Homallogrue!

The weekend before this past one, we took Alexander on his longest car ride ever up to Apache Junction to see his nana again and to meet some Homans and Grue family members: Papa Tom, Great-Aunt Linda and Great-Uncle Ronnie, and his cousins (second? once removed? double twice removed with a twist of lime?) Tom and Em and little Brenna, who is about four months older than Alexander and talking a blue streak in between eating delicious bananas. Mmmmm. In spite of the difference in age, they are about the same size, and they have in common a complete lack of interest in each other, as you can see here:

Actually, that's not entirely true. At one very sweet moment, Brenna reached out to Alexander, but he did not respond at all. He was a bit of a zombie baby all day. I think our little guy was more than a little overwhelmed by the car ride, new place, and all the people, without much of his usual routine that day. When we got home that night, he was wired. We could not get him to sleep. We finally just hung out with him on the floor of his room while he squealed and laughed and shoved himself across the floor by pushing against our hands with his feet. He finally wore himself out after about an hour or two of this.

We had a great time catching up with everybody and seeing how much Brenna has grown. All babies are different, of course, but it's cool to see generally what is in store for us in the months ahead. Of course, at the rate he's growing, by the time Alexander is Brenna's age, he'll be eating solids with the spoon from the Minneapolis sculpture garden, sitting in a giant high chair that we will hover around in a helicopter full of rice cereal.



A high point for Alex clearly was seeing his nana again. He had so much to tell her.



And then we all coincidentally were standing and sitting for these candid shots. What are the odds?




For the Homans take on this trip (including an introduction to the Darrick mystery--yes, I admit it, I Photoshopped him into our pictures), see http://tebottebot.blogspot.com/2007/05/wheres-darrick-last-time-we-met-darrick.html

More photos from this trip along with other Mallon photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mallons/

A night on the town

At three months, Alexander has started wearing his 6 to 9 months clothes. We weighed him informally at home a week or so ago, and he weighed about 19 pounds. He's probably over 20 now. He's at least 25 inches long. He wasn't stretched out completely when we measured him.

We decided it was finally time to take him out on the town. It caused quite a stir.

Twins, batting, cage, looking up

And the password is . . . not baseball. These words all describe the past couple of weeks in Mallon Country. Alexander and I visited Tracy and her twins, Bronson and Brad, last Saturday. Brooke, Sean, and Foster also visited. We had a great time, especially being entertained by Brad and Bronson, two very happy and (Tracy's apt word) BUSY boys.





Bronson's future as a stealth operative is secured, as evident in his ability to steal a cracker from a grown man. Brad's escape artist skills still need a bit more work, but he fearlessly goes where no man has gone before (where no man would fit, but that's beside the point).














More pictures (from our camera and some from Tracy's camera that I shamelessly swiped and posted) are on our photo site: www.flickr.com/photos/mallons. We also posted several photos of Alexander just hanging out, sleeping, getting his regular bath from his dad, and other miscellany.

I started back to work a couple of weeks ago, and I committed to two manuscripts, not realizing just how difficult it would be to carve out the time to work on them. This is in part because Alexander is not really going for that whole nap-in-the-crib business. In his crib, his swing, his bouncer, he might nod off for 20 or 30 minutes, but generally, he prefers to giggle and talk to the various mobiles, soothers, and any other singing and moving pieces attached to these contraptions. The only place he still reliably naps is in his carrier, and even there, sometimes we have to walk around for most of his nap because he wakes up when we sit. I'm afraid we may have gotten him too used to sleeping in the carrier or in our arms.

This is more than offset, however, by his sleeping at night. About a week and a half ago, I was thrilled to wake up after 7 hours of straight sleep. He did this the next night, and then the night after that, the little guy slept for 12 hours. Well, that's not entirely true. He slept for about 10 1/2. I could hear him in his crib at 6 am, talking it up with the creatures on his soother, his mobile, and perhaps with his buddy the ceiling lamp, even though it wasn't on. So I just kept sleeping for another hour. He still sounded happy, so I grabbed some breakfast then finally went in to feed him at 7:30, even though he still wasn't fussing just yet.

The next couple of nights, he started sleeping less and less, and I thought this had all been a fluke, but he has since been relatively steady, sleeping from about 7:30 to 6:00, give or take a half hour on either end. With this kind of luck at night, I can't really complain if he's not a regular napper, although it's still early. He could revert at any point, so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

Anyway, since he won't nap during the day, I've decided to put him to work proofreading my editing. He's still struggling with coordinate versus cumulative adjectives, but he's definitely making progress.



Today's videos show some more steady head-holding action and a bit of toy batting. I don't think he's deliberately going for cause and effect just yet, as we make it seem (that is, I don't know that he intends specifically to hit the bird so the music and light go, or to hit the butterfly so it will rattle), but he does seem to be trying deliberately to hit in general, if only to make something happen. He's gradually gaining a bit more control of his hands, beyond his heretofore depicted thumb-sucking prowess. And the last movie is, of course, the gratuitous talking and laughing video. He loves talking and singing with his changing table mobile. In fact, he's almost freakishly delighted by it at times.

Thumb sucking, head lifting, and the incredible shrinking blanket

Alexander had his well-baby checkup today. After stripping him down for him to be weighed and measured, we pulled out the blanket we'd packed to wrap him in before taking him to the exam room.

The blanket was too small. Much, much too small. It looked like we were trying to swaddle him in a napkin.

Needless to say, Alex has grown some more. He weighed in at 15 pounds, 6 ounces. He's 23.5 inches long. His doctor is still very happy because Alexander's size is proportional and he's healthy, although he did suggest the baby cut back on the fries. All that saturated fat isn't good for his figure.

He had his shots today, two in one leg and one in the other, as well as an oral immunization. He screamed bloody murder ("It was the nurse in the vaccination room with the hypodermic needle"), then he was pretty calm after they were done, falling asleep on our way out to the car. He fussed a little in the car on the way home, but that was because he was hungry.

Imagine that. Our giant baby, hungry.

He's been holding his head up a lot lately, keeping it steady for quite a while.

You might notice in this photo that Darrick's sweater is inside out. He does this so that he can turn it right side out after Alex spits up on him.

Alexander has also discovered his thumb. Sorry about the lack of light in this video. I'm posting it despite the horrendous quality because he's just going to town on that thumb. Had to share.

Older than the sour cream at the back of the fridge

That's right, Alexander turned two months old this past week. He is gradually outpacing the contents of our fridge in age. We celebrated by gathering his toys and animals together, creating a little corner kingdom, and playing like crazy.












Last Sunday, we visited with Dad and Betty before they left for home on Monday. Betty cooked a delicious meal, then Alexander showed off his strong neck for his grandpa. Then we hung out on the patio, with Alexander in his new little red stroller (which we had to buy when we discovered the big Jeep stroller we got didn't fit in our trunk!).






He's been smiling and laughing a lot more lately:



Here, he practices his drooling smile (drile? smool?):














On Thursday, I double-checked the weight limit on the Pack and Play bassinet Alexander has been sleeping in in our room: 15 pounds. I weighed myself, then weighed again while holding him. Granted, our scale is inaccurate, and this method is imperfect, but he appeared to weigh at least 15 pounds. So that afternoon, we quickly finished getting his room set up and he slept for the first time in his crib that night. He even slept on about the same schedule he's been used to in our room, apparently unfazed by the change in sleeping quarters. So now we just have to finish some of the decorative touches and the room will be done. We'll post photos when we finish. I'm just so relieved that he slept so well and didn't get scared in the new crib and new room.

We posted some new photos on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/mallons/ and took some videos with the camera. We had about 225 photos and videos to go through (digital cameras make it way too easy to go overboard), but we managed to be selective about what we posted. We're really trying hard not to post several photos that are only slightly different, but it's difficult! We failed at this task with the videos, which are all more or less of the same thing: Alexander babbling and giggling.

In the first one, he's helping me put together a mix of songs that all have the word "baby" in them.



In the last three, he appears to be transfixed by the ceiling light. He looks past the Gymini toys and the stuffed animals I'm holding up. There's nothing else above him but the light fixture. He's so fascinated by lamps and windows, we'll have to take him to a lamp store and watch him go nuts.

March Movie Madness

Some live action Alexander on (where else?) his Gymini. Don't worry, each clip is only 30 seconds long (the maximum on our camera).

First, he lives up to his reputation as a monkey bully:



Then he discusses the high price of gas:



And we chat for a while on the distinction Einstein intended to make between his theories of special relativity and general relativity:



And finally, Alexander and his dorkwad mom add a verse to the classic "If You're Happy and You Know It":

This week in baby

Quite a week we've had here at Mallon Baby Central. Eric, Jené, Charlotte, and Andrew visited last weekend. They stayed with my dad and Betty in the house they are renting in Sahuarita, just south of Tucson by about a half-hour. So we took Alexander on his longest car ride yet to visit them all there for some grilling (food, not interrogation) and catching up.

It was great to see them, and our first time meeting Andrew. He and Charlotte have their dad's big eyes and their mom's beautiful warm eye color. Charlotte is talking and imaginative. No need for toys--give that girl a fork and spoon! Andrew is toddling around with amazing confidence. He is teething, the poor guy, but he is still a clearly happy baby, quick to laugh and play. Photos are at our photo site, as always. You need to be invited as a family member or friend to see them because we have the privacy setting on for all the photos of Charlotte and Andrew. If you need an invitation (and are family), please email us at darrickandmelanie@gmail.com. We'll send one right away. Even being busy with our new little fella, we can do this pretty quickly. Once you respond to the invitation, you don't have to do so again to see all the photos.

Here's a shot of Alexander being entertained by his uncle Eric:



On Tuesday, Alexander had a visit with his doctor. At 5 weeks, he weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces, and measured 23 inches (Alexander did, not his doctor). Yes, our guy has gained more than 3 pounds since birth. The pediatrician was very happy about this and basically told us to keep up the good work. Alex is quickly moving into the 3 to 6-month clothing already, which is kind of a relief because he can start sharing his dad's clothing by the end of the year. That will save us some money.

Alexander is in good health overall. He has cradle cap and sensitive skin (red marks at the slightest touch of certain fabrics), but these aren't causing him any obvious discomfort. We can use vaseline or cream or ointments if the dry skin gets really bad (peeling off his cheeks, for example), but otherwise, there's no need because the problem is merely cosmetic. And we learned something interesting: Avoid lotions because they often contain alcohol, so the relief is temporary and the lotion actually dries out the skin even more. Our pediatrician was talking about baby lotion, but I wonder if this applies to adult face and body lotions as well. Interesting, anyway, especially to me because I'm the source for Alexander's sensitive skin. Obviously, eh? It ruined my future as a pirate, but perhaps with the right combination of hats and sunscreen, our little Cappy will have more freedom if he chooses a career in the great outdoors. Perhaps he too will strive for a high-level position in the sea-pirating industries. A mom can only dream.

And as if all this isn't enough excitement for one week, I had a doctor's appointment this week, too, and it was my first time out with Alexander without his daddy along to help. We actually made it through the many obstacles: past the car seat octopus, safely along Mad Hick Retiree Trail to the office, through the stroller obstacle course--beginning with the timed challenge of getting all the straps adjusted and clicked in properly and followed with a dash across the Parking Lot of the Sun--into the waiting room, where we lost a turn and had to wait a half-hour, then into the Examination Room Labryinth, which Alexander braved with aplomb while the nurse got all her measurements of me. By now, Alex was hungry, so fortunately, we lost another turn and had some time for a snack before the doctor showed up. The rest of the adventure was easy, with an Advance Immediately to Home Card that made the stroller and car rides a breeze. I now feel far more confident about taking him out again on my own. That's a relief because I hate going to the bar every day and worrying about getting home to feed him. Now I can just take him with. If I can fake his passport, I should be able to fake an ID, eh?

Early signs of delinquency

So we've commented on Alexander being a relatively unfussy baby, and this is still true. He cries when he's hungry, and he cries when we change his diaper (he apparently does not like having his junk exposed). He may fuss a little when he's tired, and he puts up a real stink when his dad tries to make him do yardwork (well, someone's got to do it, right? and who better to pull weeds than the person closest to the ground?). But otherwise, he has a pretty even temperament.

We're starting to wonder, however, if his calm, quiet exterior doesn't mask the beginnings of a problem. Is our son a budding juvenile delinquent? Let's examine the evidence:

Exhibit A: As you can see in this photo, he's clearly been drinking. Now, I know what you're thinking: If he's drunk, then obviously his mother has been drinking. (Or you're thinking, alcoholism and its effects on babies is no laughing matter, in which case, you should probably stop reading this blog now, walk away, and never look back. It will only get worse, I promise you.) But his inebriation can't be entirely traced to the Jello shots I had at the Mommy Talk and Tea. Otherwise, how do you explain the flask he had tucked in the back of his diaper? Come to think of it, maybe that's why he doesn't like having his diaper changed. Mommy and Daddy will find his stash.

Exhibits B and C:
As these photos illustrate, our son is picking fights. Is this related to his alcohol consumption? Perhaps he started drinking out of frustration because the baby in the mirror kept threatening him but wouldn't deliver, or maybe he's drowning his sorrows after punching himself in the face. (Who are we to judge the pain of having undeveloped motor skills? On the positive side, we don't have to worry about him shoplifting--yet.)

And finally, may we draw your attention to Exhibit D:

Just look at those dilated pupils. And the way he stares at the elephant on his Gymini, well, clearly the makers of that infant product should have opted for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" instead of nursery rhymes and Mozart. We don't think we need to spell this out for you. (And if we do, please see the aforementioned warning about reading this blog, walking away, ya da ya da ya da.)

So what do we do? Do we wait to see if this is just a phase he'll grow out of? Or do we take action now? He just got his social security card in the mail the other day, and the first thing Darrick said was "Good, now he can finally get a job." I just laughed it off, but now my laughter echoes chillingly in my ears. Maybe a job is just what he needs to prevent his descent down the slippery slope of addiction and moral turpitude. Perhaps, after changing his diaper (he's such a good pooper!) and some tummy time, we'll get to work on his resumé.

Cappy's First Adventures

These first few weeks with Alexander have been a wonderful blur of cuddling, feeding, changing, bathing, playing, and visiting with family. No, I did not include sleeping in that list. This will surprise few of you. Right now, Alex is asleep in a baby carrier (Thanks, Jené!), which means I have my hands free for the moment. I've been better at keeping up with our photo site (www.flickr/photos/mallons) because that's pretty much a one-handed task.

I do not know how long the current nap will last, so I'll try to speed blog to get you all up to date from the beginning, starting with Cappy's first journey from womb to home, with a brief layover in the newborn intensive care unit.

Here goes: I went into labor on Sunday night, January 28, and had the baby on Monday night, January 29. The labor itself was long but uninteresting. Right after his birth (or perhaps during the final part of it), the room was suddenly packed with people--doctors, nurses, technicians, who knows who else. They let me hold him for a very short time before they had to whisk him over to the heating table because of problems: fluid in his lungs, possible amniotic fluid infection, and what they determined later to be pneumothorax, which means that air sacs burst in his lungs, releasing air outside the lungs, which pushed in, collapsing parts of each lung. They don't know for sure what causes this, but Alexander's pediatrician says it is common among full-term babies, who are developed enough to do some damage to their lungs if they try to let out a big cry a little too soon.

Darrick was with him, talking to him and touching him as much as possible while Alexander was on the heating table. He even got a little alone time with Alex before the baby was brought to me for a quick cuddle, then whisked off to the newborn intensive care unit.

Alexander was in an oxygen tent for a day and a half, which was really difficult for us because we couldn't hold him, and his little mouth would root, but I couldn't feed him. They were feeding him through an IV in his cord stump. Fortunately, the supplemental oxygen worked, so by the next day, they were giving him less and less.

Once he was out of the tent and getting oxygen through tubes in his nose, we were able to hold him and I was able to feed him, but this was very difficult because he was still hooked up to all sorts of monitors and we were constantly trying not to let the tubes and wires get caught on anything or get weighed down and pull on him. At least one (if not both) of the tubes going into his cord stump were feeding directly into an artery. But, we were still overjoyed to be able to hold him, and I was thrilled that he took to feeding right away, even though I just had the colostrum at this point.

Later that same day, they took out the respiratory tubes and he was completely off the oxygen, but he still had to stay in the NICU for five days for monitoring while he had a full course of antibiotics for the possible amniotic fluid infection. During this time, we spent as much time as possible with him. They let me room in with him for a couple of nights, sleeping on a cot in a tiny, brightly lit side room within the ward, his little crib by my side. By this time, the cord IVs had been removed. He just had a scalp IV in for the periodic administration of antibiotics. It looked strange and sad, but it was far more comfortable for him than any other IV because the head has so few nerves.

All the other wires monitoring his heart rate, respiration, etc., were still attached, and these would set off loud beeping alarms pretty much whenever he moved. They were constantly going off, all day and all night. I got used to resetting the equipment when it was clear that the cords had simply gotten tangled or pulled out slightly or moved a sixteenth of an inch to the right or left. It didn't help that he's a kicker, so even as he slept, the beeping would begin whenever he kicked out (or even dreamed of kicking).

We still, to this day, appreciate being able to hold him without worrying about cords and wires getting in the way, although I have to admit that I kind of miss being able to look up from my bed at the monitor that showed his respiration rate. Any of you who have been paranoid new parents, especially in this age of abundant SIDS warnings, understand exactly why that was reassuring.

Most of the nurses were great, although a few were completely bonkers. Not just a little off, but totally loony. Maybe we'll blog more about that later (although I doubt it--who wants to dwell on crazy when there's so much beautiful baby blogging to do?). One difficult part of having him in NICU was that each nurse had a different style, so he was in a sense partly parented by people with different approaches, and nurses, being busy, took approaches to soothing him that they had to by necessity, approaches we wouldn't have chosen and wouldn't have had to choose because we have only him to care for (although on the other hand, we also got a great deal of terrific advice from many of the nurses).

I worried about how easily Alexander would settle in at home after spending the first five days of his life in NICU. Would we have to create some sort of bizarre mobile with fluorescent lights, flashing monitors, and Brahms lullaby composed of carefully edited crying babies? On those fussy evenings, would we have to beep in his ear to get him to sleep? But I shouldn't have worried. He is an adaptable little guy. In fact, he's remarkably unfussy overall. The worst "problem" we've had is my lack of sleep because of how frequently he feeds (and even that is starting to get better).

Now that he's home, he's doing just great. He gained 5 ounces his first week, which thrilled his pediatrician (most babies lose weight the first week). He's a member of the frequent feeder program, eating a lot and often, so I suppose after a certain number of feedings, we'll get a free Visa, right?

We've received lots of very thoughtful gifts and cards from generous people, and some family has stopped by to meet Alexander:

Mom, aka Nana, was here for three weeks, helping out immensely and generously both before and after Alex came along. We'll showcase some of her wonderful contributions when we post pictures of the nursery, which we haven't finished yet (what with the need to eat, sleep, and shower as well as care for a new baby).






Dad and Betty, aka Grandpa and Grandma Bearse, are here for two months, stopping by to visit with Alexander and even managing to catch him awake a few times.




My sister, Christine, was here for about five days, cuddling her new nephew, helping out, and sharing with us the episode of The Office we missed at the beginning of the season. It was painfully glorious, as The Office tends to be.



Darrick's dad and stepmom, Grandpa Mallon and Grandma Mary, stopped by for a couple of days to meet their first grandson (and to get suckered into helping us with a little plumbing problem).


For those of you who haven't been able to visit (or who are kindly waiting until we have fewer visitors and more sleep before stopping by) as well as for those of you who have met the boy, we'll try to keep you updated on his progress with this blog and the photo site, so check back when you have a chance. We had some catching up to do, so this post is unusually long--and took several days to finish. The nap I mention at the beginning of the post was ages ago and is now of interest only to historians and anthropologists. Future posts will be much, much shorter, especially during these first few months.

The Mallon Blog: Now Even More Mallony!

That's right, we've improved the Mallon line with the addition of Alexander Sean, born January 29, 2007, at 11:19 p.m. We're too busy enjoying our son to blog, so we're going to post some of our favorite pictures for now (more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mallons). We'll blog about the experience and our new little guy another time.