Trick or treat

We are savoring every moment of our last week together before I return to work.

It is definitely a bittersweet feeling. I will miss spending 24-7 with my little guy.

Today we headed to Esther's house to dress the babies up in costumes.

Colin was his true self as a monkey. The moms dressed the babies up like they w

ere dolls. All out of love!

pictured above are noah (same b-day as colin) as chili pepper falling over on colin. to colin's right is jordan the hot dog who is always cool as a cucumber, born a few days after col

in & noah.

pictured below are all the new moms from breastfeeding support group, mom & baby yoga, and the mom & baby classes during the week. They were all born weeks apart from each other.

from left: esther & anton, kris & brianne, salena & liliana (who I too

k lamaze class with too), me & colin, emily & jordan, mara & noah

Halloween is simply the best!

Wall decals

Adrian created a tree scene in Colin's nursery last night, using wall decals.

They really brighten the room and give Colin lots of eye candy. The wall decals can be easily removed without any damage to the walls. You can even re-use them. I found this set at Target of all places.

He also put an owl by his changing table. Colin seemed to notice it today.

They will go great with the wall art we got from a little studio in SF called Petit Collage.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival and Anticipating The Big Day...Halloween

After having a child, Halloween exponentially increases in importance on the holiday priority list. I have gotten a bit stir crazy about all the festivities. First I put in a request with Adrian a few weeks ago to check out the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. He winced at the thought of long traffic lines, but we woke up early on Sunday and headed out at 9am and got there in an hour.

Crowds there were, but it was a beautiful crisp day, slightly overcast with sun hiding behind the clouds. It felt like a bonafide East Coast autumn day. Half Moon Bay has special memories for us. That's where I met Adrian in 2005, and where he proposed to me in 2006. We celebrated our 1-yr anniversary there last year. We got some yummy pumpkin bread there and coffee, took a walk around the festival and headed back. Got some nice pics with Colin at the dinosaur sculpture yard (where we had to stop and feed him) and pumpkin patches (from our car window).

This week I had been looking all over for baby-size costumes and finally found one that was a true representation of Colin: a monkey. It's 6-12 mos size but he snuggled into it pretty well. We're looking forward to doing all the local Halloween activities: mom's luncheon after yoga, local parade, hospital parade, downtown festival, and Halloween trick or treat. I'm super excited. Colin, get ready!

Reaching Nirvana: The 5 "S's"

One of the first things we learned from the extremely helpful post-partum nursing staff at Mills Peninula were the 5 "S's" to soothe and quiet Colin. These are what Harvey Karp calls 'the cuddle cure' for colic in his book The Happiest Baby on the Block.

1. Swaddling

2. Side/Stomach

3. Shushing

4. Swinging

5. Sucking

It really only worked 25-50% of the time to calm him in the first few weeks since he was crying more for milk that I was not supplying enough of at the time.

It helped us much more in the weeks after that. We discovered the loud surround white noise sound of the bathroom vent and stove top vent had an immediate calming effect. But we were still puzzled at why that, or the swing Adrian ran out to get the second week, still could not keep him calm.

I finally got Karp's book after Month 2, so did not learn a whole lot more from reading it. We are already reaching the end of the "Fourth trimester" and Colin should be growing out of the colicky spells.

But I took away 2 good pearls.

First, swaddling has to be the first step to getting baby to pay attention to the other calming techniques. Adrian was always persistent in getting Colin wrapped up like a tight burrito but I lightly swaddled leaving his arms out because I wanted him to be free. Turns out starting with the swaddle does help make him more

Second, I thought Karp had the perfect analogy to describe Colin's colic and crying bouts in the evening. Baby's brains have a hard time shifting gears. "It's like when your good buddy is in a fight. You try to pull him out of it, but he struggles against you to keep slugging away. It's not until later, when he finally clams down, that he admits, 'Thanks, you're a real friend. I just couldn't stop myself." I laughed at this, envisioning my frenzied little guy in a boxing ring being dragged off to the corner and having us pat his shoulder & calm him down. Half the time we are convinced he has completely lost track in his frenzy & forgotten what it is that set him off in the first place.

Shuffling Along to Death Cab

Dusted off my Brooks running shoes (Ariel model shown here - they are simply the bomb - yes, i said it, the bomb - for flat footers like me) and ran for the first time this weekend in almost a year since the first trimester. Went with my neighbor Mimi who is also a new mom to 4-mo old remy. It felt so refreshing to get out and feel the air on my face and get my legs moving..... all with the compact window of freedom sans bebe (sorry baby!). I do look forward to running with Colin at some point when his neck can withstand the rough and tumble.

Post-partum running was not particularly painful or tiring. The troubling thing was a weird feeling in my belly. It felt unsupported and somewhat floppy. Then there were my legs. They just were not moving as fast as my brain envisioned. But that was a consequence of long under-use, not post-partum.

We did about a 1.5 mile loop close to our home. Today, I felt adventurous and did a longer 5 mile loop with a mid-point stop at the library.

Today's run was boosted with my new shiny little silver i-pod shuffle.

Plus this was my fourth ipod in 3 years, one was on the fritz, the other lost on a business trip and the 3rd too bulky with video screen. Since i got used to always running with my on-the-fritz nano i was skeptical of the skimpy looking shuffle. but less is indeed MORE.

It's an amazingly tiny & weightless mp3 player. tiny, but gigantic in storage. 4 gb holds 1,000 songs. I clipped it to my shirt. So light you might toss it into the washer if you're not paying attention. So tiny it does not have a screen. But who needs one when you're running? You can have the shuffle read through your playlists so you can choose which one you want to play.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie serenaded me & my run today with their latest album Narrow Stairs. At the end of each album, a nondescript gentleman with a soothing voice kindly recites each track's song title and the names of each band member and who mixed each song in which studio. A little more detail than I need, but still a nice touch.

Speaking of Death Cab, I also got their latest re-issued album, their very first, Something About Airplanes At first it sounded thin, somewhat college garage band-like, but it's actually very interesting to hear their early sound and how it progressed to their current state.

Adrian & I were able to catch them playing at the Bridge School benefit last year. My favorite music show yet. Among others: Band of Horses, Cat Power, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Sarah McLachlan, Wilco, Neil Young.

Best Stroller Walks in San Mateo county

I've done quite a bit of strolling ever since the first week we brought Colin home from the hospital. Before that, I used these trails for my runs, but those days seem a distant past! For now, I will continue walking with baby in stroller for my daily exercise.

Here is what I think are the best stroller walks in San Mateo - Redwood Shores area:

1. Crystal Springs - BEST stroller walk

12 miles

By far the most scenic walk on a smooth paved road, great for strollers. i start at sawyer camp on the san mateo side. it goes through about 6 miles of breathtaking scenery by a reservoir and surrounded by trees, birds & occasional deer sightings. they finally installed some real bathroom stalls too.

http://www.strollerhikes.com/Hikes/CrystalSprings/CrystalSprings.html

2. Bay Trail in Redwood Shores or Foster City

These are great trails with smoothly paved paths and easy access for residents who live or people who work here.

6 miles

Redwood Shores: http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map2/access/Rdwdshrs/Rdwdshrs.htm

11 miles

Foster City: http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map2/access/BTFoster/BTFoster.htm

3. Redwood Shores/Marine World Parkway loop

5.75 miles

Start from Bay Trail at the end of Redwood Shores Parkway. Go up about 2.5 miles (stop for some Starbucks), then cross over to Redwood Shores library about .75 miles (Marine World Parkway behind Oracle), and down Marine World Parkway another 2.5 miles.

along redwood shores parkway you can turn onto marlin drive or bridge drive and hit an excellent park with a small beach & picnic area and a nice little playground. public bathrooms available here.

4. Burlingame Ave. downtown

1 mile

For a slow walk with lots of people milling about at cafes shops and restaurants. Dangerous if you bring your wallet. Parking is a hassle with metered parking that requires lots of quarters (the meter maids are nazis - I got a ticket once even though I got back at the same time they were writing me a ticket!), but you can park at a nearby lot behind Baby Gap for $.50 for an hr.

Spa and massage pour bebe

Baby massage seems to be helping with Colin's sensitivity to his stomach rumblings, gas, and reflux. When he is calm the massage seems to help soothe him - how couldn't it? Between his spa-like bubble baths and the massage, he is getting a taste of the good life.

Here are the massage techniques we learned in mom & baby yoga and the mom's support group that he liked the best:

1. sun and moon crescent

Make a full circle on baby’s stomach with your left hand, moving clockwise. Make a crescent moon in a clockwise direction with your right hand.

2. i love you.

Use 3 massage strokes to spell out “I love you”

“I” make a vertical I-shaped stroke on the left side of stomach.

“Love”: make a backward upside down L-shaped stroke moving from left to right as if you are reading words on a page.

“You” make an upside down U-shaped stroke from your left to right.

3. water wheel.

Stroke baby's stomach with a downward motion with one hand following the other, like a wheel

4. foot reflexology.

Make a question mark down the foot, using your thumb and starting under baby's big toe. it would be a backwards question mark for the baby's right foot.