Team O's

We received a package in the mail a little while ago from my friends in Tahoe.  It was small, just a thick envelope with a small soft bulge and I wasn't really sure what was in it.  Julia knew immediately.  She said, "I bet it is a 'Team O's' onesie."  Sure enough, that is exactly what it was.

Quite stylish, no?

Super quick back story.  My high school friends and I used to go skiing every weekend together and we would eat a nutritious lunch of dirt cheap canned pasta heated up in the microwave of the lodge at the bottom of the mountain.  Then, one day, while entering an informal mogul competition there was a place on the entry form for "team" and "Team Spaghettio's" (O's for short) was born.  We have a small tradition of manufacturing shirts to dedicate important events (usually involving spray paint and homemade stencils cut from a beer carton) like weddings and the like.  Well, Stanley, welcome to the team.  And, as the onesie reads, "Tiny Team O's - You Know You Want One."

Doctor's apt

Today Stanley and I went to the doctor's office. This was supposed to be his 4 week appointment, but we had to postpone it due to our trip to Rochester.

Stanley weighs 11 lbs 15 oz and his heigh is 22" with a head circumference of 40 1/4 cm. The doctor said he was a bit surprised that a breast fed baby is tracking at 75% weight and 60% height. Normally, breast fed babies are lighter than 50% since the scale was based on formula babies. It sounds like he is eating well.

Big Legs

Quick little post.  Earlier Julia mentioned that Stanley has rather large legs (much like mom and dad).  Here is a picture of just what we are talking about.  They are like triangles!

Stanley at 6 weeks old

It is amazing to think that Stanley is 6 weeks old. These 6 weeks have flown by but he still seems so new.

I am having a very hard time imagining that I will be going back to work in 2 weeks. I have been in quite a panic over how much I am going to miss little Stanley. At least, Lolo will be taking care of him for Nov and Dec. Tuesday Steve, Stanley, and I will venture down to Palo Alto to visit two different day care centers.

This week has been lots of fun to spend with Stanley. First off, all three of us are sleeping more. Usually we get one long 4 hour stretch at the beginning of the night. So, everyone is a bit happier. Stanley spends most of his days smiling, grunting, looking around, staring at me, and of course eating. We still have a fussy period in the evening, but hopefully that slowly goes away as he starts doing more of the other items. You may have noticed that sleeping is not on this list--our little man likes to be awake. He does not like to sleep except in the carriers or sometimes in the stroller.

I cannot say that we have any routine to our day yet. But, for three days running, Stanley and I slept on the couch from 9am - noon. Unfortunately, it stopped 2 days ago. We will see if we can bring that one little routine back.

Stanley is taking after his father while eating. Steve likes to eat slowly versus me who scarfs down my food. Stanley enjoys being a connoisseur of milk; he tastes it and then stops eating for a while until he decides he would like a bit more. The funnier part is when he licks it a bit and then proceeds to taste it. Especially at 3am, I'd prefer a beer guzzler than wine taster.

Stanley loves...
- White noise
- The space station (on or off)
- The outdoors
- To sleep in the carriers
- Not being hot
- Pooping in daddy's arms
- Being on airplanes
- The windows in mom and dad's room
- His zebra over the changing table

Stanley hates...
- Dirty diapers (I would too)
- He is not keen on tummy time, but he loves to sleep on his tummy during skin to skin
- The crib
- The first 20 minutes of any car ride. The ensuing screaming means that no one likes the first 20 minutes.
- Sleeping at anytime. He does not want to miss what is going on in the world.

Stanley can...
- He has been a lot more alert this week and likes to look around. Do not try to have a starring contest with him--he will win.
- He grunts a bunch more
- He has gotten lots better at his gas management
- Takes a bottle like a pro
- Goes 4 hours without eating. Hurray!!
- He can pee on his dad
- Grow out of outfits within days
- Smile

Tomorrow we go for his 4 week check up (yes 2 weeks late). We will get his stats and post those.

Are you eating it

I was putting stuff away in the house and I just heard the following discussion.

Steve: Wow, pee fountain.
Stanley: Cough Cough
Steve: I'm so sorry you must have gotten it in your mouth....don't tell me you are smiling and liked it.
A few moments later
Steve: Not again
A few moments later
Steve: Again?

Steve emerged from the room looking a bit worse for ware.

I

I'm sure glad that urine is sterile. 

Nice Weather and Beach Trip

Yesterday was a fantastically nice weather day in San Francisco.  Bright sun, no wind and warm temperatures all over the city.  In the morning we enjoyed the sunshine by sitting out in the backyard and letting Stanley be outside.  He seems to like the outside a whole lot more than the indoors, which bodes well for his future enjoyment with mom and dad.  We sat outside, sipped coffee and fed Stanley until it was time for lunch.

After lunch we decided to take advantage of this rare weather by heading to the beach.  The weather at the beach other times of year is usually quite terrible.  Even when the sun shines everywhere else in the city, usually the beach is cloudy, cold and windy.  Not so yesterday.  It was bright sunny, warm and almost no wind.  Perfect for an afternoon sit at the beach. 

Stanley had never been to the beach before, but I think he enjoyed it.  The ocean, we realized, is really like a giant hairdryer constantly blowing.  Stanley loves white noise like that and so he spent most of the time sitting and lying rather contentedly.  We all had a nice time.  I know everyone loves pictures, so here you go.

5th week photos

Turns out that I've been bad at taking pictures this week. Here are a few for our enjoyment.

Our family at Dolores Park after work.

Stanley has grown, but is still pretty small. 

Hold me

Over the course of these last few days, Stanley has been in a phase of wanting to be held ALL the time. He cries pretty steadily when I put him down. As soon as I pick him up, he smiles, coos, and looks all around. In a strange way, it is quite touching. Since, I figure at his age I cannot really spoil him, I've enjoyed holding him over these last two days and noting what traits he got from me. Sorry, the blog has gotten behind because of it.

It is a good thing that little Stanley came out of me, because there aren't a lot of characteristics from me. This is all I have noticed so far:
- His head is huge like the Cline side
- His feet are really big(He has just grown out of 0-6month socks.)
- His redish color hair (sadly Stanley does not seem to have Steve's beautiful blond curls)
- Big hands (though this might also come from Steve)
- His three middle toes are grouped (Yes, I was desperate to find a 5th trait of mine)

The very noticable trait from the Kelly side is Stanley REALLY long arms.

The other thing, is our poor son has been given HUGE quads from his two parents. Steve and I thought maybe Stanley would at least have normal looking legs while he is an infant, but no luck. His quads are almost in a triangle shape.

Sorry little Stanley, you will never be able to wear the stylish skinny leg jeans.

Bottle feeder

Much to Lolo's (my mom's) disappointment, I never took a bottle. I would just wait the many hours for her to come pick me up from day care and only then would I eat. So, we were all thrilled when Steve succeeded in giving Stanley his first bottle 2 nights ago. Hurray!! Now, I will need to be a cow and start pumping up a good supply for him to use in 2 weeks when I head back to work.

Nature in the city

(This post is from before I left for Rochester, but I didn't get a chance to post it before we left.)

Rebecca and Violet asked us on a play date to the Botanical Gardens. It is right next to the California Acad. of Science. However, we didn't need a science museum; we had our own nature/science experience in the gardens. Violet was leading us down a little path and then there was a loud noise about 15 feet from us. Rebecca grabbed Violet because she could not figure out what it was. (Stanley was in the Moby on me.) All of the sudden, a HUGE hawk took off from the tree near us with a squirrel in his beak. He flew up to the tree above us, de-furred the squirrel and then ate it. Violet, Rebecca, and I watched and Stanley slept through the adventure. I am just glad that the two kids were near us; the hawk was so big it seems like he could have picked up little Stanley.

Watching the hawk

Friends

Today, April and Andrew came up to San Fran to hang out together. It was the first time Andrew and Stanley met. They seemed to get along well. Andrew was a very thoughtful friend and really wanted to hold hands or at least touch. Stanley was happy to share his space station with his new friend.

April and I enjoyed it also. I am looking forward to pictures of the two of them together as they grow up.

Tradition

Stanley wasn't feeling well on Sunday in Rochester. He was quite agitated and banging his head all around. He was more unhappy when he would crash his head into one of our shoulder bones. At this point in life, Stanley can probably blame it on Mom's milk and what I ate.

On Sunday night, at 3 am, I went to the grocery store to by a thermometer to see if he had a temperature.  As I was coming back, the gas light came on in the car. I got back and opened the thermometer to find that it was broken. So, back to the store I went after finding the keys to the other car. He did not have a temperature.

Since Stanley would not sleep at all, Grandma Lolo brought out tradition to make him feel a bit better. Lolo rocked him in the chair her grandma (Stanley's Great-Great Grandma) used to use to rock Lolo and the blanket Lolo used when nursing Mommy Julia. Here Lolo is in her PJs because Stanley, Lolo, and Julia only got about 2 hours of sleep.

The rocking helped and he was much better by Monday morning. We were all pretty tired though. When Uncle Flounder got up at 4am for his flight home Lolo, Stanley, and I were all up laying in bed together trying to figure out what I had eaten that would make such a fidgety boy. (I'm guessing it was the tea that I drank on Saturday.)

Thank goodness Stanley was a bit better by Monday morning. I did not want a miserable boy on the plane ride home. He slept like a log on the Rochester to Washington flight. However, he was up and looking around or crying on the IAD to San Fran flight. Everyone was really nice about his crying, but I still felt bad about him crying so much. The family next to me said he sounds so quiet even though it sounds really loud to me.

People kept coming to look at him (there aren't many 5 week old babies on planes with only one parent) and lots of people offered to hold him if I needed help. Anyways, we arrived safely, but Steve did notice pretty quickly that there was poop and spit-up on Stanley, me and the Moby and I was a  VERY tired Mom.

Stanley was given his wings by the flight attendant on the last flight; we will put them in his baby book. We had a great trip and I am very glad that we went. We will miss Rochester, but it is wonderful to be home.  

Solo Daddy

As you have read, Julia and Stanley are away in Rochester right now with Lolo, Papa Doug and Flounder and I am doing the "bachelor" thing here in San Francisco.  Accordingly, you may wonder what exactly I have been doing here with no baby to take care of.  Here is a quick run down.

Wednesday: Up at 6am with Julia with the idea of driving her and Stanley to the airport.  Plan foiled by absolutely HORRENDOUS traffic jams in San Francisco that morning, so I accompanied Julia and Stanley down to the airport on BART before heading back up to work.  Went home after work.  Slept 8 hours.

Thursday: Went to work.  Came home.  Slept 8 hours.

Friday: Went to work.  Came home. Went out for ice cream and hung out with friends Shawn, Rebecca and Violet.  Drank some of Shawn's homebrew beer.  Walked home.  Slept 10 hours.

Saturday: Woke up at 10am.  Ate breakfast.  Went to Yoga.  Got coffee.  Ate lunch.  Cleaned up house and the back yard.  Ate dinner.  Slept 9 hours.

Sunday: Woke up at 7am.  Bike ride with Shawn at 8am.  Watched Broncos game at bar in Noe Valley (they won!) until 1:30pm.  Rode bike to beer store and then to Dolores Park to hang out with friends.  Rode home.  Made dinner.  Plan on sleeping 9-10 hours (I hope you are sensing a trend here).

Stanley and Julia come home tomorrow evening and I will head out to pick them up in the car, barring some freakish night time traffic.  It seems that they have had a nice time in Rochester and I have definitely been missing them. 

Apparently, Stanley misses me as well.  I received this photo via email today.  Hang on little buddy!

Nice handwriting, Stanley!

Stanley Photo Op

Grandma Lolo and Mom did a photo op with Stanley today in the leaves. He looks so precious in the Rochester leaves. We were unable to capture a photo with a smile,

but we got a lot of pictures of this....

Big Baby Doll

I did not really know how to take care of an infant despite my many years of taking care of my dolls. I guess I know why--the dolls were bigger than 5 week old Stanley.

Stanley catching up to the size of 'Big baby doll'

Stanley at 5 weeks old

Yesterday evening, I was thinking about this post. Here is what I was thinking of saying:

Stanley can spend the entire night without crying, he can sleep through a luncheon in a car seat, and his digestive track had made enormous progress. However, I guess it is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. He was up tons last night and finally Lolo took him from 5-7am while he cried.

However, even though we have not gotten rid of the crying at night he has sure made some major leaps this week. Since Thursday, he seems to recognize me not only by smell but also sight. After I leave him with someone, his eyes continue to follow me. It is very touching.

He is also a lot stronger this week. His legs can hold himself up as long as someone keeps him up-right. And, during tummy-time, he likes to push off things to move himself forward. Also, he has much more control of his little arms i.e. he doesn's hit himself in the head anymore.

More photos: Picassa PhotoLink

At 5 weeks, Stanley loves...
- Airplanes
- His pacifier
- The hair drier
- The Moby
- The space station
- Baths in Lolo's sink
- Falling asleep while nursing
- Freddy the Firefly acting like an airplane
- Opera music
- Watching football with dad

Stanley can...
- Reach out to things to swat them
- Follow people with his eyes
- Know his mom by sight and smell
- Find his thumb on his own and start sucking it
- Stand up on your stomach or the ground as long as someone keeps him up-right. He also can hold his weight on 1 leg and do a jig with his left leg.

Stanley misses his dad!!!!
Stanley doesn't like..
- Being gassy.
- Hiccups are starting to bother him. Too bad he gets them all of the time.

This has been a fun week and a wonderful trip to Rochester.

Stanley's First Few Flights

Stanley T-2 months going to Tawain

Stanley chilling in ORD at 4.5 weeks

Opera

Depeneding on who you talk to, I might have either corrupted or given our son a great gift. While he was in the womb, I was listening to lots of opera. We even listened to it in the delivery room. Today at the funeral there was a beautiful operatic singer. We were in the 'Child's prayer room' (which is more appropriately called the sound proof crying baby room). Every time Stanley heard the singer, he would stop nursing and look around and even somewhat try to smile. He was not as enthralled by the entire congregation singing. 

Stanley was an amazingly good little man today. He was quiet for the service/burial and he slept through the two hour luncheon. Too bad little stanley did not get to meet Opa, but Opa would have been proud at how good he was today. 

Our little flier

Stanley was an amazing traveler at T-2 months going to Taiwan and he was a fabulous little flier at T+1month old to Rochester. I could not have asked for a better trip home. 

There were 2 major accidents on 101 on Wednesday morning, so Steve went with Stanley and me on BART to the airport. I had packed light (my carry-on rollerboard, 1 backpack, and Stanley in the Moby on my stomach). i.e. no checked luggage--hurray!

My main worry was security. Apparently, they changed the rule about a month ago and now babies can stay in carriers as long as the mother gets her palms swabbed. Going through the premier line, the first security man asked me to step ahead of the only 5 people in line. I declined feeling bad for those poor people in front of me who seemed shocked that someone was told to go ahead of them. Then, Stanley and I went through security and while we waited to get my palms screened, a security guard brought over a chair and another brought over all my things and asked if he should repack my items. You almost had to pick me off the floor I was so shocked at how well I was treated. 

The flights were just as easy. On the SFO-ORD leg, we sat next to a woman with a 4.5 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 year old. She loves babies and wanted more, but her husband stopped her since babies = college education bills later. When I needed to go the bathroom, she was thrilled to hold him. 

Stanley slept and ate the whole time. He barely opened his eyes to look around. He loves the hair drier and likes to be bounced so this must have been ideal--a plane sounds like a hair drier (why normally I like noise canceling headphones) and it shakes a bit. He was happy as a clam. The man on the opposite side of the aisle by the window didn't even know there was a baby on the plane in his aisle until we were leaving. 

The only challenge was changing him. I asked the flight attendant which bathroom had a changing table and she said that it was an old plane and so it didn't have a changing table. Did babies not fly in the old days? I felt quite accomplished to have exited the bathroom, having changed Stanley on my lap, without poop all over me. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Stanley was not super happy in the Chicago airport, but then again, who really is? And, the only other notable item is that on the decent into Rochester, there was tons of turbulence so instead of nursing him to relieve pressure in his ears, I held onto him for dear life. I didn't want him flying up in the air. He didn't seem bothered by the pressure changes and slept through the bumps. 

All in all, he was an amazing little traveler. I hope we can continue to fly with him lots in the future. He takes after his great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle, grandma lolo, and grandma leigh ann who all love to fly. 

And then there was Stanley

To get a pump and nursing bra, I went to the hospital nursing store. It has a beautiful quiet room for nursing your infant. With around 4-5 other infants in the room, Stanley nursed for 30 minutes when we arrived and then I did my shopping. As I put Stanley in his seat to leave, he threw a fit. As I tried to pay, he was screaming at the top of his lungs. I just continued to pay, but the lady at the counter was worried. I'm not sure if she was more worried for Stanley or concerned that I was in a panic. Anyways, she suggested that he must be hungry or need a diaper change (both of which I had just done). She wanted him out of his seat to stop him screaming.

We venture back into the wonderful beautiful nursing room where the other 4 babies were quietly cooing and nursing. And...then there was Stanley. I sat for a second with a screaming kid thinking....'Hmm, how do I either have him stop crying or sneak us both out of here with all of my stuff without having the counter lady know that my baby is still screaming at the top of his lungs.' The second option seemed a bit harder, so I opted to try to stop him crying. As he screamed away, I kept shoving the nipple down him until he finally quieted down, nursed a bit, and then we could leave on our second try. The other newborn parents in the room kept looking at me like I was crazy--I'm sure they have or will be in that situation soon enough. One of the mothers whispered to me (she had previous kids) "We have all been there". At least I knew someone was on my side.

Big Big Adventure

Stanley and I have previously taken 'big adventures' to the other side of SF. However, tomorrow we are going on a VERY big adventure. We are heading to the airport on our way to Rochester. My dear neighbor from growing up, Simon, died on Wednesday and we are headed to his funeral. He was a wonderful grandfather figure to Geoff and me and we will miss him dearly.

I'm a little nervous and anxious about the trip. Please keep your fingers crossed that Stanley likes flying, we do not have anyone sick near us on the plane, and we hopefully have a nice mother sitting next to us on the flights.

The nurse on the phone said to feed Stanley on the way up and down for his ears. She would have said 'no' to a trip to Hawaii at 4 weeks, but she thinks this is OK. When she asked me where I was going and I mentioned Rochester in upstate NY, she said 'For sure that is not Hawaii'.

Along with Simon's whole family, we will get to see Lolo, Papa Doug, and Flounder while we are there. Flounder just came to visit us in SF 2 nights ago. He took Stanley for a walk while Steve and I slept and Stanley screamed for a good 30 minutes of the walk. Hopefully Flounder and Stanley can have some quiet peaceful walks this trip.

Toys

Stanley has a lot of toys and possessions so far.  However, being so small he can really only appreciate a few of them.  His two favorites right now are his "lounge chair" and what we like to call the "space station".

The lounge chair is basically what it sounds like, but with a few key differences from the adult version.  First, it is only about 2 inches raised above the ground.  Second, because of the precipitous height mentioned previously, it has a five-point safety harness to keep him safely seated in a nice reclining position.

Stanley lounging and looking out into the back yard on a rainy morning.

The space station is a different beast entirely.  This thing consists of a round pad of the craziest color combinations you have ever seen with squeaky and crinkly parts built in.  Coming up from this pad there are two semi-circular hoops (both padded and appropriately crazy colored) that hook together at the top.  From these two hoops hang a myriad of padded, colorful toys, all themed around a monkey-astronaut's adventures among smiling space objects (stars, rockets, etc.).  Now, instead of a simple connection at the top where the two hoops meet (which is what I expected from the picture) there is a small motor that moves the two hoops back and forth a little while playing two musical selections.  There is the lullaby tune (boring) and another more upbeat video game meets game show meets children's programming tune (currently Stanley's favorite).  This latter tune is fine, but is quite the earworm.  I find myself walking around inadvertently whistling this tune several times a day.  At least it doesn't play the "Small World" theme.

Lying in the space station among all the toys and colors.

Football Halftime

Steve and Stanley are watching football while Stanley 'airs out' in cloth diapers. At least Stanley waited until halftime to let loose. Within the course of that time, he soiled 4 diapers, leaked on Steve's shorts, and spit-up on Steve's shirt.

I guess he is cleaned out after being gassy all night.

4th week photos

I've posted some pictures from this past week. Enjoy

Stanley's 4 week Photos

And, here is one of my favorites that I am posting right here also. Steve is amazing with little Stanley!! He does all the burping and most of the soothing.

Four Weeks

Stanley turned four weeks old today.  I was at the lab doing experiments most of the day, so he and mom went on their own adventures today to get some milk at the store, check out the Noe Valley Harvest Festival on 24th Street and walk around with our friend Kat Terry visiting from Tahoe.  Apparently, Stanley had quite a following of onlookers at the Harvest Festival and people kept trying to peek around Julia to get a look at him.

A few traits we have noticed so far:

He is stubborn and knows what he wants (or makes it look that way).  When he wants his pacifier, he really wants it and nothing else will do.  But, when he doesn't want it, don't even try to put it in his mouth.  He will seal those lips right up.

He has very long arms (like me).  Julia said today that the waitress at Chloe's commented on how long his arms were as he was sitting in her lap bear hugging her after falling asleep.


Stanley can:

- Almost smile
- Almost roll over to his stomach (he can get to his side)
- Fall asleep in either the Beco or Moby instantly
- Swat his arms at the toys in the "Space Station"
- Follow people's eyes and faces

Stanley likes:

- The hairdryer
- Looking out the window from his "lounge chair"
- The blue pacifiers
- Going on walks
- His zebra picture over the changing table
- Music
- His "Space Station".  (This is a play center thing we got where he sits on a mat below some dangling toys.  There is a motor that moves the toys around and plays music.  The song is slowly burning it's way into our brains.  This could get ugly.)

Stanley hates:

- Being gassy -- with a passion
- Going to sleep at night
- Wet diapers -- who wouldn't?

That is all I can think of tonight.  Time to try and get some sleep.  Thankfully I didn't have to leave the house at 4am this morning for my experiment like yesterday.  Part of the equipment malfunctioned overnight and it had to get serviced this morning.  Not sure I would be standing right now if that hadn't happened. 

Rough Night

Stanley and I had a rough night with each other. Steve had to get up at 3:15 am for an experiment, so Stanley was stuck with me all night. Apparently, he was not happy. He let me know it by screaming super loudly from 9:45-midnight. At that point, I had hit my limit--my ears hurt, I had a headache, and I was at wits ends.

I took Stanley in to see his Dad in the other room at midnight and of course, as soon as Stanley's head hit Steve's shoulder he quieted down with a few gentle Dad bounces. With that, Steve put both tired and cranky mother in bed with the now quiet and pacified Stanley. This at least lasted for about 3 hours before we started the whole process again. Unfortunately, by that next round, Steve was already at work and Stanley had to deal with my bouncing and rocking, which is not at all is wonderful as his dads.

We are both off to sleep right now. Hopefully tonight, will be a bit better. Steve again has to leave at 3:15 am. If I don't write anything on the blog tomorrow, you will know why.

Pimples

Stanley is starting to get some pimples. It is sad to see on his beautiful soft skin. I called the nurse today to see if this is normal and see what I should do. Here is how our conversation went:

Nurse Charity: Is Stanley 3-4 weeks old?
Julia: Yes
Nurse Charity: Well it will only get worse and peak at 6-7 weeks and take 3 weeks after that to go away. I can guess the age of kids in this time frame by their pimples.
Julia: Is there anything I should do?
Nurse Charity: Learn to use iPhoto or Photoshop to remove them from the pictures

I guess this is a normal occurrence. :-) That last item of spending time photoshopping out his pimples is a bit more than this tired mom can do.  So you will be seeing some pimples until Stanley's week 9 or 10.

Setting Expectations

Steve went back to work yesterday, Thursday. So it was just Stanley and me at home. I like to be a busy body in general and put lots on my 'To Do List'. However, I've started to realize that I need to limit what is realistic. Just getting out of the house can take 2-3 dirty diapers before Stanley will let us get out.

Thursday's goals:
- a walk
- stop by a post box to mail bills
- take a nap
- Brush teeth before noon
- Go to CostCo to pick up pictures & fish for dinner
- Shower

The last one did not get done till after Steve came home, but in general, I was quite proud of our accomplishments especially the CostCo run. It is amazing how if you lower expectations, how you can actually finish stuff ;-) I doubt the floor will get cleaned until a grandmother comes back to help.

A new daddy

Today we ventured out to get Steve a hair cut and me a pedicure. Stanley slept and ate the whole time.

It is a very good thing that Stanley isn't able to recognize people yet--he would not know his dad with the new hair cut.

Getting dad a hair cut and mom her nails done.

Dad's new hair...is it really dad? 

Oct 11

Today Steve and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary with our new little boy. It was a fun day with a walk to coffee and hanging out with Rylan.

We also weighed Stanley, at 3 weeks and 3 days he is a whopping 9 lbs 14 oz.

The ultimate in multitasking

Stanley got hungry on the walk back from ice cream in the Mission. He was already in the Moby carrier and in the perfect position ready for food, so I just started feeding him. I had heard about breast feeding in the Moby, but I didn't think it was very practical till I tried it.  Perfect for me...walking, eating ice cream, and breast feeding Stanley. 

Julia and Stanley eating at the same time!

:-( Grandparents leaving

Steve and Stanley are in bed and I'm up posting. I'm exhausted, but I cannot sleep. The grandparents are heading home tomorrow and I'm a little nervous about how the house will go on without them. We have had Lolo, then Leigh Ann and Grandpa and then Lolo and Papa Doug--there was no day without them. We will miss you!!!

Stanley will sure miss his 8-10:30am grandparent walk every morning. Except for his first 2 mornings in the hospital, Stanley has been lucky to stroll with his grandparents every morning. Strolling with Papa Doug yesterday, they did around 6 miles of up and down and up and down the SF hills. Later in the afternoon, we caught them both sleeping--Stanley in his bassinet and Papa Doug in the Ikea chair. Unfortunately, I took the picture just as Papa Doug woke up.

They have helped cook, clean, do laundry, take Stanley while I take a shower or brush my teeth. It has been amazing. Today Papa Doug put together Stanley's toy. Here, I'm not sure who is more entertained with the toy, the grandparents or Stanley.

A visit from NYC

Today, our friend Michael came to visit on his way to NZ from NYC. He is practicing for when his little baby is arriving in March.

All sleeping at once!

Last night was full of firsts and the result was all 3 of us in bed sleeping at once. Amazing! And, even more amazing, it was from 10pm-1am during his normally "fussy time".

How we all ended up in bed together was due to two major changes we introduced on Sunday. First, we helped Stanley get rid of his gas. I was talking with my friend April, who has baby a few days younger than Stanley. As moms we were discussing the gross topics of poop color, vomit, gas, ... I won't list anymore for your sake. I had mentioned that Stanley was a very gassy baby. She suggested three "massage techniques" to eliminate gas.
1. Bicycle the feet
2. Push the knees into the chest for a bit
3. draw on their stomach's I,L,U. (we haven't tried this one yet--it was hard to understand over the phone)

#2 works REALLY well. We will post a video of this--it is amazing. Steve pushes Stanley's legs into his chest. (See photo below) Stanley is not very happy while it is happening, but then either during the pushing or a moment afterwords, Stanley lets out the largest, juiciest farts you could ever imagine and the result is a very happy baby boy.

The second "new" item for our little son was a pacifier. He loved it!! We gave it to him in bed and both Steve and I felt dirty--as if we were cheating or something. He took right to it and we all fell asleep at the same time. Cheating or not, we will be using it in the future.

Amazing!!

Hanging around with Grandparents

Picassa seems to be having some trouble, so I'll upload pictures directly to the blog. Enjoy.

Fussy Time

 

3 weeks old

Stanley is 3 weeks old today. 

We had quite the adventures for a 3 week old birthday:
He spent the morning with Leigh Ann and Steve walking Noe Valley, grandad Doug came to visit, Stanley watched his first air show from Dolores park, he ventured down 24th street many times, he went to the farmer's market, and he screamed enough to make his mom and dad frustrated.

This was a big week for a little kid. He has started to look around and smile. We'll post some pictures.

At 3 weeks old:

Stanley can...
- Make cooing noises that startle himself (He only realizes that he made the noises until well after he made them.)
- Use his legs to scoot himself up towards his head when on his tummy.
- Look around at anything with contrast. He particularly loves pictures frames and the chandelier.
- Dirty 4 diapers in 10 minutes when Mom and Dad are trying to get out of the house.
- Started to show us his dimples
- Hold his head up more and look around

Stanley loves...
- The hair drier on the changing table
- The zebra above the changing station
- Bouncing
- Always being held

Stanley hates...
- Sleeping at night.
- Naps
- Baths
- Missing anything that might be happening in the house

Street Walker II

I had another strange encounter the other night while walking Stanley around the neighborhood during his "fussy time".  We were walking (very slowly) up and down Church Street, swaying up and down, back and forth trying to keep Stanley contented while I read a book by headlamp to stave off complete boredom.  As we headed back up the street towards our house, a guy on a skateboard went cruising by in the street headed in the opposite direction.  As he passed, he looked at the two of us and gave a double take. 

I didn't think too much of it at first.  I mean, we DO look pretty strange out there walking around late at night.  But then, I saw the same guy cruise back past us headed up the street and then turn onto the sidewalk in front of us.  The exchange went something like this:

Skateboard Guy: "Hey man, what do you got in there?"

Me: "A baby."

Skateboard Guy: not believing me "Huh, I assumed that whatever you were doing out here right now, it must be pretty cool.  So what are you doing?"

Me: "Just trying to keep this kid asleep."  I open my coat and show him Stanley's head in there.

Skateboard Guy: "Oh, so you LEGITIMATELY have a kid in there.  I thought it was something awesome...  Not that that's not awesome...  I mean... Well, have a good night!"  He skates off to the other side of the street.

Just then, his friend flags him down and starts recounting whatever Totally Awesome thing they had been up to that night.  I can see him across the street, talking to his friend and pointing over at Stanley and me.  I can imagine the conversation.  "Dude, see that guy over there?  He's got a kid in his coat..."

I figure both of these guys are having some serious second thoughts about whether they want to have kids at some point or not.  I assume they had an Awesome rest of their evening.  I sauntered on home and Stanley seemed like he was pretty tired.  Awesome.

Eyes

Since Sunday, Stanley is seeing a lot further. He loves to look out the window, at the black CD towers against the light colored wall, and any black picture frame against the yellow walls. When he is awake, he just looks around with his beautiful eyes. I'll post some pictures when we catch him in action. For now, we all just stare at him doing it and forget about the camera. (Here is the only picture we have of him checking things out.)

Julia's first Street Walking

Last night, I decided to take Stanley during his fussy period (8pm-1am) so that Steve could sleep to be alert for his first day back to work today.  So, I ventured onto the Noe Valley streets with Stanley screaming in the stroller. I used the stroller since it is raining here and I didn't want to risk falling with him in a sling on the wet slick streets.

Stanley was screaming at the stop of his lungs. As I walked down Church street, a man at the light rail stop looked at me, looked at the stroller, looked at me again and then decided to tell me that my baby was crying. My first instinct was to say, 'Oh really? I didn't notice." But I politely said "Thus the reason I'm out walking the streets in the rain at 11:15pm".

Steve has an experiment, so I'll be walking the rainy streets for the next two nights.

Sleeping

I'm not sure how comfy this is, but he is actually sleeping in his bassinet, so whatever floats his boat is fine with us.

Leigh Ann and Grandpa

Stanley has taken quite nicely to hanging out with his Kelly side grandparents. He is a lucky little boy to have so many wonderful grandparents!

Stanley at 2 weeks old

We have taken the idea for this blog from our friends April, Eric, and Brian. We are going to copy their idea of posting 'birthday' posts.

So, let me start with Stanley at 2 weeks old.

Stanley can...
- Hold his head up for about a minute when he is on his tummy
- Hiccup & nurse at the same time
- Scream for 5 hours in a row between the hours of 8pm-2am
- Spit up way over the rag dad has put down to catch any burps
- Get his hand out of any swaddle (even a blanket swaddled 'swaddle pod')
- Time his pee to happen as soon as the diaper comes off
- Turn off his crying in less than 5 seconds (screaming to asleep only takes 3 seconds, we just do not yet know the trigger)
- Watch the shadows of the outside leaves
- Smile and coo to make our hearts melt

Stanley loves...
- Skin-to-skin on dad or mom's tummy
- To smile and make all guests think he is an angel and then keep his parents up for the entire night
- The hair drier during diaper changes
- His grandparents & uncle
- Looking at his zebra while changing
- The Moby carrier on daddy and Flounder
- A bath

Stanley hates...
- Diaper changes
- To punch himself in the head by accident (he has yet to figure out that he controls those hands and feet)

Snoring

Today, Tom and Leigh Ann came to visit.  Stanley took well to them both and even figured out how to snore while sleeping on Leigh Ann's shoulder.  We're hoping he doesn't keep this up or at least keeps the volume down at night (you'll have to crank the volume on your computer to even hear it in the video, so we're not too worried).

New skills every day, I guess.