ONE (1) MONTH!!

Izzie is one month old today! It's gone by blazing fast. Lynnell and I were talking yesterday about how fast it's gone by, and I could be quoted as saying that it seems like it's been a month. However, I was thinking about it today, and I have come to the conclusion that it has gone by fast.

We had the three week doctors appointment on Monday. Yeah, thank you captain obvious. I know that's not three weeks, but they couldn't get us in last week. She put on 9 ounces since the last appointment bringing the grand total to 9.5625 pounds (9lbs 9oz). She's also grown to 21.125" (you should know that one). Now she's daddies big girl...almost.





That's Izzie with the doctor in the last two pictures. He's a great doctor. I'm happy with him. There's another doctor in the office that treats you like an idiot because you don't know what technical medical terms. Last time we went in he was the one we had to see because it was a weekend. He was the same doctor that saw us in the hospital when we had her. He was nice in the hospital, but he was a reject at his office. I think that I would switch doctors if I had him.

Izzie got her first piece of mail. Yep. You guessed it. It's the social security card.


Our friends the Zupans got us a sweet little rocker vibrating thingy. I have no idea what they are called, but here is Izzie in it.



Thanks Zupans. We appreciate it, and Izzie totally digs it.

Today was Izzie's first water bath (versus a wipe down). I wasn't here, but Grandma and Mom were. Mom did the work and Grandma took pictures for me (I was at work). It looks like it went well. None of the pictures show her screaming her head off. From the looks of things, she may have still been trying to figure out what was going on by the time it was over.





Today also marked another milestone. I got puked on for the first time. I don't like to call it spit-up. Nobody calls it spit-up when I do it and mine comes from the same place. Does it have to do with the cuteness factor? What makes baby vomit qualify as spit-up and not puke? Seriously. Anyway, I think that if I had a full stomach, I would have been spitting-up too. Thanks Iz. Daddy loves you.


Happy One Month, Baby! I love you.

Perma-Grin

I think I will have to agree with Natalie. Izzie is SO adorable. I was thinking about it today, and I don't think I'm capable of not smiling or grinning when people ask me how she's doing. It's virtually impossible. I love her and adore her to death. I can't even express it. I don't know how to express it. I guess that means two things: 1) I don't have a very big vocabulary or 2) It's inexpressible. I'm going to go with 2. I'll try to think of how to better express it and get back to you on that.

So, every time Izzie takes a nap, we discover new things about her. For instance, I walked into her room to check on her during her afternoon nap to find her kicked back and relax'n. She was seriously just laying like she didn't have a care in the world (which I know isn't true because when she's hungry she care, and she let's you know). She'll be a good sun tanner (if that's even a noun).


Last time I posted about Izzie giggling. Bad news is: I still haven't heard one. Good news is: she loves the swing we got her. The part above the seat has a little revolving thing with birds and leaves on it. Well, when it turns the birds either rotate or move up and down (leaves move up and down). It also plays music. Options include: classical, rain forest background noises, a combination of both music and rainforest, bird noises or crickets. So, there's a lot going on right over head (plus she's swinging). As soon as you put her in and turn on the rotating birds and music, her eyes get huge and she stares at it for at least two minutes. Then her arms start waving like crazy for a few seconds. Then she gets this huge smile on her face. The process repeats until she's asleep. Here's a picture of her when she's almost asleep. Notice that the smile is still there. I think I'm starting to connect the smile to the music. Every time the music hits the high or loud part, she's gets the smile. It's the cutest darn thing you have ever seen (well...that I have ever seen. If you are reading this, you've never seen it).


Then yesterday she fell asleep with an arm in the air. No smile, just the arm. It was like she went catatonic. It stayed this way until I took her out of the swing.


This morning we went for a walk before it got too hot. Izzie was wide awake when we started and by the time we made it 5 blocks, she was asleep. As we walked along (this is before she fell asleep) she was sort of in the sun sometimes and not. When we would walk by a tree and the shade would hit her, she would kind of squirm and stick her arms up. Then when we walked back into the sun she would relax and just stare at us. I don't know if she thought we were torturing her or not. Honestly, I think she just liked the sun. I had her out on the patio this morning in it and all she did was close her eyes and face it. I turned her head away from it once to see what would happen, and she turned it right back. Just another sign that she'll be a good sun tanner.




Now you can see why I would have a perma-grin. Izzie is cute 100% of the time. She's even cute when she has gas and won't stop crying from pain. That's only because I get out my ear phones (the ones I use when I go shooting) and wear them until the gas is gone and she's done crying. It works well. No headache. No ringing ears. Just a happy daddy and a happy baby.

(1 Baby + 2 Milk Sacks) x 3 Weeks = 9lbs.

That's right; nine pounds. We went in today to see the lactation consultant, and part of the visit is weighing the baby. I had the honors. She came in at a whopping 9 pounds. That means that she put 2 pounds on in two weeks (roughly). She was 8lbs even at birth, then lost 14oz the first week, and now she's at 9lbs. Baby is growing good. For some reason, the lactation consultant seemed a little extra thrilled about it. She said that not every baby puts on a pound per week. In fact, they were expecting something like 14oz. We crushed that. Way to go Izzie. Oh Yeah. Go Pink Team.

The three week mark was yesterday. It's gone by so ridiculously fast. The other day while mom was in the shower I tried some preliminary tummy time. Then Lynnell came out and busted me. She informed me that it might be a little too early for that. I informed her that it was a preliminary test run and that at this time we technically can't make a judgment on whether it's too early or not based on the fact that she wasn't failing completely. In fact the initial test was very successful. The bobble-heading was cut to a minimum compared the maiden stroller voyage. More tests to come when conditions are right (mom in the shower).



We also got the swing in the mail this week. WHAT A LIFE SAVER. I'm not saying I don't like holding my precious little girl and rocking her to sleep, but I just have to say that it's like holding a turkey fresh out of the oven ... 325 degrees. It's especially hot when it's 100+ degrees out. Of course we have air conditioning silly, but I don't keep my house at 60 degrees. It's more like 78-80 degrees in the house. Anyways, back to the swing topic: we thought this particular one plugged into the wall which was one of the major factors to buying it; that way we didn't have to waste money on batteries all of the time. Turns out it doesn't plug into the wall. Bummer. Good thing dad has a degree in electrical engineering. Look for a home brewed (warranty voiding) retrofit. I know I'm looking forward to it.


We also took another bath.


I've had comments on the lengths of my posts, but I'm just going to throw caution to the wind and keep going. This morning I stayed home from work to help Lynnell out with the baby. Things have been going a little rough, so she just needed a little extra support. While mom was sleeping, we were playing on the couch and having a great time.


I only caught the half smile, but we were getting some good ones before I found the camera. Lynnell said that she got her to giggle yesterday for the first time. I can't wait to see that. REALLY. I think about it a lot. I think I'm getting obsessed. Here's one of Izzie with mom.



Last thing. I am going to try to post larger galleries of pictures. I like pictures, and I know you like to see them. Let me know if it's a good thing or bad. I know everyone's internet connections vary (mostly because some people haven't joined the 21st century and ditched dial up), so any kind of feedback would be good. Speaking of internet connection speeds; check out this story. Crazy! I wish mine was that fast.

Here's the link to the latest gallery: Three Week Gallery

(By the way...this is post #30. Woooo....)

Good Feedback

It's been a couple of days. Our friends, the Zupans, come over from Bozeman this weekend. We haven't seen them since last summer, so it was fun to see them and catch up. They loved Izzie (but how could you not...seriously).

I see Kord posed an interesting dilemma a couple of blogs ago. Truth is, I have had to deal with stray poop. The first one you saw in a previous post where it ran out of the diaper and all over me. I didn't change that diaper though; I just hollered for Lynnell to come get her (lucky). The second time I did find the surprise. It was another leak. The poop had found it's way out of the diaper and on to her leg, but with the blanket over her, I couldn't tell that there was a problem until I went to change her. Turned out that she was able to get it all the way to her knees. I didn't find it too big of a deal, but that might be because I used a ton of wipes that time.

That's the other thing I'm still a little sketchy over. I don't want to use a wipe and then fold it to reuse it. I mean, what if I get poop on my hand. That's not cool. At the same time, I hate wasting wipes. I always feel like I use 2 or 3...or 9 too many anyways. So, I'm still learning the art of maximizing the wipe. Oh, and I'm getting better at doing the diaper roll. I never knew there was a technique until Lynnell informed me that I was doing it wrong. I was just folding it it half and throwing it away. Seriously, who needs to touch it any more than necessary. I know I don't, but apparently I should.

Every morning before I go to work, I go into Izzie's room to say goodbye. This morning I went in and she was just barely waking up. She's so cute. The first picture is her squirming, and I snapped the second mid-stretch.

More Pictures

We took the new stroller out for a spin last night. It's nice. It's very nice. I dig it. I took pictures, but none of them turned out. I'll try again next time.

The family wants pictures, so here you go:







Also, I thought I would share the joys of fatherhood with you:


Great isn't it. I'm so proud.

Here's us reading comments on the blog:


I really enjoy everyone's comments. The problem is, out of all of the people that read my blog, only a hand full of people post comments. Come on people. Give me some feedback; ask questions. Your comments are my favorite part of the blog. I think Brooke is winning (thanks Brooke) because she has the most comments.

Naps, Walks & Stollers....Oh My (I couldn't resist the Oh My...Sorry)

Sunday we had a dinner date with some friends, so before we left, I was holding Izzie trying to get her to go to sleep. Turns out I also put myself to sleep. So, while I was down for the count, Lynnell snapped a quick picture of all the rock'n action.


Dinner went well. Izzie was sort of the life of the party. She seems to steal that light wherever she goes. I don't mind though because then I can gaze at her too. It makes me happy. So, after we got home from dinner we tied Lynnell up in the Moby. It's this sweet baby carrier thing. It's made of fabric about 2' wide and 12' or so long. It looks really comfortable to wear, and Lynnell said that Izzie didn't feel loose or squished or anything. Honestly it just looked hot, and about 35 minutes into the walk, Lynnell said it was time to go home before she over heated. I want to try it out. It looks fun. Anyways, here's a picture of us walking through the park near our house.


Then on Monday Lynnell brought the baby by my office so that I could show her off and to drop off thank you cards (thanks again everybody).


The creepy guy gophering (a term I learned from my friend Adam who used to blog about Boeing, but changed jobs. See: www.doingboeing.com) in the back ground is actually the intern at my office. I am pretty protective of him and like to refer to him as "my intern" or "THE intern." I try not to address him by his name (Tom....yes I do know it), but some of the other guys in the office think it's degrading. I know that Thomas (that's what him mom calls him....man he's going to be pissed when he reads this) knows that it's all fun and games though. I don't refer to him as "my intern" in the Bill Clinton sort of way, but rather in a Team Zissou sort of way (If you haven't seen Bill Murrary's movie Life Aquatica, go rent it). He's not really creepy. Although, today he did show me pictures of him cross dressing. He always said he looked good as a red head. Turns out he was right. Anyways, he's a good guy and we have a lot of fun in the office.

In other news, we got our stroller in the mail today (well, actually UPS. It probably wouldn't fit in the mailbox...HA HA HA...corny). It's pretty fancy, and cost just as much as it is cool. Some assembly was required, but luckily I gots me a engineering dee-gree (I know it's spelled wrong...read it with a southern accent...it sounds better that way).


It's a BOB Revolution, and it is definitely a sweet stroller. We got the matching diaper bag (see second picture below). We also had to get the car seat adapter, and I opted to get the beverage console that straps onto the handle (looks like it will be quite handy). I can't wait to go for a walk tomorrow.



We couldn't go for a walk tonight because we met some friends from Idaho that were on their way to South Dakota for dinner (we met them for dinner...they weren't going to SD for dinner). I forgot the camera other wise I would have a picture. It was Izzie's first dinner out, but she didn't actually eat. It was fun, and she did great. It was definitely a lot of fun to see our friends and catch up.

I also need to make a correction about a previous post where I may or may not have referred to my wife as a dragon. I would like to correct that by saying "she is not a dragon." In fact, she's an angel, and I love her to death (even when she wants to put me to death.) :)

Grandparents, Patience & Pumps

Lynnell's mom and dad made it over last night. It's the first time they've been here to see Izzie since she was born (Grandma couldn't get the time off of work). It's great to have them over. I get a kick out of watching peoples first reaction of seeing and holding Izzie. They were pretty impressed. Now they know first hand how beautiful my girl is. It was late when they got in, but Izzie was already up for a midnight snack...of milk...at a bacteria nurturing 98.6 degrees...(so disgusting to think about).



Today we went down to Target and WalMart with grandma and grandpa. The trip was originally to buy a swing at Target, but they were fresh out of the one we wanted. This picture is us heading into WalMart.


I love WalMart. Who am I kidding. I hate it. It's like everyone's IQ drops 60 points as soon as they pass through the doors (and some people can't afford to loose that much...I don't think there's such a thing as a negative IQ). I think it has something to do with the RFID anti theft things at the door. They must scramble brain waves because people often forget that there are other people in the store. They are just plain inconsiderate. They stand in the middle of the isles, stop right in front of you or leave their carts in the dumbest places and then walk away. Then there's my favorite: the mom with 4 kids under the age of 7. As soon as the cart stops they scatter like baby wolf spiders off their mothers back. They don't go far though; just far enough to get in your way. Then their mother just looks at you like "what do you expect me to do about it?" I don't get it.

Then there are jerks like me who think that their brainwaves didn't get scrambled and feel like they have to prove it by giving the evil eye or rudely pushing by. My favorite thing to do is to move peoples carts for them. Try it some time. You'll never see another woman reach for her purse (or sometimes their child sitting in the cart) so quickly. It's awesome. Then I just give them the look of death and they cower in fear (I wish). Lynnell kindly reminds me (each time) that I'm supposed to love them no matter what. It's true, and I'll have to learn how to curb my impatience before Izzie gets old enough to learn it. Because I know she will. Where do you think I got mine? That's right...my parents. They have grown out of it now though. I guess that's part of the maturity that comes with age. I just need to get on the fast track or else my kids will also hate mega shopping centers where people get dumber the longer they are in the store.

Anyways, Lynnell got a breast pump today at Target (a mega store home to people with slightly higher IQ's). Everyone told us to go straight for the top of the line pumps. Unfortunately that meant that we had to sell our souls in order to raise enough money to buy it. The double pump was $250. The single pump was $150. Lynnell was originally going to get the $50 hand pump, but I was quick to remind her of the warnings we received regarding pain. Her exact words were "I don't want to spend that much, but what if I don't like the $50 hand pump?" I was quick to answer with "Then we will have spend $200 on breast pumps and only be using one." She reluctantly (with a smile) got the $150 single action pump (I say it like that because it sounds cool...kind of like a shotgun). So, now we have a way of relieving Lynnell's pain (from swelling and growth...mentioned in a previous post) in the mommy bag region. Pump on Honey. Pump on.

Rejection Sucks

Well, it happened. We had some friends bring us dinner tonight, and while they were here Jonny asked me how things were, if I was getting sleep, how Lynnell was doing and how the baby was doing. The first question had a pause after it, and I immediately started to answer. Then he rapidly asked the rest of the questions and it was then that I picked up on the fact that he had read my last post and just wanted to poke fun at me. Funny, Jonny ... funny.

So last night Izzie and I were sitting on the couch after we both had dinner (Well, I had dinner. Izzie had her usual.... milkshake...without the shake... I guess) playing. I call it playing, but really it's me propping her up in front of me and trying to capture her attention. I do ridiculous things like make motor boat noises, sing songs that don't exist (I learned that from my dad), tugging on her arms (no, not hard) and all sorts of other corny things that only a parent can get away with. It's frustrating because she either stares at my shoulder, the light next to me or somewhere other than my face. I don't get it. But when mommy does it, she likes it. Sure, I occasionally get a smile, but It never really seems like she pays much attention.


Then I put her to bed. Later (like 20 minutes) I went in to check on her, and both of her arms were up above her head (or at least as close as they get). Only after I went to bed did I realize that I was doing the same thing. I couldn't believe it. My daughter sleeps with her arms above her head just like I do. Is that even possible? Is this some sort of inherited phenomenon? I like to rub my feet, and my dad does too. Did I get that from him? It's weird. Luckily (not really luckily...it's more like OCD) I was able to get a picture of it without realizing what I was capturing.


Today I get home from work, and Izzie had just finished eating. So I took her to burp her and get some good face time. She turned her head again and stared at the light. What's with that. How can a light be more entertaining than a corny dad? So I busted out the Happy Hippo play thingy (yeah, real technical I know) we got from the baby shower and laid her on it. She didn't care about the colorful bouncy noisy things hanging above her face or her dad making stupid noises. She was only concerned about mom on her left side. So I gave up (something I shouldn't make a habit of) and got the camera to capture my moment of rejection.


I'll figure it out. If I remember my Psych 101 class from college correctly, baby's are initially attached to their mothers for some time because of the bond and innate relationship they share from the whole pregnancy thing (plus there's the whole "you have my food" thing). Then (and this is especially true for girls...if I remember correctly) the baby begins to identify with the other parent more. Then they go through another stage where girls are drawn and bond more closely with their fathers (boys with their mothers) based on a gender attraction thing. Children can actually become jealous of the time mommy and daddy spend together (girls jealous of mommy and boys jealous of daddy). Maybe I just have to wait for these periods to kick in before I become super dad and get to capture her attention more. Hopefully it happens sooner though.

Juste Un Autre Jour

So yesterday was the 4th of July, and we had big plans. We were going to take Izzie to a fireworks show. Lynnell really didn't want to. She had some massive anxiety over the whole thing. She didn't want to freak Izzie out. I can't blame her. Turns out Izzie didn't really want to go anyways. She was fussing like crazy. I think it was just gas. Once I finally got her close to sleep, our retarded neighbors (the ones that live behind us) started shooting mortars over the top of my house. Izzie let us know that she didn't like it. It was more than frustrating, but I didn't dare go over there because I didn't need to go to jail for sending someone to the hospital on a gurney. Needless to say, we didn't have the greatest fourth, but I wouldn't have traded it for time away from my girl.

Next topic: I'm sick of questions. I think it's great that I have so many people in my life that care enough about me to ask questions and just generally care about me. Thank you everyone (it meas a lot to me). But (and it's a small but) at the same time, I get so sick of answering the same questions.

I was thinking about it today, and I don't think the actual problem is people asking the question; it's me taking the time to be a nice guy and giving an equally caring answer (something that conveys a "thanks for caring" vibe). There are three questions I get asked: 1) How's the baby? 2) How's Lynnell? 3) Are you getting sleep? The answers are always the same, and sometimes I have to give the answers to four different people 10 minutes apart. By the third person, I just want to shoot myself. I don't have the patience for giving the same answer over and over, but I do my best not to be a jerk. I can definitely tell that the first answer is drastically longer than the answer the fourth person gets. (so if you want to ask me a question, be the first not the last or you might hate me for a few days...I'm sorry ahead of time.)

I was thinking about it today, I should just print out some 3"x5" note cards with general Q&A topics. Then when I get a question, I can just hand them a card. HA! How impersonal. That would definitely make me a jerk. Or I could call a general assembly every morning and do a quick briefing to answer questions (think presidential press meeting). Rediculous. I think of the stupidest crap. Does anyone else do this?

Maybe part of my frustration lies in this blog. I sent it to people to give them some insight into my life and just to share my experiences with people. I realize that people don't always have time to read my blog, but when you ask me a question about something that I have answered/addressed in my blog, I always have to fight the urge to say "GO READ THE BLOG...I SENT YOU THE LINK." So, maybe I've caused my own frustration. I spend time typing things and then have to verbalize the answers to people too. It definitely tests my ability to love people. Ironically someone is going to have questions about this post. If you are that person, bring it on. I'll have an answer. Maybe just post it in the comments section so that I don't have the opportunity to choke you for deliberately testing my patience.

I can't post without putting a picture of Izzie in, so here's one of us playing before she went to bed the other night. She kept trying to look up to see what was on her head. First she would move her head up and keep her eyes fairly straight. Then she was just moving her eyes like she was sneaking up on it. It was the cutest thing. I sure do love her.

Good Times

Izzie and I were playing on the couch yesterday. She had just finished eating, and Lynnell brought her out to me to burp. After burping, I propped her up in my lap for some good face time. About five minutes into all of the excitement I heard a squishy rushing sound. I didn't think much of it because she frequently takes a crap when she's in dads arms. In fact, I think she likes to wait until I hold her. Anyways, 30 seconds after the squishy rushing sound, I felt something extremely warm on my stomach. I lifted the baby up to find a mixture of fresh poop and pee soaking into my shirt. DANG IT!


I yelled for mom and she reluctantly took her to change her. I think her words were "You are perfectly capable of changing her. You do it." I quickly retorted with an excuse: "I have to change my shirt." Hey, it was true. Who wants to walk around with poop and urine dripping down their stomach (ok, it wasn't that bad, but it felt that way). It was gross.

I also noticed that I failed to post a picture of my fabulous step mom with the baby. Sorry Tonia (I really do love you). So, without further ado, here's my step mom with Izzie.


I also bought my first baby related item off of eBay on Sunday. Not a big milestone, but I have a feeling it won't be the last. It was a Graco iMonitor. I saved $30, so I couldn't resist.

My mom and brother left this morning to go home. They were here for a week. It was great having them over and having the help. It was a huge relief. Everyone I talked to said "you should have someone there to help you out for a few days after the baby is born." Lynnell and I both were against the idea at first. Then I read a book about fatherhood (not a how-to but a here's-what-to-expect) and in it the author was very adamant about having a grandmother on site for assistance. That's when I got the hint. All I had to do was sell the idea to Lynnell. She reluctantly went along with it about a week before the baby. You have probably already read the previous post about this, so I'll just get to the point. If you ever have a baby, you will want someone there. Just make sure it's someone you trust...like a grandmother. Thanks again, Grannie for helping us out.

Day 4

Day four and we are finally on a nice steady schedule. Lynnell's milk has come in (I won't go into details about that or explain it...just know that the fun bags are big and off limits at this point), and the baby is doing great. She is feeding very well and regularly.


Izzie got her first bath today at home. It's not really a bath, but rather a rub down with a warm washcloth by a very caring mother. I haven't ever gotten one. She did great until about 5 minutes in. I think she started getting cold, so she started screaming (not fussing...screaming). It was over soon enough and all was well with the world.



Today was also Uncle D's first time holding her. He's been a little reluctant because he didn't want to break her. It was funny. He held her completely still for about 3 minutes staring at her periodically. Then she started to kick and fuss and it was over. Uncle D wasn't having any of that. He quickly passed Izzie back of to Grannie (my mom).




For some reason my mom doesn't want to be Grandma. She wants to be Grannie. I have no idea how to spell it. I'm sure that no matter how I do spell it, it will be wrong. Mom, you'll have to comment to let me know how to spell Grannie.


Then after a while I laid down with her on the couch for a quick cat nap. It's fun. I like it. She's good at cuddling.