Baby Charlie is smiling and cooing a lot. I think he is trying to say: "how did I end up with such crazy parents?!" 8 weeks into life he witnessed a mad move - or half move....We moved out, but we didn't move in! Carlos pulled up in the Uhaul around noon on Saturday and by evening the 17 footer was full with our 4 years on 9th street NE. I wasn't the only one who didn't want to leave our home...the Uhaul wouldn't start so we had to jump the truck. And although the Uhaul was full and now jumped, it didn't really have anywhere to go! There is still no electricity or water at house II. Our belongings are staying put for a few days in the Uhaul. We did do some trips in my mom's car and unloaded while the mean old lady next door peered out her window. I can't tell if she does that to be aggressive or to fit some stereotype of some crazy old lady. I mean really - she is straight out of a movie! She stands on the second floor and just stares out the window watching us. When I see her concealed in her house, I think about how I put her in my freezer...or at least her name. I actually took someone's advice and wrote her name on a piece of paper and froze it in water. I had to clean the freezer for the move so her name is thawed, but clearly she hasn't thawed out at all.

But back to Baby Charlie! He is smiling a lot and tells long stories. I took this video but had to hide the camera from him otherwise he stops to stares so it's not the best footage. We are in Philadelphia now until the house is habitable for an 8 week old. It's pretty chilly here so he is trying out his winter clothes which are super cute and cozy.

The non-move move

We had a packing weekend. My mom went into a packing fury which was great because in the last three weeks I managed to pack a whole 5 boxes! The SAIS squadron was here on Sunday to help move, but there wasn't really anywhere to move to so instead we put them to work here and ate anything in the kitchen that wasn't going to make the move. That included a 2 year old margarita mix a la Best Buy.... It sure was tasty...or dusty :)

You can tell from the pictures just how unready the house is. Today my dad is here working on putting up kitchen cabinets. He was going to take over the electrical work as our electrician disappeared and only re-appeared after Carlos hunted him down at home. We thought he was dead or in jail, but it turns out he was just ignoring us! Carlos is working furiously to get the place done - he even suggested we fly to the Dominican Republic to pick up the tile from the factory to save shipping time and costs. I guess flights are cheaper and quicker than shipping...or maybe it's just another harebrained idea of ours...Anyways, that sounded like a plan from my previous life - but Charlie inhibits such escapades now. He doesn't have a passport, his shots or even a SSN.

On another note, we did put little Charlie in the different rooms to let him pick his own room. I think he likes the master suite...

Charlie is smiling more and more now and I think he is about to giggle. It sure melts a mother's heart. I think when a baby smiles at his mother it seems like absolute pure love. But then again his first smiles were gas smiles so I might be competing for his love with gas bubbles.

The Real 13?

We went to our new doctor yesterday and on a manual scale without a diaper charlito can in at 13lbs 7oz. I suppose because I hold him everyday I don't realize how big he is. But I got to hold a 3 week old who weighs 8 lbs - the same as charlito was at birth - and I was shocked how tiny he was. It made me miss the day he was born and having a tiny little guy.

Anyways it makes a big difference having a doctor you like!! the last straw was that during the last visit the doctor would talk to me through the baby. I tried to explain to the doctor his 4am grunting and crying and how he seems to be in pain. She talked to the baby instead of me saying: "mommy wants to sleep but she doesn't get it that babies sometimes do things we can't explain and that she won't be getting sleep for awhile. isn't that right baby?" I guess I know how charlito feels always getting talked about in the 3rd person...

I do think that 13 lbs and 6 weeks are magic numbers as he is becoming ever sweeter - at least during the day. I guess all those rolls are making him more jovial. In the mornings I prop him up to look at me and he is full of smiles. Looking at the pictures though I'm realizing he might have a crooked smile.

As for the race with the house I think we should reset it to whether the baby can sleep through the night or the house is done first. My all expense trip to Paris seems to be vanishing with every additional dollar that gets sucked into the house. That said the house looks great - it has drywall and is primed and they are starting with the floors. We have 1.5 weeks to move out and move-in somewhere....

Weighing in...

I've been tempted to visit the vegetable section of the grocery store to weigh Charlie between doctor visits - but now I'm worried that he'd break the thing and down would come scale, baby and all. Today he weighed in at 13.15 lbs and took his second hep B shot like a champ. Or at least better than me...I seem to cry just as hard as he does.

Big Carlos took a big trip to Reno for his sister's engagement party but unfortunately little Charlie was too little to take on the plane so instead we took a little trip to Philadelphia. I've made that trip countless times having gone back and forth to school - and it used to seem so short....nowadays it seems a lot longer. Between prep time, driving time and stopping to nurse, the trip seemed to take most of the day. And of course, after all that, I forgot to pack for myself...

The baby loved Philly and meeting his cousin Baby Wallis (who is trying to teach him to take regular naps, laugh lots and sleep through the night). We learned two new sleep tricks: #1) Find a hurricane! Philly got the vestiges of the hurricane and charlie slept the entire day. #2) Find a plump armchair. He fits perfectly in an armchair and as he can't roll yet it's a more comfy version of a bassinet. Probably not a doctor approved tactic...

Yesterday he got to meet up with all his neighborhood buddies for a brunch which was great and hysterical. Trying to get 4 babies to cooperate so we could sit down and eat was a funny idea. One baby would start crying, and then another would be hungry, then another needed a diaper change, then another would start crying, then another would get hungry...and the cycle continued. So we gave up with eating at the dining room table. How do families with twins or triplets do anything?! It was a lot of fun (at least for us girls) and hopefully a weekly ritual. Here are all four of the babies on the couch and the 8 of us finally in one place...

24 Hour Dairy Queen...

....or at least that's how I feel today. Let's hope it's a growth spurt - - Little Charlie has been nursing every hour (on the :59 to be exact). It's amazing...11:59...12:59...1:59...I've never seen anything like it. I tried to defeat him with endless carrying and (terrible) singing - but he always won. He'd gnaw at his fist so much I thought it would dissolve and then peck his head against my chest so hard that I thought he'd either break his nose or indent my chest. Needless to say, I never got out of my pajamas today...

On the good side we found out what his second favorite spot is (after my right and left breast): laying prone on his father's chest. It's slightly suspicious as I think it's really just an excuse for his father to take a nap as his son relaxes on his chest. The most common sight I have of them is laying together on the couch - both asleep. It's very sweet...and very funny. Here is a picture of them yawning together as they get ready for their nap. And one of him wiped out on his dad's chest with a mini- mohawk. awesome.

We got to take a sneak peak at House II yesterday after 5 weeks of not seeing it! It looks great...but not quite inhabitable...There is drywall, but no floors and no appliances. But moving day is fast approaching - we have a tenant moving into house I on September 22nd (ahhh!) -so we may be using the bathroom across the street for awhile...

Charlito turns 1 month!

We thought he'd be a Charlie, but then he looked like Carlos so we started calling him Carlito. But now you can't see much of the resemblance below all his chub - so we're back to Charlie. We went to the pediatrician this week and he now weighs in at 12 lbs 5 oz! He gained over 4 lbs in a month - that's 50% of his weight! That's twice the average and he's now in the 90% for his age. And I thought I was in for a 6 lbs baby...His favorite activities remain eating, diaper soiling, waiting for me to open his diaper so he can pee on me, and sleeping is a distant fourth. He is getting cuter by the day and he is moving his head more which again provides more endless entertainment for his mother. In fact he is doing tummy time and starting to move his head back and forth...here is a video documenting it (kindof)

The last four weeks have gone by so fast yet the nights still seem endless. I've never been so happy to see daylight. The best has been hearing from other moms and their experiences. They remind me that I'm not crazy and that babies are the wildest adjustment ever. Sam gets the prize for calling from Hong Kong, but mothers seem to come out of the woodwork to provide support. They also make me feel better given that all the books I'm reading say that I should have started on a schedule already and that he should be sleeping 5-6 hours at night! ha! if only! Instead he sleeps okay from 8pm to 3am (walking every 2.5 hours) but then from 4am onwards is a disaster - he starts making weird grunting noises and then 7am is wake up time. 1

To celebrate Carlito's existence some school friends made brunch here last weekend. It was also a chance for him to meet the thunderbird team - given that he was our (unknown) mascot in Phoenix and suffered overdoses of caffeine, sleepless nights & celebratory tequila...So here is a picture with the team in his team onesie made by Sarah. Ralles asked what words he was saying. As you can see in the picture with his dad he has started "reading," but unfortunately no words yet to report - just grunting, cooing and crying.

Carlos Nicolas turns 3 weeks

It's been an amazing three weeks - amazing adjustment, amazingly little sleep, amazingly lot of laundry...He doubled his age and nearly doubled his weight! It turns out that I have super food as breast milk as Carlito appears to be adding pounds each day. He regained his birth weight in 4 days and added 2 lbs in a 1.5 weeks. Carlos thinks he weighs 13 lbs now...We go to the doctor again in a week so we'll find out then. But he has already outgrown many of his clothes and diapers!

We thought we were so prepared with baby things - but it seems you can't really be sure what will be useful until the baby comes along. For instance the hospital baby outfit was so great that Carlos went back and asked for more; pee-pee tee-pees are proving to be key (thanks to baby Wallis for sending them - I guess she has taken control of the credit card); multiples are super important - multiple favorite swaddling blankets, multiple sheets, multiple changing table covers, multiple hooded towels...multiples are key as I am running my laundry machine into the ground. He seems to like to mark his territory - peeing on everything!

In just 3 weeks he has changed so much. We were looking at pictures of the day he was born and were surprised how much he has changed since then. He sends much more time awake now. He loves to look at the light and out windows. Sometimes he seems totally captivated by nothing! He is still a prolific poo-er so the onesie that Soogy made is still appropriate. He loves bath time too (or maybe it's just me who loves it) and most of all he likes being held with his face against your chest. But his all time favorite activity is eating (hence the picture of him on his boppy happy as can be)

Aunt Mandy came by for a visit and fixed his car seat positioning so now we are safe for car travel and thus more mobile. thank goodness! I think we were both getting sick of sticking to a 10 block radius...