Paddington: Gone But Not Forgotten

Our beloved cat Paddington (above, background) has been gone for over a month now.  We refuse to eulogize him but offer this bit of remembrance: Paddy is a bit of a legend in this family, his disappearance  is almost befitting of such a character.  We miss him.  He is and will always be an explorer and adventurer.  We hold out hope for his return and will never forget his life with us. 

Grandma Facilitates Nap Time

Parenting Revelation #2

Soothing is 50% endurance, 50% smoke & mirrors.

The Long and Short

It seems like we were not blogging for a while, but it wasn't that long.  We do, however, have some milestones to share.

• Alan's umbilical cord has healed
• He's now making more and more varied sounds
• He sleeps in the bed with us more often than not
• He had his first 'blowout'!
• We connected to his maternal grandparents via webcam
• Angie eliminated caffeine and Alan sleeps a little better
• We think he has colic

Photo Highlights Of Our Time Offline

iMac To The Rescue

Our life under the thumb of Microsoft has come to an end with the arrival of our iMac. With it, we hope our problems will be minimized and our enjoyment optimized.  It's ready right out of the box for anything you may need if you are minimalist pc users like us.  Back to blogging!

Technical Difficulties
Our computer crashed once and for all, so we've been unable to post until we purchase a replacement. So please stay tuned for more news and photos of Alan and some parenting revelations we've learned...one way or the other.

Like Revelation #1:
Fatherhood is at least 78% easier in these early months than is motherhood.

Alan's Nemesis
Hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup...hiccup

The 8th Wonder of the World
I've had the pleasure of seeing the Grand Canyon with my own eyes (and the Welsh coast for that matter), and I thought nothing could compare. That is, until I saw Angie and Alan embraced last night. It hit me so hard, right in the heart. Wow. This experience, so far, has been a very balanced mix of fast-paced interventions (crying, diapers) and slow and steady absorption of Alan's every breath, sound, movement and emotion. Its everything you and everyone we know has told us and more. We're in love.

Alan Update
We've pretty busy here babysitting. And we've had our fair share of issues with Alan. As noted in an earlier post, he's had some bouts with crying and we've not had an easy time figuring out the source. So we went back to the pediatrician Monday and had another checkup. We'd also been concerned that the reasons for his crying could be his eating habits. Is he getting enough? Is he gaining the weight he should be? So we went to the doctor not short on questions, and thankfully we're not the only parents who wonder if what they're doing is right for their child.
But as we were leaving for our appointment and getting him changed, we noticed that his umbilical cord was still not healing as well as it should and also needed attention. Needless to say, the pediatrician was not surprised to see us.
We learned a lot in that visit. Firstly, we were good to have come in. You can never be too careful with newborns. Second, his weight was perfectly on target. Angie is providing enough for him to eat and we could rule that out from the reasons he may be getting upset. So we're pretty much going to try to limit the number of dairy products in Angie's diet to see if Alan is having an adverse reaction. All good news so far.
His umbilical cord, however, is a different story. Silver Nitrate (AgNO2) is something we'll long remember. Silver Nitrate is a substance that coderizes, drys it and forces healing. (I'm no doctor, so forgive my explanation.) But Alan has had this done to him now 3 times, and it hurts. We had it done on Monday and it didn't take, so we went to a pediatric surgeon today to have it done again and it was awful to see him in such pain, he even made some tears.
So the long story slightly longer: Alan is crying a little less, sleeping a little more and is developing a fear of doctors.

Alan Surrenders To The Sandman

Alan Gets Mail
We call him "Stinker," but Alan Wyn is his government name. It's a pretty weird feeling to go to the mailbox and find a letter for your not yet 3 week old son. But today, as we savored a few moments of silence while he got some sleep, we checked the mail only to find Alan's Social Security Card! So now he's officially real.

Alan Sounds Off
Alan has been home for a little less than two weeks, and its been great having him here. He's had more visitors than we'd imagined, and friends and neighbors have helped out by cooking meals for us and always offering help if we were ever in need. But is it too soon to call in a favor? Alan has his witching hours, we figured newborns can have rough times, but his low points are very loud and painful to him. We haven't gone so far as to say he has colic, but inconsolable, fitful crying that leaves him breathless and gasping for air (perhaps compounding the problem), bringing on tears that lasts for up to an hour or more has us officially worried. No one can help us with this one, but we're hoping not to find ourselves continuing this trend over the next two months.

Nap Time

On Calling The Pediatrician (On A Monday Morning)
I remember the day(s) vividly. We were in Swansea, Angie was at work, and I was on the telephone with Liverpool Football Club trying to secure tickets for the New Year's Day match against Bolton at Anfield. To make a long story short, I was on the phone for hours, spanning two days, reaching busy signals. "The number you are trying to reach is engaged."

I had a similar experience this morning when we needed to reach the pediatrician to take care of what was left of Alan's umbilical cord. The area had become sensitive and milky and looked on the verge of infection. So there I was on the phone, imagining every other freaked out parent of a child that needs attention jamming the lines first thing Monday morning and shutting us all out. The situation was not unlike that of trying to get tickets for a match at Anfield, but we got through and got his cord area taken care of. Patience paid off. Oh, and we also got into Anfield that day and saw two fantastic goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard: Link

Hanging Up Our Sailors Cap
We tried, as Angie grew during pregnancy, to minimize our foul language. Lets face it, its a bad habit. But now that Alan is here, it seems our best efforts haven't had the desired effect. So perhaps if I post it on the blog, we could put a stop to our indiscretions once and for all. What the hell heck, here goes nothing.

Baby Monitor: Complete With Furiousness Indicator

Worth A Thousand Words

"The Thinker"

Alan's First Checkup
Today was Alan's first visit to his pediatrician, an event that surprisingly was less nerve-wracking than expected. With all of his troubles since birth, we've been anxious about this 1 week check-up. Have we done ok? Is he eating enough? Does he even look as healthy to a doctor as he does to us? He passed with flying colors and we'll go back in a week to reconfirm.

Grandparents Get Some Alan Time
Alan's paternal grandparents stopped by today for their first visit since he left the hospital. He managed to stay awake and entertained the whole time, hopefully he'll be good and tired in between feedings tonight. We're not holding our breath.