Now Where Is That Camera?

My second week back at work has passed relatively uneventfully. I didn't get to get out and play with the boys... I'm sequestered in the office until I get my new Captain and Engineer hired. I have the Engineer cert and a lot of great resumes from which to choose. Monday I'll see the Captain cert (I hope). The only other news at work is about my desk. The Thursday before Ada-Ruth was both I'd raised it up to become a standing desk. Since then there have apparently been complaints since I was looking over the cubicle walls and I was asked to return to ground level. Bah! Conventionalists!

Ada-Ruth news: no only is she smiling more, she's reacting to our actions more as well. I can almost make her smile at will, provided she's not being fussy. And she's increasingly fussy. Last night it took two hours to get her to fall asleep and during those two hours she didn't seem to have a position of comfort.

Speaking of position of comfort, our repertoire of soothing skills is increasing every day. One thing we've discovered is that she enjoying doing the twist. She also enjoys being lifted by her arms. And... I think she enjoys being fussy for the last couple of hours of the day.

Still More Snow

Today I realized that this weekend is our first stab at our new 'normal'. We have been admittedly fortunate in that both Kimberly and I have been able to take so much time off from work for Ada-Ruth, not to mention all the help we've enjoyed from friends and family. It's certainly helped us ease into our new life. And Kimberly will remain at home for another month and a half, so the easing does continue. But after working this week I'm struck by how much more there is to do on my weekends. Or perhaps, more accurately, how little free time I feel like I have. Knocking out a couple chores a day is no longer adequate.

But let me hasten to point out that things are still going swimmingly, relatively speaking. Granny Southern is still able to come up and help out around the house and I am currently working a 4-10 schedule at work, so the place hasn't fallen completely apart.

In other news, Ada-Ruth continues to be a joy. Our most recent scare occurred last night shortly after I re-arranged the entertainment area. With the couch relocated the light fell differently upon her head, highlighting her little fontanelle. Since it was the first time that Kimberly or I had seen it in such sharp relief, we were concerned that it might be sunken, a symptom of dehydration. Naturally when we went to change her diaper and check, she peed all over and giggled.

Finally, it has snowed again. I realized with chagrin that we have more sidewalk and driveway to shovel than we'd had in Chicago. Fortunately all of the snow to date has been powder and fairly easy to move. Even still, I think I want a snowblower, preferably a tractor mounted one....

5 Weeks Today

Sometime later this evening Ada-Ruth Lorraine will be 5 weeks of age. Where has the time gone? She's heavier, longer and ... fussier. Somewhat. She's still wonderful and seemingly happy. She's smiling more and her once seemingly random collection of facial expressions is more or less resolving into a discreet handful. There's the 'smile' (see either side here), the thousand yard stare of the merciless killer (see the pic with Granny Southern on left), the sassy, brassy, 'in your face' street-wise urchin (see on the right here), and then there's still the random collection which she whips out when she's having a movement in your lap. And if what we are reading is correct she's on the verge of 'talking', not with words of course, but "with increasing goos, gurgles, and grunts". For the record, her 'word' of choice is the grunt.

In other news I went back to work this week. It's admittedly been nice to be able to get out of the house and spend some time out burning the world down. It has raised a couple problems, however. The first and foremost being sleep. If Ada-Ruth gets up three times during the night and stays awake for an hour each time it was a no big deal when I didn't have to get up at any particular time. But when the alarm goes off at 5 and my total sleep for the evening amounts to roughly 2 hours, it makes for a relatively long day. Fortunately Ada-Ruth is fully prepared to nap when I get home each night. And so is Tycho.

The Daily?

Okay, so now I'm no where near being daily with the Ada-Ruth Lorraine postings. Please forgive me. The past two weeks have been so fun-filled I haven't had the time.

First and foremost, Ada-Ruth continues to grow and change. This past week we took her in for her first pediatrician visit (with Dr. Fabio). She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces and was at 21 inches in length. This puts her at the top end of the normal range of growth which is a relief. Going into the visit we already knew she wasn't in the same sort of low-growth danger our lactation consultant had expressed some concern about a couple weeks ago, so Fabio's info was reassuring more-so than surprising.

Other Ada-Ruth developments aren't as definitive. It seems as though she's becoming more expressive, but as with her earlier facial expressions nothing is particularly lasting or predictable. The other remarkable change since the last post has been her desire to move, thus creating a third reason for her to cry. The first two were hunger and dirty diaper. Now she'll start to fuss, refuse to eat and have a clean diaper. So I'll lift her upright and bounce her gently up and down, seemingly the only act which will calm her. And so I have become a Johnny Jump Up.

The other big news here has been the Thanksgiving week. As mentioned in an earlier post, Gramma and Grampa Weber came to visit for the whole week, joined later by the Grandparents Southern, David and Melissa, Paul and Anita, Jeffrey, Jeannie and Becky and ... well, that was it. At this time all the reports are in and all are favorable. Everyone managed to get home without incident in spite of some weather in the Midwest. We even got a few inches of snow a few days later. Somehow Judy even managed to get all of the leftovers into our refrigerator.

David, Melissa, Paul and Anita all spent their last night (in the area) at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park of which Anita got some excellent pictures.

The Calm Before the Storm

Things on the Front Range continue to develop. As mentioned in the last D.A.R.L.ing, G-Ma & G-Pa Weber arrived the other day, bearing many gifts. In exchange we have 'let' them hold Ada-Ruth non-stop, an arrangement which has made all parties pretty happy. Gramma Weber insists that Ada-Ruth herself has been smiling more so than just a brief stop in her transitory rainbow of facial expressions and Kimberly is re-learning about the outside world.

In other news, yesterday Granny Southern came up and all the girls went to High Tea. Not surprisingly, Ada-Ruth was the best dressed.

PS: Ella & Tycho remain ever vigilant. Tycho maintains a watchful gaze on the far horizon whilst Ella ensures our guests aren't about any funny business.

PPS: I think I have found my new favorite photo of my daughter...SASSY!

The "Daily" Ada-Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.23 - The other grandparents

In the news, yesterday the Southerns came up to relieve Kimberly and me so that we could see a movie. Our choice: Quantum of Solace. Our reviews weren't favorable. Since Kimberly tries not to say anything at all unless she can say something nice, her review is : "I liked the different fonts they used when they changed cities." I don't have her restraint. My review : "The term 'plot holes' suggests that there is a continuous fabric into which holes can be poked." So that was a wash.

Then today the Weber grandparents arrived and they appear to be smitten with little Miss Ada-Ruth. They, like so many before them, came bearing gifts. I won't bore you with all of them, save for the shoes. They have soles! I don't get it.

I hope that this brief missive finds you all well

"Daily" Ada-Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.21 - the first 14 days

Well, there has been yet another break from the 'Daily' schedule. We are at two weeks and this is where it all breaks down I guess. Personally I have come around to the realization that other people don't find pictures of my sleeping daughter as consistently enchanting as I do. And since Ada-Ruth has only two states, of which only one is rated 'G', I'm slowing down I guess. In any instance, she is doing very well. We're getting into a sort of a nightly routine and the big question I have is this: are we crazy for waking her up to feed her at 4am? Shouldn't we wait for her to wake us?

Anyway, today has been a somewhat quiet day. I've been working on out budget to see what we can do to prepare for Ms. Ada-Ruth's future. At this point in time, not a lot. Thank you free market!

Yesterday was far more entertaining. As I may have mentioned to some of you earlier, we have had a huge pile of branches on the driveway for a couple weeks now. Since I do not now have a pickup with which to remove said pile, I have explored a couple options. The first being hiring someone to remove it. The first (and only) quote I got was >$500. That same day my neighbor was having a tree removed and so I chatted up the arborists with their big, wonderful claw and truck. They would have done it for about $65 if they'd had the room in their truck. They assured me that they would be by again sometime the second week after Thanksgiving (too late). In any instance, the whole point of asking other people to do it was so I could spend time with Ada-Ruth, but since I'm not lactating she's not real interested in spending time with me. So I schlepped on down to Home Depot and rented a truck. Four loads later the pile was gone.

While I was driving around Longmont with this rental, I discovered a number of things. I learned that when you have a truckload of limbs piled higher than your cab, people are reluctant to tailgate you. I learned (courtesy of the radio, thank you) that twins from Longmont are in the December issue of Playboy. Perhaps it is a sign of my age that I found the beautifully restored Dodge Powerwagon I discovered far more titillating.

Once done hauling away the fruit pits of my earlier labor, I had some time to continue to organize my 'shop'. They previous owners had left some old kitchen cabinets and a pegboard. All was going great until I put up the hammer Jim had given me as a gift...

I hope all is going well with all of you. I appreciate your patience as the Daily Ada-Ruth becomes less daily....

John

PS: I know you are all desperate to know how the dogs are whiling away the days as they wait for Ada-Ruth to become ambulatory. Here is a partial answer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSRlmRNnz1w

Daily Ada Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.19 - long days, longer nights

Not a lot to report, just livin' life over here. Ada-Ruth is enjoying longer and longer periods of being awake, and becoming increasingly expressive. Sorry to report that things are a bit too hectic for a lot of pics right now. I'll send more soon...

Daily Ada-Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.17 - poo at last

WARNING: this was a relatively graphic day. Read at your own risk.

Hello all,

This morning we enjoyed another visit from our lactation consultant and she wasn't nearly as insouciant about Ada-Ruth's lack of bowel movements as we had become. So we were given new marching orders: feed and pump every two hours. Guess what, it worked. About 6:15 mountain time I began dealing with a prodigious pile. We'd been told this morning that she was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and now I wonder how much of it was ... this.

Anyway, this and the fact that her umbilical stump finally fell off, resulted in her first bath.

All's well that ends well. Another great day with our daughter.

My best to you all,
John

PS: Here's a video from the morning where Ada-Ruth has some gorgeous, wide-open eyes and hiccups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYJyGICGgy4

Daily Ada-Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.16.01 - The morning after

Today is the day after my birthday and has been quite pleasant. Ada-Ruth didn't allow as wonderful a night of sleep as the previous evening, but it was still pretty good. There are a couple things were are becoming increasingly apparent as time wears on. First, Ada-Ruth may be a bit retentive. It has been three days since she has had a movement. Not terribly unusual, I know, but we are first time parents (FTPs) so we are obliged to over-analyze it. Second, Ada-Ruth doesn't really belch. Or burp. If she needs to get anything out of her upper GI, she expels a fair bit of it. This has happened twice now and it's fairly dramatic, which doesn't help assuage the concerns of FTPs. She did it again last night and believe it or not, she survived! As a bonus, her mom and dad got an aerobic workout without leaving the nursery.

Today we were visited by Chad and Laura Severson, who are in Colorado to celebrate his Air Force Academy 20 year reunion. They popped by to see Ada-Ruth and share lunch with those of us who have graduated to solids. It was a real pleasure to see them again.

I have also appropriated a couple of their photos. The first is the fifth attachment, a family photo. It's a fairly self-explanatory, very nice family photo of us (thank you Chad and Laura). The second is the sixth attachment. For the uninitiated, shortly after we moved into 2937 Mountain View, our dogs quickly developed a four phase game to play in the house. Chad captured Tycho in mid-leap during phase one, the part where I dangle a chew toy just out of reach, a few feet in the air. Most typically Tycho will be the one to actually catch it and thus begins phase two: Tycho teasing Ella in the living room. Phase three begins when Ella gets a hold of it and the two have a tug of war in the living room. Phase four is when Ella frees the toy from Tycho's mincing bite and teases him by circling the center wall with it.

I am also including a couple of pictures of Ada-Ruth's feet. I think that they are rather large, but having only the one child really don't have any idea.

Daily Ada Ruth Lorraine 2008.11.15.01 - Happy birthday to me!

As you may or may not be aware, today is my birthday. I am not now, nor have I really ever been since leaving home, particularly interested in celebrating this date. It is normally just another day. But this particular anniversary is different for obvious reasons. I am grateful and euphoric and tickled by the turn my life has recently taken. And almost as though she somehow knows that today is significant for me, Ada-Ruth only woke us up once last night and let us sleep in until around 8. Trust me, that was a pretty awesome gift.

As I mentioned, Ada-Ruth slept very well last night and is quietly cuddly this morning. I don't know if it's an anomaly or she's adjusting to being out of the womb or Kimberly and I have refined our technique, but it's nice. I have to admit, hearing her cry makes me uneasy. The first thing I want to do is feed her and since Kimberly isn't always available, that isn't always an option. So I've gotten better at soothing her in other ways. Witness picture #2. Ada-Ruth, like her mother so I hear, enjoys being swung about like a football. And if you witness pic #1, laying her atop my chest is a way to get another half hour of sleep in the morning. Even when tightly swaddled she manages to scootch up to wedge her head under my chin.

Love,
John

Daily Vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erwLCrlJTss