Teddy Homecoming

At thirty-five years old, Teddy has led an adventure filled life... which one can tell just by looking at him.

Grandma Sandvik found Todd's long lost Teddy Bear recently and yesterday it arrived with a fresh nose and mouth and a jaunty red bow! We are VERY happy to have him here. He can now have another go at recieving love from a little Sandvik boy.

Welcome Teddy! I wish you many happy years with us, hopefully you can keep your remaining eye for the duration.

Two Months Down!

Happy Birthday little man!! Two months have flown by. Willem is now making huge strides in head control, grabbing, holding, and noise making. Yesterday he had a pediatrician visit and got all of his baby innoculations. (P.S. For all you non-mommies... watching your brand new baby get poked with three needles is about the worst thing I have ever seen in my life! And I had to thank the nurse for the experience??) Good timing because (as Amber let us know) NC is experiencing a jump in Whooping Cough thanks to all those parents who do not what to immunize their children. Yeah... "thanks." Wiley had his first bandaids- Yello Crayon and flesh colored circle. He is officially 14 pounds and 14 ounces and 25 inches long. He grew two inches in one month! He smiled and cooed at the pediatrician up until the nurse came in to give the shots. OW!

I'm a plane!

I'm a plane!
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

This is what a baby looks like at 6AM after sleeping for seven hours straight!! (And after being awake almost the entire day before...) Willem is enjoying play time more and more. Playing "I'm a plane" and "ppek-a-boo" results in big smiles and coos! I wonder if I can put sound files up on the blog? He is talking all the time now.

Friday will be his TWO MONTH BIRTHDAY! WHOA! THe time is just flying by. We recieved sweet pictures from Brad and Kristy's vacation and it was just amazing to see how big Austin and Aiden are gettting. They are just gorgeous kids and absolutely bright eyed!

Well I better get going and take advantage of his nap... no telling how long it will last! Ekk!!

Milk Drunk

Milk Drunk
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

A satisfied customer!

While his continuous awake times have grown so have the continuous sleep times. Last night he was asleep at 8pm but still managed the same feeding schedule. Cool!

Today we "celebrate" a landmark: the next size up of diapers was purchased!! He is officially out of size one and into size two (over 15 pounds).

Kitty in a Basket

Kitty in a Basket
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

Poushy was getting jealous of all the pictures being taken of the little human and decided to up her cuteness to pull some attention her way. Life as a mommy is pretty interesting... things are accomplished in big bursts then there are lulls. I am discovering the absolute necessity of keeping things organized: there isn't enought time to mess around with messes!! I am also discovering what the trade off between day sleep and night sleep means. Washing dishes at 1am, emailing at 4am :) Thankfully WIllem seems to have hit on his own "schedule"... asleep at 9pm. One wake up at 3am. And then up again at 4am. Not so bad really. It is amazing what continuous sleep can do for a person! I have started doing a little work for MM from home... it feels good to be pulling in some dough and focusing my mind on work. ONWARD!!

Post Walk

Walk & Nap
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

That nice morning walk in the September cool puts me in the mood for a nap too! I wish someone would carry me around in a Baby Bjorn.

SMILE!

SMILE!
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

YEAH! I am just loving these smiles... this week has been the smiliest, most vocal, and AWAKE one yet. Last night he slept from 9pm until 3:20am! WOW! (Thank you, Willem.)

And yes... he is now 15 pounds.

Say it ain't so!

Oilers fan?
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

Hometown Hurricanes Boy an Oilers fan??? NEVER! Looks more like a ploy from the China Bush folks to make him into a Canadian! :)

Late Night

Late Night
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

So this is what was going on at 11:30 last night. Whew! Willem decided to challenge his "Awake Time" record (of four hours)... and he succeeded!! Bravo little man! He was awake for five hours straight! Ekk!

Ernesto Friday

Ernesto Friday
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

Well, Ernesto has brought lots of rain, wind, and cool temperature... basically a premature feeling of Autumn. Ahhhhh! Willem has started smiling (interactively) a lot this week. We have been playing peek-a-boo, singing our little Toot fish song, and enjoying tracking Misha and Poushy.

Our friends Janet and Patrick had their little boy about two weeks ago... Welcome Booker!! He looks like a real cutie. Can't wait to meet him in person. It is wonderful to know we have friends with babes the same age.

Willem Meets Sandra...

Sandra and Willem 1
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

...just in time for her to move to Germany! We will certainly miss her stateside but there are adventures to be had in foreign lands! I think she has a natural momminess about her. Willem totally dug the introduction... Smiling from tickles! And I must say, smelling lovely from the wonderful Burt's (Baby) Bees gifts. Did you all know that talc (our Baby Powder from way back) is actually a carcinogen!? The midwives suggested corn starch. Luckily, Burt's Bees makes a nice smelling non-talc powder for baby.

Tummy Time

Tummy Time 3
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

Tummy Time, I am discovering, is valuable for three main reasons: 1.) baby learns how to hold head up, use arms and legs; 2.) baby wears himself out in a productive manner rather than kicking and arm flinging as you hold him; and 3.) mommy can get things done while watching baby but not while negotiating the world with only one hand!!

Ah yes, and it provides PHOTO OPS!!!!

Budding Friendship

Budding Friendship
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

Misha is getting quite attached to little Willem. This weekend we caught him napping with Willem. Hopefully this love will mean that the crawling and hair pulling phase will go smoothly! Until then we will all enjoy the fur baby and human puppy friendship.

One Month Already

First Bottle 1
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

I can't believe Wiley is already a month old! Everyday he is doing something new and growing, growing, growing! Todd fed him his first bottle which he took to like a duck in water. Evidently there is no "nipple confusion." It was wild to watch Todd feed Willem... I thought my heart was going to burst out!

Willem had his first check up with his new pediatrician. It was great- he is now 11.88 lbs., 22.5 inches and his head grew about 2 cm! He is in the 96th percentile for weight! Whoa! Looks like we got an eater on our hands!

Family Picture

Family Picture
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

We have our new family picture... only missing Poushy. This was taken a few blocks away at the yard of our local scrap metal sculptor, Mike Roig.
One day we will own one of his sculptures!

Poppa Bush's First Hold

First Hold
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

It took long enough! But there will be many more occassions!

Meet the Family

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Sandvik
Originally uploaded by lola_sandvik.

What a wonderful three weeks!! We had LOTS of family here (staying with Mom and Dad Bush... not our little place) to meet little Willem for the first time! They came from the far reaches of the Earth... from Florida to Montana to China. Little Zain is going to be a super big cousin (and big brother). He is already demonstrating his baby care skills including putting "Baby Michael" (play baby) into the car seat... baby may be upside down in the car seat but its a better job than Brittany Spears could do :)

Mom and Dad Sandvik came from Montana, Aunt Pat, Uncle Jud, and Tracy came from Florida, Grandmama and Charles from Florida, and Nate, Mindy, and Zain win the distance award for coming from CHINA!

It was wonderful to visit with everyone, to hear family baby stories (Aunt Pat told of her brother who was 20 pounds at BIRTH!!), to celebrate all sorts of events (Tracy's birthday, Nate and Mindy's anticipated baby boy, a respite from killer heat, etc., etc.).

The time also taught me (new mom) that it IS possible to DO things while caring for new born! Nice lesson!

Week 2 Check-up

here is a one handed post to update you all on little wiley's status: he is super. midwife jenny said he is big and beautiful... and so calm! he weighed in at 10lbs 4oz! Wow! 22 and 1/2 cm long. well... need to get him fed and to bed, maybe a nap for mommy too.

le nom

The only Willem that Todd and I have ever known of is the master actor, Willem Dafoe. After we brought little Willem home on July 22 we poked around on-line after talking with my sister, Judith, to discover who else shares his birthday... and surprise, surprise WILLEM DAFOE'S BIRTHDAY IS ALSO JULY 22!! Now people, we obviously could not have planned this. But how amazing, no? Is it a sign? Hmmm... what is in the stars for our little man?

Todd and I had a lot of fun picking out Willem's (Willem, pronounced almost like "William" but with the "em" versus "iam" at the end, with a "will" not a "vill"... heck... just like Willem Dafoe) name. We had a HUGE list of names we gathered. We spent many an hour knocking names around. Seeing what the initials ended up as, crossing out names that had possibilities for horrible name calling from meanies in school, and writing them out to see how they looked together. The manes were all of scando origin more or less... I mean the Vikings, Celts, etc. all really got around... why draw lines?

Willem Mikkel ended up striking both Todd and I very well. On March 16th we settled on it! And happily the name could accomodate a nickname that we both love... Wiley. And yes, we saw the name Wiley at the Wright Brother's museum on our honeymoon. Wiley Post was a pilot and inventor and led a pretty wild life all in all. http://www.acepilots.com/post.html

Willem is the Dutch version of William (From the Germanic name Wilhelm, which was composed of the elements wil "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection". The name was introduced to Britain by the Normans. It has belonged to several rulers of England, Prussia, and Germany, including William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England. Another famous bearer was William Tell, a legendary 14th-century hero from Switzerland. In the literary world it has been borne by dramatist William Shakespeare and poet William Blake, as well as contemporary authors William Faulkner and William S. Burroughs.)

Mikkel is the Scandinavian form of Michael (From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mika'el) which meant "who is like God". This is the name of one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers. This was also the name of nine Byzantine emperors and a czar of Russia. Other more modern bearers of this name include the 19th-century chemist/physicist Michael Faraday and basketball player Michael Jordan.) The name can also be derived from the Scandinavian root mikill meaning "enormous".

Ekk... have to go! TIme for our two week check-up at the Birth Center. Look for news on how much weight he has gained... and I have lost!

Welcome Sadie!

Chris and Vicky Vitiello's baby girl, Sadie Catherine, was born yesterday afternoon! YEAH!!! She is just beautiful, too! Congrats, congrats! Willem's friends keep growing!