Lessons Learned By The One Handed Typist

Is typist a word? Well, it sounds a bit better than typer. Here are some lessons I've learned six weeks into motherhood.

1. Always, I repeat, always have a change of clothes in your diaper bag as well as an old bread bag. We had an "episode of the bowels" one day this week. I had the bread bag, but didn't have the extra outfit.

2. Cutting a baby's fingernails is nerve wracking.

3. You can give your baby a bath every day and somehow their hands end up smelling like Cheez-Its.

4. My neighbor told me that at bath time I should wash of her gums with a damp washcloth. Somehow I missed that in the books.

5. It's in the small details that you just are nuts over your kid and if you explained it to anyone else they don't really get it. Mine are the way she looks when she just wakes up, the sound she makes while nursing (similar to a hum), and our game in the mornings of me putting a cover on her legs when she sits in her swing and I'm making breakfast. She kicks it off, I go over to her and in a sqeaky voice tell her that she is a funny girl, she smiles and tries to coo, and I cover her legs again and it starts over again.

I went back to my "fitness for two" class tonight and saw one of the other girl's baby. It was great. By the way, I'm no longer a celebrity in there. Oh well...

Magic Moments

This song is called Magic Moments and is sung by Perry Como. This week Ben has been singing the whistle part of this song and it's very catchy. Why don't we still have dreamy singers like Perry Como? :)

Date Night

Last week Ben initiated "date night" for us by asking his mom to come and watch Gwen for a few hours so we can get away by ourselves once a week- Thursday nights. He told me that when our kids grow up and move away he didn't want us to look at each other and say, "who are you?" :) Last week we went to dinner and a movie and I did fine except for at the end of the movie I was a little fidgety and I was really wanting to see Gwen. This week Ben took me to dinner and then we went to the Overland Park Botanical Gardens and Arboretum. It is free and beautiful. Here are some pictures we took from there.

They had a hut to represent the Indians that once lived in Kansas. (I think) Here Ben is supposed to be discovering fire via rubbing two rocks together.


I'm supposed to look like an angry Aboriginal person, but Ben was making me laugh.


Ben picked up this fruit from a tree and said "this is a worthless piece of fruit." I don't think you can eat this kind of fruit.


Pretty rose.
Isn't it nice?


After the garden, Ben wanted to go over to Ace Hardware near our house because he saw they had a sale on the plants there for 75% off. He noticed a tree in the trash can and... you guessed it... he went in and asked it he could have it. He told the guy he could "take it off his hands for him." So, he got a tree for free. He was thrilled. I suggested next week we go ice skating. He suggested that we try lazer tag.

My Precious

My sister Stephanie said "no more bug stories.. we want more Gwen." So... what can I say to that? Here she is this morning. By the way Steph, I'm just trying to educate my loyal blog readers... all 4 of them. :)

She's grinning more and more. I think she's also sometimes trying to coo, but it's not quite there yet. By the way, Aunt Stephanie got her this outfit!


She's beautiful!
I think it's pretty definite that she has my nose. HA!

Is that a dimple on the left cheek? We'll just have to wait and see!

Amusing

FOR NORTHERNERS COMING SOUTH

In the South: If you run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in a four-wheel drive pickup truck with a tow chain will be along shortly. Don't try to help them, just stay out of their way. This is what they live for.

Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store. Do not buy food at this store.

Remember, "y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural, and "all y'all's" is plural possessive.

Get used to hearing "You ain't from round here, are ya?"

Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later on how to use it.

Don't be worried at not understanding what people are saying. They can't understand you either.

The first Southern statement to creep into a transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective "big'ol," truck or big'ol" boy. Most Northerners begin their Southern-influenced dialect this way. All of them are in denial about it.

The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.

Be advised that "He needed killin" is a valid defense here.

If you hear a Southerner exclaim, "Hey, y'all, watch this," you should stay out of the way. These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.

If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It doesn't matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go there.

Do not be surprised to find that 10-year-olds own their own shotguns, they are proficient marksmen, and their mammas taught them how to aim.

In the South, we have found that the best way to grow a lush green lawn is to pour gravel on it and call it a driveway.

AND REMEMBER:

If you do settle in the South and bear children, don't think we will accept them as Southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call 'em biscuits.

Fireflies

Something we didn't have in Miami but we do have here are fireflies, or lightning bugs as I call them. I guess it was a few years ago when I found out that lightning bugs light because they are looking for a mate, but that's about all I know about them. So... I decided to do some research about them and let you guys know what I found.

This is an adult lightening bug.


*Around the world there are about 2000 different species of lightening bugs. Each species has its own flashing pattern so that two bugs of different species don't mate. Some lightening bug species don't flash at all.

*Lightening bug larvae are found underground and they eat slugs, earthworms, and snails. Adult lightening bugs (that live up to a couple of months) probably eat plant nectar. A few adult lightening bug species practice an especially tricky kind of cannibalism. Already-mated females emit flashes similar to the female responses to male Lightning Bugs of other species. When the male of the other species lands, the female emitting the false flashes pounces on the poor male and eats him!


This is a larvae.

*Fireflies were a part of Mayan mythology, often being associated with the stars. They also were associated with cigar smoking.. don't ask me how!

In addition to fireflies (or lightening bugs), Ben and I saw a bug in Miami once that was so unusual I set out to find out what it was. It is called an eyed click beetle.

The "eyes" are actually light organs on the insect's "shoulders," and have nothing to do with the vision of the beetle. If you flip one on its back, it will snap a spine into a groove on its "chest," propelling the insect into the air.. thus the name, click beetle. It will, after a couple tries or so, eventually land right side up! Amazing!

The many poses of a newborn

I'll admit we've posted some of these pictures before. But maybe you didn't realize exactly how Gwen was communicating? Well after being her father for over a month now I've started understanding just how complex her method of body language communication can be.... observe!

Flaring-nostrils-opera-singer Gwen (I'm sure she got this from Meredith):

Alien-eyes-making-rude-hand-gesture Gwen:


Quit-hitting-yourself Gwen:

I'm-not-sure-how-much-longer-I-can-stand-this-conversation Gwen:



Concerned-for-your-well-being / Sympathetic Gwen (a perfect pose to use if she grows up to be a funeral director.... or perhaps a vasectomy surgeon):


Mutant-Batwing Gwen:
Mutant-hammerhead-shark Gwen:

Deep-thinker Gwen:
Rebel-Anarchist Gwen (Power to the People!):



Puffer-fish-cheeks Gwen:

I'm-about-to-kick-your-butt Gwen

Queen's-Wave Gwen



Nile-Delta-Wrinkles Gwen (click for close-up):

... and finally, last but not least: Chinese-Elf Gwen!


I'm sure she'll be communicating even more as she gets older, although I can't imagine her messages getting any more complicated. Stay tuned for more updates!

The Latest

Well... lately my days have felt like one giant circle in three hour increments. When asked what I do during the day I have to stop and think because I'm not sure when a day starts. One of my daily activities is loading the dishwasher. That's not blog worthy you say? I beg to differ!

I have been meaning to do a blog post about lightening bugs and why they light up, but I haven't found the energy just yet.

Gwen has been awake most of the day here lately and then early evenings deciding to sleep. It makes for a tiring day, but a better night that way. I'm just now relaxing more and realizing that she is my daughter. Last night I was looking at her sleeping in her bassinet and started crying because she is excruciatingly beautiful. Yesterday we went to a La Leche League meeting and it was weird. An Israeli woman grabbed me (I don't think I need to explain where) without so much as a "hi how are you". I don't know if I'll go back although I appreciate the help with positioning. We also went to the doctor yesterday and she weighed 9 lbs, 3 oz and has grown an inch and a half from birth. She's now 21 1/2 inches long. She's a month old. I've decided that instead of saying she's 5, 6, 7 weeks old I'm just going to say 1 month until she is 2 months. It's easier that way in my mind.

Here is the look I get from her a lot these days.


Here's her look after she has been fed and she's in a good mood. It's like she's seeing someone she went to college with and she's saying "hey!"


Ben and I are both pretty sleep deprived lately, but of course it is worth it all. I tell Ben sometimes I feel like I've been to a lock in with middle schoolers to describe that feeling. ha!

Trip to Bama

Hey all my Alabama blogging friends! I'm planning on coming to Alabama from Aug 20-Sep 1st. I thought maybe we could all get together. Let me know what day is good for you. It would be great to see you all and for you to meet Gwen in person.

Weekend Fun

In latest news Gwen has developed a little bit of infant acne. It's very common and usually goes away in a couple of weeks. They say it is due to the hormones that she got from me within the womb. Like the trip down the birth canal wasn't enough! I've read online that if you eat organic yogurt that it helps with clearing it up and so for the past four days I've eaten organic yogurt. It's probably an old wive's tale started by the yogurt people. She is trying to smile now and I finally captured in on camera! Isn't she beautiful?

This weekend her Aunt Beki came to visit. Gwen's middle name is after her- Rebekah. I love this photo of them. I guess Gwen was tired. :)


We went to a beautiful wedding this weekend of Ben's cousin Caleb and his bride, Megan. I got several pictures, but failed to get a picture of the bride and groom! Oh well... here's a buffalo head instead. ha! This was at the reception site... a place called the Stony Creek Inn. The theme of this hotel is kind of buffalo and the prairie.

Here's Ben and I at the reception. It really was beautiful with all the strung lights and all, but you can't tell from the photo.


Here's our little family.

Here's Grandma finally getting to hold Gwen. Gwen had a little accident on the other dress I put her in earlier, so she got to wear the bandanna dress to the reception. This dress is from my sister's baby clothes that my mom saved.

The Irony Of It All

At the hospital they gave me this diaper bag. How nice!

There's a tag on the bag that says "Breastfeeding Success Bag for Baby's Best Start" on there. How kind for them to want me to succeed at breastfeeding!


You open it up and what do you have? Formula and coupons for formula! Nothing against formula...but it's not breastfeeding. The last time I checked you have to have a breast involved for it to be breastfeeding. By the way, I took Gwen to get a weight check today and from last week she has gained 5 oz! So now she weighs just over 9 lbs. My arms are going to have a serious workout in the coming weeks I have a feeling. :)

Review of Cloth Diapers

In the last week I've tried several things in regard to cloth diapering. Here are my opinions if anyone out there is interested.

Bum Genius All-in-one diapers: They are fantastic and are my favorite. I only have one, but I plan on getting more.

Pre-folds like you can get at the store and many people use as burp cloths: Not my favorite because they are really bulky on newborns and using diaper pins makes me nervous.

Snappies- a little rubbery thing that holds diapers on: It's wonderful. I only have one, but I plan on getting more. Here's the website: www.snappibaby.com

Balmex Daily Skin Protectant: It's great and I use it when cloth diapering. My mom tipped me off to this product.

I bought two different kinds of flushable diaper liners. Diaper liners are a thin piece of paper like material you put into the diaper and it really helps with clean up. I am using Bio-soft Liners at the moment. They are a great size and soft. Their website is: www.bummis.com
I also bought ImseVimse kind of liners. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm having to cut them into fourths because they are so large. They also aren't as soft as the Bio-soft ones. Here is their website to check out: www.imsevimse.se

My homemade wipes are pretty good, but the solution makes them a little soapy, so I'm having to use a washcloth after I use one of those wipes. The wipes also get very cold. I'm thinking of getting a coffee thermos that you can push on the top to put warm water in there and have beside the changing table. My mother-in-law said I'm going to need another cabinet to put all this stuff in. :)

Church

Today was Gwen's first time to go to church. She was very well behaved and enjoyed the music.


She says "Praise God from whom all blessings flow...especially milk!"



She loves to be held.

Gwen and Grandma Barreth

The violins in the background are courtesy of Uncle Preston making some Italian Godfather-style atmosphere. Now if Gwen grows up to be in The Mob we'll all know who to blame!

Baby Gwen Taking a Bath

Baby Gwen Photo Shoot!

Gwen's favorite people in the world:

Gwen in a thoughtful pose:
Tired Chinese Gwen:
Gwen almost deciding to pee on Meredith, but changing her mind at the last minute:
Just for the record, Gwen was the only one naked in this picture. I was fully clothed at all times! (Ben)
Aren't you guys done taking pictures yet?
I'm outta here - see ya!
Where's the nearest boob?
Aww forget it - this is just exhausting!


A close-up of her natural buzz-cut hair-do. Courtesy of God Himself!


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