Paparazzi

After days of taking photos like a paparazzi it is Dieter who gets a picture of Layden smiling.
In other baby news Layden is sleeping longer at night, sometimes as much as 4 hours. He also has developed a new schedule for his bowel movements, twice a day over a period of about 30 minutes. He also likes to keep his wet diapers in a limited period of time. 4 or so in an hour then a break then before bed another 4 or so in an hour.
We had thought Oli would be moved to evening shift in a few months but then the hospital got chinchy and decided it would change the position to .75 instead of full time. He will be working day/evening shift one day a week but that doesn't do much good when the other three days are night shift, might even be worse. We shall see. The one day different shift is so Oli can work on "special projects". Probably setting up Excel sheets and the like since he is one of the few who does it well.
We got the sling on Monday but I haven't gotten around to figuring it out yet. In other words I am being lazy and using it as an excuse not to clean the dishes.

Daily Photo

Not much to say about today, pretty mellow. Watched "The Man" last night, watched "The Longest Yard" today. Wouldn't really reccommend either. "The Man" was just bad, the plot was bad and when you got to the end it didn't seem like it should be the end, kinda anticlimactic. "The Longest Yard" was pretty much your typical sports, the underdog wins sort of thing, with the bad guy getting what he deserves and the less bad guy getting converted to the good guys and because it is an Adam Sandler movie, the one guy saying "you can do it" because that is basically his one and only talent (acting surely isn't). Dieter got a month movie pass from Blockbuster so I expect I will be seeing alot of movies for a bit.

My boys

I may have gone a bit crazy today taking pictures. He is just so cute and his expression is different everytime. Al and Mimi came over. Couldn't convince Al to hold, he says Layden is too fragile, fraid he might break a bone or something.
Its sad, I noticed today that Layden's head isn't so nice and soft as it used to be. *sigh* They grow up so fast. :) I bought him new socks today, his others are too small, they fall off all the time or he kicks them off. We lost one in shopko already. I also got him a couple pairs or pants, he has tons of onesies but not much pants. Turns out they are too big. Oh well I think we can count on him growing into them.

Hard Life

Coming off the binky high

Good Sh*t

Here is Layden wigged out on the good stuff, puffing the rubber dragon, taking a hit off the binky. Sad, he's so young and Dieter got him started on it. I guess he won't be the good influence I thought he would be. I will have to do what I can to stop this from developing into a full blown habit.

Picture

Since I now know what you really care about, here is your photo.

Obsessive design

If you like the new blog design then I should give credit where credit is due. It is an adaptation of (aka stolen from) something my younger, more talented brother, Jakob did. If you don't, too bad.
I was gloriously wrong about last night. Layden was an angel. I got 8+ hours of sleep. speaking of sleep, I think Layden might let me do that soon, so this all for today.

Long Night

Looks like it is going to be a long night. Layden has been fussy all day. I don't know what his problem is. Sure he had poo all over himself twice, but then so did I. You don't see me crying. Then he screamed whenever I laid him on the bed so I could get ready for bed, screamed, my ears are ringing. He also has adopted the habit of nursing only five minutes at a time. I have discovered how to make it through the harder nights with my sanity intact. The key is to not go to bed with intention or desire to sleep. That way whatever meager amount of sleep comes my way is a bonus.

One Month

Dear Layden,

Sunday you turned one month old. It seems like so much longer, so much can't have changed and I can't have learned so much in just one month. Now I'm the mommy, I'm the one who has to make it all better. It isn't just me and Oli anymore, we have our own family now not just the families we had as kids. I have learned that just because your diaper was dry two seconds ago, that doesn't mean it is now. I have learned that just because you have filled your diaper that doesn't mean you are done. I have learned that 5 hours of sleep is alot more than it sounds like. I have learned that I have, and need, a lot more patience then I ever would. I have learned my life, time, breasts and energy are no longer my own. I have also learned that even when I am frustrated to the point of tears the content look on your face that says mommy you are wonderful can make it all better. I have learned that one smile can make it all worth it. I have learned that every new sound you make every new talent you reveal makes me as excited and goofy as I always thought other parents were crazy to be. Now I understand why mom cried so much, you have the power to make me so happy it just leaks out.
This month you have learned what the outside world is like and you aren't entirely sure that you like it. It is cold and bright, now you have to work for your food and deal with messy diapers. Mostly you are putting up with it rather well though your favorite expression is a series of variations on the scowl. You look up at me as if to say, who are you and why did they let you take me home but then you smiled and I figure I can't be screwing up too bad.
You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Every time I look at you it amazes me to think that I made you. Sure, I didn't have much control over the process, but still I have never made anything that turned out half as well as you. You might as well know now, your mom is not an artist. If you have any talent you have only your dad to thank. I never imagined that I could love your daddy anymore than I already did but seeing him with you has taught me I could.

Sleepy

Last night was exciting, Layden nursed everytime lying down, doesn't take much to give me a thrill anymore. I still couldn't sleep through it but at least I didn't have to sit up and once he fell asleep I didn't have to move him. I think I got the most sleep I have in quite a bit, unfortunately I am feeling the most tired I have in a bit. I just can't win. Today Layden was practically standing up on his own. He was holding on to my fingers for balance but that was it.
This evening we had some very nice clouds. I looked out the window this afternoon, saw blue sky and said to Oli that we should go for a walk. He gives me a really strange look so I looked out the other window, what do you know, it was raining. Darn sneaky blue skies.

Coach Potato

Well I think yesterday we had our first smile, I'm not sure but he looked happy and his cheeks were smiling but his mouth was open. I think I will just call it a smile. Today we visited Elizabeth, he even stayed with her while I went to Fulmer to pick up the quizzes. He even hung out with Mark for a bit while I was gone. Then we went to wake up daddy and then we had dinner and played pinocle with Mark and Liz. There is a certain amount of challenge in playing pinocle while holding a baby. Me and Oli (yes I know it should be Oli and I but I have never been a big fan of that rule) bring something special to pinocle. Mark says it is only when playing with us that people go set on a regular basis with bids of 28 or 30 and barely squeak by at 25. Mark was having a bad night anyway. Their car has been in and out (more in than out) of the shop since Thanksgiving. They just got it back a week ago and today Liz opened the door and the car alarm went off. The funny thing is that until that point they didn't know they had a car alarm, so they don't really have a way to turn off the car alarm. Luckily it eventually goes of on its own, unluckily with the alarm triggered the engine won't start, making it a bit difficult to take the car somewhere to get it fixed. They were saying they should just sell, could be a bit difficult to do with out letting people test drive it or even open the door. Oli is feeling lucky tonight, he got a call while we were at Mark and Liz's to come in tonight.

Competing Stripes

Slow day today. I was all motivated to go on a walk to the park, had Layden all dressed up for it and then I looked outside. Nasty, nasty weather, foils all of my plans. Last night was a bit below average for sleep also but Oli was really sweet this morning and made me waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. He even fed me since I had just managed to get Layden to sleep and he was lying on my chest. That part wasn't a total success since Oli kept trying to feed me bites that were a bit large.
I am a little concerned about Layden, he has been extra fussy and keeps throwing up a large percentage of each meal. No fever or anything like that so I don't think it is anything too serious. But if he keeps it up tonight I may have to call the doctor.
Time to go wake up Oli, again.

Sling

Today was Layden's first day at college. We took the bus onto campus so I could pick up some quizzes to grade. The visit went well, everyone in the chem building agreed that he is very cute, of course.
I ordered a sling today from Mamma's Milk. Hopefully it will allow me to accomplish a bit more during the day. While it is nice to be trapped on the couch for a bit, even for someone lazy like me it will get old after a while. We have the little front pack but it just doesn't work out well for me and isn't particularily comfortable, hopefully this sling will work better. It is even adjustable so Oli and I can both use the same one and maybe even Dieter (though he may be too embarassed to use it, in public atleast).

Its a hard life

The snow is gone and in its place we have rain, lots and lots of rain. Layden is doing well. I sometimes don't realize how much he has grown but today I was looking at the video from when he came home. He is so different. You can especially see it in his face and he just plain looks more sturdy now. It turns out that there is a chance Oli could be moved to evening shift in the next few months but I refuse to get my hopes up.

Snow

Well it is snowing again, pretty heavily actually. It is sticking a good bit so we will have to see how long it lasts. Oli got himself a new "toy", a carpet cleaner. He tried it out and half of our living room is much nicer, the other half is full of furniture. Layden is taking his nap in the papasan for a bit since the cradle is trapped behind the couch. He doesn't seem to mind.
Now it may seem strange that this idea didn't occur to me before last night but I decided I would try putting him to sleep rather than just waiting until he felt like it. The attempt met with mixed success. I got him to sleep but then I couldn't get to sleep, I didn't start to feel drowsy until he decided it was time to wake up and make a mess in his diaper. Oh well, I may try again tonight.
Oli goes back to work tonight and is not looking forward to it. Neither of us likes night shift, it isn't even close to being worth the extra $3 an hour. Unfortunately it also seems that Oli is not likely to get moved to another shift anytime soon since they have managed to find people to replace all the traveling techs. So we may be moving sooner rather than later.

First Outing

Well we went on our first outing today. We figured we make it short, in case he didn't like the carrier, and head down to the library. We got downtown around 12:00 and realized that the library didn't open until 1:00. So we went down to the Daily Grind and spent an hour talking to Dr. Dahl. who happened to be there working on lectures. Then we went to the library, Oli got a library card and we headed home. Layden, the little sweety, slept through the whole thing and even slept for another hour after we got home. So the living room has been tidied up so Oli will be able to vacuum and shampoo the carpet. I will be glad when he has done that because there are pine needles all over and they are visous. I got one in my foot earlier and I was convinced a glass shard had been driven into my toe, but no, just a pine needle.

Bath Time

Layden had another bath with mommy today. His hair is just too soft and tempting. It is always getting oily from everyone touching it. I added a fig leaf because I am not sure I would ever be able to forgive my mom if she posted a picture of my package, even as a baby, on the internet, for god's sake.
I am looking forward to the day when breastfeeding becomes the relaxing time it was touted to be, rather than an unpleasant session of chinese nipple torture and frustration in which time seems to stand still and I slowly become convinced that it wouldn't be so bad to have an only child. After all the world is crowded enough as it is and Oli was an only child and he turned out very well. Or in other words, we will not be having our second child any time soon if at all humanly possible. Then I remind myself that it has only been 3 weeks even if it seems like so much longer. I must be patient. Also I guess I have to give him time to realize that his tongue is much more flexible than it used to be.
Oli has his three days off again, hopefully with both of us home we will be able to make some progress on the house. I did manage to get all the ornaments off the tree and Dieter took the tree (gingerly, because it is vicious) outside. It is depressingly obvious that it has been sorely neglected because about half of the needles remain inside the house, enough that Dieter was actually able to sweep most of them up, off the carpet.

The many faces of Layden Walsh

It is interesting to note that most of the faces involve a scowl of some sort.
Last night did not go as well as I had hoped. Layden has developed a tendency to cry for no apparent reason. He generally stops fairly quickly when he is held a different way but it is beyond me to know what the problem is that that fixes. On the upside I got a couple loads of dishes done and our clothes washed today. Cleaning isn't necessarily much fun but it can be very satisfying. Some how I always dread it far out of prportion to any discomfort I suffer in doing it (generally none) but I never seem to be able to remember that when I am contemplating doing chores.

Lab Shower

Today was a busy day for me and Layden and a rough one for Oli. Layden and I had the shower with Oli's coworkers at 3:00. They gave us many nice things including cute outfits for when he is bigger, a mobile that can be used in the car and a really annoying noise maker toy. It is key chain that electronically makes key clinking sounds when ever it is moved the tiniest bit... maybe I can figure out how to remoeve the batteries. Laysen was very well behaved for the shower and the (very boring) lab meeting that followed, he most slept but woke up for a short while at the end. Then this evening we visited the doctor and he had his frenulum trimmed. He didn't seem to mind that part of it but was pretty pissed about the doctor holding his mouth open and the nurse holding his arms. So far it seems like he may be nursing better, hopefully that trend will continue.
Last night the hematology instrument went down. This means that all the differential blood cell counts had to be done by hand. So Oli had to call Karen and have her come in and he also didn't make it home until 9:00 and didn't get to sleep until around 10:00-10:30. He also went to lab meeting and shower so he had to get up again around 2:00 so he didn't get much sleep. He took a nap after the lab meeting but that was also only a couple hours. Well if tonight goes well maybe Layden and I will take our final nap out in the living room so daddy can get a good night/morning/day's sleep.
Dieter started classes today and it looks like Mon/Wed/Fri will be long days for him. Since it turns out we get half of the garage he has a small gym set up there. The neighbors even left a dart board behind. He is enjoying having Layden around, especially now that he is awake more. He sleeps through any crying in the night, lucky guy. His car goes into the shop for a good bit of work tomorrow, new plugs, new wires and alignment. I also think some part involved with the alignmnet needs to be replaced. He figures that is a result of drive up onto side walks to deliver papers last semester.
I think I am starting to adjust to a bit less sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night is still harsh and it some times takes me a bit to figure out exactly why I am awake.

New green suit

Here is Layden in his new outfit from Oli's cousin Denise. Very cute, of course.
Oli is back at work and it is going OK. he doesn't much like night shift but otherwise it is going OK. Tomorrow I am supposed to bring Layden to the lab meeting for a little baby shower. I am always nervous when I take him places. What if he picks that time to suddenly become fussy, or poo repeatedly? Oh well, I will just have to get used to it.
Last night I had just finished feeding him and he spit up a bit. After I cleaned up his face he looked at me like he was saying, thank you mommy, that is so much better, I love you. Or maybe he was just thinking, oh yeah that felt good. I prefer the first option. My heart about melted.

Talents

After finally getting to sleep at 5:00 am Oli and I woke up to the sound of the upstairs bathroom floor being replaced at 9:00am. So we moved out to the living room for a little nap.
Night before last Layden revealed a new talent. Oli was changing his diaper and had yurned to grab a wash cloth when he turned around a stream of poo was shooting off the changing pad, off the bed and onto the floor. We were warned about fountains but not this.

Sleep

Last night Layden was nice to me last night. He slept straight from 2 am til 7 am. Such a sweety. Dieter is enjoying that Layden is happily sleeping with him not fussing or pooing, just sleeping. Well I will take advantage of this nap and get myself some dinner.

First Diaper Change

We do make really cute babies, don't we?
Dieter is home now. Layden gave him a couple of good scares. First he pooped while Dieter was holding him and I thought he was going to jump out of his skin or throw him or something. Then Dieter even changed the diaper. First he attempted to unsnap the onesie one-handed. That wasn't working too well so he had to bring the other hand into play. Then he got the diaper off and Layden produced a little fountain, eliciting another good jump. Then Layden pooed, that just grossed him out. I think he shows promise though. A little practice and he will be real good, I am sure Layden will be happy to provide him with opportunities.

Little Boy Blue

It turns out that if Layden takes a bath with me he doesn't scream himself blue in the face. In fact he is quite bouyant. Sadly I can't make the water quite as hot as I like when I share with him.
We aren't really into toys yet but he does seem mildly entertained by his reindeer rattle. Layden continues to be plagued by some really harsh hiccups, poor thing.
Daddy left a biy ago saying only that he was going to frivolously spend money. He wouldn't tell me anything more. Oli is done working for the week and it will be very nice to actually see him for more than an hour each day.

Two Weeks

Today Layden is 2 weeks old. It seems so much longer than that, and not all in a bad way. To mark the occasion he had a bath. I don't think it is the way he would have chosen to celebrate. He even managed to wake daddy up with his screaming, causing him to get up and make sure I wasn't cutting the frenulum myself with a dull knife. We have an appointment for next Wednesday with the doctor and hopefully that will help. Every trick I learn only works so long and never at night. I am sure that is mostly my fault, I am not at my best at three AM. Tonight is Oli's last at work for this set, I am really looking forward to him being home and awake when I am. It gets a bit lonely around here, just me and Layden. Today went fairly well though, the Tercel is now officially sold and has been turned over to its new owner. Now if someone hits it it isn't my problem.
The house has been a bit neglected lately and it shows. Oh well, I am only human and never was too great at house work. Once Layden settles down a bit I will have to see what I can do, but until then I will just spend as little time in the kitchen as possible :).

Frenulum

Layden had a check up this evening and he is doing well. He is now 9lbs 4.5oz and a whole inch longer. However, it turns out he has a short frenulum (skin that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth). This probably explains why we are having such difficulties breastfeeding. He can have it clipped, which is a relatively painless procedure. I think we will probably end up doing that because even though it may stretch out as he grows it could cause problems with his talking later on if it doesn't. So if we do that hopefully that will take care of our breastfeeding issues. Now I am going to bed and hopefully at some point to sleep.

Growth Spurt

Well I have survived my first couple of nights and days alone with Layden. But only barely. These last couple days seem to have unfortunately coincided with a growth spurt. This means more time feeding (midnight to five am the first night) and more fussy. More feeding of course means more diapers. More feeding also means more frustration since our nursing skills are still not what they could be. Poor Daddy, he really wants to help but he just doesn't have the equipment.
Oli's first nights back at work have gone well, luckily not to busy. Tonight he will take the Tercel to work so the person who is buying it can pick it up. It will be nice to be done with that.

Sorry today's picture is a bit late. Shanelle and Erick drove down from Spokane to visit today and we had cream of tomato soup with grilled mozarella with fresh basil sandwiches, very yummy. Layden is sleeping so I think I might try to get some sleep in now too. Oli is back at work and I am a bit nervous about my first night all alone with Layden. Tomorrow will basically be my first day alone with him too since Oli will be sleeping.

Happy New Year

Layden is starting to really pack on the pounds, the little glutton. He has developed a double chin. Right now daddy is enjoy a nice cuddle with him since he got so much milk that it started coming back up he should be satisfied for a bit.
We are enjoying the last day of Oli's time off, he goes back to work tomorrow working 4 on, 3 off. I will be on my own then.

Watching the Simpsons now.

Bart: What's for dinner?
Homer: Depends on what your teachers say. If you've been good, Pizza.
Bart: If we've been bad?
Homer: Ummm... poison.
Lisa: What if one of us has been good and the other bad?
Bart: Poison Pizza.
Homer: Oh no, I'm not making two stops.

"I thought dabbling in the black arts would be good for a chuckle... how wrong I was"