1/31/2008

Bebé poulet

Filed under: — Aprille @ 3:30 pm

Miles’s skin was getting dry, so, on the advice of the doctor, I rubbed him with a little olive oil.

It seriously felt like I was making game hens, only I skipped the salt and pepper (and oven).

1/30/2008

Mubby and Skittergramps

Filed under: — Aprille @ 1:45 pm

Mubby and Skittergramps came to visit.  They are fond of the little guy.

1/29/2008

The Law

Filed under: — Aprille @ 6:30 pm

I learned a new law today, the law that states that baby puke is magnetically attracted to clean shirts.

I decided to be a little self-indulgent this morning and take a shower, put on some makeup, dry my hair, and put on real clothes (e.g., not pajamas).  Denny’s aunt and uncle are thinking of visiting this evening, and I thought it might be fun to look like a normal person for the occasion.

This was more complicated than you might think, since Miles didn’t want to stay asleep for much of it, and he required entertainment between each step.  Finally I got it all done, and I picked him up for a cuddle.

Then he barfed on my shirt.  I didn’t bother to change.  Baby-puke white is the new black.

1/26/2008

Weekend

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:10 pm

Nothing much is new here. My life, in many respects, is less exciting than it used to be. I’m tired and thirsty all the time, and I change a lot of diapers, but that’s not very interesting blog material. I’m glad it’s the weekend so Denny can do household tasks. Things were getting a little outrageous in the kitchen.

Miles is still cute.

That’s all for now.

1/24/2008

Baby (giant) farts

Filed under: — Aprille @ 3:57 pm

Oh my lord, Miles farts so much and so loudly. There have been times Denny was in another room and his didn’t believe it was the baby. Miles doesn’t seem to be in pain or disturbed by this phenomenon in any way. In fact, I think (hope) he’s quietly amused by it.

I’ve held lots of babies, and I remember their farts being these delicate little toots that were really adorable. Miles, however, lets them rip like his butt is in the brass section of a ska band. I’m kind of proud. Do it with gusto, my good man.

This post brought to you by my right hand, as my left is occupied with baby support.

1/23/2008

Exciting news

Filed under: — Aprille @ 4:16 pm

Miles has a new baby cousin (well, second cousin or first cousin once removed or something…we’ve decided just to call them cousins for simplicity’s sake).

My cousin Betsy and her husband are the proud parents of a little girl. Betsy and I were close in age growing up and always had a lot of fun together, so I hope our kids can have a similar relationship. Betsy’s baby was actually supposed to be born first, but Miles came early and Betsy’s came late. She outweighs him considerably, probably from all that extra cooking time she had. She is adorable.

Speaking of weight, Miles had a doctor’s appointment today, and he has finally surpassed his birth weight. He now lumbers in at a hefty six pounds, eleven ounces. He’s not quite to sumo wrestler proportions yet, though he does wear diapers.

1/22/2008

Expressions

Filed under: — Aprille @ 4:04 pm

Faces he makes.

On our own, briefly

Filed under: — Aprille @ 1:06 pm

Today is Denny’s first day back at work, though he’s only going half days for a while.  It’s a little scary, but we’re handling it okay.  We were bolstered by a couple of kind coworkers who brought delicious food.  I had brie, baguette, and an apple for lunch, which was a little better than the peanut butter sandwich I’d planned.

I also took the shortest shower in history while Miles chilled out in his bouncy seat.  I was sure he’d somehow bounce toward freedom during the 3 minutes I couldn’t hear him.  After I was done, I ran back out to check him, dripping wet.  Of course, he was lying there sleeping peacefully, just as I’d left him.

Yes, I am a first-time parent.

1/18/2008

The fattest skinny guy I know

Filed under: — Aprille @ 3:17 pm

Young Miles gained 3.5 ounces in just 2 days. This is very exciting for everyone involved, particularly me, because I was getting pretty drained (literally and figuratively) by the breastfeed-pump-syringe-feed cycle. I think we’ll skip the syringe feeding from now on and just let him suck off the fat of the land (again, literally and figuratively).

Just when I thought he was getting so big, I saw him next to his Uncle Tyler.

He was awake for a good chunk of time this morning, which is cool since it seemed to be a signal that he’s learning the difference between day and night. He’s zonked out again now, though. I hope he wakes up soon. Ol’ Bessie could use a draining.

You can expect at least 90% of my posts in upcoming weeks to have cow metaphors in them. I’m vaguely aware of current events (Michigan’s Democratic caucuses somehow didn’t count…Suckabee wants to change the Constitution to make it less gay…), but most non-baby things are a blur.

I can also say that, in the last year, I have had both a flat stomach and a shapely chest. Sadly, these events did not coincide.

I also feel slightly weird writing that, knowing how many work people now know about this blog. Read at your own risk, suckers!

1/16/2008

Chubbing up, relatively

Filed under: — Aprille @ 10:07 am

Miles gained an ounce.  Woo woo!  Yesterday my parents, grandparents, and brother came for a visit.  Miles slept all day, of course, but my mom was a trooper and spent much of the night keeping him calm.  It turns out he sleeps well when someone’s holding him; too bad that’s hard to do for parents who need sleep too.

1WkMiles016.jpg

Photo by Gary “Skittergramps” Clarke

1/13/2008

Squishy sleepy baby

Filed under: — Aprille @ 4:06 pm

Yes, Miles stuff is going to go private soon, but that’s a lot of work for two people running on very little sleep.  I wanted to share a couple of pictures.

We’re home from the hospital now, because his bilirubins seem to be on their way down.  He’s also much improved in the breastfeeding department, which is awesome, because it was getting kind of outrageous to do everything we had to do to finger-feed him pumped breastmilk.

He’s sleepy during the day, and at night, when he’s all awake and wild, I’m in no mood to take pictures.  So for now, you get sleepy pics.

1/11/2008

Beach vacation in January in Iowa

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:49 pm

Poor Miles is back in the hospital due to high bilirubin levels (jaundice). He’s right on the borderline, but since he was early and has lost some weight, they want to keep a close eye on him.

His eye protection goggles make him look like a tiny Batman.

I was all freaked out about it, but the staff here has been really reassuring. I think I was mostly upset because I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in over a week (not that I’ll be getting one of those any time soon), my hormones are all outrageous, and, you know, he’s my baby. But they tell me it’s really common, really treatable, and tends to run in families. I personally had jaundice as a baby. I don’t remember it. It was probably the best tan I ever had in my life.

Miles actually seems to like it under the lamps. He’s all splayed out and chilling like he’s at the beach.

A name

Filed under: — Aprille @ 8:48 am

Introducing…

Miles Clarke Crall

first-bath.jpg

seen here shortly after his first bath (photo by Denny).

For personal privacy, Denny and I are going to set up a password-protected site with Miles photos and updates.  I’ll let you know information on that when we get around to it.  In the meantime, thanks to everyone.  Thanks especially to Angie for the great spread of food she brought by yesterday.  We grazed on that all evening (and if I hadn’t already polished off the cake, it would have been breakfast).

1/8/2008

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:13 pm

Thanks for all the comments, you guys.  It’s really touching to know so many people care.

My two special guys:

babybisqui3.jpg

We’re pretty sure we’ve decided on a name, but until we’ve actually signed the forms, I’m going to keep a lid on it, just in case we change our minds.

Biggest January Ever

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:07 am

I thought my month had peaked with the caucuses and the Yahoo News deal.

I was wrong.

Look who I met yesterday.

babybisqui2.jpg


Sorry for the low-quality image; Denny has lots of nice shots, but he hasn’t downloaded them yet, and I didn’t bring my camera, so this shot is from the iSight.

It was all a big, sudden rush (literally and figuratively). We weren’t expecting him until February 6, and will all the “first time moms always go late” talk, birth wasn’t even on my radar. Young Bisqui, however, had other plans.

Note: he still doesn’t have a legal name. Choosing a boy name was still on our to-do list. We’re working on it.

Here’s what happened, in not-too-grotesque of detail:

1. My water broke at home on Sunday afternoon around 3.
2. Freaked out, we went to the hospital with no bags packed or anything.
3. It turns out I was only having mild contractions.
4. They gave me until 8 to make real progress.
5. I tried all the tricks, but nothing made any cervical change.
6. They induced me with Pitocin.
7. Labor sucks, big-time.
8. I labored on Pitocin (infamous for the strong and painful contractions it causes) starting at 8.
9. At 3 a.m., I was still only 1 cm dilated.
10. I nearly excreted some kind of masonry.
11. Despite my intentions to do a natural delivery, I thought there was no freaking way I could handle it, given the slow progress.
12. 3 centimeters dilation was the soonest they’d give me an epidural, and one can optimistically hope to dilate a centimeter an hour, so at 5:30 I got one.
13. It was so great.
14. It turns out I had actually dilated from 1 centimeter to 7 centimeters between 3 and 5 a.m. No wonder it was so horrific.
15. We all slept until about 9:30, at which time I was dilated enough to push.
16. I pushed out a baby.
17. After being evaluated by the NICU, he was able to join us in our room, since everything looks great health-wise. He was 6 lbs, 9 oz and 18.5 inches long at birth.
18. I love him so much.
19. So does Denny.
20. I love Denny so much.
21. We are seriously going to have a name for him soon. We have a few leads.

I’ll probably be blogging irregularly for a while, but I’ll check in when I can. Thanks.

1/4/2008

Yahoo News

Filed under: — Aprille @ 6:56 am

Here’s my contribution to the news media:

http://news.yahoo.com/page/iowa_vote;_ylt=AhvoDz8Hk6CthN4jHhK1M06s0NUE

They used several of my photos, including that very first one you see (I think it was the ethnic diversity that sold it), and I’m the first person you hear talking. Even Bisquito got some time on-screen—that’s my belly with an Obama sticker on it.

It’s also available as a link on the main Yahoo News page: the link under “Related Coverage” that says “Audio Slideshow: an inside view of the caucuses.”

1/3/2008

This is the most famous I’ve ever been

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:56 pm

Holy crap, Elizabeth Edwards signed my blog. Thanks, Mrs. Edwards. You’re a class act.

The caucuses were fun but tiring. Obama won big in my precinct, which was nice.  I ended up going straight to Obama and staying there, for two primary reasons: I got a chair right away, and it also seemed like Biden and Dodd weren’t going to get their 15%, so I could save myself some work by holding still.

I took some pictures.

Due to posting those pictures on Flickr, I got a request to do a phone interview with Yahoo News. I called the guy, and he wasn’t quite ready to do it so he’s going to call me back. I actually said on the phone with him that I had Googled him and he seemed legit, then I said, “Oh, crap. I shouldn’t say I Googled a Yahoo employee, should I?” I think he forgave me, though.

Apparently it will work as an audio slideshow. They’ll show my pictures and have sound bites from the interview playing. Exciting! I’ll update this when I have more details. I fully predict that I will be talking fast and I’ll hate the sound of my voice, because that’s how it always is.

Also, my favorite mild profanity is clearly crap.

My new friend Elizabeth E.

Filed under: — Aprille @ 1:35 pm

Denny and I and some friends from work went to hear John Edwards today.  He actually had very little to say (“Remember to caucus tonight.  Be on time.”), but the best part was when he said, “My wife is here somewhere.  Where is she?” and this short woman standing immediately in front of us started waving.

She was very nice.  We all shook her hand.  Some lady also standing near us started telling her about her adult daughter, who died of the same kind of cancer Elizabeth Edwards has.  I thought that was kind of weird.  Like Elizabeth Edwards isn’t tired and stressed out enough right now; does she really need to be reminded that death may well be imminent?

John Edwards did impress me with his punctuality.  He got there right on time, even though he only talked for about five minutes.  It’s all got to be a huge whirlwind for all the candidates right now.  He looked older in person; on TV it always looks like he has kind of a baby face, but he looked kind of wrinkly live.  I imagine the intense campaign schedule would contribute to that.

Just 5 more hours until the caucus insanity…

1/2/2008

Help for the indecisive

Filed under: — Aprille @ 3:17 pm

For those of you who are considering caucusing for an improbable candidate on the first round (or really anyone who just wants to learn more about the candidates on important issues), check this out:

http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008/comparethem.html

It’s a site that lets you compare any two candidates on the same issues. I had basically no opinion of Dodd going into this (except that he cosponsored FMLA and advocates for 8 weeks paid maternity leave, which Denny informed me of last night, and is awesome), but I was comparing him to Biden, and I prefer Dodd’s positions on capital punishment and gun control. I like Biden better on gay marriage, education, and environmental issues.

It’s all very confusing, but at least I’m feeling a little more informed while confused.

Almost caucus time

Filed under: — Aprille @ 10:57 am

Happy New Year.

You know what I am most excited about happening in the next two days? NO MORE PHONE CALLS AND JUNK MAIL FROM DEMOCRATS.

Listen, Democrats. I like you. I appreciate that you are working hard for something you believe in. However, my opinions are not easily swayed by strangers on the phone. I am most likely to gather my political knowledge from media research (traditional media and blogs) and discussions with family and friends. When you call me, you just annoy me.

I don’t even answer the phone anymore if the caller ID doesn’t show a number I recognize.

Worse yet is the wastefulness of the paper mailings. I realize it’s mind-blowing that spouses could have different last names, but believe it or not, Denny and I do not need two copies of every multi-page, glossy campaign ad. I’m looking at you, John Edwards. Weirder still, we just got one copy of his Christmas card.

It is all a giant mystery.

Also—this just in: sparkling cider is not as good as champagne.

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