Las Vegas - Geoffrey's First Vacation!

SO - I am way behind on my vacation blogging - 5 days in and I haven't even started! I must say, though, that it is harder now with Geoffrey to find time to sit down and blog. Typically I like to do a big chunk all at once - but I may just have to adjust to blogging about small bits here and there.... Hee hee -

Away we go!

Friday June 19

We left on Friday morning to drive to Vegas. We rented a car from LB airport and were on our way by noon. There was a lot of traffic until we got on the 15, and then it was smooth sailing. We stopped at Barstow for lunch, as well as at a rest stop for some stretching. Geoffrey did well for most of the ride - but towards the end, he couldn't sleep any more and was ready for a change from the car seat and some social time.

We checked into the Marriott Grand Chateau at about 6:00 PM, and we all enjoyed some stretch out time. The room we stayed in was a one bedroom – but it had a very odd lay out and was not an effective use of space. However, we certainly enjoyed the washer and dryer in our room!

After we settled in, we headed back out to dinner. We ate at Grand Lux at the Venetian. Geoff was very good – he slept through most of dinner and was pretty happy when he woke up.

We swung by Wal-mart to get some snackins before heading back to our hotel for the night.

16 week happenings! + rolling over!

Geoff sure had a busy week!

On Thursday night, Geoff came to our fifth grade wax museum and science fair! Everyone loved seeing him!

On Friday, he went to our Spring concert. Aunt Cathy Roh held him during the concert and he loved hearing the music!

On Saturday, he went to an Angels game! The Angels played the Padres and won - scoring nine runs - four of them home runs! It was so exciting! (Geoff, by the way, slept through the first 3 innings!)

Geoffers is such a good boy on all of these outings! He really travels well!

Plus, this weekend, Geoffrey rolled over! He rolled from his back to his stomach on Friday and again on Saturday! He likes to put his feet up. rolling into a ball, and then rolling over to one side... well now. a few times, he's managed to roll all the way!

15 1/2 week Pediatrician Visit

On Monday, Geoffrey went to visit Dr. Chang. He now weighs 15 pounds (which puts him in the top quarter) and 26 inches (still 90th percentile for length.) With Geoff spitting up so much, and starting to sleep longer at night, I was anxious to know that his weight was all right. So of course the fact that it proprtionally went down had me worried. However, Dr. Chang does not seem concerned. She said he looks healthy, strong, and happy, and that he is growing well. When I asked, she said that his length was great, and that he while not be a chunky baby, he is still doing very well. She seemed impressed that he was still exclusively on breast milk - no formula - and that I was pumping enough.

She also didn't seem concerned about Geoffrey's sleeping on daddy's schedule, which is good.

She wants us to start solids when he is 4 months. It is not for nutritional reasons at this point, but rather to get him used to eating solids so that when the time comes that he needs solids, he won't refuse food off of a spoon in preference to the nipple. At this point, just rice cereal. We haven't started yet - He won't be 4 months until June 20th. I asked her about delaying solids until he was 6 months - because I had really started thinking that I might want to do that. She said that if he refused the cereal or didn't seem interested, it was ok, and to try again in a few days or a week, but in general, she felt we should go ahead and start it.

I haven't really decided yet. His weight does concern me a bit and maybe a little rice cereal would help. Plus it is another source of iron. We'll see how the summer goes.

I am glad that summer starts for me when Geoffrey is turning 4 months. I feel like he is hitting a new developmental level at 4 months - new foods - new feeding patterns (the plan she gave us as a suggestion has him nursing 5 times a day, with rice cereal after the 2nd and 4th nursing), and new sleeping patterns (I can already tell that he can go 8 hours, sometimes longer, without a feeding at night for most nights... He's still sleeping now and he went down 8 1/2 hours ago.) I'll get to be home with him through this particular transitional time.

He also got two more immunizations - His HIB and Polio vaccines.
Neither of these are really known to cause reactions and just like last time, Geoffrey did just fine with them. When nurse Florence actually gave him the shots, it wasn't nearly as bad as last time... he didn't have any of those high pitched screams... just a pissed off cry and then he calmed down pretty quickly.

Pediestrian Only - Times Square

Times Square in New York City is now pedestrian only!!! Hurrah! I think that is such a good idea!!!! 

 

Traffic Light Cameras

HB decided against putting up those cameras and intersections to catch drivers that are running red lights. Thank goodness. What a waste of city money!!!!

 

Geoffrey Update - 15 weeks

In this edition:
Sleep
New Developments
Geoffrey's 7th visit to Disneyland

Sleep:
Well, Geoffrey's cranky period really seems to have subsided. Was it a growth spurt? Probably. But we also did some research and we thought his crankiness might have been due to the fact that he was getting too much night sleep and not enough day time sleep. With him sleeping 12 hours at night (with feedings) he wasn't tired enough to nap too much during the day, and yet he was still tired and needed that day time sleep. We've been cutting back his night time sleep, aiming for 10 hours, and that seems to help a lot.

Now Geoffrey is napping in his crib. Sometimes he is able to go right to sleep, and other times he needs some crying time before he falls asleep, but his crib naps are now 45 minute naps, not 10 minute cat naps here and there. However, he is still flexible enough to sleep in his car seat if needed, or down stairs, or in the pack and play and Nonna and Grandpa's.  

The last two nights (weekends) Geoff slept 8 hours and then 9 hours straight through! I still wake him up on work days at 6 to feed him before I leave, but in a week and a half, when summer hits, I think Mr. Geofferson will be able to go through some long stretches of sleep on his own!!!

New Developments:
Geoff is getting better and reaching and actually grabbing toys now in order to bring the to his mouth. Now that he can hold his head up well, he actually enjoys tummy time most of the time! He really is generally a happy, easygoing baby. He likes to make noise and can even laugh and giggle. So cute!!!

Disneyland
Last Thursday, Geoffrey went to DIsneyland for his 7th trip! We rode its a small world. His favorite part was the African scene because he loved looking at all the leaves and vines. We also rode the FInding Nemo Submarine Voyage and the new monorail. Fun!!!!

tidbits

Geoff went swimming inthe big pool for the first time yesterday. He's been in the jacuzzi several times and seems to like it a lot. We were not sure how he would handle the colder pool, but we didn't get a chance to find out - Danny inadverdently heated the pool to 92 degrees! He had fun and enjoyed it for about a half an hour!

Geoffrey has added a high pitched sqqueal/scream to his repitoire of sounds. He uses it when he plays with his toys, squealing happily. He also uses it when he's really worked up in a crying fit - when it escalates to that scream, daddy and I give each other a look. Daddy thinks it is funny. Mommy has premonitions of three year old temper tantrums, but right now still jumps at the sound of it to try to solve the problem.

One thing that is more related to pregnancy recovery - I have been losing my hair. Gobs of it. I know it is normal - but man, I cna't believe that I am not bald!!!!

Summer vacations!!

This summer's plans include:

Two trips to Vegas,
Camping in the Sierra Nevadas,
Disney World/Universal Studios Florida (for two weeks!)
and an 8 night cruise to Panama, Costa Rica, and Cozumel!

Spring Tv ends

Well, now it is time for crappy sumemrtime tv. Although I was thrilled with the ending of Amazing Race (Victor and Tammy), and satisfied with the end of Survivor (J.T.), the end of American Idol was a huge dissapointment with Kris Alan winning over Adam Lambert. Although Adam's music isn't my cup of tea, he was amazing at every performance and deserved the win.

Up now? I am way behind on Dollhouse,  Fringe, I have the finales of Lost and 24, and Ghost whisperer and Medium still seem to be churning out a few episodes. I am ecited about a new show, Glee, and I am willing to watch the Bachelorette to fill up my time. In the meantime, I am counting down to July (Why July??? Why not June???)  to start Big Brother - my summertime crack addiction ( i know it is bad, but I can't help it, I am addicted!) Not to mention I have this Netflix disk, Rachel got Married, that has been sitting here for a month. What a waste - sigh.

Plus - Sims 3!!!!!

3 months - observations

Geoffrey's Likes:

He loves Mommy and Daddy an Uncle Danny and Belle-dog.

He likes to laugh, and squeal, but his favorite noise to make right now is gurgling. He likes to get some saliva or milk pooled in his mouth and then smile and gurgle. He does this a LOT!

He loves his toys. He mostly still looks at them and bats at them, but he can start to hold some of the rings/links on his own. He can look at them for long periods and be amused, talking and laughing. He really is aware of them and interacts with them now! We use the toy bar on his swing, his rain forest mat, and now we bought a toy bar that can attach to different things, such as his car seat. He really enjoys these! It is quite cool to see how his interaction with them has developed!

He loves to suck on/chew his arms! He is really good at grabbing one hand or arm with the other now.

He loves baths/jacuzzis/warm water. I've been bringing his baby bath in the big bath so that he can take baths with me- that is a lot of fun! This weekend, we might go in the big pool - it was up to 85 degrees yesterday!

Being outside.

When Mommy sings to him.

Dislikes:

Sleeping in his crib during the day.

Shots (duh.)

(I am trying to think here - there was a reason I started a dislikes list and I can't remember what it was... ) He's actually a pretty happy baby - and the last few weeks of fussiness weren't a direct effect of something he didn't like. Hmmm.... maybe I'll come back to this.

Oh!!! Duh!!!! He still hates Tummy Time! I worry a bit about this - as I feel like he should be stronger with his tummy skills at this point - being able to hold himself up with his arms a little bit, but I know he'll catch up with this... but still - nothing will entice him - not mommy or daddy, not his toys. Most of the time he just cries! Poor guy. It makes mommy sad when he has tears!

Other Observations:

He is starting to sit upright with support. He uses his Bumpo for short periods. Sometimes we put his swing in the upright position, but lately he seems to be too excited and will sometimes tilt too far forward and then be leaning in front of the support pillows. He can also sit propped up on the couch or bed with blankets and pillows. He seems to like the view this way. We have started to take him in his stroller without the car seat attachment, too, once or twice.

 Outings:
Geoff has been to DIsney two more times. His 5th visit was a short one on Thursday, May 7th. We just did the Sleeping Beauty walk through, Mommy did Matterhorn, and we did Buzz Lightyear. His 6th visit was on Friday, May 15th. We went with angie, Andrew, and Cori. It was crowded - but the big people rode California Screamin', and we all rode on Mickey's Fun Wheel (formerly the Sun Wheel). Then we rode Tower of Terror before closing down DCA with 3 rides in a row on Monster's Inc. all together! Cori and Andrew came home with us. Andrew was a big help getting everything to the car. On the way home, Geoff was gurgling, and Andrew said, "I think he tried to say my name!" Cori flipped out and got mad because Geoff wasn't trying to say her name. Hee hee. She was pretty tired! It was kind of funny.

Geoff also takes lots of walks with Dad and Belle at night. He loves these and often stays awake looking around at everything!

He is also great about running errands to stores with us. He's also been to Round Table twice this week since Daddy discovered a new Round Table buffet in Fountain Valley!

He also enjoys visits from Nonna, and going over to Nonna and Grandpa's house, as well as Grandpa and Grandma DeeDee. He loves being a ham for the web cam when he talks to Grandma and Grandpa Bobby on Skype, too.

He's a busy boy! And he is truly loved - he brightens our days more then we could ever imagine!
 

3 months - Growth Spurt?

Geoffrey Walter is 3 months old. Dios Mio. He has grown and changed so much already!

I haven't blogged lately because the last two weeks were a little more difficult then usual. Nothing major, but for the most part, Mr. Geofferson was extra fussy. In the afternoons/evenings he would have very little content time, and would mostly cry or fuss or need to be held when he wasn't sleeping.

Daddy and I were perplexed. Did Geoff need a nap schedule? Although his night time sleep was fairly consistent, he had no schedule for day time sleep - he just snoozed when he was tired. It worked for daddy and I - and was really no big deal to us when Geoff slept. Could that be the problem? We started keeping track of is naps to see if we could develop a schedule, and tried to put him down for some. However, he cried most of the time we put him down, and seeing that he is still a bit young to Ferberize, that didn't go to well.

I started doing some research, and remembered that babies often have a major growth spurt around 3 months. Perhaps we were gearing up for that? '

In the meantime, we just cuddled and loved - and gave him lots of baths since he likes those. Lately, I've been getting in the big bath tub with him, and putting his baby bath in there with us.

On Thursday night, Geoff was like a new kid - he was happy and giggly and talky all night, with very few fussy periods! Friday night was pretty good, too! 

Was that the growth spurt? Was that it? I was waiting for something worse, but he seems much happier again! We'll observe the next few days and see!

Mother's Day

On Sunday, May 10th, I celebrated my very first Mother's Day with my wonderful family! I wanted to spend the day with Geoffrey and Grant - so we decided to drive down to San Diego for the day. We visited Balboa Park - Geoff slept almost the whole time. In retrospect, we probably should have woken him up at the park - because on the drive home he wasn't sleepy at all and cried for a large part of it - poor boy - at that point he wanted to play and stretch! Anyways, before the drive home, we went back to Kafe Yen in Pacific Beach - this Asian Fusion restaurant we had found by chance a few years ago. It was very yummy! It was a t dinner when Geoff first got a little fussy. Really over all, though, he did well. I loved being with my boys, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my very first Mother's Day, then with Grant and Geoff!

Grant and Geoff also gave me the most amazing Mother's Day gift. We now are members of the Disney Vacation Club! We own at Saratoga Springs! I am so excited for the family vacations and traditions we'll be able to develop at Disney World!

stupid e cards

they pretty much all charge now.

Hallmark e cards

Hallmark charges for most of their ecards now!

Chhh. I think not.

Idols on the Musical Theater Stage

We've seen the following Idols on stage:

Amy Adams in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Latoya London in The Color Purple
Taylor Hicks in Grease

I thought there was another....

Grease!

Last night, we saw Grease at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The cast did a really good job, and I enjoyed the show! I believe this is the first time I've seen a Broadway-caliber production of Grease!

Taylor Hicks did a cameo as "Teen Angel." I thought he did a good job with it - not over the top, but very good. At the end of the show, he performed a song off of his new album - that was fun to hear, too.

2 1/2 month pediatrician visit

On Monday, May 4, Geoff had a visit with Dr. Chang. Geoffrey is now 25 inches long and weighs 14 pounds! Dr. Chang says that he is doing very well - everything she checked - eyes, abs, back, ears, etc. looked good. He is tracking well with his eyes, and his neck is strong.

He got two shots - DTAP and PCV, and an oral rotovirus vaccine. Poor guy - he was already getting fussy before nurse Florence came back in, and he was crying through the oral vaccine. By the time he got the first shot, he was wailing, and the 2nd one brought a full blown, high pitched screech. Poor guy! I was holding him and Grant was holding me. He didn't have much reaction to the vaccine - no fever or anything - but he was definately fussier then usual on Tuesday.

10 weeks - 2 1/2 months!

Geoffrey is ten weeks old now - or 2 1/2 months. I guess I need to start talking in months now - but I am not ready for him to be old enough to start talking about him in months!

This week was sort of erratic as far as his sleep is concerned. One morning he woke up at 8:45, and another morning he woke up at 11:30! Still, the other three days were his normal 10 - 10:30 ish wake ups. However, this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) he has spent a LOT of time sleeping. Another growth spurt, perhaps?

On Thursday, Geoffrey made his 4th trip to Disneyland, and had his first park hopping experience! We started out at DCA and had dinner - it is the beginning of the food and wine festival. Then we went over to Disneyland. I fed Geoffrey in the baby care center, while daddy found a place to sit and check his email. Daddy texted us a picture and when we were done, Geoff and I tried to find him based on the pic he sent us. It was fun! After, we rode The Jungle Cruise, and then Grant rode Splash Mountain single rider. Next we went on Winnie the Pooh, which Geoff really seemed to enjoy - his eyes were huge as he took everything in! Daddy took Geoff on Winnie the Pooh again while Mommy rode Splash Mountain, and then we were able to jum in the line for Haunted Mansion in the very last group before the park closed!

This morning (Sunday) Geoffrey got his picture taken. Kelly, a music teacher at my district, came over and took some beautiful shots of him. We'll probably have Kelly come over and take shots every few months. Geoff was a very good boy for all of his pictures!

This afternoon, we went to a BBQ at Grandpa and Grandma Dee Dee's house. Aunt Tammy, Uncle Dave, Lexi, Aunt Darci, Uncle Scott, Drew, Parker, and Karson were there. What fun! Your cousins loved seeing you, and everyone else loved holding you!

Tomorrow we have a doctor's appointment for Geoff. I'll blog more then...

Wallpaper border

The wallpaper border that we chose for Geoff's room is Mickey at the Circus. It is bright with primary colors and very busy - one of the reasons we chose it was because we thought it would be stimulating for him.

We put it up midway around the room - I believe it is called a chair rail or something? In any case, it happened to align perfectly with the top of Geoffrey's changing table - just at his eye level. One of the things he loves to do when we change him is stare at his border - it is so cool! He really loves to look at it! We really made a good choice with it!

Rent at Corona Del MAr High School

Three protest high school's production of 'Rent'

About 300 counterprotesters shout them down.

By NIYAZ PIRANI

The Orange County Register

| Recommend 4

NEWPORT BEACH - Three members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, who came to protest Corona del Mar High School's production of "Rent," were shouted down by 300 counterprotesters this afternoon at the school.

The group came with signs that read: "Fags are beasts" and "America is doomed." Another sign was anti-Obama, while a fourth sign used an obscenity and an image of a dead baby between two hamburger buns.

Counterprotesters' signs read: "Long live Elton John," "Hate is not a family value," and "Do you need a hug?"

After about 30 minutes of protesting, which started around 2 p.m., the three members of the Westboro Baptist Church asked police to escort them to their car. Students remained after the three left, holding signs and screaming and waving as drivers of passing cars honked.

Kaylin Alexander, a senior at Corona del Mar and of the counterprotesters, said "We think they are ridiculous. God loves everyone."

Fred Phelps, Jr., the son of the founder of the Kansas church, said, he was preaching to the crowd.

"(Rent) is catering to the totally out-of-control youth of this nation," Phelps said. "They've got no discipline, no morals. Only doom and destruction lie ahead for them."

Betty Phelps, also a member of the church, said, "This is the side of the fence we are always on. We speak the truth, and I don't know of any other church that does."

Rosanne Fall, of Costa Mesa and a member of the Orange County Equality Coalition, said, "We're here to support Rent. It's important for the kids.

We shouldn't discriminate based on sexual orientation."

Twenty Newport Beach police officers were on the scene for crowd and traffic control. There were no incidents or arrests at the protest, but there was a minor, noninjury traffic accident at the intersection of Eastbluff Drive and Jamboree Road.

The Tony Award-winning musical, plays tonight at 7:30 at the school and runs on select dates through May 2. The play deals with homosexuality and AIDS, became an on-again, off-again affair at Corona del Mar after drama teacher Ron Martin claimed that the school's principal, Fal Asrani, would not allow the play to go on. Asrani has denied that allegation and a "school-safe" version of the play was approved.

The play made its debut Thursday night in Corona del Mar's 230-seat Little Theatre.

Senior James Ramsey said he saw no reason for the "hoopla" because the school version has been pared down in comparison to the original.

"I think the school version does a very good job of bringing the material down and making it appropriate at a high school level," he said. "I feel like (homophobia) is just a common thing in high schools in general as well as in Orange County, being one of the most conservative counties in California."

Max Priestley, a sophomore and actor in the play, said the counterprotests are a peaceful way to express the students' side of the issue.

"It's amazing to do something this changing for so many people," he said. "Not just for me and the cast, but for so many others."