Did you hear that I am going to be a father? I feel like I have
told
everyone, but I am sure there are a few people that do not know
yet.
Considering that my weblog reaches out to the masses, this post should
serve as my digital Paul Revere to get the word out. I apologize
ahead
of time for those of you finding out this way instead of hearing from
me directly. (However, these are my words so it IS the most
direct
indirect information you can get) Hard to believe that I took so
long to post this information, especially since I've had a bit of
writer's block lately.
As far as the details go, Abby is doing well. She has been to the
doctor a few times and has even heard the heartbeat. The baby is due
in mid August, so its still a little too early to find out if its a boy
or a girl. Right now we do not want to know. I do not have any
digital pictures yet, but after next month's doctor's visit I may be
able get something.
Watch for new posts regarding this phenomenon and everything that goes along with fatherhood. Should be fun.
Abby went in for an ultrasound last week, marking the fourth month of
her pregnancy. Much was made of this visit because we were able to
find out the sex of the baby. For the longest time, I had thought that
finding out the sex after the fourth month was a little too soon, so I
lobbied against finding out. That did not mean that I did not want to
find out until the birth. I wanted to know, just not too soon. There
needed to be an "in between" date. I had even thought about having the
doctor or ultrasound technician writing down the sex of the baby and
putting that information in a sealed envelope, that I could open at a
later time of my choosing. After further analysis, I decided that I
wanted to know at this past visit. I simplified the scenario for
myself to help ease my decision. I asked myself, would I rather know
now or at the birth, and I answered "now". Therefore, I didn't see a
need to wait any longer.
Not only did I find out, I have pictures to prove it. Good luck
deciphering these grainy pictures. The most important information is
that my daughter is healthy. Yeah, that's right, we are having a
girl. Abby and I are happy and getting psyched about becoming
parents. (My apologies to those of you finding out via this web log)
In the last week or so, the details surrounding the arrival and subsequent 'stay' of Baby Emanuelson have been solidifying. After several baby showers, the baby related items have been multiplying in our house. Also, we have furniture such as a crib and a changing table which remind us that our home will now house a third tennant. The accessories such as pack n' plays, high chairs and car seats tell me that my normal routines will be changing soon. Plus, we are narrowing down our child care and health care options for baby. A normal person would get the idea that a new baby is coming. However, I'm such a lunk head it has been taking me longer to grasp some of these concepts.
For example, we heard news that at least 2 different neighbors have had children in the past week or so. In a moment of clarity, it dawned on me that these brand new kids will most likely be my daughter's playmates and/or classmates. I can't say that this was the first time I thought about my daughter's future, but this was the most personal. While the accumulation of baby stuffs have certainly maintained my "baby thoughts", the notion that my baby has a 'peer' waiting for her makes things more tangible, in a way.
Throw in the fact that Baby Emanuelson has been getting pretty squirrel-ly in Mommy's belly, even a lunk head like me realizes that it will not be long now.
Steve and Abby Emanuelson are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Myra Grace Emanuelson. She was born at 3:31 a.m. July 25 and weighed seven pounds, four ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. After an exciting day, mother and baby are doing quite well.
More pictures of Myra Grace Emanuelson can be found here at as more pictures are added.
It has been two weeks since Myra Grace was born. Obviously, things have changed at Chez Eman. The sleep patterns have changed quite a bit. MG is up every 3-4 hours, so the days of a full night sleeps seem like a distant memory. However, the human body adapts to this sleep pattern quicker than you imagine. My body now anticipates these sleep interuptions. Granted, my involvement with the baby's feedings is much less than Abby's. I have tried to be helpful for the middle of the night feedings, but there is only so much I can do. It really does not bother me at all to run errands in the night, because whatever my wife/daughter needs from me, I will try to provide.
At only two weeks, there's not a whole lot that Myra Grace does. I am looking forward to the days where she reacts to my stimuli, which should not be too far down the line. Being a father is great. Much better than I could have imagined.
You may be familiar with the newest edition of Team Eman, Myra Grace. However, you may not be aware of her current mobility status. Being just shy of 6 months old she does not move around much, despite the coaching of her parents. We have focused on getting her to roll over on her own with limited success. Typically, I would have MG lie on her back, then I would get her going part of the way by slinging one leg across the other. With this head start the baby was able to roll over. This activity was the breadth of her self fueled transportation until this past weekend. During a lazy afternoon both parents were fixed on the couch while the rugrat entertained herself on her playmat. Then, without coaching, she rolled herself over!
No, I did not get video of the event. And any pictures would have seemed lame. ("This is what she looked like after she rolled over on her own" "That looks an awful lot like she's just lying there.)
Not the most exciting thing for you readers, but monumental in the Eman household.
Myra Grace recently learned how to crawl. We have been working on this for a while now since all babies are judged on their achieved developmental goals. Every conversation I have about MG starts with "Is she crawling yet?", "Is she walking yet?" or "Is she talking yet?". At least now we can check one off of that list.
I have to adjust to her new found mobility. I used to set her down in one place and assume she would be there when I returned. (Its not like I was going out for a few hours, more like leaving the room for a minute) Granted she has not developed break neck speed by any stretch of the imagination. She just learned how to move so she's not expected to be good at it yet. Plus, her motivation ebbs and flows throughout the day. While some times she can't wait to move herself, other times she is content where ever she may be. However the potential of her movements have completely changed my fatherly duties.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, because once she starts walking, I imagine that she'll want to walk throughout the house. So the next step will be babyproofing the house. No more easy access to knives and poisons like I have grown accustomed. I'll have to work a little harder to access all the dangerous items in the house.
Every once in a while I slack off on my blog responsibilities. Typically, I have little to say, and just try to ride out the writer's block. Not really the case this time around, because I have plenty to say, its just that it is all baby-centric. While I don't mind talking about my young'un and my young'un on the way, they represent a slippery slope because once I start talking about them on a regular basis Confessions of a Lethargic Mind can quickly transform into Daddy Steve's Baby Blog.
Well, I can't fight it any more. (I need the content) Baby #2 is emerging as a November baby candidate instead of the previously thought December baby. Based on input from Abby, things are progressing. Who am I to question her intuition? We have a couple of social commitments in the upcoming week, so I would guess they would be great times to birth a baby. Place your bets in the office pool. Days are running out in November.
Baby #2's upcoming arrival has currently put me in a strange state of mind. My days of being a father of an only child are numbered. I am ready to be a father of two, so this period of time seems to be a state of flux. Time to double my kid total. Let's get this multi-child parenting thing underway!
Steve and Abby Emanuelson are proud to announce the birth of their son, Carter Blake Emanuelson. He was born at 12:54 p.m. December 5th, 2007. He weighed nine pounds, nine ounces and was 22 inches long.
Mother and baby are doing quite well. Both are happy to be home.
More pictures of Carter Emanuelson can be found here
This past weekend we decided that MG's wispy locks needed to fall by the way side so that she could start her some real hair growin'. Since we did not have any experience in childhood haircutting procedures, we decided to go to a place that specialized in cutting the hair of youngsters. Like total rookies, we showed up at high noon on a Saturday. Oddly enough, there was quite a wait. The whole ordeal did not take very long, but getting a toddler to look where you want is incredibly difficult. The folks that work there have patience that I can only dream of having. All went well.
We followed that up with an attempt to get some pictures made of our young'uns. Our appointment was at 5pm and we didn't walk out until after 7pm, with an evening full of toddler wrangling. Poor MG walked into the place fairly solemn and did well waiting in the common area with all the other kids. Then it was show time. We had to get her smiling and laughing for pictures, so we all played with her and the several toys the studio had available. Getting her to sit/stand where we wanted her was full of bribery with assorted distractions. After all the pictures were taken, we had to pick the best poses at the computer. We spent all this time getting her hyped up, now she needs to sit still. That transition is a slow one, not the stop-on-a-dime switch that was needed. MG proceeded to grab the computers, the cameras, the equipment. Mostly, she wanted to run back into the "fun" areas where all the hyping up happened. I chased her for a solid hour. Luckily, I think the pictures all turned out well.
Right now, one of the biggest issues in dealing with a toddler is keeping track of household items. If anything interesting (or even mundane) is within reach of Myra Grace, that item will typically get picked up, carried around, then placed next to the next interesting item that catches her attention. She has become the bat in Atari Adventure.
As the father of two children in diapers, my sleep patterns tend to get mixed up on occasion. Recently, the 6 month old has been waking up around 5:30AM. Not crying mind you, just babbling. The kid is happy, but a little noisy. The problem is when he wakes up his 23 month old sister. Once she is awake, everyone is awake...for the day. In an effort to maximize sleep, we have to retrieve Carter before he wakes Myra Grace. This has been going on a for a few weeks now, so I had put myself into quite the sleep deficit.
Both kids are typically asleep by 8PM and last night was no exception. However, after putting the kids to bed, instead of taking care of some tasks around the house or entertaining myself in some fashion, I went straight to the couch. Asleep by 8:30PM. I slept there until about 2AM, then made a beeline to my bed where I picked up where I left off on the couch. Except for a minor interruption by Carter, I slept until 6AM. By my fuzzy math, thats about 9.5 hours, where I'm used to getting about 7. I'm definitely "caught up" on the sleep now.
MG turned 2 recently. Not quite the monumental birthday of turning 10 (double digits), 13 (teenager), 16 (driving), 18 (adult) or 21 (drinking) but I thought it was eventful none the less. Oddly enough, I think I have changed more as a result of my daughter getting older than she has. In honor of my daughter's 2nd birthday, I decided to make a list of things I have learned from watching her.
- If its worth walking to, its worth running to. No matter how mundane the task, if she makes up her mind to move her body to a new location, she will be running at full speed. I'm considering doing this throughout my day. - Communication comes in many forms. My daughter hasn't quite mastered the English language, but she has picked up some sign language to compensate. Pretty cool, actually, but it brings on an entirely new set of challenges. For example, something as simple as talking to her about farm animals could initiate different responses. If you mention a dog, you might get her to say "dog". She might decide imitation is the proper communication method by saying either "bow wow" or "ruff ruff". She might even give you the sign for dog. Be ready for any and all responses. - Schedules and routines equal happiness. Her entire day, whether at home or at daycare is heavily scheduled. It has to be or else there is chaos. Besides, she loves the routines and knows them well. On school days, she knows that Hi5 comes on at 7:08AM (how's that for a specific start time?). - Doing things you want to do usually come after things you have to do. There's a lot of bargaining in our house now. The promise of play time can typically get her to eat a couple more bites at the dinner table. The potential of computer time or a viewing of Curious George can get her into the bathtub. She has come to terms with it. -Sometimes you just need some alone time. One of the most mature actions I have seen from her. MG spends her days either with a classroom of other 2 year olds or with her brother. I have seen her grab a book or a toy and spend some quality time by herself. I know I need some alone time on occasion, why shouldn't a toddler?
