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November 29, 2005
November 28, 2005
The wheels on Miss Mallory...
(Sing to the tune of Wheels on the bus)
Miss Mallory cries all day,
she cries all day,
she cries all day.
Miss Mallory cries all day
then she sleeps at night.
Switch the night and day and that's what we've got. Lather, rinse and repeat. Her schedule seems to be that she wants to be wide awake starting at 10:30pm and not go to sleep until 2am after being carried in her sling for 15-30 minutes. Sorry to cut the post short but she won't stop crying. Until next time keep singing the song above.
November 26, 2005
Sleeping, Thanksgiving and Santa
Originally uploaded by beamz.
We're not having as good a luck as we used to with putting Miss Mallory down to sleep. This morning she had to be carried in her sling and I mean carried. I would try to sit down at the computer and do some things and she would stir and cry. I need to mount a sturdy coat hook to the wall.
We had a good thanksgiving that seemed all too frantic to even have time to consider dressing her up in a ridiculous turkey costume. Which brings me to Santa.... Kris said, "Ooh, we get to get pictures with Santa" which is ok except for the fact that I've never seen a happy child under 5 sitting on Santa's lap at the mall. Nevermind it being cute but I think it's plain mean. So I put my foot down like every father should and said, "Ok fine we'll get pictures with Santa this year but if she cries then we're waiting until she can talk so she can tell us if she wants to or not."
What do you think? Should kids be forced to take pictures with Santa or the Easter Bunny?
November 21, 2005
First real outting
Tomorrow I return to work so I wanted to take Kris out shopping while we were both off so we could get some furniture from the newly opened Crate & Barrel. We also stopped by HouseWorks to check out some Flor carpet samples. Flor is really neat carpeting material that comes in 1/2 meter squares which allow you to do wall-to-wall carpeting, area rugs or runners. Through November 29th you can get 25% off your order by entering 25nov_05 during checkout online or telling them over the phone. After looking through the samples we came home and ordered it online.
Anyway the girl did great while we were shopping. We got a couple of people who noticed her and said things like "Oh my she's very young" which I almost took as "Are you guys idiots for taking her out?" We managed to get out in between feedings to do our errands and I have to say it was nice. She was quiet and slept a lot of the time.
Feeding little miss still seems to be a struggle so Kris is going to go check things over with a lactation consultant tomorrow. By the way someone bought us a burp cloth that says "Icky Baby" on it and that seems to be her nickname the majority of the time. I hope she doesn't resent us in 15 years. Tomorrow I return to work and I'm not dreading or looking forward to it. We've been finding ourselves more domesticated and taking care of things around the house while we've been home.
November 19, 2005
It's all relative
Last night was a bad night. Relatively speaking of course. All parents know how it is when you can't calm a screaming baby and you're running on no sleep. I suppose this is proof that our child is a real human newborn and not an alien.
So what does one do to calm a screaming baby in 2005? You start taking the instructions in the book Happiest Baby on the Block
1. Swaddle - Also known as the baby burrito which makes the baby feel tightly bundled like in the womb.
2. Side/Stomach - Put the baby on its side.
3. Shushing - The baby was used to white noise louder than a vacuum in the womb and it's calming to them.
4. Swing - Side to side jiggling or putting them in a swing is like being in the womb and going up a flight of stairs.
5. Sucking - Sometimes they need a pinky or a pacifier.
If you'll notice many of these points refer to a baby liking the womb. Dr. Harvey Karp seems to know his stuff and we've already used his techniques pretty loosely. Now we're combining so with practice I won't need to buy some new contraption to make Ms. Mallory content.
November 17, 2005
Getting comfortable
We're finally starting to get the hang of things. In between feedings, dad and Mallory got a nap while mom went out and got a haircut. Which means life outside of dirty diapers and breastfeeding truly does exist!!
To all those wondering how the code cracking is going (i.e. keeping the beastwoman calm), the sling stopped working last night. In preparation for that though I assembled the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium swing and it got us through dinner. I'm hoping we can trick her into thinking old methods are new or else we're doomed.
Also there are a couple more pictures from today's "first" bath.
November 16, 2005
Day 16... It's not so easy
Today was supposed to be Mallory's birthday but she came early. That said, here's where things stand.
Sleep time: More difficult, especially in the evenings when she doesn't feel like sleeping.
Awake time: Getting more interesting, many wide-eyed moments full of cute gazing.
Feeding time: More difficult as she likes to fight for the first few minutes and push away.
I've described her to my friends as some encrypted device that requires its code broken every 1-2 days in order to keep it happy. I ran out right when she came home and bought a glider/rocker because the happy code happened to be rocking. Moderately bouncing her while walking around the house has worked in most circumstances but IT KILLS THE BACK. Last night while reading the "HOW TO MAKE BABY STOP CRYING" we read people used the sling. We were given a sling by one of Kris's friends for free and spent a few minutes figuring out it out. Kudos to manufacturers that put their instructions online because it came without them. Mallory loved it and so it's the code 'de jour. Today I will go get her the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Swing we registered for since it could be the next code.
November 12, 2005
Day 12...
They say life changes when you have a baby. Obviously. A little gem named Mallory Jane was brought to the Saipetch household here in Indy. She's a stunning 1' 8" tall and weighed 7lb 7oz. It was a long journey that took almost 19 hours.
Her mom and I are doing well and will be posting updates as well as headshots for modeling agencies interested in her.