5/19/2013
Over the past week, Erica has been sleeping through the night!!! Not bad for only being 6 weeks old!!! Tomorrow, she'll be 7 weeks old! Time flies when you're having fun!
The first night was last sunday. We put her down around 10pm and she slept until a little after 6am!!! Laura scared the crap out of me when she woke me up. "Dan, did you get up with her at all last night?" Nope...go check for a pulse!!! If I were thinking fast enough, I would've claimed to have been up multiple times for hours on end, giving countless bottles and constant comforting en route to winning "Dad of the year" award...but it was 6am, and I'm pretty worthless until at least 8am!!!
Since that first night, she's slept at least 7 hours all but 2 nights during the week...so it's pretty cool! Not that I've been the one losing sleep at 2am because of her crying, but I'm glad Laura is getting a full night's sleep again...and...I'm a little upset that my Daddy Daycare shifts this summer may not include regular 2am feedings!!!
Laura brought Erica in to school for a short visit on Thursday last week. She had brought her in for my afternoon classes a couple of weeks before that, but this time she brought her in for my morning classes to see. Over my prep hour we took a tour of the building and visited with a few of my close colleagues. It was fun showing her off to people outside of our family! The students seemed to enjoy her as well...they didn't really have a choice because any mean comment would result in an automatic "F" in my class!!!
Friday saw Erica staying with a babysitter for the first time all day...and both her and grandma loved their day together!!! According to my mom, they played dress up at least twice, ate well from the bottle several times, went for a walk and snuggled a bit...a perfect Friday with baby, if you ask me!!! Friday also brought on a cold for me! Yuck! It started with a dry, scratchy throat around dinner time, and when I woke up yesterday morning, it was a full fledged cold. I can't stand having a sore throat!!! And now that Erica is here, I'm even more annoyed at the prospect of passing this along to her! I'm trying to keep my distance, but it's tough working as a team with Laura if I can't help do anything with Erica!
Last night we brought her to a school play our neighbor was in. She slept in the chest carrier...only through the first 10 minutes, but then she started crying so I took her out...yes...for an instant, I was "that guy" with the crying baby...but I was also not "that guy" by pretending her crying wasn't happening and just letting her continue to disrupt the whole theater!!! At least our neighbor heard her on stage and knew we were at least in the audience, if only for a bit. I sat out and tried to feed her, but by the intermission, it was clear we needed to head home. I think the sound effects, darkness and the loudness at times did the trick!!!
And so, here I am...wide awake at 6am on a sunday morning...after a long night of restless sleep because of this cold. The coffee is finally done brewing, and I'm ready to tackle my school work so I don't have to ignore my girls later in the day! The rain is falling and some thunder is rumbling in, so I better get ready to go comfort Laura...she's like a puppy...cute, but very skittish when it's thundering!!! Thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!!! Take care!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Mom's Home!
8/13/12
After a long weekend in New York City with her aunt, Laura came home today!!! I had a school training so I wasn't able to pick her up from the airport (thanks to my mom!) and had to wait until late in the afternoon to see her. I must say, she returned more beautiful than she left!
The dog and I were pretty lonely the past weekend without her! I joked with friends that it was going to be a great bachelor's weekend...but it was pretty lonely! However, I was kept occupied with my wonders (and worries) about my amazing wife and the little nugget she is carrying for us! Each day of marriage, I've come to love her even more; but since the happy news of our little bundle of joy inside her, I've loved her twice as much each day than I did before!!! Though she hasn't had any "morning sickness", she has had some short bits of nausea at different times of the day. Currently, tatertot hotdish is in the oven (YUMM!!!) and she is resting as she isn't feeling too well. In the grand scheme of things (and things to come) her discomfort now is probably mild, but it still makes me feel helpless in the sense that I can't do anything to provide her more comfort. Until I'm actually able to help her feel better, I'll just keep refilling her water and giving her kisses on the forehead!!!
As for development on the baby, we're still waiting to hear back from the doctor about last week's ultrasound. I'll be sure to keep you posted as soon as I hear something. Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!!!
After a long weekend in New York City with her aunt, Laura came home today!!! I had a school training so I wasn't able to pick her up from the airport (thanks to my mom!) and had to wait until late in the afternoon to see her. I must say, she returned more beautiful than she left!
The dog and I were pretty lonely the past weekend without her! I joked with friends that it was going to be a great bachelor's weekend...but it was pretty lonely! However, I was kept occupied with my wonders (and worries) about my amazing wife and the little nugget she is carrying for us! Each day of marriage, I've come to love her even more; but since the happy news of our little bundle of joy inside her, I've loved her twice as much each day than I did before!!! Though she hasn't had any "morning sickness", she has had some short bits of nausea at different times of the day. Currently, tatertot hotdish is in the oven (YUMM!!!) and she is resting as she isn't feeling too well. In the grand scheme of things (and things to come) her discomfort now is probably mild, but it still makes me feel helpless in the sense that I can't do anything to provide her more comfort. Until I'm actually able to help her feel better, I'll just keep refilling her water and giving her kisses on the forehead!!!
As for development on the baby, we're still waiting to hear back from the doctor about last week's ultrasound. I'll be sure to keep you posted as soon as I hear something. Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!!!
Monday, May 6, 2013
A crappy day, our first family road trip and a poem
5/6/13
Our first family road trip was a success...despite a crappy start!!!
Friday afternoon, after I was done with school, we packed up the girls and headed to the North Shore for a weekend with grandpa and grandma at the lake. Though Laura successfully took Erica home to North Dakota last weekend, this was the first trip with all of us in a car! We had planned to head up to the lake for Mother's Day weekend this coming weekend, but decided to move it up a week after seeing the forecast for the cities and realizing a weekend of showers wouldn't help us get the yard work done like we had hoped.
We planned to head out of the house around 3pm Friday afternoon. We had hoped to quickly load the girls once I got home from school and beat the rush hour dash out of the cities on a Friday...we had hoped...
I was delayed getting out of school and ended up leaving my classroom around 3pm. I walked in the door to Lexi's wagging tail as usual. I got to the top of the stairs and called out for Laura. "Oh, good, you're home...I just got sprayed!" was the response I heard from Erica's room. I walked in to find a room full of crap!!! Erica had indeed sprayed Laura...her arm, hand and sweatshirt was full of it. The guard rail on the front of the changing table was pooped on, her changing pad, foot, leg, back, thighs...and every part south of the business end was brown!!! As we started to get the next diaper out, it happened...another squirt!!! She re-covered the changing pad before we could shield ourselves, but Laura's quick reaction had a nearby paper towel over the barrel of her poop gun and we were spared another full-scale blowout! We waited a few seconds for any after shocks to run their course, and decided the coast was clear. But then...yep...the rumbles started again...but luckily, it was a false alarm. Erica either liked this near-miss for us, or found humor in the whole situation because she was smiling throughout the entire clean up process!!! Long story short, after changing her outfit, soaking mom's sweatshirt, cleaning up the mess and packing her and Lexi up...we pulled out of the house a little before 4pm...almost an hour behind schedule!!! Fortunately, we weren't in a rush to get anywhere...because rush hour sucked! The Hwy 52 bridge is a mess with its construction project going on. By the time we made it to White Bear Lake, it was 4:45 (this is typically a 20 minute drive!) we called my parents and told them not to wait dinner for us as we had originally planned.
By Hinckley, it was time for a break. We pulled in for a bite to eat at Taco Bell. I ran in and ordered while Laura began feeding Erica in the car. Lexi ate and pooped outside...I know...what a way to start a weekend?!?! While Erica was feeding, she apparently felt the need to make room for more food, so she repeated the whole fiasco, but this time in the comfort of the front seat of Elvis (our Equinox). I tried to change her in the cargo area of the SUV, but her soaked pants didn't allow for that, so I bundled her up from the rain and raced in to Taco Bell for my first public diaper change. Once strapped into the changing table...things went pretty well. I threw her dirty onesie into the sink and turned the water on to pre-soak her turd-stained shirt while I began hosing her off. After a quick change, with someone knocking on the door the whole time, I realized the sink was still running, and about to overflow because of the shirt lodged in the drain!!! I re-wrapped Erica and left the single-stall bathroom to find some 12 year old boy waiting outside the door. Really?!? Really?!?! You idiot!!! I thought it was some 80 year old with a bad bladder needing to get in, but it was just a stupid kid...ughh!!! So, I stumbled upon my 2nd stupid kid in 2 seconds when I asked a worker for a bag, holding Erica's wet outfit balled up in my free hand. He proceeded to hand me a brown paper bag. "Um...you got a plastic bag back there dude?!?!" "Oh...eww...yea" as he made eye contact with the contents of my hands...a grunting baby and an obviously soiled outfit. I made it to the car and we pulled out of Hinckley, some 45 minutes after we stopped. If you know Laura and I...you're likely thinking that we'd be pissed off at how long this journey was taking us. Typically, we make road trips in near record time with hardly any stops. We usually make it to the lake without stopping...well, MADE it to the lake without stopping. And we typically only stopped in Fargo for gas when heading to ND for trips home. So this trip, now over 2 hrs old, and we were half way to Duluth...typically, a 2 hr journey in itself.
We arrived at the lake in impressively good moods for our long journey...probably because it didn't seem to take as long as it did. My parents were excited to see us all, and proceeded to relieve us of our baby-holding duties for the night. Lexi was thrilled to be at the lake. She immediately raided her toy basket and pranced around the house amidst her dozen trips outside to check out her yard in the first few hours up there. We put Erica in her pack and play inside our room and snuggled in for the night a few hours after we got up there...I should say...we snuggled in for a sleepless night. That little girl sure is a noisy sleeper!!! She must get it from her mom...she was full of sound effects, squirms and twitches, and an occasional fart. We woke up for a 3am feeding and I didn't fall back asleep until after 5, though Laura was fortunately able to get back to bed sooner than that.
Saturday, dad, Laura and I headed to a gravel pit for some shooting. Laura did awesome, as usual. She shot my Glock and didn't like it, and didn't hit the target much. She doesn't like the trigger pull, so she flinches and jumps before it goes off, so she doesn't like it too much. So I asked her if she wanted to try the bigger gun, my Governor. She was intimidated and said she would only shoot 1 shot. I showed her how to work the revolver. I showed her the really long and hard trigger pull, as well as the ability to cock it for a very short and light trigger pull...which she liked. She shot the .45 revolver and hit the edge of the bullseye with the first shot from about 15 feet!!! "That wasn't bad!" she said. So she shot again, doubling her expected amount of shooting she anticipated from the bigger gun. The second shot hit dead center!!! A few more shots of cocking it and pulling the trigger, and all 6 shots were within 4 inches of center!!! Awesome shooting!!! I now regret showing her how to work that gun...because she is good with the biggest caliber handgun I own!!! Dad arrived a little after we got started and then Laura took off while the boys played. Grandma, in the meantime, enjoyed babysitting back at the lake. The afternoon saw a visit from their neighbors, Ron and Jeannie, and sitting back and relaxing. We had dinner and hung out for the rest of the evening. However, before bedtime, I moved Erica's bed out of our bedroom for the night...and we slept great!!! We were up at 2 for a feeding, and were able to get back to sleep before 3 (good timing for Erica's mid-night feedings) Laura fed again around 5:30, and we were up around 7:30 to begin packing, feeding, and eating breakfast before heading out a little after 9am. It was a great weekend and it was fun to have Erica up at the lake for the first time. We'll no-doubt have many more trips up there with her in the future as she gets older. On the way home, Erica slept the whole way. We fed her before we walked out the door, and immediately when we walked in the door...only 3 hours between feedings...perfect timing!
Sunday afternoon, Erica and I watched the Wild's playoff game while Lexi enjoyed a beef bone on the deck and Laura hit the grocery store. Sunday was also the first time we used the pump. Laura did a great job feeding for Erica's first 5 weeks, so we wanted to begin getting ready for the bottles. We have a camping trip booked in a month and we need her to be bottle-ready for that weekend. The pump was weird for Laura, much like breast feeding itself the first few times, but she did great. She did a bit more throughout the day today (Monday) and just moments ago, I fed Erica her first bottle. she guzzled that first bottle. I stopped halfway through for a good burp and then let her finish the bottle. I'll have to slow her down even more for future bottles so her tummy doesn't get as upset as it was tonight.
As the title mentioned, I have a poem to share with you. This year in school, I've worked on the same projects as my AVID students have while they search to discover who they are as individuals. I wrote a speech, a memoir, and now, my own, "I am" poem. Students were given an outline of the poem with the first 2 words already given to the student, they just had to complete the sentence/line in the poem. I shared my poem with each class after volunteers read theirs in front of their peers. Just as I realized with the projects earlier this year...my students' life stories are always better than mine...they struggle more than I ever did, their parents were far less outstanding than mine (if they have parents), and so on. I will forever be amazed at what kids endure at such a young age. So, with this, I'll wrap up this post. Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary and for checking in on the 3 of us. We greatly appreciate your kind words and thoughts. Take care!
Mr. Lemke's "I am" Poem
I am an AVID teacher
My mother would describe me as a very caring person
My friends call me when they need help or a laugh
I keep my students on their toes
I remember how my favorite teacher cared about me
I've learned to laugh if I'm going to survive each day in class
I hide my age and ninja skills to be more mysterious
I read boring history books
I shout, "Take out your Cornell Notes" and "Get ready for your binder check!"
I am an AVID teacher
I see great potential and bright futures in all of my students
I hear complaining and "that's not fair!"
I taste defeat when my students get bad grades or don't try their hardest
I feel like crying when my students cry
I think their stories will always be better than mine
I whisper, "It will be ok. Keep your chin up!" when my students are down
I am an AVID teacher
I want all of my students to go to college and chase their dreams
I will always push my students to do their best and never settle for "good enough"
I won't ever forget any of my AVID students!
I can see myself teaching AVID forever!
I pretend it doesn't bother me when people say bad things about AVID
I sing at the top of my lungs when no one is around
I am an AVID teacher
I dream of the day when I can offer scholarships to my students
I'm afraid of some students' lack of effort
I reach for extra homework assignments often
I say I'm sorry when I'm wrong or when reality seems too harsh for a student to bear
I love my job!
I declare for the world to hear that my students are on their way to doing great things!
I am just an AVID teacher
Our first family road trip was a success...despite a crappy start!!!
Friday afternoon, after I was done with school, we packed up the girls and headed to the North Shore for a weekend with grandpa and grandma at the lake. Though Laura successfully took Erica home to North Dakota last weekend, this was the first trip with all of us in a car! We had planned to head up to the lake for Mother's Day weekend this coming weekend, but decided to move it up a week after seeing the forecast for the cities and realizing a weekend of showers wouldn't help us get the yard work done like we had hoped.
We planned to head out of the house around 3pm Friday afternoon. We had hoped to quickly load the girls once I got home from school and beat the rush hour dash out of the cities on a Friday...we had hoped...
I was delayed getting out of school and ended up leaving my classroom around 3pm. I walked in the door to Lexi's wagging tail as usual. I got to the top of the stairs and called out for Laura. "Oh, good, you're home...I just got sprayed!" was the response I heard from Erica's room. I walked in to find a room full of crap!!! Erica had indeed sprayed Laura...her arm, hand and sweatshirt was full of it. The guard rail on the front of the changing table was pooped on, her changing pad, foot, leg, back, thighs...and every part south of the business end was brown!!! As we started to get the next diaper out, it happened...another squirt!!! She re-covered the changing pad before we could shield ourselves, but Laura's quick reaction had a nearby paper towel over the barrel of her poop gun and we were spared another full-scale blowout! We waited a few seconds for any after shocks to run their course, and decided the coast was clear. But then...yep...the rumbles started again...but luckily, it was a false alarm. Erica either liked this near-miss for us, or found humor in the whole situation because she was smiling throughout the entire clean up process!!! Long story short, after changing her outfit, soaking mom's sweatshirt, cleaning up the mess and packing her and Lexi up...we pulled out of the house a little before 4pm...almost an hour behind schedule!!! Fortunately, we weren't in a rush to get anywhere...because rush hour sucked! The Hwy 52 bridge is a mess with its construction project going on. By the time we made it to White Bear Lake, it was 4:45 (this is typically a 20 minute drive!) we called my parents and told them not to wait dinner for us as we had originally planned.
By Hinckley, it was time for a break. We pulled in for a bite to eat at Taco Bell. I ran in and ordered while Laura began feeding Erica in the car. Lexi ate and pooped outside...I know...what a way to start a weekend?!?! While Erica was feeding, she apparently felt the need to make room for more food, so she repeated the whole fiasco, but this time in the comfort of the front seat of Elvis (our Equinox). I tried to change her in the cargo area of the SUV, but her soaked pants didn't allow for that, so I bundled her up from the rain and raced in to Taco Bell for my first public diaper change. Once strapped into the changing table...things went pretty well. I threw her dirty onesie into the sink and turned the water on to pre-soak her turd-stained shirt while I began hosing her off. After a quick change, with someone knocking on the door the whole time, I realized the sink was still running, and about to overflow because of the shirt lodged in the drain!!! I re-wrapped Erica and left the single-stall bathroom to find some 12 year old boy waiting outside the door. Really?!? Really?!?! You idiot!!! I thought it was some 80 year old with a bad bladder needing to get in, but it was just a stupid kid...ughh!!! So, I stumbled upon my 2nd stupid kid in 2 seconds when I asked a worker for a bag, holding Erica's wet outfit balled up in my free hand. He proceeded to hand me a brown paper bag. "Um...you got a plastic bag back there dude?!?!" "Oh...eww...yea" as he made eye contact with the contents of my hands...a grunting baby and an obviously soiled outfit. I made it to the car and we pulled out of Hinckley, some 45 minutes after we stopped. If you know Laura and I...you're likely thinking that we'd be pissed off at how long this journey was taking us. Typically, we make road trips in near record time with hardly any stops. We usually make it to the lake without stopping...well, MADE it to the lake without stopping. And we typically only stopped in Fargo for gas when heading to ND for trips home. So this trip, now over 2 hrs old, and we were half way to Duluth...typically, a 2 hr journey in itself.
We arrived at the lake in impressively good moods for our long journey...probably because it didn't seem to take as long as it did. My parents were excited to see us all, and proceeded to relieve us of our baby-holding duties for the night. Lexi was thrilled to be at the lake. She immediately raided her toy basket and pranced around the house amidst her dozen trips outside to check out her yard in the first few hours up there. We put Erica in her pack and play inside our room and snuggled in for the night a few hours after we got up there...I should say...we snuggled in for a sleepless night. That little girl sure is a noisy sleeper!!! She must get it from her mom...she was full of sound effects, squirms and twitches, and an occasional fart. We woke up for a 3am feeding and I didn't fall back asleep until after 5, though Laura was fortunately able to get back to bed sooner than that.
Saturday, dad, Laura and I headed to a gravel pit for some shooting. Laura did awesome, as usual. She shot my Glock and didn't like it, and didn't hit the target much. She doesn't like the trigger pull, so she flinches and jumps before it goes off, so she doesn't like it too much. So I asked her if she wanted to try the bigger gun, my Governor. She was intimidated and said she would only shoot 1 shot. I showed her how to work the revolver. I showed her the really long and hard trigger pull, as well as the ability to cock it for a very short and light trigger pull...which she liked. She shot the .45 revolver and hit the edge of the bullseye with the first shot from about 15 feet!!! "That wasn't bad!" she said. So she shot again, doubling her expected amount of shooting she anticipated from the bigger gun. The second shot hit dead center!!! A few more shots of cocking it and pulling the trigger, and all 6 shots were within 4 inches of center!!! Awesome shooting!!! I now regret showing her how to work that gun...because she is good with the biggest caliber handgun I own!!! Dad arrived a little after we got started and then Laura took off while the boys played. Grandma, in the meantime, enjoyed babysitting back at the lake. The afternoon saw a visit from their neighbors, Ron and Jeannie, and sitting back and relaxing. We had dinner and hung out for the rest of the evening. However, before bedtime, I moved Erica's bed out of our bedroom for the night...and we slept great!!! We were up at 2 for a feeding, and were able to get back to sleep before 3 (good timing for Erica's mid-night feedings) Laura fed again around 5:30, and we were up around 7:30 to begin packing, feeding, and eating breakfast before heading out a little after 9am. It was a great weekend and it was fun to have Erica up at the lake for the first time. We'll no-doubt have many more trips up there with her in the future as she gets older. On the way home, Erica slept the whole way. We fed her before we walked out the door, and immediately when we walked in the door...only 3 hours between feedings...perfect timing!
Sunday afternoon, Erica and I watched the Wild's playoff game while Lexi enjoyed a beef bone on the deck and Laura hit the grocery store. Sunday was also the first time we used the pump. Laura did a great job feeding for Erica's first 5 weeks, so we wanted to begin getting ready for the bottles. We have a camping trip booked in a month and we need her to be bottle-ready for that weekend. The pump was weird for Laura, much like breast feeding itself the first few times, but she did great. She did a bit more throughout the day today (Monday) and just moments ago, I fed Erica her first bottle. she guzzled that first bottle. I stopped halfway through for a good burp and then let her finish the bottle. I'll have to slow her down even more for future bottles so her tummy doesn't get as upset as it was tonight.
As the title mentioned, I have a poem to share with you. This year in school, I've worked on the same projects as my AVID students have while they search to discover who they are as individuals. I wrote a speech, a memoir, and now, my own, "I am" poem. Students were given an outline of the poem with the first 2 words already given to the student, they just had to complete the sentence/line in the poem. I shared my poem with each class after volunteers read theirs in front of their peers. Just as I realized with the projects earlier this year...my students' life stories are always better than mine...they struggle more than I ever did, their parents were far less outstanding than mine (if they have parents), and so on. I will forever be amazed at what kids endure at such a young age. So, with this, I'll wrap up this post. Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary and for checking in on the 3 of us. We greatly appreciate your kind words and thoughts. Take care!
Mr. Lemke's "I am" Poem
I am an AVID teacher
My mother would describe me as a very caring person
My friends call me when they need help or a laugh
I keep my students on their toes
I remember how my favorite teacher cared about me
I've learned to laugh if I'm going to survive each day in class
I hide my age and ninja skills to be more mysterious
I read boring history books
I shout, "Take out your Cornell Notes" and "Get ready for your binder check!"
I am an AVID teacher
I see great potential and bright futures in all of my students
I hear complaining and "that's not fair!"
I taste defeat when my students get bad grades or don't try their hardest
I feel like crying when my students cry
I think their stories will always be better than mine
I whisper, "It will be ok. Keep your chin up!" when my students are down
I am an AVID teacher
I want all of my students to go to college and chase their dreams
I will always push my students to do their best and never settle for "good enough"
I won't ever forget any of my AVID students!
I can see myself teaching AVID forever!
I pretend it doesn't bother me when people say bad things about AVID
I sing at the top of my lungs when no one is around
I am an AVID teacher
I dream of the day when I can offer scholarships to my students
I'm afraid of some students' lack of effort
I reach for extra homework assignments often
I say I'm sorry when I'm wrong or when reality seems too harsh for a student to bear
I love my job!
I declare for the world to hear that my students are on their way to doing great things!
I am just an AVID teacher
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
1st Month Highlights
5/1/13
Time flies when you're changing diapers and rocking little ones to sleep...Our little Erica is 1 month old today, and it's weird to have this happen so soon, but it's hard to think back on how Laura and I spent our time before Erica arrived!
I don't even know where to begin to find words to wrap up and describe this first month because it has been so awesome! The only bad thing that I can speak of is our lack of sleep...and I'm a huge wimp with this. Laura has taken the night shift for me, and has only awaken me on occasion to help her get Erica back to sleep...she has been such a trooper with her middle of the night feedings. I've only lost a little over an hour on some nights, but apparently I need all the beauty sleep I can get! She has been a pretty good sleeper...once she gets to sleep! Some nights she'll give us anywhere from 3-5 hours of straight sleep, and our record is almost 6 hours straight!!!
Laura has been such a champ. I remind her daily how awesome she is at being a new mom. She gets Erica fed like a pro, and Erica has this funny, almost drunk-like look in her eyes after particularly long feedings...and then she has these lazy eyes as if she just finished eating a huge Thanksgiving feast! She's also developed a routine of feeding and making a huge mess in her pants at the same time!!! For me, since I can't feed her, she torments me by getting changed and then immediately have major dumps in her pants...sometimes before I can even get her back into her clothes! She is also a puking machine! We're starting to figure out her habits/behaviors. After a feeding, if she won't burp or spit up, she'll get cranky within 20 minutes and then scream until she pukes a ton or poops. At night, she'll usually take at least a half hour to get her back to sleep. She seems to keep herself awake in fear of missing out ("FOMO" as a friend of mine has called it after dealing with this with her infant son). With other advice from friends, I've had some luck swaddling her up tight, with her arms wrapped up and she goes out pretty quickly then. She never likes her arms bundled, but at night, her arms get flying and she seems to work herself up. However, once those arms are tucked into a blanket, she seems to relax much easier!
I can't thank all of our friends and family enough for all the things they've done for us and given us this past month. It's definitely humbling to know how many people care about our little family and we are truly lucky to have all of them (all of you!) in our lives! It's safe to say, Erica will not have a shortage of clothes for the next 3-6 months, blankets and other essentials for a long time to come! The gifts seem to come in waves...we seem to finally get caught up on a round of "Thank You" cards, and then another batch of gifts come in, after we figured we couldn't get any more...our friends and family surprise us with more!
My life as a teacher has resumed for almost 3 weeks now. My first day back was the first day I've ever had that I didn't want to go to work as a teacher! Each day seems to drag on and I feel like I'll never make it home to see my girls. The students are sweet and ask about her often, and they're curious as to when they will get to meet her. The funniest thing has happened in my classroom since Erica arrived...If you recall from an earlier post, we loved the relaxing music in the hospital. When we got home, we missed it. I asked a friend what she did for music with her newborn and she told me about a radio station on Pandora called "Rockabye Baby"...it plays lullaby versions classic rock songs and other recognizable tunes like some Journey, AC/DC, and "Wonderful World" and other timeless hits mixed in for good measure. Well, my students have been given some time in class to work on projects, and I asked them if they wanted some music on while working. I told them about the station and they weren't too happy about it...but when I put it on, they started to like it. I've played it quite a bit since then, and we've started to play little games to see if they recognize the tunes that are playing! I'm not sure if this link will work, but if it does, see if you like the tunes from Pandora... http://www.pandora.com/station/play/1390215588345370273 The best part of my day is coming home to my girls. I always greet Lexi first and get her hugs and kisses before heading in to see Laura and Erica for some more hugs and kisses.
Erica seems to be growing a little more each day. Her days in her little plastic tub from the hospital for her baths are numbered. Almost 2 weeks ago, she weighed 9lbs 7oz. Yesterday she had her 1 month check up, and she weighed 10lbs 2 oz and was 23 inches long! Apparently, she's a little lean, but off the charts with her height when compared with her weight. It's great to have a healthy baby! She's already starting to outgrow some of her sleepers too!
Lexi is adjusting well to Erica too. From her first night of staying far away from her after the initial sniffs, to licking her hands each time she's near her in hopes of hitting the jackpot of dried up puke or drool!!! She also ventures into her room while she's in her crib and just looks around to make sure everything is alright. We still keep a close eye on her when she's around Erica, but it's cool to see how she is coming around. Erica sometimes startles when Lexi barks, and Lexi sometimes gets sick of hearing Erica cry for extended periods of time.
Laura took Erica home to North Dakota last weekend by herself. I went turkey hunting (I bagged a good sized Tom, and helped my dad call in one for himself too!) while she went on her own adventure. Erica slept the whole way to Fargo, and then slept the rest of the 2 hours to her grandparents house. She spent the weekend being passed from arms to arms, getting her picture taken countless times and going to church for the first time. Her great grandparents loved meeting her for the first time, and her grandparents were happy to see her again as well. The trip back wasn't so easy. Laura had to stop before getting to Fargo for a feeding and a couple of diaper changes, and then had to stop south of St. Cloud to feed, get pooped on and then had to stop in Maple Grove to cool Erica down from a hot back seat (our SUV doesn't have vents, and the airflow wasn't too great, and the sun was on her for a while...both Laura and I felt bad for her!). Laura said she'd never do that trip alone again, but after doing the math and calculating a perfect trip 1 way, and a crappy trip the other way, it averaged out to a descent road trip and one hell of a display of Laura's fierce independence and willingness to take on any challenge while still being an awesome mom!!!
Well, I wish I had more updates or detailed stories to tell...but it's all been so great. Both of my girls are healthy and happy...and Lexi seems happy too! Being a dad is waaaaay better than I thought it'd be...and words can't quite describe why, but I've noticed that all the other dads I talk with know what I'm talking about!!! Thank you all so much for reading my Daddy Diary. When I have more time, and don't need to be attending to Erica or something around the house, I promise I'll try to spice up these posts a bit. Thanks for your best wishes, thoughts, and/or prayers. Take care!
PS...enjoy some pictures...
Time flies when you're changing diapers and rocking little ones to sleep...Our little Erica is 1 month old today, and it's weird to have this happen so soon, but it's hard to think back on how Laura and I spent our time before Erica arrived!
I don't even know where to begin to find words to wrap up and describe this first month because it has been so awesome! The only bad thing that I can speak of is our lack of sleep...and I'm a huge wimp with this. Laura has taken the night shift for me, and has only awaken me on occasion to help her get Erica back to sleep...she has been such a trooper with her middle of the night feedings. I've only lost a little over an hour on some nights, but apparently I need all the beauty sleep I can get! She has been a pretty good sleeper...once she gets to sleep! Some nights she'll give us anywhere from 3-5 hours of straight sleep, and our record is almost 6 hours straight!!!
Laura has been such a champ. I remind her daily how awesome she is at being a new mom. She gets Erica fed like a pro, and Erica has this funny, almost drunk-like look in her eyes after particularly long feedings...and then she has these lazy eyes as if she just finished eating a huge Thanksgiving feast! She's also developed a routine of feeding and making a huge mess in her pants at the same time!!! For me, since I can't feed her, she torments me by getting changed and then immediately have major dumps in her pants...sometimes before I can even get her back into her clothes! She is also a puking machine! We're starting to figure out her habits/behaviors. After a feeding, if she won't burp or spit up, she'll get cranky within 20 minutes and then scream until she pukes a ton or poops. At night, she'll usually take at least a half hour to get her back to sleep. She seems to keep herself awake in fear of missing out ("FOMO" as a friend of mine has called it after dealing with this with her infant son). With other advice from friends, I've had some luck swaddling her up tight, with her arms wrapped up and she goes out pretty quickly then. She never likes her arms bundled, but at night, her arms get flying and she seems to work herself up. However, once those arms are tucked into a blanket, she seems to relax much easier!
I can't thank all of our friends and family enough for all the things they've done for us and given us this past month. It's definitely humbling to know how many people care about our little family and we are truly lucky to have all of them (all of you!) in our lives! It's safe to say, Erica will not have a shortage of clothes for the next 3-6 months, blankets and other essentials for a long time to come! The gifts seem to come in waves...we seem to finally get caught up on a round of "Thank You" cards, and then another batch of gifts come in, after we figured we couldn't get any more...our friends and family surprise us with more!
My life as a teacher has resumed for almost 3 weeks now. My first day back was the first day I've ever had that I didn't want to go to work as a teacher! Each day seems to drag on and I feel like I'll never make it home to see my girls. The students are sweet and ask about her often, and they're curious as to when they will get to meet her. The funniest thing has happened in my classroom since Erica arrived...If you recall from an earlier post, we loved the relaxing music in the hospital. When we got home, we missed it. I asked a friend what she did for music with her newborn and she told me about a radio station on Pandora called "Rockabye Baby"...it plays lullaby versions classic rock songs and other recognizable tunes like some Journey, AC/DC, and "Wonderful World" and other timeless hits mixed in for good measure. Well, my students have been given some time in class to work on projects, and I asked them if they wanted some music on while working. I told them about the station and they weren't too happy about it...but when I put it on, they started to like it. I've played it quite a bit since then, and we've started to play little games to see if they recognize the tunes that are playing! I'm not sure if this link will work, but if it does, see if you like the tunes from Pandora... http://www.pandora.com/station/play/1390215588345370273 The best part of my day is coming home to my girls. I always greet Lexi first and get her hugs and kisses before heading in to see Laura and Erica for some more hugs and kisses.
Erica seems to be growing a little more each day. Her days in her little plastic tub from the hospital for her baths are numbered. Almost 2 weeks ago, she weighed 9lbs 7oz. Yesterday she had her 1 month check up, and she weighed 10lbs 2 oz and was 23 inches long! Apparently, she's a little lean, but off the charts with her height when compared with her weight. It's great to have a healthy baby! She's already starting to outgrow some of her sleepers too!
Lexi is adjusting well to Erica too. From her first night of staying far away from her after the initial sniffs, to licking her hands each time she's near her in hopes of hitting the jackpot of dried up puke or drool!!! She also ventures into her room while she's in her crib and just looks around to make sure everything is alright. We still keep a close eye on her when she's around Erica, but it's cool to see how she is coming around. Erica sometimes startles when Lexi barks, and Lexi sometimes gets sick of hearing Erica cry for extended periods of time.
Laura took Erica home to North Dakota last weekend by herself. I went turkey hunting (I bagged a good sized Tom, and helped my dad call in one for himself too!) while she went on her own adventure. Erica slept the whole way to Fargo, and then slept the rest of the 2 hours to her grandparents house. She spent the weekend being passed from arms to arms, getting her picture taken countless times and going to church for the first time. Her great grandparents loved meeting her for the first time, and her grandparents were happy to see her again as well. The trip back wasn't so easy. Laura had to stop before getting to Fargo for a feeding and a couple of diaper changes, and then had to stop south of St. Cloud to feed, get pooped on and then had to stop in Maple Grove to cool Erica down from a hot back seat (our SUV doesn't have vents, and the airflow wasn't too great, and the sun was on her for a while...both Laura and I felt bad for her!). Laura said she'd never do that trip alone again, but after doing the math and calculating a perfect trip 1 way, and a crappy trip the other way, it averaged out to a descent road trip and one hell of a display of Laura's fierce independence and willingness to take on any challenge while still being an awesome mom!!!
Well, I wish I had more updates or detailed stories to tell...but it's all been so great. Both of my girls are healthy and happy...and Lexi seems happy too! Being a dad is waaaaay better than I thought it'd be...and words can't quite describe why, but I've noticed that all the other dads I talk with know what I'm talking about!!! Thank you all so much for reading my Daddy Diary. When I have more time, and don't need to be attending to Erica or something around the house, I promise I'll try to spice up these posts a bit. Thanks for your best wishes, thoughts, and/or prayers. Take care!
PS...enjoy some pictures...
Erica with grandma, mom, and her great grandparents...one of her namesakes, Great grandma Jean
Hanging out with great grandpa Frank
Enjoying the April snow with dad!!!
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