Sleep

It seems rather appropriate, that I post about this topic which is so dominating in my life right now... or rather, should I say I think, dream, and wish about all the time!  Last night was the first time Coop really pulled an "all nighter" and for that, both Todd and I are grateful.  That doesn't make it any easier dealing with the day when you're working on little/no sleep however.  For the most part, we know we've been blessed by good sleepers.  Em, when we were traveling for deputation and such, would often sleep on a towel on some floor somewhere, and it was perfectly fine for her.  Cooper, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like his crib, so we're still working on that.  I was able to catch some great pictures of both kids sleeping this week and thought I'd share.  

Here's Coop in his awesome sweatshirt from Auntie Em, that I'm convinced he'll never be big enough for, even though it's a 'newborn' size (he so skinny... why do the boys get all the skinny?!).

And Em, who has found a new love for tantrums, took about an hour to work up to this sleep pose, but she managed to scream/kick/wail her way into dreamland (over what, I still couldn't tell you... maybe she realized that tomatoes were red and wanted them to be blue... who knows?). 

Weekend Hike

Friday was a grey and gloomy day. It was also Todd's last day at home before "going back to work" (I put that in parentheses, because if you know anything about my husband, you know he can't stop working until the job is done... unfortunately, his job is never done so the Blackberry just keeps dinging). I was hoping to do one of his favorite things, hiking, but the day was cold and windy and just not pleasant. Saturday, however, was glorious. So, at 7 am, we made the decision to take a family hike in the local nature reserve, Kloofendal. We'd all hiked there with a group from church about two months ago. All I remembered about that hike was not being able to see my feet properly enough to actually go on the trail that the 'young people' went on... sad day when you are no longer a 'young person.' Anyways, we decided to go and made it the two miles from the house by 10:30 (no joke, it just took forever to get everything ready to go, get kids ready and all that jazz).

By the middle of the hike, which was more like a glorified long walk, I'll be really honest, I was wishing for a bit of the overcast weather from the day before. It was a glorious, hot day with not a cloud in sight, which is bad when you have your own personal heater strapped to your front side! Em was loving being back out with daddy in her carrier (she's grown so much since the last time I saw her in it) and Cooper enjoyed the movement of me walking around with him in his wrap, with him sleeping like an angel the entire hike! I wish I could say that it was more eventful than that, but just getting to the park seems like more of an event than the actual hike!! Oh well, we went, we saw, we conquered... or at least survived to come back another day.

The Mall

When Em was born, we had an over-one-shoulder sling carrier for her.  It was nice, but after a block or two of walking around our neighborhood, my one shoulder and back would start hurting.  We also had a hand-me-down front carrying Baby Bjorn, which was really nice, but Todd and I were both always afraid Em's head would snap off if we weren't holding it, thus taking the "hands free" option away (and it was hard to wash and dry).  Then, when we were searching for cloth diapers in Howell, MI, we found a wrap that was all one piece of material and looked really comfortable.  The owner of the store spent time with me trying to figure out how to wrap the thing (she didn't realize I was a visual learner and wanted to 'help' me figure it out on me... it was bad, let me tell you).  Much to our surprise, the thing worked wonderfully!  I could carry Em facing out towards the world, in towards my chest, on my back... you name it, I could do it, so we bought it.

Yesterday, Todd and I went to the local mall because I needed to go to the grocery store, the pharmacy, in search of a piece or two of clothing that fits and I could get all that in once place at the mall.  We had lunch at a cafe in one of the grocery stores and a very nice lady came up to us and asked the difference between the two kids.  After finding out that they were just shy of 16 months apart, she told us how well we were doing because her two were almost 12 months apart (I nearly spit out my drink on that one!).  We talked for a bit longer, until she asked if we knew the sex of this baby.  Totally unsure of what she meant, I pulled the top of the wrap down and exposed Cooper's head and informed her that he was almost two weeks old and a boy.  I've never seen such a shocked expression in my life!  She was convinced that I was pregnant, with (what I can only assume) some weird cardigan or such.  Todd and I had a good chuckle about that one for half our meandering around the mall.  

I had been trying on cloths and such, so Todd was holding the baby and apparently a guy holding a newborn attracts attention.  When I came out of the dressing room, he told me about these people who were admiring Coop and then, upon finding out how old he was, looked at Todd like he was the worst dad on the planet (apparently taking a two-week old child for stroll in the mall is something you don't do here).  This, of course, made him feel terribly, so he asked me to put Cooper back in the wrap.  I was happy to oblige, and stopped by the next store window to get him in.  Two cleaning gals were about ten feet away, but I didn't think anything of it until one crept up closer to see what I was doing.  She apparently was giving ME the "you're the worst parent in the world" accusing look until the last piece of material came up to secure the babe.  The whole time, the two ladies are speaking in some language I can't identify, but at no point did I think these women would have an issue with someone 'wearing' a baby.  All the women (okay, not generally the white women, they use strollers) here carry babies on their backs with towels.  None the less, Todd told me the whole story from his point of view afterwards.  That was the point I think both of us officially realized that we were beyond 'odd' to most who look at us with our off-roading stroller and baby-wearing ways, we just didn't fit any mold people here have... which, of course, makes us laugh!

Rare, Very Rare

It was rare before Thursday to have a quiet house, but now it is pretty much non-existent.  However, Cooper is asleep for another ten minutes or so and Em is down, so I have a minute to sit on the couch and listen to the sound of the dog walking around on tile floor searching for Em's left-over dinner... glorious peacefulness!  

Cooper is a treat.  Todd and I are in agreement, as we were (and still are) with Em, that he is a good mixture of both of us.  Todd's lips and finger nails, my hands and eye brows.  It's a good mixture I think.  Em has a nasty diaper rash, so we're not sure if her fussing is her 'reverting' back to being the baby or her just not feeling well.  Either way, she's still handling all these changes exceptionally well.  There are more reminders for her to use her words and she's definitely testing every "off limit" thing in the house, but on the whole, she's still her beautiful, sweet self... and today she turns 16 months!!!

  

1st Full Day

Today was our first full day here at home... it's actually not over, although both Todd and I swear the sun has stood still because it must be at least midnight.  Cooper sleeps as well as a newborn- he'll go just about three hours between feedings, which, again, for a newborn is great (Em only went two and fed for almost an hour each time, so I'm counting my blessings!).  However great as he does for his age, it's still just naps for Todd and I.  So needless to say we're both a bit tired.  That, mixed with chasing after our active daughter, has led to a long day.  Em does well with Coop, but she's definitely testing her boundaries and trying to get away with more, or just trying to get our attention with something she knows she shouldn't do... either way, it's led to many talks today.  We had both just about had it with her attitude (yes, MY daughter does have a tendency to have a bit of a 'tude every once-in-a-while!!) when the sweetest moment of parenthood to date happened.  

Cooper was sleeping on "his" blanket on the floor for his 'tummy time' for the day.  Todd was fighting the good fight of keeping Em off the blanket, while she kept putting her one foot on, then snatching it back when Daddy told her no (with the biggest "I'm so cute" face ever).  So Todd got Em's cabbage patch doll that we bought her (we read the books and they all said buy a doll, so we bought) and laid her "baba" on it's own blanket.  Em went over to inspect her doll, and Todd bent over to kiss Cooper.  Em saw this, picked up her doll, took it to Todd, and then went over to her doll's blanket and laid down, just like Cooper.  Todd, of course, went right over and kissed her head, just as he had kissed his son's a minute before, and Em looked as if he had just given her the moon... this mom's heart was full and it made the whole world seem to stop... at least until Em went back over to stand on Cooper's blanket again!  

Typical American Family

We are now a typical American family: businessman dad, part-time working mom, daughter, son and a dog... the only thing we're missing is the white picket fence... maybe we'll work on that next year. We might have to work on the 'living in South Africa' part of our lives to be considered "typical" though... hum, on second thought, maybe we're not so typical after all. Oh well! Atypical seems to be working really well for us these days and we just want to share with you how blessed we feel to have everyone home, safe and sound.

We couldn't have asked for a better experience here in South Africa from the clinic staff to our new son himself. Em is still a bit unsure of why Mommy or Daddy are always holding this new thing that doesn't do much, but in true Emmerson form, she's laid-back and just keeps playing.

Cooper seems to be okay with his sister's apathy, at least for now, and I want to thank all of you for the prayers over the last few months... something tells me, I'll be asking for many more in the near future!

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

I miss PBS Kids (not that I ever really watched it) for the simple fact that not much of the kids' shows here are in English or seem educational. So, I was searching on the website to see if there were any episodes of Sesame Street or the likes. I didn't find any, but while I was looking on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, I did found a bunch of his songs. One in particular caught Em's attention (and is subsequently stuck in my head). It's called "Did you Know?" It's a simple song encouraging kids to wonder and ask questions, which, thankfully, doesn't really apply to Em yet (I'm so thankful we're not in the "Why?" stage!). Anyways, the song made me think, so I decided to come up with a list of my 'grown up' (yeah right, who are we kidding?) wonders...

Why do both dog and daughter prefer my food over their's?

Why will Lani be perfectly calm and collected around Em and then go nuts when I call her?

How can ants survive three 'flushes' of the Brita without dying?

Why are my lettuce plants turning into weird looking flowers?

Why does it seem that I'm only ever ready and able to take a shower in the morning on laundry day, when I won't have any hot water in the bath?

Why do the dishes in my sink seem to procreate while I'm not looking?

Why does Em's hair always look like Bobo the Clown styled it, no matter what I do?

How come it's more depressing to see the living room floor and then have it disappear again under books and toys than to never see it at all?

How can I eat an entire batch of whatever sweets are in the house without being able to tell you when or why I ate them?

How come both Lani and Em prefer gnawing on a (rather large) stick of wood to any of their teething toys?

Why is it nearly impossible to have every member of the family up with teeth brushed before ten, unless it's Sunday?

Why does Em flat refuse to give most of the world kisses, but she lathers them on Lani?