This time around I didn't have a chance to do any of that, thank GOD, since everything was a-okay and when I wasn't at work, I was running around after Domi. But I figure I had better post about Amalia's birth before I forget what happened and the story takes on a life of it's own.
So we begin at around 35 weeks, you guys know what's going on, I went to the OB she says I'm 3cm dilated, but high, so it could happen sooner rather than later, don't take any long trips, you probably won't make it to your due date kind of thing.
Well, even though Chris was desperately trying to get me to knock off work early, I stuck it out through my trial advocacy training that will free me up of all my continuing legal education credits for next year, for FREE! Awesome.
The whole time I'm in the training, watching videos of myself do openings, closings, direct exams etc. I'm keep aware of the fact that I'm HUGELY pregnant not only by the VIDEO they make of my giant self, but by my instructors who keep asking me not to go into labor during their portion of the class. Funny. Funny the first time, and the 50th, in fact it keeps getting funnier.
Anyway, so as to not disappoint, the last day at the trial in the court room of the Daley Center, I'm sitting at the table squirming in discomfort as my colleague has a really hard time with his direct exam. I feel kind of like the den mother since all of my team mates were very new attorneys, and I would run up and give little pointers every now and then. Kind of obnoxious, but I can't stand to see people struggle. Well, I'm sitting there and all of a sudden I feel like I've just peed myself. I got up and ran to the judge's bathroom, because Dear GOD, now on top of everything else, I'm incontinent? How embarrassing. So I get to the bathroom and realize, hey that's not pee. Thank God I'm not incontinent, I mean how embarrassing. Then I realize that this means that my water broke and I have to go back out there an announce to the entire room that I have to go to the hospital. HOW EMBARRASSING!!! So I try to be as discrete as possible and say in a very quiet voice to my supervisor (who is acting as judge) that I have to go to the hospital right now. He stands up and is like "oh my God, oh my God!" so everyone in the room starts freaking out and laughing and wishing me luck etc. As someone who really does not like to be the center of attention (really, I'm not just saying that) it was pretty brutal.
So I got in a cab to the hospital because Chris as it turns out, decided to go to Oak Park with Domi and visit the primos. He was in a state because Jennifer was not answering her phone, and Max had taken Theo to his baseball game and no one was around! Finally he got a hold of Max who came right home and took charge of the kids and Chris raced to the hospital. He had Heather come to the hospital just in case he didn't make it so I wouldn't be alone.
No need to fear it turned out, I was still in triage when he got there and the resident was actually doubting whether my water had broken. I was joking with the nurses that if there were no baby to be had that day, everyone was to pretend that I had had the baby as I would NOT be going back to work having to tell the whole agency that I had in fact just peed myself. Well, when the resident checked me I was 5-6 cm so she said I wouldn't be going anywhere regardless. I was right by the way, my water had broken, so there resident!
They kept asking me what I was planning on doing for pain, I kept to the script, that if I felt the need, if they had to augment the labor or do something else that made hypno-birthing difficult then I would make the decision at that time, but since I really wasn't that uncomfortable I would just leave it alone.
Up to L&D...
So we got a "good" room. Having a family member who worked in the hospital has it's perks! Once we were there though, play time was over. I was happily chatting with Chris and Heather, making plans about who was going to pick up Domingo, how it was going to work, calling my parents having them come in to stay with Domi etc. and the nurse and doctor show up, oh by the way, my doctor was away on vacation OF COURSE! so I was left with this woman I had never met before. She was actually very nice, but I was thoroughly annoyed that my OB had the nerve to go away with her family for the weekend, I mean seriously, people are just not professional these days. (She actually called me and was like, "I'm going to kill you, we went on a short weekend trip rather than to Phoenix because I figured that you wouldn't go until the end of the week!")
Anyway the doctor was like, "I want you to lay on your side, but not all the way on your side, half way between on your side and not, so one leg is in the air, there perfect. Baby doesn't like when you sit up". Huh. Well, Mama doesn't like laying on her side, it happens to hurt like a mother.
With every contraction Amalia's heart rate would decelerate and as soon as it was over it would come right back up. So what's the big deal right, it's coming back up? Apparently it was a big deal to them. Moving from side to side, oxygen mask over my face, electrode in my poor baby's head, I was completely annoyed. In my head (and out loud) I was saying, "this is why people want home births, don't like interventions like fetal monitors etc. of course the heart rate is going to go down with the contractions! This is why I didn't want to come in to the hospital right away. This is why people need to take drugs, this is what's wrong with the medical system" blah blah.
I started hearing strains of "going up the country" as I fumed and breathed deeply between bites of popsicle. I had asked earlier when the last time I could eat something was, and the nurse was like, yeah, not until the baby is here. ARGH! I should've stopped for a cheeseburger. But the doc. took pity, or thought I needed some sugar, so said I could have some icy pop, yeah.
As the doctor checked me again and again, I was so uncomfortable I wanted to scream. I really wanted to say, ok, let's get on that epidural train asap. But before I could make that call, the doctor said I was 8cm and baby's head was coming down. Doc kept reaching in and stretching me out, I was NOT pleased, but kept to the deep breathing between pained squeals and whines. So too late for the epidural!
Well, 10 minutes and about 3 good pushes later, Amalia was out and screaming like a banshee. The cord was wrapped around her neck and body like a weird alien python- hence the decels. Let me just say there is NOTHING like the feeling of your baby's body coming slipping through after her giant head comes out. It is incredible. It is surreal, and then when you hear her little cry for the first time, it's amazing.
In retrospect, I was saying, why on earth would I not get drugs. Any birth with a healthy baby is the key, so why go through all that pain? Especially since the whole system is set up with that in mind. I was so uncomfortable, and made more so by the needs of the doctor. My instincts said get up, get up, sit up, squat use GRAVITY! and the doctor made me lay down and stay down. Why, so she could see better, not because it's easier that way. When my body said push push push, the doctor said, hold on, I need to break the bed. When my body said rest a second, the doctor and nurse said push push push. It was so irritating. If I had had pain meds, I would need their coaching, I wouldn't mind being completely prone.
But...
After thinking about it, I think I might have ended up with a c-section if drugs had delayed the labor because with law-suit wary OBs, they just can't take the chance that everything is fine. And the chain of interventions would be complete.
So fine hippies. You win. My next baby will be born by squatting in the back of a VW van, the air hazy with patchouli stink, Uncle John's Band in the back ground and my long haired hippy children in attendance.
Actually, I think we'll call it success with these two guys. I mean, what more could I possibly ask for?