Stolen Rewards

This morning, in order to give myself time to hang the laundry outside, I tried a new tactic with Jonah:  I left him in his crib and listened to him on the baby monitor.  (Usually, I put him in his sling and carry him outside.  But with all the bending and stretching involved in hanging laundry--and Jonah still being so small--this hadn't proven a particularly comfortable arrangement for either of us.)

During the period I was gone, Jonah didn't cry exactly, but he did let loose a long string of very dissatisfied moans and whimpers.  Heartstrings pulled.  As soon as I was finished with the laundry, I made a beeline for the nursery, where I could tell my boy I loved him.  I picked Jonah up, placed him in my lap, and received the biggest smile ever in the history of Jonah!

Oh, I wish I'd had my camera ready.


Unfortunately, now I feel doubly bad for having received such a wonderful reward in response to what essentially amounts to some (unintentional) motherly trickery.  Alas!  Sometimes the joys and pitfalls of motherhood are indistinguishable.

Four Weeks

Today Jonah is exactly four weeks old!

We celebrated this morning by panicking over our water heater, which overnight apparently decided that it was done holding water.  Fortunately, we had already received a quote for replacing it--as we had suspected it was going to go soon--and the plumber we wanted to use was able to come out first thing this morning to start the work.  His team is in the basement (making interesting noises, Jonah seems to think) at this very moment.

In the meantime, Jonah and I are spending the day doing our usual:  eating and napping and changing the occasional diaper.  From time to time, we also find time to play:

In his Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym, Jonah especially enjoys kicking the crinkly portions of the gym floor (which, in what might be interpreted as a rather careless design flaw, seem to correspond with the images of astronauts' faces), grabbing the teething star, and cooing at himself in the mirror.

Moms, dads, and babysitting readers:  any other ideas for how to amuse and stimulate such a young baby?  We do a lot of reading and talking, and a little shaking of rattles, mirror time, and gym time.  Jonah also seems to enjoy watching lights move--such as when the ceiling fan and ceiling lamp are running together or, sometimes, (to Mom's dismay) when the TV is on and in his line of sight.  Oh, and we take walks outside, though that tends to turn into nap-time rather than play-time.  We're up for new and alternative ideas, if anyone's got any!  Just send them my way.

Three Weeks

Today Jonah is about three and a half weeks old, and he's continuing to grow fast.  In fact, our last doctor's appointment revealed that Jonah is a bit ahead of the curve in terms of size:  babies his age are generally expected to gain half an ounce to an ounce per day, but Jonah--our champion eater--has been gaining closer to an ounce and a half.  He's lean, but he's long, much like his tall, thin daddy.

Awesomely, it's not only with his size that Jonah's been impressing us.  Every day he surprises us with new behaviors and signs of mental acuity.  He's increasingly alert, for instance, spending his wakeful hours staring intently and curiously at the things around him.  He's developed the ability to follow with his eyes objects that are passed in front of him.  He has come to realize and take advantage of the fact that grabbing and/or slapping certain objects--like a plastic ball attached to his crib mirror--will cause them to move and make entertaining noises.  He's also becoming more and more adept at mimicking faces.  Try sticking your tongue out at Jonah, and you'll see that he responds in kind!

Jonah's development over these past couple weeks has been aided, of course, by the lovingly enthusiastic attentions of his Grammy and Grandpa, who have been visiting from their home across the continent.  Check out Grandpa giving Jonah his first driving lessons (they used an imaginary car).  Jonah's got his hands on the wheel, and Grandpa is setting up the atmosphere with appropriate vrooming noises (and helping Jonah hit the gas and brakes as needed):

Grammy, on the other hand, preferred to read with Jonah, who, in keeping with the genetic pool from which he ventured, is already an avid reader.  Hello, Bugs! is currently one of his favorites.  Here he is learning about the butterfly.  Look at those animated hands!

Sadly, today is the last full day of Grammy's visit.  And Grandpa has already returned home.  We're sure to very much miss both of them!  (But already have plans for a future visit in the works.)

Bye-bye, Grammy and Grandpa!  We love you!

Two Weeks

It's been almost a week since my last post, I realize.

Time just continues to fly by.

Over the past two and half weeks since Jonah came home with us--even through our bleary, unrested eyes (the hallmark of parenthood, which we duly wear)--we have already observed many ways in which Jonah is growing and changing.  It's not lost on me that if we don't share soon, these days will pass us by too quickly and unmarked.  So, here I am, feeling unusually rested after getting nearly a straight three hours of sleep last night, finally making time to blog.

The weeks so far have been busy ones.  In addition to growing accustomed to our new sleep schedule, Bryan and I have been hosting a string of family visitors, eager to meet Jonah and graciously hopeful to lend a hand to his beleaguered parents.  (I exaggerate, I should admit, when I use words like "beleaguered".  We're tired but well-rewarded.  Even so, we are very appreciative of all the help we've received.)

Here are a few tidbits of what we've been experiencing so far:

A few days after Jonah, Bryan, and I returned home from the hospital, we received a week-long visit from Jonah's Aunt Kate.  Kate was a godsend, as far as I was concerned:  completely on top of all the household jobs Bryan and I were letting fall by the wayside in favor of caring for Jonah.  But Jonah seemed no less grateful to share time with his aunt.  That wonderful lady has a gift with people of the still growing sort.  Here's a picture of a wide-eyed Jonah listening intently to the loquacious Aunt Kate's sage advice.  I swear, Aunt Kate's afternoon heart-to-hearts with Jonah made a noticeable difference in Mom and Dad's ability to get at least a little bit of sleep at night.

After about a week hanging out with Mom, Dad, and Aunt Kate, Jonah also made the acquaintance of his first set of grandparents.  Papa and Nana drove in from out of town to extend their welcome to our special little man.

Entertaining visitors, however, is only one of Jonah's many talents.  As his days in the world accumulate, he's showing off more and more skills of a variety of sorts.  Jonah's already developed a fascination with books and reading.  He can lift his head with the best of them.  Although it'll be a while before he can flip himself over (from back to belly, for instance), he's a proficient turner from back to side.  Like many babies, he enjoys checking himself out in his mirror and slapping at--almost grabbing--toys within his grasp.

Jonah looks surprised when his play mat
begins to move and make music.

Most of Jonah's time, of course, is spent eating and sleeping.  Sleeping and eating.  And that means much of Mom and Dad's time, too, is spent feeding and sleeping.  We try to catch naps with Jonah when we can, as we did here:

And here:

(Now how adorable are those pics?)

This week, though Aunt Kate, Papa, and Nana have all returned to their respective homes, Grammy and Grandpa from the other coast have traveled in to share time with their new grandson.  Pictures and stories from this current visit are to come.  In the meantime, I think it may be time (again) for a feeding.  And then a nap.  And then a feeding.  And then a nap.  And then...

First Flowers

Shortly after we arrived home from the hospital, Jonah received his first set of flowers from our loving and generous Uncle D, Uncle F, and Aunt L.

Aren't they gorgeous? Couldn't help sharing. Thank you, dear Uncles and Aunt!

My Name Is Jonah

Hello! My name is Jonah, and I'm hijacking Mom's blog. Much like I've hijacked her life. That's right. Mom had no idea what was coming when I entered the world barely a week ago. And since she's still reeling from that experience, I thought I'd take over, at least temporarily, the sharing of our story...

Me, brand spankin' new.

So how did I enter the world?

Well, it all started with a little act of rebellion on my part. Last Wednesday night, Mom was lying in bed performing what she calls a "kick count" to make sure I was still moving about healthily. Since I was quiet and she wanted to spur me on a bit, Mom made a quick, light slap to her belly. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. But, as it happens, on that particular evening, I was in no mood to humor to my mother. (I suppose the fact that my quarters were becoming quite cramped may have left me feeling bilious.) In response to her touch, I swung a wide leg and kicked as hard as I could. Pop! Turns out my kick broke the bag of waters in which I'd been living these past nine months. And that put a clock on my debut. Bag of waters broken, I had 24 hours to get out.

It didn't take Mom long to figure out she was in labor. Within mere moments of that kick, in fact, she was feeling contractions in 3-5 minute intervals.  (For those of you who don't know, that's quick.)  Mom (between contractions) called the doula, Dad finished packing up the hospital bag, and, after laboring for just a few hours at home, everyone headed out to the hospital.

4 centimeters dilated.
100% effaced.

The nurses and midwife agreed I was well on my way.  Mom settled quickly into a delivery room, where for the next six or so hours we progressed toward full dilation.   It wasn't easy on Mom, who felt pretty sorry for having skipped her nap on (what was now) the previous day, but she pulled through each contraction like a champ.  Months of Bradley Method classes paid off as she used deep breathing exercises and a variety of labor positions to take the edge off the pain and let the contractions do their work of moving me into position.

And then, all of the sudden, Mom needed to push.

"This is why they call it 'labor'," was how one of the nurses put it.  And, when Mom later recalled learning that giving birth is the caloric equivalent of running of marathon, this is the part of the birth to which that thought most seemed to refer.  Mom pushed and pushed for over two hours in the hopes of seeing my little face for the first time.  It was the hardest thing she's ever done, she'll tell you.  But--if you'll excuse the cliche--also the most rewarding.

Shortly after noon on August 2nd, I found myself finally in my loving Mom's arms.  I think we were all in disbelief for a while after that. And maybe we still are.

Mom and me snuggling when I'm just a couple
hours old.  Don't tell her I posted this
one; she's not thrilled with her post-birth look.

I have to confess that my new presence in Mom's (and Dad's) life has been pretty all-consuming.  Fortunately for her (and me), though, I'm a real treasure, so she just can't seem to get enough.  Everything about me delights her, from my angelic sleeping face to my satisfied, post-meal burps.

My onesie's not lying when it says I'm a "cutie".

I'm sure Mom will be back online soon, posting updates about my progress and our new life as a family.  I know she already has a few stories she's looking forward to sharing; these first few days of life have been pretty exciting!  But for the moment, I think I'll give her a little chance to catch up on sleep and/or just stare love-struck into my eyes.  Nothing beats that.  And I think we both deserve as much of it as we can get.