Merry Christmas!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  

Much love, 

Stephen, Alainna, and Jonathan

Just in time for Christmas: His Two Front Teeth

All he wants for Christmas is no longer his two front teeth. They have already arrived! I had no idea this would be SO exciting. But it is!!! People have been saying since he was two months that he slobbers like he's teething so since then, I occasionally rub my finger along his bottom gums to see the progress. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that there were two bumps along his bottom gums. Then last Friday I felt the bottom front one on the right had surfaced! And then the very next day, the left one did! You can't see them very well yet cuz they don't stick up very far so I'm not posting a pic yet. You know, I'm betting things like this will be less momentous for my next babies. But this time around, I feel like throwing a party!

More Pictures: Jonathan at seven months

Jonathan's seven months old!  It's so weird not to say six months anymore.  We took some more pictures of him this last Sunday, the day after he turned seven months.  Stephen took the ones of Jonathan and our friend Nicole took the ones of us. She was visiting from Seattle.  We really have been needing some pics of all three of us, so having here her gave us the perfect opportunity.  Stephen handed her his camera after setting up the settings and said point and click.  Some of them turned out really cute!  It's nice to have pics together.  Thanks Nicole!

Still bald as the day is long.

Of course it goes straight to the mouth, just like everything else he can get his hands on.

I was trying to show what Jonathan will look like with hair.  Pretty good representation, huh?  

Love. this. face.

Jonathan loves being upside down.  Looks like we're proudly displaying a trout or something.  

This is what he usually does when we go to kiss him.  He hasn't quite figured out how to kiss yet.  Or maybe he's just ahead of the game -- skipping close-mouthed and going straight to open.  

Living on Love :)

The other day, it occurred to me how many things we're currently living without.  I want to blog about it so I can look back at this post someday and remember the good ol' days.

Since we knew we'd only be here for less than a year, we decided it was best to just sell all our furniture and camp out in a small apartment on campus, instead of spend thousands of dollars moving everything and then spending that all over again when we moved again in 10 months.

Some things we're living without:

Washing machine and Dryer (I have to haul Jonathan and all our stuff once every week and a half to a laundry room in our complex that feels like forever away when you're carrying 50 lbs of laundry and 20 lbs of baby.  Oh, and it costs $3.20 cents to do a single load.  We usually do three loads every week and a half.)

Dish washer (haven't had one of these since I was a sophomore in high school when we were living on Baumeister Street.  We moved into a new house the beginning of my junior year and I haven't had one since then.  I am totally fine doing dished without.  If I ever had one, I'm sure I'd never want to go back but I guess I don't know what I'm missing.  That's good.)

Toaster (for some reason that no one seems to be able to explain to me we are not allowed to have a toaster in our apartment.  Fire hazard?  Isn't a stove a much bigger fire hazard?  Not that I'm lobbying to get our stove banned as well because that is one thing I really COULD NOT live without.  Anyway, try living sometime without a toaster.  I didn't think it would be a big deal but I guess I didn't realize how much we used our toaster.  Kind of annoying.  We toast our bread in the oven on broil.  As I am writing this, I am sitting next to a lit candle.  I imagine if they don't allow toasters they don't allow LIT candles but I haven't heard anything about it and I WILL NOT ask for fear of the answer.)

TV (we've not yet owned a TV in our married life so I'm used to not having one.)

A room/nursery for Jonathan (it's a one-bedroom apartment.  We have to tip toe around all the time when Jonathan's sleeping and we can't use the kitchen after he's gone to bed at night -- usually around 7 :30-- cuz the kitchen and living room are basically the same room.)

Crib for Jonathan (not a big deal, he's in a pack-and-play so we can roll it in living room for night time and in our bedroom for day naps)

Some things we're living with:


Sweet little baby Jonathan (It's amazing how much he's completely transformed our lives.  He is such a joy to have around...most of the time...also adds much worry and stress into our lives but we're much happier now that we have him.)


Lots and lots of love  :) 


It would really be nice someday to own all of the things we're currently living without but for now we're doing just fine without them.  It really hasn't been that big of a deal actually.  We love our lives here in Stony Brook.  We're making some fun memories.

Six month stats and our trip West

Jonathan had his six month appointment two weeks ago but I've not been able to blog about it till now.

Here are his stats:

Height:  28 3/4 inches; 97%tile

Weight:  19 lbs 4 oz; 76%tile

Head:  44 cm.; 53%tile

He's a pretty big boy.  His head that started out so small is finally catching up to the rest of his body.  

Last week, Stephen had three recitals -- one in Canon Beach, Oregon, one in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and another in Seattle.  He also did a 3 hour master class, gave a 2 and 1/2 hour lecture for a group of piano teachers involved in MTNA, and taught several private lessons in Seattle.  Did I miss anything?  Probably,  He was very busy, needless to say.  And everything went really well.  Stephen was told after his recital in Seattle that it was the best concert they'd had and they wanted him back next season.  

Jonathan and I flew with him to Oregon and met up with some family who came to vacation and hear Stephen's concert.  We only had one full day there unfortunately because Stephen had a competition with a chamber group he's working with (which they won, by the way:)) on the Thursday before so we couldn't fly out till the night before his recital.  So we hardly had any time to really enjoy the beach or our beautiful beachfront hotel room or our humongous jacuzzi.  Bummer.  We made the most of the time we had there though.  I got to go on a run along the beach, something I'd been looking forward to for months.  I'm really starting to love running.  I used to just do it because I knew I should and would good afterwards. But I'm starting to actually crave it.  We'll see if that lasts.  Anyway, the beach run was AMAZING.  I can't think of any words good enough to describe the affect the ocean has on me. The sound and the vastness of it are intoxicating.   

One of the best parts of the trip was spending time with my sister, Ciana, and her husband, Dave, and getting to finally meet their baby, Matthew, who was born just 6 days before Jonathan.  It was SO fun to see those two little boys together.  They are so different, in looks and development.  Matthew's basically crawling while Jonathan only recently mastered sitting up.  Jonathan seems a lot bigger and somehow more dense than Matthew.  Matthew is quite mellow, while Jonathan seems much more high-energy.  It was really cute to sit them next to each other and let them play with toys together.  Playing with another kid didn't seem to phase Matthew; he hardly looked at Jonathan.  Whereas Jonathan seemed more interested in staring at Matthew than playing with the toys.  Matthew has four siblings at home so playing with other kids isn't novel to him I guess.  It was really cute to see Jonathan trying to figure out what this other kid was about and why he was playing with his toys.  Jonathan's always been really observant.   

After Canon Beach, Jonathan and I spent the next week in Washington with family.  Saturday we celebrated Halloween at the Allreds with Spencer and Andrea and their kids, and Heather and Nathan met us there with their troop.  I knew Jonathan was growing but I had no idea HOW big he is until I met Andrea's new five-week old baby, Gordon.  Oh my, he's tiny!  And he's actually quite big for his age too!  It's so hard to believe that Jonathan was ever that little!  I got to hold Gordon for awhile while Jonathan was sleeping.  I LOVE little babies!

It was fun to hear everyone's reactions to Jonathan.  Everyone thinks he looks exactly like his Mama :)  It's funny cuz I see a lot of Stephen in him.  But I think it's hard to see yourself in someone.  I think people know what we look like better than we do ourselves.  I know that sounds confusing but I can't think of a clearer way to say it...

Another consistent reaction was that he talks a lot.  He really is very noisy.  I get this comment SO much -- in grocery stores, at church, from all his family back home, everywhere.   Even his pediatrician in Provo said at his four month appointment that he has a lot of "vocal variation".  And his new pediatrician in NY said at his six month appointment that he is "very vocal".  So I guess it's true.  I don't think I would have known this if EVERYONE hadn't told me.  He's my first so I don't really have anything to compare him to.  The only time he's really quiet is when we're outside.  He loves the outdoors.  When I push him in the stroller on my runs, he is really quiet and sort of zoned-out.  Anyway, everyone thought it was pretty funny how he's always chattering or shrieking.  I love his little baby noises :)

People also were really surprised at how much he eats!  I started feeding him solids about a month ago and he just can't get enough.  I read online that you should feed an infant as much healthy food as he wants, that he will only eat as much as he needs.  And the way you can tell if he is full is he'll either stop opening his mouth or spit food out or get really fussy.  Jonathan doesn't usually give any of these signals.  So I just keep feeding him until I think he can't possibly fit any more in his stomach.  It seems like he's gained a couple pounds since his six month weigh-in.  He really is a big baby.  He wears 9-12 month clothes.

My mother-in-law, Kathy, was so shocked at how such a high-energy kid could focus when I turned on a youtube video of an orchestra or some other classical performance.  She said she's never seen an infant so riveted by music before.  And she raised 8!  While he has a tendency to get pretty loud and hyper about things, he usually mellows out and stares intently at the screen when I turn these videos on.  Maybe music will be the thing that helps him harness all the crazy energy he has built up inside.  We'll see!

Now we're back home and I couldn't be happier.  I love traveling and visiting family, but it's always so nice to be back in my own habitat, where I can cook and clean and take care of my little family.  

Six Months Old!

Jonathan turned six months old on Wednesday!  To document the occasion, Stephen took a bunch of pictures of him.

His EYES!  I get comments about his beautiful blue eyes anytime I take him out in public.  Stephen and I both have blue eyes but Jonathan's are a much brighter blue than both of ours.  I think he got his Grandpa Fielding's eyes.

We sure love our little Johnny-boy.  For some reason he's gotten more cuddly lately, and he often just snuggles up to us when we hold him.  It's one of the best feelings in the world.  He's added so much fun and happiness to our lives.  It's so hard to remember life without him.

Sitting up and eating solids

And the moment we've all been waiting for:

He's sitting up! He sort of leans forward on his legs but I think it counts. We actually took these pictures a couple weeks ago, a few hours after posting the last blog entry about how he was not sitting up yet.

Turns out that day was pretty eventful for him because that evening we gave him his first solids meal -- watered down rice cereal. Yum. He loved it. Our pediatrician recommended waiting till he was 6 months old so we jumped the gun by a couple weeks. But I decided he was ready. He screams at the dinner table while we're eating, reaching out for our food and screaming until we give him a taste. I've been letting him have few tastes of my green smoothies in the mornings and he LOVES them. So we figured it was time.

I made the amount recommended on the box for a first feeding and he ended up eating that plus two more servings. I expected most of it to end up on his clothes but he was actually really good at swallowing it. His clothes were hardly dirty. He's a good eater. We documented the event with some pictures. Can you tell how eager he is?

Here are just a few more pictures of him:

He hates this rubber chicken. When you squeeze it, it shrieks loudly, and he thinks it's terrifying. My sister's 15 month old hated it too. For some reason the fact that babies are scared of the thing is kinda funny to me.

New Hampshire

Last weekend we drove up to New Hampshire to visit my sister Kashann and her lovely family. They live in an absolutely beautiful area. Everything is so green and gorgeous. The best part is the drive turned out to be less than 5 hours! It's so nice to have family within a reasonable driving distance. They'll probably get sick of me because I plan on driving up to see them as often as I can. :)

Her husband Brent is a dentist. I had a couple of cavities and he fixed them up for me for free. The last dentist I went to told me it would cost $1300 to fix, so I chose to wait until we moved out here and I could go to Brent. He did a great job. Thank you Brent!

With Stephen's busy schedule, it's been difficult for him to spend as much time with my family as we would like, but he was able to come with me this time. We had a great time. Kashann is Super Mom. She has five kids, the first four of which are girls. There is NOTHING this woman can't do. I have always admired her so much. It was fun to spend time with her and learn from her awesome-ness.

Their last child, the token male, accidentally stabbed my upper lip with a fork. Just a couple hours before, Brent had worked on my teeth so my gums and lips were still pretty numb. When the fork and my lip collided, it didn't hurt at all really but I was didn't know at first if it was because I was numb or because it wasn't bad. Turned out to be a small puncture that bled only a little. Kashann and Brent told Marcus, who's 2 and a half years old, that even though it was an accident he needed to apologize. He refused. So he had to sit in timeout. Kashann kept going over to talk to him and try to convince him to just say two words, "I'm sorry" and he'd be let out of timeout, but he was stubborn. He sat in timeout for thirty minutes, sobbing but refusing to apologize. Kashann insisted he would sit there until he did. It was pretty funny actually to see how difficult it was for him to just say those two little words. He wanted out of timeout so badly but simply could not bring himself to say two words that would get him there. He just kept screaming "I didn't do anything!" Finally after enough coaxing he whispered it in my ear and then got a big smile on his face, so proud of himself that he said it. Kids are funny.

On Saturday night, I did makeovers on Savannah, Camille, and Caroline. We had so much fun getting all glamored up. They are such beautiful girls. Of course, we had to take some glamor shots afterward. Stephen took a ton of good ones but here are a few of my favorites:

Jonathan continues to grow up. With Stephen gone so much now since we don't have a piano in our apartment, Jonathan's my buddy all day. We go on lots of walks together, read books (the Hawaii Counting Book is his favorite - he rips off the velcro pieces and sucks on them till they're dripping), go to the library, explore new places around Stony Brook, and he goes with me on my morning run. He's getting a bit more tolerant of tummy time so he's starting to roll over more, but still doesn't seem to see why the skill is useful so he doesn't do it very often. We're trying to help him learn to sit up on his own but he's not quite there yet. The only way he can do it now is with his upper body almost completely bent over on his legs. Yeah, don't think that counts.

He's still spitting up as much as ever. Geesh. I will not be sad when this stage passes. It gets his outfits messy within five minutes of putting them on, which is really annoying since doing laundry here costs FOUR DOLLARS A LOAD. Yeah, you heard me, four dollars a stinkin' load. So he just has to deal with wearing grimy looking clothes all day. He also slobbers constantly and has developed a pretty bad drool rash. I had never heard of a drool rash before so I didn't know what it was at first and wasn't doing anything about it because I didn't know what to do. But I complained about it to a lady in our ward and she told me it was from the saliva that is constantly on his face and neck. So since then we've been careful to wipe him as soon as any drool appears, which I assure you is a full-time job. But the good news is his rash is MUCH better. He's been drooling like this since he was two months old and so for the last three months I've been told from every mother on the face of the planet that he's teething for sure. But I still haven't seen any signs of actual teeth. Just lots and lots and lots of slobber. Case in point:

Isn't he adorable? How can you fault a guy for slobbering when he looks this cute?

Jonathan also spends a good part of his day doing this:

Is it heartless of me that I think this face is just so cute? Maybe it's because it reminds me of the first time I saw him when we welcomed him into this world: Screaming with his face all scrunched up like this and his mouth wide open.

The poor little dude has a cold right now (thanks to his dear little cousin Marcus who's so good at sharing). It's the second time he's had a cold now. Both times it's been nothing serious but I feel so bad for him. His coughing makes it difficult for him to sleep well at night. The last few nights have been pretty rough. He's napping right now though and I haven't heard any coughing. Hopefully he'll take a long nap. He needs it. I do too. So why am I blogging?

One more funny thing about Jonathan: You know that moment when you're dying to sneeze but you just can't quite make it happen, so you look at a bright light which for some reason does the trick? Well, whenever we go outside and the sunlight hits Jonathan's eyes, he sneezes every time. It's totally predictable. He's done this since he was just a few days old. Bright lights also work but not as consistently as the sun. I think it's so funny. Do all babies do this? I'm constantly asking myself this question in regards to many different things. It will be interesting to have a second child and compare behaviors. No, I'm not making an announcement.

A couple more pics of Jonathan: (Click on this first one to see bigger. It's worth it, trust me.)

Here he is with his Daddy

Jonathan a week shy of five months

Doesn't that face just make you melt?

Jonathan is almost 5 months old now! I am loving this age. He smiles and giggles so much and makes the cutest expressions. He rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time a few weeks ago and then didn't again until this week. Today he rolled from his stomach to his back, which was a first. He loves loves loves to be outside. It's the sure remedy to any fussiness. He loves to be in his Bjorn carrier. So I just strap him to me wherever I go and he's happy as a clam as long he's in the carrier.

He gets very easily distracted now when I am nursing him. It can be frustrating but usually is just really funny. When he hears something while he's drinking, he'll jerk away and look around with a very serious expression trying to figure out what's going on. Or if I sneeze or cough or something, he stops drinking and stares at me suspiciously as if he's saying, "I'm keeping my eye on you.."

He loves it when we sing to him. He just stares up at us adoringly. We caught it on camera here.

So trusting and so precious. He's my biggest fan. Yesterday I was singing to him as I lay next to him on the bed. We were so close our noses were almost touching. He just looked at me as I looked at him and he lay really still and listened. It was such a tender moment. As I lay there, I had a strong impression that singing to my sweet children would be the most meaningful way I could use my voice, more than any prestigious singing engagements on the most important stages of the world. I feel so blessed to be Jonathan's mommy!

Second half of our summer

Finally I have a chance to update the blog! We've been traveling almost constantly this summer and a lot of the time I've not even had access to a computer. In fact, at one point I had not checked facebook for over three weeks. I usually check facebook at least once a day so that was big. It was kind of nice though to not think about emails and messages and such; I just spent more time enjoying the moment.

A lot has happened in the last couple months since I wrote. Stephen has been very busy concertizing (is that a word?) and I've been busy following him around and taking care of Jonathan :) Only once this summer did he go by himself; he performed a Bach concerto with the Jupiter players in Central Park! Apparently it was THE hottest day on record that summer and by the time the concert started at 7:30 in the evening it was still in the 90's. And of course he was wearing long sleeves and black pants (they didn't make him wear a jacket thank goodness). But he said it went better than he thought it would considering the heat and that it was his first performance of this particular piece. I would have loved to be there but we decided to save the money.

My last post was about the first of our two trips to WA this summer. Right after Stephen flew home from NYC, we drove home to WA again for a few more concerts. All of my brothers and sisters came home for the summer and we had a bit of a family reunion that wasn't really planned but just sort of worked out. It was SO great! Regrettably, I missed Ciana and her brood because she came later and by then I was with Stephen at one of his engagements in Twisp.

We all stayed at my Grandpa Fielding's home in Oregon for a few days. This was the first summer of getting together that all of us had children of our own. It was nice to finally be part of the elite parenthood club. Except I thought that once you had kids you would get your own room but turns out that wasn't the case. To be fair though, we all were sort of crammed in rooms. It was fun, but glad it didn't last for more than a couple days - no one slept that well.

We also got to spend a couple weeks staying with Stephen's parents. My in-laws are two of the very best people on earth. I think I am one of few women who can honestly say that I would be more than happy to live in the same house as my in-laws if I ever had to. Don't worry Kathy - that's not gonna happen. But if it did, I really would love it.

Stephen's brother Adam came home from his mission to Ukraine! It was so nice to be home and to be able to spend time with him.

After many successful concerts, we drove home from WA with only two days to pack up our entire house before we left for CA. For another concert. Yikes! Stephen was practicing feverishly to learn to play a Beethoven concerto he had never before performed so I was responsible for packing and cleaning for the big move. Jonathan was not very helpful. But he did sleep longer than usual which helped me to have my hands free to get more done.

Miraculously, we got done what needed to get done and left for Cali. It was a 9 hour drive. With all the road trips we've been on this summer, we've learned a lot of good tricks for keeping Jonathan happy and fed and our stops to a minimum. Don't worry - we never take him out of his carseat. But we only stopped ONCE the entire 9 hour trip, and that was to gas up! He's a pretty cooperative baby.

The concert in Cali went well. Stephen was pretty worried about it, as usual, but he did an incredible job, as usual. While Stephen was busy practicing and rehearsing with the orchestra, I was going on lots of hikes with Jonathan strapped to me. For some reason he LOVES to be outside. Whenever he's fussy, if I just take him outside he usually stops. And since we were up in the mountains (it's called Mammoth Lakes) surrounded by trees and nature, he loved going on long walks with me. It was fun to have a buddy around. But it did make the long hikes much harder carrying around an almost 17 pound boy. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but when you're hiking uphill and at over 10,000 feet elevation, you really start to feel it.

After Cali, we drove home to UT with only one day to finish up the packing and loading before Stephen would drive off for our new home in NY! So we got up early and worked hard until it was done. Stephen made the drive alone, and Jonathan and I flew to meet him in NY. In the space of five days, he drove from CA to NY, bless him. But we all made it safely to NY and we are so happy to be here! It's beautiful! It's so green and the air seems so much fresher than Provo. We are really close to the ocean.

Before leaving Provo, Jonathan had his 4 month check-up and immunizations. Here are his stats:

Height: 27.25 inches; 98th %tile

Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz; 82nd %tile

Head: (don't remember inches); 38th %tile

People often comment on his height when they see him and it's no wonder - he's super tall for his age.

The doctor also said he has a lot of "vocal variation" for four months. She said we must talk to him a lot. We do. And sing to him a lot. Surprisingly, he loves it when I since full-voice operatic stuff to him. He just stares at me really intently. Really cute. He LOVES music in general. Stephen played with some other instrumentalists while in WA and Jonathan was fixated on the other instruments for several minutes at time. I don't think I had that kind of attention span when I was 13. Stephen hopes he will want to play the cello. Stephen keeps trying to think of ways he can encourage Jonathan to want to play it without Jonathan feeling like he's being forced into it. He's been having him watch performances of great cellists on youtube. Stephen reported that he stared and listened intently to Yo-Yo Ma for at least three minutes.

Here are some more pics of Jonathan. These were taken about a month ago.

Speaking of Jonathan, he just woke up from a nap. Better run!