December 2010

Visitors

I recently realized that we rarely make the effort to "entertain" or "be entertained" more than once a month. The majority of my socializing happens with other mamas. However, with the end of the semester and the holiday season in full swing we managed to have a couple get-togethers. First, we had Brad, Jen and their daughter Ana over for afternoon pancakes. They had inspired the meal when they gave Mikey the book entitled "When you give a pig a pancake" for his first birthday. It was a delight to have them over.

Back when Cousin Nick and Mere moved to Missoula I was excited because I hoped that it meant I would get to see one of my favorite people, Aunt Harriet, more often. Sure enough, my wish is coming true. This December, when I normally would not have seen Aunt Harriet because my family-travels take me places other than AZ to see my immediate family, Aunt Harriet came to see Nick and Mere...and me. It was a whirl-wind trip for her and it sounded like she had a lot of fun taking an adventure down the Bitterroot for some skiing and an impromptu over-nighter. But she managed to squeeze us into her schedule for some Biga Pizza and lots of hugs and kisses. Yay!

Dino Dig. (I made a note about Dino Dig, which is an exhibit at the Children's Museum, but I cannot remember what about it. Perhaps December is when Mikey first found the exhibit.)

California Christmas

To Celebrate the Holiday Season we were off to southern California to see Nichole and Dave, and Alex and Jenny. My parent met us there and we spent a couple weeks frolicking beachside in Oxnard.

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go

I'm not sure what Mikey's favorite part of the trip was. He just loves new things and it was two weeks of new things every day. Of course, GRandma and Grandpa were prepared with oodles and oodles of gifts. When we first arrived we got to play with the gifts that weren't Christmas gifts...a massive collection of wheeled things - cars and trucks. Then Christmas morning came and there were so many gifts for Mikey that I lost track of who gave him what! I think Mikey's favorite thing was a toy backhoe loader. At home, a favorite book called "Scoop" was read over and over. Scoop is a backhoe loader. Evidently, Grandpa had dug through all the toys like it to find the backhoe loader instead of the dump truck or whatever other models there were. Mikey stood and jumped and indicated that he couldn't wait to play with it but I was working as fast as I could to get it out of the package! (This was a favorite gift but we couldn't come home with us to Missoula because it wouldn't fit in the luggage. When we got home, Mikey absolutely would NOT read the book "Scoop." He was apparently boycotting. We did bring a different favorite toy, Lightning McQueen Shake-n-go that says, "Speed, I am Speed" and goes on its own. We nicknamed this toy "Speed.") Mikey also got a Strider Bike and he was equally excited to play with it while Mike put it together. But then he got frustrated because he couldn't play with it the way he wanted.

Ellie the Dog

Nichole and Dave stayed with us at the condo as much as they could. Of course, Ellie came with them and Mikey was thrilled. He LOVES dogs and I think he thought Ellie was his new very own dog. Since we always greeted Ellie by yelling "Ellieeeee" in high-pitched voices so Mikey started calling her "Eeeeee." He also liked to chase her around and give her hugs and kisses.

The Beach

Every day we went to the beach. The beach, the beach, the beach. At first, Mikey seemed skeptical. He wasn't sure about the ocean. He wasn't so sure about the sand. But after we chased the waves and showed him that he was supposed to laughed and squeal as the water pounded he started to squeal, too. Then he learned that he could run up and down the sand without us stopping him, he just would run and run and run. He also liked digging in the sand. It was a delight to watch him enjoy the beach.

Mikey also liked to walk up and down the ramps at the harbor. I realized that his obsession with doing this was driven by the desire to be like the "big boys" at the park who walk up the slides. More on that later....

Friends

We got to show off Mikey to some old friends...

Danielle and Lyle Harlow came to visit us. It was so nice to see them and catch up.

We also met Mike and Sarah Savage and their daughter Harper at the Tar Pits. What luck that they were visiting southern California from Michigan at the same time we were there from Montana. It was lovely to see how Harper is growing up (it had been almost three years since I had seen them!).

November 2010

Note: These pictures run through the end of December.

Radio Flyer

With Mikey's birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa U, we bought a tricycle and some smartwool socks. I called around town looking for a particular Radio Flyer trike and found one at Walmart. Normally, I don't shop at Walmart because there is no real cost difference between them and other stores in town AND I'm not wild about Walmart's employee policies. But to get the perfect gift for my son, off I went. The best thing about the trip was that Mikey showed me that he understands that stuff that goes in the cart goes home. We were in the bicycle aisle and he was trying not to get too excited about anything because I think he figured that I was probably just browsing. But then I picked up the Radio Flyer and put it in the cart and he turned and looked at me, "really?" and when I smiled and told him that it was Mikey's new tricycle he clapped and smiled and was very excited to get it home. And once it was home, we started dragging it all over the house. (Dragging being part of the backwards walking experiments.)

Mikey's First Haircut

Janae came to cut our hair and we asked that she give Mikey a trim, too. He had started to have an unacceptable mullet. Mikey was not at all excited about the haircut but Janae was AWESOME and gentle and we crossed another "first" off the list.

The Children's Museum

Mikey continued to love the children's museum through November. He liked pushing the go grow grocery cart around and playing with the waterworks table to make the "water vortex" toys spin.

New Friends

We made new friends at the Missoula Library's "Tiny Tales." Nicole and her daughter Marin are regulars and we look forward to getting to know them better.

Stephanie invited us to visit her and her son Otis in Stevensville. Stephanie and her husband Ryan are working to restore the wildlife at a ranch. Part of their gig is that they get to live on the ranch and Mikey and I were excited to go on the outing. We spent some time playing with Otis and his toys and then we went for a walk around in the lovely autumn day. I remember feeling so blessed to have the time to enjoy learning about my new friend, Stephanie, and breathing that autumn air under a blue sky. It felt like a magical day.

The Mall

In the cold months, the mall is a popular place to take the kiddos because it is free. Southgate Mall has a little steam engine play area for children to climb on and slide down and jump off and run around. (It is nicknamed the "Germ Train" because of the indoor cooties that potentially build up from all the Missoulian children that play on it.) Knowing that Mikey likes to see other children, I took Mikey there one desperate afternoon. To my surprise, Mikey was entertained only briefly by the Germ Train and the children on it. As soon as he found the exit, he was off and running. My new toddling boy set off and ran from one end of the mall to the other!

Mmm...Tamales

Mike had a tamale day. He made dozens of tamales to stock our freezer. They were delicious!! And with a house full of new and yummy food we invited Nick and Mere over to enjoys the spoils of Mike's labor.

Now, we are continually learning how to alter our spicy cooking for Mikey. Mike forgot about Mikey and seasoned the masa per usual with some cayenne pepper and paprika. Then he stuffed it with super yummy turkey mole. Mikey loved the turkey mole but he couldn't quite take the spicy masa around it so I had to pick turkey out of the inside of the tamales to feed it to him! Clearly, it was the most elaborate way to prepare turkey for Mikey. ;) First, cook the turkey mole for a day in the crock pot. Then stuff it into masa and wrap with corn husk. Steam the tamale. Then open the tamale and take the stuffing out. Really? Next time, Mikey can just skip the spicy seasoning and we can feed the whole darn thing to Mikey.

Thanksgiving Tradition

Per tradition, we spent our Thanksgiving with Jim and Teresa Jacobs. It was a hard decision to choose to spend it with them instead of Cousin Nick and Meredith. We even tried to invite them along but the Jacobs' house was going to be overflowing as it was so we had to leave Nick and Mere to fend for themselves. It was a lovely thanksgiving with Mikey toddling around. As usual, Teresa had lots of toys out for him to play with and lots of hugs and kisses for him.

October 2010

It is now February and I am just getting around to updating the blog. Hopefully "readers" aren't too disappointed. I just remind myself that I use the content of this blog to make my Schneider Luck yearbooks, using Blurb. So better late than never. Luckily, I made a bulleted list back in October with want happened. Now I just have to rack my brain to remember what those notes meant!!

Cousin Nick
First off, Cousin Nick arrived. My cousin and his wife, Meredith, made it happen! They were not happy with life in Arizona and took life by the horns and made a move to Missoula happen! We offered our guest room to Cousin Nick and he came to start his job at the beginning of October. I was a tad nervous because I didn't really know him but I figured that since he was Aunt Harriet's kid, and I really like her, that he had to be pretty cool. I was right. It was awesome having him stay with us. Every night after work we would have dinner and drinks together and watch Mikey crawl around and pull himself up and push his pushers around the living room. Mikey got pretty attached to our new family member and liked seeing him come downstairs in the morning and come home from work at the end of the day.

Hula Hoop for Peace
The annual Hula Hoop for Peace event happened on a nice Sunday afternoon in Caras Park. I convinced Jenny to bring Thomas to the event where we let the boys crawl around and play in the grass while other people hula hooped. My yoga instructor, Sylvia, was also there so I was able to introduce her to Jenny and show off Mikey.

UM-MSU & new friends

The Michigan-Michigan State game was a bit of an event. Cousin Nick was still staying with us and we also invited some new friends over. Alex and Laurie brought their twin daughters over to watch the game. Alex and Laurie are Iowa fans so it was pretty cool to have more BigTen people in the house. What was really fun was starting a little tradition of dressing Mikey up in the winning team's colors at the end of the day for a picture. (It was fun because I was the winning parent.)

Mikey's Birthday!
We celebrated Mikey's first birthday at the corn maze. It was awesome! I invited people from all my Mama networking and we had a great turn out. We brought cupcakes and hot cider to serve on a cool and grey-cloud day. Mikey liked playing at the park and seeing all the people from his world gather in one place...I think he was a little amazed seeing physics and astronomy people in the same place as playground people. :) Instead of gifts, we asked that people write a note in his notebook. We had some fabulous messages, including "on this day" stuff that Jen and Dave filled out with history and sports facts.

Walking
Mikey was walking by the end of the month. Again, we were lucky that we were both there to see his first unaided steps. (We had been helping him to walk around for months!) He stood in the doorway, looked up, and took four little baby steps before sitting down. How proud he must have been!

Walking Backwards
Not one day into walking forward did Mikey start working on walking backward. Instead of pushing his bookbus, he started to pull it while walking backward. I continue to be amazed at his bodily awareness.

Self sooth?!?!
Still struggling with Mikey's separation anxiety and sleep problems, I borrowed a book from my friend Lisa called, "Good Night, Sleep Tight." As I read yet another book on teaching infants to sleep, I came across the single biggest revelation that I had had. Mikey didn't know how to self sooth. Let me elaborate. Mikey's version of self-soothing was to prevent injury. He learned how to fall without cracking his head on the hardwood floor and generally just kept himself from getting hurt. But those few times that he did hurt himself and started to cry I would scoop him up and give him hugs and kisses...naturally, right? So, Mikey never had to figure out how to self-sooth. This problem explained a lot of his separation anxiety to me. When I left him with Lisa, she would sooth him by taking him outside for a walk. After reading about self-soothing, I asked Lisa if she would have the patience to let Mikey figure out how to sooth himself just sitting in her living room. She happily agreed to help and, on my recommendation, encouraged Mikey to play with his loveys (the Red Car and Daisy). Sure enough, it worked! And, for my part, I stopped scooping him up to sooth him. Instead, I would show him Daisy or some other toy for him to find comfort in.

What a huge step forward in parenting for me!

Pandora
Part of our morning routine is to listen to Pandora's "Steve Miller Band" station. Mikey likes classic rock AND Mike is brushing up so he can hold a candle to Jim Jacobs' music knowledge. (This is important because they team-teach and every day Jim starts lecture with a classic rock iClicker question.)

A Great Video on Health Reform Laws

September 2010

Little Explorer Mikey still explores by crawling. He continues to stretch his boundaries all the time. For instance, one day at Lion's Park we were playing in the sand near the playgym. Then Mikey looked up and saw the merry-go-round and decided that he wanted to go investigate it. So he just started going across 15 feet of sand, up over the cement step onto the grass, and across 15 feet of grass before stopping to turn around and check his progress. I sat and watched him in awe.

Bye Bye Mikey As we continue through the semester, Mikey spends Monday mornings with Lisa and Lucy. He now knows that when I say, "bye bye," and walk to the door that I'm leaving. He loses it whenever this happens and continues to cry until Lisa puts him on her back in her Ergo and walks outside. Clearly, he doesn't seem quite ready to be without me because his attention span is so long! Of course, he knows when I'm bluffing too. I have been playing peek-a-boo with him to try to get him to practice that he just needs to wait, and wait a little longer, and a little longer still before I come back. One day I was playing peek-a-boo/bye bye Mikey at Rose Park with him. He was sitting on the grass and I was hiding behind a giant pine tree. We were separated by about 30 feet. The third time I hid, I popped out to a baby crawling AWAY from me. Clearly, he was done with that game.

Ah-choo Mikey got his first cold. But he has figured out how to blow his nose so he does that to clear it out when he is awake. When he is sleeping I kept a little eucalyptus balm under his nose.
Around Town
We joined the Children's Museum.
We attend Tiny Tales at the Missoula Public Library.
We discovered a newly remodeled park - Sacajawea Park.
In our adventures to these places we have met some people. Laura and Nya, Brit and George, Michelle and Skye, Ethan and Canyon, Nicole and Marin, and Amber and Corynne are all regulars in our lives.

Uncle Alex's Wedding
At the end of the month we traveled to San Diego to celebrate Alex's marriage to Jenny. The wedding ceremony was incredible! The Hawaiian music, the beach, the sound of the waves crashing and their beautiful first dance - it seemed so personal. I felt like I was blessed to be allowed to watch such an intimate exchange.

On the flight to San Diego I had time to write a toast. It was a surprise to Alex and Jenny but I really wanted to offer them something special on their special day. I am glad I did, too, because on his wedding day I saw my brother for the first time as a man in love with a woman instead of my annoying little brother.

This is what I said (approximately...I have lost my sticky notes that it was written on so I'm typing from memory):

"My name is Julie and I am Alex's older sister. I would like to begin by thanking Jenny and Alex, Margo and Bob, and my parents for planning and hosting this lovely event.

Alex has always had an easy smile. It has even gotten him in trouble when his teachers thought he was smirking at them. But today Alex's smile has been the most sincere it has ever been. And why wouldn't it be? Today he married Jenny, who is a kind person who optimistically welcomes us with a smile. I only get one sister-in-law and I'm so happy it is her!

Lastly, Alex and Jenny, I offer you a song. It is the song I sing in prayer every week at the end of my yoga meditation:

'May the long time sun shine upon you,

all love surround you, and

the pure love within you

guide your way on.'

To Alex and Jenny!"

Papa Time During our trip to San Diego Mike earned himself a new name: Sher-Papa. We think it suits him in those moments when I'm throwing clothes and toys and books and food at him: "here, hold this, and this, and this, and this, and this. Thanks!" Sometimes I feel like I'm burdening him but he insists that it is part of the gig. Always, I am thankful that he eases my load.

Mikey continues to enjoy spending time with his Papa. They spend play time in the mornings and he always seems at ease when we are all together. He really likes Mikey-sandwiches when he gets squeezed between us and smothered in kisses. Mikey now cries when Mike leaves for work.

Standing Baby All month long Mikey was working his way toward being able to walk. He would pull himself up and then let go with both arms and put them above his head like he was signaling a touchdown. As he became more comfortable he would stand up and grab something and start shaking it. This shaking action pretty much looked like he was flapping his wings getting ready to fly. He also learned that pulling himself up had to be a little different depending on the tool he was using to lean on. For instance, he had a couple good faceplants when he tried to pull himself up on something that had a weird center of gravity (like his plastic walker form Great Grandma) or had wheels (like his wooden walker from Grandma and Grandpa Schneider).

Eventually he mastered pulling up on different things and one day he pushed his wooden walker across the floor like he'd been doing it his whole life. At the time I thought that he had all of a sudden figured out the balance he needs to walk. But in retrospect I think he was having a bit of a controlled fall and he just happened to move forward. I say this because those first pushes on the push toys would traverse the room in its entirety until he hit the wall. Now, he can start and stop the pusher wherever he wants.

First Steps On September 30th, two months after Mikey's big crawl across the floor he took his first unassisted steps. We were all in the living room having a normal morning. I was on the couch with my coffee, Mike was on the floor with his, and Mikey was across the room standing and using both of his hands to play with his play phone. Then he looked up at us and took 3 or 4 steps toward us. Our jaws dropped.

Mikey's first shoes: one set of Pedipeds and one pair of Robeez.

Nichole and Dave's Chicken Sandwich

Got a YouTube Account? Visit my sister's video and vote for her to win a trip to Napa!

August 2010

Mikey was happy with crawling for about a day and a half. Then he set his sites on bigger (taller) and better (more dangerous) goals. He started pulling himself up on everything that was taller than the floor. This included box fans, the ottoman, mama and papa's legs, his toys boxes, his toys, drawers, oh just everything. Of course this also meant that he had to learn how to get back down and he learned very quickly that landing on his rear end is preferable to landing on his front. He also realized that squatting slowly is nice and gentle but if he is in a hurry then just plopping on his rear end will work too.

He continued to test his boundaries with crawling. He learned how to crawl between our legs and past obstacles. He also got frustrated when he felt stuck under our dining table but then learned how to crawl in a lower position to get under the criss-cross table support. He tries to crawl down stairs head-first and can do this successfully if the stairs are nice and big and he can do it one step at a time. Of course, our stairway is not very good for this one-at-a-time action so I'm trying to teach him to sit and scoot his way down...without much success.

As the month passed by Mikey became more and more daring with standing up. He would pull himself up and then let go with one hand, and then two hands, to practice balancing. I never could quite get a picture but he was so cute because he would put his hands above his head and wobble like he was playing with a hula hoop before either sitting down or putting his hands back down to support himself.

Friends

At the beginning of the month our dear friend Hans came to visit. This was terribly exciting for us. Mike got to take him mountain biking and we got to share Mikey with him. Hans taught Mikey about shapes. (See the picture of him explaining how to put the plastic shapes into their ball.) Mikey took to Hans very well. Now if only we could get Hans a job here then maybe he would move here permanently!

Also at the beginning of the month - Thomas' first birthday. We went to his apartment to celebrate with his parents Jenny and Phil. I was very excited because the fathers could FINALLY meet. I was also stunned when Mikey got his first hug from a child. Otis, another one-year-old, walked over to where Mikey was sitting and plopped down next to him so their bottoms were cheek-to-cheek. I was a little nervous because Otis was bigger than Mikey and I thought he might be coming over to bully a toy away or something. Then he leaned over and wrapped his arms around Mikey, and I got nervous again thinking that he was "tackling" Mikey. But then I noticed that Otis was very gentle and his mother, Stephanie, said that he was giving Mikey a hug. My heart nearly melted!

Mikey is a very social baby. He reaches out to touch other babies and crawls near them to see what they are up to. He also likes to be around young children and observes other people when they are playing. He REALLY wants to be able to play with other big boys. One Sunday afternoon at Lion's Park we were the only people playing for a while. Then a 3.5 year old boy and his mother showed up. He immediately befriended us as we all sat on the swings together. Then he joined Mikey in the sand under the playgym. But soon a second 3.5 year old boy showed up with HIS mother. At first it seemed like everything was great. All three boys were playing on a rope-ladder wall. Then the two 3.5 year old boys went running off to another part of the playground and Mikey lost it! He started crying big crocodile tears as he watched them run away. (He knew that cats would sometimes do this but he hadn't yet learned that little children do it, too.) I scooped him up and carried him over to watch the big boys play and he calmed down and came to terms with the facts that he wasn't yet big enough to play with them but that he would have to watch them. It broke my heart knowing the anguish he must have felt when his "friends" left him...especially knowing that it will happen over and over again for the rest of his life.

Frustration
In addition to being frustrated by the little boys leaving him behind at the playground, Mikey has also been frustrated by feeling confined to a space. In particular, he crawled under the dining table, which has as it's support a criss-cross, p ulled himself up to standing and peered over the criss-cross support toward the kitchen. When he realized that he was "stuck" he protested. About a week later he figured out hos to army-crawl under the criss-cross.

Work Begins
The autumn semester began in August. I had tried to find someone else to teach my Introduction to Engineering class but to no avail. (I started to resent my time teaching and prepping over the summer. I have decided to "retire" from work for a while and spend 100% of my time as a stay at home mom.) With the start of the semester came the need for Mikey to attend a form of "day care". I negotiated with Lisa, a friend who lives a few houses down and who has a daughter 9 days older than Mikey, to do a baby swap. She watches Mikey for a couple hours on Monday mornings and I watched Lucy whenever Lisa wants some time for herself. The first day wasn't so bad when I walked out the door. But when I got back Lisa informed me that Mikey did great until he bonked his head...he then proceeded to cry for 45 minutes until I returned. Yep...Mikey really commits to crying when he cries. We knew that.

Travel

Mikey had his first plane ride in August. We flew to Washington, D.C. Mike had an invitation-only workshop sponsored by NASA that corresponded to our friend, Bjoern's, wedding. So we all traveled together. I was particularly excited because I had never been to Washington DC. I was also very excited to see Bjoern, meet Narmada, and to see Jim. The flights out were great. Mikey slept through the take-off from Missoula and woke up in time to really enjoy the turbulence as we were descending into Minneapolis. (Imagine a big smile on his face as the plane lurched side to side.)

Every day in DC we walked the mall. We also went on the subway to get to the National Zoo. Unfortunately, it was so hot that we didn't really get to see any animals. Then we went to Union Station to catch a train to Delaware for Bjoern's wedding. Again, Mikey slept.

We arrived in Delaware first, checked in to our hotel room in Hotel Du Pont. Then Mike joined us just in time to catch a cab to the Brandywine Mansion where we were just barely late to the wedding ceremony. (Public transportation proved to be more challenging than we thought. In fact, the cab companies that said they had infant seats did not have any that were appropriate for Mikey so we had some VERY dangerous situations where we merely held him on our laps! Never again!) The wedding was awesome...mainly because the smile on Narmada's face was so big! She was gorgeous in her wedding dress but really just shined with happiness. In the morning we had brunch at the Hotel Du Pont with Jim, where Bjoern and Narmada flirted from table to table to give each of the out-of-town guests some special attention. Then we went for a walk with Jim - up and down the main street in Wilmington. Mikey had his first Cheerios...which he gobbled up.

Jim was kind enough to drop us off at the train station in the afternoon so we could ride back to DC. (We were flying back to Missoula the following day.) When we arrived in Union Station we grabbed a bite to eat at a little bar and grill where Mikey sat and played with his Cheerios and kept nibbling on the side of the table. Mike and I were both pretty spent so neither one of u s was persistent enough with preventing all the chewing. Then we grabbed a cab to our hotel for the evening, checked in, and tried to unwind a bit before bedtime. Mikey practiced pulling himself up on our luggage and on the ottoman in the room. He also tried eating the wheels a couple times and that was so disgusting that we DID try to enforce a no-eating the wheels policy.

One way or another Mikey managed to pick up the flu bug. At 2AM, he awoke from slumber and puked on me. (We were all sleeping in the big king bed.) The vomiting continued every couple hours from that point on. He spent the morning sleeping, nursing, and vomiting. After a consultation with the Doc, we decided to forgo a trip to a DC hospital and just get on the plane for home. I packed a couple shirt changes for myself and some changes of clothes for Mikey in our carry-on luggage. Good thing, too, because Mikey continued his nurse, sleep, vomit routine on the planes but there was no place for him to vomit but down my chest. We changed clothes during our lay-over. Then Mike got hit with some uncontainable diarrhea on the second leg of our trip. By the time we got home in Missoula we were all covered with baby mess. Mike and I were astonished that we were not at all concerned about our state of cleanliness, being more concerned about Mikey's well-being. (That is not to say we reveled in it...we washed and changed ASAP.)

We arrived home on Saturday night. I got Mikey's flu by 6PM Sunday. Mike's symptoms followed at midnight. We were knocked out for a week. The worst thing about it...the flu stole my vacation with my family. We had planned a private family vacation to Blodgett Canyon for Mikey's first camping. It would have been the first time in a long time that Mike took time off of work for just me. On the upside, it convinced us that we have to make a scheduled family vacation (just us) a priority. So we decided that every year the second week in August will be for us to take a family vacation.

July 2010

Visitors
In July we continued to have visitors. Andrea, my childhood friend, came to visit. She fell victim to being unfamiliar with how big and how un-metropolis it is. She rerouted herself to Kalispell and then had to wait an entire day for the one bus to bring to Missoula! But when she arrived we were all thrilled! Big thanks to Andrea for spending her vacation with us!!

After Andrea left we had a couple days to prepared for our friend Sarah to arrive. In the spring, a RFP crossed my desk that asked for scholars who could visit the University of Montana and lead conversations about women in science and technology. I saw it as an opportunity to bring some friends to town and have their way paid! Sarah was the first person I thought of and she accepted my invitation to come. How fun to show her the life we have built here...she saw our home, met the baby, and even taught us some things about women in science!!

The weekend after Sarah visited, Danielle and Lyle arrived. Danielle was here for the same program that funded Sarah's trip. We were thrilled that she brought Lyle with her! We were able to have them over for dinner and show them some of our favorite places, like Big Dipper Ice Cream.

Things Mikey Did

Sand

Mikey likes to play in the sand. One day I took him to Rose Park and let him sit in the sand and he began to dig. He flailed his little hands at his sides moving the sand away. Then he leaned forward and started moving the sand from in front of him to behind him. It was too fun to watch. Over the course of the month, I let him dig in various substances including sand, dirt, woodchips, and fabricated woodchip-like stuff. Of course, he discovers treasures (rocks) and, of course, he tries to taste them but I tell him, "No. Rocks are not for eating." and take it away if he tries to taste it more than once. This applies to all treasures he finds when he digs.

Backyard Camping

For something new to do I pitched the tent in the back yard. I figured that it would give us a new place to go, one that is outside, and naturally open up new things to do. Mikey seemed to enjoy it as much as anything else. One afternoon thunderstorm was certainly a "test" for us. We were sitting in the tent playing with toys and the thunder started to rumble in the sky. Then rain drops began to fall. Mikey was a little unsure of things but since I was there he probably felt safe. To further encourage his comfort I made up a story about Mikey defeating the thundering sky and warding off rain with his magic sword, which is a rattle from TDK. Along with a little nursing, we got through the thunderstorm just fine. I think I had more fun than Mikey did but whatever.

Teeth

Mikey's teeth started to come in but the funny thing is that I wasn't really the first one to notice! I was at Bonner Park one morning (before 9AM) playing with Mikey in the fountains. He likes to splash his hands around in the water that bubbles up at about his height. He also likes to turn the water park on by banging his hands on the "button" nearby and early morning is when there are no other kids to steal the glory. As we were getting bored with the water I looked up and saw an older Chinese woman sitting with a baby girl on one of the benches. I went over and introduced myself only to discover that she claimed that she didn't speak any English but motioned to me to sit beside her. We sat and enjoyed the quiet morning while the babies stared at one another. Then when Mikey gave her one of his typical open-mouth smiles she exclaimed, "teeth!" "Huh," I thought, "really?" And sure enough two little bottom teeth were poking out ever so slightly.

Out on the Town

Caffe Dolce became our regular destination in July. We would wheel up there and I would have a coffee or pastry and then we would sit in the grass and watch cars go by. This little neighborhood restaurant is now a favorite and we took many of our guests there. For Mikey, he had his first potatoes there. They were the homefries that came with my brunch that I was having with Andrea. I took off the skin and handing a potato to Mikey. He put it in his mouth, chewed it up and swallowed. I was elated and thought we had hit a turning point with solid food until the next week when we were there with Mike and I did the same thing and Mikey barfed up the potato and everything else he had just consumed (breastmilk).

Our daily morning walks continue and one fine day we had the Missoula Marathon in mind. Lisa was running to support Youth Homes and we wanted to go to cheer her on. So I loaded Mikey into the backpack and Mike and I walked up to Bonner Park where we hoped to catch a glimpse of Lisa running. We ran into our dentist, Dr. Andy, who also lives in our neighborhood, and stood with him as people raced by. Sure enough, Lisa rounded the bend but she saw us before we saw her and she gave us a nice smile and wave. On our way home I wondered how she spotted us until I realized that with Mikey in his palanquin it is hard to miss us!

We also spent an afternoon with Clifford and went to the pool with Lucy.

The Rattlesnake Wilderness

We took at least three trips to the Rattlesnake for hikes: one as a family, one with Jen and Teresa, and one with Jenny and Thomas.

Books and Blocks

Mikey still does his trick of flipping pages. This month he did something new and remarkable by comparing two different books. He tried flipping the pages of his new board book, Belly Buttons. Of course, board book pages are more difficult to flip than paper pages but he kept trying. Then he looked next to him and saw a big book and flipped those pages. We could see him thinking, "ok, that still works" before turning back to the board book and trying to flip its pages. This type of research and testing and re-testing happened for days until he finally decided that board books are different. The other things I noticed was that he gives extra attention to the photographed leaves in his DOG book.

We got a set of Plan Toy blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Schneider and I still can't decide if mama and papa like them more than Mikey. We spend hours stacking and restacking blocks only to entice Mikey to knock them over. He seems to love to reduce things to their lowest energy state. So even if the stack has been disassembled he still needs to make sure that none of the blocks are standing on their ends; each block has to be as low to the ground as possible. For this we have nick-named him the "Entropy Monster" because we are nerds.

Crawling

Mikey continued to work on crawling doing little downward dog positions and then tilting to a side to sit. He would move all over the room: downdog, sit, downdog, sit, downdog, sit. He would also get on hands and knees and pick up a hand and reach into the air. The first coordinated hand-hand-knee-knee action was just two or three "steps" from a spot in the middle of the living room toward his Papa's old puppet, Rowlf. Finally, on the morning of July 31st, I slept in. Mike was up playing with the baby in the living room for about an hour before I decided to join them. When I walked out of the bedroom and a couple steps into the hallway to see them playing across the room, Mikey looked up and saw me and then just took off and crawled all the way across the room! It was amazingly wonderful!

My Meyer-Briggs

A friend asked me to take the Jung/Myer-Briggs "personality" test and I did to humor her at first.

But then I read the following description and it resonated with me enough that I thought I should put it here.

Introverted iNtuiting Feeling Judging
by Marina Margaret Heiss

INFJs are distinguished by both their complexity of character and the unusual range and depth of their talents. Strongly humanitarian in outlook, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their J preference for closure and completion, they are generally "doers" as well as dreamers. This rare combination of vision and practicality often results in INFJs taking a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the various causes to which so many of them seem to be drawn.

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates." While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent "givers." As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood -- particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type.

Due in part to the unique perspective produced by this alternation between detachment and involvement in the lives of the people around them, INFJs may well have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil. The most important contributing factor to this uncanny gift, however, are the empathic abilities often found in Fs, which seem to be especially heightened in the INFJ type (possibly by the dominance of the introverted N function).

This empathy can serve as a classic example of the two-edged nature of certain INFJ talents, as it can be strong enough to cause discomfort or pain in negative or stressful situations. More explicit inner conflicts are also not uncommon in INFJs; it is possible to speculate that the causes for some of these may lie in the specific combinations of preferences which define this complex type. For instance, there can sometimes be a "tug-of-war" between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals. And the I and J combination, while perhaps enhancing self-awareness, may make it difficult for INFJs to articulate their deepest and most convoluted feelings.

Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the "inspirational" professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths. Perhaps the best example of this occurs in the technical fields. Many INFJs perceive themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with the mystique and formality of "hard logic", and in academic terms this may cause a tendency to gravitate towards the liberal arts rather than the sciences. However, the significant minority of INFJs who do pursue studies and careers in the latter areas tend to be as successful as their T counterparts, as it is *iNtuition* -- the dominant function for the INFJ type -- which governs the ability to understand abstract theory and implement it creatively.

In their own way, INFJs are just as much "systems builders" as are INTJs; the difference lies in that most INFJ "systems" are founded on human beings and human values, rather than information and technology. Their systems may for these reasons be conceptually "blurrier" than analogous NT ones, harder to measure in strict numerical terms, and easier to take for granted -- yet it is these same underlying reasons which make the resulting contributions to society so vital and profound.

100 Things

I posted this on August 17th but I want my July post ahead of it so I'm changing the "Post DAte".

Mike recently shared the following NYT story with me about reducing the "stuff" in one's life: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/business/08consume.html.

The main person in the story downsized her life so she only had 100 things. Mike and I both thought it would be an interesting exercise so I made my list. Here are a couple assumptions: the home is given and includes a refrigerator and a stove/oven.

My 100 THings
1. Car
--
2. Skis
3. Ski boots
4. Ski poles/hiking poles
5. ski pants/rain pants
6. ski coat/rain coat
7. Long underwear bottoms
8. Long underwear top
9. Fleece jacket
10. Socks
11. Mittens
12. Hat
13. Helmet
14. Goggles
15. Camelbak (resevoir included)
--
16. iPod
17. iPod Dock
18. TV
19. BluRay Player
--
20. Camera
21. Computer
22. Novel
23. Pen
24. Wallet (credit cards and ID included)
25. Cell phone
--
26. tooth brush
27. tooth paste
28. shampoo
29. soap
30. sunscreen
31. Lip balm
32. Deodorant
33. comb
34. rubberband
35. lotion
--
36. Wedding ring
37. Necklace
--
38., 39., 40. Table + 2 chairs
41. 12" fry pan
42. Dutch oven
43. cast iron skillet
44. Chef's knife
45. garbage can
46. cutting board
47, 48. 2 plates
49, 50. two glasses
51., 52. two bowls
53. coffee mug
54. spoon
55. fork
--
56. bed
57. sheets
58. blanket
59. towel
--
60. sandals
61. hiking boots
62. sunglasses
--
63. - 70. eight pairs of underwear
71. - 77. seven pairs of socks
78. - 86. eight bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts)
87. - 93. seven tops
94. - 100. seven tops

June 2010

The Things Mikey Did This Month
As part of his bedtime routine, I read four books to him: Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton, then Bear Snores On, followed by Goodnight Moon, and finally Goodnight Gorilla. I found it interesting that after a while doing this routine Mikey seemed to know the order of the books. In fact, he chose which book to start with if I held two up. Then he could choose the next one, and the next one. (As I write this, he has taken to choosing not the "right" book in a sequence but the one he wants me to read.)

I gave Mikey a bell to ring and he loved it but as I watched him put it in his mouth I decided that it wasn't age appropriate. So I took it away and when I did holy smokes! He PROTESTED yelling at me until I gave it back. Now, I understand that he is going to have to learn "no" but I think it is easier to just hide things that he can't have for a while rather than taking things away from him all the time.

Mikey has discovered pulling his own hair. He only really does it while he is nursing but there I have him, nursing and pulling his own hair.

He continues to grab things to investigate them...including in the bath tub. He tries to pick up the bubbles using his pointing finger and thumb. He also tried picking up his duck and learned a little about bouyancy. When he tried to pick up the duck he put his hand on top of it to rake it toward himself. But as you know, the duck just bobbed under water, which posed yet another problem to solve.

Mikey is still having fun in his Bouncer. His current favorite thing to do is bounce a couple times forward and then lift his feet to swing back. We call it Bounce, Bounce, SWIIIINNNNG.

We think Mikey waved his first wave to Papa. It happened in the morning when Mike was leaving for work.

One day we went for a swim, just Mama and Mikey. While we were there I helped him investigate one of the fountains that bubble up about a foot high. He tried catching the water as it rose up and fell back into the pool. But the most remarkable thing is that when we got home we BOTH fell into a deep sleepy nap. It was WONDERFUL.

Mikey surprised me one day when I let him gently grab one of the butterflies in the mobile above his bed. He grabbed it and instead of letting it go he pulled it toward himself, transferred it to his other hand, pulled the mobile over and grabbed another butterfly with the first hand. This hand-over-hand business is crazy! He also does it with boxes of toys...tilt it toward himself with one hand and use the other to grab a toy.

One day while Mikey was in my lap playing with a toy, I started to read in one of my massive "what to expect" books. Mikey immediately took interest in what I was doing and leaned to the left over my leg to look at what I was looking at. I realized that I wouldn't get any reading done so I moved the book in front of us so he could be more comfortable while he inspected the pages. He grabbed a handful of pages and opened the book and then closed it. Then he started moving his thumb and let pages flutter by. This new trick really impressed me so I let him flip the pages of the book for the better part of Eric Clapton's Unplugged album. When Mike got home I told him about it and, in the morning, Mikey showed his Papa his new trick and we even caught it on camera!

Mikey is resilient enough to gently toss around and I let him "fall" into the poof. He loves it. Of course, I lead up to it with a "one..., twooooooo..., THREEEEEE!"

Mikey has realized that he doesn't HAVE to bonk his head on the hardwood floor when he rolls around. Instead, he gently leans over and places his head on the ground and then lets his body follow. He's just that good.

Mikey continues to practice waving "Bye bye" and he did it when we left Jim and Teresa's! Thank goodness! We had a rough few visits over there when Mikey would just cry and cry and cry. I wasn't sure what was going on...maybe he noticed sorrow in the air because Jim is dieing (of ALS). The last time we went over I told Mikey that it was OK to cry and he did a little and then cheered up and let us stay. (Previously I had to leave with him and he immediately calmed down. I thought it might have been stranger anxiety but when I drove away and he calmed down I took him to the mall and he was just fine.)

Mike said that the baby is like a slug. He doesn't get anywhere fast and he leaves slime (drool) behind. This was said after we had some family time rolling around on the bed under the air conditioner upstairs.

Our current favorite story to read is Drummer Hoff. The book is lovely but the best part is that I get to do different voices for all the characters AND there is boom-booming along the way as a canon is assembled to fire plus a big KABLAMMY! at the end when Drummer Hoff fires off the canon. So fun!


Mike's First Father Day
Wow. My husband is so super fly. How does he remain an amazing husband and still manage to pull of "wonderful father" too? Happy Father's Day. For Mike's gift, we got him artisan chocolate.

Visitors
I have MUCH more to say about their visits but we had very special visitors and I want to get this post up.

Grandma and Grandpa Schneider
We hosted Grandma and Grandpa Schneider for a week and it was wonderful for Mikey to wake up every day and play with them. His "trick of the week" was to shake his head left and right. When he realized that people would shake with him he would watch, then shake himself. This was a favorite for Grandpa.

While they were here I realized the main hurdle for me to have Mikey babysat. I realized that it was fine if someone came and took the baby away from me. (For instance, when Jen or Jaylene come find him when I have him at work and take him away to see stuff in the department while I get some work done.) I was not comfortable walking away from him. Of course, once I realized this I was able to leave Mikey with his first baby sitter, his Grandma Schneider!

Great Grandma Kubera, Great Aunt Harriet, Auntie Meredith
We had a day or two to "recover" from our first week of guests before the next week started with a new batch. Aunt Harriet came to visit and brought Grandma and Meredith. It was a wonderful week... The highlight for me was the day we spent at Caras Park. We rode the carousel, watched kayakers in Brennan's wave, and had lunch at Scotty's Table. Lovely!

Baby Gifts

I just want to make a list of my go-to things to share with future mamas and papas.

Books
The Baby Book
No Cry Sleep Solution
Great Expectations: Baby's First Year
Goodnight Gorilla

Toys
Sophie the Giraffe by Vulli
Under the Nile Greenbean

Misc.
Swaddling blanket for dummies

May 2010

Family Time
With the end of the semester comes summer, which means that Mike starts taking 2-day weekends for a while. Yippee! Two days with Mike at home makes life just wonderful! Originally, we thought that Saturdays would be for family hikes. But it turned out that our weekends in May were used to baby-proof and prepare for guests. At least we got to all be together. :)

Mike has started biking again at least once per week.

After having so much fun with Mikey at the pool, we decided to go as a family on one lazy afternoon. Unfortunately, many other Missoulians had the same thought. So Current was swarming with people. The big echoing space offered too much stimulation for Mikey. Despite being held close to Papa in the pool, or Mama, Mikey was just too anxious so we had to leave. Ah well, some other time Mike will get to enjoy splashing in the water with his son.

Another fun Papa thing happened: Mikey "boomba'd" with Papa. Here's the story. Mikey likes to kick his feet to get different sounds. He kicks while laying in his bed, while laying on his back on the hardwood floor, in our bed, which all make different sounds. He also bounces and gets good noises when his feet hit the ground. One morning, I was holding him so he could bounce on the ottoman and Mike was laying on the couch. When Mikey paused, Papa took his bare feet and gently padded them against the leather couch cushion. Mikey smiled really big and mimicked the sounds on the leather ottoman and paused again for Papa. Back and forth a couple times and then he just started to bounce like crazy with happiness.

We recently realized that when Mike kneels down to take photos of Mikey that he is the "Papa"-razzi.

Mikey's Physical Development
Sleep
Mikey still is not sleeping. This month, it seems like "things" keep him up, for example a giant midnight poopy.

Locomotion
Mikey learned to roll to his tummy, reliably.

I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by this or not but it made me chuckle. One day Mikey was in his Johnny Jump Up, which we refer to as his "bouncer" and the tips of his pants we changing color on the toes. Not sure if I had ruined them in the wash or something I grabbed his foot to check it out. Lo-and-behold, Mikey's toes were just dirty. As he bounced in his Bouncer and dragged his feet on the ground he swept the floor for me.

Toys
One day at Walking Stick Toys I noticed a push-cart that was marked more than half off. I thought, combined with gift cards from Andrew and Sherry and Diane we could really afford this schwanky little cart. So I bought it and have visions of Mikey pushing Lucy around in it. OF course, that is still a ways off in the future so for now it is our "book bus" and holds our living room stash of childrens' books.

Convinced that Mikey LOVES tags, I splurged and bought him what I thought was a super-cool octopus from Taggies. When it arrived Mikey wasn't particularly interested in all the colorful "tags" that stick out from it. Instead, he went right for the actual label tag and gives it all his attention. I think it has something to do with all the words on it...

Mikey's absolute favorite toy is gravity. He likes to fly in the air, be "dropped", and to lay on the floor while I flick blankets in the air above him and then let them drift down on top of him. He giggles and smiles and kicks his feet.


Socializing!
A Baptism of Sorts
My grandmother and sister made a christening gown for Mikey from my mother's wedding dress. Their expectation was for Mikey to wear it for his baptism into the Catholic church. As much as I hate to disappoint them, Mike and I have decided not to raise Mikey Catholic. (We continue to deliberate about plans for his spiritual up-bringing.) However, I thought this beautiful handmade gown deserved to be worn.

One day we invited Jen and Honey and Jim and Teresa over for a grilled cheese party and surprised them with a baptism of sorts. This is what we said to them:

• "In the spirit of welcoming Mikey into a community, we decided to take the opportunity today to thank you for being our core network of support in Missoula. Thank you for bearing witness with loving enthusiasm to the most transformative six months of our lives."

The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed Gruyere grilled on a baguette, blue cheese on white bread, and goat cheese grilled on sweet potato slices. We also let every play with Mikey. Convinced that he wanted to drink from a glass, Teresa helped him sip water. (He also sipped from my glass, which had sparkling water in it. He made a face but then went right back to it for more!) Also, while he was playing in Jim's lap, Honey dubbed him "Jungle Jim" and I love it!

Thomas at the Park
One nice afternoon we met Jenny and her son Thomas at Bonner Park.

April 2010

Link to pictures here.
Link to videos here.

Grandma and Grandpa U Visit!
At the beginning of April, Grandma and Grandpa U returned to Missoula for a short week. They came to visit Mikey and to pick up some items they left stored in our basement while they road-tripped to California and back. It was great fun to have them here. Since they had little else to do, they spent almost all of their time with Mikey. Grandma spent a lot of time playing with puppets (Tweet and Neigh-neigh). Grandpa showed Mikey around outdoors and taught him about pine needles. A favorite thing we all did together was walk in the Rattlesnake on a sunny afternoon.

Mikey's Development
Mental/Emotional
We think Mikey had his first nightmare, though we can hardly imagine what it would be...perhaps something very abstract? We think he had a nightmare because one evening we put him to bed after the usual nighttime ritual and heard him awake, distressed, about an hour later. We woke up wailing and crying big crocodile tears. He wasn't gassy or dirty or hungry. Perhaps utterly lonely? We took turns holding him and walking around the house. A few times, he would be settled but then a look would come over his face, his eyes would flicker and then he would cry and bury his face in his Mama's or his Papa's shoulder. After a while, he returned to sleep and woke up happy.

Mikey seems to desire more and more new stimulation. Case in point: per usual, I put Mikey in the Moby to walk home from work. I pushed the stroller in front of us (it holds my bookbag and other essentials if Mikey isn't riding in it). Not three blocks from the University Mikey began to whine. He was whining so insistently that I decided to stop, take him out of the Moby and check his "vitals." He wasn't dirty, his zipper wasn't rubbing him funny, he had just eaten so he couldn't be hungry (could he?), the Moby didn't seem to be bunched anywhere uncomfortable on his under side. I tried putting him in the stroller but he didn't want that either. So, tired, I sat down under a tree in someone's front yard. Mikey immediately settled down and began playing with the grass and watching as people walked down the street in front of us.

Realizing that he was just challenging the situation (I had read in "Great Expectations" that this attitude would be starting this month) I put him back in the Moby and started walking. I simply refused to sit in someone's front yard. Mikey would have to wait five blocks until we could be at Bonner Park. We got to Bonner Park and found a big shady tree to enjoy. Mikey sat in my lap and watched people play basketball, volleyball, and walk around the park. Apparently, he wanted to enjoy the sunshine. Then he had a giant poo. Ill-prepared, because I was expecting to be home 20 minutes after leaving work, I had to call Mike to deliver an emergency change of diaper to the park. Within minutes, Papa arrived on his bicycle with a smile on his face. I think he was chuckling to himself about how opinionated Mikey is and how silly a predicament I had gotten myself into.

So, it seems as though Mikey recognizes our routine and occasionally thinks there are better things to do than walk the same old walks. He is perfectly happy to drive somewhere and walk around once we get there...I just can't walk out the front door and head toward work (or vice versa).

Luckily, we have a ton of toys and music and movies to entertain Mikey. I introduced him to "Happy Apple," which is one of Mike's toys that Grandma S has saved for 34 years. It was fun to lower the apple to Mikey and he reached up to grab it but it is giant so he needed two hands, which he was fine with. What surprised him was the lovely jingle sound that came from it when he turned it! The expression on his face was priceless and had I expected such a reaction I would have video-taped the whole thing. Mikey loves music...especially when we sing along to it. He listens to Steve Miller, Cake, Leo Kotke, The Format, Plain White Ts, Sheryl Crow, Phish (not the really dissonant stuff), James Brown, and countless other artists and we haven't even scratched the surface of our collection. We have realized that we need to search for baby-friendly music. For instance, Cherry Poppin' Daddys is out - no matter how wiggly Mikey gets for that swing music. Lastly, we continue to enjoy watching Netflix and TV. Mikey watches Iron Chef every Sunday if he's up late enough for it. Otherwise, he has seen lots of "How I Met Your Mother" and he's watched "Fantasia 2000" a few times, which he LOVES...and who can blame him.

Physical
We think Mikey was in the midst of a massive growth spurt at the beginning of the month. First of all, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of nursing he required. Second of all, he started "begging" for food at the table, reaching with his arms and entire body toward our plates. So, we gave in and fed him a banana. He ate from my finger and crinkled his nose at the first bite but then he continued leaning forward for more. When he was finished he pursed his lips and turned away. Slowly but surely we added rice cereal and avocado to his diet. Then one evening Mikey over-stuffed himself. He nursed every 30 minutes and at some point ate a bunch of cereal. A few hours later, he woke up spitting so forcefully that I have to call it vomit. His little tummy was heaving, food and milk was spewing out of his little mouth, and he was so upset! No fever, and his tummy settled down after 30 minutes so we didn't rush to the emergency room. Since then, he has had no interest in food. I sit him down in his high chair and when I try to feed him he just gives me a big closed-lip smile (how goofy I must look doing "airplane" and "mmm"). He's too smart to open his mouth. So we're on a food hiatus for now. Luckily, I rest assured he gets plenty of nutrition from mama-milk.

When he first came home Mikey liked to sleep bundled in a swaddling blanket. That lasted about a week. Then he liked to sleep on his back with his arms stretched out to the side or up over his head. Now he prefers to sleep on his side. This is wonderful because side-sleeping is one of those "tricks" to get babies to fall asleep...you just hold them on their side and "shh" them. Sometimes when he calls me into his nursery in the middle of the night he doesn't want nursing, his eyes aren't open and all I need to do is roll him from his back to his side and replace the kicked-off blanket and he settled back into sleep.

One Monday morning Lisa called and invited me and Mikey to join her and Lucy swimming at Currents, which is a large indoor water park. We happily accepted the invitation and strollered to the park around 10AM with them. We arrived and noticed that there were mostly empty chairs in the room so we checked in and changed into our swimwear. I was in a bathing suit and Mikey wore a disposable swim diaper. We walked into the large, echoing pool room and set our towels down. Following Lisa and Lucy's lead, we waded into the shallow end and then sunk into the waist-deep water. Mikey was tummy-to-tummy with me and looking back and forth with his hands on my chest. We took it slow. Slowly but surely I began lowering him into the water by bouncing with him gently. Then I positioned him on his back (just like in the bathtub at home) and he seemed to relax and feel more comfortable. Then, a kick. Mikey started kicking while I held him floating on his back. I cheered him on - quietly at first - "go, Mikey go!" As he became more comfortable he started kicking harder. Right and left and right and left and go! He was splashing water like crazy! Then I lowered his legs into the water and let him kick entirely underwater. Then back "out" again for splashing. This time, he started flapping his arms, too! The more vigorous he "swam" the more enthusiastic my cheering, "go, Mikey go!" After a while on his back I turned him to face me again but dragged him around on his tummy while he kicked. Then we went backward - Mikey facing me but on his back. I had a big face full of water but I was laughing and all smiles. It was TOO MUCH FUN! Of course, Mikey was also getting a big face full of water but he didn't seem to mind. He would just blink and keep on flapping his arms and kicking his legs. Once, while on his tummy, Mikey looked down too far and put his face in the water! Immediately, he lifted it back out, blinking. I was really amazed at the entire experience...certainly one of the most fun days with Mikey so far. After we tired everyone out, Lisa and I nursed the babies while sitting on a picnic table in the park. Then we walked to Cafe Dolce for lunch where I had the House-Roasted Beef sandwich served with horseradish mayo, Gorgonzola butter, and arugula on a baguette and a side salad. Yummy! I could really get used to days like this!

Mikey measured in as a string bean at his 6-month doctor's appointment. He measured 27 inches long (75%) and only 14.5lbs (5%). Here's my question: how do you fatten up a baby who has been "running" since he was one month old? (The first video we caught him running in was when he was 2 months old but he had been doing it long before we got a camera on him.)

This month we bought and installed a "Johnny Jump Up" and to our surprise Mikey didn't take to it right away. He protested being put in and whined a lot while he was in it but we were persistent and shouted "yay Mikey" whenever he fluttered his feet on the ground. After a while he took to it and started walking back and forth in the doorway by putting one foot in front of the other.


Julie
This month, in addition to playing with Mikey and being amazed by him every day, I have done some other things for myself. The course I'm teaching (Engineering Mechanics - Statics) continues to progress. The baby hand-off continues to work well and now that Mikey is eating cereal, we don't worry about him starving or getting to cranky while he's with Papa. Mikey continues to be very well-received around the department and during my office hours. One student, Josh, consistently visits office hours and we joke that he will forever associated Statics with dirty diapers.

I continue to work on my family yearbook, Schneider Luck 2009, that I will publish using Blurb. It will be the third yearbook and I still enjoy the process and product on my labor. I have reached October 2009 and am amzed at the transformation of our family. In October, Mike took "belly shots" of me in the Rattlesnake Wilderness to show off my pregnant baby bump. Also in October, Mikey arrived! The pictures and stories are still so powerful and vivid in my memory that I tear up while working sometimes.

I have submitted an idea to a company called Davison. After reviewing the idea, Davison drafted a plan to pitch my idea to a company for licensing. Mike and I are taking a chance on the idea. Cross your fingers for our success! Of course, I will let you know if you should look for my product on shelves in stores but for now I have to keep it under wraps.

One of the best things about breast-feeding is how much reading I get to do. I mean, aside from the bonding and the super-weight-loss. In addition to child development books (Magic Years; Between Parent and Child; Great Expectations; Touchpoints; Nursing Mother's Companion) that frequented my lap in the first few months, I have added fiction to my nursing-chair-side library. This month I polished off "God of Animals" by Aryn Kyle, "Honored Guest" by Joy Williams, and began "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz.

Mike
Mike continues to be an amazing husband and father. I love watching him play with Mikey.

He also earned a Merit award from the University for outstanding work! I am so proud of him for being recognized for excellent teaching and research. I believe he really deserves it, too!

This month Mike was invited to work in Germany during this summer. Sticking with the plan to stay in Missoula, he declined the invitation. However, it got us talking about how ambivalent we are about staying. Of course we are excited to see Missoula in the summer and explore our "new" hometown. But we are also deeply sad that we won't be spending our summer days with our Colorado friends. Specifically, Mike continues to collaborate with the guys at NIST. One week he spent some non-trivial amount of time talking on the phone with Hans and Justin. That Friday Mike came home and confessed that he really misses Hans and Justin.

Congratulations to Wendy...
...for a successful defense of her prospectus!

March 2010

Mike Goes to Washington
At the start of the month, Mike traveled to Washington DC to politic. He was gone for a short three days and we both missed him. Luckily, Jen stepped in on Thursday to watch Mikey for me while I taught. She also delivered a bag of groceries to me containing items I was craving: cookies, chips, and beer. (I'm not sure what we would do without Jen.)

Mikey's Development
Mikey continues to be a normally developing baby. No matter how "normal" he is as compared to the books, he fascinates us and makes us laugh and smile with pride when he does something new.

Mobility
While Papa was in Washington, Mikey rolled for the first time from his tummy to his back. He wasn't really startled because of all the "rough-housing" I ad done with him during play on the floor. (I use his legs to roll him vigorously back and forth and back and forth and, then, oops! He rolls all the way over onto his belly!)

Mikey has figured out how to reposition himself. One day I took him into the kitchen with me so I could do some chores. I laid him on a blanket that was on top of a rug. My first chore was to unload the dishwasher so I had Mikey facing me so we could talk. Then I went into the mudroom to put some things away and when I returned Mikey had rotated 90 degrees and was facing the mudroom door. Lastly, I began cleaning his new high chair and he rock and rolled to swing himself around 180 degrees so that he was facing me. By "rocking and rolling" I mean that he starts on his back, kicks his legs 90 degrees up and then rolls onto his side, and then "unrolls" back onto his back - with a slightly new angle. He repeats the process over and over until he is facing what he wants to face. One instance of this made me think really hard - I had put his head at one end of his crib and when I went back he had manuveured 180 degrees!

Mikey continued to practice his rolling from tummy to back and from back to tummy until he found himself on the hardwood floor. He fell asleep and was snoozing on the edge of his play-station on the floor. After a while he moved - in his sleep - from his back to his side. I went to the kitchen with Mike to get something to drink and eat and then heard Mikey's little, "ooh" that he makes when he wakes up and is ready for some attention. I walked into the living room and found him about one revolution away from his blanket on the hardwood floor. Since then Mikey has not rolled from his tummy to his back or vice verse. I suspect that he is unsure about whether or not he likes the feeling of rolling on a hard surface.

The last physical developments are rooted in Mikey's desire. He now leans toward what he wants and grasps at it. The most amusing feat is when he is standing (with Mama's or Papa's help) and then crunches his abdominal muscles to bend over at the waist to examine something beneath him. Sometimes he investigates his toes, his legs, my legs, or just looks at some other interesting thing.

Mikey found his toes this month.

Verbal Communication
Mikey continues to enjoy talking with Mama and Papa. He seems to find new parts of his mouth. He no longer is amused by me saying "Ooh," "Aah," and "Ohh." Instead, he wants to squawk in a high-pitched shriek. I think he found the back of his throat for that one. Most recently, he has added "Ah-goo," and "Ah-boo" to his vocabulary.

Mikey's Friends
Mikey and Lucy "saw" each other this month. It was so adorable to watch them look at one another. In fact, Lucy's mom Lisa and I laid them next to one another on the floor and then proceeded to jump and giggle when they "held" hands and looked at each other in the eyes.

Mikey met a new friend this month named Thomas. I met Thomas and his mother Jenny at the Nursing Nook. I have been trying to take a lesson from Wendy and exchange numbers with other new mamas as I meet them. At the time, I didn't think fast enough and didn't hve the courage to ask for Jenny's phone number. Instead, I waited until I got home and called the owner of the Nursing Nook and asked her to put me in touch with Jenny. Luckily, everyone remembered me (and Mikey). So, one day Jenny and Thomas came over and played with us in the living room and went for a walk to Bonner Park.

Mikey's Animals
Mikey saw a bird on our walk the other day. We were walking with Teresa Kalinka and a black bird landed in front of us on the sidewalk. Teresa alerted me to Mikey's interest and we stopped to watch the bird hop off the sidewalk onto the road and then spread its wings to fly up to the top of the fence. Mikey also meets dogs on our walks and if they seem friendly enough I let him reach out at them. Lastly, Mikey met Bose the cat at Jen and Honey's house. Bose was very good and let Mikey pet his back and grab at his fur. It was awesome for me to watch Mikey learn even more!

Mikey's Sleep
The only "schedule" I can control is to walk twice per day - once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Other than that, Mikey sleeps when he wants/needs to. We have started a nighttime routine and Mikey is approaching a bedtime. Our routine is: as soon as Mikey rubs his eyes for the first time I take him to his room and turn on the nightlight lamp. I turn on the Beatles Rock-a-bye lullaby CD and change his diaper. Then I give him a little body massage before putting him in some jammies. Then we read "Goodnight Gorilla" by Peggy Rathman and nurse to sleep. It seems to work well! Nighttime begins anywhere between 6PM and 8PM.

During the night Mikey is still not "sleeping through the night." He tends to sleep for 4-5.5 hours in his first stretch. Then he nurses and sleeps another couple hours. Then he wakes more and more frequently until he begins his day (with 2 hours of play). This morning playtime begins any time between 5AM and 7AM. It is followed by a light breakfast and a nap.

Mikey is nowhere near a napping schedule. His naps last anywhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours and the number and time of his naps vary from day to day.

For Mama
Three fun things happened this month for me to socialize. (Things are getting easier and easier as Mikey becomes stronger and more interactive.) We went for a walk in Frenchtown with Paula and Ember and Sherry and Cliff. We had happy hour beers with Nate and Erin. We went to a wine-tasting party with Todd, Kimberlee, and Ivan. We went to the Jacobs Potluck. And perhaps the BEST thing for me was Teresa Kalinka's visit.

Teresa is my friend from my days at Michigan State. She and her husband own and operate the Detroit Princess Riverboat and took a winter holiday to visit Chris' family and friends down under. She managed to tack a week on to the end of her vacation to visit Montana for the first time. We were thrilled to have her here to show off Mikey and to show off our town. We even managed a little road trip to Polson to show off Flathead Lake. While she was here Teresa cooked up a storm and left us with oodles of food: potato leek soup, pumpkin soup, chicken tikki, fajitas, marinated flank steak. Wow! She also did a bunch of laundry for us and cleaned the kitchen floor. of course, the BEST part of Teresa's visit was just having her nearby.

On Love
I am still figuring out what it means to love my son. That tug on my heart that is the feelings of falling in (and being in) love with Mike has not occurred. As best as I can describe, my love for Mikey so far is a sense of peace that I have when I'm with him.

February 2010

On math A cool series to follow:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/from-fish-to-infinity/?ref=opinion

Mikey's Development
Physical
Mikey is gaining dexterity with his hands. While we were at work one day I gave him a rattle to play with and I purposefully gave it to him in his left hand. I took my eyes off him to check my email and when I looked back he had switched the rattle from his left hand to his right hand. Cool.

Mikey's sight and coordination also seems to be developing as expected. He bats at things and sometimes grabs things by gathering them with both hands towards his mouth. Here are a couple notes I made on my Facebook profile: "Yesterday he had successfully grabbed the Little Mr. Smile and was holding it, which is quite a feat given how twirly it is." "This morning Papa put his hands out to hold Mikey's hands and before he got a hold of Mikey, Mikey took hold of him. You should have seen the surprise and delight on Papa's face!"

Mikey has begun to laugh but we have to elicit the giggles with tickles or "rough housing." His favorite games are "helicopter baby" where we hold him up and move him back and forth like the blades of a helicopter, "pendulum baby" where we hold him by his arm pits and swing his legs back and forth like a pendulum, and "flying baby" where we lift him up into the air really fast.

Mikey seems to learn quickly. Case in point: he is practiing pre-teething self-soothing by chewing on things...including his own hand. At one point, he put his hand in his mouth and, apparently, bit down too hard and started shrieking in fright. He was laying next to me and looking right at me and I just smiled and said, "there is nothing I can do when you bite yourself!" he calmed down pretty quickly and hasn't bitten himself since.

Mikey has begun to roll onto his side.

Friends
We got together for the first time with two other new mamas that we met in our birthing class: Sherry and her son Cliff hosted me and Mikey and Paula and her daughter Ember. It was so fun to sit and gab with the other new mamas! And to line up our babies for a cutie-patutie photo opp.

There was no potluck this month at the Jacobs house so I invited myself over one sunny Tuesday afternoon. We spent a few hours soaking up the sun in the back yard with Jim and Teresa.

Verbal Communication
Mikey began to laugh! The best part of this was that his first laugh was when all three of us were together.

Misc Stuff
Mikey got a new Doc.
Mikey spent his 4 month birthday in mama's arms ALL DAY!
Mikey got a new mobile. It took loads of mama-power to fold and glue but it turned out AWESOME. So awesome, in fact, that Mike wants to keep it hanging as decoration in the living room even when Mikey is no longer an infant.

On Love
For Valentine's Day I had been hoping that Mikey might take a nap so I could have some alone time with my husband. Instead, Mikey stayed latched almost the entire day. I was so frustrated that my "plan" was foiled! But I was more interested in why Mikey wanted to be nursing all day.

January 2010

Mikey's Changes
In January Mikey continued to grow. He began cooings and caaing. Mostly he likes to sing along with Mama with music in the background. Sometimes he just likes to join conversations. No matter what it is just adorable to see him try out his words. He also calls me to his nursery sometimes. I found it amazing when he called me in once just to spin his butterfly mobile.

Mikey is also bigger and finally fills out his swing. Before his bed bobbled forward and we were worried that he would cut off his own airway (a concern with new babies). Now he sits in his swing for his alone time...just to change things up when he doesn't want to be in his pack-n-play (called "Stimulation Station").

He is also more coordinated with his hands. I have caught him on several occasions handling his toys. Once I looked over and he was holding on to Mr. Smile that was dangling precariously from his mobile at work. Another time I saw him grab a hanging monkey with both hands and I was jumping up and down and clapping with pride! The last example was when Mike went to grab Mikey's hands to say goodbye for the day. As he approached Mikey, Mikey reached out and grabbed him before Papa could grab him! The look of surprise on Mike's face was priceless.

Visitors
The beginning of the month we celebrated Nichole's birthday before sending her off to California. The end of the month we said farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. After two months of visiting, it was hard to see them go. We had spent as much time as possible visiting. I took Mikey over whenever I had time to hang out. Other times they came to visit. However, since classes were starting anxiety trumped any other feelings.

Mama and Mikey on their Own
The week before classes began Mike went to a conference in Washington DC. So Mikey and Mama were on their own and totally successful! Of course, Grandma and Grandpa were on speeddial and slept with the phone nearby just in case I needed them but we managed just fine every night.

A New Car
In December we drove to the Lumberjack in Lolo and on the way we watched our headlights fade away. In the past we didn't worry about breaking down and waiting for AAA for a tow. But Mikey changed everything. We really didn't want to worry about our car not starting or breaking down (due to age). So we bought the car we've been lusting after for years: a Subaru Outback (2010). It is so sweet!! It is so easy to get in and out of. Two favorite features: heated seats and the spotlight on the ground when you open the door.

Classes Begin
Classes began on January 25th and it went relatively smoothly. I teach Tuesdays and Thursdays immediately after Mike teaches. He finishes class, comes down to his lab where he has let me set up shop, takes Mikey, and I head two doors down to lecture. In the afternoons I have office hours baby permitting and so far about half of my students have stopped by and Mikey hasn't been a problem. Pretty sweet! During my second class I thought to myself, "this is nice...to be teaching."

Hello from YouTube!

I have joined the YouTube community. My channel is JulieUzelacSchneider and you can find me using my email address but here is a shortcut: JulieUzelacSchneider. I intend to use it mostly for keeping people up-to-date on Mikey's life. I also have a link on the right side of this page that will "hold" after I've posted away this entry. Enjoy!!