Waking up the Bear...

After a long hibernation, some bears need time to wake up. Make sure your sound is on.

Famous Thumbs

Throughout history there have been famous thumbs, including: thumb 1, thumb 2, thumb 3, and thumb 4. Now I can add the bear's thumb to that list. Yes, this morning I caught her sucking her thumb for the first time. While I don't yet have a picture to document this, we can see she is growing more each day and starting to develop her own personality. I need to tell you she is simply a darling. I absolutely love spending time with her. Until the next post...

Life's Major Decisions

For those of you who know Lynn and I well, you know that our major life decisions, such as new job, house buying, having a kid, etc. are not left to chance. No, all of these are carefully planned out using the highly scientific decision making method known as roshambo. So, as we were taxi-ing down the runway this afternoon on our way back to Atlanta, we noticed that someone was really stinky in our aisle. A quick check revealed that while Lynn could have used more deodorant, someone's pink pants were actually quite brown from the knees up. Our decision this time... who was going to change the Bear? I lost at roshambo, and quickly said 2 out of 3, which to my surprise, Lynn agreed. I won round 2 to even the game and lost round 3, meaning I had to change the Bear.

After we leveled to our cruising altitude and the pilot had turned off the fasten seat-belt sign, I took Claire and her diaper bag to the rear bathroom. Now, we were on a CRJ-700, which is a small jet, meaning the bathrooms were large enough for a small child. Here I was with Claire lying on her changing pad which was on a couple of plane blankets, which was on the toilet lid - don't use plane blankets, bring your own. Off comes the Bear's pants and diapers and then her shirt. She was covered on the backside from her shoulder blades down to her knees. I went through a hundred wet wipes before I put a new clean outfit on her. And just as we are getting ready to leave the restroom, Claire spits up for good measure.


So, the Bear chooses a small airplane to have her first blow-out. Other than that, she slept for the rest of the trip and was a total angel. She got several compliments from other passengers about what a good traveller she is - these people never used the lavatory in the back of the plane. If you look back to my very first post, toward the end, I tell you what we want for a baby, when asked "boy or girl?". I think we got exactly what we wanted.

Why only 2.5 days?

For those of you who were wondering why we were in Syracuse and only spent 2.5 days, we were visiting Grandpa Len who had just been discharged from the hospital after surgery - he is fine. It was a quick visit and we look forward to spending more time in Central NY's sunshine capital in September. We are on the way home and will let you know how the Bear fared in coach class on the flight home.

77 days old...

We had a slew of guests come by the house yesterday (in Syracuse). I'd like to think they came by to wish Lynn and me a happy anniversary (number 9), but I know it was to see the bear. As dad says, Claire came to visit me and brought her parents with her. For the most part Claire was calm/quiet as all these "strangers" held her and oooo-ed and aaahhh-ed. She's developed this new trick, that we noticed. When you see her smiling, you better grab a burp cloth because something is on its way up. It's a great trick, especially when those not in the know think it's cute that Claire is smiling at them.

In addition to yesterday being our anniversary, Claire turned 77 days (11 weeks) old. Uncle Larry watched the bear as we went out for dinner with Suzanne. I know you are thinking, why did they go out with someone for their anniversary? We are in Syracuse for 2.5 days so we need to double up on activities. Tonight, in the spirit of multitasking, Lynn is going to talk to me, while I watch TV. Details at 11pm.

Sadly, tomorrow we are heading home. I hope Claire has another good flight. She has 3 more trips between now and September. Flying will be a piece of cake for her. I hope I haven't typed too soon. I will post more photos later. Until then...

Driving and flying...

OK, it's been a week since the last posting and several of you have been on my case about more frequent postings. So, here are some updates...

It's like a light switch was flipped and Claire started sleeping through the night consistently, 7-9 hours at a time. Lynn and I need to take advantage of this and start to go to sleep when she does, instead of working or cleaning the house. I think she may be going through another growth spurt, as she looks incredibly long and is starting to weigh a ton. She is really filling out.

Last weekend, we visited with Ralph and Nancey (Nancey was Lynn's advisor at GA Tech), who live about 65 miles from our place. It was Claire's farthest trip to date. She slept for the drive there and back and was somewhat attentive during the actual visit, particularly when Boo, their dog, decided Claire needed to be cleaned and he was more than willing to help.

Yesterday, Claire went on her first plane ride. She handled it like a real champ. Mind you, she was sitting in First class - along with her parents. I like to think we got upgraded because Claire was looking irresistible, flashing her pearly gums (?) to the ticket agent. Anyway, she didn't make a peep the whole way. We were worried that the change in air pressure would make her scream, but she ate during take off and slept during landing. I had to pop my ears to adjust to the change in air pressure. I'll post a video we shot on board. Special thanks to the flight attendents who kept the refreshments flowing.

A huge thank you to Suzanne who made the drive to Rochester to pick us up. Flying into Rochester is about half the cost as flying into Syracuse. Ironically, the distance from Syracuse to Rochester is a few miles more than the drive from our house to the airport in Atlanta.

Last night, Claire met her uncle Larry (Lynn's brother) and Aunt Charlene for the first time. I've been prepping Claire for meeting uncle Larry by telling her he is the one with the Sharp Aquos LCD TV.

Ok, I need to let Lynn use the laptop, so I will continue this blog later. Until then...

That's a lot of feedings...

Lynn estimates that we have fed Claire 490 times thus far. And probably as many diaper changes. We are starting to learn her various cries and what each means. By far, her worst one is her "I am tired" cry, followed by "I need to burp", "I am hungry" and lastly, her "you need to check my diapers, man" cry. All in all, she is a wonderful baby and if I may add, simply the cutest.



Last Saturday we went to the McMullen's (our former neighbors) for dinner. They have two children, whom we have watched grow up before our eyes. It's amazing how quickly time passes. To the left is Samantha. She is a faithful reader of the blog. At the right is Mac. He'll get the hang of holding a baby shortly. Lynn and Sherry (Samantha and Mac's mom) are going to do the 3-Day breast cancer walk this fall. So get your wallets ready to support a great cause.

That's about all the news for now. The past few days have been relatively uneventful, with Claire working on her neck/head control and smiling on cue. She can't wait to see grandpa again to cheer him up. Next week is her first plane ride. That should be interesting and provide plenty of blog fodder. Until then...

And the winner is...

Claire. She weighed in at 9 lbs, 6 oz. She also "height-ed" in at 21 inches. She is now at the 3rd percentile for her size - age. She's had a busy couple of days. In addition to the weigh in, Claire also had her 2 month shots - a total of 5 injections in the thigh. She screamed bloody murder for about 10 seconds and then I picked her up and she promptly went to sleep. She stayed asleep for most of the day, and slept for a 5 hour stretch last night. Wooo Hooo!

Last night we went to some friends for dinner. Claire got passed around quite a bit. I suppose it is only a matter of time before she gets sick, then we get sick, then she gets sick again.

Anyway, we are heading out the door, but I want to wish all of the mothers who read this a Happy Mother's Day. After watching my wonderful wife, I think everyday should be mother's day.

A day in the life...

Other changes I've noticed with Claire... her neck is getting
stronger (and fatter) and she is behaving less and less like a bobble-head doll. We share the same favorite afternoon pasttime (see picture on right). She starting to fatten up. Her thighs and arms are getting chunky (pronounced chun-kay in our house). And she is sleeping A LOT LESS THAN SHE USED TO. I remember fondly those days when you could put her down and she would sleep for 4 hours, freeing you to do other things, like sleep or blog. Now she cries a lot unless someone is holding her. When are the grandparents coming back?



Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates... wrong, Mexican Independence is Sept. 16. It celebrates the Mexican army defeating the French Army in Puebla, Mexico. Those French, they lose to everyone (be sure to look at the search term). They even lost their own civil war. Anyway, enough history. Yesterday, in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, we took our little bear out to a Mexican restaurant. To the left are Lynn and Claire by the bar - starting her early. The noise, music, sights and smells soon overwhelmed her and she drifted off to dream of bottles of breast milk. I can't imaging eating the same thing 7-8 times a day for 2 months. And speaking of 2 months, today is the 2 month anniversary of my last night of sound sleep. Yes, our precious Claire bear is 2 months old today. She is growing fast. I figure she is nearly 2 feet tall. She has outgrown several of her outfits and has moved from preemie to newborn to size 1 diapers.

On Friday we are going to the pediatrician for her two month check up. Lynn is betting Claire weighs 9 lbs, 5oz. I say 9-3. Of course, it will cost us $15 to see who is right. I wonder if Claire will have the same competitive spirit that her parents do. And speaking of inheriting traits, today our cleaning lady, Marlene (from Brazil - no english), must have said a thousand times when looking a Claire, "Mark's baby". While I do admit there is a resemblance, Claire's good looks come from her mother.

OK, enough rambling. On Friday I will let you know who is correct on Claire's weight. Until then get some rest.

Apologies from an expectant father

I found this video that we made just hours before Claire was born. Good thing she won't remember half of the mistakes we've made