Thanksgiving...

We made it.  After a 10 hour drive to LA last Wednesday, a day at Disney, a day at Mat & Alaine's and another day driving home (only 5 hours that time!) we made it home.  Whew!  We are exhausted.

The drive on Wednesday was nothing short of awful.  Some power lines fell on the freeway and they shut it down.  After an almost 3 hour detour, we were again on our way.  That, of course, got us into LA right at rush hour.  I spent the last 5 hours of the drive in the backseat with the kids, who did surprisingly well.  That evening Mat, Alaine and Lincoln brought us some dinner - Baja Fresh!  We finally got to meet Lincoln - what a cutie!

On Thursday we were up bright and early and made a quick drive to Disneyland from our hotel in Burbank. We had a blast there and enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner with Mike and his friends (ok, ours, too!) Dave & Allison and their kids.  We ate at Ariel's Grotto where Sydney got to meet several princesses.  We spent most of the day at California Adventure, which we all really enjoyed.  That night Rusty, Joy and the kids came by our hotel and Andy went out to dinner with them and Mike ( I stayed behind to put the kiddies to bed).  

Friday was OUR Thanksgiving dinner.  We all went to Mat and Alaine's and prepared a feast of turkey, ham, prime rib (thanks, Andy), mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, squash soup, etc., etc.  It was lovely!  Mark, Lisa and the girls (see the pic of Mari and Tierney holding the cousins) drove down from Sunnyvale and we all had a blast.

Saturday we got up early and headed home.  Five hours later we were here.  We spend the day today prepping our home for Christmas.  The tree is up, the lights are on the house.  We are ready!

Foster-con

Just a quick update

Hello! 

We are doing well around here.  Mike has been here since last Thursday and has enjoyed (I think) spending time with Syd and Foster.  He watched Foster for us last Friday when Syd had her last doctor's appointment (we hope) regarding this whole fainting business.

The neurologist at first thought we should have another EEG, but then after looking over the cardiologists letter, thought that this was not a neurological issue.  The conclusion is that Syd had low blood pressure and if she feels like that again, she should sit down, drink some water and eat some crackers.

It was funny... at the doctor's office the neurologist said "Sweetie, you are JUST fine."  To which Sydney said:  "Yes, but then why did I faint?"

Very good question!  The doctor then explained it all to her... That's my girl!

We heading to Disneyland for Thanksgiving (eating with Mike and the Geissberger clan at Ariel's Grott) then to Mat and Alaine's for the day after Thanksgiving for a feast with Mark, Lisa, Joy, Rusty (and their kiddies), Geisburger's and some others.  I, personally, am looking forward to Foster and Lincoln meeting!!

We have had a pretty uneventful week.  For the most part, of course!  

Andy has worked a lot lately so this past weekend I had the kids. 

 We did manage to all go out for ice 

cream together yesterday afternoon. 

 Sydney enjoyed her ice cream, as usual, and Foster got a taste of Daddy's shake.  Just a tiny taste.  He loved it!  Of course...

Today was Foster's 6 month check up.  He weighed 19lbs 

4oz (50 - 75th percentile), was 30 inches long (off the charts) and his head was 46cm (90th percentile).  So his head and his body match and his weight is a bit under what they'd expect for his length.  :-)  Poor little guy, wasting away!  He's doing great.  Very healthy and alert baby.  We now get to start him on a few more veggies and some meats.  He got four shots and we'll go back in a few weeks for the first half of his flu shot.  She also gave me a nice pat on the back for continuing to breast feed him.  Of course, it is something I want to do... but it is nice to get the acknowledgment sometimes, too.

In the picture of him in his high chair, you can get a sense for how long he is (and also how much he enjoys munching on apples...)

Sydney had her sharing day at school today.  She was supposed to bring something that she is thankful for... so she brought her blankie (Ayayou, is what she calls it), her doll (Oddry) & pictures of all of us.  I'm anxious to hear how sharing time went!

a day off

Today Syd had the day off of school (tomorrow as well) so we decided to go for a bike ride/run at Ranch San Antonio out to Deer Hollow Farm.  Syd rode her bike and I ran, pushing Foster in the jog stroller.

Several months ago when Christan was visiting, we took the training wheels off of Syd's little bike, so this weekend we took the training wheels off of her new, bigger bike.  So I decided it was time to get her on a long bike ride.

She did fabulous!  It was a total of 2 miles and she took a few breaks on the way out (which is a slight incline) and then FLEW back.  This picture is one of the breaks on the way out... she's snacking on a bagel to get energy!  We also saw three deer, one of which was in the middle of the path. :-)

On another note, her doc called today and her blood work and EKG looked fine. We are going to see a pediatric cardiologist on Wednesday and her neurologist on the 21st.  Just to make sure we are checking everything.  Tomorrow our part-time nanny, Kirstin, is here to watch Foster for a bit (normally on Tuesdays I work at Syd's school). Sydney and I are going to the park with some friends, then off to the mall for lunch and a little shopping.  

whew!

Well, it has been quite a week around our house.  Quite a week.  The highlights:

• Sydney was able to skip TWO bars on the high monkey bars at school!  She's been working and working at this and was so proud to tell us about it.
  
• Foster has been on a nap strike.  I remember when Syd was a baby and telling Andy often that "we had 'No-Nap Grignon' again" and it seems this trait has been passed onto Foster.  Makes for very long days.  Most of the time he takes a very short morning nap (less than a half hour most of the time) then a short mid-day nap (an hour or so).  Then he's good for the rest of the day.  This week, however, we had many days where he didn't sleep at all.  
• Foster is getting very good at going to sleep on his own and back to sleep on his own (after nursing at some point in the night).  
• Sydney fainted at school on Tuesday!!  Yep, you heard it right.  Fainted.  We thought at first it might be a seizure since she has had those in the past.  Nope... the neurologist thinks it was a good, old fashioned passing out.  She was playing on the playground after snack and went up to one of the parents and wanted some water.  Then she went down.  We saw her pediatrician on Thursday who ordered blood work and an EKG.  If the blood work doesn't give us any clues, then he wants us to see a pediatric cardiologist, just be on the safe side.  We are also going to see the neurologist at the end of the month, just to cover our bases.  I have to say that I was pretty proud of Syd, Foster and myself that we got all her tests done on Thursday with no melt-downs.  Now... if Andy had been there we might not have been so lucky.  ;-)
• 
  
• I finally got a picture of Foster with his HUGE smile.
• Foster celebrated his half-birthday yesterday!  To celebrate the occasion Andy and I split a "Foster's"

Other than that, it's just been the same old, same old around here...

Halloween

Yesterday was Halloween and boy was it a busy day.  It started with the four of us heading to Syd's school for the Halloween parade.  Then Andy went off to work and Foster and I came home.  Kirsten, our part-time nanny, came over for a few hours so that I could go baby-free to a lunch in Syd's classroom.  Andy managed to get away for a bit from work and also joined us.  Then after school we had a little down-time before trick or treating.  Here are some pics from the holiday!

The past week has been a little challenging with Foster's  new "schedule".  He has yet to fall asleep on his own for a nap.  Night time is going great - he cries off and on for half an hour or so, then sleeps all night (for the most part).  Naps, though... he cries and cries and cries.   I could take a few days of it, but I just couldn't take day after day after day of it.  So I am back to rocking/nursing him to sleep for naps.