It's 9 O'clock, and Yes, I Know Where My Children Are

They're in bed. Sleeping. Both of them. Ahhh...

It feels like we are finally getting into a routine around here, and both children are now settling into more regular sleeping patterns. In fact, both children were in bed and asleep before 8:15 p.m. tonight. It wasn't all that long ago that Frema and I were debating who'd be taking the first of the nighttime feedings for Nathan. In fact, it wasn't really all that long ago that we were doing the same for Kara either—they're only 13 months apart after all.

As he is still little (only 4 months as of today), we've been putting Nathan to bed when we thought he was tired rather than imposing a set bedtime. He could go down anytime from 8:30 to almost 10 p.m. But recently he's been getting sleepy around the same time one of us is putting Kara to bed, who is in her crib by 8 p.m. With both of them going to sleep so early, it's freeing up more of the evening for the grownups.

If only I could figure out a way to get them to sleep at the same time for naps during the day, too. Then the world would really be my oyster.

New Baby, Part Deux

OK, a few things have transpired in the last two months since I've written anything here. Kara had her actually birthday and was still sick for it. Don't worry, she did get better and finally had her small taste of cake (after disposing of the frosting by flipping over her banana cupcake). Also, we finally got rid of my old car that was beginning to be the bane of my existence. While it seemed to run (for the most part), there was little suspension left in the rear and one wheel was starting to bend inward, looking like it might snap off at any moment. Really, it was not a fun-to-drive vehicle in any sense. But the biggest thing was that we brought home a new addition to our little family.

Nathan Byron was born at 8:39 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2009, weighing in at 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 22 and a quarter inches long. (If you think those stats make for a big baby, you forgot what size his sister came out.) It was a bit of surprise having a baby who actually fit into newborn clothes and diapers.

While Frema and I are still adjusting to be parents of two, I can't imagine what it is like to be a one year old adjusting to what it means to be an older sibling. I'm not sure what she really understands of what is going on. But other than freaking out when he cries now and then, so far Kara seems to be taking it all pretty well. Although she does get a little too excited and has ended up smacking him in the face once or twice reached out to touch him. We are pretty sure she has not meant to be malicious. Still, it has not been easy trying to teach her to soft and gentle to the baby, but other than that we're pretty sure that she likes having him around.

When she's not sure where he is, she'll look around for him and peek in the bassinet and the playpen. It will be interesting to see what they're like together when they are a little older, like when he's able to actually play with toys and realize it when she takes one away from him. But for now, it's just cute to see her get excited and squeal with sheer delight when she sees him.

Not the Birthday Memories We Thought We'd Have

Not long after this picture was taken, the birthday party outfit Kara was wearing in it was covered in vomit. Again and again, before we could get it off her and in the bath. Though it wasn't her actual birthday—which is not until Wednesday—we held her very first birthday party on Saturday. Unfortunately, neither the birthday girl nor her parents were at the party when most of the guests arrived at our house for the celebration.

Just before the party was set to start, Kara started throwing up her lunch in rivers, raging class V rivers of puke. Most of it got on Frema, but I had my share, too. Vomiting was one thing, but she also banged her head on an end table a few hours before, and the nurse on our doctor's office's on-call line was concerned that the repeated puking and unusual tiredness she was also having were signs of a head injury.

After cleaning our baby up in the bath and changing our own clothes to get ready to take her in to get examined, she threw up again. This time we just wiped her down as best we could and went with a little vomit on ourselves. Even if we had changed again, Mommy got it again twice in the exam room at the children's hospital, anyway.

Kara wanted to fall asleep in the car on the way there, but we were advised to not put her down for a nap, just in case. As it was also around nap time, Frema worked hard to keep her occupied in the backseat. Kara was one drowsy baby and wanted nothing more than to nod off. Despite being a little sleep deprived and having gotten rid of most of her lunch, she was actually in pretty good spirits for the beginning of the visit. She was responsive to the doctor and walked to me steadily across the room without signs of being unbalanced (for a toddler, anyway).

Although she was showing no other signs of head trauma or a concussion than the vomiting and tiredness, the doctor ordered a CT scan to check for a fracture or signs of internal bleeding. This is where the good spirits ended. We had to wait a little while to get in for the exam, and up until that point she had both her parents to comfort her. But as Frema is pregnant, we had to leave Mommy back in the exam room, and Kara only had her daddy to help her through the ordeal.

The technician was very nice and soothing, but that didn't matter much to Kara. We were in a strange room with odd machinery that made foreign noises, and she had to be put down on slab to be moved into the giant doughnut-hole of the scanner. Her head was so little that had to prop her with a folded towel underneath her head and two more on the sides. Even with all that I had to hold her head still. She was terrified; she started screaming as soon as I put her down and it only got worse when the nurses adjusted her and put the heavy lead shielding apron over her abdomen. She had no way of knowing it was actually for her own good. Even I actually knew that myself, it took every bit of will power I had to let the test go on and not pick her up and comfort her. I sang to her and gently held my hand on her chin to encourage her to hold still. She was fairly calm by the time the actual scanning took place, but I still can't get how scared she looked out of my head.

Luckily, the scan came back clear, and the doctor determined she likely had a stomach virus and advised Pedialyte only for 24 hours. She did not like that stuff. Not one bit. She wouldn't drink it out of bottle, sippy cup, or the medicine-dropper/pacifier someone gave us at her shower. For those who've never sampled Pedialyte, the orange and grape are somewhat like think soda that's gone flat and stale. If you go for the unflavored variety, it's kind of like water in that it's clear, but it's think and slightly salty. Kind of like drinking someone's spit. But it was the unflavored stuff that we actually got Kara to drink some of. It's pretty lucky she is not old enough to make the OPS (other people's saliva) connection.

Concussion worries out of the way, Kara finally napped in the car and was in better spirits by the time we got home. Our guests had waited patiently the whole time we were gone, so we opened presents and had some quick cake when we got home (but we did forget to serve the ice cream and are very, very sorry). Kara even made the rounds, being the good hostess that she is. Despite the day's ordeal, she really seemed to have a good time. And she's mostly better now. She's thrown up once since more then and has a slight fever that comes and goes, but we sure she's getting better all the time. It was much harder to be so optimistic when we thought we might be dealing with severe head trauma.

It's now very odd to think that the post I had planned that morning was going to be about how the bakery messed up her name and I thought about leaving it for a good story in the future, rather than getting them to fix it. (Don't worry. I did make them fix it before I left the store, as it first said "Happy 1st Birthday, I hara," whatever that means.)