First Smiles :)

O Happy Day...

this video clip says it all!



More happy photos to come, I'm sure!

A Steelers fan married a Bucs* fan...

and this is what we get?

* note- I'm also in love with the Colts, a more recent development. The Bucs are my childhood team, and so have a special place in my heart & memories: Orange jerseys, Vinny Testaverde (who's really tall in person), Dad and I watching on Sundays...

Midwives and Teachers and Librarians, Oh My!

So today I had the 6 week post-partum check up-- and checked out just fine, thank you very much! I was suspecting as much, given the very nicely healed scar (take my word for it!) and the lack of pain and other symptoms of surgery-gone-wrong. Had a fantastic visit with my midwife Sam. She's the one who took all the awesome C-section photos (if you checked out the Picasa link in the last blog) after getting me thru labor/admissions/spinal. Oh, I don't think I actually "introduced" her yet. Hang on... here's one at the Birth Center with K-babe only a few days old:



They also have a parent's group, in addition to all the support pre-baby (nutrition, breastfeeding & birthing classes). Have I mentioned how much I love that place? Just so you know. Oh, and it turns out that IF I were insane enough to go through this newborn phase again, I might be able to do VBAC. Of course, adopting 5 yr olds sounds much more up my alley. I know- YOU'RE thinking this is the best time and I should savor every moment. But all I'm savoring is Carnation Instant Breakfast, Fiber One bars & V8 juice... because I can grab them before K starts 'communicating' that he'd like to held.... NOW.

On the education front, I have some moula left over from the full time service Jim and I did- special moula that can only be used for furthering my education. Only it has be used by next year. (Way to plan that out, Kris!) Here's the options so far: 1) local vo-tech to learn about basic car maintenance, cutting hair & fixing computers.... 2) local college for another MA, this time early-education related... 3) summer institute out of town & local internship for Montessori ed certification ... 4) completely online, certificate in religious studies... 5) begin PhD studies in either religion or education. So what do you think I should do?

And today was Kaden's FIRST VISIT TO THE LIBRARY!!! I was so excited, I almost got him his own card. Then I figured he wouldn't remember it, so better to save that for a later time when we can share the excitement. He enjoyed the 2 block walk over in his 'snugli' front backpack thingy. I enjoyed it too- there was a nice breeze and the setting sun was pretty. Inside, we returned some ideas, picked out 2 children folk cds and 1 West Wing video, and then Kaden decided that was enough. If you know me, you know I LOVE the library. It's right up there with bookstores, museums and post offices. I generally follow all the rules- well maybe not the silly, easy to get away with ones like no-chewing-gum... but definitely the big ones like NO YELLING. My six week old boy didn't get that. I've honestly never been so embarrassed. We checked out really really really quick, and hotfooted it back outside. Within 100 feet (I know, because we hadn't passed the election precinct signs), Kaden fell fast asleep.

Finally, enjoy this photo of Kaden practicing yoga. Or maybe staring at the ceiling fan again. But he honestly wiggled his way into that exact pose. I'm sure it has a fancy name, like "Surfer Wipeout" or "Eating Manna", but he hasn't told us that yet.

Kaden's Cadence

Hey folks-

We're just about 6 weeks along with the little one, and things are going fairly well. He's been a little fussy the past few days, but generally good. He's eating (nursing & bottles) really well lately, and seems to have 'upped' his usual intake- averaging 2 and 1/2 ounces every 2 hours. He seems to like weekends for growth spurts, and then will nurse up to 40 minutes! Since it's hard to read or write then, I might start catching up on movies :)

We're waiting for that first smile. Kaden's definitely awake more, and generally likes to stare at us. Or the ceiling. We like to think he's comtemplating life (a long, loving gaze...). Though the other night he played a really cute game with JimDad, who was holding him: everytime Jim looked away, Kaden would study his face. But every time Jim looked into his eyes, Kaden would quickly turn his head away. After a few tests, Jim started exagerating his movements. I thought for sure we'd get a smile out of that, but no luck. He does have a gorgeous smile, which we see when he's sleeping. Nana calls it 'smiling at the angels.' Her guardian angel must be his favorite, because he does it mostly when she's holding him!!

His tear ducts have started to work, which is great. Except that it makes his cries that much harder to bear! And right now he's got one blocked duct. His eyes still look greenish or hazel, but they could turn up to 6 or 9 months, so who knows? He does seem to like our singing (hard to believe, I know)- generally, made up silly songs will calm him down. We've got a few that we find ourselves repeating, but I think we'll keep 'em as family secrets!

Oh, so as not to clutter the blog, I've posted a bunch of photos over here. Tomorrow I'll have a update on me!

PS- The photo was from August 18, not June 18 - which would have been one month before he was born!!

Nuclear Waste (x2), Flooding and Topics for Another Day

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but an hour ago JimDad managed to pass off a very stinky, very sleeping babe to me. I should've known something was up, as he usually revels in his daddy duties... but couldn't turn away the very cute sleeping boy. Did I mention he was sleeping? Nicely? Soundly? As soon as the onesie snaps were opened, I realized I was in trouble. I might've realized this earlier if my nose wasn't allergy-stuffed-up. I'll spare the details, as it's never a pretty picture- even when imagined. I was wondering if perhaps our "delicate" balance of breastfeeding and formula tilted a tad much to the "non-favorite" choice, as normally our boy is not quite emitting stuff that Homer Simpson dumps in the Springfield Lake. Or something like that. (I watch enough TV to not know exactly what I'm talking about.)

Kaden does, however, generally have gas. Lots of it. Not the kind that costs $3.58/gal. Sometimes he just toots his way through a nap. Other times, he has to concentrate a bit more. Like here, for example:

To be fair- note the camera was turned off before Kaden started to cry. And that clip was quickly followed by a diaper change, clean clothes and some nursing.

On a complete unrelated topic, while we were very lucky to escape major damage from TS Fay, there is still a lot of flooding in areas. Each night the news gives an update on sheet flooding and who's being evacuated now. I love that they explain sheet flooding *every newscast*. Here's one of the local news places- if you check this within 3 days I bet there's an "update" on Fay. (You know you live in Florida when you're on a first-name basis with any major storm!) Anyway, it's not like sheet flooding is hard to get: we're pretty much a flat part of the state, below sea-level, and thisclose to the Everglades. Yeah, we flood fairly easily.

The major flooding is no fun at all, but I love lots of rain in general. Today, while circling the parking lot of a church we wound up NOT attending, we noticed LOTS of grassy areas were now fairly decent size puddles. Or mini lakes. And in one, while also trying to comfort Kaden, we watched 4 egrets and a little blue heron hunt for breakfast. Nature around here is pretty cool.

And more as a reminder to me that a coming attraction for you, here's the list of stuff I'm going to write about if I can improve my baby-wearing skillz: day-in-the-life (idea will be stolen from various other, soon to be cited, blogs)... bottle / bf... and I've forgotten the rest already. Maybe I should get those notepads out again!

ps- We did get to another church (our normal one), which Kaden peacefully slept through and then had just 10 minutes of well-wishers. I love that community!

[edited to note: okay, I just previewed the video again, and it really cracks me up! JimDad's comment "that's just not right." He's right, of course. But I've given up any fantasies of winning 'great mom' awards and will settle for not winning the 'bad mom' awards. This video comes close, but folks- he was going to push whether I filmed it or not!! ]

Growing Boy!

Hey All-

Kaden's "well baby" visit today went well with the new doc (more informative, gentle, and respectful of parental wishes!). Believe it or not, he's now 21 inches long and weighs an even 9 lbs. Yikes! All other stats were good, too. He's eating well (as if you couldn't tell) and we're still doing both formula and nursing, depending on our moods & activities for the day.

Right now, the little guy is in his swing--- he's beginning to like hanging out in it, though still in small doses (maybe 10-15 minutes if he's awake). And his time limit is up... I better get going before he starts the windmill (waving his arms forcefully in circles). Have a good day!

My First Hurricane Warning...

Not that Kaden seemed to know the difference, but I started to get nervous thinking about Fay possibly hitting us as a Cat. 1 storm. All you Weather Channel addicts know by now- she was just a tropical storm, and we were lucky enough to escape the worst part. So last night and today, we had a LOT of rain bands and gusty winds, but nothing too serious.


The night before landfall...... and the afternoon after. Not too exciting, eh?

In my pre-K days, I would've spent the time reading next to a window. Instead, I wound up nursing almost 2 hours straight (is the kid really that hungry? or just a slow eater?) and what felt like another 22 walking him around trying to get the gas out. Thank God we have a dr. appt tomorrow so I can get more suggestions. His gas doesn't seem to follow the formula only- he's bloated and fussy whether he nurses or gets a bottle. Anyone heard of gripe water? other 'wives tales' or home remedies?

One month!

Okay folks, while Jim entertains his brother & niece at the beach, Mom goes shopping, and Kaden sleeps in his comfy Mobywrap... I can let you know he's officially one month old today! Compare his 1 wk old pic to today:

ONE WEEK ONE MONTH

HMM- I think I need to work on my perspective photography!

Ghee- Four Weeks already!

By some strange calendar twist, our boy was 4 wks old yesterday, but won't be "a month old" until Sunday. Not sure how that works, but here's what's happening.





1) First bath! I forget when this was, but sometime in the last week. He seemed mostly okay with it- just stared at me a lot...









2) First coo! - the GHEE in the title (rhymes with we). It happened yesterday morning (wait, 2 mornings ago) after Jim burped him, like Kaden was satisfied. It was so cute- the first "eee" sound he's made, and the first obviously related to his feeling/behavior.





3) Uncle Tom & cousin Emily came to visit from Pennsylvania! So far, Kaden's pooped on Emily's hand (but in his diaper), peed on Tom and farted/burped through most of their first 24 hours with us. Great first impressions, eh?













4) I'm having fun singing silly Spanish songs to the little guy. One of my favorite nicknames for him is "Sapito lindo" or little handsome frog. It seems to fit, no?

Will write more Sunday or Monday :)

Update- Dr Appts

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but last week at Kaden's dr appt, he weighed 6lb 12 oz. The doc says he ought to be at his birthweight (2 oz shy), and he's not concerned yet, but we need to come back and check his weight again. He asks if he's eating okay, and our answer is 'sorta'- we were still doing syringe feeding and nursing battles, but he ate just fine when he wasn't sleeping. Wake him up, the doc says. It seemed a little crazy to me, I mean- who wakes a sleeping baby? Especially if you have to wake yourself first? But I'm a new mom, and don't want my little one labeled as a "failure to thrive" baby. Anyway, the La Leche folks had said I ought to be attempting to breastfeed (and then pump if needed) every 2 hours. We can do this, right?

That was last Tuesday (july something). Thursday, the one-time-use-only syringes from the hospital gave out... and Kaden apparently hit a growth spurt, as he wanted to eat *every 90 minutes*. Seriously eat, like 2 ounces- maybe even 3 - or nurse a good 10 minutes. So when we went back to the doc a few days ago, I was mostly confident he would be okay and was wondering if he'd be over 7lbs yet. The nurse weighs him... and he's 7lbs 13 oz.

Yeah, folks- our boy gained a POUND in ONE WEEK. My first thought was "Hey! I'm not waking this kid up to eat anymore!" Twenty minutes later in the car I got all weepy because I realized Kaden was now bigger than he was when he was in utero. Not that I was planning to put him back in there or anything- it just seemed like a huge milestone. Aren't postpartem hormones great?

Quick aside into life RIGHT now- Kaden just peed all over Jim! Through the diaper. Which could be the subject of a whole 'nother post (and a long one) - the diaper thing. We're on disposable for right now (I'm a bit too overwhelmed to try cloth yet... but would like to get there in another month or so). Why do the newborn Huggies fit so much better than the Pampers? Especially when everyone recommended Pampers? A friend gave us a huge amount of these cool non-bleach ones- they fit him really well and usually don't leak. (Not sure what happened a few minutes ago.)

Other doc news- Jim's knee doesn't need surgery, just therapy, which he's started this week. He also started a gym membership (a joint family bday gift) and is doing well for a sleep deprived new dad. I had my 2 wk post-C check up and was cleared to drive, though I'm not supposed to go grocery shopping, vacuum or other cleaning... or lift anything heavier than baby. I can live with that- mostly. The question is- can the rest of the family??

I've rambled enough for now and will try to get back on later this weekend. I've got some funny birthing moments to share later...