First Day of Preschool

The whole process of figuring out preschool in Manhattan has been a nightmare. None of the options are ideal - too expensive, too long, impossible to get in to...  I had resigned myself to the fact that public Pre-K would be fine and although I'd be sending her essentially one year early to public school AND she'd be there for the full day, she would thrive and it would give me some 1-on-1 time with Colton. So, last March I registered her with the NY Department of Education and put her name in to the lottery for the 3 schools within a reasonable walking distance of our home. I figured she wouldn't get in to our zoned school but every one kept telling me that she would get in somewhere. 'It will all work out!' was what everyone said. Really though, all I wanted was for Sadie to be able to go to preschool for 3 hours a day 3-5 days a week. I mean, it's preschool. Since I'll be sending her to kindergarten at age 4 (the cutoff for NYC Public Schools is December 31), I didn't necessarily want her to be gone all day since it is my last year to spend my days with her and I worked a lot during her first 3 years of life.

Fast forward to June and I see an email come through shortly after midnight (I had just been up with Colton) from the DOE. I of course knew we were to be finding out about Pre-K that week so I opened the email - big mistake! It kindly informed me that Sadie didn't get in to Pre-K and of course, I couldn't sleep after that. I wanted to touch base with all of her other friends to see if they had gotten in somewhere. Anyway, it was a long night and a horrible next day. Most of her friends had gotten in somewhere and I was devastated. It was a lottery based on priorities, so it wasn't as though the DOE was turning down the intellectuality of my child, but I still felt like they were. Anyway, I put her name on wait lists and have been calling and stopping in to her zoned school to try to see if I could get her in (a friend said I was guaranteed to get her in that way). Well, everyone was wrong. It wasn't working out. I have an issue with paying $15,000 - $25,000 for private preschool. Plus private preschool applications begin a year ahead of time. I knew I could probably have scrambled and found a spot at a private preschool, but that wasn't an option. Ugh! Anyway, a friend of mine ended up sending me information for a woman who was starting a preschool alternative in our neighborhood (more or less). I decided to look into it. From the first visit I fell in love with the little school. The cost was much more affordable and quite a good bang for your buck even in rural America. The class size was small (capped at 6) and the flexibility was awesome. Sadie loved it, I loved it and it just seemed right. So, we gave the wait list at the public school another 2 weeks and enrolled Sadie in Little Ducklings beginning today. She has been so excited to start school and I'm excited to see how much she will learn and grow.  Last night we painted her nails and picked out her clothes in preparation for the first day. Watching her makes me remember the butterflies and the excitement of starting school! It only lasted one day, but never fail I picked out my first day of school outfit the night before and felt like a million bucks the next day because I was always wearing a favorite new outfit. Sadie wasn't wearing anyway brand new per se, but she was excited for what she was wearing. We walked up to school today (it's about .9 miles each way) and I stopped her before we went in to the building to snap a first day of school picture. She happily obliged but after giving me a nice pose and smile twice she said she was done and wanted to go inside! I can't believe I have a little preschooler. Where did my baby go? Colton and I hopped across the street to the park after dropping Sadie off and took a quick swing before heading home for a nap.

My cute little preschooler, 6 days shy of turning 4.

Rice Cakes!

When it comes to food, Colton is easily satisfied by pretty much any pureed fruit or vegetable. Now that he is getting to the age of self feeding, we are exploring new things that he will eat. The one thing that never fails right now are rice cakes. He LOVES them. The minute he sees me pull out a bag of rice cakes he beams and pants in excitement! You can't get it into his hands fast enough. In an effort to minimize the mess of the rice cake, he kindly obliged and sat in his high chair for this. I could get over his cute little chubby, naked self just lounging with one leg up enjoying his favorite snack!

Morning Light

We got back from Paris yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but I was ready to see my cute kidlets! I wasn't quite sure how welcoming they would be when we walked in the door. My mom has always told me how I would punish her for a few days after she'd returned from a trip. I figured Sadie might do the same. Surprisingly Sadie was fine - happy to see us and excited to see what Parisian treasures we'd brought her. Colton on the other hand was just confused. Geff and Colton were waiting at the elevator coming down to meet us. To their surprise we stepped off the elevator first. Colton was in his stroller and I of course went right to him. I smiled at him and talked to him. He just stared a BIG BLANK stare. He looked at me, looked back at Geff, then looked back at me, then back at Geff. He did that a few times and then proceeded to just cry! Poor buddy was so incredibly confused! He didn't want me at all. I tried to hold him, he reached out to Geff. Then once inside the apartment he saw Carol, reached out for her and just kept going back and forth trying to figure out who he actually wanted. We had to let him work on it on his own. After we hugged Sadie, we sat on the floor to hand out the gifts we'd brought. Colton slowly but surely warmed back up to us and by the time he went to bed, he was pretty happy to be with any of the four of us. Cute boy!

This morning we were up bright and early (still on Paris time) and Colton is always up early, so we got to spend some good one on one time with him. There is nothing like the morning light shining through on a baby!

Today (according to my iPhone)

After dropping Sadie off at preschool, Colton and I took a more scenic route home along the East River. He napped and then woke up one happy little guy. We stopped and sat at the bench where Brett proposed to me and just hung out for a while before heading home. It was a gorgeous day! I sure love this city and realized today as I sat on our bench, just how many blessings have come from NYC.

This afternoon we spent a few hours at the park playing with Sadie's friend Madeleine, brother Ewan and gaga (her grandma). With so many friends that come and go in the city, it is fun to be able to watch the relationships develop with the longer-term city friends. These two girls are just too cute and sure have grown up so much! They greet each other with a huge hug and kiss. Seriously, how are they old enough to have scooter races? Shouldn't they just be toddling around the park? Madeleine informed me today that her favorite food is Chicken Tikki Masala with rice. They are cultured city girls. I don't think I knew what Tikki Masala was until, well, recently.

On a completely unrelated note: Colton is generally a solid 10-11 hour sleeper. But the past few nights he has woken up multiple times throughout the night fussing. When I go in to check on him (in his temporary make-shift bedroom - the master bathroom), he is up on all fours rocking back and forth trying to figure out how to crawl all the while fussing with his eyes completely closed. I try to put in his paci and let him get back to sleep on his own, but I've found that unless I position him back on his side, he gets back up on hands and knees. I must admit I am cranky when he wakes me up in the middle of the night (and completely exhausted by morning) but I smile every time I see it because it is so cute. I am excited for him to finally get his crawl on so he can sleep better, but then again, he'll be in to everything!

Another unrelated story: Tonight for dinner we had build-your-own Southwest salads with cheese crisps. Brett said, "This meal takes me south of the border! Sadie, where does it take you?" to which she responded, "Salty butter!" She was totally serious and proud of herself thinking she was copying what daddy said. I was a bit confused until I realized that when you don't know what "south of the border" is it can sound a bit like salty butter, something she actually knows!  I love her!

Bringing Home Baby

Our time in the hospital was absolutely wonderful.  A private post-partum room in New York is not covered by insurance and will run you anywhere from $550/night up to $4,000/night (for the 3 room suite).  We opted not to pay the cash for the room (I'm working on convincing Brett to let me use that money toward clothes & shoes :)), but got lucky lucky lucky.  You see, if there are no more shared rooms available, you get a private room, for free.  Usually you get moved once a shared room opens up.  Somehow, the stars aligned and we scored a private room for free, for the entire stay.  I think in addition to sheer luck, our labor & delivery nurse really liked us (and the treats we brought to share) and worked her magic.  So though I had requested at minimum to be on one of the newly renovated post-partum floors with a window bed overlooking Central Park, I was more than happy to take the private room on the non-renovated floor with a minimal street view.  Had I been in a shared room, I would have pushed to leave after the required 24 hours that they need to keep the baby.  But, since my mom was here with Sadie (thanks Mom!), we decided to let Brett and me enjoy the time to get to know our little man.  Since he was born at 1:14am, we kind of had three nights in the hospital.  Long, yes, but why not?  I may or may not have been caught by a nurse standing up on the bed with a mini photo studio set up in our room, snapping pictures of Colton our last night there.  What can I say, I was feeling good and pictures those first days are just priceless. 

Our floor didn't have a family lounge overlooking the park, so before we headed home, we strolled up a few floors to get a picture overlooking the park.

This time around, Brett made sure to take home as much as he could the night before, so we didn't have so much to load into the cab.  We still had quite a bit, but knowing that we had a doorman and elevator meeting us on the other end (unlike our lovely 5th floor walk-up with Sadie), we weren't quite as concerned.

Colton enjoyed his first taxi ride and not surprisingly slept through the entire thing.  We were just excited to get home and be with our cute Sadie.  She was somewhat indifferent when we walked in the door and continued watching her movie.  But after a few minutes, she came over to Colton's car seat and asked if we could get him out.  She loves her little brother though she is trying to make sense of it all in her own time.

Family of four

 

 

I adore those deliciously kissable cheeks!

 

Introducing Colton Brett

Colton Brett

Born: November 23, 2011 at 1:14am

Weight: 9 pounds 9 ounces

Height: 22 inches

APGAR: 9/9

Here's a little sampling of pictures from the experience of welcoming our newest addition...

All settled in to the hospital

Brand New

Mommy/Son Bonding right after delivery

Dr, Colton and Kris (aka 'My Beautiful Mormon' as nicknamed by her Jewish Dr)

Father/Son Bonding

Meeting Big Sister

Info on our name selection:

Deciding on a name has been a struggle this time around. We’ve gone back and forth countless times. We wanted a two syllable name but one that could be shortened. We also wanted a name that was common enough but wouldn’t put him as one of five boys with the same name in his classes at school. A while back, we stumbled upon the name Colton and fell in love with it immediately. We also loved that we could shorten it to Cole. Cole had been at the top of our list for a while and when we realized that Cole is a short form Kris’ maiden name, we liked it even more.

Brett is obviously a family name, a nod to both the baby’s father and past generations. For the first-born son, bestowing the name of the father as the middle name is a family tradition dating back four generations.

Quick Recap of Colton’s entrance: 

Our Baby Story (lasting 4 hours 59 minutes in the hospital)

Background: The due date had come and passed, as had Kris’ patience. With every passing day it seemed as though baby would never make his entry, somehow preferring his mother’s womb to the cruel world. Given the estimated size of the baby (a growth scan had estimated 8 lb 15 oz on Nov 4), the Dr was concerned and wanted to get the baby out as soon as possible. Based on commentary from the Dr, we had every expectation of delivering in early to mid-November. But the days kept going by and Kris wasn’t progressing on her own. We had been to the doctor on the 14^th, the 16^th, the 18^th, and the 21^st, with each appointment yielding a similar conclusion: the baby was big but Kris was not ready. But the morning of the 22^nd felt different (at least for Brett; Kris did not want to get her hopes up). We now pick up the recounting on the morning of the 22^nd, and continue to the end as it unfolded.

9:15a: Ultrasound Growth Scan to check baby’s size. Baby measuring 9 lb 11 oz, big head, long femur, normal belly.

11:15a: Dr appointment. Stripped membranes, told us to eat pasta, go home and make our last minute baby preparations, take Castor Oil at 4:00p and come back at 5:00p. Hopefully tonight was the night!

5:00p: Dr appointment. Stripped membranes again, 3 cm dilated, ~50% effaced. Told us to take more Castor Oil, get donuts/treats for nurses, call him at 7:15p, and be in hospital shortly thereafter (just after the nurses change shifts). Brett thinks Dr is joking about the treats. Dr assures us that he is not.

5:30p: Walked home from the Dr’s office (~1.6 miles) in the pouring rain, Kris having strong contractions 3-5 minutes apart the entire way. Stopped at Crumbs for mini cupcakes for the nurses.

6:30p: Came home to eat dessert with Sadie, Kris showers, blow dries hair, and puts on make-up.

8:15p: Admitted to hospital, nurses love the Crumbs mini cupcakes.

8:45p: Resident checks Kris, 4 cm, 50% effaced.

9:47p: Dr arrives to check Kris, measuring the same, breaks water. 

10:30p: Contractions starting to get more intense. Pain now at a 7/10 for Kris. 

11:00p: Kris gets a quick visit from a friend working in another wing of the hospital. A nice distraction. Kris holds a conversation through the contractions.

11:15p: Dr checks Kris, measuring the same. Recommends epidural, Kris says no. 

12:52a: Contractions have become very strong over the last 1.5 hours. Pain now at a 10/10. Kris doing a great job. Kris now wants to know where she's measuring. Is adamant about getting the Dr to check her. Brett encourages her to wait for the doctor to come in on his own and assures her that she can do it.

12:55a: Dr comes back (on his own) to check Kris, measuring 6 cm, still partially effaced. Says Kris is progressing, though a little slower than he would like, recommends an epidural, stating that he does not believe it would slow down the process. Says he hates to see Kris in this much pain.

12:57a: After letting the Dr leave the room, Kris declares that she wants an epidural (thinking she still had various hours of hard labor ahead of her), is very adamant. Brett pushes back based on Kris’ birthing plan, but eventually agrees to get Dr.

12:59a: Brett runs out to get Dr in Doctor's lounge, says "she wants it". Dr says "I think that's a wise decision" and runs to get anesthesiologist.

1:01a: Anesthesiologist comes in to go over epidural procedure, says he needs to look at labs and will be back in about 5 minutes.

1:07a: Contractions intensifying, Kris starts feeling an extraordinary amount of pressure, exclaims that she needs to push. Brett runs to get Dr and says "she says she needs to push". Dr immediately comes and calls to get "Kristi" the nurse. Other nurse says "who's Kristi?" (her name was Kristyn) and Dr says "just get me a nurse".

1:08a: Doctor comes in and calmly says "now let's see if she's fooling us". Checks Kris and says she's at 10 cm and can be ready to push, but this needs to be a “controlled” push. Frantically calls to get another doctor in the room in case of shoulder distortia since baby is expected to be so big. Anesthesiologist had walked in the door just after Dr, leaving shortly thereafter without administering the epidural (obviously).

1:14a: Baby born after ~5 minutes of pushing. Kris did an amazing job! 9 pounds, 9 ounces (95^th percentile), 22 inches (>97^th percentile).

After everything calmed down around 4:00a, Brett went to the Nursery to look at the new baby and ask the nurse if they had the chance to measure him. The nurse says: “he was 22 inches, you hit the jackpot!” And that’s exactly how we feel. We hit the jackpot and are excited to announce the entrance of Colton Brett into our family. We are so very thankful for a safe delivery and good experience as we welcomed this new little/big guy into the world. And Sadie is thankful to finally have this baby brother she’s been hearing about for so long. An easy Thanksgiving for counting our many blessings – both old and new.

40 weeks + 1 day

Playing the waiting game is no fun, especially when your doctor has been telling you for months that he won't let you go past 39 weeks given the size of the baby.  My mom got here late Wednesday night.  Thursday we briskly walked up to Costco (~2.3 miles) in an attempted effort to get things going.  A few decent contractions while in Costco and then...nothing.  So we at least accomplished a huge stock up shop.  Yesterday brought with it my due date and another doctor's appointment (third one this week) with yet again a 'not today' response from the doctor.  So instead we headed to a nearby Indian restaurant and ordered the spiciest dishes that my incredibly weak mouth could handle because we figured that it couldn't hurt my chances of going into labor.  After which Brett and I took advantage of having grandma in town to hang with Sadie while we caught a performance of Billy Elliot before it closes in a few weeks.  This morning we enjoyed a family walk in our new neighborhood.  It's hard to imagine that our little family of three is soon going to be a family of four.  But if you ask me now, it feels like that just never may happen.


This afternoon my mom, Sadie and I headed to Chinatown to pick up a few hats for my little sister.  Sadie was in heaven modeling the hats for us and the creepy street vendors happily let her do so in hopes to sell lots of them.  We finished the night with a 3D movie in Times Square, one of Sadie's first movies in the theatre (I think the last one she went to was when she was 2 weeks old).  She was digging the 3D glasses and unlimited popcorn!

Love these two!

Love this picture! Big props to Brett on capturing this!