Saturday, June 28, 2008

Velkommen til Skogfjorden

On Friday (yesterday) we continued on without the dogs to Bemidji, MN, another 220 or so miles. Stian wasn't quite as good in the car, but who can blame him? I sat in the back seat and sang to him and that seemed to make him happy.



We are in Bemidji for Nordlandslaget, which is an organization for descendants of people from Northern Norway. They are having their annual meetings here in Bemidji this year. Kris used to go to the meetings every year growing up, but this is the first time that I've ever been.

One of the activities this year for Nordlandslaget was to go visit Skogfjorden . Skogfjorden is where Kris and I met, and most of you already know, is a Norwegian language camp. Skogfjorden is a very special place to both Kris and me, and it is always fun to go visit, and it was so much fun to take Stian there. Of course he won't remember the visit, but hopefully someday we will send Stian to camp at Skogfjorden.



Here's Kris's dad chatting with Linda and Kjersti outside of Valhall. It was a pleasant surprise to run into Kjersti, we weren't expecting her to be working there this summer. And we had to run up to Linda's house to visit with her.




Here's Stian and me out in front of Utgard, that's Uncle Brad making faces at Stian, and of course Auntie Karin and Cousin Klebo chatting with a couple of the videregaaene (campers who are there for 4 weeks studying Norwegian and get a full year's worth of high school language credit).





Kris and Stian by the map.



The last time we were at Skogfjorden was the summer of 2003, and since then they have built barn. So I wanted to walk out there and see that.



The barn is quite neat. Kris has been wanting to build a garage out in our backyard, I told him he could if he built one that looks something like this.



They put the barn out by the old immigrant cabins. These are actual cabins immigrants from Norway lived in that were moved onto the Skogfjorden site.



It's always fun to visit Skogfjorden and always sad to leave again.

When we were done at Skogfjorden we came back to our hotel in Bemidji and settled in. Grandma helped me feed Stian his dinner by being his high chair for me. Yummy - carrots again!





Stian slept in his Pack 'n' Play last night and did really well. He was only up twice in the night, much better than I expected.

Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad...

We're on our first family road trip. We feel like such a family with a kid and a couple of dogs in a station wagon with a whopper topper driving cross country.

We drove from Battle Ground to Spooner on Thursday, that's just over 500 miles. Stian was a real trooper in the car. I really didn't know how he would do, but he did great. There was some fussing, but for the most part he just sat back there and babbled and played with his toys. He hardly slept at all, which surprised me.



We stopped at a rest stop just over the Illinois border in Wisconsin and took a break. Stian had some lunch - carrots, his current favorite - and laid on a blanket in the grass for awhile.





And of course he had to take his picture taken with the giant orange moose in Black River Falls (at least I'm pretty sure that was Black River Falls).



We spent that night at my parents' house in Spooner to drop off the dogs. He slept quite well in the old portacrib my parents set up for him. He woke up prett frequently in the night, but went back to sleep quickly. I kind of think he tummy was bothering him. But again, he did better than I though he would. I thought he wouldn't like sleeping some place new, but he handled it just fine.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Sleep Training Day Seven

And a few more steps back. Are we back to where we started now?

I don't think I'll keep posting these. We're not making progress anymore, and there isn't much point in posting these just so we can keep track of how little sleep Stian and I are getting. It's a good thing I've got an appointment with my chiropractor this afternoon.

7:05 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day
8:00 am – Kris brings Stian to me, nurse, play
8:55 am – begin nap routine
9:05 am – into crib awake
9:10 am – asleep
10:25 am – awake
10:40 pm – asleep again?
10:55 pm – awake
11:05 pm – asleep again?
11:15 am – crying – I think he somehow banged his head in the crib. Go get him up, diaper change, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, nurse and playtime (we go for a long walk, and he sleeps for part of it)
1:35 pm – begin nap routine
1:45 pm – into crib awake
2:05 pm – asleep
3:30 pm – fussing then crying (rolled onto his tummy and couldn’t get back), get him up, nurse, change diaper, play time
5:45 pm – rice cereal, nurse, play time
7:10 pm – begin night time routine
7:45 pm – into crib asleep
9:45 pm – crying, PU/PD once – notice his pjs are wet, so take him to change his diaper. Put him back in his crib and talk soothingly to him for a minute and leave, he goes back to sleep.
12:12 pm – crying, nurse, back into crib awake, but he falls asleep quickly
1:45 am – crying, I go to sooth him and he smells like he needs a fresh diaper, so I take him to change him, turns out he didn’t. Put him back into his crib awake, he turns on soother and goes back to sleep
4:36 am – crying, PU/PD 3 times
5:10 am – fussing, calms self, more fussing, more calming self
5:20 am – crying, calms to voice and touch
5:28-6:45 am – crying, PU/PD 50 times. I finally give up getting him back to sleep and Kris gets him up for the day.

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 11 hours
Mommy: about 5 hours

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Sleep Training Day Six

One step forward, three steps back.

7:00 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day
8:05 am – Kris bring Stian to me, nurse, play time
8:45 am – begin nap routine (he was acting tired, so we started early)
8:55 am – into crib awake (he turns on soother a couple of times)
9:10 am – asleep?
10:10 am – awake, and talking in crib
10:45 am – crying, so I go get him up
11:30 am – sweet potatoes, rice cereal, nurse
12:15 pm – begin nap routine
12:20 pm – into crib awake
12:30 pm – asleep
1:00 pm – fussing, but I’m in shower so can’t do anything
1:10 pm – still fussing, doesn’t calm to voice and touch, but only fussing, not crying.
1:15 pm – he turns on the soother himself and calms down.
1:25 pm – asleep again
2:03 pm – awake
2:30 pm – go get him up, change diaper, nurse
4:05 pm – begin nap routine
4:15 pm – into crib awake
4:20 pm – asleep
4:50 pm – awake
5:30 pm – nurse
6:00 pm – rice cereal
6:50 pm – bath
7:05 pm – start bedtime routine
7:40 pm – into crib asleep
7:47 pm – fussing
7:49 pm – crying, but quiets himself
9:35-9:54 pm – crying, PU/PD 6 times
10:10 pm – crying, calms self
10:20 pm – crying, calms to voice and touch
10:30 pm – I go to bed
11:15 pm – crying
11:18-11:30 pm – PU/PD 9 times
11:54-12:13 pm – PU/PD 14 times
1:35-1:47 am – nurse
6:05-6:35 am – awake in crib
6:35 am – asleep
7:05 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 10 hours and 30 minutes
Mommy: about 6 hours and 30 minutes

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Rolling

Stian just rolled from his back to his tummy and back again. He's never before rolled from back to front, and he hasn't rolled front to back in awhile. But he just did both. Way to go little guy!



Sleep Training Day Five

Um wow.

7:00 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day, changes diaper, play time.
8:05 am – Kris brings Stian to me to nurse, play.
8:50 am – change diaper and begin nap routine.
9:00 am – into crib awake
9:10 am – some fussing, but not enough to go help.
9:16 am – quiet, asleep?
11:45 am – awake (wow, what a long nap!), diaper change, sweet potatoes and rice cereal, nurse, then play time.
1:48 pm – being nap routine
1:55 pm – into crib awake
2:10 pm – asleep?
3:40 pm – I go wake him up so we can go to Kindermusikk, change his diaper and nurse, then head out to Kindermusikk
5:45 pm – rice cereal and nurse, then play time
7:05 pm – begin night time routine – change diaper, massage, stories, nurse
7:50 pm – into crib asleep
9:20 pm – crying, calms quickly to voice and touch
10:30 pm – I go to bed
10:57 pm – crying, calms to voice and touch
12:30 am – crying, nurse
6:05 am – awake in crib, but not fussing
6:20 am – asleep
7:00 am – Kris gets him up for the day

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 14 hours and 30 minutes
Mommy: about 8 hours and 30 minutes

Monday, June 16, 2008

Sleep Training Day Four

I'm not sure how interesting this is for others to read, but since this blog is also my scrapbook, I'm posting it anyway. ;)

Well, we had to do pick up/put down twice last night. But he slept for longer stretches, so that's good.

7:00 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day, changes diaper, play time.
9:00 am – Kris brings Stian to me to nurse.
9:10 am – begin nap routine.
9:15 am – into crib awake.
9:20 am – asleep.
11:35 am – Stian wakes up and is happy in crib, Kris goes to get him and changes his diaper.
12:00 pm – sweet potatoes, rice cereal, nursing.
12:30-2:10 pm – running errands
2:10-2:30 pm – napping in car
2:35 pm – change diaper, begin nap routine
2:50 pm – into crib awake
2:50-3:25 pm – awake in crib
3:25 pm – quiet, must be asleep now
4:20 pm – awake (lawn mower probably woke him up)
4:30 pm – get him up and nurse him, play time
5:45 pm – rice cereal, play time
7:00 pm – begin night routine – change diaper, massage, stories, nurse
7:34 pm – into crib asleep
9:44 pm – fussing, calms self
10:43 pm – fussing
10:45-10:56 pm – PU/PD 17 times
11:00 pm – I go to bed
12:04 am – crying, nurse
12:15 am – crying, calms to voice and touch.
2:55 am – crying, calms self.
3:45-4:03 am – PU/PD 22 times – then he turns on the soother himself and calms down
4:38 am – fussing, calms self
4:43 am – crying, calms to voice and touch.
5:40 am – fussing, calms self.
5:45 am – fussing, calms self
5:50 am – fussing, calms self
5:55 am – fussing, calms to voice and touch
6:00 am – asleep.
7:00 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day.

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 12 hours and 30 min
Mommy: about 8 hours

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day

Stian tried sweet potatoes today. Up to this point the only solid he has had has been rice cereal. But I made him some sweet potatoes to try.



Stian was not impressed. Ah well, we'll try again tomorrow.



Later in the day we had yet another storm come through. We have had more nasty storms this year. So um, is that a wall cloud?



Whatever it was, it wasn't too kind to the trees across the street. Although they survived.



And finally, a picture of Stian and Daddy together on Father's Day.

Sleep Training Day Three

Hmmm, two steps forward, one step back I guess. Still better than day one though.

6:57 am – Kris gets Stian up for the day, changes diaper.
8:40 am – Kris changes his diaper and brings him to me to nurse.
8:58 am – begin nap routine.
9:03 am – into crib awake.
9:13 am – asleep.
10:22 am – awake, but happy in crib talking to himself.
10:55 am – asleep again.
11:30 am – awake, get him up, diaper change, solids, nurse, play time.
1:25 pm – change diaper and begin nap routine.
1:35 pm – in crib awake.
1:45 pm – asleep.
3:15 pm – awake and chatting in crib, go get him up, change diaper, nurse, play time.
5:30 pm – rice cereal and nurse, play time.
7:00 pm – begin night time routine – change diaper, massage, 3 stories, nurse.
7:40 pm – into bed asleep.
9:04-9:14 pm – fussing, calming to voice and touch, then not.
9:14-9:17 pm – PU/PD once
9:19 pm – asleep.
10:45 pm – I go to bed.
11:21 pm – crying, calms to voice and touch after a couple minutes. Then awake kicking and talking for a little while in crib.
12:10 am – crying, calms self down.
12:19 am – crying, calms self down.
12:22-12:35 am – crying, calms to voice and touch, then cries again and calms to voice and touch, over and over.
12:36-1:00 am – starts to really cry, and doesn’t calm down. PU/PD 32 times.
1:00 am – awake in crib, but not crying.
1:04-1:20 am – crying, calms to voice and touch over and over.
1:20-1:34 am – starts to really cry again and won’t calm down. PU/PD 14 times.
1:35 am – finally asleep again.
3:30 am – crying, nurse 10 minutes, asleep.
5:30-6:20 am – awake in crib talking and kicking.
6:20 am – I finally turn on soother to try to get him to go back to sleep.
6:30 am – asleep.
7:00 am – Kris gets him up for the day.

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 10 hours and 15 minutes.
Mommy: about 6 hours.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Music Time

Just a few pictures from music time. Kris and Stian play with the guitar pretty much every day. Stian makes some noise on the guitar too - plucking or pounding usually.



Sleep Training Day Two

We're making progress. Day two went much better than I thought it would. I only had to use PU/PD once. Let's hope today is even better!

Day Two

7:05 am – Kris comes to get him, changes diaper, plays with him
8:05 am – Kris bring Stian to me. I nurse him and we play.
8:55 am – change diaper and begin nap routine.
9:05 am – into crib, quiet.
9:15 am – asleep.
9:43 am – awake, but quietly playing in crib.
10:15 am – I think he’s asleep again, it’s awfully quiet.
11:20 am – awake, but quietly playing in crib.
11:30 am – I go get him up, change his diaper.
11:45 am – rice cereal and then nurse and then play time.
1:15 pm – start nap routine, diaper, music, quiet time. Stian gets the hiccups – uh oh.
1:23 pm – into crib. A little fussing, a lot of flailing. Starts to fuss, calms to voice. I’m thinking the hiccups are bugging him.
1:41 pm – hiccups gone – he’s asleep!
2:35 pm – awake, talking and playing in crib.
3:10 pm – he starts to fuss, so I go and get him up and change his diaper.
3:20 pm – nurse, play time.
4:25 pm – change diaper, begin nap routine.
4:38 pm – in bed, turn on soother.
4:50 pm – asleep.
5:25 pm – I go wake him up, pay time.
5:45 pm – rice cereal and nurse, play time.
7:10 pm – begin sleep routine – diaper change, massage, three stories, nurse.
7:48 pm – into crib, asleep.
8:37 pm – crying, but calms to voice and touch.
10:05 pm – crying, but calms after a minute or two to voice and touch.
10:30 pm – I go to bed.
10:45 pm – crying, calms to voice and touch.
12:23 am – crying, nurse 13 minutes, asleep.
2:24 am – crying, but stops quickly on his own.
3:00 am – crying, I turn on soother and he quiets down and goes back to sleep.
4:07-4:19 am – crying, PU/PD 8 times
4:19 am – awake in crib, but quiet
4:42 am – asleep.
6:20 am – awake in crib talking
6:57 am – Kris comes and gets him up for the day.

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 11 hours and 45 min
Mommy: about 6 hours and 20 min

I could have gotten more sleep, but I couldn't fall back asleep after the PU/PD at 4:00 am. I was up until about 6:30. But that's not Stian's fault, I was just awake.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Sleep Training Day One

Stian has never really slept in his crib. He slept in his bassinet when he was a newborn, but then basically went into the swing because he just would not sleep in his crib. For the last several months the swing hasn’t been going most of the time, but he still needed the shape of the swing I guess. But he’s now 23+ lbs and the swing is only rated to 25 lbs. So it was really time to get him out of the swing and into his crib.

After doing some reading, I settled on The Baby Whisperer’s Method of Pick Up/Put Down. This is sort of a middle ground from letting baby do whatever he wants and having him cry it out. I’m not willing to have him cry it out – at least not until I’ve tried everything else. The Pick Up/Put Down method is basically what it sounds like. When he starts to cry you first try to sooth him without picking him up. If that doesn’t work you pick him up. As soon as he stops crying you put him down again. Or if he starts to fight you, you put him down again. Or if it’s been more than two minutes holding him you put him down again. Even if he starts to cry on the way back into the crib you put him all the way down, take your hands off him and then pick him right back up again. Over and over and over. It is supposed to reassure him that you are there, you have not abandoned him, but you also are not the one putting him to sleep. He eventually puts himself to sleep.

It’s a lot of work! She says in the book for babies under about 4 months this should work in about 3 days. For babies older than that it can take longer.

So this is how the first 24 hours went:

7:05 am – Kris wakes Stian up, changes diaper, plays with him
8:05 am – Kris brings Stian to me, I nurse him, we play
8:55 am – begin getting ready for first nap – change diaper, go into his bedroom, close doors, play soft music, sit in chair quietly for 5 minutes.
9:08 am – Now instead of putting him into his swing awake, I put him into his crib awake. He starts to cry. I pick him up and put him down 8 times
9:16 am – turn on soother (Fisher Price crib aquarium thingy), he stops crying, soother goes for 5 minutes.
9:21 am – awake in crib but not crying or fussing.
9:24 am – starts to fuss, but calms down when I put my hand on his chest.
9:37 am – fussing, does not calm down when I put my hand on his chest.
9:40 am – crying. I try putting him on his belly and turning on the soother, he quiets down
9:48 am – crying. Pick up/put down 42 times, much hysterical crying.
10:08 am – asleep! In his crib! (on his back)
10:08-10:28 am – I stand with my hand on his chest (the theory here is that it takes a person 20 minutes to fall deeply asleep, if he stirs during that 20 minutes he will likely get upset again if I’m not right there – this isn’t a permanent thing, just until he learns how to go to sleep on his own).
10:29 am – I sneak out of room.
10:46 am – crying, but he stops by the time I get upstairs, so I don’t go in. I go back downstairs. I can hear him awake over monitor. But he’s not unhappy, just talking to himself.
11:10 am – fussing, so I go get him. Change his diaper. This is normally when he gets rice cereal, but he starts to cry when I put him in his high chair, so I don’t push it and nurse him instead. Play time.
12:15 pm – rice cereal, but he doesn’t eat all that much. Play time.
12:40 pm – get ready for nap – diaper change, shut doors, soft music, sit quietly
12:50 pm – into crib awake. Flailing about and a bit of fussing, but calms to my voice and touch.
1:05 pm – quiet in crib.
1:15 pm – asleep in crib!
1:37 pm – crying, calms to voice and touch, then awake in crib but quiet
1:55 pm – crying. PU/PD 4 times, turn on soother, quiet in crib.
2:05-2:43 pm – lots and lots of crying. PU/PD 40 times.
2:43 pm – asleep! I only have my hand on him for 5 minutes this time. My back is killing me. I lay down on mattress on floor. I sneak out of room around 3:10.
3:15 pm – crying, but just for a second. Then he’s quiet in crib. He’s awake talking to himself, but not crying or fussing.
3:30 pm – go get him out of his crib. Nurse him and change his diaper. Play time.
5:30 pm – diaper change, rice cereal and nursing
6:50 pm – Kris gives Stian a bath.
7:08 pm – begin sleep routine: massage, 3 stories, nursing
7:39 pm – into bed. Cries, calms down to my voice. He turns on the soother himself. Fussing off and on, calming to voice and touch.
8:08 pm – asleep!
8:48 pm – crying. Calms to voice and touch.
8:50-9:03 pm – PU/PD 22 times.
9:03 pm – asleep.
9:30 pm – I go to bed.
10:03 pm – crying.
10:03-10:20 pm – PU/PD 27 times.
10:21 pm – asleep.
11:10 pm – crying.
11:21 – 11:26 pm – nursing. This may have been a mistake, but I usually nurse him around this time when I go to bed. But since he nursed such a short time, I don’t think he was actually hungry.
11:26 pm – asleep.
1:04 am – crying.
1:04-1:28 am – PU/PD 25 times.
1:28 am – asleep.
2:30 am – awake, but not crying. Starts to fuss, calms to voice and touch. Awake, playing with mirror in crib.
3:09 am – still awake, starts to get fussy, turns on soother himself. Awake and quiet.
3:40 am – starts to get really fussy.
3:45-4:03 am – nursing. Again, he’s used to getting nursed once, and usually twice between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am. He seems quite hungry this time.
4:04 am – asleep.
4:12 am – fussing, quiets to soothing.
4:16 am – asleep.
5:44 am – awake, but just talking to himself.
6:02 am – fussing, I turn on soother.
6:10 am – asleep.
7:05 am – Kris comes and gets him.

Amount of sleep in the last 24 hours:
Stian: about 8 hours 15 min
Mommy: about 3 hours 30 min

I’m hoping the worst is over now. I know we still have several rough days ahead of us, but hopefully yesterday was the worst day. Man my back is killing me. Picking up and putting down 23+ lbs over and over is really hard on my back! I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep more too. My nerves were just so frazzled that even though I could have gotten a little more sleep, I just couldn't fall asleep.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Bambi!

I looked out the window earler this afternoon and saw this under our hickory tree out back:



He/she's all alone (let's just say she), no mama in sight. So I was worried about her. She was looking around, so I knew she was still alive. I called the wildlife care people in the area and they called me back. They said she's probably fine. When they are tiny like this they have no scent, so predators can't easily find them. But the mama does have scent, so she stays away to lure predators away from the baby. They said she will likely be back. But she may leave her there for 24 hours. They said to call back if she starts wondering around and crying, if her head is bent back at a weird angle (?!) or if there seem to be lots of flies on her. Okay... So let's hope mama comes back soon because I'm worried about her!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Eye Appointment

Really bad eyes run in Kris's family. His nephew (Klebo) had to get glasses when he was 6 months old because he was terribly nearsighted. So we wanted to be sure to get Stian in as early as possible to have them take a look at his eyes. So we took him today to see Kris's ophthalmologist. And his eyes look good! Yay! What a relief! He had to get his eyes dilated, and he cried when they put the drops in because they sting, but he recovered quickly and did really well at the appointment. Stian is a little farsighted - which is normal in babies. Although he is a little less farsighted than is normal. So it's likely he will need glasses at some point. But hopefully his eyes won't be nearly as bad as Daddy's or Klebo's. He also has a slight astigmatism. The doctor didn't want to check for detaching retinas (which also run in Kris's family) because he would have had to pin Stian down, prop his eyes open and poke at his eyes with a Q-tip. Yikes! He said they aren't a problem this early anyway, so we will check when he older. We go back in a year to have them take another look.

They gave Stian these groovy glasses to wear to help with the brightness from having his eyes dilated. He didn't seem to like them all that well, but he wore them the whole way home, I thought for sure he'd yank them off. I think I'm going to have to keep ahold of them though - his other baby sun glasses don't stay on at all.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Standing

Stian is getting pretty good at standing. Although he seems to have forgotten how to roll over again. Ah well, he'll get there.


Blue-eyed Boys

Their eyes are awfully similar in color, aren't they?

Diapers by Grandma

My mom has been making cloth diapers and diaper covers for Stian. Here's one in action.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Just Hangin' Out

I just wanted to post a picture of Stian in his new wool shorties I made and the t-shirt he got from Wayne and Kelly.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Bath Time

Poor Stian has had a terrible diaper rash for a little over a week now. We talked to the nurse about it when we were in for his 6 month appointment when it was just starting. She thought then that it looked like a yeast rash. So we were treating him for that. But it just kept getting worse and worse and looked so terribly uncomfortable. So we went back to see the nurse again. Now that it has spread she could see that wasn't a yeast rash afterall, but some sort of dermatitis. (apparently this type of rash is fairly common during teething) Now that we've started treating it properly with hydrocortisone cream and Vaseline, it's starting to heal. Another part of his treatment has been nightly oatmeal baths to help with the itching. He's supposed to sit in the bath for 15-20 minutes, which is a long bath. So we pulled out bath toys to play with.



And although he has all these cute liitle squirty bath toys, his favorite is, of course, the cup. How does he know that is what you do with cups? I guess someone has been watching Mommy and Daddy.



Sitting up in the tub.



And finally on the changing table getting his butt treatment. If you look closely you can see that's his foot in his left hand.

Favorite Toy

Stian's current favorite toy is Sophie the Giraffe.



She's apparently quite tasty.