Babycare evolution

Emily has been learning a lot about taking care of her doll since we brought Caleb home. I'm just waiting for her to try to breastfeed.

Careful application of diaper rash cream
Wrapped up snugly in a diaperMaking sure the doll has plenty to eat
Emily gets a little mad at me for spending so much time with Caleb, but she is surprisingly gentle with him. Here they are spending some quality time relaxing on the couch together. He looks pretty huge for being a week old, huh.
Grandma and Grandpa Bartlett sent Emily a new bib from Australia. She likes it, she really does.
This is what we call her "Thundercloud face." She has been doing it a lot lately but not because she's mad. I think it's because it makes me and Joseph laugh.

Our Little Sumo Wrestler

We just went to the doctor today for Caleb's first checkup and things are looking good!

Height: 20-3/4" (80%)
Weight: 9 lb. 15 oz. (97%)
Head: 37.2 cm. (85%)

He is a hefty kid. The doctor and nurse kept wanting to double check the weight measurement because he has gained over a pound (averaging 3 ounces a day) since our hospital discharge six days ago. I was wondering what to do about him spitting up so much and the doctor suggested it might be because he is overeating. Maybe I will feed him a little less.

Baby Caleb Part 2

We are finally all home together and it has been wonderful. Joseph has picked up a lot of the housework and the ward is providing meals while I get used to having two babies. My recovery has been quick - I feel almost back to normal. Being induced was not as bad as I thought it would be and even though Caleb was a pound and a half heavier than Emily, he was much less work to get here. Here are the flowers Joseph had waiting for me in our spotless apartment when I got home. (I just took the picture, so the apartment is no longer spotless.)
Baby Caleb (middle name Joseph) has been a great baby. So far he's been pretty happy and low maintenance. I don't want to jinx anything so I will leave it at that. He didn't get a very good bath at the hospital so we finally did that today and he looks like a whole new baby. He is finally starting to open his eyes and look around to match voices with faces - or blobs, since he probably can't see very well yet - which is really neat.
Before bath:
After bath:For those of you who have been wondering, Emily is still around and as fun as ever. Here are some pictures of her latest escapades:
We are currently working on renovating the blog because it can't be "isn't she lovely" anymore. More changes to come!

Baby Caleb

It took longer than we expected, but at last we have dear Caleb in our family. It's kind of exciting that we share a birthday. Now, I'll always get a birthday party, even when I'm too old: "Caleb's turning two today, I guess we'll go to the computer store and pick him out something nice." He was 8 lbs. 14 oz. for those who count that sort of thing.
Here he is, freshly mopped up. Bright lights, lots of noise, cold air, and more. He's not too excited about all this.
Mom's doing great and looking fabulous. Seriously folks, what a fox. I miss her a lot while she's at the hospital and I'm home.
Caleb looks ever so much like a boy to me... or perhaps a sad old man. He seems to have permanently furrowed brow. Odds are we'll still have plenty of people asking what her name is. Sigh.
Sister's excited. She has always wanted one of these. She's just not sure what it is.
He's not a dolly? What do you mean I have to be "soft"?
The hospital has excellent meal arrangements. Essentially, it's complementary room-service for the patients. Amanda has a big menu. She thumbs through it and decides what she wants and then places a call. Forty-five minutes later, her made-to-order meal is delivered steaming and delicious. She let me try some of her sandwich. It was awesome.
Emily doesn't really know what she's getting into. In fact, I think we're in for a couple tough weeks of adjustment. But she has loved having time with Grandma and all the wonderful things (like new pajamas) that Grandma brings.

Town Lake

Today Emily, Grandma, and I went for a walk along Town Lake as one final effort to induce labor before the hospital takes over. Though Emily and I walked along the trail almost every day between weeks 15 and 39 of my pregnancy, we had never stopped to feed the ducks before. Today we did.











These three pictures show the birds that were by far the most common: the lesser scaup, the American coot, and the pigeon. Those pigeons were not shy at all and had no concern for the personal space of others. They really made me pretty nervous. One lady feeding the birds with her son or grandson I guess wanted to show him what a pigeon felt like because she grabbed one pretty expertly and let him feel. Maybe those pigeons need more treatment like that to teach them to keep their distance, but I certainly would not be excited to touch one.





This is a grackle. The UT campus has a problem with these birds, and there were a couple hanging out hoping for some bread. One actually swooped in after Janet threw in a piece and caught it out of the air before it hit the water.










There was also one of these wood ducks in amongst the others. He was very cool looking.






















This scary looking bird (above) is a cormorant and it is humongous! We didn't actually see one swallow a gigantic fish whole, but I thought that picture would help convey the terror I felt at the sight of this bird. He would dive really deep under the water and then come up under a group of the lesser scaups and coots and scare them all away. It had bright face markings and if I had to describe how this bird looks in one word, I would say fierce.

This is a swan. We saw a couple of these and one had a bunch of babies. Not on its back though. I was sad that I couldn't really appreciate it's full coolness because it was on the other side of the river and I wasn't wearing glasses.




Here is a picture of baby-grandmother bonding time at the duck feeding. Emily loved it but would have fallen in several times if I wasn't holding her hand most of the time.

This tree is really huge. I didn't realize how huge it really was until Janet went down to see it.
The walk hasn't done anything to help so far... maybe it still needs time to take effect?

Barbeque but no Grandma

Joseph's mom came into town to help with our baby who is still not here (two days after his due date. Due dates might be the worst invention ever). Emily loved playing with Grandma, but we decided that it might be better for her to be in San Antonio with her other grandchildren until our baby comes. That way everyone gets their share of Grandma.
Unfortunately, Joseph and I already had meat in the fridge for a barbeque, so we went ahead with it today. It was a perfect day for a barbeque and we had a really nice time. We had to eat Grandma's portion though. It was delicious. The bottom center picture and the picture above on the mattress show Emily's new camera smile.The latest on our baby:
I went to the doctor yesterday for yet another ultrasound. That brings the total to five! I had two with Emily. Anyway, their estimate for Baby Boy's weight is now 8 lb. 11 oz! That's two whole pounds more than what they guessed for Emily at the same gestational age! I've got to stop comparing those two and just deal with it. I will just be grateful that I had the smaller baby first to prepare me for this ordeal. They have scheduled me for induction this Sunday since they don't allow moms to go more than a week past their due date, but we are hoping the baby decides to come on his own before then.

Because I promised

I cut my hair a couple of weeks ago and I promised Stephanie that I would post pictures. So, four weeks later, here they are! I took a couple of pictures to the hair place, but the girl wasn't very good and it ended up being a totally different haircut and 6 inches shorter than I wanted. And Joseph had to do a lot of cleanup in the back. But I'm getting used to it. It'll be nice for the summer, at least.

After my haircut Joseph decided it was his turn. Who knew haircutting was a prerequisite for wife-dom? Not me! Good thing Joseph cares less than I do about how his hair looks. I'm getting better though. His hair looks better than this picture shows. It just needs a comb.

Emily probably needed a haircut more than any of us, but I am really scared to cut her hair. I don't want her to end up with a bad baby haircut! I'll probably have to do it soon.
This picture is of Emily after she fell on the slide and bloodied her lip. She was really sad about it, but had to smile for the camera.
P.S. - I'm not as tired and sad as that picture makes me look. It was just a bad shot.

Just so everyone knows...

I am due tomorrow but our baby has decided to live inside me forever.
He likes eating pre-digested food, being kept warm, and being carried everywhere, even if it is always dark.
I will have to wear maternity clothes for the rest of my life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our family didn't have any big plans for Valentine's day this year, but we did make and decorate these cupcakes! One of them took much more time and effort than the others. See if you can pick it out.This special cupcake featured a guest artist. She worked long and hard for the perfect design.














Then she realized her project was edible and delicious. She had to share.










She actually climbed down from her chair and had been in the living room for a while before we realized the cupcake was also absent from the kitchen. Having a baby on the loose with sticky hands and a goopy cupcake gave me a pretty good scare. She was just trying to give some to her doll though. Then I gave her a baby wipe and she wiped that doll off so she was good as new and gave her a sloppy kiss to make everything all better.

Joseph is really good about helping take care of things around the house like changing Emily, but I do have to remember that he doesn't always have the same standards that I do.
For example, I would probably take the pants back off to snap up the onesie if I realized I had done it in the wrong order. It doesn't seem to bother either of these two though. Right now they are outside getting the mail and showing off Emily's cool look for all the neighbors. I didn't go with them because I would be too embarrassed.

Peek-a-boo graduate

I promise, we did not force her into this cupboard. She did this of her own free will and choice.