January 2007 Archives

On the way back to work this afternoon:

A Honda with a Yankees license plate holder and a Yankees sticker in the rear windshield. The driver was wearing...a Mets hat.

Is it me, or is that like being a bigamist with horrendously ugly wives?

Hi Bean!

Daddy again. I've ditched the mask and you've ditched the umbilical stump - now we look more like this:

You're exactly one month old today. It's hard to believe it's already been a month, I have to say. It feels like maybe a couple of weeks or so - when you're up at all hours of the night, the days tend to run together a bit. We're all sleeping a little bit better these days, though it was rough going early on. You lost a bit more weight than is typical after you were born, so we had to wake you up every 3 hours (maximum) to feed you. Not really fun for you or for us, though you didn't seem to mind much. Then again, you were getting some good warm Mommy time, something I envy.

Then you skyrocketed past the 9-pound mark, and now we just let you sleep and wake up whenever you want. You did give us a hell of a scare the first time you really slept - we put you down at 12:30 and you were still asleep at 6 when Mommy got up to go to the bathroom. Don't get us wrong, we certainly encourage that type of behavior. Now we just need to condition you to be a bit more consistent about it! Really, it's for your own good. Yeah. Nothing to do with letting your mother and me sleep. Seriously...

One little quirk of yours we've noticed is that you're not much of a fan of the pacifier. You tend only to really go for fleshy things in your mouth, regardless of their milk production or lack of same. Since I lack the natural anatomy to pacify, my pinky finger is all I can really offer, though it seems to do the trick.

Perhaps the best thing about this first month of your life was that I was home for the first two weeks of it. I may have complained about some of the minor annoyances of work in the past, but two weeks of free time to get to know my firstborn is really more than I possibly could have hoped for. And you got in some serious Daddy time - Mommy would feed you, then I'd burp you and hold you. I do diapers, I do late-night comforting. It's really a two-person job (though three or four might be even better) and I take pride in my ability to distract you from whatever's upsetting you. Whether it's the Australian mobile above your bed, or the light switch next to the changing table, or the Bengali doll that one of the girls gave us, you're certainly latching onto things visually and recognizing them. Last night I caught you waving your hands in front of your face and I was completely transfixed - I just watched you lying there for five minutes, amusing yourself with them. Each day brings a new discovery, as much for you as for all of us.

One major discovery that you'll have to wait to make is the wonder that is Christmas. You did arrive just in time for the holidays, but you managed to sleep your way through all of the excitement. That bib you're wearing is from your aunt and uncle in New York, and that fancy present on the right is from your Gram. I hope you don't mind that we opened everything for you - you kinda conked out in your seat. The best present you got was a cute little sweater that your great-grandmother knitted for ME thirty-one years ago. It's an adorable little thing that we'll have to put on you before you outgrow it!

A few days after Christmas you got to meet your cousins from Pennsylvania. Again, you were oblivious to most of the excitement, but your cousin Gabby ran right to the crib to say hi, and even held you later on. Auntie Col says that even after they got back home, Gabby was babbling excitedly about the new baby she got to see, and needs another fix soon!

So here we are in 2007 now. The news is good about you having some new playmates here in town - one of Mom's co-workers had twins three weeks after you were born, and another co-worker is having a son in June! So many new people to meet and drool on... You've been meeting a ton of people, too. For the most part, you've been great with them, though occasionally you'll fidget until Mommy or I pick you up. It's actually somewhat flattering to think that you recognize us already; we must be doing something right.

Of course, you do have other ways of expressing your opinion. Sorry we're always popping flashbulbs in your face. It's just that you're that worth taking pictures of...

Love,
Daddy

"Whoa, it's 7:15...when was her last feeding?"
"Around 12:30."
"She slept almost seven hours without eating?!"
"Yup!"
"It's like...she got the opposite of Red Bull."
"You mean...warm milk?"

Hope everyone had a pleasant New Year's Eve. As Mrs. Dave noted, ours was uneventful, but in a good way - the bottle of sparkling cider is still sitting unopened in our fridge after the Bean decided to sleep from 10:30-2:00. It wasn't until 2:30 that I even realized it was 2007...such is the all-consuming mindset that is being a parent, I suppose. Although as hard as it is to believe, part of our thoughts are with friends of ours who celebrated the New Year with much more excitement than us - they had twins! One was born at 11:58pm, the other just past midnight, meaning they were born in different years. They were also two months premature, so even though initial reports are that they're doing well, there's a long way to go until they're out of the woods. Here's hoping that they continue growing healthily and are running around with our little Bean before too long.

Christmas was an extended affair; my family came down on Christmas Day to celebrate while the in-laws visited on the 28th through the 30th. There are, of course, plenty of photos (near the end of the set). We got some very sweet gifts for the Bean, including a tiny little 31-year-old sweater that my grandmother knitted for her first grandson. It was in a stack of presents that also included her very own hand-knit stocking, based on a pattern used by a friend of my grandmother, also approximately 31 years old. I'm not usually one to get emotional, but I must say that I teared up a little when I opened it. Very meaningful to me...thanks, Mom.

It was a very historic Christmas all around, including our first in Massachusetts - we had always either gone to my mother's parents' on Long Island (my father is Jewish, so no conflict there) or spent it in Maine (with my family) or New Jersey (with the in-laws). I got several other nice gifts from my brothers and parents, and even managed to kindasorta give myself a present - my gift to one brother and my father were Boston Bruins tickets, an outing for the three of us - but the ones that meant the most were the ones given to our daughter. Further confirmation that this whole wonderful thing is really happening to us...it's a very powerful feeling, really. The Beaner managed to sleep through the whole thing, but once she woke up, I did manage to get her to pose with one of our favorites:

Quite apropos given that I typed half of this entry with one hand - she's in my other...