Happy New Year!

Elf's on the boob tube.

Josie's our little elf, and she's sleeping in the boppy. (Didn't know that word until this month).

It's a new kind of new year's eve, and I like it.

It's been one heck of a year and I'm excited for the next.

Happy holidays and may you all have a blessed, happy, and productive year.

Paternal post-partum bluish tinted days

I'm feeling a bit blue these days as I go back to work and away from the familial cocoon. I do like work; and I know I'll get over this in a few days. I just really enjoyed the two weeks of family time.

I spent an hour with Josie after work today and she was alert the entire time. Even changing her diaper wasn't too hard (she often complains a ton during changes). The doctor this morning said she's going to start getting fussy around two weeks -- haven't seen that yet, which is nice. She's doing great and I dispute everyone's notions that she's not doing anything at this age -- she's learning and fascinated by everything, from the way her own arms move to the shadows and lights on the wall.

She also looked really cute today.

A book and a walk...

Yesterday, I read a book to Josie for the first time. She didn't cry until the last page! The book was Good Night, San Francisco.  

Despite Josie's new habit of only sleeping when in contact with another human (and only for at most an hour at a time) -- Ilsa found the time and energy today to take Josie & Penny on a 45 minute walk today when I was at the office in the afternoon. I am proud of my girls!

Drive by Posting

I wanted to take the couple of minutes I have with both hands free to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have given so generously, both of baby-supplies and their time. There is no way we would have survived the lead-up to and days immediately following Josie's birth without my parents, no way we could have had such a nice Xmas week without Doctor's family, and no way I would have maintained my sanity during the first hard week without the support I received via email and Facebook. Things are still a little tough, as we continue to work out Josie's sleep schedule and as I continue to heal (albeit slowly) from the surgery, but hopefully I will be able to write back and individually thank everyone in the near future for all they have done for us. Sorry this post is a little incoherent, but that's what 3 hours of sleep per night will get you.

LOTR marathon

The sunrise was gorgeous this morning when I took the parents to the airport.

We're indoctrinating Josie to the Lord of the Rings trilogy this weekend. The family left late last night and today and we're taking the day off; no responsibilities other than keeping Josie fed & clean.

Josie enjoyed the family's visit; she was cuddled & passed around to all; the first grandchild for all 5 of her grandparents.

Merry Christmas

We are a happy family today. It's Christmas, Josie let me feed her last night from the bottle so Ilsa & I each got 5.5 hours of sleep, and we feel content, happy, well-fed, and warm.

Merry Christmas!!!

Home for the holidays

We had Josie's first doctor's visit yesterday, and getting out of the house wasn't half as bad as we'd feared. She was down a bit in weight again, although still within the 10% range from her birth weight. She ate during the visit, and gained about 30g -- so the doc thought things were probably just fine.

Later, we took Penny up to the vet and stopped back up in Marin and caught the sunset.