Off the Grid

We're about to take off for two weeks in the Great White North (Canada, that is), so unless I find a free library connection somewhere in Perth, we'll be off the grid for two weeks. Back to the old-fashioned pen and paper for journaling and tracking milestones.

The trip up may prove an adventure, what with a nine week old, two cats, a used car-top carrier we just figured out yesterday and a car we've never taken on a long trip. But we're looking forward to some time alone on the lake as a little family. Then next week Grammy and Grandude Stackhouse will join us at the cottage for a big Canadian Thanksgiving.

But one more picture to share. How lucky are we that the brown-out of September '09 happened just before we left, rather than on the road? This took some SERIOUS clean up effort, and we would have had an absolute MESS on our hands if this had happened on the road. This is what eight days of poop build up looks like. And while poop in small doses doesn't really smell all that bad, this STUNK. (As do his toots, all of a sudden; really, he can clear a room.)

Really, sposies don't stand a chance against something like this, so we're taking some cloth diapers for nighttime, hoping his next blow-out happens early morning like the last two have.

2-month well visit & Cayden's first shot

Cayden's check up with Dr. Baker went very well!

He's 15 pounds, 11 ounces (97th percentile), 23 and 3/4 inches long (75th percentile), and his head is 16 and 1/4 inches around (60th percentile). All his parts seem to be in order, and all our concerns (weight, feeding, sleeping) are normal (yay!) and have no definitive answers (ugh).

But we were told specifically:

- Don't worry about the lack of poop until Friday, when we may want to try some anal stimulation with a thermometer, to give him something to "push against"

- Breastmilk is all he needs nutritionally until he's six months old (no water, no cow's milk, no Karo, no rice cereal). However, if he starts showing interest in our food (grabbing at it, opening his mouth when we do to eat) early, Dr. Baker may suggest starting to introduce solid foods as early as four months.

- Formula is perfectly fine for him and certainly won't harm him. (Brian's question) However, breastmilk is preferred and ideal, so if we have it and don't have any issues, he prefers we keep Cayden exclusively breastfed. And there is no science to support that formula will keep him fuller, longer.

- The only sleep position Doc recommends until Cayden can roll both ways -- front to back and back to front -- is on his back. That is, unless someone is watching him closely, maybe to put him to sleep on his belly, then roll him over once he's out.

- A simple, over-the-counter remedy for thrush is anti-fungal Vagisil, rubbed on the nips. Mama may or may not have a mild case, but Cayden's showing no symptoms; we just wanted to ask since we're heading out of the U.S. and finding/visiting a doc could prove challenging in the next couple of weeks.

Cayden had some baby Tylenol, then got one oral vaccination and one shot that are first doses to counter five diseases. He let out a little whimper when the needle went in his pudgy left thigh, but just a second later he was smiling at Dad again.

Now we'll watch and coddle him the rest of the day, in case he has any reactions to the vaccinations.

Cayden is two months old!

Sometimes I feel like time has flown, other times I feel like this was the longest two months of my life.











Here's Cayden watching his new favorite toy -- the light-up smiley star that plays music on his playmat. He doesn't yet grab the toys on the bars, but he's starting to get a kick out of looking at things.

College football, post-partum

A couple of things worth noting, since they made this year's tailgating and game experience notably different than those of years past.

First, pumping during the tailgate wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be. And since I wanted to get two good pumps in without dumping the milk (keeping it for our stash), pumping kept me from getting my drink on too early. A very good thing, since we tailgated for about 11 hours.

However, when people started peeing between our car doors to avoid trekking to the crowded porta-johns in the downpour, it made securing privacy a little more challenging. But I only got "walked in on" one time, and by 7:45, neither Bill nor I cared.

Secondly, although I've been doing my kegels and re-strengthening my girlie muscles by walking, they're not as strong as I thought they were! I only had one or two snissing experiences shortly after delivery, and I thought the pressure-induced incontinence was behind me. I was wrong. Apparently screaming at the top of your lungs exerts a whole lot more pressure down there than I thought it could, because I kept peeing myself little bits every time we got rowdy in the stadium. But I was absolutely drenched anyway (and half-tuned), so I didn't care. Just a lesson in personal physics I was quite surprised to learn.

A good weekend away, but I miss my baby

We had a great time at Penn State despite the rain, and I really needed the adult interaction and conversations about things other than baby.

And I only got emotional one time, when Auntie Nicole sent a picture of Cayden with a sign saying he missed us. But it was adorable.

Now we're home and almost all unpacked and cleaned up. After we take a couple of hours to nap and recharge, we'll go pick up Chicken Wing!

And apparently he slept (on his tummy) for just over five hours last night (8 weeks, 4 days old), from 8 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. That's a first. Anxious to see if it is a one-time thing, or if he'll start sleeping in longer stints with any regularity.

Oh, and he hasn't pooped since Tuesday morning. We thought maybe Grandma might get the big prize, but it hasn't happened yet!

First night away

I didn't think I would, but I did. I cried a little bit after we left Cayden at Grandma Barb's tonight. Not because I doubt that she, Nicole and MiMi will take good care of him, but because I missed him (already) and fear he will miss me and get scared.

But we'll both be fine. Or at least that's what Brian keeps telling me.

So Brian and I are getting really excited to see friends we haven't seen in a long time and have a great time at Penn State tomorrow.

But I can't say I won't call a couple of times to check in on Chicken Wing or show his pictures to anyone who asks.

Cayden is eight weeks and three days old.

packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking ...

I feel like all we'll do for the next five days is pack and unpack.

First we've got to pack Cayden and a whole lotta his crap up for two nights at Grandma Barb's: Friday night we're staying home, but we figure we may as well try to get one good night's sleep before a LONG day and night in State College Saturday.

But after we unpack Cayden at Grandmas we've got to go back home to pack for a football weekend at Penn State. We'll leave around 5:30 or 6 a.m. for State College, tailgate all day, go to the game, then crash and Fritz's Toftrees apartment.

Then we come home to unpack tailgating stuff and unpack baby stuff, only to start figuring out how we're going to pack all our stuff AND his stuff for two weeks in Canada, starting Wednesday.

We're hoping Chicken Wing won't torture the Brassell women too much (it will be a three-generation babysitting effort over the next two-and-a-half-days). The past couple of days weren't nearly as good as the start to the week was. He's been in bed with us the past two nights (no crib), and we're still trying to figure out how to make him take the nap he desperately needs each afternoon.

Oh, and Tuesday morning's diaper was most certainly a doozie. Yesterday Cayden's weight was 6 ounces more than it was two days before. He's broken 15 pounds. Funny, because the weight limit on the Pack'n'Play changing station is 15 pounds. Looks like we'll have to figure something else out for Canada. Or maybe we'll just take it so Spike has a comfy place to sleep.

And a quick shout-out to Fitz, who surprised us with a visit to the house Wednesday when he was in the area for work. Great to chat (almost entirely about babies, since Beth is due in just over 2 months), although it's crazy to realize how much we've grown up from the college experiences that brought us together. Frat relations, sorority rumors and local bands used to dominate every conversation; now we spend hours talking about baby monitors and breastfeeding.