The Corner Has Been Turned...We Think

Well, the last you heard from us was roughly three and half weeks ago and life was not the easiest. I had gone back to work, Jen was still feeling the effects of the surgery and Jake was wreaking havoc on the night telling the world (mostly just his parents) that he was not going to go quietly into dreamland.

Between then and now we have had halloween, group birthday parties and Grothtoberfest. I have had busy work weeks, Jen has has filled her days at home and Jake has visited the doctor a couple of times. We have all looked as tired as we have felt but have kept smiles on our faces (except for Jakers) because we feel like we are a very lucky family.

The doctors diagnosed Jake with an acid reflux problem that we have tried to medicate off and on with terrible luck the past couple of weeks and finally gave up around four days ago. He would not keep the medicine down and we were sick of watching him try to choke it down and then watch it all come right back up after he ate. So, Jen has held off of any dairy products and we have continued with our schedule and by a miracle, or simple grace, Jake has finally gotten on a schedule that does not include waking us up 5-6 times a night.

Over the last four nights he has slept a minimum of 3 hours at a time with a max out of around 5 and a half hours. The normal (and read that with heavy quotes) is to go to bed around 10 or 11 PM wake up around 3 AM, get some grub then hit the hay until around 6 AM. It is as if heaven has dropped down to terra firma and answered his parent's prayers. I no longer have to confiscate a coffee pot for my workday and Jen isn't at wits end by the time I arrive home.

In our absence from the blog we have still taken pics, many pics, and instead of putting them all up here I have uploaded them to the web to a location I can pass along here. There are lots, some repeats from previous blog entries, but many new ones that I'm sure you will all enjoy!

Take a peek at http://picasaweb.google.com/chrisgrothkopp/JacobRyanPics

Big Sis and Jake Play Nice

Before we tucked in Alyssa for a good night's rest we popped little Jake down with her to see how the two worked together. After some initial fist-a-cuffs and a brief pitched battle over who was going to get the much sought after stuffed dog, Lap, they settled in to their pillows and decided they could set aside their differences, be satisfied with the stuffed animals nearest them and show mom a little love for the camera...

Back by Popular Demand...Pics of Jake...

People say, "I like reading what you write!" "The writing is soooo good!" Yeah, people, okay, I get it. I'll give you more pictures... jeez.... :)

Oh What a Night

To start this post off I want to give a huge kudos, pat on the back, high five and gold medal to all parents who are reading this blog who have raised multiple young children at the same time. Last night Jen and I had our first night where Jake was not the only kid who needed a little TLC.

For those of you who are just joining the party, it is a known fact that Jake has his days and nights a little mixed up. His favorite time to be up...10 PM to 1 AM. Well, yesterday was no exception. Our little guy took a nap from around 8-10 PM but around 11:15 he perked up compoletely and was looking for some of mom's milk. Normally she would have been right there, ready to take him...however....

Around 10:30 PM we heard a rustling outside our door and with a little creak, our door opened to Alyssa looking very tired and very unhappy. A migraine, or at least a very severe headache, was keeping her up and causing enough discomfort to keep her awake. Jen and I jumped into action (luckily Jake was sleeping and did not need any immediate help), acquired a cold, damp wash cloth, fed her some disgusting (her words) medicine to help ease the pain and then Jen laid with her to help calm her down and allow her to get some shut eye. All of this left me in our bedroom alone with the little one.

His little cherub face looked so calm, and he was nice an quiet....and then....he awoke....

I did everything a dad with no food can do to quiet a baby with healthy lungs and an empty stomach, but in the end I had to wake Jen (who also looked very calm and angelic) to appease Jake's needs. Then, as I have done since we have been back home, I returned to bed to get some shut-eye before work while Jen fulfilled the role of top mom.

It is because of last night that I write this post and say "Wow" for all of our mom's who managed to raise their horde of little ones and not have any of us end up on the wrong side of Corrections...

Daddy Goes Back to Work

Sometimes in life, you just miss the bus, and in the case of paid paternity leave that was the case for this working dad. I was able to take a week of virtually no contact with work (paternity leave) and then a few more days of pseudo-work where I would check in intermittently but really wasn't doing much besides an occasional email and surfing the web with the appearance of work. The bus that I missed, even though I was running for the bus stop, was the month-long paternity leave that Microsoft offers. Why would that matter you may ask? Well, Microsoft purchased our company and has incorported us into their world domination plans...but we don't get their benefits until January at the earliest. I am hoping a well placed call to Microsoft HR and a threat of monopoly charges might get me the retro-active benefits I am looking for... :)

Jen gets the joy of staying home with Jake until the end of January and she has been a trooper about getting up to appease our little guy. I wake up every time he cries and occasionally try to calm him down without any food, but most of the time he is looking for mom and for services that I am unable to render. Knowing all of this, Jen has spared me too many lengthy periods in the middle of the night where I get up and tend to Jake. She has absorbed that hit with grace and I hope is getting her rest during the day while I am at work and Alyssa is at school.

Jake seems to be enjoying what the doctors dubbed "tummy-time" although he almost always spits up milk when he is plopped on his front side. He spends time trying to raise his head looking like a toppled bobble-head doll that someone has bumped while his arms and legs move in spasmodic fits and starts as though he is battling the air in an attempt to move. My goal is to get him crawling by Christmas but Jen seems to think that is unreasonable. I say, set your goals high... :)

Getting Out of the House

We don't have many pics from this little endeavor, but since we have all been fairly cooped up for the past week and a half we decided to load up the family 4 x 4 with mom, dad, Alyssa, Jake and the dog and make our way to the local bastion of young, urban professionals...the Marymoor dog park.

With the dog whining in the back of the car, Alyssa singing along to Brad Paisley, Jake making noises similar to that of a squeaky wheel on a hot weel toy and Jen and I smiling at our all-american family in the front seat (2 kids, 1 dog, SUV, country music blaring, suburban home) we rolled down the freeway towards our little slice of heaven.

When we arrived I donned the baby bjorn for the first time since bringing Jake home. For those of you who may be wondering to yourselves, "What the heck is a baby bjorn?", or "Why does Chris have Mr. Borg's kid?", I can clarify for you. No, I do not have the former tennis star's child. What I do have is a harness that I can strap to my chest and support young Jake without having to carry or push him around in his car seat. I have to admit, I only had the bjorn on for about 45 minutes but in that short time I could feel it a bit in my lower back and it made me appreciate even more the strain of carrying a baby for nine months. Way to go ladies, I don't know how you do it...and even more so how you can do it with a smile.

Baby Zag Fan

Check out the little Zag fan! Thanks to Deanna and Rob for the onesy and Cathy (Nana) for the blanket!!!