May/June 2001

Visitor!
      Our main news this issue is that we got our first visitor since Ewan was born. Jerry’s sister, Heather Dallape, came for a few days last month. She liked seeing Ewan, and Rio had a ball with a new person to talk to! (Rio’s mother welcomed the respite form his constant chatter as well!) While she was here, we went to the Great Salt Lake, where we dipped our toes in the water, skipped stones, and tried to find buffalo (without much success, unfortunately). We also went to Wheeler Historic Farm, where we walked around, watched fighting geese, and enjoyed the outrageously gorgeous weather. In a few weeks, we expect to have a visit from Jerry’s parents.

Activities…Now that the weather is so nice, we have been doing some of the many wonderful things Salt Lake has to offer. We went to the zoo a while ago. Rio loved seeing all the animals, of course, and Jerry held Ewan up to see many of them too—he seemed to enjoy what he saw. Both boys were wonderfully well-behaved, and it was a really nice outing. We also went to a Living Traditions Festival, where we saw some Native American dancers, and ate foods from many different countries.

About Rio…Rio has had many adventures lately, including some new pets. First, when we went to the Great Salt Lake, Rio got a brine shrimp hatching kit, which we started right away. The first batch of shrimp died within days, but since then we have had some success with them. Then, Rio got a tadpole in the mail to go with his frog habitat. We had only ordered one tadpole, so we were very surprised when, hours after taking it out of the envelope and getting it established in the habitat, Suzanne discovered another tadpole in the envelope that we had missed earlier! Unfortunately, this one died a few days later, so now we are back to one. As part of his education, Rio keeps a journal about his tadpole, writing his observations in it every few days. This journal is excerpted on the next page.
     In education, Rio is making huge leaps. He has moved from ordinary easy readers to regular children’s books, with no trouble. He is very interested in Greek Mythology these days—loves to hear the stories—and he occasionally makes up gods to portray, such as Eminemus, the god of M&Ms. When we went to the zoo, Rio loved to see some of the animals that we talk about in the myths.
     Last time we reported that Rio was in some classes. They are over now, and he had a good time and learned a lot. In his cooking class, he made everything from decorated cookies to pudding paintings. (Ever polite, on the last day he told the instructors, "I would love twelve more classes, please!") In his music class, he learned some notes and how to play the recorder. He has remembered this training and recently started to write his own music!

About Ewan…At 9 months old, Ewan is about 23 pounds, he has four teeth, and he recently got his SECOND haircut. He still doesn’t crawl. He likes to cruise, holding onto the bed, windowsill, or our low table. If we put a line of food around the table, he will cruise around it, eating as he goes! Since he is not anywhere near walking yet, and he wants to get around, he has started to scoot on his tummy all over the floor.
     Ewan loves to be outside in the fresh air. Suzanne lays a blanket out in the front yard, and reads a book while Ewan amuses himself with toys next to his mother. He also loves going on walks, though he is so heavy that we are doing that less and less! He babbles a lot, and sometimes calls Rio "Ah-dah."

15 May, 2001, 12:30 pm—I got my tadpole today. I thought it was dead, but it is really alive, because it’s floating and it was moving. I love it because it’s growing. I saw its tongue move. It looked like a really sharp thing coming out of its mouth. It’s healthy because it’s moving a lot.

4:30 pm—Surprise! We’ve got two tadpoles! We missed the second one. We saw a jar inside the envelope. Two jars. I didn’t even notice there was another jar in there. I’m really mad and sad and happy because I got it.

16 May, 2001—We named my tadpoles Bloody Mary and Harvey Wallbanger. Their nicknames are Mary and Harvey. They were exploring their new home. When I first woke up, I fed my tadpoles one of their special pellets. It wasn’t eaten for a long time today, then we put another pellet into the habitat.

17 May, 2001—Bloody Mary was moving her tail a little bit. Then she died. She was floating with her head up. I’m glad, because now I have one tadpole, and it’s easier to have and clean.

20 May, 2001—Harvey was swimming around a lot, and then he stayed in one place and didn’t move, like he was ice in a freezer. I feel very happy because I am going to get a frog. I feed him pellets. I do it in the daytime when one’s gone. I can’t see any legs. He has no legs yet.

22 May, 2001—Harvey hasn’t eaten his pellet yet today. We can’t see any legs even though he’s changing into a frog.

23 May, 2001—Harvey used to be sleeping, and I thought he was dead, but he’s not. He’s moving. There used to be crap in the water, so Mum changed it.

26 May, 2001—Dad and I fed Harvey. I tried to put the pellet in the left hole, but it landed on the land, and Dad put it down [in the water] and then he bumped it [the habitat], and Harvey got very scared and ran from here to here. That was so silly that I couldn’t believe it!

29 May, 2001—Harvey likes to hide behind that hill. We dropped the pellet in through one of the holes right down to the back of the hill, because that’s where he is, and then I bet he ate it. It’s hard for him to get into a frog. He doesn’t have any legs yet.

(To be continued next time!)

How Do You People Sleep?
By Suzanne

     Most of you know we sleep with Ewan in bed with us. Co-sleeping is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance with a growing number of families. We certainly like it. I find it enjoyable and convenient—I don’t have to get up to feed him. Jerry swears by it as a great form of bonding between baby and father (in fact, any time someone suggests that Dad bottle-feed a baby in order to bond with it, Jerry—a staunch breastfeeding advocate—tells them to skip the bottle and just sleep with baby). Of course, as babies grow bigger, it can get a bit crowded, and there are times when I wish I could stretch out (I love it when Jer takes Ewan on morning excursions to allow me a couple of hours of lone sleep!), but for the most part we have found it very nice.
     One night some time ago, Rio wished that Ewan sleep with him for a while. So I snuggled in his bed with baby between us, until they were both asleep, curled up next to each other, no doubt feeling safe and comfortable together. This was at about 11 at night, and I got up and did Suzanne things for a while, figuring I’d go to bed when Ewan woke up and needed me. Well, at two in the morning, he was still asleep, so I lay down in my bed. I tried really hard to go to sleep, but knowing that I would have to get out of bed at some point to get him kept me from relaxing. It is bad to stay awake, but it is much worse to have just gotten asleep, only to be awakened by a hungry baby. So there I was, lying awake, waiting for the kid to wake up. I thought of going in there to collect him, but kept figuring that he’d wake any minute, so I let him sleep. As I was lying there, a question came to me; one which I have to ask mothers of babies who sleep in cribs. That question is, How on earth do you manage to get any sleep? Honestly, knowing that you might have to wake at any minute and get the baby a couple of times a night for feeding and/or comforting, how do you manage to get a really restful night’s sleep?
     Before we had Rio, we heard all the stories about how new parents never sleep. And in the first week or two after Rio was born, the adrenaline and shock of the new situation kept our sleep schedules erratic. But very soon we fell into a nice situation, with Rio not needing to cry to get my attention, and me not having to fully awaken to give him the attention he needed. After nursing, he’d go right back to sleep, neither of us having had to rouse ourselves much to satisfy his hunger or need for comfort. I have never had the experience of a baby sleeping away from us, so I have no idea what these parents do when their children cry for them. Until that night with Ewan in Rio’s bed, all I’d known was soft whimpering and clutching, drifting off again to sleep moments later. I had to wonder if the stories about babies keeping parents awake are all that accurate, but now I suspect that it is not the fact that babies need their mothers a lot at night that keeps people awake, but the fact that babies have to call their mothers out of bed (and sometimes into another room) to have their needs fulfilled. Several times a night. Well, no wonder everyone is so tired!
     At about four-thirty, Ewan finally woke up, and I tucked him in snug and warm beside me, and we were both shortly asleep.
     Perhaps co-sleeping isn’t for everyone. But darn it, people, I need my sleep!