Myles: Did you hear me fart?
Betsey: Yeah, Grace farted a half second before you. If you had let me know, we could have been a chorus.
Myles: We'd be like the von Trapp family!
Betsey: ... but classier?
2010-06-29
The Smell of Music
This morning, wondering if I needed to pardon myself:
2010-06-26
Watch, Rest, Repeat
June 8th, 9th, and 10th
One novel thing happened on Tuesday, that made it different from the following two days, we signed up for Netflix, since it now streams over the Wii. What a fabulous thing this is. There is so much TV available for streaming that we've been happily glued to the TV ever since. From renaissance porn, "The Tudors", to engrossing cartoon kungfu, "The Last Avatar", we're completely hooked.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all defined the same way. A rough intro into the wee hours of the morning, finally get some sleep, I stay home anywhere from a half day to a whole day, we watch a bunch of Netflix, and repeat. These few days were unusual for their lack of visitors (Aunt C did manage a visit) and for Grace's refusal to sleep. Grace did stay as cute as ever though.
One novel thing happened on Tuesday, that made it different from the following two days, we signed up for Netflix, since it now streams over the Wii. What a fabulous thing this is. There is so much TV available for streaming that we've been happily glued to the TV ever since. From renaissance porn, "The Tudors", to engrossing cartoon kungfu, "The Last Avatar", we're completely hooked.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all defined the same way. A rough intro into the wee hours of the morning, finally get some sleep, I stay home anywhere from a half day to a whole day, we watch a bunch of Netflix, and repeat. These few days were unusual for their lack of visitors (Aunt C did manage a visit) and for Grace's refusal to sleep. Grace did stay as cute as ever though.
We help by being helped
June 7th
Monday started out on the tired side, with me staying home for the first half of the day. I knew I wouldn't be able to make up the time because we had company coming over, but I went to work for the half day.
Work is a guilty pleasure at this point. I'm happy to not have to deal with the screaming Grace, but I feel awful that I've abandoned Betsey. The half days are a little less guilt inducing.
My friend from work's wife, Mrs. Thomas, was expecting a baby any day, so she was basically going stir crazy around the house. Her request at this time in her pregnancy was to make other people dinner. Being the obliging people that we are, we signed up. After getting home, I basically paced at the front door waiting for our gracious guests to arrive.
Mrs. Thomas made us some fantastic pan-fried chicken, spinach pesto pasta salad, and green salad. It was fantastic. It was a little odd to have someone thank us for allowing them to make us dinner, but we quickly adjusted. We kept reminding her that she was actually doing us a favor.
After dinner, the Thomases left, and we settled down for what would be a rough night.
Monday started out on the tired side, with me staying home for the first half of the day. I knew I wouldn't be able to make up the time because we had company coming over, but I went to work for the half day.
Work is a guilty pleasure at this point. I'm happy to not have to deal with the screaming Grace, but I feel awful that I've abandoned Betsey. The half days are a little less guilt inducing.
My friend from work's wife, Mrs. Thomas, was expecting a baby any day, so she was basically going stir crazy around the house. Her request at this time in her pregnancy was to make other people dinner. Being the obliging people that we are, we signed up. After getting home, I basically paced at the front door waiting for our gracious guests to arrive.
Mrs. Thomas made us some fantastic pan-fried chicken, spinach pesto pasta salad, and green salad. It was fantastic. It was a little odd to have someone thank us for allowing them to make us dinner, but we quickly adjusted. We kept reminding her that she was actually doing us a favor.
After dinner, the Thomases left, and we settled down for what would be a rough night.
2010-06-14
Grace meets people almost every day
June 6th
Sunday started with a losing indoor soccer game, but quickly improved. In fact, the soccer game is barely worth mentioning, but it's here in my text file where I keep notes about what we've done until I can find the time to write it down in detail here. Lest I start to look like some memory king who can write about the goings on of weeks ago with great clarity, I thought I'd reveal my tricks now. Ideally, as Grace gets to be a better sleeper, they won't be necessary.
Later in the day, Nick and Anne-Marie came to visit Grace, and I think they were interested in seeing us as well. We had a fine time catching up, and sharing stories about how one-another met. Nick had to catch a bus to Portland, which unfortunately cut the visit short. Happily, Nick will be moving to Corvallis soon, and then we'll see him all the time.
During the day, an unexpected invite to enjoy barbecued chicken with Nate and Brent came via email. Apparently there were more than a few leftovers from the Minicon the day before. Grace hadn't met Brent yet, so we eagerly signed up. As an added bonus, Brent has cats, and we've been looking for a way to expose Grace to cat allergens. We're going to try and setup weekly outings to Brent's to meet with Nate and finish the Babylon 5 series.
Sunday started with a losing indoor soccer game, but quickly improved. In fact, the soccer game is barely worth mentioning, but it's here in my text file where I keep notes about what we've done until I can find the time to write it down in detail here. Lest I start to look like some memory king who can write about the goings on of weeks ago with great clarity, I thought I'd reveal my tricks now. Ideally, as Grace gets to be a better sleeper, they won't be necessary.
Later in the day, Nick and Anne-Marie came to visit Grace, and I think they were interested in seeing us as well. We had a fine time catching up, and sharing stories about how one-another met. Nick had to catch a bus to Portland, which unfortunately cut the visit short. Happily, Nick will be moving to Corvallis soon, and then we'll see him all the time.
During the day, an unexpected invite to enjoy barbecued chicken with Nate and Brent came via email. Apparently there were more than a few leftovers from the Minicon the day before. Grace hadn't met Brent yet, so we eagerly signed up. As an added bonus, Brent has cats, and we've been looking for a way to expose Grace to cat allergens. We're going to try and setup weekly outings to Brent's to meet with Nate and finish the Babylon 5 series.
Friends and More Friends
June 5th
We woke up the next morning to go to Portland for a couple of parties. Normal preparation in the morning is something we're still getting down. We ended up leaving a couple of hours later than expected, but we pressed on.
Our first stop was our friend's, and old neighbor's, event dubbed "Minicon" in Beaverton. There were going to be so many of our friends there, we couldn't stay away. Grace had to meet Kevin, Lindsey, Jon, Nick, Rachelle, and Brian. Everyone loved her, of course.
After a couple hours with our friends, we headed to Portland proper for a family birthday party. Grace got to meet many more friends of the family at Aunt Lucy's. There were other adorable children, and a baby just two weeks older, but Grace still managed to grab her fair share of the attention.
As the night came to an end, we packed up the car for the ride home to Corvallis. Betsey's cousin Michael needed to be dropped off at home, and we were happy to get a few more moments of quality time with him, so we packed him into the car as well.
The drive home was uneventful, but we did get home a bit late. The warm end of spring nights have started, and the garden smelled great. It may just be that it's our first spring at the house and there are the nice smells, but our house has really started to feel like a home since having brought Grace into it, and it was nice to be home.
We woke up the next morning to go to Portland for a couple of parties. Normal preparation in the morning is something we're still getting down. We ended up leaving a couple of hours later than expected, but we pressed on.
Our first stop was our friend's, and old neighbor's, event dubbed "Minicon" in Beaverton. There were going to be so many of our friends there, we couldn't stay away. Grace had to meet Kevin, Lindsey, Jon, Nick, Rachelle, and Brian. Everyone loved her, of course.
After a couple hours with our friends, we headed to Portland proper for a family birthday party. Grace got to meet many more friends of the family at Aunt Lucy's. There were other adorable children, and a baby just two weeks older, but Grace still managed to grab her fair share of the attention.
As the night came to an end, we packed up the car for the ride home to Corvallis. Betsey's cousin Michael needed to be dropped off at home, and we were happy to get a few more moments of quality time with him, so we packed him into the car as well.
The drive home was uneventful, but we did get home a bit late. The warm end of spring nights have started, and the garden smelled great. It may just be that it's our first spring at the house and there are the nice smells, but our house has really started to feel like a home since having brought Grace into it, and it was nice to be home.
2010-06-11
First Month Notes
Here's a few things we've noticed about Grace by the end of her first month:
Her neck is strong - At first we thought we were just being ridiculously proud parents, but then we held some other newborns and their necks almost fell off because we were use to Grace. At two weeks I remember counting to 10 while she held her head up off my chest.
She's getting bigger - This seems kind of obvious, but when we first tried the cloth diapers, her skinny little legs didn't provide a good enough seal with the diaper to... well you know. Anyway, her legs are chunkier, and she photographs multiple chins now.
People are interesting now - It use to be that the most interesting thing in the room was always the highest contrast location. Now, sometimes, it's us, or visitors, or her toys. Often, though, the completely black side of the stroller is still more interesting than the sky above her.
While writing this I took a quick gander at a few sites for what good one month milestones are. She seems to be ahead in some places, and not quite there but making progress in others. I'm sure that's all normal. I think we mentioned in one of the earlier posts that she is tracking objects really well, and at quite a distance too. At the end of the first month I started having her bounce on my chest standing up, and she'll put a little weight on her legs. She's definitely exhibiting the skills necessary to become an awesome soccer player.
Her neck is strong - At first we thought we were just being ridiculously proud parents, but then we held some other newborns and their necks almost fell off because we were use to Grace. At two weeks I remember counting to 10 while she held her head up off my chest.
She's getting bigger - This seems kind of obvious, but when we first tried the cloth diapers, her skinny little legs didn't provide a good enough seal with the diaper to... well you know. Anyway, her legs are chunkier, and she photographs multiple chins now.
People are interesting now - It use to be that the most interesting thing in the room was always the highest contrast location. Now, sometimes, it's us, or visitors, or her toys. Often, though, the completely black side of the stroller is still more interesting than the sky above her.
While writing this I took a quick gander at a few sites for what good one month milestones are. She seems to be ahead in some places, and not quite there but making progress in others. I'm sure that's all normal. I think we mentioned in one of the earlier posts that she is tracking objects really well, and at quite a distance too. At the end of the first month I started having her bounce on my chest standing up, and she'll put a little weight on her legs. She's definitely exhibiting the skills necessary to become an awesome soccer player.
2010-06-08
Myles Has The Best Friends and Family
June 4th
Betsey and Grace spent most of the day preparing for my birthday, but Betsey is still a student, so the first stop that day was the RC (Radiation Center). How many one-month-olds get to go to a meeting less than 50 meters from a nuclear reactor? I was hoping they'd give Grace a little dosimeter for the photo opportunity, but it didn't happen. All of Betsey's coworkers/students and the faculty at the RC were pretty impressed with Grace.
After their meeting, Grace and Betsey went to Fred Meyer, which was no big deal; they'd done that before. Hallmark, was a bit more difficult, since Grace decided to have a small screaming fit. She was probably protesting the societal pressure to subscribe to this capitalization of what should be a very simple thing of writing a note on a piece of paper to say you care about someone.
Once home, Betsey showed Grace that we can still do things the old fashioned way, and baked me a chocolate cake. The girls set about being domestic together, while I slaved away at work.
By slaving away at work, of course, I mean being treated very well by all my friends who were stopping by to wish me a happy birthday. My friend Dan usually bakes his friends cakes for their birthday, but he's been kind of busy planning his wedding. Instead, he went to Konditorei and picked me up a delicious and beautiful German chocolate cake, which I completely mangled as I tried to cut it. Nobody seemed to mind the mangling and ate it just the same.
June 4th was also the first Friday of the month, which meant that people from work would be trekking down to Calapooia for beer, tots, and conversation. Given the closeness to my birthday, the tots and beer were free for me thanks to the generosity of my friends.
When I finally arrived home, it was to my two favorite girls in the world. They both had cards for me (too cute) and I was very happy to find the house smelling like delicious baked goodness. I'm so thankful for the friends and loved ones that made the lead up to my birthday this year so wonderful.
Once dinner was eaten, Betsey had some lab work to attend to. She'd spent all day preparing for the couple hours after my return, but now had to pay the price. I took watch of our little one, while Betsey worked well into the night. The girl and I fell asleep on the couch, and Betsey managed to catch this very dark picture of us before the night was over.
Betsey and Grace spent most of the day preparing for my birthday, but Betsey is still a student, so the first stop that day was the RC (Radiation Center). How many one-month-olds get to go to a meeting less than 50 meters from a nuclear reactor? I was hoping they'd give Grace a little dosimeter for the photo opportunity, but it didn't happen. All of Betsey's coworkers/students and the faculty at the RC were pretty impressed with Grace.
After their meeting, Grace and Betsey went to Fred Meyer, which was no big deal; they'd done that before. Hallmark, was a bit more difficult, since Grace decided to have a small screaming fit. She was probably protesting the societal pressure to subscribe to this capitalization of what should be a very simple thing of writing a note on a piece of paper to say you care about someone.
Once home, Betsey showed Grace that we can still do things the old fashioned way, and baked me a chocolate cake. The girls set about being domestic together, while I slaved away at work.
By slaving away at work, of course, I mean being treated very well by all my friends who were stopping by to wish me a happy birthday. My friend Dan usually bakes his friends cakes for their birthday, but he's been kind of busy planning his wedding. Instead, he went to Konditorei and picked me up a delicious and beautiful German chocolate cake, which I completely mangled as I tried to cut it. Nobody seemed to mind the mangling and ate it just the same.
June 4th was also the first Friday of the month, which meant that people from work would be trekking down to Calapooia for beer, tots, and conversation. Given the closeness to my birthday, the tots and beer were free for me thanks to the generosity of my friends.
When I finally arrived home, it was to my two favorite girls in the world. They both had cards for me (too cute) and I was very happy to find the house smelling like delicious baked goodness. I'm so thankful for the friends and loved ones that made the lead up to my birthday this year so wonderful.
Once dinner was eaten, Betsey had some lab work to attend to. She'd spent all day preparing for the couple hours after my return, but now had to pay the price. I took watch of our little one, while Betsey worked well into the night. The girl and I fell asleep on the couch, and Betsey managed to catch this very dark picture of us before the night was over.
2010-06-07
A Relatively Nice Hectic Day
June 3rd
Unlike Wednesday, there was nothing calm about Thursday. It wasn't hectic beyond anything we've done before, but it was one of those "I go to work/Betsey goes to Portland for class" days. The good news is it was the last.
Grace spent the day with Abby and N (the little boy Abby cares for), who was the first little person Grace had come into contact with (aside from a couple other babies). Grace didn't really care either way, but N wasn't too sure about Grace at first.
A nice surprise for Grace that day was that Great Grandma Jean came to Abby's to visit. They spent so much time together, that Abby's main complaint was that she didn't get to play with Grace enough. It's hard to be loved by so many people.
Betsey's lab actually got out on time, and they got home relatively early, much to my delight. For being one our more busy and time constrained days, it went pretty well.
Unlike Wednesday, there was nothing calm about Thursday. It wasn't hectic beyond anything we've done before, but it was one of those "I go to work/Betsey goes to Portland for class" days. The good news is it was the last.
Grace spent the day with Abby and N (the little boy Abby cares for), who was the first little person Grace had come into contact with (aside from a couple other babies). Grace didn't really care either way, but N wasn't too sure about Grace at first.
A nice surprise for Grace that day was that Great Grandma Jean came to Abby's to visit. They spent so much time together, that Abby's main complaint was that she didn't get to play with Grace enough. It's hard to be loved by so many people.
Betsey's lab actually got out on time, and they got home relatively early, much to my delight. For being one our more busy and time constrained days, it went pretty well.
2010-06-06
A Normal Day?
June 2nd
Grace turned one month old, and it may have been a taste of what a normal day will be for us. At least, I hope it was.
I woke up and went to work on time.
Betsey cared for Grace and managed to get some work done.
I came home to a dinner ready to be served.
Grace was a happy and funny little girl.
We went to bed, as a family.
More days like these please!
Grace turned one month old, and it may have been a taste of what a normal day will be for us. At least, I hope it was.
I woke up and went to work on time.
Betsey cared for Grace and managed to get some work done.
I came home to a dinner ready to be served.
Grace was a happy and funny little girl.
We went to bed, as a family.
More days like these please!
Amazing Trifecta
June 1st
This was supposed to be a typical Tuesday with me going to work, but over the weekend Home Depot called and said they were a bit upset that I hadn't picked up the closet doors for the nursery yet. I was a bit upset about that too, but who can find the time until their hand is forced. They gave me until Tuesday before they would call and explain to me again that Home Depot was not a permanent storage facility.
Part of the issue with picking up the doors, was that I don't have a truck, so I was going to have to rent theirs, and if I was going to rent theirs, I was going to take the old sliding doors over to Habitat for Humanities' ReStore while I had a truck. But the ReStore was not open for donation drop off when I was in town or on the Sunday when I wanted to do this. Tuesday morning was my best chance to deal with this, and since it's all for Grace, I took the time off work to get these things done.
Chrystal came over to help me unload the truck and move the really heavy closet doors down to the nursery. She also helped me load up the truck with the much lighter old sliding doors. The plan was to go back to work after dropping the truck at Home Depot, but before leaving with the sliding doors, I took one look at Betsey and could see that she was dreading my return to work.
Betsey had a lab to finish and Grace was being very demanding. I let work know I wasn't going to be coming in, and Betsey took a power nap and then got down to work. I kept Grace out of Betsey's hair most of the day, but not completely. For one thing, Betsey didn't want Grace out of her hair really.
She was crafting her lab papers well into the morning. I'm so proud of all the effort she's been putting into this final stretch towards her masters, especially with Grace here. She's an amazing wife, mom, and student.
This was supposed to be a typical Tuesday with me going to work, but over the weekend Home Depot called and said they were a bit upset that I hadn't picked up the closet doors for the nursery yet. I was a bit upset about that too, but who can find the time until their hand is forced. They gave me until Tuesday before they would call and explain to me again that Home Depot was not a permanent storage facility.
Part of the issue with picking up the doors, was that I don't have a truck, so I was going to have to rent theirs, and if I was going to rent theirs, I was going to take the old sliding doors over to Habitat for Humanities' ReStore while I had a truck. But the ReStore was not open for donation drop off when I was in town or on the Sunday when I wanted to do this. Tuesday morning was my best chance to deal with this, and since it's all for Grace, I took the time off work to get these things done.
Chrystal came over to help me unload the truck and move the really heavy closet doors down to the nursery. She also helped me load up the truck with the much lighter old sliding doors. The plan was to go back to work after dropping the truck at Home Depot, but before leaving with the sliding doors, I took one look at Betsey and could see that she was dreading my return to work.
Betsey had a lab to finish and Grace was being very demanding. I let work know I wasn't going to be coming in, and Betsey took a power nap and then got down to work. I kept Grace out of Betsey's hair most of the day, but not completely. For one thing, Betsey didn't want Grace out of her hair really.
She was crafting her lab papers well into the morning. I'm so proud of all the effort she's been putting into this final stretch towards her masters, especially with Grace here. She's an amazing wife, mom, and student.
2010-06-01
A Visiting Weekend
May 28th Continued
After the great night of sleep, we still had a day to get through. Betsey's class with lab on a random day of each week, had chosen Friday for this week. I headed to work and left Betsey to fend for herself.
Things went pretty well, as I understand it. Grace was left with Grandma M. all day. In Grandma M's words from Facebook:
When I was done with work, I went back to Corvallis and got a start on the housework I'd been neglecting.
May 29th
Saturday morning I woke up late in an empty house. It was nice to sleep for so long, but I missed my girls a bit in the morning. After rousing myself from bed and getting ready for the day, I concentrated on cleaning the living room and kitchen. We were expecting great company.
Leah, who you may remember as our doula, and Betsey and I had just clicked from our very first meeting. I think I said something really dorky like, "I think I'd like to be your friend." So shortly after Grace was born, Leah found a great way to solidify the friendship. She offered for her and her wife, Rachel, to bring us a homemade dinner. It was with great enthusiasm, not just for prepared meals, that we accepted. On the first agreed upon date, of course, our friends decided to have a baby, and Leah had to cancel to go do her doula thing, but with tenacity, Leah texted me until a new date was settled on.
Leah and Rachel arrived shortly after six bearing an amazing full size Pyrex (not the little square ones) vegetarian lasagna, fresh salad, and pomegranate juice. It was probably our only well rounded meal since Betsey's mom had made us dinner. The salad was terrific, and the lasagna was amazing, and Leah purposely made more than the four of us could eat so we'd have tons of leftovers.
After dinner, we settled into a great game of Pandemic, which they had never played before, but seemed to enjoy quite a bit. We lost, of course, but that's kind of how playing a four player version of that game goes, especially when the Medic card isn't dealt.
At the end of the evening, we said our adieus. I think it was really the first night we felt like adults with a social life since Grace was born. That was perhaps an even greater gift than the dinner. We're looking forward to seeing them again soon.
May 30th
Sunday was a rough day for little Grace.
We went to the library to get some baby sign language books. Instead of carrying the car seat around the library (it is pretty unwieldy), I took Grace out and put her in the Moby (strapped to me). We had a fine time in the library. An added bonus of the Moby is that strangers don't feel as empowered to reach in and touch her, because they'd be in my personal space. I had one woman who came up and took a gander, but she remained a respectful distance and didn't try to touch. I signed up for a Corvallis library card (finally), and we checked out our books and DVD (The happiest baby on the block), and headed to the car.
At the car, I was determined to put Grace back in the car seat on my own. I really wanted to empathize with what Betsey has to go through. Here's a tip, though, don't lean over with a baby in a Moby unless you're damn sure she is secure. I looked down as I was leaning into the car to grab the car seat, and thought, I need to grab her. As I began to correct my positioning, Grace rolled right on out and started falling through the air towards the foot well of the back seat. It was about the longest second and a half of my life, before I managed to catch her by her body and scoop her up to my chest. She let off enough of a single scream to make me feel like the worst dad in the world, and then promptly went back to sleep while simultaneously farting a few times. I was so scared I hurt my baby. I took solace in knowing she hadn't actually struck anything before I caught her, but that scream rang in my head. We watched her pretty closely for odd behavior, and when we got home, we checked for bruising. She was fine.
Later that night, we decided to try another bath. We'd had some advice to just put her in the bath with either one of us and it would be less traumatic for her, so we were willing to give it a try. Betsey and Grace got in the water and everyone was all smiles. Unfortunately, we both, after seeing all those water baby videos, weren't overly concerned about water getting on her face. She corrected our lack of fear pretty quickly as she inhaled a couple drops of water in her left nostril. She didn't aspirate it or anything, but definitely coughed and sputtered for a little while because of it. I took her out of the tub and calmed and dried her, and then we tried again, with more caution, and things went really well. She really liked the warmth and the weightlessness seemed to help ease her gas pains. As if to put an exclamation point on the end of the bath....
Oh wait, you should know that there's talk about baby poop below. If you don't want to read about baby poop, you should skip to the next line of asterisks.
=====
As if to put an exclamation point on the end of the bath, she pooped in Betsey's vicinity. We had a little tub for just such an occasion, and it was quickly scooped out before it touched anyone. It was actually pretty surprising to see how well it stayed together. I had kind of expected her poo to be like a liquid and to quickly diffuse everywhere, but it didn't. It just stayed together like a little yellow salamander, and it was easily removed.
*****
So Sunday was a rough day for Grace. An all air tumble and a snort of water made it a day she'll be glad she has no memories of.
May 31st
Monday was Memorial Day. Let's all take a minute to remember our fallen soldiers who did their best so we can live our best.
Besides remembering our fallen, we almost didn't do anything on Memorial day, but as the evening progressed, we remembered that some people use this solemn holiday to get people to buy things. Since our microwave is on the fritz, and it would be really nice to have a flat screen television, we decided to go introduce Grace to the Corvallis Video Poker Heroes, if there happened to be any great deals at the same time, maybe we'd take advantage of them. Specifically, we have a nice relationship with our Sears Home Store Co-owner Brian. We actually just stop by there whenever we're nearby to see him and his wife and the rest of the crew. When we bought the house, we needed a washer, dryer, and dishwasher, and Brian helped us save a lot of money. On our last visit, we had promised to show off the girl when she arrived.
Brian was quite taken with Grace, commenting on how beautiful she was. I showed off her toes and told him about dropping Grace. He provided a nice story about accidentally rolling his kid down a flight of stairs to help me feel better. It worked.
We returned home without any new appliances, but feeling better for having seen our friends.
May 24th & 25th Addendum
Betsey reminded me that the evening of the 24th well into the afternoon of the 25th was Grace's longest screaming fit to date. I slept and worked through the entire thing, so it's no wonder I didn't recall.
After the great night of sleep, we still had a day to get through. Betsey's class with lab on a random day of each week, had chosen Friday for this week. I headed to work and left Betsey to fend for herself.
Things went pretty well, as I understand it. Grace was left with Grandma M. all day. In Grandma M's words from Facebook:
Then Grace came to Portland for Marg and Grace's Excellent Adventure. It was my intention to take a ton of pictures of our time together, but I was having too much fun with her. From Friday at 2:00 PM until 1:00 PM on Saturday we did have an excellent adventure.When Betsey's lab was finished, she went back to her childhood home, and had a nice stay with her folks in Portland.
When I was done with work, I went back to Corvallis and got a start on the housework I'd been neglecting.
May 29th
Saturday morning I woke up late in an empty house. It was nice to sleep for so long, but I missed my girls a bit in the morning. After rousing myself from bed and getting ready for the day, I concentrated on cleaning the living room and kitchen. We were expecting great company.
Leah, who you may remember as our doula, and Betsey and I had just clicked from our very first meeting. I think I said something really dorky like, "I think I'd like to be your friend." So shortly after Grace was born, Leah found a great way to solidify the friendship. She offered for her and her wife, Rachel, to bring us a homemade dinner. It was with great enthusiasm, not just for prepared meals, that we accepted. On the first agreed upon date, of course, our friends decided to have a baby, and Leah had to cancel to go do her doula thing, but with tenacity, Leah texted me until a new date was settled on.
Leah and Rachel arrived shortly after six bearing an amazing full size Pyrex (not the little square ones) vegetarian lasagna, fresh salad, and pomegranate juice. It was probably our only well rounded meal since Betsey's mom had made us dinner. The salad was terrific, and the lasagna was amazing, and Leah purposely made more than the four of us could eat so we'd have tons of leftovers.
After dinner, we settled into a great game of Pandemic, which they had never played before, but seemed to enjoy quite a bit. We lost, of course, but that's kind of how playing a four player version of that game goes, especially when the Medic card isn't dealt.
At the end of the evening, we said our adieus. I think it was really the first night we felt like adults with a social life since Grace was born. That was perhaps an even greater gift than the dinner. We're looking forward to seeing them again soon.
May 30th
Sunday was a rough day for little Grace.
We went to the library to get some baby sign language books. Instead of carrying the car seat around the library (it is pretty unwieldy), I took Grace out and put her in the Moby (strapped to me). We had a fine time in the library. An added bonus of the Moby is that strangers don't feel as empowered to reach in and touch her, because they'd be in my personal space. I had one woman who came up and took a gander, but she remained a respectful distance and didn't try to touch. I signed up for a Corvallis library card (finally), and we checked out our books and DVD (The happiest baby on the block), and headed to the car.
At the car, I was determined to put Grace back in the car seat on my own. I really wanted to empathize with what Betsey has to go through. Here's a tip, though, don't lean over with a baby in a Moby unless you're damn sure she is secure. I looked down as I was leaning into the car to grab the car seat, and thought, I need to grab her. As I began to correct my positioning, Grace rolled right on out and started falling through the air towards the foot well of the back seat. It was about the longest second and a half of my life, before I managed to catch her by her body and scoop her up to my chest. She let off enough of a single scream to make me feel like the worst dad in the world, and then promptly went back to sleep while simultaneously farting a few times. I was so scared I hurt my baby. I took solace in knowing she hadn't actually struck anything before I caught her, but that scream rang in my head. We watched her pretty closely for odd behavior, and when we got home, we checked for bruising. She was fine.
Later that night, we decided to try another bath. We'd had some advice to just put her in the bath with either one of us and it would be less traumatic for her, so we were willing to give it a try. Betsey and Grace got in the water and everyone was all smiles. Unfortunately, we both, after seeing all those water baby videos, weren't overly concerned about water getting on her face. She corrected our lack of fear pretty quickly as she inhaled a couple drops of water in her left nostril. She didn't aspirate it or anything, but definitely coughed and sputtered for a little while because of it. I took her out of the tub and calmed and dried her, and then we tried again, with more caution, and things went really well. She really liked the warmth and the weightlessness seemed to help ease her gas pains. As if to put an exclamation point on the end of the bath....
Oh wait, you should know that there's talk about baby poop below. If you don't want to read about baby poop, you should skip to the next line of asterisks.
=====
As if to put an exclamation point on the end of the bath, she pooped in Betsey's vicinity. We had a little tub for just such an occasion, and it was quickly scooped out before it touched anyone. It was actually pretty surprising to see how well it stayed together. I had kind of expected her poo to be like a liquid and to quickly diffuse everywhere, but it didn't. It just stayed together like a little yellow salamander, and it was easily removed.
*****
So Sunday was a rough day for Grace. An all air tumble and a snort of water made it a day she'll be glad she has no memories of.
May 31st
Monday was Memorial Day. Let's all take a minute to remember our fallen soldiers who did their best so we can live our best.
Besides remembering our fallen, we almost didn't do anything on Memorial day, but as the evening progressed, we remembered that some people use this solemn holiday to get people to buy things. Since our microwave is on the fritz, and it would be really nice to have a flat screen television, we decided to go introduce Grace to the Corvallis Video Poker Heroes, if there happened to be any great deals at the same time, maybe we'd take advantage of them. Specifically, we have a nice relationship with our Sears Home Store Co-owner Brian. We actually just stop by there whenever we're nearby to see him and his wife and the rest of the crew. When we bought the house, we needed a washer, dryer, and dishwasher, and Brian helped us save a lot of money. On our last visit, we had promised to show off the girl when she arrived.
Brian was quite taken with Grace, commenting on how beautiful she was. I showed off her toes and told him about dropping Grace. He provided a nice story about accidentally rolling his kid down a flight of stairs to help me feel better. It worked.
We returned home without any new appliances, but feeling better for having seen our friends.
May 24th & 25th Addendum
Betsey reminded me that the evening of the 24th well into the afternoon of the 25th was Grace's longest screaming fit to date. I slept and worked through the entire thing, so it's no wonder I didn't recall.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)