The odds were stacked against us…the world is just a tough place for a cute baby and a dad who doesn't know the difference between a onesie and a twosie. Well we stick our collective tongue out to that world. We made it til morning without burning the formula or putting a diaper on the wrong end. Surely, this is deserving of one of those 'World's Greastest Dad' trophies.
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Archive for August, 2008
We survived!
31
Aug
Home Alone Two
30
Aug
For the first time since the NICU, Jenn will spend a night away from this cute little thing. She is in LA for Uncle Kimmie’s Bridal Shower (Uncle Kimmie is NOT a transgendered friend, she got her nickname from a poorly transcribed gift card), leaving Grace and her daddy to fend for ourselves. So far so good (thank you vibrating aquarium chair!). The scorecard so far is one nap, a couple feedings, a poop and a pile of smiles on both sides. We miss Mommy and the flight attendants can attest that Mommy misses us (or at least Grace). Takeoff was apparently a bit emotional but nothing that a coloring book and some pilots wings couldn’t fix.
Grace and I are enjoying our chats today. We both agree that she is totally qualified to be Vice President.
Love you and see you tomorrow, Mommy.
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Raise your cuppa tea to Sam Phillips!
29
Aug
I don’t know if more babies are being born these days or I just notice them more because I have one. The latest of Grace’s future friends comes to my good friends and ex-pats Rick and Jess Phillips, currently residing in Jolly Old England. Welcome to all 7lbs, 4 oz of Samuel Paul Phillips, born August 29th at 1:27am.
We expect Sam to cry with an English accent, just like his daddy does.
Happy 5 Monthiversary Grace!
28
Aug
MVI_0944
Originally uploaded by Lincoln Topliff
My favorite new activity is waking up the baby. Mostly because we do this right before I go to work, so whatever mood she is in is quickly not my problem. Normally I have been barred from even thinking about walking into Grace’s room in the morning but I protested that by the time I leave for my (cue the violins) big…tough…long day at work, all of the smiles that I got at bedtime have worn off. I need a fresh hit to get me through the day, because everybody knows that baby smiles are like crack for daddies (but cheaper). Since Jenn gets her fix all day long (I know she also has to pay by dealing with the crying and diapers) I convinced her that I should get mine too.
We figured out that by the time I am ready to leave, Grace has woken up and is laying in her crib contemplating the proper time to announce that she is hungry. When she realized that we have anticipated her needs, she is visibly excited…What little girl wouldn’t be excited to find out that her parents are psychic…until she is a teenager, that is.
Watching this video, you might think she is the most content, happy baby on the planet. We found out this morning (sadly I didn’t have the camera) that at least one thing will break the mood and start her crying…Mommy and Daddy singing to her. It kind of looked like this:
M & D: Good Morning Grace. You are 5 months old today!
(Grace stares then grins a little)
M & D: That’s right! You are a big girl!
(Grace kicks her legs and smiles broadly)
M & D: Happy 5 Months to you…Happy 5 Months to you…
(Grace’s bottom lip extends and begins to quiver)
(Daddy quickly leaves for work)
We are very much in love with our little 14lb, probably-able-to-roll-over, gooing and cooing and smiling and laughing little Grace. We are also watching closely for the appearance of teeth, or something else to explain the volumes of drool coming out of her head.
Wanted: On Suspicion of Rolling Over
24
Aug
Jenn went in to investigate the crying sounds coming from the crib during this morning’s nap time to find that Grace was (unhappily) facing the mattress. Since she was on her back when the nap started, Lincoln was engaged in his own nap and no major earthquakes were reported during that time, we have to assume that Grace rolled herself over. We were not expecting this so soon, we are imagining (hoping for) a coincidental perfect storm of leg kick, wiggle, head turn, fart and sneeze that might have caused her to end up this way. That might also explain her surprise. It’s not that we don’t want her to roll over, it’s just that we have come to depend on the swaddle blanket and rolling over means the beginning of the end of that. The end of the swaddle blanket also means a potentially severe disruption in her (our) sleep patterns as she learns how to remain sleeping while those appendages flail uncontrollably. It also means we need some sort of monitor so we can see what’s going on without waking her up with our own flailing appendages, or footsteps.
Ultimately, I think Grace will be found guilty of rolling over but it might have been temporary insanity or maybe the teddy bear did it.
The First Adventures of Kai and Zing
23
Aug
That may sound like a new show on the Cartoon Network, but it is not. This morning, just after 2 am, my former roommate Kelly and her husband Ziya welcomed their twin boys into the world.
Their names are quite unusual so I will quote from his email:
Kai Michael Dikman (aka baby A). Born first at 2:09am, weighing 6lbs 8oz, 19 1/8 inches long, with a head circ of 14 1/4″. The name Kai is found in many languages and means “ocean” in Hawaiian, “rejoice” in Finnish, or in Germany it is a form of “Gaius” (from the Roman name, as in Gaius Julius Caesar). In Welch it means “keeper of the keys”.
Tenzing Ziya Dikman (aka baby B, aka Zing). Born second from a breech position (like his daddy) at approximately 2:15, weighing 7lbs 6oz, 20 1/4 inches long, with a head circ of 13 1/8. Tenzing’s name has several translations from Tibetan including “protector or keeper of Dharma” or more simply “teacher” and was the name of the first Dali Lama. In Sanskrit it means “wisdom, teaching”.
I have known Kai’s before but we only have heard of the Tenzing that helped Edmund Hillary up Mt Everest. Hopefully since he is the younger of the two, he is not doomed to carry Kai’s stuff around for the rest of his life.
Mom, Dad and babies are all doing well.
Congratulations and welcome to the party!
Mommy’s Love = Infinity + 13 Today
18
Aug
One of the things that makes babies able to sleep this peacefully is the inherent knowledge, deep in their DNA, that they are loved infinitely by their mommies. 100% of babies agreed when asked in a recent survey. They also believed (and babies are really naïve this way) that since that “Mommy Love” is infinite, it is also infinitely stable, offering the same warmth and comfort day in and day out forever. Sadly, babies are generally ill-informed about abstract math as applied to Love. They do not understand that where one learned about math has a lot to do with how the equations resolve themselves. The same Art School Math Classes that allow some members of our society to be “1000% in agreement”, “5 nanoseconds away from being ready to go to dinner” or “angry for waiting one million years for you to get home”, give some flexibility in doling out their Infinite Love.
Today, Jenn loves Grace a little extra.
Today, Grace went to the doctor and weighed in at 13 lbs, 13 oz. Anyone that knows my wife, knows that 13 is her favorite number. It therefore goes (almost) without saying that Jenn dug deeeeep this afternoon and found a little extra love to add to the pile.
It also goes (not quite) without saying that Grace slept right through it.
Looking Forward
15
Aug
I don’t know what Grace is looking forward to, but she is now at least looking forward.
She’s big enough now to look out at the world in the Baby Bjorn (if she had her eyes open, of course). She can finally see what’s going on around her instead of the closeup of Jenn’s shirt that she was getting while facing the other way. Eventually she will learn to hold Mommy’s latté while Mommy types on “our” iPhone.