Froggy II

We decided it was time to measure LS against froggy again. We've noticed that already some clothes are fitting differently. Yesterday LS wore the same outfit that she came home from the hospital in and was too big then. It seems now that if she wears it again next week it may be for the last time, as it now fits.

Our unofficial measurements put LS at 19 inches long now (1 inch growth (5.5%), she must have been pinched). And unofficial head circumference increase of 9%. Sadly, we don't have a delicate enough scale to measure weight, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is officially no longer in favor of the Archimedes water-displacement method.



After the photo session, LS was feeling energetic. We caught her practicing a move on froggy she called Bringin' the Hammer Down. Froggy didn't seem to mind.

First Look

For this post we rewind back a few weeks to LS's first moments in the outside world.

We like surprises - so we decided that we would wait until birth to find out the sex of the baby. When people asked if we knew what we were having I was often tempted to say - "yes, a baby." It's our contention that the sex doesn't matter, unless you're changing the diapers, until they are much older. Of course, we'll see how well that theory holds up.

Anyway, it was part of our "birthplan" that I, the dad, would be the one to announce the sex of the baby when it came out. This idea went back to when we thought mom might need to have general anesthesia and wanted something that would make things feel more personal and less clinical.

We were lucky that we knew roughly what to expect with the procedure, as mom had been at the observer-end of a C-section before. I had heard a number of times the story of when they had mom peek over the curtain to see her niece before she was fully born and only the head was peeking out of the abdomen.

So now I was at the critical part of the process. During the C-section I was holding mom's hand and keeping her company and listening to music of our choosing, while the doctors did their thing. Then -

"Ok, dad." (says our OB)

A moment of hesitation. Oh, this is the part where they show me the head out of the abdomen.

So I get up and look over the curtain toward the abdomen. But no head peeking out.

Panning my gaze upward. Oh... the baby's out... Wow!

"Well, what is it?" (again our OB, maybe getting tired now from holding the baby up)

A baby. But I realize that first thought can't be what she means.

Oh, right, I'm supposed to say what sex the baby is! Once this thought finally enters my head it already feels like an eternity since I first stood up to look, and I can only think that mom is now getting anxious with the delay.

Alright, now don't say the wrong thing. Sometimes you see the wrong thing, or you see the right thing but say the wrong thing - this is one of the times you don't want to mess up.

Even with the delay already, I decide that I'm going to take an extra long look and make sure. Things can be subtle down there on the little ones, and I'm committed to not blowing the call on this one.

Ok, it's a girl - I'm sure of it. Say "girl". Say "girl".

So, I turn and whisper to mom - "It's a little girl".

We're lost for a moment just looking at each other and thinking about the fact that this is real and we have a little girl to take care of.

"What is it?" - says one of the nurses.

Oh no! I must have said the wrong thing! I replay in mind the last few seconds - I was sure it was a girl (check), I told myself to make sure to say girl (check), I can hear the word girl coming out of my mouth in the replay (check). We should be good here.

"What?" I ask.

Nurse - "You have to tell us what it is."

Can't you tell? I can't be the one most qualified in the room to figure this out can I?

"I already told her - it's a girl."

"I have to hear it so I can write it down," she says motioning to the ankle bracelet yet to be fastened onto LS.

Oh, I see - so this is all very official - I'm stating this for the record. Phew. Relieved that I didn't mess it up afterall, I let the rest of them in on the big secret.

Meet the Family

On Sunday, just in time for the holiday season, LS met a good number of her family. Her cousins, ranging in age from 2 to 8 years old, were the most impressed.

The occassion was for the 5th birthday party for one of the cousins. It's hard for any of us to believe that she's 5 already, and harder still to think that LS will reach that age before we know it.

LS handled the stresses of such a public performance with so many people fairly gracefully. She chose to start by sleeping, which is a good way to remain calm. She then moved on to feeding and sitting there looking cute. Not a bad way to set up a first impression.

LS is looking forward to seeing them all in less then a week for Thanksgiving festivities. And there will be more family to meet in the coming week also.

What a fun time of year to join the world.

Madrugada

Memere's trip begins at 4:30am this morning, or as her driver to the airport calls it: O'dark-30. He's not a morning person. Really it's that time of day when it isn't clear whether it is late at night or early in the morning. Miles away, LS is about 2/3 through a 4am feeding session. Soon to be back to sleep.

5:50am board the plane. 6:20am take-off. LS, cozy at home, sleeps through most of it. 9:16am, finally get off the plane. One more leg to go, 40 minute drive.

Memere hates the cold. When dad left to get her at the airport it was 19 degrees out. For you LS fans more familiar with the metric system, that's roughly negative stupid. Dad, of course, wears shorts. Didn't really think of it, as always - until memere mentions it in mock horror.

So about 10am, memere meets LS. We think she approves. Both of them that is.

Anticipa-a-tion

LS hasn't really learned to anticipate yet - but if she did she would be ready for memere's visit starting tomorrow.

Memere has a famous dislike for peas, but we think that even she wouldn't so much mind this pea-in-a-pod look. Shot on location in dad's office.

Stat check: 0.3125 dph. LS's diaper/hour rate so far this week. That's 3 hours 12 minutes per. This improved rate is due mostly to LS's parents figuring out what they're doing.

New Day

What a difference a day makes. A bad night, followed by a really good night. Night before last, LS wouldn't get to sleep. So, of course, neither could mom. She estimated she got 45 minutes of sleep - and not all in a row. LS didn't cry all night - thankfully - but she just fussed a lot (pipped and squeaked we call it), and mom can't sleep through that yet. That didn't make for such a good day.

Last night, LS was a sleeping champ - and mom got some much needed rest.

Stat check: 30 hours. About how much total sleep we all got last night.

Of course, dad got the lion's share of the sleep last night with 12 hours.

We're guessing that should make for a more pleasant day today. And hopefully a sign of better nights ahead!

The Sound of One Hand

We've yet to solve the riddle of the sound of one hand clapping.

LS has necessitated the adoption of some monomanual skills that were unexpected however.

Top of the list is one hand washing. This happens post diaper change while still holding LS with the clean hand. One hand can wash itself pretty well it turns out. So much for the saying about bipartisan hand cleansing technique.

Next on the list is one hand typing. This is a skill especially picked up by dad. One wonders what a keyboard optimized for one handed usage might look like. Well, like a cell phone maybe.

Some mild success has also been made in the areas of monomanual lunch preparation, dressing, and cat feeding.

Topping the list of failures - leaf raking.

Fortnight

Wow, LS is 14 already! Uh, days. Still, where *does* the time go?

This week saw, on the same day, the one week mark of LS being home and the day that the birth had been planned for. Plans. Yeah, those are a thing of the past.

She made her first social trip today (i.e. not Dr. related). Of course, that meant it was also Mom's first trip out of the house not headed for a Dr.

Destination? Coffee shop - where else? She hung out at our table and listened intently to the debate on whether the government should bail out GM, and stories that people had about their dangerous run-ins with unions. You can always tell when she listens intently because she closes her eyes and tilts her head to one side. Some casual observers actually mistook this for sleeping!

Later in the day, LS had a bath - her second since being home. This one was for the cameras though. Although we haven't reviewed the film yet, I think she was hamming it up a bit.

Stat check: 65. That's how many cloth diapers LS has gone through since 3pm on Monday (1 diaper every 1 hour 57 minutes).

We're using a cloth diaper service for these first weeks that drops off 80 diapers each Monday afternoon (yeah, and they take back the dirty ones!). There are currently 15 clean ones left. It looks like for this first week we'll be relying on a grip of disposables to get us over the goal line. Next week we're expecting LS to aim for closer to one diaper every 2 hours 6 minutes.

Sweathogs

Fun fact - LS is soothed by the opening bars of the theme from "Welcome Back Kotter". One of her first couple days she had a brief visit in the nursery and dad hummed this tune when she was brought back ("Welcome baaaaack..."). For dad it's a nostalgic song that harkens back to an age when a big city seemed as other-worldly as Captain Kirk and green women.



Stat check: 5 lbs 6 oz as of today, back above birth weight.

The next weigh-in isn't until 2009 (which, believe it or not, isn't that far off).

Introducing Froggy

The first day home from the hospital, Dad set out to find LS a little stuffed animal buddy. The task was made easy when froggy was seen right away sitting on the edge of the shelf in the store. A certain resemblance couldn't be denied, and these two couldn't help but love each other.

LS can't do much yet, but froggy seems to be content to wait it out. Froggy mostly likes to get snuggled anyway, and LS is bound to get the hang of that once old enough to try.

The two posed for a picture together to compare sizes. Something that might happen again from time to time.


The camera also caught Froggy stealing a glance at LS when they thought the camera wasn't watching.

A Fix

We're like junkies. Just need a fix. Just one more hit and then we'll straighten ourselves out. We swear.

Faced with 25 minutes before feeding time - what else would we do? We set the alarm. 25 minutes out in the future. Oh sweet sleep. Just a hit of sleep.

Ohhhh, and that snooze button. 36% more sleep with just one hit. Mmmmm..

Curiosity

Nicki was cautiously interested in the arrival of LS. The image here captures her first peek. She hasn't gotten that close again. The crying doesn't seem to bother her though, so that's good.

We went to the pediatrician for first visit today. Everything looking good.

Stat check: now 5 lbs 3 oz

That's up 2.6 oz in a little over a day. Good eatin'!

Averages

As a family we're averaging at least 8 hours of sleep a day.

Should be enough, no?

But then here's the problem:

Lady Surreal - 20 hours
dad - 2 hours
mom - 2 hours

So there you go - 8 hours on average. Ugh.

It's enough to make you want to lay down and enjoy your first time in pants.

Looks like we'll be going home today! A somewhat drizzly morning, but good temperatures for November - upper 50's. Although Memere would find it really cold!

Stat check: A little more weight gain last night, back over 5 lbs now (5 lbs 0.4 oz).

Dad got some serious sleep last night - 8 hours! Maybe Mom will get her turn for a little extra time today/tonight.

The picture is from this morning - in the bed where Dad slept during the hospital stay.

So Surreal

Lady Surreal (not her real name!) is pretty new to this world. About 4.5 days as of this post actually.

What could be more surreal than coming from the womb and being plunked into the outside world? The moniker is a play on her name, but also comes from her time glowing blue on a UV light table.

The purpose of this blog is to share information about what's going on in her life. Mostly so family and friends can keep up with that sort of thing from time to time. Names have been changed or generalized to protect the innocent.

So far things are good. She is a great nurser, thanks to the efforts of mom. After losing weight the first day, she has gained some weight back each subsequent day. She is pretty easily consoled and seems to like being held (which she is never lacking volunteers to do). The last two days she has been sleeping 3 hours at a time and has to be woken for her nursing sessions - at which she is expert.

She started a little over 5 1/4 lbs and 18 inches long, and is now back to just under 5 lbs.

Good chance she'll be headed home with mom and dad tomorrow. Won't that be an adventure?