So…um…having a little baby takes up alot one’s free time. So the blogging thing kinda fell off the radar for a little bit.
However here are three quick stories from the first three weeks of Lily’s life:
Blowout: In the first week of Lily’s life I tried to give my wife a much needed nap. I sent her upstairs while the two dogs, Lily, and myself stayed downstairs. The four of us were doing just fine-Lily asleep in my lap on the couch, Yoda sleeping to on my left side, Spike dozing on the right- and then I heard “PPPHHHHRRR” coming from Lily’s backside. ‘okay,’ I thought ’she just pooped, but she’s still asleep and there’s nothing running down her legs. There’s no need to wake her up and change her diaper now.”
Soon after another “PPPHHHHHRRR” this time with stuff coming out her diaper, down her legs and onto my shirt and pants. It was a loud enough sound to wake Lily (who started crying), Spike (who jumped off the couch and started barking at Lily), and Yoda (who realized there was a new smell that was near him and wanted to check it out).
So there I was, with a crying, dirty baby, a dog barking at the crying baby, and the other dog trying to smell and lick the poop off my pants and shirt. I quickly stood up in an attempt to:
A: move away from the dog licking my shirt and pants;
B: hover over the barking dog to try and show him who’s in charge;
C: get in a better position to rock/bounce the baby to try and calm her down.
I barely accomplished goal A with this act. The baby’s still crying, one dog was still barking and backing away from me, while the other has jumped off the couch and tried to crawl up my leg. On to plan B.
With the crying baby in hand, I managed to herd both dogs into their crates and shut the doors. Next I grabbed the diaper bag, pulled out the changing pad, placed it on the couch, then placed Lily on the changing pad. By now both Spike and Yoda were barking and howling- one out of fear of the crying newborn, the other out of frustration for not being able to lick the poop off my shirt. I get a diaper out to change Lily and realized the I’ve held Lily in every position close to my body and most of my shirt is covered. Before I changed her I decided to take my shirt off knowing full well that I’ve done laundry today and all I’ll need to do is go to basement for some clean clothes.
I cleaned up Lily, changed her diaper, and cleaned up the changing area–Lily’s still crying, but the dogs calmed down; it’s time to take care of Dad. So Lily and I head for the basement-I this is when I first discovered that walking up and down stairs will calm her down. By the time we reached the basement, Lily had fallen asleep in my arms again. I’m tired of wearing clothes that have crap on them, so as I’m walking to the washer and dryer I also grab a near by washcloth, wrap it around my hand and start pulling off my pants. I opened up the dryer and realize I’ve forgotten to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
So, I’m standing in the basement, in my boxer, but the baby is calm, the dogs have stopped barking, and my wife is still asleep. I wait another twenty minutes and then my wife comes downstairs to find the dogs in their crates, me in my boxers sitting on the couch and Lily asleep in my arms. “What happened?” she asks.
It’s a long story.
Baby Animal Kingdom: My brother-in-law was in town when Lily was two weeks old and the first time he held her in his arm he did what any dad who do: sway back and forth, bounce her up and down etc. Then he did something that I didn’t expect he started making a sound that was something between an duck quack and frog crock. Kinda like “quargg, quargg, quargg” to which Lily responded by looking right at him.
Through out the week, as Lily different clothes and used more clothes, there seemed to be a pattern of animals that kept appearing which has led me to conclude that baby’s (at least this one) have a total six animals in their world:
The dog (which is usually reserved for boys);
The lamb/sheep (which is for girls);
The duck (gender neutral);
The frog (gender neutral as well);
The bunny (cute and furry);
The bear (cute, furry, and sleeps alot).
A glimpse into the past: My parents arrived when Lily was about three weeks old and I knew my mom would be head over heels excited, but what surprised me was how excited my father was to see and hold his granddaughter. I’ve never seen my father affectionate toward children or babys, come to think of it I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him hold a baby in my life. But he couldn’t wait to hold her, bounce her, and talk to her. His favorite activity was pushing the stroller for our evening walks all the while talking about various things to Lily.
He even found it pretty amusing when Lily threw up on his Sunday church outfit, taking everything in stride.
Seeing my father with Lily gave me an glimpse of what kind of a father he was in those early days of me and my brother.
