Wish Hale a Happy Zeroth Birthday!

Happy Zero Day!



Yesterday, April 22nd, was Hale's due date. He's now no longer negative years old, having advanced into the zeros.

The blog has been quiet since we brought him home, two and half weeks ago. But the camera hasn't.

Meet Larry Lobster.

Long story about Larry. Couple stories Actually. Hale's wearing a onesie from our friends Michael and Michele who run El El Frijoles, a taqueria in Maine. Michele was a teacher at JMSG with Amy, and Michael a photographer buddy of mine. Then they moved to Maine. We miss them.

Hale's got a buddy over there he'll meet over lobster tacos some summer, name of Jasper Wedgwood.

Ask Hale about Larry Lobster sometime.


Yes, Grandma Patsy, babies sometimes do that. Even in your house!


Thanks Grandpa Don for our latest Family Portrait!


Not falling, not flying; sleeping.


This one goes out to my brother Stevo, whom I think Hale resembles in this picture. And not just because his face is all squishy, either.


In order to take a baby home, you don't have to take classes, or get a licence, or become certified, or pass a test... but you do get a DVD!

I'll take the NEW ones, please.

My mom was looking on Amazon, where she'd bought us a pack of diapers before (so they flash a bunch of diaper ads each time you log in forever thereafter). Thanks, Mom!

She noted that you have the option to buy either new or used Pampers Swaddlers Newborns, for the same price.

Now, I don't want to be a snob or anything, but I'm thinking I'd prefer the new ones.

For now though, it's a moot point, as we've been gifted several weeks of diaper service from Seattle Diaper Service. Pretty exciting, this no-strings entree into the world of classic-style (and environmentally friendlier) diapering. Thanks, lovely neighbor G.

We'll let you know how it goes. I expect it will feel good not throwing out all those little wads of chemicals and paper all the time.

Homecoming (We Are In Our Numbers!)

Yesterday Hale passed his car seat test. Which is a way to back into a bit longer story. But the carseat test? That's where they stick him on the monitor and stuff him in his carseat for 90 minutes. If he doesn't throw any alarms, he wins the ticket to ride.


It's all come a bit more quickly than we expected--him pretty much all of a sudden eating all eight of his eight daily meals by mouth ("He nippled eight out of eight!" they told us. Still not used to that verb).

Which, I just did a bit of quick math, is a heck of a lot of milk. Okay, real quick: Hale weighs just about seven pounds--6lbs, 15oz.--and he eats 60 grams (2 oz.) of milk per sitting, eight times a day. I weigh about 30 times what he weighs. If I ate like he did, I'd drink a half gallon of milk every three hours, round the clock. Four gallons a day.

So huge news, what had been looking like


SPRUNG!


I fitted the car seat...


(and then made sure the optional Mom-Along® was properly deployed in the rear passenger seat.)


Hale was all eyes, all the way home. No crying, just a lot of wide eyes. We told him about the city as we drove down Denny way.


Looking at the lights.


We got home and Kristin brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate his homecoming. Love this place we live!


And another family portrait. Hale at home.

It was a great night. He was up for a fair amount of it, and we're tired. But it wasn't nutso. It was perfectly wonderful.

We did a lot of very late-night making of mental notes:

'Note to self: Get a system for keeping cloths and wipes here where we change him.'
'Note to self: Figure out how to nap.'
'Note to self: I know this is pretty hard right now, but I know this is nothing, and that it could get a whole lot harder. Wonder what that's like.'
'Note to self: Holy crap... we got a kid. right here in our house. ours.'

It was sweet.

Today, the weather in Seattle continued in its glorious vein, and we couldn't stay inside. We went on safari around our building and borrowed several different baby carrier devices, and settled on one we felt comfortable sticking Hale in. Then we took a walk.

As a family.

I fed Hale a bottle in the greenbelt park on the ridge behind our house. He chowed the whole thing and never spit a drop on the jostly ride home. Amazing things, these babies. Like a tiny person.

Now, Amy's having a nap, and I'm about to go join her. Rich.

Welcome, Gnome! (Big Day!)

More to come.

Dads I admire holding Hale!

Hale has a bounty of male role models! He is a very lucky boy. 

Hale is on the fast track!

(If you look closely, you can see that his hat says Harley Davidson, a gift from his favorite uncle-in-law, Mike. Don't tell my mom, but I am guessing Hale will get to ride on the back of one as soon he big enough. My sister's family will see to it.)

Hale took a bottle 8 out of 8 times yesterday, minus a few ml. here and there. This is a Big Deal. Eating without the tube in his nose is the last test he has to pass in order to get sprung from Group Health Cooperative, the happiest hospital on earth. 

So, I am not sure exactly when we get to bundle him in our new car seat (the Graco Snugride in Melbourne–Melbourne IS a color, not just a city in Australia. It is for a boy. You can tell because it is blue, not pink, like the Victoria, also not just a city in Australia.), but it is going to be soon. 

Cross your fingers, in the next week-ish, Hale will be a resident of West Seattle. 

Are we ready? Yes! YEs! YES! Have we finished remodeling our apartment? No. Do we feel like parents of a almost 7 week old? Not really. Are we dying to leave the love and safety and experience of the wise nurses and Group Health Cooperative. Heck No! Scary. 

But are we ready?

YeS! So ready. 

I know this will wear off quickly, but right now, I would welcome his middle of the night cries. I am ready. We are ready. I miss him. We miss him, dearly. 

So, every three hours (6,9,12,3,6,9,12,3) be thinking Bottle, Bottle, Bottle, Hale, Hale, Hale. Breast feeding is the goal. I practice with him before his feedings, but apparently he is not quite ready for this yet. It will come though. I will be following up with the lactation nurses in the coming weeks. Long live the La Leche League, Yo!

I am going to go make Hale's bed right now. We got loaned a co-sleeper and I am itching to put blankets on it –put them receiving blankets to use. Finally I know what they are for and why they are called 'receiving blankets'.