Cedric

I have a new love in my life.  His name is Cedric Sebastian.  Doesn't the name just roll off your tongue?

He is my new Latin love, my little Argentinian Dulce de Leche.  I would eat him up if my sister would let me.

Cedric is not mine.   He belongs to my sister, Sally, and her husband, Gino.  Cedric decided to join the world at 42 weeks!  Sally was gracious enough to share her pregnancy with me, even inviting me to the birth.

I love birth.  In my next life, I will be a labor and delivery nurse.  I really tried hard to maintain space and boundaries.  After all, it wasn't my birth.  I was in awe of Sally as she crept past 11 days late.  I even called her to make sure she was okay.  Her level of zen scared me.  Most women in her place are just a puddle of tears.

Sally and Gino went in over the weekend to begin induction.  Her body seemed in no hurry to go into labor.  I kept myself busy with my own family, waiting to hear that labor was at a point where my support would be welcomed.  They went into the hospital at 8 am, but I didn't join them until 9:30 pm.  Gino was a rock, taking care of Sally.

Sally was tired, but in good spirits.  As the evening wore on, Sally's body continued to resist labor.  At the same time, the monitors showed the baby's heart decelerating more frequently.  I was really impressed with the midwife.  She was so caring and earnest, not over-reactive, but as a new reality set in, she still gave Sally options -- a controlled c-section or a strong possibility of an emergency c-section.  Sally was calm and rationale.  She recognized that she was barely contracting, she wasn't in labor and that things were not headed in a good direction.  The doula and I left the room so Sally and Gino could make a decision.  The midwife joined us out in the hall.  

When we returned, Sally was crying but knew that her baby needed her to have a c-section.  I was surprised by how quickly the staff of the hospital mobilized.

This is me telling Sally that I'm so proud of her and that I'm so sorry this is happening right now.

The doula and Gino went into the delivery room.  As much as I may have wanted to be in there, it wasn't my place.  My camera went instead.  I used the opportunity to sleep for a few minutes since it was 3 am.  The doula took some great pics.

This pic of the three of them is one of my favorites.

I held back tears when the nurses wheeled Sally and Cedric into the room. Sally's first words to me were, "You can't hold him.  I just got him."  Duh.  I wasn't going to even ask.  I knew I would get to eventually when Sally was ready.  It's HER baby.  I was just so incredibly happy for the both of them. I gave Gino the biggest hug.  I didn't have to wait too long to hold Cedric.

Cedric is beautiful.  He also looks a lot life new born Robin, if Robin weighed 3 pounds more and was 2.5 inches taller.  So, Robin on steroids?  Either way, he looks like one of my babies which makes me love him that much more.

 A c-section was the right choice.  Cedric had pooped lots of meconium and was completely tangled up in his cord (hence the decelerations).  Gino and Sally say that when he was lifted out he was holding onto his cord with his fist just like his gestational namesake, Tarzan.  Cedric, formerly known as Tarzan, also proceeded to spray everyone with pee upon being removed from Sally.

The doula left a little bit after the birth.   This meant is was my turn to step into a larger role.  The first one was unofficial photographer.

In the morning, I made a run to Mighty-O Donuts for coffee and nutty french toast donuts.  Gino looks like an old hand already--coffee, baby, relaxing.

I tried to help Sally and Gino as best I could, especially since her night nurse was not awesome.  It's amazing how much giving birth and being a mom gets you over all sorts of body issues.  I had no problem getting in there, grabbing a boob, and helping Sally nurse.  My hardest job of course was holding and rocking Cedric while his parents got some much needed sleep.

Sometime during the course of the day, I lost my car keys.  Dave had to drive home from work and then back down to Ballard to rescue me.  The upside?  He got to meet Cedric.

I'm so grateful to my amazing principal, who insisted I be with my sister despite not having a sub, as well as to him and all my co-workers, who covered my classes.  My other big job was taking care of Pee Wee, the dog.

Pee Wee and I have a complicated relationship stemming back to when I was pregnant with Robin and he lived at my house.  He pooped on my bath mats and purposely peed on my brand new mattress.  He also liked to snuggle under my very pregnant belly.  Pee Wee was so sad while his parents were gone.  He could barely look at me or Eileen (one of his favorite people).  Later visits involved lots of excited jumping and licking.  Going over to grab packages and care for Pee Wee was a fun job for Eileen.  She now has plans to be a zoo keeper.

Linus and Robin got to meet Cedric at the hospital.  Eileen opted to stay home.  She's more into animals than babies.  Linus was in heaven.  Robin refused to hold Cedric, but liked "playing with his little toes."

It's now been 48 hours since I held Cedric.  There is nothing like a new baby to make joy radiate throughout your body.   I'm going through withdrawals but I just remind myself that I need to give the new family space.  It's exciting to have a nephew living only 5 minutes away. Sally and Gino will be wonderful parents and I'm overjoyed for them.  Welcome Cedric Sebastian.

10 items of Thanks

Thanksgiving started with a bang.  Literally.  I woke up.  It was dark and I proceeded to walk into a door.  I managed to both hit my face and scrape the top of my big toe.  I collapsed to the ground, moaning, in a fetal position.  It was not the start to the day that I envisioned.

1st thing I am thankful for this year: my kids' love of reading
Luckily, the morning got a little better.  Around 6:30 in the morning, I heard noise next to me.  I looked down and found this.

I am thankful all my kids love reading.  Robin has developed an affinity for Calvin and Hobbes.  Eventually, I rolled out of bed and got myself coffee, ready to start the day.  

2nd item of thanks: my husband's family
The Dimocks are an easy going, flexible group.  I was not planning to host Thanksgiving this year.  We were supposed to go to my in-laws.  However, both my sister, Sally, and sister-in-law, Jenna, were due with babies in November.  Jenna had already announced she would not be at Thanksgiving.  I didn't want my sister to have the responsibility of hosting with a baby on the way, possibly a newborn.  In October, I asked everyone if they would be open to not doing Thanksgiving this year.  Everyone agreed.  No big deal.  My mother-in-law was happy to lend me her electric roaster once again. I am thankful for the wonderful family I married into.

3rd item of thanks:  Babies!

On Thanksgiving my poor sister was 10 days past her due date.  Jenna was about a week before her due date.  I spent the day messaging with both of them, wondering just exactly when I would become an aunt again.  I love babies so much.  Few things make me as happy as holding a baby, especially a newborn.  I'm thankful that these women in my life have shared their pregnancies with me.  Sally and Gino came to Thanksgiving, a surprise to all of us.

This morning (one day post Thanksgiving), I awoke to my message from my sister-in-law.  I have a new baby niece! She is beautiful.  I shocked myself by beginning to cry when I saw her.  Motherhood has made me a complete sap.

4th item of thanks: Target

I got both an awesome pilgrim hat and turkey hat in the Target dollar bins.  Robin spent the day "stuffing" the turkey hat and seasoning it with pretend sprinkles.  It was awesome.  I think I can rock a pilgrim hat pretty well.

I love so much of the new Target styles, both clothes and housewares.  Sometimes I wish I had a completely empty house and unlimited funds, just so I could redecorate with Target. 

5th Item of Thanks:  my fun family

Dinner this year was entertaining.  Yoon enjoyed his first Thanksgiving feast.  Turkey was his favorite.  Robin's favorite part of cutting food with a knife.  He did eventually cut a hole in a roll, stuff it with turkey and cranberry, and eat it.  Really, pretty ingenious.  Linus, Dave, and Eileen the Elder had their own idea of fun.

In addition to pies, my aunt, Eileen, brought a classy soup tureen which I opted to use as decoration versus having to wash another dish.

6th Item of Thanks:  Pinterest

I am thankful for Pinterest.  I was not a very good cook when Dave and I got married.  Pinterest sparked a desire in me to learn how to cook.  I've gotten better at improving/adjusting/merging recipes.  I've ventured outside my comfort zone to try making new things.  If it weren't for Pinterest, I would still be making most everything out of box.

Side note: my turkey rocked (as well as my other dishes)

7th Item of Thanks:  my kids love of costumes

I recently had the kids costume box.  It was hard to say goodbye to the amazing toddler size costumes, but I was able to give them to a friend who would definitely get use out of them.  My kids have always played with costumes. Even as they get older, all three still love to dress up. Thanksgiving was no exception.  

A forlorn grim reaper (not pictured is his ball and chain).

8th Item of Thanks: my husband

Dave is a truly good guy.  I love that he plays with our kids.  In the morning, he took all four kids to the park for an hour so I could prep food in peace.  Afterwards, he played board games with the kids.  I couldn't host Thanksgiving if I didn't have him quietly by my side, supporting me.

A lot of board games have been played in the last few days.  I finally got to sit down and play Ticket to Ride with them today.  Dave demolished all of us.  It was not even close.

9th Item of Thanks: my situation in life

This year Dave took a job at Blue Origins.  While the commute is less than ideal, it's an awesome job and makes Dave happy.  I like my job, the people I work with, and the students.  We have a nice home that is big enough for me to host holidays relatively easily.  Even if life is not always easy, I am grateful for what I do have.

10th Item of Thanks:  the nap I got today

Seriously.  The 3 days before Thanksgiving were parent-teacher conferences.  It is mentally exhausting.  Add in hosting Thanksgiving, sports practices, and multiple doctor appointments, and I was exhausted.  I asked Dave if he would mind if I laid down.  I then promptly fell asleep for an hour and woke up feeling 10 times better.

In the next few days, I hope to meet my new niece and nephew and we'll start to get into the Christmas holiday season.  I doubt I will ever have another Thanksgiving where I'm eagerly awaiting the birth of two babes at any moment.  It added a different feel to the day and for that I am thankful.

The Final Fall Birthday

This week marked the end of our annual run of fall birthdays.  Eileen is officially eight.  She is feeling a variety of feelings --excited and yet pragmatic at the same time.

I asked Eileen what she wanted for her birthday.  The conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey Eileen, what do you want for your birthday?"

Eileen:  "Besides a pet?  Oh, whatever someone thinks I might like."

See what what I mean?  She's practically a grownup.

Eileen had a great birthday.  She requested breakfast in bed, specifically cereal, strawberries, and bacon.  The night before I made cocoa rice krispy treats with mini m&ms for her class (gluten free/dairy free!).  Grandma joined her as a lunch guest.

She is looking more like a Dimock every day.

We attempted to go out to dinner at the new pub by our house, but timed it wrong.  Eileen, ever flexible, was equally excited for her back up choice -- McDonalds.  The rest of us were less enthused.

Back home, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law joined us for cake and presents.  My parents got her switcher skates (can be either quads or inline).  Eileen has asked for roller skates for a year now.  Sally and Gino know Eileen well.  In addition to a gift card to add books to her Kindle, they got her glowing cat ear headphones.  Dave and I got her a LEGO set, a cat chasing butterfly shaped bulletin board, and a nail salon set.  

Cake was brought to us by Dairy Queen, hot cocoa oreo blizzard cake. Oh. My. God!!!!!!  I may or may not have drunk the cake remains as it melted. I now know that hot cocoa should always be an ice cream flavor.  

Eileen finished the evening giving her new head phones a test run with a little screen time.  

 After school the next day, Eileen took her new skates for a spin.  Luckily, we keep a clean garage so she has a nice place to practice.

At 8, Eileen is still her own person.  She is joy and happiness and light.  She is a natural caretaker and enjoys doing small acts of kindness for others.  Eileen loves animals.  Eileen can often be found reading a book or creating a fantasy world in her room.  She enjoys art and loves school. Eileen also likes to play computer games and has recently gotten into coding and Tinkercad.  Eileen is a free spirit and does her own thing, sometimes to my chagrin.  Although I do admire her ability to ignore the complexity of social structures already forming around her.   I feel lucky to have an Eileen in my life.  She makes me sit back and breathe and take in the moment.  Other times, I have to breathe simply to survive her. 

The day before her birthday, her class went to the Woodland Park Zoo.  Another mom sent me this picture.  It completely captures the essence of Eileen.  Happy Birthday Eileen!

Autumn Afternoon

Sometimes the best days are the ones when you have nothing planned.  By some sort of miracle, Sunday ended being less busy.  Dave and I left the kids to play.

Eileen and Robin commenced with fort building.  Their creation differed from previous versions by having an open air quality in part.

All the kids spent time playing in there.  I loved Eileen's note she created.  I was even more impressed by her spelling!

Bird Suite Rules

1. no steeling tuffets
2. no going into other personal spaces unless permission
3. if you have never gone into this fort ask Eileen.
4. listen to employs

My sister, Sally, is due any day with a baby.  Eileen and I went over to help her out.  While I helped with baby laundry, Eileen was more than happy to entertain Pee Wee.  She was pretty much in heaven, snuggly with an animal.

Meanwhile, the boys/menfolk built armor out of cardboard and zip ties and then commenced with an epic battle of nerf guns.

Settlers of Catan, Risk, and Frog Juice were played.  Yoon has figured out that Dave is the fun parent.  The evening ended with Linus and Yoon watching the movie, Avengers: Infinity War.  They bargained with offering no screen time on Monday, taking showers beforehand (they were pretty smelly from earlier nerf warfare), and going to bed easily.

This morning in the car on the way to school I listened for 15 minutes as Linus and Yoon dissected the movie and different super heroes.  It's these kind of weekends that make fall the best.

Haunted Halloween

The month of October was sort of a blur.  I had to write down carving pumpkins on my to-do list or I honestly think I would have forgotten.  I mean, I forgot to bake Halloween cookies!  What is happening to me!?!

Thanks to a birthday party at a pumpkin patch, Robin and Eileen picked out pumpkins for the whole family.  Carving pumpkins is not a thing in Korea, neither is costumes or trick or treating.  Yoon took to pumpkin carving like a moth to flame.  He really enjoyed himself.  None of my kids like the guts, but at least this year everyone but Robin helped.  Yoon didn't mind getting in there and doing the gross work.  Linus helped Yoon with the final hollowing out (getting rid of the last of the strings).  It was a good partnership.  Pumpkin carving was definitely a group effort this year.

Dave and I went to a Halloween party for the first time in a few years.  It finally gave me a chance to wear my Elaine Benes (from Seinfeld) costume and show off my sweet dance moves.

I should have made Dave wear a ruffled shirt.  Then we could have been like all the other cute and coordinated couples at the party.  Dave went as a gorilla.

I disappointed myself a little a didn't wear a costume to school on Halloween.  I chose to just dress for the color games (black).  My shirt did have a sparkly pumpkin on it.  So I can argue I was at least festive.

Robin opted to be a ghost this year.  I didn't anticipate how much he would embrace the costume.  He roamed the halls of school all morning, making ghostly sounds.  It was awesome.  He loved how everyone who ran away in fear from him.

Yoon joined the rest of the 6th grade boys for trick or treating, which left Dave to take out our kids.  The haul was pretty impressive with multiple full size candy bars.

Linus really wanted to be the Black Panther.  I had to think about it for awhile and weigh to what extent it would constitute cultural appropriation.  Eventually, I agreed.  Linus was very excited.

Eileen loves animals and continued her tradition of animals for Halloween.  Previous costumes have been bat (2 different years), snow leopard, and black cat.  She made a pretty cute raccoon and did her own face paint.

On all fours.

You can tell Yoon and Linus did the carving themselves.  You can't tell, but the giant mouth on the pumpkin on the far right actually has large, scary, glow in the dark teeth.  Yoon's is the one that is more of a Picasso pumpkin.

I let the kids each keep 5 pieces of candy in their rooms and put all the rest in labeled ziplocks.  I am such a mean mom.  Linus and Yoon figured out that they could work the system by choosing larger pieces of candy.  It's 3 days later.  The kids are each down to one piece of candy or less in their rooms.  I have been doing my part by slowly gleaning their bags, careful to take from each ziplock and not just one.  Sometimes it's good to be the mom.  Let the kids do all the work, and I reap the benefits.  Mwa ha ha.