We have restarted our routine of walking the dogs up to our neighborhood coffee shop, and the other day I made the barista laugh to the point of spilling my coffee a bit because I mentioned that the baby likes the world best when it is jiggly.

Recently Henry's favorite getting to sleep position has changed from a side-lying with swaying to an upright against my chest or shoulder and bouncing. I often carry him in the Moby to save my back, which means more jiggling than swaying, so perhaps that's the reason.

Last night I showed my friend Halie about a bazillion pictures of Henry captured in my phone.  She commented about how expressive he is.  Watching his expressions is my new favorite thing about caring for him during the day.  Even his super sad frown that precedes and outburst of tears is cute.

I also love watching him wake up.  First he stretches his arms.  Then he stretches his legs.  Then he stretches his whole body.  Then I can see the recognition in his face of taking in his surroundings surface as his sleepy eyes fade.  It's so amazing to see.

Speaking of waking up, I see him squirming and hear him squeaking, so time to go.
Trina

On his blog, John has a link to the place where he has been/will be posting Henry videos.

http://johnsspace1.spaces.live.com/

xo, Trina

Recently Henry was a fluid-ejecting champ.

In a matter of a few hours, he peed on:

• me at changing table during a diaper change
• the nurse at the doctor's office after she took his diaper off to weigh him
• the doctor after he took his diaper off to check things out
• John at the changing table during a diaper change

Also that day, he spit up on:

• the lactation nurse while she was weighing him
• me in such a tremendous fashion it went right down my back to soak the top of my underwear

The rest of the week has been a little better in terms of fluid retention. 
Trina

Henry is one month old today.  Look what my mom sent:


Still waiting to hear if those are swiss cake rolls or Derek's pancreas-friendly poundcake. 

Love, Trina

The stories behind the typing...

Since my iPhone has a Facebook app, I have been much better about updating Facebook than this blog.  Looking over my status updates, I am reminded of some of the hijinks of the last month.

7/29:  Today's tough mommy call: swaddle the baby even though it feels like an oven outside and inside the house or let him be free to smack himself in the face while he's sleeping?  This was an extremely hot day.  Ultimately decided to swaddle, though he was a little pink throughout the day.  Seemed to be working out better than him hitting himself.  :)

7/29: with some rubberbands, internet research, and ingenuity, John made my double breast pump hands-free. I love him.  Breastfeeding has not being going great, so I've had to pump quite a bit.  To make matters worse I had to hold the pumping things.  After a bit of whining and outrage that one had to hold everything in place, John hooked me up with some rubberbands.  The rubberbands make life much more comfortable.

8/3: pediatrician says John and I are doing a good job.  I really like our pediatrician.  He cracks jokes and tells us what a beautiful baby Henry is.  At the end of our last appointment, he said we were doing a good job.  Phew!

8/10: overdue for a shower and clean clothes, wishes she smelled more like Downy and less like sour milk.  Complimenting my myriad breastfeeding problems is the fact that I leak milk all the time and regularly find my whole chest is slightly moist from it.  Then the milk dries and I smell like sour milk.  It's rather gross.

8/16: now that all our guests have gone, John and I will have to be parents all by ourselves.  My parents and John's parents have come and gone.  We're on our own.

(From John) 8/17: thinks it smells like doody and I am not pointing fingers but I am sharing a room with two dogs, a one month old, and a wife that was doodied on early. You make the call...  Henry had a blowout that end up on him, me, the Moby, and perhaps the couch.  After cleaning all these items, the area still smells a little poopy, and I haven't yet figured out the source.  Hmm...

There is a lot about breastfeeding that has not been going right, but on the rare occasions when it has worked the way it is supposed to, John says Henry and I are like a clown fish and sea anemone: each dependent on the other for comfort.

After all my fretting, the dogs get along great with the baby.  The first day we brought Henry home, they would "alert bark" when the baby cried, but other than that, they were simply curious about smelling the baby.  Teagan hasn't at all afraid, and Ronan has been very restrained in his desire to smother it with love.  They've been quite adorable, actually.

At this point, Teagan and Ronan now know that right now they are only allowed to sniff Henry's feet or sniff from a distance.  When I feed the baby, Ronan likes to lay at my feet and Teagan likes to lay in the doorway.  Ronan will also lay next to the baby's blanket when we're having tummy time, although I still have to be very careful that Ronan doesn't inadvertently step on Henry.  If I'm sitting on the couch with the baby, Teagan will curl up in my lap next to him.

When the baby cries, Ronan leads the way to Henry, presumable so he can help.    The other day I saw a very confused look in his eye when he heard the baby cry and on the monitor but couldn't figure out where the baby was.  Silly dog.