4 Weeks: Nay Binky, Nay!

Four weeks have gone by fast! Adam is back to work full time now and Finneas and I have been very lazy, but very fun. We don't do that much, mostly talk in monosyllabic nonsense and cuddle. He's smiling more and even making the first efforts at what we think might be a laugh - or at least a genuine giggle. Cloth diapers are still easy, and I believe they contain and leak in the same circumstances that disposables would. For all you doubters out there - I don't see what the big deal is, really. We're still trying to figure our sleeping 'tactics' out. Okay, so we really don't have any for Finneas yet. Some sources that I've read suggest not implementing any routine for the first three months and other's recommend putting baby on a sleep schedule pronto. Considering life with a newborn is like waking up to a different baby everyday - I think, at least for Finneas, we are going to see if he settles into any habits on his own before we try to regiment his sleeping. Sleep conditioning just seems impossible at this point. We are also considering the use of a pacifier to settle him down at night. So I put one in his moth today, just to see what he would do. He gave me the stink eye and then, with a giant sigh he opened his mouth relegating the binky to the carpet floor with a few drops of disapproving drool. Busted.

Being a mom is awesome, I highly encourage more of my friends to procreate. Finneas needs some friends:) Anyway, we will be visiting Grandpa Popeye and Grandma Sus in the San Juans this weekend for Thanksgiving. This will be our fist trip with Finn. Wish us luck!!!

Week 3: One Handed Typing

Birth Story

Wow. I can't believe how fast the time is passing. Finneas is one day past three weeks old today and Adam had his first day back at work (just part-time this week). Finneas is doing very well, except for the hematoma on his head which isn't going away and may even be calcifying - this means it could be there for a while. But he's healthy and very happy, so the bump isn't so worrisome. He's much more alert now and seems to be a nocturnal child - if not crepuscular, taking those moments of dusk and dawn to send us into rolling laughter. He often takes some coaxing to go to sleep, and navigates the course of slumber like a cat battles a closed door in his own home - with much dismay. He's still waking up sporadically every 1-3 hours and will nurse every hour for a few hours straight when he's extra hunrgy(?) or needs comfort(?). I enjoy the bonding time with him, but as with every new mom, I could use a little bit more sleep. I love that Finn is already a smily boy and that he seems very tactile. I like to watch his hands and the look on his face when they discover a new movement or a new texture. Sometimes his fingers move and they remind me of a sculptor or his papa playing the guitar, maybe me playing the piano. He will do great things with those hands. He's also lifting his head more and able to turn it from one side to the other during tummy time. As all parents must say, my child is very advanced.

We haven't spent a moment apart and at this point it's hard to imagine being separated from him when I go back to work in January. Thankfully, Adam and I are determined to make our lives work so that I will only work a couple of days a week, and on those days Adam will be home. Adam is an amazing father and I am so happy that we're able to split home-time with Finneas, especially in lieu of the other childcare options.

So what have we been doing on our first day duetting? We've listened to old French music, read Roethke and Pound poems, and while he sleeps, I prepare a little bit of dinner for later and do laundry. It's been a very peaceful day. I keep thinking that I couldn't love anymore than I already do, but every day that passes I fall in love with Finneas a little more and my husband too, a little more - they are both so satisfying. Every moment just seems full - the optimum manifest, like a woman at the peak of her beauty or the like the final notes of a Tchaikovsky crescendo, like walking into an old growth forest at it's ancient and regal prime and feeling small in comparison to the tasks of nature. This is how I feel - humbled and yet overwhelmed with a warm joy. I can't say that I haven't had a few hormonal crashes, or teary moments at 3 am when I'm trying to nurse my baby to sleep with one eye open, nodding off to hit my head against the wall behind me and I can't remember if I've changed his diaper or not. I can't recall sleeping at all and yet wakefulness is like a dream at this point and it just seems like too much - for about two seconds - and then I realize how awesome the whole experience is and know that someday, I will get that full night's sleep. Someday.

Papa's Smooch

Finneas had his two week check up, and what a chunk - he's up to 9 pounds and 6 ounces. Whoa! We love every pudge, I mean, inch of him!

Happy Fall from Finneas

Just a little sweet. Right? Believe it or not, everything about our Finneas is sweet. So far he rarely cries unless we miss his hunger cues or with exception to diaper changes. I swear this child would rather wear a wet diaper than go through the changing process for a fresh one. And by the way you skeptics - cloth diapers are easy (so far). There's a little extra work involved but nothing too strenuous or difficult at this point. The only concern I have is that he might not fit into his newborn diapers much longer. We sometimes refer to our son as Hungry Mungry after Shel Silverstein's poem about a boy who is so hungry he eats the entire universe. When I was pregnant Adam and I would read this poem to him, little did we know what would manifest of that! He's becoming quite the cute little chunk. He wakes every two hours, with exactness, for a meal, which he gulps and savors like a chef dining on a delicacy crafted by his favorite culinary paragon.

Many people have been asking how we are adjusting, how I'm feeling, how Adam's doing, if we need anything....

Adam and I are both very tired. It seems to have just hit both of us over the past two days. However, we are both doing well. I'm finally starting to feel like I can walk a mile here and there and if it hadn't been for the vacuum extraction and subsequent pain I think I could have skipped out of the hospital, baby in arms, moments after Finneas's birth. That's how great I have felt otherwise! While being a mom can be exhausting it also is energizing and exciting. Every moment is an epic discovery and the joy certainly trumps the fatigue. However, that doesn't mean that Adam and I won't take dinner if offered or any other offers for help:) So be forewarned, if you call and say "do you guys need anything?" we just may say yes. Rowe, Adam's mom just flew back to chilly South Dakota so we are down one pair of helping hands. In a week and a half Adam will be back at work, and I think we are both a little sad about that. Finneas is doing great. His jaundice is just about cleared up and he's been off the phototherapy bed for several days now. We are savoring every minute with him, and the minutes are going fast. He's 11 days old already! I can't believe it. It just seems like one long day since he was born. The concept of day and night are, I suppose, no longer. We are now on the Finneas Continuum - it' s quite the adventure!

Week 1

Here are some quick pics from Finneas's first week and a half in the outer world. We are tired, tired, tired, but loving every moment of it.

Stoney meets Finneas

Sleeping

Pink Uma plays with Finn's giant feet

9 days old - first walk through the arboretum

Grasp reflex meets nose