entertaining a small person.
It’s pretty hard to find time to update this blog with anything other than a quick photo or video these days since Kale is demanding more and more entertainment. The only other small being I’ve had to entertain for an extended period of time is our cat who will chase toy mice for hours on end. If he ever tires of that he’s happy to hunt our fingers behind door frames or under the blankets. Eventually he gets bored of our ways and tries to attack the neighbourhood cats through the glass patio doors. Kale, on the other hand, is not so easily amused. Of all the gimmicks we own (the swing, the chair, the activity mat, the mobiles, etc.) his favourite form of entertainment is to be held in our arms and walked from room to room. From this you may conclude that enjoys walks outside where he can see more, but if this means hanging out in his stroller he’s totally not into it. His second favourite form of entertainment is to be held in our arms while we dance to Raffi. He does not accept dance moves that are done while seated. You must be on two feet and grooving. Added bonus if you sing along.
sleep.
The first two weeks of Kale’s life were magical. He regularly slept for three hours, woke up, nursed, and went back to sleep for three more hours. And repeat. Then in week three, the three hour spans became two hours and in week four, one hour. So on Friday when Kale turned five weeks we knew we needed a new strategy. I’ve read every sleep book. All the one’s that people claim “saved my sanity and my marriage” and “got my baby to sleep through the night.” We’ve done the swaddle (fail), the sleep positioner (fail), the heartbeat bear (fail), the mobile (fail), the warm sock of rice (fail), the sound machine (fail). See a pattern? Kale makes a mockery of every penny we spend on items aimed to get him to sleep.
Before Kale was born, our idea’s about where Kale would sleep slowly evolved. One of the first items that we got was a beautiful crib (purchased by Kris’s parents). We set it up, bought some amazing sheets from Dwell Studio and thought we were ready. Then we figured that Kale would likely sleep in the room with us for the first couple weeks, so we bought a moses basket (bassinet). Again, I bought some fuzzy fleece sheets and cover and thought we were ready. As we started to read more and more about Attachment Parenting, we began to accept the idea of co-sleeping. While we weren’t totally into the idea of Kale sleeping directly in our bed, we definitely wanted him next to us for longer than he would fit in the bassinet. That’s when we purchased an arm’s reach co-sleeper and I bought some extra sheets and I thought we were set. The arm’s reach co-sleeper is like a playpen, but the mattress is elevated so that it is level with our bed. One side of it comes down so it side car’s with our bed so it’s like he has is own little section of the bed. We totally thought we were set.
On our first night with Kale, the midwives left at 12:30pm and told us Kale would probably sleep for 5-6 hours. They suggested we sleep with him on our chests since his body temperature was a little low. I don’t think we really needed the encouragement though, since neither of us wanted to let him go. That’s how we started sleeping with Kale in our bed.
We tried the co-sleeper once or twice, but Kale would scream bloody murder until he was snug in bed next to us. When Kris left to go back to work, there was a lot more room in the bed and I loved having him next to me. On weekends we would try to get Kale to sleep in the co-sleeper, but it just wasn’t happening. As each week passed by, we got more and more stressed about getting Kale out of the bed and into the co-sleeper. Kris is a bit nervous with him in the bed, and I was starting to get cramped up from curling my body around Kale. Night after night we would rock Kale to sleep, put him in the co-sleeper and wake to his screams not 10 minutes later. One of us would get up, rock him to sleep and repeat. Eventually, after two or three hours of this, Kale would end up in our bed and sleep much better.
This past Friday night Kris and I started with the routine. We got Kale to sleep, made sure he was in a deep sleep and then put him in the co-sleeper. Ten minutes later he’d be screaming. I have no idea how he knew he was in there. I would sleep on the edge of the bed as close as possible to Kale, and he still figured it out.
At 1:30am on Friday, after we’d gone through all the sleep books and googled the hell out of “how do I get my baby to sleep,” I gave Kris two options: (1) we just accept that Kale will sleep in our bed until he’s three months and then reasses, OR… and before I got to option two, Kris was agreeing and heading to bed. We put Kale in bed with us and he slept four hours straight. The longest span of sleep he’s had since that first night with us.
Last night we got him into bed and he slept for three hours, nursed, slept three more hours, nursed and slept for 2.5 more hours. It.was.glorious.
Before Kale was born, our idea’s about where Kale would sleep slowly evolved. One of the first items that we got was a beautiful crib (purchased by Kris’s parents). We set it up, bought some amazing sheets from Dwell Studio and thought we were ready. Then we figured that Kale would likely sleep in the room with us for the first couple weeks, so we bought a moses basket (bassinet). Again, I bought some fuzzy fleece sheets and cover and thought we were ready. As we started to read more and more about Attachment Parenting, we began to accept the idea of co-sleeping. While we weren’t totally into the idea of Kale sleeping directly in our bed, we definitely wanted him next to us for longer than he would fit in the bassinet. That’s when we purchased an arm’s reach co-sleeper and I bought some extra sheets and I thought we were set. The arm’s reach co-sleeper is like a playpen, but the mattress is elevated so that it is level with our bed. One side of it comes down so it side car’s with our bed so it’s like he has is own little section of the bed. We totally thought we were set.
On our first night with Kale, the midwives left at 12:30pm and told us Kale would probably sleep for 5-6 hours. They suggested we sleep with him on our chests since his body temperature was a little low. I don’t think we really needed the encouragement though, since neither of us wanted to let him go. That’s how we started sleeping with Kale in our bed.
We tried the co-sleeper once or twice, but Kale would scream bloody murder until he was snug in bed next to us. When Kris left to go back to work, there was a lot more room in the bed and I loved having him next to me. On weekends we would try to get Kale to sleep in the co-sleeper, but it just wasn’t happening. As each week passed by, we got more and more stressed about getting Kale out of the bed and into the co-sleeper. Kris is a bit nervous with him in the bed, and I was starting to get cramped up from curling my body around Kale. Night after night we would rock Kale to sleep, put him in the co-sleeper and wake to his screams not 10 minutes later. One of us would get up, rock him to sleep and repeat. Eventually, after two or three hours of this, Kale would end up in our bed and sleep much better.
This past Friday night Kris and I started with the routine. We got Kale to sleep, made sure he was in a deep sleep and then put him in the co-sleeper. Ten minutes later he’d be screaming. I have no idea how he knew he was in there. I would sleep on the edge of the bed as close as possible to Kale, and he still figured it out.
At 1:30am on Friday, after we’d gone through all the sleep books and googled the hell out of “how do I get my baby to sleep,” I gave Kris two options: (1) we just accept that Kale will sleep in our bed until he’s three months and then reasses, OR… and before I got to option two, Kris was agreeing and heading to bed. We put Kale in bed with us and he slept four hours straight. The longest span of sleep he’s had since that first night with us.
Last night we got him into bed and he slept for three hours, nursed, slept three more hours, nursed and slept for 2.5 more hours. It.was.glorious.
dance party.
Last night Kale woke up at 2am and decided to have a dance party. I really didn’t want to attend the party, but since I was in charge of bring the beverages, I didn’t have much of a choice.
the name.
Kale
Kale was the very first baby boy name that we came up and Kris and I both loved it immediately. I’m not sure where we first heard it, but I do remember googling “baby boy name Kale” to make sure that it was a name and not just a leafy green! It turns out that Kale is Hawaiian and means “free man,” which made us love the name x 1000. I was even happier to find out that in Hawaii Kale is the short for for Charles - the name of my mom’s brother who passed away from lung cancer years ago. The name was absolutely perfect for us. We definitely wanted something different, but not crazy. Strong, but unique. I only second guessed our decision once when I posted his name on a pregnancy web forum to get opinions on the spelling (Kale vs. Kael) and I got a million replies saying “you know it’s a vegetable, right?” I was a bit sensitive at that point and imagined Kale having to repeat the following conversation a million times:
stranger: “what’s your name?”
Kale: “Kale”
stranger: “like the vegetable?”
Kale: “yes, like the vegetable.”
It is somewhat similar to the conversation I’ve had 8 million times in my life:
stranger: “what’s your name?”
me: “Randalin”
stranger: “where is that name from??”
me: “my parents.”
Anyway, I got over it and now when people ask his name I tell them Kale and if they look at me funny I say, “like the vegetable!”
I think his name is AWESOME.
Michael
Kris’s dad’s name, Kris’s middle name and my dad’s middle name. Perfect.
Ellery-Krahl
Kris and I could not make up our minds about Kale’s last name. Would Ellery be a second middle name and Krahl his last name? Would he have two last names without the hyphen? Would we hyphenate?? There really was not right answer and in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and the first few weeks of his life it was a conversation we had many, many times. Neither of us are fans of the hyphen, but I wasn’t willing to give up my last name and once he was born, having Ellery as a middle name just didn’t cut it. Kale really is part Ellery and part Krahl and somehow losing one of those names gave the impression that he was a little one of one over the other.
Eventually I had no choice but to register him and we were forced to make a decision. Luckily, the government did it for us. His birth registration form informed us that if the parents could not agree on a last name, they would hyphenate it in alphabetical order - thus, Ellery-Krahl.
kale michael ellery-krahl.
pretty awesome.
Kale was the very first baby boy name that we came up and Kris and I both loved it immediately. I’m not sure where we first heard it, but I do remember googling “baby boy name Kale” to make sure that it was a name and not just a leafy green! It turns out that Kale is Hawaiian and means “free man,” which made us love the name x 1000. I was even happier to find out that in Hawaii Kale is the short for for Charles - the name of my mom’s brother who passed away from lung cancer years ago. The name was absolutely perfect for us. We definitely wanted something different, but not crazy. Strong, but unique. I only second guessed our decision once when I posted his name on a pregnancy web forum to get opinions on the spelling (Kale vs. Kael) and I got a million replies saying “you know it’s a vegetable, right?” I was a bit sensitive at that point and imagined Kale having to repeat the following conversation a million times:
stranger: “what’s your name?”
Kale: “Kale”
stranger: “like the vegetable?”
Kale: “yes, like the vegetable.”
It is somewhat similar to the conversation I’ve had 8 million times in my life:
stranger: “what’s your name?”
me: “Randalin”
stranger: “where is that name from??”
me: “my parents.”
Anyway, I got over it and now when people ask his name I tell them Kale and if they look at me funny I say, “like the vegetable!”
I think his name is AWESOME.
Michael
Kris’s dad’s name, Kris’s middle name and my dad’s middle name. Perfect.
Ellery-Krahl
Kris and I could not make up our minds about Kale’s last name. Would Ellery be a second middle name and Krahl his last name? Would he have two last names without the hyphen? Would we hyphenate?? There really was not right answer and in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and the first few weeks of his life it was a conversation we had many, many times. Neither of us are fans of the hyphen, but I wasn’t willing to give up my last name and once he was born, having Ellery as a middle name just didn’t cut it. Kale really is part Ellery and part Krahl and somehow losing one of those names gave the impression that he was a little one of one over the other.
Eventually I had no choice but to register him and we were forced to make a decision. Luckily, the government did it for us. His birth registration form informed us that if the parents could not agree on a last name, they would hyphenate it in alphabetical order - thus, Ellery-Krahl.
kale michael ellery-krahl.
pretty awesome.
brother's.
Some people have been asking how our first son is adjusting to being a big brother to baby Kale. Confused? Sorry, we don’t have two human boys - one is part kitten, part tiger. His name is Beckham but we fondly call him an assortment of names, including munchie, bubbie, hrubbie (his German name), moo-cha-chee (his Spanish name), Lord Bubberton. We also combine any of the previous names with “cat.” For example, hrubbie-cat. Anyway, regardless of the number of times you may have visited our house it’s unlikely that you’ve ever seen bubbie-cat since he’s not so cool with people. If you have seen him, he’s likely tried to eat part of your ear (I did mention that he’s part tiger). However, since Kale has arrived and Lord Bubberton was scarred by being present at his birth (not to mention falling into the birth pool), the tiger has turned into a bit of attention seeker since the level of love we’re able to provide him has dropped dramatically. To be fair, I would give just as much love to moo-cha-chee now as I did before, but I tend to have a tiny infant attached to me and Bub is just not into that. The fact that munchie-cat is keeping his distance from Kale will make my mother and every other person who believes in old wives tales very happy since she belives that the cat will accidently smother the baby in his attempt to suck the milk out of Kale’s mouth (???????). However, today I put Kale on his playmat for the first time since the kid can now see further than an inch from his face and I thought he might enjoy some hanging toys. And guess what? Bubbie also enjoys hanging toys!
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