Christian was a pretty good sleeper until he had his last ear infection. He was going to sleep around 9:00 p.m. and waking up at 5:00 a.m. He'd eat, then sleep again until 7:00 a.m. Then he got that damned ear infection, and it has been a nightmare ever since. He's been waking every 2-3 hours consistently since about 8 months.

Nursing used to knock him out quickly when he woke, but now when he wakes he gets restless. Last night was the "straw that broke the camels back". He woke at 12:00 a.m., and I nursed him until 12:30 a.m. w/out any luck. I was so frustrated, I just put him in his crib, where he cried bloody friggin' murder for an hour (I felt horrible). Finally, John went in there to settle him down, and Christian passed out as soon as he was picked up.

Manny was the same exact way. We had to co-sleep with him until he was about 15 months old. The only thing was that all Manny needed was to see that we were there. He would wake up, and immediately fall back to sleep. Christian is a completely different ball of wax.

I just have to remind myself that when Manny was younger he was a horrible sleeper, and now, he falls asleep on his own w/out any problems and sleeps about 12 hours straight.

On Saturday the Bauson clan made the trek to Tahoe. We left at 5:30 a.m., and had planned to be playing in the snow by 9:00 a.m., possibly even 10:00 a.m. (the weather was going to be a bit harsh, so we padded an extra hour).

We got through Sacramento without any problems. Once we hit Auburn, things started to slow down exponentially; by Colfax, they had closed down two lanes of the three lane highway to check to make sure that each car or truck was a four wheel drive, if not, they needed to have chains. It took us 6 hours to get to Tahoe.

We ended up stopping just after Colfax because both of our children were getting antsy. We had a quick brunch (super healthy by the way, nothing beats a BK whopper at 10:30 a.m.).

We hit the road again, and reached Boreal Ski Resort by 11:30 a.m. I had researched the resort on Friday evening, and read that Boreal had recently installed a tubing hill for children. We had been in the car for so long that John and I just wanted to start playing in the snow! We pulled over, found a parking spot, and started to suit up the kids.

I think it took us about 15 minutes to get everyone dressed, however it felt like an eternity. It really is a pain in the arse to get both kids in gloves, boots, jacket, and beanie.

We finally made our way to the Boreal lodge only to find out that the tubing area was closed because of the weather....grrrr. We were told that there was a "snow park" just a second up the road where we could rent sleds. We let Manny and Christian run around for another 15 or so minutes, and loaded them up in the car...again.

(I also had to nurse Christian once we were inside the lodge, which meant that I head to remove his jacket, beanie, and gloves which took me an eternity to put on...that was a HUGE pain)

We then spent the next 15-20 minutes trying to find where the hell we could rent sleds, but there was no sled rental in sight. My final assessment? I think the customer service lady was on crack.

Frustrated, and tired, we loaded up the kids in the car once more, and decided to make our way to our original intended destination, Granlibakken Resort. We were so happy to see that the roads had cleared up considerably when we were at Boreal. It took us another 20 minutes to get to Granlibakken.

We made our final destination, at 12:30 p.m! John and Manny went sledding (which is another funny story, but I will need another blog to explain) on the bigger hill. We then found another small hill for both boys to enjoy sledding. John and Manny made a snowman, while Christian and I looked on.

Unfortunately, when John and I started to enjoy ourselves, the boys were ready to leave. We really only spent about 3 hours of good play time in the snow.

I also have created a new rule about future ski trips: unless you're an excellent walker, and can walk in snow boots, you're not allowed to come on the trip with us.

My lovely baby boy, Christian, is about 23+ pounds. With all of his snow gear on, he probably weighs closer to 25 pounds. I had to lug him around the snow, at 8000 elevation. It was not easy. We want to take Manny to the snow again before the winter is over. We will be leaving Christian at home with a babysitter.

The ride home was a bit easier. The boys slept most of the way. It took us about 3 hours to get to Berkeley. By this time both boys were awake, and ready to get out of the car (they both were crying). We stopped at the Berkeley Wholefoods to grab some dinner, and ended up getting home at 7:30 p.m.

In retrospect, we did have fun. In total we traveled 10 hours, to play in the snow for 3. It was a lot of work, but when I asked Manny if he had fun he said yes, and he wants to go back soon.

Here are some more photos...



This is Manny's first meltdown. We were at the park for about an hour.

Today while Mommy was using the restroom Christian climbed onto the arm of Manny's small toddler arm chair. He then decided to fall, and hit his tooth. I'm not sure what he hit his tooth on b/c when I came running out he was already on the floor. I didn't see anything around him that could have been the culprit, so I think this mystery will be unsolved.

Anyways, I ran to pick him up, held him to my chest, and rocked him for a bit to try and calm him down. When I pulled him back to access the damage, my chest was covered in blood. His face was covered in blood. I quickly wiped him down, and noticed that the bleeding was coming from his mouth.

Oh my gosh, there was so much blood! So much that I could smell that coppery scent in the air...gag I opened his mouth too see what was bleeding, and noticed that there was a small cut in the gum line above his tooth.

I called his dentist and had an appointment made for 2:30 p.m. I also called John b/c I remembered the horrible time Manny had when he did the same thing a couple of months earlier. I needed help just in case Christian started flipping out.

Upon examination Dr. Pham said that it looked like Christian fractured his tooth (it was extremely loose). He said that baby's teeth are extremely fragile. The plus side is that they heal quickly, and no sutures or surgery will be needed (had he been older these things would most likely have been necessary). Unfortunately, we have to keep him on pureed foods for the next two weeks, and try to keep him from chewing on things, and putting stuff in his mouth (yeah right).

Christian did really well when Dr. Pham looked at his mouth. All of the nurses commented about how calm he was. Christian just sat there, and stared at the weird dude with fingers in his mouth.

So now we have removed everything and anything that Christian could possible crawl on. Christian is a climber, so that means practically everything has been removed. I don't see how I'm going to keep him from chewing on things, but I'll try my best.


Over the past week I've had this horrible cough. I don't have a fever. I'm not congested. I just have this nasty smokers cough (I don't smoke by the way). I went to Target in search of cough syrup, and found some tylenol cough & cold on sale. I looked over the bottle to make sure that it wasn't their night time formula, and didn't see it marked "night time" anywhere, so I threw it in the basket and was on my way.

Before driving home I decided to take the recommended dose of cough syrup. Five minutes after taking said "dose" I started to feel...funny; almost drunkenly tired. I thought, "crap was it the night time medication?" And low and behold, in the lower left hand corner, in super teenie tiny letters I read "night time". Bah! It was only 4:30 p.m.!!! How was I going to make it until after the kids got to bed?!?!

John was with me when all of this went down, and he started to laugh at me. He was the one who was going to suffer in the end when I went to bed at 6:00 p.m. I don't know why he thought it was so funny.

Luckily I was able to tough it out until 7:00 p.m. I cooked dinner, ate dinner, and then passed out. I woke up at 5: 00 a.m. and have been awake ever since. I feel great! I slept for 10 hours...who wouldn't?

I have some new videos of Christian for your viewing pleasure (I also wanted to add that I try and take videos of Manny, but he doesn't let me...stubborn child).

We recently found out that Christian loves mozzarella cheese. In the video below, Christian is chasing John, for his mozzarella stick.

Oh, and I would please like you to ignore the mess in the background; hurricanes ain't got nothin' on my two little dudes!



The next video is of Christian and I having a chat. The boy loves to talk!

TEETH
Last week I took Manny to the dentist because I noticed he had a cavity on the front of his canine tooth. Upon further examination, Dr. Pham noted that he had 4 additional cavities at the back of his mouth. I knew this was going to be expensive.

Julie, the lady who handles the insurance information, called me on Thursday to let me know the prices. Initially I wanted to fill three of his cavities with porcelain fillings, and two with silver. Insurance doesn't cover the porcelain fillings, so we would have had to pay $450 out of pocket! Of course we switched to all silver, so that cut out about $100.

We went in yesterday morning at 8:30 and Manny was given some anti-anxiety medication. We were suppose to have the procedure start at 9:30 but we found out at 9:00 that his dentist got into a car accident and wouldn't be in until 10:00. Mind you, Manny wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before the procedure. So this accident tacked on another half hour of no food or drink, which might be okay for a teenager or adult, but can seem like a lifetime to a 3 year old.

By the time his doctor got into the office, Manny was starting to get super fussy. He was constantly complaining about how thirsty and hungry he was. I knew once they got him hooked up to the nitrous he would calm down, but I was skeptical that he would cooperate.

Luckily, everything turned out fine. Dr. Pham bribed him with Transformers stickers, and was able to get him into the back room just fine (when younger children get cavities filled they prefer parents not to go back with the kids - I understand, it probably makes the kids more anxious - and they are put in a "quiet room" b/c I'd imagine some kids freak out initially).

When we picked him up an hour after they started the procedure, Dr. Pham informed John that b/c we were so understanding and patient he filled all of his cavities with the porcelain fillings. That was a nice surprise.

BABY POWDER
Last night while I was on the computer Manny got into the baby powder. Christian was on the floor next to me, playing quietly, and Manny disappeared.

Every now and then I could smell the strong scent of baby powder, but when I looked in the living room, I didn't see anything. I looked in the dining room didn't see anything. So I just let it go.

I went up to use the bathroom, and on my way I passed the kitchen. There was Manny, with baby powder on the floor sweeping it up with his little broom. A bit of a mess, but no big deal, I'd just clean it up after I used the restroom.

I walked down the hallway and **BAM** another mountain of baby powder with Buzz Lightyear and Woody somewhere underneath. I followed the trail of powder to his bedroom, where I found heaps of baby powder on his floor, on his dresser, and on his bed.

It was like a horror movie. Everywhere I turned I saw baby powder! I was caught in the middle of mixed emotions. On the one hand I was furious that I had to clean up this horrible mess, but on the other I couldn't help but giggle to myself. When Manny makes a mess, he doesn't do it half ass.

What made it even more funny, was that as I was vacuuming, Manny kept saying, "I sowwee Mommy, sooooowweeeee." Which made me giggle a little more....haha.