Saturday Mornings and the Secret Society

Many of the Saturday mornings since Anna's birth, I've gotten up early & taken Anna for a walk. We quietly close the bedroom door, leaving Traci & the dog sound asleep or, at least, on the verge of a mid-morning nap. Of course, the official purpose of our walk is to let mom catch a few extra Z's & to force Anna to take a longer morning nap. In less urban areas, babies apparently love to ride in the car. Apparently that's what relaxes them. Here there are just too many stop signs & too much congestion to get up enough speed in the car to soothe. But, a brisk stroller ride seems to have the same effect. So, off we go. I play the role of the martyr, giving up that bonus snooze. The truth is, it's just about my favorite part of the week. Few things make me prouder than heading down our tree-lined street behind the stroller. I'm not alone in this either.

In our neighborhood, there seems to be a sort of "Saturday Secret Society" of Dads & kids. We gather in the coffee shops or at the farmer's market in the square. Strollers parked, 2 & 3 deep with no moms to be found. We hold doors for one another - we're not quite as nimble with the strollers as the moms are. We nod at one another & chuckle at the antics of each other's children. But mostly, we just stroll. Then by about 9:30 nearly all the dads are gone - home to wake mom or home to feed babies. By 10 o'clock the sidewalks fill with Saturday morning shoppers & brunch goers and no evidence of our secret society exists.

Two Month Update

Today marks Anna's two-month birthday (hard to believe, isn't it?), so it seems appropriate to share some of the things she has learned over the last two months, along with a few her parents have learned as well.

Anna's controlling her head really well these days -- she'll hold it up for full minutes at a time, looking from side to side or just gazing at the object in front of her. She's really close to rolling over from tummy to back -- I am expecting that any day now, if she can keep from getting herself frustrated. She's also started pulling her legs up under her when she lies on her tummy and then trying to push herself off, which looks like the early steps towards crawling.

Anna's also becoming REALLY vocal. Sounds like we might have a chatty little girl on our hands. She likes to hold "conversations" with me and Will, responding when we talk to her, laughing at us, and maintaining eye contact. She tracks both toys and people with her eyes, and is starting to reach and grab for toys.

My little baby doesn't like to be held like a little baby anymore. Unless she's really tired, she doesn't like to be cradled, but would rather sit on my lap facing out into the room, or up on a shoulder where she can see everything behind me. She's definitely soaking up the world around her and loving it all.

Will and I have learned approximately 142 different techniques to get gas out of a baby. The fussiness he mentioned a few weeks ago seemed to stem from that, so we tried everything we could think of. Thankfully, that fussy period has passed. (Just like the gas.)

We've also learned roughly 143 different ways to get her to sleep, although this one is proving more difficult. Anna sleeps really well at night, but naps are a different story. She'll nap for EXACTLY 35 minutes in her crib or bassinette, regardless of how tired she is, or how we get her to sleep. However, she'll sleep for hours in my arms or in the stroller on a walk (waking up as soon as we get home, of course).

I have learned that watching your two-month old get three shots in her thighs is infinitely more painful than any needle pokes you could ever receive yourself (and I HATE needles). Anna handled them like a champ (she actually smiled and cooed after the first) and recovered quickly, but I may make Will take her to the pediatrician for her next set of immunizations by himself.

And, we're learning that time goes way too fast. Not a day goes by that a friend or a stranger on the street remarks how tiny Anna is, but to us, she seems so big and mature already. She seems to be growing and changing each day, in both appearance and personality. As exciting as that is, I'm not sure I want her to grow up so quickly.

For the record, Anna's up to 22.5 inches and 11 pounds, 4 ounces -- she's still in roughly the 75th percentile for both length and weight, so she's not that tiny. And, after 60 short days, she's in the 100th percentile for absolutely capturing my heart.

Anniversary & Babysitter

Last night Traci & I left Anna with a babysitter for the first time to celebrate our anniversary "on the town". Of course, by "on the town" I mean at a restaurant 3 blocks from home. You know, just in case. There was some nervousness in the minutes leading up to the sitter's arrival. There was anxiousness as we gave detailed instruction to the sitter who must've thought that we were under the impression that this was the first time that she'd seen an actual human baby. We sat for several mintues while she & Anna got acquainted. And then, with our breath held, we were off. We wondered if she'd cry all evening. We hoped there would be no fussy spells. Just how quickly would we get the call to come home?

At first, it was weird and unfamiliar to be out, just the two of us, at night, in a restaurant. We talked for a while about Anna. We wondered what she was up to at home. We stared at the cell phone, wondering if it'd ring. We hoped she was sleeping and eating. As we settled into the evening, we talked about the highlights of the last roller coaster of year - getting married, our big trip, becoming pregnant, preparing for a baby & then her actual arrival. We talked about the everyday normal, non-climactic events of our first year of marriage too. We tried to suppose how this evening would've gone had we not had Anna yet. Oddly, neither of us could even begin to guess. Just eight weeks in and she's changed us that much.

By nine o'clock dinner was done & we were headed home. By old standards, it was an early night. By current standards, we were pooped. As we approached home, the nervousness returned. We crept quietly up the sidewalk, listening for the uncontrollable wails that we expected. We opened the door to find our happy baby, on the sitters lap, playing with a rattle. She had eaten, but not napped while we were out and she was pooped too. A quick bottle and she was off to bed. We were not far behind. And then, we got the best anniversary gift of all. Anna slept the whole night through. The whole night.

Friday Photo - 11/06/09