This seems to be the viral video of the week. Cuteness, indeed.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
6.11.2012
Two weeks and counting
So I returned to my office today after a wonderful and refreshing paternity leave, during which we spent some well-deserved and needed time as a family.
I didn’t have an overwhelming amount of work to catch up on because I stayed on top of emails throughout my leave and managed to work on some projects when there was down time at home. Still, my first day back in the office seemed longer than I had anticipated, and when I arrived home tonight, I could hardly wait to get out of my work attire. I’ve been so accustomed to T-shirts and shorts these last couple weeks that my slacks and button-down shirt felt terribly uncomfortable today.
After all, last week was filled with mornings of sleeping past 8 and waking to Phoebe crawling onto our bed to settle between Kates and I, not to mention a couple instances where Pheebs even woke up to join us for Faye’s 3 a.m. feedings. We’d let her lay in bed with us for awhile, before taking her back to her bed.
We spent lazy days playing games, reading, watching movies and, of course, taking turns holding Faye. During the late night hours, Kates and I found ourselves watching “Friends” marathons on Nick at Night, in addition to making some good progress on our mission to get current on “Mad Men.”
Thursday we took Faye for her first trip to the university campus to introduce her to some of my colleagues there. Our friend Gina presented Phoebe with a handful of balloons, which we opted to store in my office for the time-being. After all, we were on our way out of town for a shopping spree to St. Joe. ... Of course, we forgot about the balloons. And at 12:30 a.m. that night, long after we'd put her to bed, Phoebe came from her room nearly in tears and saying, “Daddy, we forgot my balloons in your office.”
Saturday night, Phoebe and I took a stroll around campus.
Faye is doing well, although I feel like we’re still trying to get to know her.
With Phoebe, we were couped up in the hospital for nearly a week after she was born, which meant we spent every minute with her. And by not being home, we didn’t have a steady flow of visitors occupying our house and diverting our attention. Also Phoebe, as we often say, was born alert and seemingly aware of her surroundings. Her personality was there the moment she arrived.
With Faye it’s been a little different. Thus far, she seems pretty laid back and content with the world. She sleeps more consistently than I remember Phoebe sleeping at this stage; Phoebe’s sleep during her first week was hindered by the stress of still being in the hospital, I think. When Faye does open her eyes, she just gazes around the room, looking totally content and comfortable.
Those eyes also have caused us a little concern because they’ve been severely bloodshot since she was born. She’s got these deep red rings around her irises that aren’t showing any signs of disappearing. But the doctor tells us it will go away.
Her eyelashes aren’t very pronounced. Phoebe’s were the opposite and were one of the first things people noticed in her facial features.
We’re still trying to get her back to her birth weight. At her latest checkup, she was 6 pounds 10 ounces. So we’re making progress.
Her voice, for an infant, is starting to become more pronounced. For the first week or so, nearly every noise to come from her was a high pitched squeak or squeal. Which had us calling her Squeaky or Squeakers. Only in recent days are we getting some good cries from her.
Her lips are almost always pursed; Phoebe was always sticking out her tongue.
Her smiles are a rarity, so far. Kates says she’s seen a couple, but I’m still waiting. Phoebe gave us several memorable smiles during her first couple weeks, with this one being my favorite.
When Faye’s pacifier is in her mouth, she smacks it like Maggie Simpson. Loudly.
She also seems to enjoy sleeping on her side. Unlike Phoebe, we’ll have no worries about flat head with Faye.
Just like Phoebe as a baby, Faye’s milk comas and the way she stretches after being raised from a good nap are both funny and adorable. When she stretches, she arches her back, strains her neck and pumps a fist in the air -- which then prompts me to sing, “Power to the people …” Every time.
Phoebe remains proud of her big sister role. When Faye cries, Phoebe is quick to tell us “Faye’s ready to eat again.” Phoebe also has helped on a couple diaper changes.
Still, we’ve had to deal with a few battles for attention.
And last evening we had our first freakout moment among the siblings. …
I was at our work table, on my laptop in our family room. Faye was laying asleep on a blanket on the floor. And Phoebe was bounding around the room, playing with her toys and dancing to some music I was playing.
Phoebe was walking near Faye, and all of a sudden Faye let out a shriek.
Phoebe jumped away and looked at Faye with a startled look. Fearing the worst, I shouted “Phoebe!” and ran toward Faye to scoop her up. Hearing the commotion upstairs, Kates rushed downstairs, shouting at Phoebe, with scared tears filling her eyes, “What happened!? What did you do!?”
It all happened so fast. Whatever happened, we were scared stiff that Phoebe had stepped on Faye and, worse, caused a severe injury.
Phoebe didn’t know what she had done and was just as scared and sorry as Kates and I. She sobbed uncontrollably as we tried to recount, for everyone’s sake, what exactly happened while looking for any signs that Faye might be hurt.
“Phoebe, where did you step?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her tummy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her arm?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her leg?”
“I don’t know.”
As of tonight, we don’t know exactly what happened and probably never will. We’ve kept a close eye on Faye for any signs of something awry, but everything appears to be normal.
Whatever happened, it made for one dramatic evening at our house.
Surely, it won’t be the last time we feel such emotions. The trials of raising kids.
I didn’t have an overwhelming amount of work to catch up on because I stayed on top of emails throughout my leave and managed to work on some projects when there was down time at home. Still, my first day back in the office seemed longer than I had anticipated, and when I arrived home tonight, I could hardly wait to get out of my work attire. I’ve been so accustomed to T-shirts and shorts these last couple weeks that my slacks and button-down shirt felt terribly uncomfortable today.
After all, last week was filled with mornings of sleeping past 8 and waking to Phoebe crawling onto our bed to settle between Kates and I, not to mention a couple instances where Pheebs even woke up to join us for Faye’s 3 a.m. feedings. We’d let her lay in bed with us for awhile, before taking her back to her bed.
We spent lazy days playing games, reading, watching movies and, of course, taking turns holding Faye. During the late night hours, Kates and I found ourselves watching “Friends” marathons on Nick at Night, in addition to making some good progress on our mission to get current on “Mad Men.”
Thursday we took Faye for her first trip to the university campus to introduce her to some of my colleagues there. Our friend Gina presented Phoebe with a handful of balloons, which we opted to store in my office for the time-being. After all, we were on our way out of town for a shopping spree to St. Joe. ... Of course, we forgot about the balloons. And at 12:30 a.m. that night, long after we'd put her to bed, Phoebe came from her room nearly in tears and saying, “Daddy, we forgot my balloons in your office.”
Saturday night, Phoebe and I took a stroll around campus.
* * *
Faye is doing well, although I feel like we’re still trying to get to know her.
With Phoebe, we were couped up in the hospital for nearly a week after she was born, which meant we spent every minute with her. And by not being home, we didn’t have a steady flow of visitors occupying our house and diverting our attention. Also Phoebe, as we often say, was born alert and seemingly aware of her surroundings. Her personality was there the moment she arrived.
With Faye it’s been a little different. Thus far, she seems pretty laid back and content with the world. She sleeps more consistently than I remember Phoebe sleeping at this stage; Phoebe’s sleep during her first week was hindered by the stress of still being in the hospital, I think. When Faye does open her eyes, she just gazes around the room, looking totally content and comfortable.
Those eyes also have caused us a little concern because they’ve been severely bloodshot since she was born. She’s got these deep red rings around her irises that aren’t showing any signs of disappearing. But the doctor tells us it will go away.
Her eyelashes aren’t very pronounced. Phoebe’s were the opposite and were one of the first things people noticed in her facial features.
We’re still trying to get her back to her birth weight. At her latest checkup, she was 6 pounds 10 ounces. So we’re making progress.
Her voice, for an infant, is starting to become more pronounced. For the first week or so, nearly every noise to come from her was a high pitched squeak or squeal. Which had us calling her Squeaky or Squeakers. Only in recent days are we getting some good cries from her.
Her lips are almost always pursed; Phoebe was always sticking out her tongue.
Her smiles are a rarity, so far. Kates says she’s seen a couple, but I’m still waiting. Phoebe gave us several memorable smiles during her first couple weeks, with this one being my favorite.
When Faye’s pacifier is in her mouth, she smacks it like Maggie Simpson. Loudly.
She also seems to enjoy sleeping on her side. Unlike Phoebe, we’ll have no worries about flat head with Faye.
Just like Phoebe as a baby, Faye’s milk comas and the way she stretches after being raised from a good nap are both funny and adorable. When she stretches, she arches her back, strains her neck and pumps a fist in the air -- which then prompts me to sing, “Power to the people …” Every time.
* * *
Phoebe remains proud of her big sister role. When Faye cries, Phoebe is quick to tell us “Faye’s ready to eat again.” Phoebe also has helped on a couple diaper changes.
Still, we’ve had to deal with a few battles for attention.
And last evening we had our first freakout moment among the siblings. …
I was at our work table, on my laptop in our family room. Faye was laying asleep on a blanket on the floor. And Phoebe was bounding around the room, playing with her toys and dancing to some music I was playing.
Phoebe was walking near Faye, and all of a sudden Faye let out a shriek.
Phoebe jumped away and looked at Faye with a startled look. Fearing the worst, I shouted “Phoebe!” and ran toward Faye to scoop her up. Hearing the commotion upstairs, Kates rushed downstairs, shouting at Phoebe, with scared tears filling her eyes, “What happened!? What did you do!?”
It all happened so fast. Whatever happened, we were scared stiff that Phoebe had stepped on Faye and, worse, caused a severe injury.
Phoebe didn’t know what she had done and was just as scared and sorry as Kates and I. She sobbed uncontrollably as we tried to recount, for everyone’s sake, what exactly happened while looking for any signs that Faye might be hurt.
“Phoebe, where did you step?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her tummy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her arm?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you step on her leg?”
“I don’t know.”
As of tonight, we don’t know exactly what happened and probably never will. We’ve kept a close eye on Faye for any signs of something awry, but everything appears to be normal.
Whatever happened, it made for one dramatic evening at our house.
Surely, it won’t be the last time we feel such emotions. The trials of raising kids.
11.29.2007
Sleep deprivation
So awhile ago Kates and I picked up something about how you’re supposed to avoid sleeping on your back during pregnancy. Because it compromised the baby or something …
And I’ve been paranoid about it ever since.
Each night as we’ve settled in to bed, she lays on her side and I wrap my arms around her, so as to hold her in place and keep her from rolling onto her back.
Well, last night Kates went to bed by herself, while I stayed up late to get some work done … and when I came to bed, there Kates was, lying flat on her back.
I got into bed, rolled up next to her … and proceeded to try moving her on to her side. I tried poking her. I tried nudging her. I tried pushing her legs. Anything I could do to get her to roll over …
So then I couldn’t sleep. Great! I put our baby in jeopardy because I didn’t come to bed earlier, I thought. I tossed and turned for a solid 20 minutes before giving into the notion that Kates wasn’t budging … and I had just wrecked our baby.
Then, all of a sudden, she rolled on to her side! Like a cat, I flipped over and wrapped my arm around her to hold her on her side.
… Only to wake up in the middle of the night and find her on her back again … Dang it! I sighed. I started blaming myself for not holding on to her tightly enough and allowing her to fall on to her back again.
Ah, but tonight, I can rest a little easier. We did some research and it turns out Kates can sleep in whatever position she wants …
And I’ve been paranoid about it ever since.
Each night as we’ve settled in to bed, she lays on her side and I wrap my arms around her, so as to hold her in place and keep her from rolling onto her back.
Well, last night Kates went to bed by herself, while I stayed up late to get some work done … and when I came to bed, there Kates was, lying flat on her back.
I got into bed, rolled up next to her … and proceeded to try moving her on to her side. I tried poking her. I tried nudging her. I tried pushing her legs. Anything I could do to get her to roll over …
So then I couldn’t sleep. Great! I put our baby in jeopardy because I didn’t come to bed earlier, I thought. I tossed and turned for a solid 20 minutes before giving into the notion that Kates wasn’t budging … and I had just wrecked our baby.
Then, all of a sudden, she rolled on to her side! Like a cat, I flipped over and wrapped my arm around her to hold her on her side.
… Only to wake up in the middle of the night and find her on her back again … Dang it! I sighed. I started blaming myself for not holding on to her tightly enough and allowing her to fall on to her back again.
Ah, but tonight, I can rest a little easier. We did some research and it turns out Kates can sleep in whatever position she wants …
11.20.2007
The names game
So, like I said, Kates and I pretty much have our minds made up on the name of our (possible) future daughter ...
The discussions are continuing, however, on the name of our (possible) future son ... Though Kates is inching closer to agreeing on my first choice ...
And remember, we don't want to know the sex of the baby until he/she is born ... but since the ultrasound a couple weeks ago, Kates has been thinking we're going to have a girl ...
Meanwhile, my gut's telling me we're going to have a boy -- especially since I dreamt the other night that we had a son ...
And this morning Kates e-mailed me with this:
[Insert my choice for a boy's name] was just mentioned on the intercom. How weird! :)
I replied to her message with this:
Maybe it's a sign! Mwa ha ha ha!
11.09.2007
Yeah, baby!
There’s no use holding back any longer …
Kates and I are having a baby!
If you don’t want to read further, that’s fine. The answers are yes, it was planned. No, we’re not finding out the sex. And Kates -- other than a little bit of nausea in the beginning, wanting to tear apart her face because the acne is so bad and, well, looking pregnant -- is doing just fine.
As of this post, the pregnancy is at exactly 17 weeks, 5 days. April 10 has been circled on the calendar as the due date. And a piece of paper has been affixed to our kitchen table with the headline “names.” So far, the number of girls names is about three times as large as the list of boys names -- which is too bad because it appears Kates and I are almost sure of our girl’s name. A boy’s name is still being debated …
And tonight we‘ve come home with our first baby pictures …
But let’s start at the beginning.
We’d been talking about starting a family for awhile -- but it only made sense to wait until after Kates finished her masters degree in December. I hate to say we set such a definitive timeline, but it’s kind of the truth. For a couple years now, whether the subject came up during discussions about our jobs, finances, house projects or whatever, summer 2008 we figured was going to be our time …no matter how many family members and friends poked and prodded and pretty much begged us to have children almost immediately after we completed our walk down the aisle …
There were times, too, that we doubted whether it might never happen for us …
But it has happened. On the morning of the first Sunday in August Kates called me to the bathroom. I’m not sure if it was the sound of her voice, but there was something that told me this could be it. In the bathroom, there Kates sat, holding a pregnancy test. (Interestingly we had been at a gathering the night before where an acquaintance had learned she was pregnant; we had had a ton of fun that night talking about name possibilities and all the things that come with being pregnant … )
“Look,” Kates says as I met her in the bathroom.
It was positive. Dumbfounded, I asked, “What does that mean?”
“I’m pregnant,” she said with a huge smile on her face.
I was speechless. I wasn’t sure what to say, how to react, what to feel. I began laughing.
As usual, we went to church later that morning, but giddy as heaven can be. And yet we couldn’t say a word to anyone …
The next day, I went off to work, while Kates went to school to meet a friend who is partnering with her for their masters work. But we were prepared to drop everything if we needed because Priority No. 1 that day, we thought, was getting a doctor’s appointment to confirm the pregnancy … Or not. When Kates called her doctor’s office and said she might be pregnant, the nurse told her the doctor didn’t want anything to do with her until she reached the 10-week mark -- not in those words of course, but pretty much in those terms. This is all new to us, you’ll have to understand …
We had our first appointment with the doc during the second week of September, but even that offered nothing to feed our excitement. A nurse examined Kates and asked us several questions while she filled out paperwork. Then the doc came into the room to ask more questions and answer any questions we had. Still, almost everything they told us we’d figured out or learned on our own with a little research. They gave the baby’s due date as April 10, and we already had it pegged as April 9. So what’s one day …
So, with that first appointment out of the way, Kates and I agreed we could finally start letting our immediate family and closest friends in on the secret. We met Kates’ parents on a Friday night for dinner (As we arrived at the house, her father was just arriving himself, with a bouquet of flowers in tow. He already had us figured out … ), and we headed to my folks the next day (When I called them earlier that week to suggest we make the 90-minute trek to visit them, my mother actually tried to talk me out of it, saying “What’s going on!? Why do you guys need to come here?”) Needless to say, all of them were elated when we broke the news …
The first part of October brought another doctor’s appointment, and more to stifle our excitement. There were a couple more tests. The nurse tried to find a heartbeat but couldn’t do it. And then we had to see a different doctor because Kates’ usual doctor was off for the day. Even then, he didn’t give us a chance to ask any new questions we had …
After that second appointment, with Kates entering her second trimester, we let our extended family, co-workers, church family and more friends in on the news …
Finally, this week it’s started to sink in. It’s been a week filled with realizations that hey! this is really happening! and relief that everyone is healthy … I’m feeling like no matter how I write it here, no words can accurately describe the anxiety, the glee or the euphoria we’re feeling these days …
Kates’ belly is growing and our Wednesday appointment finally brought a chance to hear the baby’s heartbeat. It was healthy and strong. … And on Friday we were back at the hospital again, this time for our first ultrasound. By all accounts the baby is doing very well, it’s got two hands and two feet, each with a complete set of fingers and toes. We got our first look at its face, its tiny bones and some of its organs …
Simply, amazing.
Now we’re home. We’re watching “Bend It Like Beckham.” We’ve never seen it. I’m not liking it. Awful soundtrack. Not nearly as exciting as what we were doing a couple hours ago …
Kates and I are having a baby!
If you don’t want to read further, that’s fine. The answers are yes, it was planned. No, we’re not finding out the sex. And Kates -- other than a little bit of nausea in the beginning, wanting to tear apart her face because the acne is so bad and, well, looking pregnant -- is doing just fine.
As of this post, the pregnancy is at exactly 17 weeks, 5 days. April 10 has been circled on the calendar as the due date. And a piece of paper has been affixed to our kitchen table with the headline “names.” So far, the number of girls names is about three times as large as the list of boys names -- which is too bad because it appears Kates and I are almost sure of our girl’s name. A boy’s name is still being debated …
And tonight we‘ve come home with our first baby pictures …
But let’s start at the beginning.
We’d been talking about starting a family for awhile -- but it only made sense to wait until after Kates finished her masters degree in December. I hate to say we set such a definitive timeline, but it’s kind of the truth. For a couple years now, whether the subject came up during discussions about our jobs, finances, house projects or whatever, summer 2008 we figured was going to be our time …no matter how many family members and friends poked and prodded and pretty much begged us to have children almost immediately after we completed our walk down the aisle …
There were times, too, that we doubted whether it might never happen for us …
But it has happened. On the morning of the first Sunday in August Kates called me to the bathroom. I’m not sure if it was the sound of her voice, but there was something that told me this could be it. In the bathroom, there Kates sat, holding a pregnancy test. (Interestingly we had been at a gathering the night before where an acquaintance had learned she was pregnant; we had had a ton of fun that night talking about name possibilities and all the things that come with being pregnant … )
“Look,” Kates says as I met her in the bathroom.
It was positive. Dumbfounded, I asked, “What does that mean?”
“I’m pregnant,” she said with a huge smile on her face.
I was speechless. I wasn’t sure what to say, how to react, what to feel. I began laughing.
As usual, we went to church later that morning, but giddy as heaven can be. And yet we couldn’t say a word to anyone …
The next day, I went off to work, while Kates went to school to meet a friend who is partnering with her for their masters work. But we were prepared to drop everything if we needed because Priority No. 1 that day, we thought, was getting a doctor’s appointment to confirm the pregnancy … Or not. When Kates called her doctor’s office and said she might be pregnant, the nurse told her the doctor didn’t want anything to do with her until she reached the 10-week mark -- not in those words of course, but pretty much in those terms. This is all new to us, you’ll have to understand …
We had our first appointment with the doc during the second week of September, but even that offered nothing to feed our excitement. A nurse examined Kates and asked us several questions while she filled out paperwork. Then the doc came into the room to ask more questions and answer any questions we had. Still, almost everything they told us we’d figured out or learned on our own with a little research. They gave the baby’s due date as April 10, and we already had it pegged as April 9. So what’s one day …
So, with that first appointment out of the way, Kates and I agreed we could finally start letting our immediate family and closest friends in on the secret. We met Kates’ parents on a Friday night for dinner (As we arrived at the house, her father was just arriving himself, with a bouquet of flowers in tow. He already had us figured out … ), and we headed to my folks the next day (When I called them earlier that week to suggest we make the 90-minute trek to visit them, my mother actually tried to talk me out of it, saying “What’s going on!? Why do you guys need to come here?”) Needless to say, all of them were elated when we broke the news …
The first part of October brought another doctor’s appointment, and more to stifle our excitement. There were a couple more tests. The nurse tried to find a heartbeat but couldn’t do it. And then we had to see a different doctor because Kates’ usual doctor was off for the day. Even then, he didn’t give us a chance to ask any new questions we had …
After that second appointment, with Kates entering her second trimester, we let our extended family, co-workers, church family and more friends in on the news …
Finally, this week it’s started to sink in. It’s been a week filled with realizations that hey! this is really happening! and relief that everyone is healthy … I’m feeling like no matter how I write it here, no words can accurately describe the anxiety, the glee or the euphoria we’re feeling these days …
Kates’ belly is growing and our Wednesday appointment finally brought a chance to hear the baby’s heartbeat. It was healthy and strong. … And on Friday we were back at the hospital again, this time for our first ultrasound. By all accounts the baby is doing very well, it’s got two hands and two feet, each with a complete set of fingers and toes. We got our first look at its face, its tiny bones and some of its organs …
Simply, amazing.
Now we’re home. We’re watching “Bend It Like Beckham.” We’ve never seen it. I’m not liking it. Awful soundtrack. Not nearly as exciting as what we were doing a couple hours ago …
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