adding cool stuff to your blog site!!!

Ok.. so I was fiddling around with the site and thought I'd add a couple things, with the potential of adding other things too.

So the ads... shrug.. I can remove them at any time. I was originally thinking of having them in Lauren's name, as they are supposed to be revenue generating(so click them if you are interested) and then whatever come in will just go to the college fund.

The polls are something kinda cute. Maybe this is something we'll try and use to determine little things like what she might wear at her next family gathering.

Looks like you can also add links to stuff like Youtube so when I get some other things going, then I'll see if I can post up some videos or something.

Let me know what you think!!!

spending alllllll day up

So yesterday was a long day for me.... and apparently a pretty long day for Lauren and Bethy too... and to cap it all off, Lauren ended with a bit of an explosion... yup... trouble.

So apparently Lauren thought it was a pretty good idea to see how long she could stay up. She's getting used to the idea of taking a power nap, and then spending as much wake-time with Bethy as possible.

My parents called and decided to stop by around 4-5ish and gave Bethy a chance to take a nap. Dad took Lauren out in the stroller to cruise the neighborhood. Gave him a chance to see how fidgety she can be at times.

So I got home about 6:30, just as A Harr and Dave came over to go out to dinner. We went to New Honk Kong restaurant on Mission.. .and it was quite good. The restaurant was on the hot side, and Lauren finally fell asleep in the car seat, so we left her in there till she started crying. I forgot how insulating the car seat is with all the synthetic fabrics, and Lauren was fussy from the heat. Yes.. the restaurant was pretty warm... and it wasn't until about 3/4ths the way through the meal that they opened the place up a little bit and turned on the AC.

We finished dinner up and went back to the house. Lauren was still up and fussing a bit so she ended up in the swing with some of her favorite friends: the snail, the dragonfly and something else weird. The little mobile plays the dog in the window song.... all too short. The thing plays for what seems like 30 seconds, then needs to be turned again.

So I'm washing some bottles and stuff and apparently Lauren had a little explosion....


In her diaper....



and it overflowed....


into the swing.



So after doing a bit of damage analysis... taking the cushion of the swing upstairs with Lauren in it, we decided that it was just going to be bath time and then off to bed. Bethy said she was going to run point on the current poo situation, dump the cushion along with other items in queue into the wash, and I went downstairs to prep the little tub.

the bath was bubbly and she took it quite well. I think Bethy and I are getting pretty good at it now. Maybe one day it'll only take 1 pair of hands to get the job done.

all clean, Lauren spent a little more time with her Grandparents before heading off to bed.

another day.. anothe experience... another batch of poo!!!

taking it easy once in a while.

So today was one of our first in a long time days of not much planned. Sleep in a little, sift through some stuff and do some unpacking still, spend some time with the little girl.

I had one of my first experiences of successfully putting the little girl to sleep. With the assistance of about 4oz of the bottle, she was ready, but still fighting it, for some sleep. I picked her up.. walked, patted and rubbed her back to sleep. Here are a couple pics of my progress...



After this, just after mid-day or so, we got a call from A Harr saying she was passing through and if she could come by for a visit!! We said yes(duhhhh) and so A Harr helped babysit the little girl for a feeding on the front end, and another feeding just before she left.

Here's a picture of what the modern day Grand-auntie looks like. Easily taking on multiple tasks and doing them all well!!!
Lauren gladly powered down the 4oz offered to her, had a quick change, and then I took over for a bit and she napped on me for a bit before I passed her on to her mom after a break.

She's been good all afternoon and evening, hopefully the night will go well too!!

being content after the bottle

Yup... this is what it looks like after a mid-morning bottle....

2oz in at about 5:00AM.

She battled through some gas this morning... hopefully the rest of the day will be better!

playing catchup from time to time.

Today was an oddly tiring day.... I think my schedule was a little wacky going back to the early AM and some early feedings that had me up. Then I put up some more blinds while Bethy did some prep work that she needed, then we went over to San Mateo for lunch, Mountain View to show the place and work on it a bit, and some little errands on the way back... ok.. I guess we did quite a bit today.

And I must say.. Lauren was good during the whole time. Doesn't mean that I'm not a bit anxious or uncomfortable when we are out and at least my ability to pacify or to calm her if she gets fussy.

Here are a couple pics from the last couple of days.....

A lot of Lauren's clothes are going to get small in a hurry... she's growing, and alot of the onesies that have been given need to be worn!!! Here she is sporting a cute little Dumbo onesie that A Tina gave her!!!


Next we have just a couple pictures of her sleeping in the boppy. She spends a decent amount of time this this thing so she's pretty comfortable sleeping on/in it :)


Next and last picture for today is my little flower in the pink papasan chair. This chair has been kinda sitting on the side as it wasn't something that Lauren was ever really comfortable in, but I thought I'd break it out again and give it a shot to see if she liked it..... nope... not really.

I keep trying to get the variety of different expressions that she is sporting from time to time. Today she gave me a pretty fierce frown that turned into a pout. I already know I'm going to have quite a bit of trouble with that in the future. I'm not really exactly sure what triggers it right now, and even if I did know, I'm torn on whether or not to trigger it only for the sake of a picture!!

She got a bath today and didn't fuss at all through the whole thing. After that, went upstairs with her mom, had a little bit of a snack, and has been asleep ever since! And now I should be getting some sleep too! Thank goodness... tomorrow looks pretty empty! Hopefully more occasions for pictures and more time with the blog :)

becoming more alert every day.

So her feeding habits are a moving target... sometimes 5 oz, sometimes 2.5... sometimes every 2 hours... sometimes as long as 7 hours. This evening I took a break from putting up blinds to spend some time and pack 4oz into the little girl. She was impatient with me as usual while I warmed the bottle up, but she was pretty hungry and the 4oz went down pretty quick.

After she was dozing off a little bit, I put her in the swing and turned on her favorite little mobile... Bethy says that it plays some tune about a dog, I don't know the lyrics though. While she mused at the tunes and rotating thingies I went and did some bottle washing from the kitchen where I could keep an eye on her and get a little busiwork done.

While I was washing the bottles, she was cooing away... looking up and waving her arms around as usual, so I decided to talk to her a little too... every so often, I'd call out to her and little bit, and now, she actually turns her head!!! I'm not sure if she's turning her head because she recognizes her name, or just that it's stimulus from another direction.... but it's progress!!!

Bethy also setup the other stroller today too.. maybe we'll leave the other one and the car-seat in the car, and this one will be the "around the neighborhood" stroller. I'm sure Bethy will have pictures of it later!

Thats all for now... goodnite!!

singing O soave fanciulla

I came home today hoping that I would get a chance to see my little girl smile. She has been close for the last couple of days or so, and Bethy said she is now enthralled by the little mobile that hangs above her in the swing. No such luck today... but any day now.

So when I came home, the first thing I kinda noticed is that she's looking a little bit round! Her face has filled out a little bit, her neck is definitely stronger... and lo and behold!!! she was singing O soave Fanciulla!!!! as good as the three tenors!! :)

Just thought it was a cute pic... another day... another set of new things to explore and discover with her!!!

noticing funny little things...

she is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings. It's not obvious that she notices and gets distracted at things from time to time.

I actually noticed some first little bits of toe jam today too. She's been wearing socks lately, and as you know, she doesn't get a bath EVERY day, so, the toes needed a little cleaning!

One of the other little unexplained things that she does every once in a while is have a weird or odd leg quiver. I've notice that her mouth does it from time to time too, but we haven't figured out exactly why she does it. She doesn't poop or have a dirty diaper when she has the leg quiver, so.. shrug

Yesterday Kari came over and babysat for the morning, letting Bethy sleep in which was really nice of her (Thanks Kari!!!). Oddly though, she was up alllll day!

My dad came down and we made a trip down to Mountain View to do some cleanup on the other place, and so my mom came down too and spent some more time with Lauren. I thought "oh great!! My mom can always put Lauren to sleep!" But by the time we got back, just before 9 or so, she had JUST fallen asleep. about 15 minutes later she was awake again, so we gave her a bath, cleaned out the toe jam, and she was up for a feeding and to bed.

Come about 4:00 this morning... she had slept the whole way through!! well.. not REALLY... but a good 7 hours of sleep!!!

Bethy and Lauren are now back to sleep! Sorry... no pictures this time!

experiencing that satisfaction after a good quality poop

Yup... we all have it, but we don't talk about it... when you are a little stopped up and then you get a chance to relax on the bottle(milk in this case) and then the rest of the world slows down, relaxes, and whooosh(sometimes bubbly or mixed with gas) out it comes. For some, its a sensation that builds for a couple days until we get some fiber in to help clean things out, sometimes it just a couple hours in building. The build is gradual and hardly noticeable, but the relief is relatively sudden and gratifying.

Ok... I'm probably making some of that up, most of which Lauren hasn't quite experienced yet even with her daily-growing consciousness. But this is a pic that might express it.... Or its the closest I'm gonna get until she starts talking or signing. And how do I know this? cuz she just pooped... I'd put evidence up on here, but I think talking about the poop experience is good enough without me having to show a dirty diaper. Or... if you guys would like to see the actual dirty bizness, feel free to comment about that.

Yesterday Grandma came and babysat for the better part of the day. Thanks Grandma!!! apparently a good 10oz went into her in the AM and she was sleepy for the rest of the day. I got home after work and another feeding and she was out like a light again. I picked her up from Bethy, put her on my chest, and wandered downstairs to watch a little tv and relax.... on the sofa, not on the can. I know it might look like I'm posing for the camera... but it's just how I lay so I turn and watch TV at the same time... read nothing into it :P

Another day gone.. Kar-bear is coming to visit today and babysit a little bit.... weeee!!! I think Bethy is going to make up a list of contact names and numbers for quick reference. Ahh the joys and little things to do here and there!!!

And by gosh golly... someone needs to make a bottle draining board that has some type of forced air-flow... setting them on the rack and just leaving them to naturally air-dry doesn't work so good around here.. You'd probably need to have like 50 bottles to rotate around for them to dry in time for the next uses. I've been saying for the past while that you can make a killing in baby products... I should chalk this up as something to spend a little time on.

bed bugs?

So I hope this is a trend to come in the future, or maybe its a sign that Lauren should see all of her relatives more often, but last night(sunday night) and friday night were two of the best nights of sleep I've had in a while. I don't know about Bethy, but I think there was only one feeding in the middle.

After the excitement of yesterday, we brought her home, let her relax a little bit and then decided it was bath time. We're getting better at bath time as she fusses less. Yes, there are still some minor kinks that need to be worked out in how Bethy and I interchange roles and do things best, but it's a lot easier to go through that learning process without the pressure of fussing at the same time.

The change for me is that when we used to give our cats baths, they were always pretty content with cooler water. You know, there is a temperature where water is warm, but it doesn't really start to bite or feet "hot," and that was always what my target was before. Putting Lauren in the same water causes some fuss. Last time Bethy prepped the bath, made it "hot", and we had less fussing, and since then... if "hot" means less fuss, then "hot" is better(or "hawt" as Sammy Sosa used to put it).

So we gave her the bath, and then she got fed. That put us at about... 8:30-9:30. While she was getting fed, I got to do the maintenance duty of taking care of the dirty work.... litter box and changing out the diaper champ... whew... stinky business.

And..... she's been sleeping since then... here's a pic of my little bed bug. you can't see her legs tucked under her, but she's curled up pretty tight.
This is kinda a transition spot for her. I think Bethy was holding her, and then went to take a shower, so she just put Lauren next to me on the bed in the meantime. All clean!!! And sleep for another couple of hours little one, you can have breakfast in bed.

A nice visit

Our parents had a BBQ today for the de Lallas and though Mr. de Lalla did not make it Lauren had a nice visit.

Before we left we took a picture of her in the outfit she was laughing in on an earlier post. This time she was just chilling.

It was the first time that Lauren got to visit with the Aunties and Uncles since the wedding. As she was passed around she began familiarizing herself with all the new faces that unbeknownst to her, she will see in many years to come.

She arrived very sleepy but with all the people around she immediately awakened to see what was going on. Auntie Di took her around to meet the guests and visit with Grandma for a while. After a few minutes of saying hi to everyone she realized she was hungry and began to fuss. Hearing her little cries of hunger we began to get her bottle ready.
Eric can write a dialog on what it takes to heat her bottle.He has had to heat many a bottle even under the duress of the baby crying inconsolably. He will probably expound on the art and science of how the bottle needs to be twirled and the cup you have the hot water in matters. But I digress...
Auntie Di proceeded to feed her and Lauren ate happily and steadily. Yes, she packed away 5 ounces without batting an eye. That is probably why she gained over 2 pounds in 2 weeks. Toward the end of the bottle she was transferred to Uncle Giff who fed her the rest of the bottle and proceeded to burp her.


Now I know she was tired but she fought sleep so that she could visit with everyone. Sleep finally won out when she was in Greg's arms. Too bad Greg's arm was also getting sleepy. Thanks to everyone who held her and gave her affection.

Thanks to Auntie Tin, Uncle , Auntie Viv, Uncle Gif, Auntie Di and Uncle Clem for the necklace she is wearing in this picture.

wriggling like a little worm...

Ok... so I'm guilty.... I woke her up.

After a long day with her grandma, we had put her on the bed, tummy-side down as we think she sleeps and digests better that way. She had her arms bent and hands up by her cheeks, and her legs tucked up tight to her too... and she was so comfy.... so what'd I do? I rolled her over... and she squirmed herself awake. In this case, I didn't have to put her back to sleep because it was already past 10pm... and feeding time.

So I picked her up... changed her, and handed her back to mom for the feeding. Picked up a couple of the water bottles for Bethy, and the other dirties and went downstairs.

I came up shortly after that.. .and apparently it was changing time again.... Big Time.

So there is this constant fear of the legendary triple poop. It can consume multiple diapers, countless baby wipes(no.. counting them is NOT your concern while you are experiencing it), run the gammut of emotions such as panic, despair, and disgust. It is a constant and lingering fear every time a diaper gets removed from the bum.

So I'm there, white knight, in to clean up the mess... and this time with the careful supervision of Lauren's mom, victim of and more experienced with the likes of the triple poop.

My first thought is ... wow.. this is a fresh one.. and there's lots of it. So I start wiping away. I hold the legs with the left, so the right side first, then the left, a little in the middle. If the wipe is dirty, then it gets tucked into the spent diaper for later disposal, and a fresh one is pulled from the warmer. The bum is next and all done.....

No.... wait.. "you missed a couple spots."

Now... dating back to baby care class, they warn you that often exposure to air, or coolness can stimulate a secondary, additional onslaughts of hazardous material.

"Hmm... where.. here?" I do another round of wiping.

"there's a spot there"

"I don't see it"

Mind you... continual wiping is a known stimulant.... I'm starting to get suspicious...

"looks pretty good to me" as I do another round, and the wipe comes up clean.

I quickly lay down the new diaper, tuck in the necessaries and pull the tapes down across the front.... disaster avoided... maybe there were additional rounds... maybe not.... but most importantly this time around, it'll be in the diaper, not on me, or on the changing table.

;)

Making funny faces...

New faces and expressions every day!! I don't remember exactly when I caught this one.. but Bethy and I thought it was pretty funny.

gaining weight..

Yes... we all know that after finishing college, and then after getting married... but lets not talk about us...

Lauren seems to be on a pretty steady track to gaining a goodly amount of weight. we might have a chubby baby yet.

A couple people have noticed the dual swirls of hair on her head. Some people say they are going to be bratty, some people say this and that... either way... here's a picture of it :)

This next pictures is just one of the many faces she makes... the quizzical look!

This next picture... well... what is there to say... so many funny things about it. On the right is Burly Bear... Bethy's favorite stuffed animal... and the recent recipient of a goodly amount of neglect... two competing factions for night time affections!!
Lauren? who knows... I don't recall if I had the Bee Gees playing.. I had set up this shot to give a little bit of scale compared to Burly Bear.

And apparently it can be dangerous to fall asleep with the little girl around... you are likely to be the target of a photo. No... that towel was not for MY drool.

So another couple days gone... she is still spending a goodly amount of time sleeping and eating... but her awake times definitely seem more alert and she's more reactive to her surroundings. Sometimes when she's in the swing, she stares at the little toys that dangle down... when she's feeding, she'll look around or react to sounds or people.

Another word of caution here...don't rub or play with her tummy after she's been fed, it can have a coating effect on you ;)

Another full day

Today was another full day for us. We had a hip ultrasound appointment at 8:45 am down in Palo Alto. We met Eric down there as he had to go to work afterwards.
The last couple of months during the pregnancy Lauren was breech with her toes by her ears or in front of her face. Since she was breech our pediatrician wanted an ultrasound done to make sure the hips aren't dislocated and are growing in a healthy manner.
As some of you know, Lauren likes to do full leg kicks when she is awake. These full leg kicks made it difficult for the ultrasound technician to get a good look. So the first hip took a little while. He had to hold the leg down and still. The second hip took no time at all as Lauren decided to fall asleep. I guess she was tired of struggling... Our pediatrician called later in the afternoon and said everything looked fine so she doesn't need to wear a brace. Thank goodness, as those red socks she likes to wear might not match. After that we both needed a nap...

At night we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Happy Birthday Mom!). Lauren wore a blue outfit and we brought along the white and blue cap that Grandma knitted for her (Thanks Grandma, we appreciate all the little gifts!) Lauren was wide awake for most of it. We think it had to do with how bright it was in there. It was also not your typical Chinese restaurant where there is a lot of white noise from people chattering. She would often turn to the person speaking loudly in our group. Mom, Karen and Mrs. Yi all got to hold her for a little bit. Even Greg held her while June put socks on her. Sorry the yellow socks still didn't match her blue outfit. She was tired but she was fighting off sleep as there was so much to look at in the restaurant: new people, new sounds, striped shirts etc.

Since she was up during dinner we were hoping she would fall asleep on the car ride home. Alas, the car ride was too short. Just as it seemed she was drifting off we got home.

Well it is now 11 and she is as sound asleep as Eric is and I hope to be in a few minutes.

the cute outfit...

No really.. she learned to laugh.... she she's laughing... not crying...

Anyways.... here are the pics..

The one month check up

So we started out the day going to the one month checkup. All went well on the car ride down as we made sure she was fed before we left. She likes the motion of the car like many babies do and she lets you know when the car isn't moving.

She now weighs 9 lbs... She definitely isn't as tiny as she used to be. The added weight now allows her to wear the cute clothes Eric mentioned earlier.

In discussions with the doctor about bowel movements Lauren decided to show Dr. Kenney what we were talking about. Eric of course cleaned her up and changed the diaper quickly, showing off his expertise :)

As many of you know the one month checkup includes a vaccination. The second Hep B shot in fact. I wasn't looking forward to it, but is one in the line of many vaccinations to come. Of course she cried and yes there were tears. I heard the cry of pain which I haven't heard before which of course was distressing to me. She has a little bloody band-aid to prove she received the shot.

All in all the trip wasn't too bad. We both need a nap now...

having cute little outfits!!!

Yes.. I know... but I forgot to take pictures.....

We went out to dim sum yesterday to see grandma and grandpa.... more to get out of the house than anything else. To go out, we put Lauren in this cute little Pooh outfit... and yes... I'll have to put her back in it and snap a couple shots off.. By the time I got around to doing it when I was home, she had already be stripped down to her onsie on the bottom because she was too hot.

So Bethy knows from some history of some chow fun that chinese food might not be the best thing to pass on to Lauren. It resulted in quite a bit of gas and discomfort for Lauren, but we'd thought we'd give it a try again, and have a bit of milk supply on hand so that if some of the first batches after the meal were gaseous again, then we'd have something to fall back on.

So we got her dressed up, packed into the car seat and off to dim sum. It was quite crowded, but we got seats. People do one of two things with babies that are small... either leave them in the car seat on a regular chair, or they do this thing with the high chair where they flip it upside down, and put the car seat in that. Some people say that the high chair thing is unstable, one of these times I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes.

So she was doing pretty good, or at least I couldn't hear her fuss over the white noise of Oriental Tea House. After a little while, grandma picked her up and put her to sleep.... and there she stayed for pretty much about 2/3rds of our time there.... sometimes with a napkit draped over her back to allow eating, but to prevent drips... quite an amusing site really.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. On the way back home, we stopped by Babys R Us and picked up some small supplies including some new bottles/nipples that are supposed to simulate breast feeding more than a regular silicon nipple does. I tried them out with her, and yes... she still has a tendency to fall asleep on the boob, even if it's a simulated one, but I powered through that and got 5 oz into her, albeit a little more time than before.

The rest of the afternoon/night went pretty uneventfully. As you can see now, it's morning, and supposedly she had some big poop diapers during the night, but... out of sight...out of mind.... as I've mentioned before... I've had them before, and I'll have them in the future, I'll spare you all the poopy details further on that topic ;)

I think our little girl is developing a bad habit of sleeping quite loudly.... I think this comes from either Bethy and her side of the family.... or maybe my dad... I of course.... don't snore at all... period... end of discussion. I'm not sure if it's just the way she is, or the gas that she has(maybe residual from dim sum) but she has a habit of pouting, crying out and stretching in the middle of the night. While you might think that this is cute when you are watching her do it, consider what it might be like every 20-30 minutes when you are trying to get some rest. Part of you is already programmed to wake up and react to situations, and the other part is trying to get some rest if it isn't a big deal!!! What to do!

Today we're off to see the Dr and see how much weight she's gained and how things are doing.... this Wed we have an ultrasound appointment to check her hips as a result of her being a breach baby. Busy week!

falling asleep on my chest...

Yup... I guess they all do it..... on the bean bag... on my chest.

I know this isn't necessarily why you read this, but the first picture is of our first addition to the family... it was a little bit less than 2 1/2 years ago.... when she was sleepy... she found somewhere comfy to sleep.

And guess what... Lauren found that place too :)

Bethy put her in some funny red little socks... hopefully she'll be a little more color coordinated in the future, but they certainly are cute.

Sure... there is a little diaper showing in some of these pictures, cut her some slack, she's starting to show signs of growing out of the onesies, along with the fact that she's growing out of the little diaper sizes into slightly bigger ones that we have around.

I know we missed the big b-day party for Kai... sorry Kai!

a double chin?

I noticed today that our little girl has a double chin.... maybe thats a good thing in that we're feeding her enough now?

She still has her typical furrowed little brow... but I think the last couple days have been pretty good from the feeding perspective..... or at least feeding her and us getting slightly more sleep. We're packing more into her these days, and she's sleeping longer.

Bethy said that Lauren had a little tummy-time yesterday, and my mom watched her sleep on her tummy a little bit today... and heard her... still having some gas issues. My mom came over and spent some time today, which I think was a needed break for Bethy during the day, and then definitely a needed break for me in the afternoon when I got home and afforded me a nap too. Thanks Mom!

She got a bath tonight, and fussed through most of it... then she fell asleep on the bottle.

I helped to try and finish off the bottle, but she was sleepy and left a little bit... fussed a bit till I swaddled her up, and hopefully she'll get some sleep now.

Sorry for the closeup pictures... it's what you get when you football-hold in one arm and take the picture with the other.

First is the double-chin action shot... and the 2nd is the swaddled pic with the furrowed brow!! Stop worrying little girl!!!

when everything is an effort

One of the first things that you notice when you have a new little one is that everything they do is an effort... a big one... Yawns are fierce.... sneezes are sudden and shocking... hiccups are body-wracking.

Our favorite expression of hers was what we used to call the "it's good!!" or "the Wallace"

I don't have pictures of either... but the "it's good" comes from one of her first reactions to immediately put her arms up... much like a football ref signaling for a good kick or a touchdown.

"The Wallace" comes from the Wallace and Grommit cartoon when Wallace would raise his hands up and shake his hands.... Lauren does this when she's startled or hears a sound in the middle of her sleep.

Its sad and exciting to see her go through these different phases. She's losing some of them as she gets older and more aware... but gaining some new ones... and I'll try to write these down as well.

One of the recurring themes in feeding her is the idea that she is a container... and the amount that you can put into has a direct relationship to how much is already in her, and more notably, how much is about to go out of her. So while you feed.... it's a good idea to pause every once in a while to burp so that you can pack more in, but also, if she happens to pee or poop during the feeding... then that might mean that you can pack more in... and packing more in means possibly getting her to sleep soundly for longer.... an important note for the future parents who will be short on sleep!!

fighting that feeling...

of sleep....

I can remember it myself... and that's not counting the probably endless number of times that my parents told me that I was tired... but fighting sleepiness is something I still battle on a daily basis(dang meetings).

So I took a nap when I got home... got awoken by work(phantom network issue) and then Bethy came back up and I was holding Lauren. Now I have an ongoing problem in that either I give off a lot of heat, she gives off a lot of heat... or there is just alot of heat reflection going on. Anyway... I was holding her and walking around a little bit trying to get her to go to sleep. Her eyes rolled back a couple times, and I could tell she was drifting in an out of consciousness... obviously trying to fight the sleep. While she wasn't soundly asleep, I did put her into the little blue bouncer.... where she proceeded for the next 5 minutes to groan a bit, fidget a little bit.. and fight the sleep.... but as we all know.... the sleep won over :) and this picture is what it looks like... succumbed at the last!

There still seems to be a gap between what is the best way to feed her. I think the issue of measurement and how much Lauren is getting fed from the bottle vs from the breast might become something that we'll explore further. Bethy says that Lauren is developing a bad habit of dilly-dallying while breastfeeding, where when I feed her with the bottle, the 3-5 oz goes in... and I'm sure of it ;)

In regards to pictures... there are 2 shots that continue to be hard to catch.... one is the ever-elusive dimple shot... the other is the pouty lip. Thank goodness she doesn't pout a lot right now, and I'm already foreseeing it as something that I'm going to have a problem with it as a dad in the future, so if I'm going to have to see it, then you all can see it too so you can be supportive of me :P

Thats all for now!!!!! sleep tight!!!!

making little fists with your bare feet!!!

John McClane did it, and my little girl does it when we give her a bath and I try to wash the little tiny piglets.

So word was that she was up ALLLLLLLLLL day.... amazing.. hopefully she'll get over the idea of being up and sleep allllll night!!!

Actually... there were no new pictures for today, so I'll chuck in a couple from the hospital....

#1 is her first bath. I actually do have this on tape... The lady showed me how to bath her(yeah.. ignored most of that) while I taped it

#2 is me pushing her in the little cart. At El Camino Hospital, they are quite strict with the security stuff. The little one gets an arm and a leg bracelet with a number that matches bracelets for both the mom and dad. All transportation of the little one is to be done in the cart. If anyone is seen with a little one in their arms in public spaces(even if the cart is nearby) then they will allegedly swoop in, take the little one back to the nursery and reprimand you. Every time you pick up the baby from the nursery, you have to ring a little bell, show the camera your bracelet, and then when you actually do take the baby, they will match up the bracelets again to make sure everything is legit.




More to come later.. hopefully she'll go to sleep soon!

Identification and Maneurvering Change ....

First, some groundwork:

Given #1) Diapers, being disposable are worth changing multiple times instead of clothes. Not only are they cheaper, but given that clothes are meant to compliment their changing, are easier to deal with than the task of changing the clothes
Given #2) Yes... you will have to change diapers, and in short order anyway, waiting to change a diaper is not a good option because of Given #1

With that out of the way, here we go:

A) Baby needs to be changed, You place her down on the changing mat or whatever you have(preferably soft). Orient the baby facing you, toes closest, head furthest. If there are clothes or a onesie, unsnap and inspect

B) You can tell the type usually without opening:
#1) usually kinda puffy, not so smelly
#2) usually not as puffy... a little smelly

If it's not one of the above, then either she doesn't need to be changed yet, or its not hazardous enough (at this point) to really be notable.... (you'll be thankful for these).

C) At this point, usually I pull a diaper out, and pre-stretch it. Not really stretching like you do with a bio-band or the sort, but as you'll see, they come packed in pretty tight into the packages, so opening it up so that it can be later positioned with a single hand will pay dividends. This usually involves un-sticking the paper portions from itself, opening the waist areas so they are spread out, and re-orienting the diaper when you place it down so that you can pick it up and don't have to figure if you need to flip it around for front or back.

D) Pull out a baby wipe. Usually you are going to keep these in some type of receptacle that holds the moisture. We have a wipe-warmer, I'm not sure if this is for the baby or for the changer's hands.... she cries either way when she gets changed. Sometimes you might need multiple wipes, so it might be best to have easy access.

E) Un-tape the diaper, and peel the front back to see what the damage is. Now this part isn't hazardous for me, as I have a little girl. I have heard that little boy's tend to "relax" when exposed to air, so you might be careful about that.

F) Ok.. this is where it can start to get hazardous, so every step needs to be taken with a certain amount of caution and ability to react(yes... a tall order in the wee-hours of the night). After I have surveyed what the damage is, with one hand, grab the baby wipe, with the other hand, carefully roll or fold down the front of the diaper into itself(no, you don't want whatever it is all over the place.

G) Once you have the front side of the potentially toxic surface somewhat contained, you'll need to corral the legs. Typically I do a one-hand grab of the legs, one ankle at a time. As I'm right handed, I prefer the baby wipe in my right hand, opposite for those of you who think the world is backwards. I'll grab the right ankle(your left side) between my pinky and ring finger, and her left ankle(your right side) between my middle and pointer finger. With this grab, I'm able to lift with one hand, and wipe with the other.

H) If you've been reading carefully, I haven't removed the previous old diaper yet... yes that is by design. That is your fall-back, if things go awry, you can set the baby back down into the existing diaper, evacuate, and wait till the scene settles again.

I) Wiping - its good practice to wipe from front to back. No need to contaminate the little girls areas. Make sure you get in all the little folds of skin and fat. Make sure that you cover the cheeks, and if it was especially explosive, make sure that you cover the back as well. If it takes an extra wipe or so, fine. Usually I can get away with a single wipe, most I've ever used on a single change is 4.

J) When you are done with the baby wipe, simply drop it into the diaper that is already right there . Your used diaper will act as a containment device for the toxic materials as they are set aside and await transport.

K) Here we approach a series of steps that, if done quickly and efficiently, can minimize(not eliminate) further disaster.

1. Roll the used diaper up with the wipe inside
2. Set the used diaper aside(or into the daiper champ)
3. Place a new diaper down

Mind you, all of this is done with a single hand. The same hand that was working the action with the wipe. The other hand should still be occupied by holding the ankles of the baby up.

All of this must be done as quickly and smoothly as possible. Any delays during this time could and will prove costly at one time or another.

L) Once the diaper is in place, you can lower the baby back into it. As your little one changes sizes, the fitment into the diaper will change as well... it's a bit weird, but you'll get used to it. Fold up the front, hold the front in place with one hand while the off-hand loosens and pulls the backside tape around front. Repeat this on both sides.

M) Put the clothes back on, pick your little one back up, and yer done!!!!

Gas futures...

Gas futures, which have happened to be a cause of lost sleep, a substantial amount of grief, and target of a couple treatments... seems to be on the decline....

Bethy seems to have calmed them a bit by adjusting her diet... and at the same time.. the emissions aren't taking the same toll on her. Granted that she does still have some gas, she just cried out, farted, cried out, farted, and went back to sleep... never even cracking an eye.

a good sign...

when Big Brother knows.....

Yup... her social security card came today.... so it's kinda official. I'm not exactly sure when she's going to be able to sign it.

So I guess there were a couple good feedings today... I got home and she was asleep... I wanted to get some stuff done around the house so I let bethy feed her.. and she was down for the count for the rest of the evening.... I heard that her grandparents were over and got almost half a dozen ounces into her too. I think just about now (9:30ish) she's about to wake up for another round... but given that she was so sleepy, Bethy and I got a little bit done around the house.

Yes... we know that she isn't really supposed to be sleeping this way... one of us was in the room the whole time she was sleeping so it was ok.... Just thought it was a cute picture!

More housekeeping

So I actually got some stuff done this weekend... doesn't mean that there isn't still a ton to do... but ...

Bethy might say different, as I went out to take care of the rest of our window dressing purchase down at JCP, but I think we are becoming more sensitive to the fact that we need to feed her more..... It's kinda a tough gauge of how much she is really eating when it comes straight from the boob, and so we are going through a learning process there too.

Our friend Vincy came over... she has a couple fetishes that we allow her to exact on Lauren... head and toe smelling.... pretty harmless really. Here's a pic of her and Lauren in the late afternoon/eve around dinner...

The other picture here is when Greg/June came over to visit after their honeymoon(Congrats again!!!) and brought a cute little hat and bib for Lauren.... she was sleeping at the time, but that didn't stop us from dressing her up!!!


And sure.... for fun's sake.. here's a picture of when she was just hours old and under a heatlamp thingy. I don't remember if this was before or after her bath. Yes... I have the deer in headlights look... is that a surprise? Thanks to Dad for the picture.

Some family today....

So today I think was a tiring day for our little girl.... lots of excitement in seeing her new Auntie.... saying bye to grandpa, and spending time with an uncle and her other grandparents!!!

The day started off with me trying to comfort her a little with the help of a binky... check out the cool stylin's of a little star and a octopus on her back!! (Thanks Tam!!!)

Then when we went to have dinner up in oakland... auntie June was holding her and making the dimple appear!!! We tried to catch it on camera... it's very quick.. and I think a little bit shy. Here is a picture where you can BARELY see the inflection... but it's there... and quite cute....

Then here's a pic of her and Juney.... then Juney and Greg making funny faces...

As a followup to my previous post.... we all found out where the poop was...

While comfortably relaxing in her grandma's arms... it came out... and spilled out a bit... so I changed... only to have to change her again in another 15 minutes... and then again about 30 mins after that.. 3 diapers later.. I think she' got it out of her system.... She was REALLY good allllll night... even when she got dragged out to JC Penny for us to shop for window coverings... What a day.. hopefully she'll sleep well tonight!

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Some pictures and....

the last couple days haven't been too bad at all... of course that's with me working most of friday and being gone for a 4-hr block so far today....

We gave her a bath last night and that went pretty well.. she fussed through most of it but was pretty content when we were done.

I put her in a onesie this morning, and they fit fine mostly.... except for her head.. getting them around her big noggin is .. scary?

Here are some pics... she's doing good... she still has large bouts of gas... and come to think of it.. I don't know when the last time she had a poopy diaper.. that's kinda scary too... hmmm

On with the pictures!!! :)

an older memory

Here's a pic of when we were still in the hospital. I was going through some of the pictures that I have in a folder and came across this one and couldn't help but put it up and add another entry.

This is one of my very first memories of her.... in her first day(or 24 hours) she didn't really have the full and loud cry that she has now... her cries back then were more along the lines of a coo...

Apparently when mom has a c-section, then the little ones don't go through quite the same stress, and at the same time, don't get all the liquid out of their lungs naturally. The people in the the operating room did run a tube around and clear out alot of the fluid, but they said that her sneezing from time to time also helps to clear the lungs.

So maybe this is why the first cries were just more like coos than they were full cries... I still remember them... it seems so long ago now... and in a small way, almost wish that she was still that way(but of course not at the same time).

So again.. thanks everyone for all the pictures... please, if you come and visit, please feel free to take as many as you want. Bethy and I don't habitually take pictures, but we aren't opposed to it at all.. sometimes maybe we just get caught up in it and forget... (poor, I know). I'll work on it.

Enjoy the pics... thanks to my dad for these!!!

another step...

Not sure when Bethy noticed this, but I think she's starting to become even more aware.

I got home from work today.... got my little girl from Mom and gave her a bottle.... the boob will put her to sleep, but the bottle doesn't. So I went with bottle from the standpoint that maybe if she is up from 6-8, then maybe she'll have a beter chance at sleeping more of the night.

A pretty typical feeding followed by the usual bout of hiccups. and for the past hour plus, she's either been in the swing while I grab a bite to eat, or she's been in my lap... flailing around. She fussed a bit as usual as I've changed her now 3x since I've been home... a pee, a poop and another pee. Hopefully she'll last till at least 8:30 before getting fussy again.

When I was feeding her however, I saw that she saw Mom, and her eyes followed her around a bit.... all the little things are so amazing!!!!

She seems like she is getting so long!!!


Attached here is a pic that my dad took a week or so ago... a real cutie!!!!

3 weeks old yippee!

So yesterday marked 3 weeks for Lauren. I am happy that she is healthy and growing. She seems to be getting longer instead of fatter but she is definitely chubbier than when she was born. It is also very interesting to hear her make all these new noises outside of the crying. I find them all funny but that might just be the hormones talking.

I have no perspective on how fussy babies are supposed to be even with all my nieces and nephews. I would probably rate Lauren in the middle as far as fussiness, even though I think Eric thinks she is really fussy. She likes to be held and walked. She was fussing last night around midnight and Eric wanted to know why. She was just tired/sleepy but because I was tired and sleepy I didn't explain it to Eric. Walking her and soothing her for an hour takes its toll on my communication skills.

It is interesting to read the posts Eric has been writing as it is a different perspective and we don't get a chance to talk as much as we used to. I try to make sure he spends bonding time with her even though I know some of it distresses him because he doesn't know what to do about the crying. I think all parents go through it. Each day we learn something new about Lauren and about ourselves. Hopefully it is good things, but not always lol.

As we get into more of a routine I will try harder to post more often...