Baby Included

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Saturday, May 31, 2008

All Smiles

Did you know that a newborn baby only starts to smile between one and two months of age? Our baby only smiles in his sleep. (Which one source says is a sign of gassiness.) Anytime I thought he smiled at me was because he was falling asleep while smiling. Momma's claimed to see him smile, and so has Grandma. I personally, have not seen a full-fledged, conscious smile from my boy yet. Any attempt from me to make him smile makes him look at me like he wants to fight me. My friend explained it as "Maybe you're just not funny."

"I don't get it."

This morning, like every morning, when I hoist Baby out from his crib to change his diaper, I speak to him in a high-pitched voice and run my fingers along the folds of his neck, to have him stare past me or at the ceiling. This morning though, Baby looked me in the eye and gave me the slightest little smile. I poke him a couple of times to make sure he's awake, and sure enough, an even bigger smile now. My Baby smiled at daddy today!

Momma claimed he smiled at her the day after Mother's Day. Today, I get a smile the day after my birthday. So even though he's a little late, at least he acknowledges the important days. Thanks, Baby!

"Oh, now I get it! Oh, stop it, Daddy! You're so funny!"

If you need to buy your smiles like I try to, here's $5 off $25 worth of smiles at Babies R Us (expires June 8th).

Life of the Party

We had a traditional 1 month dinner party for the li'l guy this past Sunday, albeit a little late - he actually hit 7 weeks that day. The entire party was attended by over a hundred guests, and there was plenty of conversing over the banging of plates and dishes. Baby slept through every minute of it. Most of the comments we got were "He's such a good baby," while the more experienced parents wished us luck getting sleep when we got home and he woke up.

Well, he did sleep through the entire dinner and through the car ride home. I was thinking that he probably didn't even realize he left the house for the whole day, since he slept for the entire ride there. He finally woke up when I pulled him out of the car seat to get him ready for bed, after changing his diaper which was probably half his weight in liquid. Luckily, he did sleep that night, but we didn't have so much luck the day after. And the two nights after that. This was basically all he was doing from about 6 PM till 11 PM:
Not sure what was setting him off, but if I get like this after a party, it's usually because of a hangover.

We've read that a baby's 6th week is the roughest week, and these sleepless evenings were pretty close to the sixth week. He might be going through a growth spurt, since he won't fit his newborn clothes anymore. And both mine and Momma's wrists are getting sore from holding his 10 pound plus diapered butt. As long as we can get him sleeping for at least a few hours at a time, it's probably worth the pain for the moment. He was back on "schedule" by Wednesday night.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Mom's Best Friend

Baby's got some erratic sleeping habits as of late. On Thursday, he apparently slept for no more than a combined hour while the sun was still up. On Friday, he slept for three hours straight, after a quick snack break from another nap. Right now, (3 AM, Saturday morning), he won't stay asleep for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Babies at this stage need to be held to maintain their sense of security outside the womb, and to build the trust he has for you as a responsible caretaker. (As if seeing him with no diapers on every few hours doesn't build enough trust.) The majority of time, that means picking him up when he cries, and holding him until he goes to sleep. Basically, this means that when he's awake, he's usually being held. That means tired arms for Momma.

Along comes one of the greatest inventions for moms: the baby swing. Another battery chugging device, this kinetic marvel will hold the baby for you, and simulate the same rocking motion the baby felt when he was in the womb, without the morning sickness! Guaranteed to soothe the most caffeinated of babies!

Actually, it's kind of a rough, borderline nauseating kind of rocking, like he may fly out if his seat belt isn't on. And that's only level 1. At Level 7, I can put some fruit and ice in there to make smoothies. But it does support up to 25 pounds, so that's like not having to carry a sack of rice around until it falls asleep. And although he's still not smiling in there, at least he isn't crying.

"I am excited."

If you'd like one of these soothing marvels for yourself, here's $5 off $25 at Babies R Us, through 5/26 (also valid online). I would suggest buying one of these at retail and holding on to that receipt, just in case your kid sees this as less of a swing and more of an amusement park ride, and before it looks like a blender was turned on in your living room with the cap off.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Home Alone

Saturday was my first day home alone with Baby. I've been doing some furniture re-arranging, so the living room was quite the mess in the morning. Momma stepped out for about three hours to the laundromat, and Daddy was to stay home with Baby and clean house.

Three hours later when Momma comes home, the living room is untouched, with the addition of various baby bottles and burp cloths thrown into the fray. Daddy is passed out on the bed with baby napping next to him.

After making sure that both Baby and Daddy are both clean and well-fed, Momma gets a well-deserved trip out of the house, and attends the Birthday Party of our good friends in the 'hood.

Being home alone with the newborn, even for a few hours, wasn't as easy as I thought. Momma gets extra credit for being able to do this for about ten hours every weekday on her own. If you ever find yourself in need of an extra hand, there are quite a few places out there that could help out.

(Please note that I am not actually promoting or supporting the use of these services. I do highly encourage staying away from personal listings on message boards, etc. and use pre-screened applicants from sites like these.)

"Wait, how did you know my dad dressed me this morning?"

Road Trip

I've been a bit busy and haven't had time to post, so this one's about a week late - Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Baby completed his first road trip on Mother's Day, a one hour drive to my sister's place in New Jersey. His first long-term car ride was uneventful, since he falls asleep so hard once the car starts moving, I could probably drive to Disney World before he would wake up.

Here he is, unconscious and spilling out of his car seat:
That's a pretty snug car seat. Give him another week and we'll probably need a spatula to pry him outta there.

As a nice Mother's Day bonus, baby gave Mommy a big morning smile the day after. Daddy missed it, but I guess I can wait till Father's Day for another one of those. (Babies begin smiling more frequently between 1-2 months of age.)

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Happy One Month

Well, we've reached the next chapter in the baby books, which means our lil' one is now officially one month old! In one month, our boy has developed the ability to sleep for more than half the day, keep us up for more than half the night, projectile spit-up, projectile poop, outgrow his diaper, lose his umbilical cord, and pick up his head.

Now that you've hit one month, baby, is there anyone you want to thank?

"I want to thank all my aunts and uncles for all their help in getting me ready for this world, my grandma for her visits and all the food she makes, and most of all, my mommy for her countless hours of dedication, unwavering supply of milk, and neck support."

Is there anything special you want in celebration of your one month?

"Good question. I've been thinking about some more milk, and a nap in the near future. And maybe a neck would be nice."

Thanks for your time, baby! Happy one month, and many more to come!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Diaper Change

One of the biggest problems about modern parenting I've found is encountering that one hurdle that no baby book or amount of research could prepare you for, because either no one has experienced it (making you feel like an incompetent parent) or it's something too embarrassing to document (like having your baby pee on their own face).

What's been plaguing us the past week is our baby's mutant ability to pee into the rear of his diaper, wetting the small of his back in every outfit he wears. Structural analysis of the diaper disproves my theory on urine deflecting off of the super-absorbent front panel, and running down the rolls of fat in his thighs to pool at the small of his back. Numerous methods of pee absorption, from tissues in his diaper to hiking his diaper up to his chest, all proved unsuccessful. Our final attempt at solving this enigma was to move him to the next size diaper, which was for newborns exceeding 10 pounds. Either this monster gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks, or this baby got enough backto fill out a ginormous size "1." Not only did the larger diaper keep his clothes dry, but it also hid his unsightly muffin top. The diaper still seems a bit large, but the 80's look is retro and trendy now, isn't it?
If your baby is developing an unsightly muffin top too, consider a few bucks off of Pampers at your local Target store, here. (Expires May 31st, 2008.)