Our Little Terrorist

Luke is now nearly 14 months old and I’ve pretty much been tired and sleep deprived for nearly 14 months and about two weeks. (It was so annoying when people told me to get rest while I could before Luke was born because I was so huge, bloated, had back pain and was just so uncomfortable that I was totally not getting any rest).

Marcus and I missed the sleep training boat for a few reasons. We live in a one-bedroom house, so sleep training would have been really hard because we wouldn’t have been able to leave Luke alone in his room, or be in a different room to be able to tolerate letting him self-soothe. We also didn’t love the idea of leaving a baby to cry, although I have heard that the more modern forms of sleep training don’t actually just leave a baby to bawl his eyes out.

The biggest reason for our sleep training fail is that we totally were just too lazy, exhausted and undisciplined to do it. Luke naps and starts out the night in his crib, but when he cries in the middle of the night and I nurse him, it is just so much easier to let him stay in bed with us for the rest of the night than to have to stay awake and get back out of bed to put him back in his crib. When he is fussy for some reason, or has a fever, it is easier to monitor him and pat him back to sleep when he’s lying right beside us than if we have to keep getting up to check on him.

With that said, I am so tired of not sleeping and I often wish we’d put in the effort to make this sleeping thing happen. Some very dear friends of mine have their babies on fantastic routines and they give me tips on how they did it, but so far those tips haven’t worked very well for us. I think it’s really too late for Luke now.

I do think (hope!) that soon he will not be waking at night for milk because he is getting lots of solid food and he should be able to make it through the night. But even if we’re not woken up for food, whenever Luke is in bed with us, his kicking, squirminess and acrobatics make sleeping somewhat unsafe. After particularly bad nights, Marcus greets Luke in the morning by saying “Good morning my little terrorist.” I recently saw a diagram on facebook detailing several co-sleep scenarios. I wanted to find the source of the photo and an internet search led me to the blog How To Be a Dad. The site is HYSTERICAL. Seriously. So funny. Check it out.

I want to share my favorite of the sleep positions they feature:

This is one of Luke's favorites.

He's also very good at jazz hands.

Luke doesn't really do this one but I think it is funny so wanted to include it.

Luke does this one all the time. Punches too. Marcus and I both sleep with our backs turned to him now. 

Luke is constantly kicking his legs so this one is a regular in our bed as well.

We don't actually have a very comfortable couch so this one hasn't happened yet but I think whoever got to go to the couch would actually get better sleep...

I frequently wake up to find Luke sitting up in bed staring at me. But then he usually grins and crawls over to slobber on me and then all is forgiven from the sleepless night before...

No Day But Today…

So I just revisited this blog recently and was a bit shocked to see that my last blog entry was almost exactly two years ago. Time flies!!

Shortly after my last entry I got pregnant and since having my son Luke, I have been juggling being a wife, a mom and working outside our home. It has been an awesome time though it has been really challenging as well. There is such a huge learning curve when you first have a baby, and by the time you have things more figured out your maternity leave is over and then you have to find a way to balance everything.

Even though writing for pleasure became one of the first things I dropped when life got really busy, I’ve been wanting to get back into it for a while. My friend Monica recently asked why I stopped blogging and encouraged me to restart this blog. So here I am. (Thanks Monica!)

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions in last few days.

Last week we held Luke’s baby dedication, and midway through the event got news that a Palawan friend, Simon Gill, had died very suddenly.

That evening we had a party to celebrate my parents’ 45^th wedding anniversary. It was a lot of fun but we were of course all so saddened by the news of Simon’s passing, and were also concerned about my grandmother, Alice, who has been ill and who my mom flew to the US to visit the day after the party.

Then my brother Alex shared news of his engagement to his girlfriend Ria and we are all so ecstatic about this wonderful development.

But then hours later we heard from my mom that my grandmother was really not doing well and was in a lot of pain.

Yesterday she seemed to have improved a bit, so that was happy.

But in the afternoon I attended Simon’s funeral, which was of course very sad.

This morning the news from my grandmother is not great.

Up down up down up down.

It is exhausting!!

My sister reminded me of this bible passage, and a friend read this at Simon’s funeral. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

A Time for Everything

¹There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

²a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

In thinking about life and how fragile it really is, I am reminded of the amazing musical Rent (which I saw on Broadway at least 4 times, and know all the words to). I love the song “No Day But Today.” We should all strive to live each day to the fullest. To live each day like it’s the last.

March?!!

Wow, it’s been three months since my last entry!

Time flies!!

Will do my best to keep this blog up starting now, though I’m guessing my posts may still be somewhat sporadic. There is so much going on all the time but generally that is a good thing. Anyway, time for catch up!

December

December 2009 was fantastic. Marcus and I spent time in Manila with my sister and her family, and my brother. We had lots of family time, lots of good food, and lots of celebration. I also got to catch up with lots of Brent friends and see Jen and Christina again after years and years and years! I also got to see UPIS friends Pam and Diego. Marcus and I also got to go on one of Carlos Celdran’s walking tours and we really enjoyed that. After Christmas we flew back to Palawan with our Manila family and continued our end of year celebrations. We hung out in Puerto Princesa and also spent some time in Coco Loco. It was a super fun holiday season!

January

January was a super crazy month as we finally started our outreach work in Pulang Lupa. We had a few repro health sessions with the ladies, and also had our first Nutritional Support Program session. It was all incredibly exciting and I was so thrilled to be starting the real service-delivery. It all went well and continues to go smoothly. For more info on how our work is going, please check out our ROH blog.

In January my beautiful baby cousin, Che Che, came for a visit with her close friends to celebrate her 25^th birthday. She’s really not a baby anymore! We had a blast hanging out with her and her crew. Also in January, we celebrated my parents’ 43^rd wedding anniversary. It was a great month!

February

I feel like I blinked and February was gone.

We got the month started off right with a visit from the fabulous Rachel. Rachel and I first started talking about her coming for a visit in the fall of 1998. 12 years later, we made that dream a reality! Was so wonderful to see her. A week after Rae’s visit, our friend Andy stopped in for a week. We had a blast hanging out and he and Marcus also spent some time exploring Palawan.

While we were away for Christmas, our dog, Scout, managed to get herself pregnant (she did it with my parents’ dog, Migi.) On February 20^th a HUGE Scout finally gave birth to seven adorable, healthy puppies. We are so happy to have them all here safe and sound, and we’ll care for them til they’re 6-8 weeks old, then will give them to their new families. We still have 2 puppies to give away so if you’re in Palawan and want one, let me know! 

And now it is March. So much fun to look forward to!

My sister is coming for a visit this weekend, I’m heading to a 6 day yoga retreat in El Nido with my mom, Marcus and I are heading to Hong Kong to see dear friends and catch the Rugby Sevens, and at the end of the month, we’re planning a trip to Coron over Holy Week. It’s going to be a fabulous March! :)

Team Swangelista in November

I am still amazed by how fast time goes by here in Palawan despite how much slower than NYC the pace of life is. I know it is because we have so much to do for Roots of Health but it still surprises me sometimes to realize how many weeks have gone by since we arrived in Palawan (14) and how few weeks are left in 2009 (5). 

So, highlights of November...


November 4 was the third anniversary of our second wedding :)


My favorite brother came for a visit in the first weekend of November. Photos from his trip are here.


A week later, my dear friend Megan came for a few days. We met almost 15 years ago and are so happy that getting her to the Philippines finally became a reality :) I went with Megan to Sabang and we also enjoyed the sites of Puerto Princesa. Photos from her visit are here.


A week after that, another dear friend, Archana, came to stay for a few days. I was bummed not to be able to take more time off and join her in El Nido, but we had a really nice time together in Puerto Princesa. I don’t have the photos yet from her visit but will put them up soon.

In the midst of all this we’ve been working, spending time with my parents and our puppies, and hanging out with our new Palawan friends. Life is very good - we are so blessed.

And now it is December - and I can officially start celebrating my favorite time of the year! :)

Gifts with Meaning - Support Roots of Health!

I wanted to let you all know about a unique opportunity to help raise funds for Roots of Health.

A friend of mine who lives in Australia, Frank Mathisen, has started an online store selling Christmas cards to benefit select charities. Roots of Health is one of the featured organizations.

Each packet of 10 cards is AU$20 (or about US$18.50) and for each packet sold, AU$10 is donated to Roots of Health. Shipping to the US/UK is AU$5 and the cards are mailed within 24 hours of receiving the order and payment. The postal service estimates that it takes 4-6 working days to ship the cards from Australia to North America/UK.

I would really appreciate it if you would consider purchasing your holiday cards this year from Gifts with Meaning to benefit Roots of Health. The website address is http://www.giftswithmeaning.com.au/.

We're trying to spread the word and reach as many people as possible, so if you feel comfortable forwarding the Gifts with Meaning information on to your family and friends, that would be fantastic.

Thanks so much for your continued support!

Ditchay's

Wow, it’s really November. I still can’t believe how fast time flies! I understood it more when we were living in NYC because the energy levels there are so high and everyone is always so crazy busy and on the go. In Puerto Princesa, we’re busy, but this city is a very sleepy small town especially in comparison to NYC. But somehow we continue to not have enough hours in the day to get everything done. I suppose this is good though. Better to be busy than bored.

Yesterday Marcus and I celebrated the third year anniversary of our second wedding (we got married first at city hall in NYC on August 3rd then again with our family and friends joining us in Arizona on November 4th). We usually celebrate our anniversaries by going out for a special dinner and past locations for our dinners have included Nobu, Babbo, and One if By Land, Two if By Sea. It seemed fitting to try out Puerto Princesa’s finest dining experience on our special day so last night we had dinner at Ditchay’s Cafe. We’d been looking forward to it all day and it did not disappoint. My mouth is actually watering now as I remember our meal. Ditchay’s is all about locally and organically produced meats, veggies and fruits. The food is French with an Asian twist - and it is all so delicious. Our meal started off with bread (it looked homemade) with the best pesto we’ve had in Palawan. After that we had a salad with warm bacon and fantastic beef carpaccio. Our entrees were a delicious native chicken dish with mushrooms and olives and roasted pork belly. Both entrees came with delicious veggie sides including creamed spinach, garlic potatoes, mashed pumpkin and this really fabulous sweetened pickled cabbage (I think it had apples mixed in - it doesn’t sound awesome but seriously it was so good). All this amazing food was washed down with a great 2004 Bordeaux (the only thing Ditchay’s imports is their wine). We were stuffed after all this food but had to try the mimosa tarte. And as if we hadn’t had enough already, we were given a delicious homemade mango ice cream to enjoy while waiting for the tarte. Everything was perfect and we were so happy we went there for dinner. Looking forward to celebrating more special occasions there...

What happened to October?

Wow, so yet another month has gone by without any regular updates on this blog. I just don’t know where the time goes. Seriously. I know I say this all the time, but I am still shocked by how quickly time flies by. I mean, it’s November! How did that happen? This is the first November in 11 years that I haven’t been in the US and it feels so weird to not have the change in seasons. We left NYC in the summer so being in the heat here didn’t feel that different. But now that all my friends in the US are complaining of the cold, and as we move into Thanksgiving and the Christmas season it just feels so strange that it is always still so hot and sunny here. Not complaining. As much as I *LOVED* NYC in the fall, I have always preferred the heat to the cold. But I do miss cool, brisk air and feeling cozy inside a warm apartment after a cold walk outside.

Anyway… October was another really busy month for me and for Marcus.

Things with Roots of Health are moving along nicely and we’ve been keeping really busy with all our work. We’re in the process of wrapping up our needs assessments of the communities in which we may start our services, and we plan to begin conducting our service delivery this month (hopefully!) To stay up to date on Roots of Health, check out my ROH blog.

Highlights from the month included our trip to Manila to celebrate my sister Sara’s birthday as well as to meet some repro health superstars in Manila – Carlos Celdran, Mike Tan, Chi Vallido and Ben DeLeon. Check out Marcus’ FB photos from the trip.

Later in the month we also celebrated my mom’s birthday here in Palawan. Those photos are here. On my mom’s birthday, our dear friend Suneeta arrived for an almost-weeklong-visit. It was her second time in Palawan so we skipped Sabang, but we did do some sights in Puerto Princesa, and of course went island hopping in Honda Bay. It was so lovely to see Suneeta and we are so glad she was able to come visit. Photos from her time in Palawan are here.

We have lots to look forward to in November including visits from my brother, Alex, friend from my high school days, Megan and Wellesley friend, Archana. I really will try to update this Team Swangelista blog more often this month, so stay tuned :) Happy November everyone!