North Bend to Port Orford: Sand, Sun, and Wind

We headed back down the Oregon Coast today and showed my in-laws many of the pretty sights along the way.

First, we stopped at the Horsfall Recreation area just north of North Bend to show them the impressive Oregon Sand Dunes.

We continued onto Bandon, which has a lovely Beach Loop Drive where you can see nice rock formations. 

 

This is "Face Rock" (can you see the profile?)

It was sooooo windy there-- can you tell by my hair and Pepper's ears?

Bandon has a cute Old Town area, where we had crab for lunch and strolled on the Boardwalk.

We continued towards Port Orford and stopped at Cape Blanco State Park and Lighthouse, which were shrouded in fog.

We hiked a nice easy trail at Port Orford Heads.

 Love this family shot of us!

We finished our sightseeing at Battlerock State Park.

Iver did pretty well in the car-- taking one greater than 1-hour nap, and a couple of 30-min naps while we drove. We did stop a lot, which helped entertain him (when he was awake)-- there were only a couple of car meltdowns when he got bored!

While we were met with some impressive winds, it was a really beautiful, sunny day to spend on the Oregon Coast!

Gold Beach Sunset

Celebrating in Coos Bay

I am so thankful to have this weekend to recover from a very busy month of work, particularly with OB call, sleepless nights, and deliveries (the grand total was 15 deliveries in 30 days, which was a record for me).

Khao, Kelvin's dad, came up from Orange County and we celebrated his 65th birthday (yesterday) and our fourth anniversary (today) with a trip up the Oregon Coast.  K's parents have never been to Oregon, so it was fun to show them some of the sights that we had seen back in September 2012, which was the last time we drove this part of the Highway 101, as well as to explore some new places.

We spent the early part of the afternoon at Sunset Bay Beach off Cape Arago Highway, where Iver got to experience SAND for the first time and Pepper wondered why she couldn't roam free on the beach (which she loves) off leash in this stricter state :). While the weather wasn't particularly warm, as you can see by our attire, I did see kids getting in the ocean (Brr!).

 Grumpy Face

"on but off leash"

  

Iver loved the sand!

Amy, a friend from the UC Davis Family Medicine Department, now resides in Coos Bay (well, North Bend) with her husband and two kids. She (who had suggested this park/beach) and her two-year-old Goldendoodle, Simon, joined us for a nice hike above the ocean bluffs.

We then spent some time at Amy's house and in her lovely yard, which includes a true goldfish pond and grassy area. The dogs frolicked and then rested in the shade, while we ate snacks and the kids played with Playdoh...

 

... and the grandparents swung on the swingset.

We concluded the day with a great meal at Tokyo Bistro, a restaurant that was recommended by Amy.

Not yet onto "sushi" solids, Iver resorted to eating his feet.

Here's to more happy years of milestones!

Pony Party

On Sunday, we went to our friend Natalia's place for the second birthday party for her twins, Maxim and Nikolai.  We spent a good amount of time socializing (and thus not much picture-taking). The food was awesome, we caught up with some doctor friends who we don't see very often, and Iver enjoyed riding the pony and playing with Daddy in the bouncy house!

The (missed) Luxury of Sleep

 

(Mothers who take call, especially).
I.
AM.
SO.
TIRED.

I have had a really busy week, which has included Iver's first fever (with subsequent 6-month shots on the same day, which certainly didn't make him feel any better and, unlike his 4-month shots, did not help him sleep at night AT all), along with a very busy few weeks on labor and delivery. With the month-long absence of one of our midwives, I have been on call about 11 of the past 26 days (with two more in June to go). It's been a peak month of births (I've done twelve deliveries so far in June), and the last several nights I've been on, I've either been up all night with laboring patients or been called at midnight or 2 am and stayed up since (to attend clinic, etc). 

Although (in absence of a fever), Iver has been sleeping WAY better than he used to be, he still wakes with (seemingly) needing to feed at least twice each night, which makes for a rough time of trying to get a full night's sleep (or catch up on sleep).... ever.  I have basically given up on the idea that he'll (or I'll) ever sleep through the night, despite my having read just about every baby sleep book out there, subscribed to a baby sleep site newsletter, read friends' (and patients') anecdotes and direct advice, and been totally willing to let him cry-it-out (while other household members don't agree...). I do sort of think that I need his night waking(s) to keep up my milk supply while working and he (being a smaller baby) needs the calories and I have an awesome husband who takes the time to try to shush him back to sleep with the first wake; however, it doesn't always feel great or make a lot of sense when I feel exhausted and crabby many nights (and ensuing days). It would be manageable, I think, if I wasn't so tired from the other nights of "work."

I also worry that I'm totally screwed when I saw the following picture, showing what happens to your brain when you don't sleep.

But, despite the anger, brain damage, hallucinations, and cronut binges, most mothers (even those taking OB call) do survive, don't they??

Cider and Cereal

We took Brad and Serena to Humboldt Cider Company on Sunday for our second round of cider tasting. I think it was a hit! Here are some belated pictures.

I loved this sweet pic of Brad holding Iver, who reaches for Shabu.

Additionally, this week marked the debut of solids into Iver's diet. When he was sick early in the week, this did not go over well (and my homemade oatmeal cereal was way too lumpy!) but he's taken to it quite well since then, especially when it comes from Grandma.

It's also been really warm here and, when warm, what's better than cool watermelon? He went at it through this mesh teether and had a good time!

Hoorah for no-longer-100%-reliance-on-mom for nutrition (and for some good-tasting local cider!).