Time Flies

Of course I know he's bigger. I can even kinda see it from day to day when I think back to that first week at home (what I remember of that first week, anyway).

This weekend we got to meet Sloan, in the flesh. This mighty baby now weighs 7# 4oz -- 4oz. more than Zander weighed at birth.

Zander's grown more than I realized.

From Grandma Terry

This was sent to us by Zander's Grandma Terry..

Now this is great

I am really enjoying this moment. Zander is hanging out in his swing, not sleeping just hanging out. Carol is off doing Carol things ... and I am making a DVD out of all the Zander video footage and pictures we have collected in the first 6 weeks of Zanders life...

I am just really happy right now.

Nearly a ticket

So.. Carol and I were driving to the hospital. Driving down huron I was going a little faster then the posted speed in the constuction zone. Just as we get past the golf corse, a cop decides to pull us over...

He approches the car and I hand him my license and registration and say ... " ummm... my wife is in labor and we are headed to the hospital RIGHT NOW!" Conveniently, at that moment Carol has a contraction so she is moaning loudly in the seat next to me.

The cop gives us a look of ... "why me" and says, "Well you were going a little fast through that construction zone ... so be careful". He didn't give me a ticket, and I was back on my way before he got back to his squad car.

We laughed the rest of the way to the hospital.

Imagine

During tummy time yesterday afternoon, Zander showed his skills off to his Uncle Noah by lifting his head and holding it there over and over again. Go Zander!


Now imagine a really cute picture of Zander holding his head up. This would be possible if I were able to FTP the photo to either of the two servers that I have access to ... but apparently this isn't in the cards for me today. "Connection reset." I'm sure it has something to do with Matt being out of town and not available to solve my computer problem. Figures.

So far so good

As happens with little babies, things change quickly. Zander is currently trying to enjoy his new swing - thank you Thom & Annette for handing it down. Right now he's not experiencing enjoyment so much as sensory overload. But he's quiet and safe so who can complain?

This weekend Zander discovered his hands with his mouth. He's not exactly mastered the art of sucking on his own fingers yet but he's walking that path.

Definite progress in sleeping has been made. Zander is sleeping five hours a night (starting whenever he falls asleep for the night!). Yey!

And the best yet - he smiled at me twice on Saturday morning. Awww. Of course we haven't coaxed a smile out of him since.

Remembering

I am going to try and type up some of the things from the day Zander was born that I don't want to forget ... so here we go

Carol was in labor Friday Morning. She went into labor really early in the morning (3-4) when her water broke. We quickly called the hospital as we had been instructed. They told us to hang out until her contractions where 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute long, or 12 hours had passed. Once they got to that point, we were suppose to call again. So, we started walking, and walking, and walking. At around 9 am her contractions were finally around 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute each.

Carol called the phone number for the Nurse-midwife and answered a few questions. They had to then page the midwife, who was suppose to call us back. Carol hung up the phone and we sat in the kitchen waiting with baited breath for the return call. A minute or so later, the phone rings and Carol answers the phone. The hospital packing list was running through my head. The next thing I heard was Carol saying, "I'm in labor here, so if your not my midwife, I don't want to talk with you!"

A telemarketer with really bad timing must have been really confused when she hung up.

Matt

Hot & Sweaty

Michigan's summer has descended as suddenly and thoroughly as it does every year. Zander and I are sweating buckets in our townhouse -- but relief is on the horizon as Matt and I have a plan to purchase and install A/C this afternoon downstairs AND upstairs. Meanwhile the Marvelous Bean sleeps away the heat of the day and keeps me awake all night. We also all have head colds. It's a thoroughly unpleasant combination.

Thanks to our neighbor Edith for helping Zander and I calm down and take a nap in the late morning. And many thanks to Matt for bringing me lunch and some relief at noontime. The Bean tells me he had a good time sewing in the basement with papa while I slept.

He's asleep on the couch next to me right now, twitching to the unheard rhythm of baby dreams.

Redeeming qualities

This morning I came upon Zander checking himself out in the baby mirror on the toy bar of his bouncy seat. As I watched him watch himself his face broke out into a slow, broad smile which he held for a few seconds before opening his smiling mouth as if to laugh. Then the mirror was abruptly forgotten in favor of the bright sunshine outside, which is what he usually likes to look at when he's awake in his bouncy seat.

Zander and I also had some good play time this morning when he became bored with the bouncy seat. He used his strong legs to wiggle up my chest until his shoulders were past my shoulder. He also enjoyed staring at the contrast of my pastey white arm against the dark blue couch.

What a cute baby!

Congratulations to the boy for weighing in at 7# 6oz. at the pediatrician's office yesterday afternoon. His diaper rash appears to be gone, his tongue doesn't seem to bother him anymore, and his thumb is mending well. Not bad for 3 1/2 weeks old.

The Hazing Rituals of Parenthood

Earlier today I had my 2-3 week postpartum doctor appointment. It was also mine and Zander's first adventure out of the house alone together. (Can I just say - damn that car seat is heavy!)

No surprise, he woke up hollaring halfway through my appointment. So first he and I had the adventure of breastfeeding in the exam room AND the waiting room. As whats-his-name was finishing his meal, I thought "gosh, someone's stinky." Sure enough, he had filled his diaper and it was creeping out the sides.

I wrangled the stroller-with-car seat-and-baby, myself, and the diaper bag into a three-stall bathroom on the second floor of the East Ann Arbor Health Center. Lo! There was the Baby Changing Station (TM). I parked the stroller in the empty restroom, taking up half the room, and pulled the changing table down from the wall, positioned the baby and the diaper bag, and was all set to go.

Well, first, there were no diaper wipes in the diaper bag. Why this was the case, who can say? I'm sure it was fated to be that way to make this experience all the more profound. Luckily there were a few baby washcloths. Luckily the construction going on at the health center had not also interfered with the plumbing so I was able to use a wet washcloth on my darling son's poopy, stinky butt. He thanked me for that.

He thanked me for that in a very special way.

Leaving my child bare-assed on the changing table (oh I also only had size 1 diapers in this bag for my less than 8# baby), I turned toward the diaper bag to pull out a plastic bag for the stinky diaper (who said that breastfed babies didn't have stinky diapers?!) and as I was turning back I heard a sound. A squishy, squirting sound.

Zander had pooped and peed all over the lap pad, blanket, and changing table. He was pleased with himself. Very pleased. He stopped fussing and just lay there pumping his legs and waving his arms, checking out the lights on the ceiling.

I swiftly wrapped his offending parts in that size 1 diaper and plopped him in the stroller. He didn't think this change in scenery was as interesting and complained to me about it while I cleaned up his mess. A woman came into the restroom while I was strapping Zander down for the car ride home. After the usual exclamations of "oh a new baby" "how cute" etc. she commented that I couldn't be a new mom because I was so calm.

Calm?

8 more

FYI... 8 more pictures in the Gallery today of the little one.

O. Mi. God.

I wanna go back to the womb, where everything was nice and warm and safe. Yesterday I got my tongue cut (frenulectomy), my infected thumb nail lanced, and all this on top of diaper rash. If I just stay asleep (except to eat, of course!) then it will all hopefully be better when I wake up.

On the bright side of things, Mom's milk is so much easier to get at! I can't gulp it down fast enough. YUM!