Carina hugging a Lion

Carina has lots of favorite animals. When asked which were her favorite, she responded, “All of them, actually.” She particular enjoys “Raja” (Tiger), monkeys, giraffes, zebras, and koalas. Here are some pictures of her favorite animals.

But, she said, “I like the petting zoo the mostest.” Here she is feeding a goat.

Heather and Caitlyn also enjoyed the zoo, particularly since Jessica did most of the Carina-wrangling. Here they are by the fountain.

It was fun to watch Carina run all around the zoo looking at the animals. She didn’t get bored or complain and she like to see whichever animals we came to next. It was a fun day and we hope to go back again soon.

Carina’s Friends

Every night at bedtime, Carina likes to hear stories. Some of her favorite and most requested stories are ones about where she got some of her “friends”.

Baby Hamley is one of Carina’s friends. Three summers ago, Daddy was traveling in Europe for work and Mommy decided to join him for a few days in London. While there, Mommy and Daddy went to see the “Queen’s house”. They looked through the big gold gate at the house, but they weren’t allowed to go in. The Queen was home and was not taking visitors. Later, Mommy and Daddy went to Hamley’s, one of the world’s oldest and largest toy stores. There they saw a doll that they just knew Carina would love. Mommy picked out the doll and brought her home. Carina named her Baby Hamley. She still likes to snuggle with Baby Hamley at bedtime.

Big Dora is another of Carina’s friends. During Carina’s second year, she became a big fan of Dora the Explorer. On her second birthday, one of her presents from Mommy and Daddy was a big Dora doll. Carina loved her right away and wanted to take her everywhere. Carina loaded Big Dora into her new tricycle and rode with her all around the park in front of our house. She also enjoyed pushing Big Dora around in a toy shopping cart that she got from Grandma Laural. Still today, Big Dora sleeps in her own place at the head of Carina’s bed.

Carina has many other friends that she loves to play with and each has their own special story.

Here is a picture of the finished poster!

It all started a couple of years ago, shortly after my last post, Are You Kidding Me?. That thing they brought home started following me around more and more and trying to touch me. That’s when I decided I needed to take action. I needed to get Maya and I out of the house.

I crafted a plan to get the humans to evict us. It was pretty simple, really. I know how sensitive they are to odors, particularly the female one (and she thinks she’s in charge), so I had a talk with Maya. I told her she wasn’t supposed to pee in the litter box anymore, that the humans wanted her to pee on the carpet and floor. It’s pretty disgusting so I wasn’t going to do it myself, but I knew Maya would fall for it. I told her to be sneaky about it so the humans wouldn’t know who it was. They’d get sick of it really quickly and throw us outside — we’d be free.

They were particularly tolerant at first, more than I expected. They kept spraying different things around the house where Maya was peeing. They also kept spraying stuff around my litter box. THAT was annoying. After I told Maya to start peeing on the carpet upstairs, the humans just banned us from upstairs and got new carpet. Also quite annoying.

Then, something even worse happened. They brought home another one of those small human-like things. It smells funny and makes this ridiculous screeching noise. It was time to kick it up a notch. I told Maya to start peeing everywhere, including on the new rug. It was working.

Then, Maya got lazy. They discovered it was her. I thought everything might work out, but it didn’t. Maya was freed and now lives outside. She’s got a warm cozy box and she can roam free all she wants. She even sits on the table and taunts me through the window. In the meantime, I’m stuck in the house with two small stinky loud people.

At least there’s more room on the end of the bed now.

-Frida

Workin' Momma

My mom enjoyed hanging out with CR2 (that’s our nickname for her since she and Carina both have the same initials CRR).  Caitlyn did a good job taking the bottle from Grandma and by the end of the two weeks was even taking better naps for her.  Mostly though, she was just cute and that was enough…

I love my Grandma Laural!

It was a busy time since it was also Carina’s fourth birthday.  She had a super fun birthday weekend with a Bouncy Land party.  We took her in to have her portrait taken, and she just looks so grown up…

I'm 4!

We had a few shots done of her with Caitlyn also…

I love my sister.

We took both girls in today for their well-checks – Caitlyn for her 4-month and Carina for her 4-year.  We are so lucky that both girls continue to be healthy and happy.  Caitlyn has started to think about rolling over, but hasn’t mastered it yet.  She’s also getting more interested in toys, especially when they are in her drooly mouth!  Carina is doing a great job in preschool.  We had a conference with her teacher (how nice to be a parent for once in this situation), and she is doing very well.  Her teacher said that one of the things she likes to do is play “teacher” with the other kids.  There was a great pictue she showed us of Carina using the felt board to teach her “class.”  I wonder where she gets that from?  We love to see her learning and growing and becoming such a neat little person. She’ll be moving to a new class in a couple of weeks due to growing enrollment.  We hope she has a smooth transition.

I have this week off for Mid-Year Recess.  Caitlyn is at day care for today and tomorrow so I can get caught up on some work stuff and some fun stuff.  This weekend Dave’s parents will be here for a few days to help us out and to have fun with the girls.  Dave and I are lucky to have such great parents that can help us out.

Waiting to Dance

Carina has really been amusing us lately with her speaking.  She has started using a lot of inflection when she speaks, and she also uses her hands when she talks.  It is funny to listen to and see.  Carina is happy that she can use her words (and silly faces) to entertain Caitlyn.  She likes it when she is able to make Caitlyn laugh.

Carina is excited about her upcoming birthday – 4 years old already!  We let her decide what kind of party she wanted and Bouncy Land it is.  She’s made a list of items she wants.  My favorite: a magic wand…but, she has one stipulation: a magic wand that “really does magic.”  Hmmm…do they sell those on Amazon?

Caitlyn has a new name – Miss Drooly!  She is constantly a wet, drooly mess.

Bubble Mouth

Another new name we could give her is Banshee.  She has started making this high-pitched shrieking noise.  I think she is super proud of herself for this new sound, but it is a real ear piercer!  I’m proud of her for something else – drinking from a bottle!  Carina took a bottle so easily, that I didn’t think anything of introducing it to Caitlyn.  Boy was I wrong!  She wanted nothing to do with it!  I reached out to my mommy friends for advice and we started trying lots of different suggestions to get her to take one.  Nothing seemed to work!  We tried different bottles, different nipples, different positions, different times of day, different milk (frozen, refrigerated, fresh from the source), different people – nothing!  She wanted nothing to do with anything that wasn’t Mommy.  Finally, I decided to try and give it to her (most everywhere said the mom shouldn’t give it, but I was desperate)…and ta-da!  She did it.  Unfortunately, her taking it from me didn’t really help us out any since the reason for taking a bottle was so that I didn’t have to be there.  We kept trying though and finally she took it from Dave!  We’ve done a couple of days at daycare (just a few hours each) and she’s also taken the bottle from Michele there.  Such a relief since I go back to work in two weeks.

Speaking of work – yes, only two weeks until I’m back in the classroom.  I’m looking forward to being back at work, but I will miss my days with Caitlyn.  Only four and a half months until summer!

Uh, what is going on here?

We worried a bottle might not be so easy since she will not take a pacifier, and we were right.  She wanted nothing to do with that thing!  So, we went to Plan B…and then Plan C…and then Plan D…you get the picture.  We tried every day.  We tried different bottles and different nipples.  We tried different times of day and different places.  We had Daddy try, Mommy try, and Auntie Crystal try.  Nothing.  Finally this morning we had a little bit of success.  I hope over the next week she continues to catch on.

Caitlyn has started laughing a real laugh.  Seems the person who can get her to laugh the best is big sister, Carina.  No surprise there I guess.  Caitlyn also loves the flowers and tree on the wall in her room.  She stares at them and smiles her gummy little smile.  In general, Caitlyn is quite a happy, mellow, little lady…

I'm cute!

Carina is loving doing puzzles these days.  She has a few and she can do them over and over and over again.  I love to watch her reason as she puts them together.

Watch Out!

It rained all day on Christmas, so we weren’t able to take the new bike out for a spin.  Luckily, the rain cleared up the day after and she was able to ride.  We rode over to the elementary school and she got going pretty fast.  We had to run to keep up with her!  She was so excited that Santa had brought her just what she asked for.

Caitlyn, on the other hand, didn’t really care about all of the festivities.  She did love some extra spoiling time from the various grandparents, friends, and family.

For Me?

Overall, we all had a great time.  We were able to fit in all of our families (which is not easy if you know my family) and some friends too.  The girls and I stayed a few extra days on the Central Coast for a little fun with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and Grandpa Spencer.  We took the Amtrak home.  It was a fun adventure, but would have been even better had the train not been running four hours late!

The new year brings a new job for Dave (he started today), a return to work for Heather (I go back February 7th), a birthday for Carina (how did she get to be four already?), and lots of fun milestones for Caitlyn (she started smiling, cooing, and squealing already).  I can’t wait!

Sisters

]]> http://www.reuterskiold.com/?feed=rss2&p=362 1 http://www.reuterskiold.com/?p=344 http://www.reuterskiold.com/?p=344#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:06:08 +0000 Heather Jensen Reuterskiold http://www.reuterskiold.com/?p=344 The newest member of the Reuterskiold clan is doing quite well.  The last two weeks have been busy and full of ups and downs, but our new (and expanded) family is adjusting well.  So, how did the last two weeks unfold….

On Wednesday, October 20th, I went to work like normal.  I had been feeling “slow” the previous couple of days, but other than that was feeling pretty good.  After recess, while my kids were starting math, I stood up from my desk and felt a “gush.”  My first thought was that my water had broken.  Luckily, I had a parent in the room so I asked her to keep an eye on the kids while I waddled down to the bathroom.  At that point I discovered that the gush was of blood.  I tried to stay calm as I walked into the office to tell them that I thought the baby was coming and that I was heading to the hospital.  I wasn’t having any contractions, so I walked back to my room, packed up my stuff, and told the kids goodbye.  I headed toward the hospital.  I called Dave and told him that I was on my way and that he should probably head over as well.  I called the hospital on the way and they advised me to come in to be observed because of the large amount of blood loss.  When I got to the hospital around 12:30, they put me in an observation room.  As if on cue, I had my first mild contraction just as they were hooking up the contraction monitor.  An internal check showed I was about 4.5 centimeters dilated.  Under normal circumstances they still would have sent me home to do early labor, but since I had now had another blood gush, they kept me right there.

The next few hours were uneventful.  We called the grandparents and told them to start heading to the Bay Area.  We called labor support, Crystal, and told her to be on call.  No rush we said – it could be awhile still.  I continued to have mild contractions, but they did start to come more regularly.  I was hooked up to an IV to replenish fluids, and also in case I had more blood loss – they wanted me ready to go for a blood transfusion if I needed it.  At some point they finally moved me from an observation room to an actual labor and delivery room.  I was free to move around which was nice after being confined to bed with Carina’s labor.

Around six o’clock that night Crystal showed up and contractions started to get a little more serious.  A check of my cervix showed I was about 6 centimeters dilated.  I decided to get out of bed and try the birthing ball which helped.  I was having very bad back pain with each contraction and the nurse predicted that Baby was facing up – not the way she should have been.  They had me change positions in an attempt to turn her over, but she stayed put and so did the back labor.  This continued for a couple of hours.  I was starting to have some serious contractions so I asked Dave to get the anesthesiologist going on an epidural.  They started getting things ready, but the contractions started coming one on top of each other.  Then, I started to feel pressure to push.  The nurse checked me and – ta da – 10 centimeters dilated!  No time for the epidural – time to start pushing!!  After about 20-30 minutes of pushing, Miss Caitlyn Rose came out sunny side up (just as the nurse had predicted) at 8:58 pm.

Caitlyn Rose

The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck three times, but this hadn’t seemed to bother her.  Daddy cut the cord.  She was alert and started crying right away.  She had a little bit of fluid in her lungs so the nurses did all they could to get her to scream and cry as that helps clear it out.  After the placenta was delivered, the doctor discovered that I had a placental abruption.  This means that the placenta had started to separate from the uterus wall (hence the gushes of blood earlier).  Because of this, the placenta was not intact, and the doctor had to be sure that all pieces of it were out before stitching things up.  This was not pleasant!!  The only high point was that they brought me dinner – with Carina I was not allowed to eat for almost 48 hours due to the medication I was on….so, that meatloaf and mashed potatoes was amazing!!

Soon we were being moved into the Mommy/Baby unit with our new little bundle of joy!  Caitlyn started nursing right away, and that was also a relief.  Thursday we just spent the day getting to know our little one and introducing her to a few friends and family.  The most excited visitor – Big Sister Carina…

Sisters

I was able to get up and walk around, which was nice, but my body felt like I’d been hit by a truck and then run over by it a few times.  Ugh!  We also noticed that Caitlyn’s tongue looked funny.  I remembered something called tongue tie from a breastfeeding book, so we asked the pediatrician about it.  Sure enough, Caitlyn was tightly tongue tied.  It can affect kids later in life because it looks funny, but it also prevents then from doing things like licking ice cream cones.  The biggest problem, however, is that since they can’t stick their tongues out all of the way, they are unable to latch on correctly for breastfeeding.  Caitlyn hadn’t had any problems at this point so we decided to not take any immediate action.  Friday morning we headed home.

At our appointment with the newborn nurses two days later, our nurse immediately asked how breastfeeding was going due to the tongue tie.  They weighed Caitlyn before and after a feeding and found she was eating plenty.  Unfortunately, her improper latch was causing Mommy a lot of pain and suffering in the process.  We decided to have her tongue tie “snipped.”  A fairly easy procedure done with just topical pain medication.  We got a referral from our pediatrician for the following Friday with an ENT doctor.  At the appointment she went from….

Before

to…

After

She nursed immediately following the procedure and the difference was amazing!  Mommy was very happy!!

Caitlyn has been sleeping fairly well overnight.  She gets up about every two to three hours to nurse, but then falls back to sleep pretty well.  She has more and more alert time during the day and we’ve already started to notice hints of her personality.

Hello World!

After her first washdown, Big Sister was happy to help wrap her up…

Getting wrapped up by Big C

Carina really seems to be patient with Caitlyn (we wish we could say the same about how she’s been reacting to Mommy & Daddy since the newest addition arrived).

What is her problem?

We continue to find our new “normal” routine, but each day we learn something new about being a family of four!

As many of you have heard, Caitlyn Rose Reuterskiold (aka Fetus 2.0) was born on October 20, 2010 at 8:58pm.  Everything went as well as we could have hoped.  She weighed in at exactly 7 lbs.

Caitlyn and Daddy

Everyone is home and adjusting to a household of four.  Look for a more detailed post from Heather in the near future.