Get the latest photos and ramblings from Corinne, Mike, and Anders living in the Columbia River Gorge.
We really can't overstate how lucky we feel to have our daycare situation. Anders receives lots of love and attention, and there's always a host of visitors who drop by. It's really like he has a second family! He likes it so much that he is never upset when we drop him off in the morning.
Below are some typical scenes from daycare.
The video below is from early November of Anders playing 'soccer' while at daycare. While the cinematography may not be the best, we like the video because it is a good demonstration of several things:
Since we live in a small town (technically, we live in a REALLY small town 20 miles from a small town), one of the things that we have observed is that we do more activities in the community than we did when we were in Boston. There was so much to do in Boston that no particular events bubbled to the top. In a small town, when something is happening everyone knows.
The White Salmon High School Homecoming Football Game was one such event. We brought Anders and met our friends Debbie and Darrell at the game, along with Anders's "big brother" Zak.
Anders has been eating solid food at home for some time now but has still been having just breast milk at daycare. Recently he had been eyeing the boys' breakfast at daycare so we decided it was time to take some solid food to daycare as well. Yesterday, we brought a banana for him to eat.
Debbie tells us that as they were setting down to dinner that night (after Anders had gone home), Zak excitedly volunteered to pray for the meal. His prayer: "THANK YOU GOD! Anders finally got some real food!" They explained to Zak that Anders had been drinking milk and eating food at home. Zak said, "I was worried about him!"
When I picked up Anders from daycare tonight, Zak said, "Corinne, guess what I said to Anders today?" "You're my best friend!". Debbie confirmed that yes, earlier that day he had given Anders a hug and said, "You're my best friend!".
Zak! Well, probably not but at least Zak thinks it was.
Anders has been doing quite a bit of babbling lately and experimenting with different sounds. Debbie tells us that Anders was talking away and Zak thought he heard his name. Zak then excitedly yelled, "Anders said Zak. He said Zak!" Zak then did a little dance and exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you!"
Here's a video of Anders babbling to Uncle Leif.
Zak's extended family always spends their Memorial Day Weekend camping on Mt. Adams. Since Mt. Adams is in our back yard, we decided to join them at their camp for dinner on Saturday night. When we arrived, we were met by Zak (4) and Daniel (7), Zak's "cousin", shouting: "Anders is here! Anders is here!" So cute.
We hung out for a while, ate a delicious campfire dinner, checked out the boys' forts, and then headed home to our soft beds.
We didn't make any particular plans for Easter this year. And since Anders is a bit young for an Easter egg hunt, we stuck to the more sedate tradition of the Easter basket, though with a twist.
The "basket" that Corinne got for Anders was filled with cloth fruits: banana, watermelon, pear, and grapes. These are to go with the vegetables that he already had: beans, carrot, mushroom and tomato. We figure it's never too early to start your kids eating fruits and vegetables!
Our daycare provider Debbie went on a week's vacation recently. This was the first time that we had to figure out an alternative daycare plan, but thankfully we were able to come up with several options. Thanks, Doreen!
The funny part is the scheming that went on beforehand. Zak was pretty excited about the trip. But for some reason he never mentioned it at all when we would be there to drop off or pick up Anders. And when Corinne told Zak to "Have fun on your trip" the day before they left, he was shocked. "How did you know?" he asked.
As it turns out, Zak was planning to take Anders with him on vacation, all without our knowing. But of course when we found out about his trip, his plan was thwarted. After Corinne left that day, Debbie (Zak's mom) got "in trouble" for telling us about their vacation.
Rocket has been pretty easy on us. He wasn't colicky, hasn't gotten sick, sleeps through the night, and is easy-going pretty much all the time. Even his cries are mild.
After a recent vaccination visit that changed, and we got our first small taste of what parenting could be like.
Our first few vaccinations went fine; he didn't mind the needle stick and mostly slept afterward. He would get his shot shortly before lunch on Wednesday and be back to daycare by early afternoon. This time, though, we got a call from Debbie shortly before 5:00pm, our normal pickup time. Anders had been crying inconsolably for the last 45 minutes! We knew something must be wrong, since he has never cried for more than a few minutes before. We left work quickly, stopping for some infant Tylenol along the way. By the time we got there he had calmed down somewhat but was clearly still uncomfortable. The instructions on the Tylenol said to "ask your pediatrician" for dosage instructions for someone his size and age, so it was a few minutes on the phone with the nurse before we were able to administer. A short time later he had calmed down, and it wasn't too long until he fell asleep, no doubt tired from both the vaccination itself and his extended reaction.
As we found out later, many doctors (and mothers) recommend pre-dosing your child with Tylenol before a vaccination, to lessen the possibility of this situation. I wish we had known that beforehand! The following day he was perfectly fine.
Anders has been in daycare for a couple of months now and it has been working out extremely well. We love Zak, his parents and extended family. And of course, they all really enjoy our cute little Anders Rocket. Zak's grandfather stops by often to read stories. Zak's cousin Daniel, 7 years old, is frequently at the house playing. Zak's grandmother is nearby with veteran mom advice. Zak's dad Darrell is an expert laugher and cracks up Anders. And of course Zak's mom Debbie does all the hard work of giving Anders his daily dose of love while we're at work.
Some cute anecdotes:
Anders just received his first vaccinations - Rotavirus (oral) which protects against rotavirus and DTaP (shot) which is for diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough). He is such a trooper. After the shot, he only cried for a couple of seconds and it was only a "you have annoyed me" cry rather than his truly upset cry. Meanwhile, I had tears running down my face in anticipation of how I thought he would respond.
Vaccines are a somewhat controversial topic for many parents these days. We held off on giving him any until we had a chance to do research and make our own decisions. For anyone wanting more information about vaccines, we found the The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears (2007) to be very helpful. The book talks about the societal positives of vaccinating as well as the possible negatives of each individual disease and its vaccine. He also provides several alternative vaccination schedules that minimize (in his view) possible side effects while still resulting in a vaccinated child. Mike heard the author on a recent episode of our favorite radio show, This American Life. Dr. Sears quoted Star Trek: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few - or the one."
January 6th was my first day back to work. I can't say that I was very excited to go but it wasn't so bad after all. Since I didn't have to deal with any work politics on that first day it actually was fairly pleasant. I'm only working part time so I just have to make it through three days before I get to enjoy "Anders Days" again.
For childcare, we found a stay-at-home mom, Debbie, to watch Anders. She lives close to work so I can easily walk over at lunch time to nurse Anders. The cutest thing is that Debbie's 3 1/2 year old son Zachary had this Christmas request: "I want a baby for Christmas... a REAL one."
Anders did really well on his first day in "daycare", but he did cry when I handed him over to Debbie. I honestly didn't think he'd care or notice but I guess he does! Good to know Mom is number #1 even if I don't get the most smiles.
When I stopped by at lunch, Zachary was on the floor right next to Anders making up stories about his duck to tell Anders. So adorable! I think Zachary and Anders will both enjoy each other.
