Holiday Stuffs

Halloween Costumes

2017 - Kylo Ren (age 7)
2016 - Oompa Loompa (age 6)
2015 - Star Wars Jedi
2014 - Cowboy
2013 - Batman?
2012 -
2011 - Elvis
2010 - Bat, Tiger

Birthday Themes

7 - Lego City at Adam and Christine's
6 - Minecraft at Adam and Christine's
5 - Outer Space at home
4 - Construction? i think (or pirates?)  Adam and Christine's
3 - Car's Land at Adam and Christine's
2 - Pat's (tractor)
1st - Mickey Mouse at Adam and Christine's

Dapper Day

2017 (Nov) - Tomorrow Land (Leia) and Main Street (Dapper Dan)
2017 (April) - Aristocrats Belioz and Scat Cat
2016 - Mary Poppins Penquin and

Shows

Spring 2017 - Peter Pan Pirate (age 6) - Jazz 1
Winter 2016 - Hercules - Jazz 1
Spring 2016 - Beauty and the Beast (age 5) - Combo Dance II
Winter 2015 - Staying Alive - Combo Dance II
Spring 2015 - Wizard of Oz - Emerald City Citizen (age 4) Combo Dance II
Winter 2014 - Pas de Deux Ballet - Combo Dance I
Spring 2014  - Alice in Wonderland - King of Hearts (age 3) Combo Dance I

Cute Things Jax Says

Age 6
"I've decide males aren't alive....because all alive things make new life and males don't make life."

"I have a question about Amelia Airplane...but wait... first... How did the Great War start?"

Age 3
"There can be no use about it"  (said with a sigh. often when he has a non-negotiable request)

"Don't forget to call my _____ and tell them to come visit me." (usually "daddy"...or "grandma"....or "papa"...but could be an entire list of people. said to mommy when she leave for work)

Words

First words:

"AaaaaaaOoooooo" (when reading the book "Doggies" or being asked "What does the doggie say on a moonlit night?")

"khhhhhhhhhhhhh" (when asked "what does the truck say?" or most specifically mimic'ing the sound of poop being slurpped from port-a-potties...learned at Burning Man)

"Truu" (translation: "truck"....used for all wheeled objects...until learning to sort into "cars" etc.

"moh" ("more" also "want" and "want more"...used with sign-language)

Next Words:

"hi" (and later "bye-bye")

"up pah" ("help please" or "Up please")

"cah" ("car")

"trai" ("train")

"thank you"

"ok" (and at 17mos "ok dokey" and "ok dokey dokey")

"Poppa"

"Mama" (also used for grandma)

"ipad"

"all gone"

Words only a few understand:

("airplane"), ("helicopter"), menqwi ("penquin"), ("elephant"), "monkey", "alligator", "two"

Firsts

First Upside Down Roller Coaster - Nov 4th, 2017 Dapper Day Weekend (age 7) "California Screamin" Disneyland California Adventure
First time on airplane without mom/First trip without mom - France - Arcachon, Bordeaux, Ronce Les Bains
First Trip to Europe - December 25th, 2016 (age 6) France, Paris, Bordeaux with Mommy, Grandma Bonnie, Louis
First Baby Tooth Lost -
First Black Diamond -
First Sleepover (non-family member, not at burning man) - Laura in SF

First Ski Trip

First time getting out of bed and coming to mommy's room (without help): Nov 19, 2013 (age 3. 3mos)
Second Wedding - Uncle Peter and Kurt
First riding a two wheel bike with training wheels - August 2013 (can also ride scooter and balance bike)
First Dance Lesson - August 2013
First Gym Lesson - August 2013
Fist Swim Lesson - Summer 2013
First wedding - Laura Clark and Rob

First Songs: "ZipPeDeeDoDah" and "Its a Small World"

First Words - "truh" (truck), "ut oh", "mo" (see the blog about words)
First sign language - "all done" and "more"

First clapping hand on purpose - 8/1/11 (though i spied a few slaps on the houseboat)

First Houseboat Trip/First time in a Lake - 7/27/11

First Walking Unsupported - 7/20/11 age 11.5 mos

First Standing Unsupported - 4/30/11 age 9 mos. hotel at disneyland let go of nightstand to explore object with two hands and stood for at least 7 seconds!

First Tooth - 4/14/11 age 8.5 mos.

First Trip to 6 Flags - 4/3/11 first lions, tigers, giraffes, and elephants

First crawl on knees - 3/30/11 age nearly 8 mos

First pull self to standing on random object - rocking horse, basket 3/30/11

First Standing when Mommy goes to wake him - 3/30/11

First Funeral - Ron Patterson 3/27/11

First Pull Self to Standing - 3/26/11

First Trip to Vegas - 3/16/11

First Night in Own Bed/First Sleep thru the Night - 3/10/11 (except one random night in the early months)

First "Military" Crawl - 2/21/11

First Parade - 2/14/11 Chinese New Year Parade SF

First Baby Shower - Monica Cancilla 1/23/11

First Veggie - Peas (one week later)

First Fruit - prunes (favorite fruit = pears)

First Trip to Disneyland - 1/7/11 (5 mos)

First Food - 1/4/11 rice cereal

First Cold - 1/15/11

First Roll Over Back to Front - 1/12/11 at first playgroup

First Stamp in Passport - Mazatlan Mexico

First Airplane - 12/6/11 SFO to LAX to Mazatlan Mexico

First Laugh - 10/16/11

First trip out of state - Nevada, Burning Man - 8/10 age 4 weeks

First car ride - Deer Park to Pleasant Hill, Home from hospital

Mommy Things Yes and Mommy Things No

Things we've learned and loved....

Classic Items We Didn't Use

- bottle warmers

- bottle sterilizers

- diaper genie or other system

- baby bath...we had a large baby bath pillow we used until Jax could sit on his own

- baby seat....though it seemed useful...the period of time he would use it was so small, we decided to skip it all together

6- 8mos (in progress)

- Still likes ArtSee FartSee

-No more pacifier, or swaddling, and rarely mylicon

- baby leg warmers (keeps legs covered when pants ride up, but nothing extra to remove when time for changing)

- Early to bed + good bedtime routine = happy baby that sleeps thru the night.

Our routine = dinner + bath + books w/bottle = bed

The food stuff

- Added some formula around 4 mos

- Added rice cereal at 5.5 mos

- Started solid baby food at 6 mos...prunes first due to constipation

0-6 mos

- wubbanub pacifier

- Mylicon (generic brand is fine)

- ArtSeeFartSee CD

- LookLook B&W Book

- Miracle Wrap (best swaddle)

- Huggies wipe BOX (you can refill with whatever you like...but this dispenser box is better than most)...though i liked their wipes the best also

- GOOD umbrella stroller (we used it much more than our mega-stroller). Chicco Lite Way.

Mommy stuff

- cloth breast pads (with the lace on one side)

- nursing tank tops

- feminine rinsing after delivery - i used a mug warmer, but water in a mug and filled the rinser-bottle halfway with water and put it in the mug. Then i'd add cold water to the bottle when it was time to rinse.

WHY? You want to rinse with warm water....but warm water took too long to come from the faucet and i'd waste water besides. Filler the rinser and heating it up was get it too hot.

HOT TIPS!

-Breast Milk poopy stains - rinse with some oxyclean+water and lay in SUN!

-Breast fed babies may only poop every few days...so don't freak :-)

- Don't over commit to anything....what works for one baby, may not work for another (ie. don't buy 10 of one type of bottle until you know YOUR baby like that type.)

- Be aware of the items that might be temporary in babies world, and purchase appropriate amount at appropriate price...(swaddlers, etc)

- Don't outrule anything....what didn't work a few minutes ago to soothe baby, may work in another second.

-put baby down for nap/sleep BEFORE they are sleepy or at least at the very FIRST SIGN of sleepiness.

Our First Big Adventure

What better way to welcome Jaxon to the world than to bring him Home.

On Sept 1, 2010, 4 week old Jaxon headed on his first trip to the Reno desert and home to Burning Man. Grandpa Ver and Pat facilitated the trip by letting us tag along in the RV.

Jax LOVED the light and sounds and meeting all his fellow burners. We were stopped everywhere we went. As someone said, seeing a 4 week old at burning man is kinda like spotting a unicorn. We think he was probably the littlest burner ever.

He bounced to sleep in the art car....he helped me write my message to Tucker at the temple.

People said what a gift it was to him (and to others) to have him there. I think so too.

Jaxon's Birthday

Better late than never...

i thought i'd better document the day Jax arrived before i forget!

In the middle of the night or early in the morning Friday, July 30 *something* happened....just what, wasn't exactly clear. I took to the internet to try and figure out if my water broke...or something a little less exciting. After trying unsuccessfully to reach the doctors office (turns out they were having their carpets cleaned)...i finally called the hospital to describe the situation.

11 am - The hospital said to monitor kick count, the flow, and any contractions and call back in an hour. Though i wasn't feeling any contractions, when i called back they said come on in and let's check it out.

12 am - I called Grandma Bonnie to come get me....but i said no rush....so she went to lunch. She suggested I load up the car... I protested that I was likely to just be sent home....but i loaded the car anyway just in case.

3:30pm - Mom and I head up to the hospital with bags just in case. I tell her i'm not having contractions, only some gas pain. Mom suggests i "time" the gas pain since they seem to be coming and semi-regular intervals.

4pm - We arrive at the hospital....but i won't let mom bring any bags in with us! I don't want to be sent back home with all my bags in tow. But....after a quick test at the hospital...turns out i will not be going home just yet! It WAS in fact my water breaking last night, I'm in labor and ready to go! We start to make the phone calls to Team Jax....but tell them it will likely be a while so no rush.

5:25 pm - Auntie BabyDaddy Sarah sends out the first email to the awaiting throng and heads to the hospital!

Things are clicking along a bit slowly so i get a little boost from some pill [i can't remember what]...and suddenly things are clicking MUCH Faster. After an hour or so of "OMG labor"....where we went from 1 to 4 cm dilated.....we shifted into "Ahhhhh much better labor."

Everyone was called back and told to "step on it"...and they did.

Grandpa Ver, Gma Susan, Micah, Sarah, and Pat all arrive to help cheer Jax into the world.

9pm - Second update goes out over email predicting a 2am delivery.

I think around midnight - The pushing starts...and......

2:17 am - Jaxon arrives! He is 20" long and weights 7lbs 15 oz.

Meanwhile, somewhere high above the ground, Adam and Christine are flying home from their honeymoon...in separate rows.... Adam sends a bottle of champagne to Christine with the news!