Aunt Kate comes to visit!

Even though my sister is a busy SAHM to my adorable nephew, Wyatt, she managed to coordinate everything and come out solo to see us for 6 days last week. Of course, when Kate and I get together, our time is typically taken up mostly by gabbing, so it was a little bit different this time with two wee ones to look after. She was a great help and support, though, and the days went by too fast, as usual. Here she is feeding Cora her first bottle, which went swimmingly well, unlike Larson's first one (which I think Kate did also!).

We took advantage of some nice afternoon sunlight to coordinate a photo shoot of Cora when she was awake and managed to get some nice shots. Plus lots of other ones with all kinds of weird baby smirks/facial expressions. How quickly everything will change, though, so I'll be glad to have even the funny ones captured in a photo.

We had a few trying days of toddlerhood rearing it's ugly head last week. The worst was the morning we took Larson to get a new pair of shoes: it all started with him wanting to take his socks OFF after I had put them so that he could do it again by himself, then we had particulars about getting into the car, and everything snowballed from there (don't even mention trying to get his foot measured!). Lots of crying. And screaming, too. We did manage to actually purchase a pair of shoes that fit, thank goodness. The funniest part about it all was that Cora was unhappy in the car when Larson started crying and I think it put her to sleep! I guess it was a form of white noise, if you will. :) I especially liked the weird look I got in the shoe store from another mom with a toddler -- as if HER child never, ever threw a fit, I'm sure! Best just to ignore it, get the job done and move on, if you ask me.

Thurday we had a great morning at the zoo and ate a picnic lunch at the playground nearby. Note to self about bringing lunch to the zoo: don't put your food in a paper or plastic bag that might be easily penetrated by a crow or other such crafty scavenger while the stroller is parked outside an exhibit! Wouldn't you know that the only thing they got off with was the chocolate alphabet cookies I brought as a treat for Larson.
We had fun feeding the birds with the seed sticks, and Larson did a great job standing still for the green bird to eat all of his. The one on my shoulder was apparently waiting for scraps.
Thanks for the super visit, Aunt Kate! We really enjoyed all your help and all the goodies that you brought us. We all hope we can see you (with Wyatt and Uncle Mark) again soon!

There IS some Norwegian in the boy!

It's official. See this stuff to the left? Yep, everyone in my (maternal) family likes it. I can eat it by the bagful, my sister loves it, my mom loves it and her sister loves it. The dichotomous candy that you can buy in dozens and dozens of varieties in Scandinavia: black licorice. Brett hates it. In fact, he hates it so much that it's officially banned from small spaces that we might both occupy - like cars. I bought a big bag of it in bulk at the grocery store yesterday and decided to offer it to Larson today just to see how much Norwegian is in him. Not to worry, he LOVED the stuff and immediately asked for more, as the brown-black drool dripped down his chin. Little buddy, you have no idea, but you just made your mommy really proud! Now I know that I have to hide it along with the chocolate, way back in the pantry. (Chocolate loving, by the way, is a trait he gets from his daddy's family, so we've got most of the candy categories covered :)

Relaxing weekend

These are some photos from a couple of weeks ago which I meant to post earlier, but got a little sidetracked. Spent a lovely weekend laying low and hanging out with the family. Tended the garden, soaked up a little bit of sun, took photos of cooperative children :)

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over! Apples & pears are appearing to replace the berries and cherries. School is starting soon. It's getting chilly with the window open at night.

On an unrelated note, I read an interesting book last week: Parenting, Inc.: How We Are Sold on $800 Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture and Diaper Wipe Warmers -- and What It Means for Our Children. It's basically an analysis of the big business that parenting has become and how we, as American parents, all too often are sucked right into it. The author doesn't profess to be immune to it all, but her interviews with the people who own companies that market goods and services to parents and consumers are pretty eye-opening to the ridiculousness of it all. You can't help but think as you read through this: "but I didn't go to 500 different music, language & art classes before I was 3; or have a fraction of the toys (not to mention Baby Einstein, but don't get me started on that one) that are available today and I turned out fine...maybe it's not so bad for my kids to engage in a little unstructured play or - gasp! - to actually help mom and dad around the house for an afternoon instead of attending the how-to-get-your-toddler-into-an-ivy-league-college-class-du-jour.

Anyway, I recommend the book for a quick read. Who knows if the statistics are sound (the only part of the book I know anything about is the chapter on the effects of TV/media on kids because one of the researchers quoted is someone I've worked with...plus I don't think the AAP would recommend no TV under age 3 without some data to back it up...), but it provides some nice food for thought for anyone with kids (or who just shops for kids :)

Hot weekend

Whew! Getting through a stretch of 87 degree days with no AC and just two fans was a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, Monday brought with it a return to our more temperate summer weather, which I am very grateful for. It was especially hard now that Cora has taken to the baby wrap and I couldn't have her in it for more than 5 minutes before we were both drenched in sweat. Yuck! The picture to the left is a dahlia from one of the planters on our bedroom balcony. I decided to try out our new camera for some close-up shots just as the sun was going down and the lighting was nice. When I planted them this spring, I was hoping to be able to cut them for use inside the house, but the plants haven't yielded that many blooms thus far. Probably need more Miracle-Gro, as I learned from my mom, the expert gardener, when she was here visiting. I'll work on that.

Here's Cora all stretched out in the summer heat...I think this pretty much sums up what we all were feeling! It's funny how moving out here has completely reset my thermostat for what kind of heat I can tolerate. In the Midwest, it's not uncommon to have weeks and weeks of weather like this, with close to 100% humidity to boot! Now if it gets above 80 degrees, I'm feeling it. We bought the shirt she's wearing on our trip to Kauai in March; Larson has a matching one and they both wore theirs yesterday.

This was Larson's fun Saturday afternoon activity with dad: washing the truck! As you can see, he is all grown up and can spray down the sides all by himself.

The open water swim went well and Larson had a great time with his friend, Malia. No pictures, though, because Brett didn't want to bring the camera. Despite the heat, Brett said the water in Lake Washington was still pretty chilly. The highlight for Larson was getting to see both an ambulance and a firetruck when they were called to the race location to tend to a participant. Lights, sirens and everything!

That's all for today. Here's Cora sleeping peacefully. She's still doing a great job sleeping at night, with pretty long stretches for me to sleep as well. During the day, it's a little harder; there's a lot of holding involved...I've forgotten that 1-2 hours awake is about all that a newborn can handle before they get overtired. Unlike Larson, she likes to be held and rocked and then put down, whereas all he needed was motion (swing, carseat, etc) but didn't seem to care a bit about being held. I guess this is just an example of their different personalities and temperaments showing themselves! So much to learn about my little one...

New name

Yes, I changed the name of our blog. It just doesn't seem fitting to have Larson get all the spotlight. We'll try this one out for a bit and see how it goes...

...and now we are four!

Well, it's been a week since Cora joined our family and things seem to be following the "it's easier the second time around" pattern so far. Is this because second (and third, etc) babies are inherently more laid back or perhaps that parents are less freaked out and anxious about every little thing? I'm guessing maybe a combination of both, but speaking for myself, I'm definitely less anxious about things this time. We had our first checkup at 5 days old and Cora had gained almost half a pound...could be just a different scale, but I think at least some of it is real. She is already too big for the smallest size diapers, good thing I only bought one pack!

Larson & Nana meeting Cora

Yesterday we had a lovely day at home for my birthday. Brett, Cora & I went to Trophy Cupcakes for a treat and brought some more home for the whole family at dinner. Larson probably would have eaten all of them if we let him. He tried really, really hard to be patient until it was time to eat his cupcake, but couldn't control himself to ask for one about every 20-30 seconds. For dinner, I got to eat something I've been craving for months: sushi! It was yummy. Larson kept asking to see it, but was not interested in trying any. Maybe next time.

All ready to go home!

The heat that we've been escaping this summer is here for a few days: today the high is going to be 90! That is really hot for this un-air-conditioned neck of the woods. We have our fans working overtime to keep the house cool until it passes, which will hopefully be in the next few days. I was a little nervous last night because I've been swaddling Cora for sleeping and it was just too hot to do it...would she sleep anyway? Fortunately last night she did, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

So, yes, our lives are definitely different now that our family is bigger and even simple things, like trying to have dinner together, have their new challenges. Despite all this, I couldn't be happier. Larson is really excited to show Cora all his toys and wants to help out with just about everything. He follows me around the house and alerts me when Cora cries that she "needs to eat, Mama!" Some of our happiest moments are spent playing on our bed or on the couch, en famille, laughing, etc and now we will just make room for another body to jump on the cushions and get buried in the pillows. Life is good.

Tomorrow, Brett and our friend Stephen are going to swim in an open water event at Seward Park. Hopefully we'll get some fun pictures from that, even though I'll be home with Cora. In the meantime, here's a couple of photos of Larson: first, watching Olympic swimming with dad and second, enjoying his own swim class (and despite a rocky start, he loves it now and gets into all the activities...last week he even did the "submarine" on his own - that's toddler speak for putting your head under the water :)

Announcing Cora Irene Buchholz!

Our new arrival is finally here! This will just be a quickie post with the essentials while we adjust to life at home with a new little one...

Cora made her way into the world at 1:07 am on the lucky date of 8/8/08 weighing in at 7 pounds 8.5 ounces. She is named after my maternal grandmother who passed away while I was in college. We're all doing well and happy as can be (though a little sleep-deprived!). Larson is handling the adjustment of having a baby sister as well as can be expected for any toddler. He's full of questions about what she's doing ("Why is she crying?" "I want to see that thing on her belly button again...") but definitely has apprehensions about having to share the spotlight. Fortunately his Nana is here to shower him with attention and help a little with getting things in our house going again. Here are some of Cora's first photos:

Weighing in

Dad and Cora

Getting her first shampoo - where did all that dark hair come from? Definitely different from Larson's bald newborn head but equally precious.

I will try to publish more details and photos soon but for now it's time to catch a little sleep...