last few days of dungeon!

Our little  one is growing before our very eyes. It seems that between the time I leave for work and come home in the evening, she has gained some essential new wisdom. She's now seeing us from a few feet away. I like to think that she's recognizing me, although she doesn't outwardly show it (unless one counts bodily functions). Rebecca is still mostly nursing her, which means that I don't have a whole lot to offer apart from diaper changes and comforting her. She's on the road to bottledom, though, as we've introduced a pacifier and I've taken a few tries at bottle feeding her. This tends to work for a little while, until she figures out that I'm not mom, and that the plastic nipple is not the real deal, and then she fusses. Last night, funnily enough, she actually pouted when I tried to feed her! She stuck our her lower lip and let out a half-hearted cry. I thought that it was the cutest thing ever, of course. I just hope that this picky eater thing doesn't last too long.

One of the new tricks that I've learned recently, though, is that I can prop her on my leg at the dinner table, bounce her up and down while holding her with one hand, and she seems to enjoy it. She takes in a lot of air when she's gulping down milk, so she gets pretty gassy as a result, and is really uncomfortable if she doesn't get burped. The knee bouncing seems to help move things around, and it lets Rebecca and I enjoy a few minutes of sanity too. It's a regular family dinner!

Other than new baby developments, the big news is moving into a new place this weekend! Yippee (once it's over)! It will be nice to get out of a basement and into the wonderful world of daylight. Our pediatrician counseled Rebecca that it was important to get Phoebe on a day/night schedule by putting her in the light during the day so that she would sleep better at night... she clearly hadn't seen our apartment :)

And now for the all-important baby photos!

Yook at da cute widdle feet!

In a good mood after snacktime.  

 Catching some z's at dinner on daddy's lap.

 Her famous 'furrowed brow' look.

 Phoebe the couch cushion!

 I think that she has a rather Mona Lisa-ish quality in this photo.

 More furrowed brow. "Whatchu talkin bout?!" 

Ill-fated diaper excursion

Last week, Rebecca and I decided to embark on an adventure into the wonderful world of cloth diapering. There is a large philosophical and cultural divide between those who use conventional ("paper") diapers, and those who use cloth diapers. Paper diapers (actually usually a mix of paper and plastic) are very convenient, both because they're single use, but also because they wick moisture away from the baby's skin so they are more comfortable for longer (you don't have to change the diaper as often). This also means that you generate a lot of diaper-related waste, and that you don't change the baby as often because they don't fuss - leading to a higher likelihood of diaper rash, and longer periods of time in diapers (cloth diaper kids tend to potty train earlier).

For these reasons we decided that we want to use the cloth diapers. We inherited a bunch of inserts 'prefolds', as their known in the jargon to use. The basic process is to take the cloth, put it on with a 'snappi' - a modern safety pin - and wrap the outside with a waterproof cover so the baby's clothes don't get wet when she pees. Which, it turns out, she does very often. Our first foray was challenging. We were going through about 15 diapers a day, including as many as 4 at one time! In that instance, I changed her, and she immediately peed, then I changed her, and she immediately poo'd, then change, then pee, then change again. As an added bonus, she wasn't use to the feeling of wet cloth against her skin, so she wasn't sleeping very well at all (neither were we). Last night, we made the decision to strategically retreat, and try again with the cloth diapers when she's using the loo a bit more regularly. On the plus side, we now know how to administer the cloth diapers, and we not grossed out very easily by the handling of soiled fabric. I'll save the across-the-room blowout story for later.

Now for some photos!

One month old!

Phoebe was born one month ago today! Hard to believe that it's been that long, but she has already changed so much. She has been packing on the pounds of late. Literally. She's up to 9lbs 5oz (yesterday), and the folks in the know reckon she's adding a pound a week at this point. Imagine what she could do with a little toffee! In other news, we are doing some renovations on the new house, and hope to be moved in by the middle of January (or thereabouts). It will be nice to be living in a location with some sunlight again. I think that it will do wonders for my disposition, and will help Phoebe get on a day/night schedule too. 

Babies are fascinating to be around. Lying next to one, trying to sleep at night, it sounds like you are sharing a room with an asthmatic old man who is hyperventilating and has some gunk in his lungs. Turn the lights on, however, and you realize it's a cute little growing baby girl, trying to swallow a big batch of mom's milk. All the squirms and dinosaur cries make her seem so fragile - it boggles the mind to think that every person on the planet started out as a fragile little package like this one.

So, things are going well and we are enjoying our time with the little miss. Less so in the middle of the night, but still.  Rebecca has been handling the night shift, and seems much better able to cope with 3am feedings, diaper changes, and spitups than I do.  After a night fussing and fitfully sleeping, it is difficult to not be a total zombie at work the next day. A few times, I've retreated to the living room in the middle of the night to try to get a few hours of sleep, but that hasn't always worked.  I've unplugged the alarm clock on my side of the bed because I didn't like seeing times of the morning that I had no business being awake to see. I think that has helped. In any event, a few minutes of holding Phoebe makes all of those troubles go away.

We've had a few visitors in the past few weeks, mom over Christmas, followed by Rebecca's brother Gabe, who left just yesterday. It was nice to have all the help and company, notwithstanding a few episodes of sickness. All folks are better now, and we're looking forward to more visitors (after we move, but that's another story for another time).

And now, ze photos....

On dad's lap while he tries to get a little work done.

 Deep asleep. Those are her toes up there next to her face. I tried moving here, but she was sound asleep

 On Grandma Debi's lap

 Wearing her cute new sweater with mom

 Matching stripes with dad

 On Uncle Gabe's lap