Life with baby (10 weeks)
News, Baby ·Tuesday November 21, 2017 @ 22:59 EST (link)
A few notes about living with David Geoffrey—not to vent or complain. We also refer to him as our "babbisiet" (the etymology is uncertain, but it comes in part from "babby" as a misspelling in a M*A*S*H episode when a Korean baby is dropped off at the hospital).
First, since I'm working full time (and my company gives no paid paternity leave whatsoever—I wish I were still at Microsoft in that regard), I still sleep about eight hours a night; since Honey doesn't work and since she has the food, she deals with the two-hourly feedings, which have gotten somewhat better now. David G. "technically" slept through the night, meaning five hours, for the first time yesterday.
For a little while Honey and baby were sleeping in one of the bedrooms downstairs so I could get enough sleep to go to work, but we moved upstairs when the Penners came, and stayed there. We have a Graco Pack'n'Play next to the bed, but he mostly sleeps in the middle of the bed cradled by Honey. I sometimes get woken up to hold him in spit-up and other emergencies.
He does not like to lie down or sit by himself, very much preferring to be held, and that standing at the shoulder rather than in the more traditional "baby" sling carry. When he gets hungry or really needs a change he'll escalate his cries to a continually repeated "mah" (apparently he breathes through his nose, so he hardly needs to stop for breath, and he takes full advantage of that). He will get sleepy after eating, but will pop open wide eyes if disturbed. Instead, he prefers a walk around and singing (he likes hymns) and "shhh"ing has some effect too.
Like, 10 diapers a day. Did not expect that many. Why aren't there diaper-changing robots yet?
At 10 weeks, he is not very much into objects yet, at all (normal, but surprised me), but he's still figuring out his arms and hands are his and how they're connected. He will hold fingers and can sometimes be convinced to hold his hand around the few toys (like plastic keys) we got for him, but isn't very interested and will drop them quickly. He can hold his head up most of the time and can sit against a support, although he likes to dive to the side. He likes to lean to the side when held, too. When held by midsection, or, lately, hands alone, he can stand up ("The Standing Baby!").
We try to give him some "tummy time" on his front on a blanket during the day to help him experiment with moving and perhaps eventually flipping himself to his back (when he can do that, he can sleep on his front) (he did it once very early, and then hasn't since).
He's had a couple rounds of vaccinations, a few of which made him cry briefly but he was fine soon after (mommy wasn't). He's got a bit of a cold now. He had good birth weight but lost a lot soon after, but now is doing great at 12.6 pounds, and probably a little over 24 inches by now.
I've taken a lot of photos of him, which have been posted here and are automatically synced to my Raspberry Pi digital photo frame at work—a popular Christmas gift suggestion for both sets of parents (need to set up easy touch-based wi-fi configuration, since mine is wired). The new Nikon I ordered is finally arriving tomorrow, so expect videos soon too.
