Shots and grub

Sadly I don't get to post anything exciting about Emmett as I haven't even seen him awake yet this evening. He is sleeping away in bed while Andrea and I have been up reading---kind of nice, but kind of sad, too. Andrea picked up "The Vaccine Book" by the famed Dr. Sears (or one of the Dr. Sears-es at least, I think there are about 5 all together) and I have been reading up in preparation as we are supposed to start the whole vaccine process at our upcoming two-month appointment. So far I have made it through HIB (seems reasonable) and Pneumococcal (which to me doesn't as much) and am halfway through tetanus and diptheria. Fun stuff, indeed.

This book showed up just in time as I just finished reading "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan today, which I feel, though far from perfect, should be read by every person that has or will have children (and definitely worth reading for those who won't, too). In the book he makes a very compelling argument that, while in the past culture and parents have served as the primary guides in determining what we should eat, in the post-WWII era this role has been taken up by nutrition scientists whose troubled reductionist methods (e.g. study the effects of vitamin A separate from the carrot) have set new standards what we should eat (e.g. get essentials regardless of source, such as fortified sugary cereals) and it has lead to a myriad of health problems; and that the only way to reverse this trend is to (in my interpretation) educate a new generation of parents who can pass on the practice of dining on whole foods in order to reverse our country's terrible health trends. Like everything, though, the switch back to actually preparing food rather than buying packaged-prepared food-like products is not without effort and some cost, but all evidence points to nutrition science not making us healthier in the last decades and returning to eating real food (something we, as a species, have been doing for every century of our existence except the last) probably would do us some good.

Though I feel pretty confident that the great majority of Emmett's meals from us are not going to come out of a box, single serving package, or the like, I still fear what it is going to be like when he is introduced to the ultra-convenient, temptingly-sweet processed food world and realizes that sugar-coated, marshmallow-filled, extra-crispy, chocolate cereal (with 9 essential vitamins!!) is more fun to eat than sorry-old-dad's steel cut oats. Even when I add raisins it still can't compete.

Emmett Meets Cousin Tyler

This weekend Angela, Scott, and Tyler came to visit (Emmett's aunt, uncle, and cousin, respectively) and it was fun times for all---especially Emmett, as you can see from the picture at left. Emmett was tickled pink to get to meet someone near his own size. You might note the restraint applied to Tyler as he wanting nothing more than to start bullying his young cousin. Actually it was quite cute with Tyler really excited to see Emmett, too, but Tyler lacked the "soft hands" necessary to touch a newborn (infant? I don't know. Whatever Emmett is now). Tyler was fun to be around as he is just getting his land legs (his record is 13 steps), and he is a crawling machine. He was all over the place wanting to get in every drawer, closet, and cabinet in sight. It really made us realize how easy it is to keep your eye on a 7-week-old who is yet to even roll over.

On Saturday we had a whole get-together of babies/kids (five: E&T, a ten-month-old, near-two-year-old, and a four-year-old). I guess it was a glimpse into our future, but it was a bit overwhelming with toys strewn everywhere, sharing difficulties, etc. Of the five, Emmett came in a distant last for entertaining others, but we have high hopes that he will improve with time.

Emmett has been interacting more and more with us each day. He is all smiles in the morning (still mostly for Andrea, but I get some, too), and is starting to do this laugh thing. Yesterday he was doing it while just looking at his mobile. Neither Andrea nor I could see the humor in a couple of cardboard squares with some geometric shapes drawn on them, but Emmett thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately he will probably forget what was so funny by the time he reaches an age to tell us about it.

After attending a parents meeting last week, Andrea came back having learned that we should be napping Emmett more than we have been (something which may be pretty common, I think). So we have been napping Emmett approximately every two hours during the day, and the result has been a bright and happy baby. This has mostly kept away those times where he is overly tired and can't sleep, which has been great as those are by far the worst for us to figure out what to do to solve.

Oh, and I got Emmett to poo and pee in the toilet this morning before work. Great times, indeed.

Smiles, smiles everywhere

I have to say that this whole smile thing really is nice. Yesterday morning (after the cranky smurf night) Emmett was all smiles when he was being changed effortlessly erasing the tiredness that an adult feels first thing in the morning. In fact (don't tell Andrea), I was so excited at the prospect of a repeat performance before I went to work this morning that I got Emmett out of bed even though he wasn't really to the super-squirmy level where he lets us know that it is time to get the show on the road. He was awake enough that it wasn't going to be long anyways so I took him to change his diaper and Andrea probably lost 10 minutes of sleep (hopefully if she gets word of this she is understanding). However, I learned this morning that the really happy Emmett doesn't appear until he has had his first movement, but once he did he was smiling from chubby cheek to chubby cheek. It definitely makes going to work in the morning much easier having a couple of baby smiles under one's belt (Andrea just sent out a sample, so I am putting it up at left). Oh, and I didn't even point it out to Andrea, but last night Emmett seemed to not only recognize me when I got home from work but to also be genuinely excited (where he gets all shaky and smiley). That was good stuff, too, even if I am just imagining it.

We tried a little white noise last night with Emmett. When we were at Jeff's birthday party on Saturday Emmett slept through the entire thing (we were there from 12-4ish, I believe) and we were convinced that part of the reason was that there was a pretty constant level of party noise that masked any louder or sharper noises that occurred. So, having had cranky baby the night before, we brought out a white noise generator which Emmett slept soundly next to in the living room from 8-11, or so, last night, and then I brought it to bed and played it for the three of us. He had a pretty average night's sleep, but I think that it was good for Andrea and I in some ways as it makes the noises of people going through the trash, cat fights, etc. a little less noticeable. It took me a while to go to sleep with it as my fears that I wasn't going to hear his pleas for attention made me check him quite frequently.

I realize I didn't mention (until a paragraph ago) the fun birthday party for Jeff which we attended on Saturday where we got to learn that Jeff and Luisa have many friends with kids. There was a whole smattering of child ages there from Emmett at the low end to four years or so. It was especially great to see the two 10-month-olds that were there and know that the level of interaction with Emmett is going to shoot through the roof in the next eight months. For now, though, even the addition of more smiles has been really good. We are easily pleased.

What does this baby want?

There are times like last night that make me wonder why it is that babies aren't born with the ability to communicate. Maybe someday there will be some DNA mutation that will give a baby the ability to talk when born or even soon after, and that will be a mutation that sticks as that baby's survival probability will shoot through the roof. When a fever comes along the talking baby can say "excuse me Mother, but I am feeling a little hot" or when put to bed face-down it can say "research dictates sleeping on my back will decrease my chance of SIDS." For now, though, we have these babies that only communicate by difficult-to-diagnose crying (well, if you spend $170 dollars you can buy the "Why Cry Baby Crying Analyzer" here, which is unfortunately out of stock preventing us from having a "device [that] illuminates one of five crying ‘expressions’ telling you whether the child is hungry, bored, tired, stressed or annoyed"---it truly must be heartbreaking to be trying to get your baby to smile, have him start to cry, and have the "Why Cry Baby" report that your child is either bored with or annoyed by you), and last night we had a real tearful one on our hands. We tried all of the tricks, but nothing would work. Emmett would sleep for 5 minutes then wake up, jerking all about and screaming like mad. I kept putting warm clothes and shoes on to take him for a walk and he would decide to fall asleep. I would undress, get ready for bed, and he would be at it again. Finally at midnight I had had enough and decided to take him for a walk no matter what. I kid you not, Emmett was fast asleep before I was halfway down our front steps. I pushed him around for 10 blocks or so trying to decide if I should walk to the Safeway on Mission, the nearest 24-hour store that might have a replacement battery for the thermometer---what happened to good old-fashioned mercury thermometers---and there wasn't a stir, so I returned home. He had been in the bassinet of the stroller for the walk so I just disconnected the bassinet and left him in it so as not to chance a disturbance that would wake him. Next thing I knew it was 6:30am (woken by the alarm clock for once---how novel) and Emmett was still snoozing. He ended up going for a full 6.5ish hours by himself on the floor shattering his previous non-human contact sleep record by a full 2 hours or so. What happened last night to make him so cranky and to then make him sleep so soundly I have no idea, and unless the "Why Cry Baby Crying Analyzer" comes back in stock soon we will not know in the future either.

Boys' Day

Yesterday Andrea had a doctor's appointment and a couple of things that she needed to attend to at her school, so I stayed at home to spend the day with Emmett. Lil' E and I hadn't spent much time at home without ma, so this was big times for us. Andrea was out the door at 8:15 and Emmett and I spent much of the morning hours working on a Wednesday NYTimes crossword (me: training for the Sunday which is just past a Thursday in difficulty) and napping lightly (him: training for growth spurts). Andrea was due back at 10, and when 10:30 rolled around it didn't look like she was going to make it (first day gone and she is already abandoning her child) so I heated up a little of the milk from the reserves Andrea has collected in the freezer. My method of reheating has consisted of putting the bag of milk in a tub of warm water to get the milk near body temperature, but Emmett's complaints hurried me to the point I just got the milk to melt. From this I found that Emmett doesn't mind cold milk and he didn't even act like anything much strange was taking place. After eating, Andrea showed up for her lunch and pumped some more as she was now out of sync with Emmett's appetite. Andrea left again for the doctor and back to school in the afternoon, so Emmett and I got even more bonding time which consisted of a long walk in the park and downing the bottles of new milk Andrea had prepared. It has been a little frustrating of late as I kind of messed my back up a little carrying Emmett around in my arms for literally miles at a time, so I haven't been using a carrier as much. Hopefully this turns around soon.

Yesterday evening the teacher taking over for Andrea for the remainder of the school year, Regan, came by with a huge, great meal. I don't know that I have mentioned it here before, but Allie set up a sign-up that has a meal showing up to our door every Monday and Thursday and it has really helped a lot---as well as allowing us to eat some great food. Anyway, Regan, stayed a little while and held Emmett, and Emmett smiled at her what seemed many, many times. Emmett has been smiling a lot, especially at Andrea, but I have to say that I was a little jealous of the fact that Emmett gave away so many smiles to someone he had just met while I don't get many at all. I have been trying to figure out why this is (ignoring possible reasons that are hurtful or require too much self-reflection), and have decided that it is because I need a haircut. Emmett stares at my hair every time I try to encourage a smile, so I am convinced that my hair troubles him in some way. This weekend I am going to nip that one in the bud, and I hope to report soon that I receive smiles at a rate near what new acquaintances are currently receiving.

Blood, sweat and tears

Last night was pretty wild. Emmett pulled his usual sleep trick on my work days where five minutes before I come home he falls asleep after being a little bit of a complainer for the time that Andrea has him alone. So I arrived home, Emmett went to sleep, and he slept, and he slept, and he slept. Andrea and I watched a couple of episodes of "The Wire", and afterwards I stayed on the couch to sleep with Emmett. Finally at 1:30am I had to pee so bad that I had to get up and break Emmett's sleep, which by this time had totaled somewhere in the 7-7.5 hour range. Crazy. After a quick feed he actually slept quite a bit more, so Andrea and I awoke at 6:00 this morning feeling pretty good.

I have been reading some more about the Elimination Communication (the diaper-free thing), so I was ready to catch some poop today. It ends up that nearly all babies need to go to the bathroom very soon after waking, so the books recommend that when you are going to catch #2's one should try to get the morning one first as it is easiest. Feeling well-rested when I awoke, I rushed the still-groggy Emmett to the little potty we have set up, stripped him, held his back to my chest with his legs propped up, and tightened my stomach while making a grunt sound (his audio and physical signals). Well, with each tightening of my stomach Emmett would do the same thing and in short order I had collected Emmett's first poo that didn't go into a diaper (ignoring explosive potties when diapers were off). However, at the end of his movement I noticed a touch of blood in his stool. I had seen the same thing yesterday morning (just a drop or two) and had figured that he had a little cut or something as it appeared when he was really pushing, however a second day of this had me a little more concerned. Andrea fed Emmett soon after this and I set aside his first poo in the potty to have it bronzed (or maybe I just flushed it down the toilet). After the feeding I stripped Emmett again to play the pee-in-the-container game, but while I was holding him he threw up every bit of milk he had just eaten. This was very traumatic for me (and messy). We gave him a semi-bath and he didn't seem very bothered at all about having just thrown up, so we didn't really feel that there was anything seriously the matter (and the dr. appt. earlier in the week showed he wasn't having weight gain problems), but as this showed up at the same time as the blood in the stool we decided to make our first call to the nurse help line though we were sure there wasn't really a problem. We were just looking for a little reassurance.

Well, the nurse that we spoke to wasn't really reassuring and didn't really ask too many questions. It was as if she heard two check-box words, throw-up and blood, and said that we needed to see the doctor without wanting any actual details. I made the appointment and Andrea, having heard my conversation, was convinced that I made things sound worse than they really were. We both were confident that the trip to the doctor was going to be fruitless. Well, we got all ready to go and were out the door by 8:00 to walk to Laurel Village to see the doctor to have this stuff checked out. The doctor saw us pretty quickly, looked at Emmett's anus with one of those ear-checker-scopes (motivating me to watch my doctor closely to make sure that she puts a clean plastic head on the scope next time she checks my ear or nose) and found a small cut that is already healing from him pushing too hard when he poops. Then she told us that the throw-up was as we expected: after a long time sleeping without milk he eats too much and can throw it back up. So, all in all, it was a trip to the doctor that wasn't really necessary (besides the fact we don't have a ear, nose, throat, and anus checker to find the lesion) but did give us some reassurance that Emmett is still holding up alright.

The rest of the day was very pleasant. A number of our friends got together for a beautiful, hot (gasp! San Francisco?!?) Saturday hanging out in the park with eating, conversation, and throwing the frisbee (see Emmett having fun, at left). Afterwards, Andrea, Emmett and I rushed home to clean up a little for our first date since the pre-Emmett days. Belinda and Nick came over to watch Emmett while Andrea and I got out for a movie and dinner. It was our first trip on the scooter together since Andrea was about 3 or 4 months pregnant, so that was fun---especially on such a warm night. We came home and Emmett hadn't driven Belinda and Nick too crazy, I don't think, and Emmett seemed happy to see his mom for a late dinner and bed, where I think I will now go to join them.

Sleeping all together again and a smile

Last night Andrea had the bright idea that we should all go back to sleeping in the bed together. For the last few weeks we have spent many nights with one of us on the futon or couch in physical contact with Emmett while the other slept soundly in bed, or A and I in bed with Emmett in the co-sleeper (bedside sleeper, no contact). For the former Emmett will get a lot of sleep, as will we, whereas the latter just doesn't seem to work so hot just yet. So, Andrea made a brilliant observation that we could apply the couch/futon method on the bed with all of us together (it is amazing that it took so long to think of this), and last night we gave it a shot with Emmett sleeping on my arm and Andrea unencumbered on the bed as well. Well, what do you know, it worked like a charm. We were all in bed around 10pm, Andrea stole him away at 3am for a quick feed, he returned a short while later and the next thing we knew it was sixish. Pretty amazing! I am actually pretty confident that he could have slept longer except (this is where it gets embarrassing) for the fact that sometime after Andrea brought him back to bed from his 3ish feeding he spit up. I wiped up his face in my dazed state and as I recall he did it again with me repeating the wipe (remember it is dark). Well, ends up there was quite a bit of mess that he and I were sleeping in (for the sake of full disclosure I will say that I actually knew this and thought that I could reposition us to avoid it---one makes very bad decisions when mostly asleep) and he was pretty wet come 6 o'clock which was probably a prime reason for the slight fussiness with which he woke us. If the CPA catches wind of us (me) letting him sleep in his own spit-up milk then we are probably going lose him to the courts. We (I) will be more vigilant in keeping him dry.

I got up and changed him out of his wet clothes (Emmett, if you ever read this I want you to know I am sorry it took so long), but he must not have been that unhappy with me because he gave me the first real, intentional smile that I have received from him. Andrea has had a few of these, but I have never seen one that didn't involve something taking place in the diaper, be it sound or waste. I was really surprised at how happy it made me that he smiled at me. I spent the next few minutes trying to convince him to do it again, but I think that the one given was serving as a thank you smile for getting him out of his wetness---if he doles them out too easily, things won't get done for him. Hopefully I will come up with something else to do soon for which he will pay me with another smile.

Reaching double digits

Week four doctor appointment for Emmett today (actually one day shy of week 5, but was supposed to be week 4), and the whole family made the trip to see how things have progressed over the last two-and-a-half weeks since his last appointment. Of course, big news is always on the measurement front, so here is what we have. Emmett went from 8 lb 3 oz on March 20th to 10 lb 5 oz today, so that is a full 25% increase in weight in 19 days (or nearly 2 oz/day where the hope is 1 oz/day). This took Emmett from the 50th percentile to the 75th-ish in weight meaning that his chances of playing pro football have improved slightly. He is up to 22" in length (still a suspect measurement) and his head grew right along the 25th percentile (I didn't realize he was on the low end of this, but there you go). The doctor seemed pleased with everything about him and noted that his neck strength was good (probably since he is moving a small head around). All in all a good report. We return in a month.

The day's other big event was an injury to Emmett which is alleged to have been caused by Malcolm. Details are sketchy at this point, but according to the first responder on the scene, Emmett was napping when he burst out with a very loud cry. Andrea, said first responder, rushed into the room when, at that very moment, Malcolm was rushing out of the room where Emmett was crying big tears with a small scratch on his face. As there were no eye witnesses we cannot know what happened for sure (Emmett has been known to scratch his own face, and Malcolm could have been rushing away from the sudden screaming), but Andrea is convinced that Emmett was napping, Malcolm snuck in to sniff Emmett (Malcolm is normally kept completely separate from Emmett, but the door was left cracked so Andrea, in the next room, could keep an ear on him), and Emmett jerked in his sleep causing Malcolm to react. Now, I am not sure that I buy this story and I fear Malcolm being blamed for attacking our child (yes, he does have another child injury under his belt, but that was an accident as TWO EYEWITNESSES can attest). Perhaps it was something similar. Anyway, Malcolm is on the bad list in Andrea's eyes, Emmett has a very small scratch on him which the doctor said was nothing to worry about whether cat-caused or not, and I am trying to sort out who did what. Needless to say, Malcolm will be kept at an even greater distance from this and all other children for the time being. Though Andrea would think our house should be run otherwise, I am still a firm believer in the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing.

Things I have learned, Vol. 2

-A baby can't regulate its heart rate until it is about one-year-old. This came about in conversation with our OB/GYN sometime around pregnancy month 7 when I noticed that Emmett's heart rate had dropped from about 160 at 3 months to about 130 at this point. Our doctor informed me that a baby's heart rate will go along at a high rate and also unregulated until the baby is about 1-year-old. At this point the heart rate can be modulated to match exercise level, etc. When the doctor told me this, I said something about how it is good that a baby isn't running around as their heart couldn't keep up, but only later put it together that a baby takes its first step near the end of the first year and doesn't really start walking around well until after that. Hmmm... coincidence? I think not. Is evolution removing from the gene pool the kids that get up and walk at 6 months? Makes one wonder.

-A baby's sleep is exactly opposite of an adult's: they go into REM sleep immediately and then go into a deeper sleep later on. You can actually hear him cycle through these as he sleeps because he will have irregular, loud breathing in the REM time and when he goes to sleep deeply everything is smooth and quiet---the REM sleep is much harder to sleep next to. The part that any parent knows and we only learned a little while ago is that if you try to move a REM baby to another sleeping position he will probably wake up, but the deep sleeper you can pretty much toss around without waking.

Catching Up

I have been meaning to sit down and throw a few words out there but haven't really had the chance until now. My brother came into town this weekend to meet Emmett for the first time, and as you can see at left, Darin thought Emmett was pretty funny. I am not sure what the face that Emmett is making is saying, though he looks happy, too. I think he is just impressed with the facial hair.

We picked up an Ergo this weekend and took it for a couple of spins. For those who don't know what one is, it is a fancy pants sling that is usable until Emmett is 3, I believe. It is the carrying device that I am happiest with so far, although my back is already a little sore from other carrying methods. Tonight sort of did it in as walking puts Emmett to sleep (has to be outside, though) and having him in my arms makes it easier to put him down without waking upon return, and it took a good 10-20 blocks to get him to zonk out.

I am playing catch-up with food in the kitchen as I write this. I had bought a bunch of basil at the farmers market yesterday and am putting together pesto between sentences, so in place of words I think I will just put up a couple of recent Emmett pictures: one of him preparing for his shoot and three action shots.

6+3

Andrea had a pretty rough day with Emmett yesterday (Tuesday) where he was crying and complaining quite a lot, so I decided to stay home from work today in order to give her a little break. Last night she was exhausted so right after the 10:00pm feeding she went to bed and Emmett and I went to the couch to nap for a little bit. Six hours later Andrea awoke as she felt the need to feed Emmett, but he was yet to stir. Andrea pumped and went back to bed and I fed Emmett a little while later. We all slept (Andrea in bed, us on the couch) for another three hours, so all together Andrea got a 6-hour sleep stretch and another three. This is a new record for post-birth Andrea as I don't think that she had exceeded 4 hours in any continuous sleep period previously. Somewhere on the horizon Emmett will learn to sleep the night through (Andrea as well), and he made a pretty good stride in that direction last night.

It was very nice having the day today to help around here as it feels like during the week Andrea is carrying so much of the weight with me at work. In fact, Emmett has taken to being cranky or at least not asleep from about noon until five minutes before I arrive home each night, so I have really been getting off easy on the whole kid-thing.

Today we made our first family grocery store trip and later had Jeff and Luisa over for dinner, so it was a nice day and Emmett was on pretty good behavior. I think that he is good when I am around as he fears my wrath already even though I have yet to release it. I just carry myself that way.