where have I been

been a little busy. A lot of things have happened that I have wanted to blog about but haven't made the time when I could log on.
oh well.
one thing that comes to mind is when Wife gave squawk a bath. Kat may have dribbled in the bath - Kyle shot a stream across the kitchen when wife put him in the bath.
boys sure are different.

while I wait for the pictures to upload I will rant a little about my frustration with our government and the big business that runs our country. 3-4 hundred billion dollars gone with no accountability. While I get the impression that President Obama is concerned about it, he is one person in a government that has been bought and paid for so many times that I don't think there is a senator or representative that has any idea what is the right thing to do for their constituents. Or for the country.
there are those that say that the thing to do to counter the political machine in crook town is to get involved at the local level and not just let it be business as usual in the USA. I think that is a good start, but I also think we need everyone to become more vocal in contacting our representatives and let them know what we think of the job we are doing.
so far, I haven't gotten an answer from any emails I have sent. I don't really expect anything more than a form letter. But I encourage everyone to try.

Pay Attention to ME

Since Squawker has come home, we have noticed that Kat wants to sit on our laps. Usually when Squawker is already on our lap. And if we are feeding, changing, or just walking and holding Squawker then Kat wants us to do the same for her.



Tonight shortly after Kat came home from daycare, Squawker started crying. At the top of his lungs. Kat, for no apparent reason started the same. Screaming, crying, flopping on the floor - acting all drama queen. Is this a sympathetic reaction? One crying baby deserves support from his big sister? Really - I don't know if I can handle that every time Squawker cries.

Breast Feeding

One of my observations from the hospital is the pressure to provide Squawker with naught but breast milk.
A not so subtle phrasing of the question, “You plan on breastfeeding, don’t you?” in a tone that suggests that the reason there are high school drop outs and hooligans in juvie is because their mothers didn’t give them the advantage of breast milk right out of the chute.
(Let me state for the record that what Wife is doing for Squawker is none of your business. Frankly, as a husband who cannot lactate to save his family’s life, while it is my business I don’t have final say.)
The pressure right away to commit to nursing was immediate and relentless. You would think that the magic ingredients of mother’s milk will allow children to solve the worlds problems and be fantastically successful in a life dedicated to whatever that child sets their mind to. Why, a child raised on breast milk would likely NEVER be audited by the IRS.
As I look back through history it becomes easier to see who was and wasn’t raised on liquid inspiration. Churchill (mixed 1:1 with scotch), FDR, Galileo, Mother Teresa, Vilfredo Pareto, Mozart, the Beatles (well, not all of them), Planck, Douglas Adams – all CLEARLY nursed the liquid power of inspiration.
The likes of B. Madoff, Hitler, I. Amin, Khan, Dahmer, E. Bathory, Stalin – the most awful disgusting cretins to have ever been born - could never had tasted the goodness of their mother’s breast.
Keep in mind we want Kat and Squawker to be successful. We want them to graduate from college (maybe be microbiologists or quilters), have a good credit rating, own a home, and raise a happy family. If that is what they want.
But does there need to be the pressure and the censure on the mother? Why not give the parents factual information and encouragement, then respect the choices that they make? I have seen blog articles (motherhooduncensured and mamatulip) where mothers have been harassed by other mothers for not breastfeeding. Airlines have been both scorned and praised for allowing mothers to breastfeed on the plane.
By now, I am not sure where I was going with this post. (I think I wanted to link Madoff with Hitler, Bathory and co.) I would just like to see a bit more tolerance and respect for other people’s view points and privacy.


[Lame ending – feel free to submit your own in the comments.]

Little Squawker

I don't really recall where I was the first week after Kat was born. She was born on 7/1 and we went home on the 3rd.
I think I spent the first couple of weeks freaking out in the garden shed or pacing in the woods behind the garage. I mean, really, I barely resemble a responsible adult and now I have a daughter?
This time around, I can tell you where I have been since we bought Squawker home. On the couch, holding him.



Last night, while Wife got the bedding ready, I was on the couch. Holding Squawker and occasionally feeding him. I probably held him for a couple of hours, in the bend of my elbow. He snorted alot and wiggled once in a while.
Today, because Wife is a hurting unit (her hips and back are causing her to limp and waddle and make horrible faces), I have been holding Squawker pretty much all day.
This morning, I swaddled him and wrapped him in a blanket and fed him, then burped him and let him nap. Wife showered, pumped, ate, pumped, organized, pumped, napped, pumped and, (because the pressure builds) pumped.
While she did all of that, I took the time to get to know Squawker. He doesn't talk much, but that doesn't stop him from getting his message across. That message is that he wants to be HELD. He wants to feel the rise and fall of a human chest with the thumpy-fump of the heartbeat. He wants to hear the wheeze and snort of a congested parent calmly breathing to soothe and relax him. He wants this attention and security NOW and non-stop.
The only thing I have been able to set him down in is my beanbag chair. I wait til he is asleep, then I put him in the middle and squish both sides of the beanbag to nestle him firmly within. This gives me enough time to grab some carrots and water and take a much needed bio break.



During one of Wife's hot baths (since she has had to forgo the really hot baths for about 10 months now) I suddenly realized that I wasn't sweating profusely, causing a damp feeling on my side and arm, but rather, Squawker could also be called SOAKER as he had peed his way through his diaper, onesie, swaddle wrap and blanket to soak my shirt and pants leg. Gee, what a feeling. I definitely DON'T remember his sister doing that to me. (She did POOP on my once, tho) Then I got to change him for the first time since his briss. OOOWWWW!!!! that looks painful!
After a quick lunch that Wife made, I was back on the couch, reading a book and holding him against my chest/shoulder. I pretty much held him like that until Mom and S/Dad brought the Kat back from G'ma's house.
And THAT bit of drama is another story entirely!
Then I either held or rocked Squawker for the rest of the evening while keeping his big sister from stepping on him.

Baby's first night at home

Yesterday afternoon we brought the little guy home from the supermarket, er, hospital.
Lucky for us, Mom had Kat so Wife and I could put away stuff and tend to the little guy and get his bedding put together. While Wife did the bedding thing and the putting away stuff, I sat on the couch with Squawker tucked in my arm and alternated between reading mail and studying his face. I have discovered that he scowls. A lot. Seriously, he has wrinkles in his forehead already from scowling. That is OK, this time last week he was warm. Yesterday he was rushed from a 70* hospital through -20* parking lot to get into a car that had been running for an hour to warm it up. I got annoyed with the weather, too.
Just watching his face, I wondered what were we thinking, er, what would his future be like? Will he and his sister fight as much as they can? Will he be healthy and easy like his sister? His first day I found him noisy. I don’t remember Kat yowling that much. And, as he slept in my arms, I discovered he is a noisy sleeper. He sticks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and then breathes through his mouth. It doesn’t quite sound like snoring, more like the snorting of a pig at a trough. It is pretty funny to listen to.
When we finally went to bed at 915, he wanted nothing to do with his bassinet. Or so Wife says. So she brought him to bed and she sat up, holding him. I could see he would get no sleep.
At 1230, after being woke up several times to the lights being turned on while Wife tended Squawker, I told her to hand him to me.
I put him in my armpit, loosely, after swaddling him tightly and listened. He seemed to pass out from the smell, er, calm down and fall to sleep.
It wasn’t long before I fell asleep as well. He is a very warm little bundle of snorts to have snuggled up to.
This was something that I swore I would never do. No kids in my bed to sleep! When it comes to getting everyone to sleep, tho, I made the exception and felt much better for it. It was very nice having him snuggled up to me.

Baby update

A few more details on the little squawker’s arrival.
Wife woke up to contractions a little after 5am. They were regular and strong.
Around 6, they broke her water.
She got her pain meds about 930 then delivered the baby just before 11.
Wife did a great job!
So far, Squawk is noisy and hungry. Wife wants a nap and he has other plans.

New Baby! (for real)

Wife went into labor at 5am at St Lukes. Baby born at 1055.
K.E. is 8.5 pounds and 21" long.
Everyone is doing well.
Pictures will be later.