Growing Boy

Taking care of a baby is pretty easy. All this newborn does is sleep, wakes up for a diaper change and feeding, and falls back asleep while feeding. So don't believe anyone who says otherwise. After all, I have a whole week and a half of fathering experience, so who better to believe than me?

I would have believed that, until we hit Day 10. Now, this kid no longer wants to sleep. His eyes are wide open after a feeding, and I have no idea what to do with him. He can't watch TV with me, because he can't focus his eyes more than 6 inches in front of him. He can't play video games with me, because he isn't strong enough to hold a game controller. He can't wrestle with me, since he hasn't learned how to walk yet. And he's not old enough to drink with me. But it seems like he he wants to keep feeding... which is not normal.

Bringing him home from the hospital, he would drink two ounces of milk, every two to three hours. Since then, he's upped his intake to three ounces. Now, all of a sudden, we can't even keep track - he just wants more and more. And he won't sleep until he gets it.

A little bewildered, we deduce that this is beyond even my own endless well of baby wisdom. We start flipping through all the books, guides, and manuals we own. In my "The Baby Owner's Manual," I find the following snippet which I've never heard of before:

Growth Spurt Waking: Most models experience growth spurts (a sudden increase in body mass) at the ages of 10 days, 3 weeks, 6 months, 3 months, and 6 months.During these spurts, the baby may be restless at night,and his appetite may increase, especially during the night. These spurts, which can last up to 72 hours, are an essential part of the baby's growth, and there is little the user can do to change them. Feed the baby as necessary, then re-activate sleep mode.

Now that makes perfect sense. Keep eating kiddo, and we'll try wrestling again at 3 weeks.

AA Baby

Of all the baby advice I've heard, from books, medical professionals, family, and friends, not one person warned me of the fact that babies run on AA batteries. My boy's bouncer, his bath with mounted shower spray, his playpen with nightlight and music, his wireless video game controller (kidding), and his mobile:

Everything that makes him calmer via movement, light, or sound requires a AA battery. So along with the diapers and wipes, be sure to stock up on those little cells of electricity for your new bundle of energy. Try Batteries.com for good deals on battery bundles. And since everything of any sort of entertaining value for the modern baby will require those batteries, start saving with this $5 coupon at Toy 'R' Us, here (only valid for this Friday and Saturday).

Or start early and teach them how much fun some assorted sticks and rocks can be.

Laundry Day - Again

Marvel, at our European designed triple tiered drying rack, wrapped in rust proof epoxy coated steel, providing 13 square feet of efficient, air-circulating drying pace.

Behold, the same drying rack, three days after being home with a baby.

This baby has more accessories than my old G.I Joe toys. Bibs, booties, blankies, onesies, mittens, socks, burp cloths, layettes, sleepers, sheets... in addition to the adult towels and washcloths he uses. Plus the clothes that mommy and daddy wear that the little volcano will unexpectedly erupt on. I've learned to carry a burp cloth in a quick-draw hip holster for emergiencies.

"Who, me?"

Yes, you know very well that you spit up on that shirt and peed through your pants onto that blanket ten minutes after we changed you into your third outfit for the day.

Ironically, we haven't hit the laundromat yet to wash our own clothes. It's a good thing I'm not leaving the house for another week...

Hard Knock Life

As I lay him down to sleep, I notice he's kicking and furrowing the brow a little bit more than usual.
In less than a week, he was ejected from a womb, circumcised, got two shots, and thrown naked on a scale. Today, we visited the pediatrician, who pricked his foot and squeezed out a vial of baby blood for testing. I've never seen him cry harder than today. (Although I imagine he cried pretty hard during the circumcision.) As I'm typing this out, I'm hearing nervous little peeps coming from the crib. This kid has gone through some rough times at five days old. I felt bad for pregnant women before, but I feel nearly as bad for newborn babies now.

Smiley Face

We always wonder if babies dream, and if they do, what do they dream about? We haven't seen our li'l one smile yet while he's awake, but he will occasionally furrow his brow, or pull of one of these while sleeping:

At four days old, what dream is worth smiling for more than a clean diaper and all-you-can-drink milk?

Open Late

Three nights, ten diapers, and dozens of baby wipes later, baby is finally home from the hospital. Wifey and I are taking sleeping shifts, as we are learning together what to do and not to do, and quickly discover that we probably don't need to be taking sleeping shifts.

He's an expressive sleeper... grimacing, yawning, and occasionally smiling. He'll wave his arms about, and scratched his own face a couple of times (which led to a mani - actually, a babyicure at 2 AM.) And he does this pirate thing where he opens up one eye only to glare at you. Here he is after feeding time, at 2:30 AM:

I hope I'm doing that in an hour or two...

Baby Born

I can finally stop posting pics of other babies, since I now have one of my own. Welcome our new li'l boy, Lucas:

Born April 7th, 4:32 PM. Congratulations to my office pool winner, Dan B, who guessed his weight at 7 pounds 1 ounce. (And for the record, he's 20 and 1/4 inches.)

After a very long day witnessing a baby pop out of wifey, and changing said baby's first diaper, this dad is pooped (no pun intended). Will write more of the very sudden days leading up to his new birthday after some sleep...