Nana and Poppa visit Scotland (and Forest)

Nana and Poppa (aka Jonathan’s parents) flew back to the States early Saturday morning. We’re very thankful that they made the long trek across the Atlantic to see us. Their travelling to Scotland didn’t go so smoothly as a late take-off from Newark led to them missing their connection in Paris. 

Jonathan booked their trip across, and as most international travelers know, both Newark and Paris are to be avoided whenever possible. I asked him if he was trying to haze his parents as a form of European traveler initiation, but he swears it was just the best deal he could find. To make matters worse, Jon’s mom’s luggage didn’t arrive until 2 days after they got here. Welcome to world travel! I’ll be kind of glad once we get to California and our travels mainly consist of road trips, or at the very least, direct flights. 

Anyhoo, alls well that ends well, and they made it to Aberdeen safe and sound. They had a great trip, enhanced by some decent January weather, and got to see and experience several of our favorite things in Aberdeenshire. First stop was of course the dramatic and enigmatic Dunottar Castle. 

They were impressed by the seaside fortress, and we got some great photos to mark the occasion. 

After taking plenty of snapshots, we headed to nearby Stonehaven for Fish and Chips at The Marine Hotel. 

Stonehaven’s own ‘The Bay’ is rated the best fish and chips in the whole UK, but Jon and I both prefer The Marine Hotel and take all of our out of town guests there. We first visited the pub when were out-of-towners ourselves, thanks to my parents’ awesome tour guide skills.   

Forest did amazing for both excursions. He was less than thrilled about the windy weather conditions at Dunottar but still cooperated for a good 20 minutes in the elements. During his first restaurant experience, he snoozed for the entire meal until it was time for his own lunch. 

Other landmarks the Perry’s visited along the way included forest walks in Countesswells woods and Hazlehead park, Crathes castle...

 Milton of Crathes artists village and cafe...

First Sticky Toffee Pudding

Trump International Golf Course...

Glendronach whisky distillery, Cairngorm Mountains...

Union Square Mall...

Baby's first trip to starbucks

and Lairhillock Inn for the best sticky toffee pudding around. 

Being as though we have a 2.5 month old baby and they came smack dab in the middle of winter, I’d say they still got to see a lot of great things this country has to offer.  It was good for us, as well, to try on our 'traveling with a baby' training-wheels. Forest did remarkably well during our outings and didn’t have a single meltdown while out and about. 

He’s turning into quite the content and adaptable baby. I hope he continues to enjoy being taken along for the ride, because they are loads of day and weekend trips we are dying to take in Northern California. I’m sure Forest can’t wait to be reunited with his grandparents Stateside!

Baby Boom

I am officially a trendsetter. Among my friends in the ‘Deen, 5 of them are now pregnant with their first babies. There is definitely something in the water. I feel like a total pioneer to be the first of us to have a baby. You know, because I am the first woman ever in the history of the world to ever become a mother…..But it can feel that way when your inner circle is largely made up of foot-loose and fancy-free ‘singlets’. 

I’ll likely get to meet 2 of the little ones before we move, but the other three won’t arrive until after we’ve left for California. It makes me really sad! But I’m so glad that they will all have each other to go through this experience with. The next little one is due February 1, and we had a shower for mom-to-be, Kit, this past weekend. It was a great time with some lovely ladies, and I’m glad Jonathan offered to babysit so I could enjoy the festivities.  

I have another baby shower to attend this weekend so it is just a celebratory time all around. I bet the palpable baby fever will result in a few more pregnancies popping up before the end of the year! C’mon Jill, you know you want one of these! ;)

11 Weeks Old!

Things with Forest have markedly improved over the last 10 days or so. Last week was the first week where he showed any predictability in terms of behavior. He’s succumbing to naptime pretty consistently, even though what he and I consider a ‘long-enough’ nap differs considerably. 

His nighttime sleep, while inconsistent, is generally between 8.5 and 10.5 hours. I know that as the mother of an 11 week old baby, I am blessed with a rare gift to have a baby who sleeps through the night already. He’s always been an all-star in terms of nighttime sleep and for that I am super grateful and proud. 

We finally had his tongue tie snipped last Thursday and I feel like I can tell a difference in his latch quality. The pediatrician who did the procedure mentioned that it might even clear up some of his colic since babies with a tongue tie tend to swallow more air as they eat and therefore have major tummy issues. I’m not sure if it’s coincidental, but he has been less fussy as of late. 

In fact, as we have gotten some of his health issues worked out, he is turning into quite the happy baby. He’s generous with the smiles and is quite a little flirt already. Morning times are his happiest times and he will just smile and giggle at everything I say, making me feel like the most charmingly brilliant woman alive (even though all I’m doing is making up words that rhyme with ‘poop’). 

He’s been a tad thrown off this week because his grandparents are visiting and that is just way too much excitement for his little brain. 

We are trying to be flexible and go with the flow, but we know as soon as they leave to go back to the States, it’s time for sleep-training boot camp. 

He’s totally outgrowing his rock-n-play so we can’t put off this crib transition much longer. It will be painful to risk losing those 9 hour silent nights, but I know the outcome will be worth it. 

The only time he gets overly fussy is when he’s tired. He is still struggling to take quality naps no matter how exhausted he is. 

He’s just so hyper-alert that he can’t seem to close his eyes if there is anything interesting to look at. It’s crazy but Jonathan and I actually have to shield his eyes with our hand to get him to nod off, otherwise they would stay glued open despite his drowsiness. I think that’s why he naps so well in his stroller and car seat, because his igloo-sack has a hood that covers his eyes. I’m not sure what we’ll do when we move to California and no longer need to tote him around in a down-comforter! 

Well, as you can imagine, this week is a busy one so I will just cut to his 11 week photos:   

And just some bonus ones from this week: 

There are more pictures from some of his outings this week but I will save those for later posts. Stay tuned!

10 Weeks Old

Double Digits! Forest is 10 weeks old today. 

Life with a baby continues to have it’s ups and downs. Some days are really really good and some days are really really…not so good. I’ve touched on the fact that Forest has colic but until last week I didn’t really comprehend what a universal nightmare that is. I thought I was just a weenie and mentally and emotionally unprepared for parenthood. Well I’ve been doing some research and, apparently, no one is mentally or emotionally prepared to handle a baby who cries for hours on end for no obvious reason and resists every attempt you make to calm them down. 

It made me feel better to get some information on coping and it normalized and validated my ambivalence towards Forest. I love him and he makes my heart swell with pride and joy but sometimes I just want him to STOP CRYING! On Sunday night, I spent four hours rocking this baby whilst simultaneously ‘shushing’ him, and it made not one bit of difference. In the end, I think I cried more than he did. 

Ever since I let myself off the hook with the whole ‘sleep training’ thing, things have (ironically) been going a bit more smoothly. He usually naps after every feed. Mostly these naps last between 30-45 minutes, and the majority of time he will take one 1.5-2.5 hour long nap per day, usually in his swing or stroller. 

I’m not gonna tell y’all how long he sleeps at night, because after I bragged about his 8 hour nights last week, he decided to revert back to 4/5/6 hour nights. I’ll just say that the past 3 nights have been heavenly and I’m crossing my fingers that they continue. I will also say that as of this moment, I am a believer in Baby Wise. 

 

SOURCE

I feel like I’m fumbling through it and at times it makes no sense in the context of my nap-resistant child, but somehow I’m seeing results. 

The transition to the crib was an epic FAIL, so for now he is back in his rock n play. 

Jon’s parents are arriving this weekend and staying for a week, so we plan on revisiting the crib issue once they leave. You know, just in time to partake in an international relocation. Piece of cake. 

Here are this cutie patootie’s 10 week pictures: 

And more from his 10^th week of life, doing his favorite thing in the world- tummy time (I think it might be more of the sheepskin rug that's his favorite thing on earth, but who knows...):