First Week of Life

On Monday Anne and I were discharged from the hospital.  This week has been spent accomplishing little but learning how to read Anne's cries and how to get her to sleep.  She is a wonderful baby.  She cries only when something is wrong and once she gets to sleep the first time she is wonderful all night long, waking only long enough to be fed, burped, and changed.  She smiles accidentally all the time.  She also gets the hiccups a lot during which she stares off into space, stunned.

On Tuesday we went to the doctor's and had Anne weighed and examined.  She had already gained back half of the weight she lost after birth.  She passed the exam with flying colours and impressed the doctor with her strong neck and reflexes.

On Thursday Anne was officially registered with the first name Anne and middle name Gwendolyn.  We named her Anne because we like the name, it is easy to spell, it is not too common these days, and it sounds good with our last name.  We gave her the middle name Gwendolyn after Jeff's grandmother Gussie and because we like the name.  Interestingly, Jeff's grandmother actually used her middle name, Patricia, rather than her first name, Gwendolyn, since in grade school there was another Gwendolyn whom she detested.

My parents decided to stay with us for a few days to help out around the house.  Dad went home on Wednesday for work and Mom is still here folding my laundry as we speak.  It has been wonderful having them here.  Jeff and I have not needed to lift a finger except to take care of the baby (which somehow manages to take up every waking moment despite the fact that nothing has been accomplished at the end of the day).

Unfortunately due to the passing of Jeff's other grandmother, Lucile, Jeff's parents weren't able to be with us this week.  However they are coming up tomorrow to stay with us for a few days and they sound very excited to meet their first grandchild.  We are equally excited to have them.

Noteworthy lessons:

• Zippered pyjamas are best... down with domes. 
• Always burp the baby until a burp comes up.
• When you detect a bowel movement, wait a bit before changing the baby to avoid having to use 4 additional diapers to catch the trailers.
• Try not to use the word "cute" in every sentence.
• Try to stay in bed until you have had 8 hours of sleep regardless of how long it takes.  Napping throughout the day seems to mess up your internal clock.  

Jeff is Super-Dad

Jeff is Super-Dad; Anne is a football.

On Tuesday a tiny Roethlisberger jersey arrived in the mail after which we were immediately required to take photos of Anne in the jersey and update Dad's laptop and BlackBerry background with the grandchild collage above.

Accidental smile.

Fun with my macro lens.

Sleepy baby.

Vulcan ears.