A word on becoming a parent...

You've probably noticed, (if anyone is still following this blog and hasn't completely given up on me), that there hasn't been a post from us in a while. This, in spite of the fact that we've had so much blog-worthiness happening in our lives. Any parent can tell you, that if a new mommy and daddy don't make time to blog during the first 10 weeks of their baby's new life, it's completely excusable. However, I am disappointed, as there has been so much going on and so many funny stories to tell. I fear that few of them will be remembered and accounted for, but I'll do the best I can to catch you up with the "Cliff Notes" version:

1)Last night we put up our first Christmas tree with Claire. She stared at the lights like they were literally blowing her mind. It was delightful and a bit frightful all at once to see how enthralled she was with their glowing beauty. We wrapped an extra strand around the posts of her swing for good measure and in the hopes of keeping her occupied for a bit longer...

2)In preparation for the cold weather that we experienced so unexpectedly last week, (it got down to 15 degrees! That just never happens here!), we tried on Claire's new candycane striped long underwear onesie. She looked at us like, "really-I make ridiculous look cute." It was fantastic, and she stayed toasty warm.

3)In an attempt to get more rest and create a more peaceful middle-of-the-night nursing situation, I've been trying more often lately to nurse Claire in bed while lying down. I think it's working. This morning in the wee hours if you had see us you would have seen me laying there with a "hungry" infant sleeping next to me with her mouth open. I did wake up soon after I dozed off and got us back on track. Maybe it's too peaceful???

4)Claire's bathtime is an adventure. We use a "PUJ" tub, which is a foam mat that folds so that it fits snugly into our little bathroom sink. It works well and keeps her all snuggled up in the warm water. That is, until she hit over 14 pounds recently, and started kicking while we tried to wash her. Now we are pretty much at the PUJ limit I believe, and may be moving into the duckie tub soon. Problem is, that many babies at 15 pounds are starting to be able to sit up a bit, and she is no where near that...as she's only 10 weeks old. Hmm...New bath strategy ahead. Another favorite bathtime experience is the daredevil race into the bathroom from the changing table across the hall in her room. It's like naked baby roulette: someday she'll pee on us, but we never know when that day will come.

5)Car seat: she hates getting in and out of it. We've already had to adjust it. She's big folks, and that's all there is to it. She is a 15 pound baby in the biggest, heaviest car seat on the market: the Britax Chaperone. My physical therapist has actually banned me from doing any car seat carrying other than lifting her in and out of the car. Thank God for the Snap-and-Go stroller.

6)Physical therapy: when Claire was about two weeks old, I started to notice that by the afternoon I had a really sharp pain in my neck. It hurt when I looked down and brought my chin to my chest. I thought it was just stress or soreness and that it would go away, but 8 weeks later and I'm in physical therapy twice a week to cope with the muscle strain of carrying around my "petite" princess, the muscle strain of nursing and the added weight of my breasts. All in all, there's still a lot hanging off the front of me, even though I've delivered a baby and trimmed up splendidly. So, hopefully the PT will help, and I won't have a hunchback by the age of 30.

7)Belly button. The most peculiar thing happened around week 6 1/2...we noticed a little bloody sack protruding slightly out of Claire's belly button. We watched it for a day, and it got a bit bigger, so I called the pediatrician and we went in later in the day for a check up. Well, he'd never seen anything like it. He took pictures on his iPhone to show his pediatrician buddies. He called in the two other peds that were in the clinic, and they hadn't seen anything like it either. That's over 70 years of pediatric experience stumped at 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. No fun. We were hoping it would be a little less special than that. Something to just rub a little ointment on and sleep it off. Oh well. We were instructed to make an appointment with the pediatric surgeon at Mary Bridge Children's Clinic, which we did. About an hour and a half before her appointment with the surgeon, I hurriedly threw together the diaper bag and took her into the changing table for one last change before heading out the door WHEN...I lifted up her onesie, and what do you think happened? It fell off. The little bloody bubble that caused all this fuss just dried up and fell off into my hand. I put the sample in a ziploc and off we went. The surgeon just blinked at me and told me to come back in a couple of weeks. What a fiasco. Kids!

8)At 6 weeks she began to smile. It was so sweet. She had been making eye contact for about a week before the smiles set in, and we waited anxiously for them to appear every day. "Was that a smile? Or was it just gas?" Most of the time, with Claire, the answer to this question was the gas, but as I said, around week 6 she grinned knowingly at our faces and our silly charades, and we knew--with the certainty that we craved--that we were indeed the two most hilarious people on the planet. We should start booking comedy clubs and book a 2011 tour--we are funny, funny people, and you know how I know? Because Claire smiles, and that's all that matters.

9)Life is well and good with a newborn when it comes to diapers. Especially when your baby loves her changing table as much as ours does. And especially when you have a breastmilk-only baby like Claire is (it doesn't even stink!). And especially while your brand new angel is only creating small poops dispersed evenly throughout a 24 hour period.

But then...

You take your daughter to church for the very first time after you return from maternity leave, and you dress her in the cute new outfit from Grandma Cindy (pink courderoy dress, white turtleneck onesie, white tights, pink shoes), and she makes such a mess that you shudder in horror at the fold-down changing table on display in the cramped church nursery bathroom. Fancy onsie? Gone. Pretty pink dress? No match for Claire. White tights? Do I even have to answer here? Thank God we have a loving and gracious church family, and thank GOD that we had an extra change of clothes.

10) Aside from the stinky diaper situation, she smells wonderful, especially right on top of her head. And when she sleeps, she snores, and it's lovely.

More from the Claire Chronicles later...hopefully you won't have to wait as long until next time.