Ronan- 5 months

Ronan turned 5 months old last week. Here's some new pics to show you how he's grown.
:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pyxKm23bKw

Click this link to watch a fun video of Ronan and Connor.

Ronan's Birth-And Then The Bill Came

Hi Everyone,

Just thought you might be interested in the last few details about Ronan's birth here in Ireland. I was curious how much money it would cost and how the billing was all going to be handled.

We have a new insurance program since we've been here, but Alan and I didn't really know anything about it. We moved here so fast, that the insurance beauacracy couldn't keep up with us. For weeks we couldn't log into the computer to read up on our benefits or search their directories for doctors and hospitals that were In Network. I went to the hospital with a temporary card printed from the computer, and fortunately the lady there had dealt with this company before.

So, just to compare, I'll tell you one or two notable memories I have about Connor's birth's bill. I remember the second night I was in the hospital (my very nice, hotel-like private room), I had put Connor in the nursery so I could try and get some sleep after that arduous labor/birth. Later, before the insurance covered it, I saw the detailed bill for that service: $1300. Just for Connor's one night in the nursery. (And they still brought him to me every 3 hours for a feed!)

I remember getting bills for each and every little thing the hospital did during my stay. So many pieces of paper.

Now onto Ronan's birth's bill.

I received two bills: one from the hospital for the birth, and another from the doctor who gave me the Private care. (Private care here means that I had one doctor throughout the pre-natal care, and it was all but guaranteed that I'd have the same doctor delivering the baby.)

Each bill was one page long.

The hospital bill had three lines:

1. For the night I was in a semi-private bed (€889)

2. For the night I was in my private room (€1017)

3. For the private pathology (blood tests) fees (€168)

Our new insurance covered 90% of it, so I was left to pay around €207. I called them up and paid my bill over the phone.

The bill for the doctor equally simple.

Sam's (yes, he's on a first name basis with both staff and clients, even though he's currently Master of the hospital) bill was €2000. Our insurance again covered 87% of that. I owed him €254. So I called up to pay that bill. No answer the first time, so I left a message. Second time, I got through.

But he had waived the balance.

That's right, my OBGYN waived the last €254 of my bill.

According to his office manager, Ciara (pronounced Kira), when she told him that the insurance paid all but €254 of the bill, and that I had left a message during the week saying I wanted to pay it, he just waved a hand and said, "That's all right. Don't worry about it."

Thank you, Dr. Coulter-Smith! I mean, thank you Sam.

Our Summer Holiday In Gran Canaria

Our first ever resort-style vacation: Gran Canaria.

With its location right off the coast of Morocco, you'd think the island of Gran Canaria was Moroccan. But it's actually part of Spain, and a great place to visit if you need a sunshine-filled getaway.

All summer, I think we had two, maybe three, full days of sun in Dublin. Sure, we'd have some sun every day, but it wouldn't last. The wind here keeps the clouds on the move, and 10 minutes is all it takes to turn a gorgeous morning into a rainy one. So everyday this summer, our forecast was "partly cloudy with a chance of rain." Really.

I was going mental. I couldn't believe it. I thought being a Portlander I could handle this weather here. I have my iGoogle homepage set to show the weather forecast for both Portland and Dublin. And by the time Portland started getting really consistent sun, our forecast was consistently a mix of sun, clouds, and rain. And we'd be going through that cycle at least a few times every day. It was never consistent. I was going crazy. It wasn't so much fun to try and get to a playground if it meant that it was going to be a trip in the rain...

One day we did go to a playground I saw two women laying out in their bikinis!! (Did I already mention that in a previous posting?) And it was only 67 degree F! But of course, it felt warm because that was the one day that the sun was out all day long. Really--two moms laying out in their bikinis while their kids ran up and down the slides. Wow.

Anyhow, I really needed some sun. And Alan was working really hard. Harder than he expected. (He wound up doing a job he didn't actually sign up for. The hours were longer and at an incredibly intense pace.) We all needed a break. I mentioned it. And mentioned it again. And then one Sunday, Alan woke up at 10am and started researching family sun holidays. By 8pm that night, we had our tickets. :)

OK-- so this looks like we're advertising Nicorette. But I included this picture to show you how happy and proud we were that we fit all our stuff into that one big suitcase you see next to the stroller. :)))

It was a 4 hour flight from Dublin direct to Gran Canaria. Alan's co-workers were worried for us: how will the baby do?! But they didn't know that when Connor was that age, we took him from Portland to Dublin, which is a 17 hour trip at best. Four hours was easy! Ronan did have some pain on the takeoffs/landings, but we were ready with bottles of formula or water to help him, and that worked well.

The view from our hotel window.

This was our first hotel vacation. But this wasn't any ol' hotel, this was an all-inclusive vacation. No meals, no restaurant shopping. Everything was at this resort. A kids club, babysitting, a spa, everything. It actually took a lot of getting used to. Of all things, I missed my watch. Can you believe it? I needed my watch. It was because all these wonderful services were scheduled. Meals were available at certain times. The kids' activities were at specific times. Sign ups for activities were designated times. The only constant was the pool. And even that needed some attention because if you weren't up early to reserve your lounge chairs, you wouldn't have a spot to sit in anywhere near the pool.

After a day or two of getting my brain around this and the fact that the whole point of a resort-style vacation was to never leave the resort (?!?!?), I relaxed and really had a good time.

Ronan was up every four hours with tummy pains and who-knows-what-else sleeping problems, but we made it work. Alan would help in the middle of the night, and I'd be up with him at 6am, take him and all our swimming gear down to the pools, reserve our chairs, drink a cup of tea poolside, and rock him in the stroller. Eventually, he'd fall back asleep, and I'd be able to relax in the beautiful weather, sipping my tea, and reading Tina Fey's Bossypants. It's a really good book, actually. I highly recommend it.

Our hotel room. On the other side of that little wall was a single bed for Connor. He did really well with Ronan's crying. At first, he was upset he was getting woken up, and yelled out for us to make it stop. (Can you blame him?) But when I explained that this is just what happens with babies and when we're all sharing a room, and that he had to deal with it and not complain, he figured it out. I offered him earplugs, but he opted for the pillow-over-the-head solution. :)

Sunscreen!

Once I figured out our lounge chair reservation system, we were set. I'd always reserve two chairs in the shaded areas, so Ronan (and us) could be sheltered. Then we realized that if we did want to lay out, we needed at least one chair in the sun. So then I'd reserve a third chair, in the sun. For those 10 minutes that Alan or I would want to soak it up.

All-you-can-eat buffet means really good desserts like fruit and ice cream. Yummy desserts= happy Connor. :) Most of the guests were English. And the resort company staff (babysitters, kids club employees) were English, too. But all the hotel staff were Spanish, so Alan and I got a chance to practice our Spanish. We enjoyed talking with our servers in the restaurants, and I mistakenly forgot to get their pictures. They were always so sweet with us, smiling when we were dashing in late right before they stopped serving, and giving treats to Connor and smiles to Ronan. We came away wanting to get Connor enrolled in Spanish classes, but I haven't found any yet. I must contact the Spanish embassy about that...

On the hottest day of the week, we headed into the main tourist town of Las Palmas. It was nearly 40 degrees Centigrade--that's almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He walked around for a long while, looking for the old-world Spanish town that Alan remembered visiting years back. But all signs of that Las Palmas were gone. They probably all left when the creation of EU made the Canaries the tourist mecca it is today. Restaurants all had English and Spanish servers and the menus were in multiple languages.

We kept Ronan cool by keeping a lightweight blanket over the stoller to keep him shaded. And when we got popsicles, Ronan had some, too.

The beach at Las Palmas. It might be the postcard picture of a European sun holiday, but I was secretly glad not to face that trek everyday. True confession: I never stepped into the ocean on our trip. And I never felt bad about it, either. I was happy with our three pools.

Stopping for lunch in an air-conditioned pub. Ahhhh, better!

Back at the resort, in the kiddie pool.

Ahhh, armbands! I don't know why Americans are so down on armbands. Over here, they are widely used, and a required part of children's swimming lessons. And I must admit, they were fabulous! They let me let go of Connor while he was in the pool, and it meant I got to have some fun along side him instead of constantly worrying about him slipping out of my grasp.

Did I mention that the pools were chlorine-free? Yup! They were saline pools. Ahh, what a difference! I actually swam with open eyes underwater. I think that was the first time I'd done that since I was a kid back in Boston. It was fabulous!! Connor still wanted goggles so he could see better. But can you imagine? We never would have swum for so long if the pools were chlorinated. It was heavenly!

The pools were very crowded, unless it was dinnertime.

I signed Connor up for two soccer workshops while were there. His soccer coach, Stuart, was magnificent! Connor was by far the youngest and most inexperienced. (He had never had a soccer lesson in his life!) Stuart helped him greatly, and made sure the other kids were nice and helpful to him. I could have kissed Stuart! My son came away loving soccer and feeling really good about himself.

Connor's now playing soccer in our neighborhood once a week on Tuesday nights. I must say, he might not have all the skills down yet, but he does get right in there to try and get the ball. I've even seen him do a slide tackle a couple of times. At other times, he's down the field near the goal shouting to his teammates, "Pass!" :)

Sioux City?!?! How did we get to Sioux City?!

Well, Sioux City is in Gran Canaria. I think they filmed a John Wayne movie here. Or maybe it's the set and they moved it here... In any case, it's an actual village from America's Wild West days. We went to the cowboy shootout show they had on the night before we were to leave.

It was a show basically built on the old Hollywood Cowboys vs. Indians theme. Definitely cheesy, with some cool lasso-ing talent, there were more than a handful of moments Alan and I were uncomfortably squirming in our seats. The racist "under" (?) tones combined with a hanging scene (?!?!!!) left us aghast. This was billed as great family entertainment, but if we had known in advance what kind of show it was, I doubt we would have booked tickets.

On the other hand, Connor did get to ride a horse, pretend to be locked up in jail, and make a stew over the hearth in a period-style house.

All in all, I had a great time in Gran Canaria. We had gorgeous weather every day--without mosquitos or yellow jackets. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the local fish that was grilled to order in front of us. Alan ate his fill of papaya, too. With less meat and wheat and more fish and papaya, he basically cured his stomach ailments. It was fabulous to see him so vibrant.

And since we didn't have to grocery shop, cook, or clean, it was a great do-nothing holiday in the sun. Ahhhh!

Dublin Wins the All-Ireland!

This was an amazing game!

But what is the All-Ireland? It's the championship match in Gaelic Football, on a Super Bowl-like scale. It's played annually in Croke Park in front of a crowd of 83,000. Tickets are send to every Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) around the world. 18,000 tickets went to Dublin clubs and 11,000 tickets went to Kerry clubs (the two counties competing for the trophy they call the Sam Maguire.) On the radio leading up to the big match, callers were complaining how true fans were struggling to come up with a ticket, whose face value was 80 Euros, while people with deep pockets could just go online and pay the going price of 400 Euros. Others were calling in with tips on which pubs to go into last minute to try and get tickets. One person had a couple tickets mailed to him from his cousin in California.

Of course, the rules are different to American football or even soccer, it's an incredibly fast-paced, compelling game. The Gaelic games here are so historically connected to the people, it's not a stretch to say that the GAA is an integral part of Irish culture.

As a result, there are two major differences between the All-Ireland and the Superbowl: the game was televised on national public television without commercials and all the players are amateurs. That's right, they balance full-time jobs on top of all their practices and games. On Monday, one player went back to teaching high school science. Another carried on as an architect.

There was another notable difference: the acceptance speech. It was given by the team captain, not the coach or team manager. I must say it was the most gracious, eloquent speech I've heard after a game win.

But aside from those characteristics, the 2011 All-Ireland match stood out from past years and will be talked about for many years to come. Dublin, who hadn't won the All-Ireland for 16 years, was playing Kerry, whose team has a long tradition of Gaelic football and has often won the All-Ireland. Neck and neck the whole way, we were on the edge of our seats the whole match.

With 7 minutes left to go, it looked like Dublin was going to lose to Kerry. But they pulled it out and the game was ultimately decided in the last 10 seconds. I've put links to the game and acceptance speech below and I highly recommend you watch both.

We watched the match at Alan's cousin's house, and of course we got into the spirit of things. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Gpir6kQXA

Set the player to start at 26:12 and go from there. I won't go into all the details about rules and score keeping, I'll just let you follow along and I think you'll see how it works. I will just tell you that a match is 70 minutes in length, with any time from injuries added on afterwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyAKzzkPAj4

Captain Bryan Cullen's acceptance speech. I wish all players back home would carry themselves with such poise and grace.

http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/

Click here to read about the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Enjoy!

Ronan and Connor Movies

I was taking more videos of Ronan when Connor asked to be filmed, too.

I'm glad he did, because he's so camera shy these days. I know there's a lot of them, but Connor really wanted all of them online. So I thought, that's not a problem. But I have to say I think the first one and the last one are my favorites. As for Ronan's videos, I'll just let you find out for yourself what's in store... :)

Here's the links to Connor's Karate Movies:

Connor's Karate Movie I

Connor's Karate Movie II

Connor's Karate Movie III

Connor's Karate Movie IV

Connor's Karate Movie V

Here's the links to Ronan's Movies:

Ronan's Extreme Closeup I

Ronan's Extreme Closeup II

Ronan-- Three Months

July 28, 2011

Engineering Camp

The best of Connor's wonderful creations from the Engineer It! camp at Imaginosity, Dublin's Children's Museum.

He was very happy at this camp. So of course, I was very happy, too.

Leonardo DaVinci wings.

Replica of a Roman aqueduct.

Marshmallow-launching catapult (after the marshmallow had been eaten, of course).

Functional water wheel.

Summer Update

A short while ago, I posted my thoughts on child rearing and how my time here as influenced me, resulting in my decision not to put Connor into tons of camps, and to stay home together instead.

So, how is it going?

Well, we're two weeks into it and all in all, all right. There have been a few unforeseen benefits, namely having Connor face the fact that he has a little baby brother. He had to get used to being told to wait his turn, no I can't play with you now, and I'm sorry I need to interrupt our playtime to go take care of the fussy baby. Not only did Connor realize that he's second or third in line at times, but he also had to grapple with strangers doting on Ronan.

This was a challenge at first: Connor was quite clingy to me that first week home. Mommy, Mommy, Mommy...be with me, keep me company, can I be with you, can you be with me? It was constant. And energy draining, I must say.

But now we're into a flow. Just today I told him, "I like to say things once." So those incessant questions about "Can I have ___? Why not? But can't we just ____?" are over. I am getting better and better at sticking with my answer once it's made, and now I am gaining ground with not wasting my breath saying that answer over and over again. "I like to say things once." Of course, that pairs with "I like to be with children who cooperate." It's a good combo.

We have relaxed our morning routine and our TV rules for summertime. In the mornings, Connor and I snuggle in bed and I read to him. It is a wonderfully cozy and fun thing to do that we never get the chance for during the school year. And we now have screen time at 4pm most days. Although some days I just say, "No TV today."

It is a little more diffcult doing all this considering that everyone on the street are older "pensioners," as they are sometimes called here. So there's very few children about. The one exception are our next door neighbors. They sometimes care for their nieces and nephew. Connor was able to go over and play with them one day last week. Other than that, it's either me and Connor or Connor going solo.

Adding to the challenge has been our poor weather. This week yielded only one totally dry day. Last week, we had one sunny day in which we went out to a playground for most of the afternoon. (This is one great playground! Check out the awesome climbing structure. And can you see how far Connor made it?)



I did sign Connor up for one camp for next week, however. It's a bit of a drive, but I think he's really going to like it. It's run by Imaginosity, Dublin's new children's museum and it's titled "Engineer It!" . They're going to made all sorts of cool creations and play on the floor of the museum. They'll make paper parachutes, learn about Leonardo Da Vinci, build an aquaduct, solar oven, and some other cool things. I'll do another post all about that. But for now, I think my favorite part about that so far is how we wound up almost cancelling the camp.

You see, it is for children ages 6-8. And Connor is still 5. He will be until December. Well, lots of people here lie about their children's ages for the sake of getting them into camps. And they tell their children that for the week of camp, they're 6 years old should anyone ask. Well, I tried that with Connor. And the response I got was, "Mom, this is the first time you've told me to lie....I cannot participate in that." Oh boy. What lesson was I teaching here? So I said, "That's so sad you won't be able to participate." His response? "I know...but we'll just have to wait until I'm 6."

So this morning I called to cancel his enrollment and within his earshot, confessed to the administrator the reason for us dropping out. Then I asked, "He'll be 6 soon enough, though. Is there any wiggle room on the age requirement?" And she told us there was!! So now, not only does Connor get to go to the camp, but we all also learned that sometimes being upfront and honest is the best way of all.

Another highlight was witnessing Ronan's first laugh. It was Connor who got him to do it by rough-housing with him. I couldn't believe it! They're already developing this great brotherly bond. At least I see it that that way. To see that video, click here.

Somehow, we don't do much during the day, but before you know it, it's time to get ready for bed. It's a slower kind of pace. If anything, I'm less motivated to do things. Usually rushing around with a longer checklist is enough for me to get motivated to get things done. With all this ease and looseness, I find myself reading more, playing around on the computer, and doing a better job of cooking.

I also have to face the fact that now I'm loading up two kids in the car to go places. (Now that we have a second car to go places, that is.) It's reason enough to use the food we have in the cupboard and put off grocery shopping until we really have to go.

Pretty soon, we'll be into August, and only have 4 weeks left. I might still put him in a sports camp, since I haven't really gotten him outside to run and play much. We'll see.

Till next time,
Nicole

Ronan's Christening

Now that Ronan is three months old, I'd better get caught up on my blog posts from when he was two months old. :)

Here are the photos from his Christening. It was wonderful having a full house full of family and lots of kids running around.

In an effort to decorate the house in a child-friendly way, I decided to make several huge posters of Ronan and put them up around the downstairs. Alan was a little nervous about it being too showy, but when have I ever been worried about that sort of thing? ;)

Ronan wore a very special Christening gown. It's a treasured, hand-made heirloom that's been passed down from my grandmother Dahleen. I asked Alan to iron it, because I certainly didn't trust myself to do it.

I was curious about the dress's background, so I emailed Munna (my nickname for Dahleen) to get more details about it. She sent this to me:

About the Christening Dress (and the bonnet) -- my Mother made it for your Dad.

We were still in the Air Force, and living in San Bernardino, CA, and she came out to be with me, as she did when each of our babies was born. It was in Nov. 1945 and I'm sure she came early, but don't really remember details. She bought the Swiss organdy that had an elaborately embroidered border, attached plain organdy for the top, then did embroidery around the sleeves & neck. Later, I embroidered the initials of each child that has used it in the scallops around the bottom. (Haven't finished those.) It has been used by each of our babies, then Jason, Ryan, Molly (Stephen was too big!) Connor & Ronan.

There was no time for her to make a slip, so we used one I'd made & added to it to make it longer. So I made the slip.

The war was still going strong when we were in CA, & it was very hard to find nice fabric...

Needless to say, it's a gorgeous set. You'll see a closeup down below...

Walking the 1.5 blocks to the church, St. John Vianney.

Fr. Bobby performed the Baptism. He was a dear friend to Ambrose, Alan's father, too. It was nice having a priest with a strong family connection.

The Godparents, Joseph (Alan's eldest sibling) and Kathleen McCall.

There's an interesting tradition here about the Baptismal candle: it's saved and when the child gets his Confirmation (a sacrament in which a child becomes an adult in the eyes of the Church), the candle is reused as part of the ceremony. It's a lovely ritual, and Ronan's godparents were kind enough to give Ronan his candle.

Note how Alan is holding on to Connor, making sure he's still, quiet, and behaving...

And this is Connor after the Baptism, finally free!

Signing Ronan into the church registry.

I love Alan's tender expression in this photo.

Classic.

Dad made a wonderful little speech to Ronan, finishing with "Céad míle fáilte Rónán, Rónán." which means "A hundred thousand welcomes Rónán, Rónán."