The Good, The Bad, and The Cute

The Good News is....9 hours again last night. It's suddenly like clockwork.....eat around 8, really sleepy by 8:30, sleeping before 9. Wake up at 6 - ready to eat again.

The Bad News is.....Here's our little fella at 9:30 tonight. It appears the streak is over, or at least the schedule has been altered.


The Cute News - OF COURSE HE CAN'T SLEEP! It's Christmas Eve! We opened our presents tonight - and he got lots of things he's excited about! Plus, we told him Santa is coming tonight, and he has other Christmas parties the next two days. Who can blame the guy for not being able to go to sleep???

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

The streak continues

Two nights ago......9 hours for the second straight night. Last night......9 hours for the third straight night......
THREE STRAIGHT NIGHTS our little baby has slept around 9 straight hours. Didn't help me out much last night, because KU played at 10 - so I was up until 12:30 anyway.....but good for him!
That makes about a week now that he's slept 7-9 hours.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I just tried to talk Anne into us opening our presents today....but she said we have to wait until tomorrow night. I think I caught Fenn snooping under the tree yesterday.

Today is December 23rd.....Fenn's 2 Month Birthday! Happy Birthday Buddy! Two months ago.....this is what we were doing:

Shots

Fenn's 2 month appt was today. The good news is - he's now 12 lbs, 3 oz and 23 inches long. That's almost 5 lbs in 2 months!

The bad news is - it was his day to get shots. His daddy isn't very good with shots - but he was braver than I usually am. He had to get three of them. He screamed pretty good for a few seconds, but seemed fine after a minute or so.

So, not quite as much smiling today. A little more fussiness - we've put a couple doses of children's tylenol down him. Mommy is working on putting him to bed as we speak. They warned us that he may not sleep as well tonight.....

Speaking of sleeping - the big news of the day is that he slept 9 straight hours last night. Yep....you read it right....NINE hours. That's four nights in a row where he's slept at least 7 straight hours. Very, very good little boy. Although, I don't think we get much more sleep, because we stare at the clock thinking 'surely he's going to wake up and want to eat any minute now....'.

Back In The Saddle

Well, I have written in weeks. I have a good excuse.

I knew it would be hard work, but I don't think anybody can really tell you the kind of hard work it's going to be. You just have to go thru it. Those first 4-5 weeks are really, really tough. You're trying to learn how to be a parent. Trying to figure out ways to make a baby stop crying. Worrying about breaking him. Worried about whether he's breating in the middle of the night. Worried about whether he's eating enough. Then worrying about whether he's eating too much. All the while, you're absolutely exhausted, which makes all of it that much tougher. Whew.

Little Fenn is 8 weeks old now. The past 2-3 weeks have been a lot easier. He's much more content. Very little fussing unless he's hungry. He's becoming more independent - not minding sitting in his swing or seat for a while. Which is quite a change because for a while, he wasn't happy unless being held by mommy or daddy.

In the past couple of weeks he's started to do some smiling. Today he smiled at me by far more than any previous day. It makes you proud to look down at that little smiling face.....kind of like he's finally giving you his little seal of approval.

We're only 5 days from Fenn's first Christmas. He'll be 9 weeks on Christmas Day. Yeah, he won't get much out of it this year. I took a little time out this week and went shopping by myself to get him some presents. It was the most fun I've had shopping in a long, long time. Almost surreal that I was buying presents for my little boy. Yeah, he's not going to get a lot out of his first Christmas. But his Daddy sure will.

Mommy is fully recovered and has lost every bit of her baby weight. She is an unbelievable mother. She's got those innate mothering skills and cherishes her little boy.

Daddy has been able to relax a little bit more. Still probably overly protective - but no guarantee that I'll fix that.

Postpartum Burp Rag Disorder

My lovely wife has been fantastic with little Fenn so far. She handling everything so well. She's worn out - but treats him like a little king - and has even managed to be nice to me over the last couple of weeks (well, most of the time....).

She does have one issue though......burp rags. She never has one. If she's in the bedroom, the burp rag is in the living room. If she's in the living room, the burp rag is in the nursury. And, the rare times she does actually take a burp rag with her....she drops it on the floor and can't find it.

I've even tried to strategically place burp rags all over the house. I put one on the couch, one on the chair....I stuff one in Fenn's diaper and Anne's bra. Doesn't work....they still disappear. For Anne....the baby and burp rags are allergic to each other.

So....I love being a Dad so far. I've tried to take good care of Anne and Fenn over the past 17 days. But, my biggest and most important job....far and away....is being the Burp Rag Retriever.....

9 days

Well, I've been a little busy over the past 9 days.....just now getting around to annoucing here that William Fenn Hager was born 10/23/10 at 5:27 pm - 7 lbs 4 oz - 19 1/2" long.
It's been a very fun past week. Also very tiring as we get used to Fenn's eating and sleeping habits. Challenging - but obviously worth it!

Mommy did very well - and was surprised at how easy the labor and birth really were for her. 9 days later - she looks fantastic and you wouldn't even know she had a baby! She's nearly fully recovered - and probably ready for Fenn's little sister....

The past 9 months seem to have flown by - and seem to have creeped along all at the same time. It's sometimes hard to fathom - as I now can stare at my little son - that's he's been the same little growing baby that we've talked about all this time. He's a fantastic blessing to us - and, most likely the cutest baby ever created!

Today is the Day!

Anne's water broke this morning. We've been at the hospital all day - been a long day so far. Contractions started slowly, then sped up, then got very painful. Then dialated 3 cm - then an epidural. Now, a little calm before the storm as we progress! Mommy feels much better after the epidural!

Little Boy Scorpio

Well, unless Fenn is born in the next couple of days - he's going to be a Scorpio (strangely - some places say Scorpio starts Oct 23, some say 24th).

Anyway - I don't put much stock in it - but for fun - I decided to see what that meant.

Scorpio - One site I looked at called them 'mysterious little angels'.

Baby Scorpios know what they want and have strong personalities. They are quick to learn, active and intelligent (of course!). They are very curious, particularly about things that are hidden or a mystery to them.

Baby Scorpios are prone to accidents because of their need to be places or do things more quickly than anyone else.

Scorpios like to have a private place of their own - in their room or a secret hiding place - to give them a sense of security.

Scorpio children are loyal and loving to family and friends - but are wary of strangers. They also bear pain better than most, so parents have to look closely for signs of discomfort.

Scorpios tend to be introverted in their interactions with other kids. They can be vengeful if anyone takes or breaks their toys. Parents need to teach tolerance, because Scorpios like a good fight.

Scorpio babies never play or compete just for the heck of it. The goal of winning is always the reason.

I also read several places where Scorpio babies have a hypnotic gaze - to the point where it makes some people uncomfortable because they stare without any expression.

Come on Fenn - don't creep me out by staring at me all the time!

39 weeks....and a day

Well, we're now only 6 days away from Fenn's due date. We're getting very anxious - kind of ready to get things rolling.
We had an appt a couple of days ago. Nothing much has changed. No dialation but pretty well effaced. We go back in Monday morning. The Doc wanted us to come early Monday morning so that if things had progressed - we would have Monday and Tuesday to decide on possibly inducing. But - he also said not to count on it.
It also looks like he won't let us go beyond 41 weeks - so two weeks from today - a baby should be here!

I took the car to the police station yesterday to get the car seat checked. I'd messed up a couple of different things - so I guess it's good we got it checked out. It's all set now and ready to go. I even went and got my flu shot yesterday so I don't get the little guy sick. I'm starting to run out of things to dream up to do in order to get ready.

He's only got 10 days left if he's going to make it here in time to wear any Halloween clothes.....and if he's going to have an October birthday.

Anne is still feeling pretty good all things considered. I think she's ready to get him out though. He's big enough now he's all up in her ribs and it's pretty hard for her to get comfortable. He sticks out a lot too. Sometimes it looks like Anne has a softball coming out of her stomach. I don't think she does though.

37 Weeks

37 Weeks today! We had an appt Monday - and the Dr told us he doesn't expect to see Fenn in the next couple of weeks. He also said he doesn't let people get more than a week past due. So, looks like we'll be around the 20th at the very earliest, and around the 3rd of November at the latest. At least that narrows it down!

Thanks to fantastic family and friends, we've had 3 showers, and have most everything we need. All we need is somebody to use all this stuff.

Time has really gone quickly over the past few months (I think even Anne agrees!). But now, it seems to be slowing down a bit. We're in the home stretch and are just ready to see the little guy. Friends Jennifer and Jamie...and Brooke and Dustin have both had their little girls in the past couple of weeks - So it's our turn!

Anne still feels good for the most part. She's having a harder time getting comfortable to sleep - but all things considered - we've been very fortunate.

So.....the remaining question....Will Fenn make it in time for Halloween or not? Any bets?