Thanksgiving- Six Weeks Old

We went to Beth and Steve's for Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed an amazing Southern-themed meal (smoked turkey, streusel stuffed sweet potatoes, collards, mac n cheese, green tomato/vidalia onion au gratin, and more). Their neighbors, the Rhees, also joined the meal.

Check out the amazing food:

Afterward, relaxing with some football.

At the table, playing peek-a-boo with Steve:

Aunt Didee Visit

Diana came for a visit this past weekend. Knowing that the was up to the challenge, Sam gave her an advanced clinic in diaper changing, skipping the somewhat easy "wet" diaper for the notoriously more complicated "dirty" diaper (that's "pee" and "poo" respectively for all you none-parenting types).

She also helped me to make a couple meals and I had my first outing to the mall in forever (Sam stayed at home with Papa for his first ever bottle feeding!).

Diana's fiance, Mark, also made a guest appearance, but Sam spared him the diapering clinic (for another time, wahaha!)

Sam gave us a napping demonstration: "Napping in Unlikely Places and Other Cool Tricks"

And we rounded out the weekend with some chill family time on the couch.

First Bath

Sam's usual evening hang-out with Papa:

Did we mention that he's been smiling?

First bath time:

Drying off:

It was only after we'd dried him off and dressed him for bed that we realized we didn't really wash his hands or feet. I think I was so excited and nervous about the first bath that I kinda forgot to actually bath him!

Aunt Lula Visit

Laura came for a visit this past weekend and Sam really appreciated all the diapers she changed and when she rocked him to sleep. She kept laughing whenever he cried or got fussy, which made me think she was a most ideal babysitter...

Sam's getting daily "tummy time" practice and he's really starting to lift his head now:

Did I mention that he now weighs 11lbs... and that he's only 4 weeks old. Alexis was concerned that he wasn't chubby enough when she was here two weeks ago. I think she'd be feeling much better now!

Then, with Aunty Lex:

Now:

Mom and man:

Music

Much to our relief, Sam appears to appreciate live concerts. Well, at least when Kyle is playing. I tried to soothe him with some Fleetwood Mac the next day, but to no avail...

3 Weeks Old

He's starting to make some great facial expressions:

So true that I needed a date out! Beth and Steve came over Sat to watch Sam while Kyle and I walked over to the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp Chili festival, our favorite event in the city!

Kyle told him the rules of the game then practiced some disc skills.

Chillin with Dad on the couch.

Early Lessons

So you may have noticed that all I've had time to post since Sam was born is pictures and videos. I've thought about various post ideas, like processing his birth or the first few days with him home, but every time I sit down to write even an email or a thank you note, I invariably get interrupted by a dirty diaper, or a feeding, or cries of boredom. It would probably take me a week to get it together. So instead, here's a list of things I've been learning along the way:

1. Mothering is a full-time job and the baby is your boss

2. Cloth burp rags also make excellent napkins in a pinch

3. Mastering the perfect diaper tightness is essential to not changing baby's clothes with every wet or dirty diaper (really, how does the pee get all the way up to the armpit?)

4. When baby cries, trouble shoot in this order: check diaper, soothe, check if baby warm/cool enough, feed. If still crying, repeat cycle.

5. The 5 S's of Soothing an infant: swaddle, sway, suck, side-position, "shh." If at any time you are doing 3 or more of these you can usually be confident that you are in fact soothing the baby. On rare occasions, you are instead totally overwhelming him.

6. The "Baby Blues" is a very real phenomenon.

7. The infant stage is to many parents what birth is to mothers: totally painful and difficult yet somehow all negative feelings are blocked from memory. (Veteran parents:  "Oh my gosh, this is such a precious time! He"ll never be this tiny again" New parents: "Thank God for that.")

8. Finishing your morning coffee in one sitting without interruption (and not having to re-heat it) is a triumph! It also helps to drink it out of a lidded-mug.

9. Worst moment: It's 4am and you just woke up, changed his diaper, breast-fed for 30 minutes, then burped and cradled him for 5 minutes. You are just about to put him down when you hear/feel him take a very large dump. For a minute you contemplate letting him sleep on it (Hey, if it didn't wake him up already...), but then the thought of your child stewing in his poo is too awful so you do the right thing and get back up to change him. Again.

10. Best moment: Watching your child fall asleep in the crook of your arm, noting the way his eyelids flutter, the way his breathing increases then slows, and the way his lips sometimes curl into a smile, leaving you wondering if you had something to do with this flickering moment of joy.

The little guy hanging out in the most awesome sling that Lindsay made for me. She's so crafty!

18 Days old, 9lbs 8oz, 22in