Baby Roomba

It is fascinating to watch Vivian grow up and learn new skills. From the first time she could hold her head up on her own, I look forward to each new milestone. Rolling over, clapping her hands, pointing, all fill me with excitement and pride. However, sometimes, these skills can combine in unforeseen and maddening ways. For example, the new-found mobility of crawling and the fine motor skill of the "pincher grasp" when combine produce what I call the "Baby Roomba" (a Roomba, for the non-techno-geeks out there is a robot that vacuums your floors.) One of Vivian's favorite pass-times is to patrol the floors finding every little tiny piece of dog hair, dirt, or tree leaf she can, picking it up between her finger and thumb, and then shoving it in her mouth. I am seriously thinking of buying her one of these.

Gettin' 'round

Vivian is getting very good at moving around lately. A few weeks ago she learned how to army-crawl around the floor, which has lead us to finally baby-proof the living room (although she still loves to crawl over and try to grab the power cord to my laptop...) She has also learned how to go from a sitting position to a crawl. I can't wait until she learns how to sit up from a crawl. Right now she gets down and crawls around, but can't sit up again to play with her toys..which makes her cranky.

Speaking of cranky, Vivian does this nice little trick where she is perfectly well behaved in public, fooling everyone into thinking she is the best baby ever. However, once we get home she puts on her cranky-pants. To be fair, her two front teeth have been making good progress bursting out of her gums. She also seems to no longer want her evening nap (which used to be around 6:30 to 8:30pm.) On the bright side, she still sleeps through the night, so we think that she isn't as tired as most kids her age and would rather get another hour of playing in before retiring.

Petsmart Grooming Sucks

So, I feel horrible about this. I dropped Ms Lilli off yesterday at Petsmart to get groomed. The baby had puked on here earlier in the week and, well, we couldn't get all the hurl out of her fur. When I went in, the girl checking us in said that she had mats all over her butt and that they couldn't brush them out. Also, shampoo would get stuck in there and make her itch. She said she needed to shave her to get the mats out, but she'd blend the fur so it wouldn't look so bad. I knew she would have short hair...but not like this:

Before:

After:

She looks like a damn poodle now. I should have known they didn't know what they were doing when I asked the girl to give her a "Sheltie Cut", and she said "There is no such thing." Every other dog in the place was getting shaved too, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. The worst part about it is it isn't even a good cut. The hair on her face is uneven, there are bald patches (see her chest) where they cut too close, and parts where they didn't cut enough. It looks like Vivian got ahold of dad's clippers and gave her a haircut.

Needless to say, we will NEVER be going back to Petsmart in Tallahassee for grooming again.

A New Beginning

So, it has been a long time since my last post. Instead of making excuses or promises about doing better, we'll just agree that things have been crazy the last few months and I am not very good at updating blogs.

For those of you reading Vivian's Mommy Blog, you know that we recently moved to Tallahassee, Fl so that Yvonne can finish her doctorate. I left my job at Destineer/Atomic games and am helping to start up Mad Monkey Militia, an iPhone game developer. Of course, that means I don't get paid until we actually ship something and lots of people buy it (I'll let you know when to go buy our first game. :-)

Vivian is doing very well. She is getting nice and chubby, eats a lot and sleeps a lot. We have been very fortunate that she sleeps through the night. She finally figured out how to turn over and is very close to learning how to crawl.

We are currently living in an apartment. The house we are renting will be available at the end of the month. Originally we were going to live in an extended-stay hotel, but 500sq feet is just too small for two adults, and baby, and a dog. Plus, the place was very loud and the internet connection sucked. When we walked in Yvonne's first reaction was to call the apartments that were we originally going to stay at and see if they still had anything available. Luckily they had a three bedroom, so we moved in the next day. Life was much better once we got our rented furniture. Overall though, I'm very much looking forward to moving into the house and finally setteling in.

Tallahassee is definitely smaller then the Raleigh area. It is great to be so close to everything, however there isn't a lot here. For me it isn't so bad since I'm pretty much a Target shopper, but if you are looking for anything "fancy", you'd have to drive to Jacksonville. I am looking forward to taking advantage of the outdoor activities here.

I'm also taking over most of the baby-duties. The childcare options here seem pretty limited and we figure it would be better to just keep Vivian at home instead of putting her in a baby-mill or some crazy persons house. We'll still need to find some sort of baby-sitter so Yvonne and I can go out and have some quality time. And, it will save us a bunch of money, which is a good thing seeing as I'm "unemployed".

No promisses when the next update will be, but I'll try to at least put little short updates up more often.

Lots of stuff and a link

A month?!?! It has been a month since my last post. At least my excuse is that I have been so busy with Vivian and the family that I haven't had a lot of time for anything else.

On Saturday Yvonne, Vivian and I drove down to Florida. Yvonne is heading over to Tallahassee to FSU to meet and greet and go to a class. Vivian and I came along for a vacation. As luck would have it, the Space Shuttle launch was delayed until Sunday, so we decided to go and see that. Let me say that it was awesome seeing it take off. I have some video of it I'll put on YouTube when I get back home. The worst part of the experience was getting stuck in traffic afteward. I don't understand why it was so horrible. NASA can launch the most complex machine mankind has ever created, yet they can't direct traffic out of the area.

We stayed the night in Daytona Beach. Most of the Spring Break kiddies are gone, so it isn't so bad.

If you want some more details on the trip (as well as a lot more pictures of Vivian), check out Yvonne's blog at viviansmommy. She tends to do a better job at updating then I do.

Growing

The last month has seen Vivian do some serious growing. We went to the peds last Thursday for her first round of shots (which she handle like a trooper!) and she is up to 9lbs 9oz. She no longer fits in her newborn clothes and has finally moved up to "big girl" diapers (a decision we made after a rather unpleasant episode in her bouncy seat.)

The cool thing is she even looks bigger. I keep telling Yvonne that she is turning into a "BBB" (Big Beautiful Baby), but not sure she appreciates that.

I know I've been slack with the Dad blog postings, but things have been pretty hectic. Between work and taking care of the baby, there isn't a lot of free time. We are also trying to get the house ready to go on the market. Even now I sit here typing with on hand while the other holds Viv. In fact, it is about time to wake her up and feed her, then hope she doesn't wake up at 5am again. What I would give for a good nights sleep...maybe in another 18 years...

No Day Like Today

*Whew* Ok, this whole being a dad business takes a lot of time! I would like to blame my lack of updates entirely on that, but truth is I just haven't been very inspired lately to write. I guess the five hours of sleep I get a night is taking its toll. Luckily I manage to suck down a pot of coffee before I head to work so I at least don't fall asleep at my desk.

Vivian is growing up. The biggest news is that she has learned how to smile! :) It is soooo cute. She just stares at you and her eyes light up and she just breaks into a giant open mouth grin. I'm hoping we can capture it on film soon, but every time we try she stops. I guess the bright light of the flash puts her in a bad mood. This is the best picture I could get:


Yvonne and I managed to get a few hours to ourselves last weekend. We went to see Rent at the new Durham Performing Arts Center. The DPAC is very nice, though not over the top fancy. The show was really good and we were excited since it starred Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, the original Mark and Roger from Broadway. They seem to have some really good shows coming up over the next year, so hopefully we'll get a chance to see a few more. It was also a great chance to try out our first baby sitter for Vivian. Sara is really nice and Vivian seemed to really like her. We'll have to use her again.
The worst part of the weekend was that Yvonne got sick on Sunday. It was either a 36 hour flu or food poisoning. We did go to Outback for dinner after the show, so maybe she had some bad fish. Either way, it put her out for a few days so I got to spend more time being daddy.


Yvonne's mother also came to visit last weekend. It was good to finally meet her and get to spend some time with her. Sadly though, her father-in-law passed away on Sunday so she had to take an early flight home to be with her husband.

Not much exciting planned for this weekend. The Steelers are in the Super Bowl. Normally I would either have a party or head out to one. This year, however, I'll settle for partying with three beautiful girls at home instead. I will make some hot wings though. :-)

Go Steelers!

Update

Sorry that it has been a while since the last post. Unsurprisingly, I have been very busy. I started back at work on January 5th (Monday) and it has been a bit of an adjustment for us trying to get a schedule worked out so that Vivian can ignore it and demand feedings on her own time. Overall it hasn't been too bad, though Yvonne may have a different opinion of it. Currently I'm on "dad" duty for the weekend...which means I get to change all the diapers and feed her. I think Vivian gets disappointed though when she tries to nurse from me...

Catching up with the holidays, things went well, although we were all pretty tired. Maria and Sam helped out a lot and did a good job lovin' on Vivian. It wasn't quite the picture-perfect holiday one could hope for (unless sleeping through most of it counts.) I'm sure next year we will be more awake.

I'll leave you with a family Christmas photo.

POO FACE

When you see this face, prepare yourself for pain.

Merry Christmas

Today is Vivian's first Christmas Eve. We are very happy she is here and that her aunt and uncle both could make the trip down from PA to spend it with us.

Vivian wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from The Dad Blog.

Still Alive

Everyone should be happy to hear that little Vivian is still alive and kicking, despite our attempts at sleeping through feedings and failing to recognize when a diaper needs changing. She is also losing her nice yellow glow and turning a bit more pink, which is a good sign the jaundice is abating.

Things have been a bit rough the last few days with Vivian sleeping all day and staying awake crying during the night. She is actually pretty good, but just likes to be held when she is awake. I can't really blame her since it is much nicer then being trapped in her little swaddle blanket.

The other day I was taking some pictures and got a nice one of Yvonne and Vivian in front of the Christmas tree.


(anyone who has had a baby at Wake Med may recognize the blanket...)

Blowout!

Dad Advice #1: Be absolutely, positively, 100% sure that your baby's diaper is correctly worn and fastened.

Trust me.

Sleep Deprivation Experiment Day 3

The experiment is going well. Our test subject family has been allowed no more the two hours of sleep at a time. This is usually interrupted with carefully scheduled visits by research staff members to monitor such things vital signs and levels of trash in the garbage cans.

The female mother test subject is also being withheld vital food. Although she repeatedly informs staff and "care-giver" proxies of what she can and can't eat, they continue with bringing her unappetizing and gluten filled foods to test her stress levels. As anticipated, stress levels are high. However, the male subject managed to elude staff and sneak in food from Whole Foods which made the female subject feel better. Steps will be taken this evening to correct this situation (perhaps another difficult feeding with the baby female subject.)

The male subject was suffering from blurred vision and hallucinations earlier today, while both adult subjects suffered time distortion and lack of short term memory.

Initial phase of the experiment concludes tomorrow at 11am EST when the adult male and female subjects are released from the experimental paddock into the wild. The baby female is currently being fitted in the "nursery" with a two way telemetry transponder that will continue to return valuable research data over the next 18 years.

Day Two

Day two has been a busy, yet fairly calm day. Vivian has been a great baby so far. She rarely fusses or cries, unless I pick her up with my freezing cold hands. I have gotten a bit better at swaddling.

The biggest adventure for today was getting Vivian breast feeding. Although we had a quick tutorial yesterday before we moved into our recovery room, she was not having much luck latching on. She does have a good sucking reflex and opens wide, but has a tendency to pull her tongue back and then push it forward, knocking the nipple out of her mouth. Hard to feed without the nipple! Today we had a much longer consult and Yvonne started using a breast pump. Our first attempt was not as successful as we had hopped, but Vivian was starting to get better at it and learn how to use her tongue and latch on. The second attempt we ended up using a nipple shield to help her and she latched right on. She was really tired by then and didn't get a full feed, but after a few more practices she should be able to "do the boob".

As many of you know, Yvonne has Coeliac disease, meaning she can't eat anything with gluten in it (ie, anything with wheat or made with a wheat.) Oddly, the hospital doesn't seem to understand what this is and we keep getting questionable food for her. You would think that a major hospital would know what coeliac disease is and be able to supply a custom menu. Luckily, our nurses are very nice and have started taking custom orders for her. Hopefully we will get a chance to talk to a dietician tomorrow.






I got to spend a lot of time with Vivian today, even doing a little "skin to skin" contact with her. She is just so damn cute! (although dad needs to get back into the gym soon.)

First Night

What a long day! It is still a bit of a blur, but the beautiful little girl is definitely no dream. Once Yvonne left the O.R. she needed to be monitored for an hour before we could spend any time with Vivian. I had my chance to meet Vivian when she came out, but Yvonne only got a quick glimpse of her.

Yvonne had a few extra bleeders, so it took a bit longer to get out of the O.R. (if you consider 45 minutes for major abdominal surgery a long time...)

Once Yvonne had recovered enough (about an hour), we got to spend some quality time with little Vivian.Yvonne's maternal instincts have totally kicked in. She is currently laying in bed sweet talking to baby Vivian into being quiet for the evening, telling her about all the visitors we will be having over the holidays and how much she lover her. I've never been in love more with Yvonne then I am today. I can't imagine living my life without her or Vivian.

The Baby Hath Commeth

It was a long and rough night. Even after the epidural, Yvonne was still having pain. She started pushing around 7:30am, though the pain kept getting worse and the baby barely moved. It was amazing to see her push so long and hard. She fought very hard to push little Vivian out. At 10:30 Dr. Brannon decided that we need to have a C-section due to the length of time Yvonne was pushing and not making progress and how long it had been since her water broke.

She was rolled into the O.R. and prepped while I was made to put on a blue bunny suit and cover up my (lack of) hair. I got inside as they started the operation and had a seat next to Yvonne's head so I could talk to her. Soon, Yvonne felt the pulling feeling of having the baby removed and we heard baby Vivian's first cries at 11:06am. She is 7lb 7oz, 19.5 inches long, 13 inch head, and born on the same day as her namesake, my mom. I have to admit, we both teared up a bit. Then the nurse asked if I would like to come see Vivian and take some pictures. So, for the first time ever, here is:

Miss Vivian Roberta Beatrice Stoy

Mommy and Baby are both doing fine. Daddy, however, needs a vacation.

More to come later...

Birthing, Part 6

7:15am EST and Yvonne is at least 8cm dilated. The nurses have been in preparing the room for the birthing. Sadly, the epidural is still not 100% effective, so it is pretty uncomfortable for her at the moment. Only a few more hours and we should have our baby.

Birthing, Part 5

The pain finally bested us and Yvonne decided to get an epidural. She feels much better now, and my hand has a much better chance of surviving the night.

The one problem is that her right side isn't really numbing as much as the left so she still feels the pain there. Over all though, it is much better then it was, which is a win.

I'm tired. With any luck Yvonne will be able to fall asleep soon and then I will follow.

Birthing, Part 4

Midnight! Vivian has yet to make her appearance so it looks like she will be born on Dec 11th, the same day as her namesake, my mom and her grandmother. A part of me had always thought it would be appropriate for that to happen. Now we (mostly Yvonne) are hoping she makes her debut soon. The pain of the contractions is starting to get to Yvonne, but she is hanging in there. I'm amazed at her pain threshold. If it were me, I would have had them jam an epidural the minute I found out i was having a baby.

Birthing, Part 3

Nine o'clock rolled 'round and Dr. Scott came in and broke the bag of waters. Personally, I was expecting a giant gush of fluid like breaking a water balloon. Instead, there was nothing. At least, nothing excessive. Now though, every time there is a contraction, a little "gush" happens. Still though, no jet of water shooting across the room, so I guess that is good.

Not much else going to go on tonight. One cm dilation. Yvonne is in the bed and we are about to watch some Law and Order to pass the time.

More to come in the morning.