Monday, September 29, 2008
Jack helps me cook
I'm wearing a Moby wrap, which is already sooo useful! (We don't usually carry him this way, since his neck isn't strong enough yet, but he really enjoys looking out at things, so we did it for a short while -- don't worry, I kept his neck supported!)
some rare awake time
We were getting ready to go to the car, which is why he's wearing the silly hat. The second one is when he figured out we were taking pictures. He likes taking pictures. :)
Sparky meets Jack
We don't have any pictures of Bo meeting Jack because Bo was ignoring him when he first arrived. Here is Sparky being terrified, and then getting his bravery bolstered by Alex picking him up.... They're getting along better now, but I think Sparky still doesn't quite get what's going on here.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
baby shower pictures
I have been meaning to post these for a while. We were playing a game where everyone tried to guess the circumference of my belly. :P
Looking at my belly here (about 1 1/2 months before due date), I guess maybe I should have suspected a ten-pounder!
It was pretty funny seeing how extra, extra long most of these strings were.
Alex's job was to be the impartial belly-measurer.
Becca thought this game was pretty awesome. She collected up all the strings and put them to good use. :D
Looking at my belly here (about 1 1/2 months before due date), I guess maybe I should have suspected a ten-pounder!
It was pretty funny seeing how extra, extra long most of these strings were.
Alex's job was to be the impartial belly-measurer.
Becca thought this game was pretty awesome. She collected up all the strings and put them to good use. :D
belly button
Jack's umbilical cord nubby came off last night. We were telling him that this is his first big growing-up milestone!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Bo helps with the baby
He has been leaving dead mice for us on the steps of our apartment building. :)
more nursing activities
- Pull away; fuss because someone stole your food. WHERE did the food go?!?
- Clutch your ears to help the milk go down better.
some alternate activities for "nursing" time
- Before latching on, growl heartily at the nipple, presumably to make sure it's subdued.
- Make dolphin noises at it.
- Make pirate faces (one eye scrunched shut, grimacing to the side in "yarr" style) at the nipple, occasionally growling some more -- it wasn't subdued yet?
- Eye Mommy suspiciously -- Are you sure this isn't poison or something? I'm pretty sure it might be.
- Position for a perfect latch and then don't suck; laugh heartily as Mommy tries to get you to drink.
- Battle to the death, Hands vs. Mouth: who will get to eat? Who will get TOTALLY in the way and cause starvation and misery? I'll give you two guesses....
we're DOOMED! :)
On top of everything else, Jack has a dimple! He may even have two -- we're not totally sure yet. Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as we can trick him into showing it on camera.
Also, at nine days old, we have confirmed sightings of.... a sense of humor! One facet of his sense of humor is that he does indeed enjoy a good fart joke. :D
Also, at nine days old, we have confirmed sightings of.... a sense of humor! One facet of his sense of humor is that he does indeed enjoy a good fart joke. :D
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Melissa returns!
I have been happily relaxing and not doing much of anything for the five days since Jack was born, and I am now ready to return to the Internet! I am actually about to go take a nap, so this is something of a premature announcement. :P
However! I wanted to at least get on here to say that I will be uploading a couple more batches of pictures (more hospital pictures, the cats meeting Jack, and a few snapshots of life at home so far) and posting a brief (most gory details omitted) story of how he arrived. I am still going at a very leisurely pace, so look for those to show up by the weekend.
I did get one story posted below to get the ball rolling! :)
However! I wanted to at least get on here to say that I will be uploading a couple more batches of pictures (more hospital pictures, the cats meeting Jack, and a few snapshots of life at home so far) and posting a brief (most gory details omitted) story of how he arrived. I am still going at a very leisurely pace, so look for those to show up by the weekend.
I did get one story posted below to get the ball rolling! :)
first Jack story
Today we had our first with-baby outing!
The first thing to brag about is that we only forgot one item (his hat) but it was fine because we had extras in the diaper bag. The second thing to brag about is that we were going to a 1:30 PM appointment and literally arrived for the appointment at 1:29 PM. We had really wanted to make sure we were on time despite having all this new baby stuff to deal with (like him getting hungry fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave), so that was a big success!
The point of the trip was to take Jack to the hospital to get his weight checked. It's a service that the hospital offers for free to new parents, and we were curious to see how he was doing on re-gaining his weight loss since birth. He is back up to 10 lbs, 2 oz and change, which is less than one ounce down from his birth weight! And he's only five days old. That is the result of very industrious eating habits and many naps. :)
We also saw one of the hospital lactation consultants for a final check-in to make sure that nursing was going okay. She checked out our technique and saw the log we were keeping of his feeding times.... and joked that I should give a seminar to other new moms, since we are clearly doing so well! In all seriousness, she invited me to attend the weekly breastfeeding support meetings that the hospital hosts, since I may be able to really help other moms who are struggling. (Yes, I will be going!)
The next stop was Starbucks, since the hospital is already so close to the store, and my co-workers are eager to meet Jack. It turned out that only the men were working, so we are going to have to go back for another visit to see the ladies! The guys admired Jack's big feet and his awesome scowl, so that was a nice visit. While at the store, Jack was getting a little stressed out -- he peed on one outfit, and while I was getting him changed into his next outfit, he spit up all over the neck.
We still had to go to the store (right across the street) to pick up a few necessities, so Alex and Jack stayed in the car and relaxed while I ran in. That was a good idea! It was much faster that way, and Jack didn't have to get any more over-stimulated than he already was.
After that it was time to go home. Jack was soooo tired out by all that travel that after some crying , he had to drain my entire right breast (quite a feat now that my milk has really come in) to fortify himself enough for a quick nap -- and then he woke up to drain half the left breast! Boy, he was working hard on recuperating from our outing. He has been napping ever since!
We learned that we definitely need to help him take it easy when we're going out places, so we are going to take it slowly for his future travels and make sure not to expose him to too many new things at once. But for now he did very well on his first day out and is okay -- just tired. :)
The first thing to brag about is that we only forgot one item (his hat) but it was fine because we had extras in the diaper bag. The second thing to brag about is that we were going to a 1:30 PM appointment and literally arrived for the appointment at 1:29 PM. We had really wanted to make sure we were on time despite having all this new baby stuff to deal with (like him getting hungry fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave), so that was a big success!
The point of the trip was to take Jack to the hospital to get his weight checked. It's a service that the hospital offers for free to new parents, and we were curious to see how he was doing on re-gaining his weight loss since birth. He is back up to 10 lbs, 2 oz and change, which is less than one ounce down from his birth weight! And he's only five days old. That is the result of very industrious eating habits and many naps. :)
We also saw one of the hospital lactation consultants for a final check-in to make sure that nursing was going okay. She checked out our technique and saw the log we were keeping of his feeding times.... and joked that I should give a seminar to other new moms, since we are clearly doing so well! In all seriousness, she invited me to attend the weekly breastfeeding support meetings that the hospital hosts, since I may be able to really help other moms who are struggling. (Yes, I will be going!)
The next stop was Starbucks, since the hospital is already so close to the store, and my co-workers are eager to meet Jack. It turned out that only the men were working, so we are going to have to go back for another visit to see the ladies! The guys admired Jack's big feet and his awesome scowl, so that was a nice visit. While at the store, Jack was getting a little stressed out -- he peed on one outfit, and while I was getting him changed into his next outfit, he spit up all over the neck.
We still had to go to the store (right across the street) to pick up a few necessities, so Alex and Jack stayed in the car and relaxed while I ran in. That was a good idea! It was much faster that way, and Jack didn't have to get any more over-stimulated than he already was.
After that it was time to go home. Jack was soooo tired out by all that travel that after some crying , he had to drain my entire right breast (quite a feat now that my milk has really come in) to fortify himself enough for a quick nap -- and then he woke up to drain half the left breast! Boy, he was working hard on recuperating from our outing. He has been napping ever since!
We learned that we definitely need to help him take it easy when we're going out places, so we are going to take it slowly for his future travels and make sure not to expose him to too many new things at once. But for now he did very well on his first day out and is okay -- just tired. :)
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
audiobooks: my new best friend!
I am going a bit stir-crazy after this much maternity leave and was making Alex take me on more and more walks... but then we went back to the library and I saw a poster advertising that they have audiobooks! I am now equipped to wander the beach or neighborhood without having to drag Alex along to amuse me. :)
Bonus points for neighborhood walking: at the beach I have to pay attention to getting back to the starting point, since I drive there on my own, but in the neighborhood, if I run out of steam I can just call Alex and he can drive to wherever I am and rescue me!
Bonus points for neighborhood walking: at the beach I have to pay attention to getting back to the starting point, since I drive there on my own, but in the neighborhood, if I run out of steam I can just call Alex and he can drive to wherever I am and rescue me!
Monday, September 8, 2008
no baby yet!
Sorry, I know I've been neglecting the blog. I've been too busy enjoying maternity leave. I've been taking loooong naps and having daily walks, and cooking basically anything I think of. Yesterday it was soda bread; today it will be quiche! Lest you think I'm tiring myself out on crazy cooking projects, know the apartment is clean and baby-ready, so there really isn't much else to do! I even read a GIANT book called Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
Yesterday I found out that the full moon is on our due date. (An old wive's tale says that if you're due near a full moon, the baby will likely come ON the full moon....) Not that I really believe it, but it's entertaining to think about. If Critter is born on the due date, he/she will join only 5% of babies who make that happen! In any case, as I keep telling myself, nobody stays pregnant forever--stay tuned!
Yesterday I found out that the full moon is on our due date. (An old wive's tale says that if you're due near a full moon, the baby will likely come ON the full moon....) Not that I really believe it, but it's entertaining to think about. If Critter is born on the due date, he/she will join only 5% of babies who make that happen! In any case, as I keep telling myself, nobody stays pregnant forever--stay tuned!
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