{"id":27,"date":"2006-09-25T00:47:49","date_gmt":"2006-09-25T04:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/?p=27"},"modified":"2006-09-25T00:47:49","modified_gmt":"2006-09-25T04:47:49","slug":"has-it-been-39-days-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/?p=27","title":{"rendered":"Has it been 39 days already??"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking back, I can see that this blog is heavily weighted towards the pregnancy\/birth\/baby topics, and I KNOW how exciting that is for non-parents.\u00a0 Now that things are settling into a routine (sort of), I’m putting together a list of non-baby things to write about for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So if I could write and send a letter back in time to myself, to say a year ago, how would I describe the first 39 days of being a parent?\u00a0 Hmmm, excellent question.\u00a0 I think I’ll just start by brainstorming random topics\/questions and see what comes out.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0How hard is parenting?\u00a0\u00a0I think our\u00a0neighbour said it best.\u00a0 It’s not that any of the tasks are that difficult (exception- breast-feeding).\u00a0 Changing diapers, burping,\u00a0mixing formula, bathing baby, etc.\u00a0 But the hard part is in having to do it almost around the clock.\u00a0 There are things that are easy to do\u00a0during the day,\u00a0but when\u00a0duty calls at 4:30 am, and you’re in a\u00a0very deep sleep… that’s hard.\u00a0 And that’s if you know what to do.\u00a0 Sometimes there are situations where\u00a0we don’t have the answer… experience just takes time to gain.\u00a0\u00a0At least E and I can tag-team and take shifts, I don’t know how single parents manage sometimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2) Sleep, and\u00a0getting baby to do it during the night.\u00a0 I think the most telling stat is how quickly the frequency of posts dropped off in the past month.\u00a0 Not that we didn’t have things to write about, but the fatigue factor (mostly mental)\u00a0set in.\u00a0 I can remember when something interesting happened, but between starting a new job and dealing with a new baby, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of the computer.\u00a0\u00a0 Looking back, getting baby on a flexible schedule was a very good idea.\u00a0 Feed roughly every 3 hours, and in the hours between 9-11, stuff her full of formula so she can have a good sleep.\u00a0 I think our record is 6 hours!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is a pic of e after drinking 4 oz.\u00a0 No, I’m not throttling my daughter, it’s how you hold her when burping.\u00a0 Just to relate, 4oz for her is like\u00a0an adult downing a Super Slurpee cup full of formula… every 3 hours!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Getting<\/p>\n

3) Hobbies\/Exercise?\u00a0 What’s that?\u00a0 Yep, haven’t been able to do much exercise or spend any time on our hobbies.\u00a0 I’m amazed my tropical fish haven’t turned on each other, and that our houseplants haven’t grown roots over to next door in search of sustenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We definitely miss\u00a0things like playing tennis, swimming… I miss hockey,\u00a0going to the range, etc.\u00a0but I think that those and other activities will slowly come back in a few months time.\u00a0 Some things, like learning to ride a motorbike, might be on hold for a few years, but we’ll\u00a0play it by ear.\u00a0 I also suspect some of our old hobbies will be replaces by new ones to do with raising a family!<\/p>\n

I think the challenge for us right now is to figure out a way to get some physical activity in.\u00a0\u00a0It’s\u00a0important, otherwise we’re going to get run down quickly, but\u00a0exercise is usually the last thing on your mind after\u00a0a long night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thankfully the weathers been fantastic, so we can go for walks, but it definitely can be a production just to goto the mall.\u00a0 I remember the days of being able to run multiple errands and being very efficient about it… but taking her around means planning the proper logistics, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here’s a photo of her strapped in and ready to go.<\/p>\n

\"sleeping<\/p>\n

4) Obsession with Life Channel and Nanny 911.\u00a0 This is just my observation, but it seem like when I come home, E is watching something about giving birth or raising kids on TV.\u00a0 Of course this is in addition to her regular TV lineup.\u00a0 I remember flipping right by these shows before having kids, but now, some of it seems strangely relevant.\u00a0 I still think a good book beats any of these TV shows, but finding the time to read is also a challenge.<\/p>\n

5) Pooh.\u00a0 I don’t know why, but the last month seems to be centered on this topic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

– At the hospital, it was “when did she last pooh, and how much and what color?”\u00a0 We had to carefully log everything, and it was obvious we lacked the necessary vocab to describe it all.\u00a0 Like the Inuit having 40 different words for snow, my vocab is pretty limited on the subject.\u00a0 However we adapted and came up with our own descriptive terminology- “black tar, dark seaweed, grey poupon, french’s mustard”\u00a0 I avoided any food requiring condiments for quite some time.<\/p>\n

– At home.\u00a0 We’ve relaxed on the recording this sacred event, but it’s still very much a current topic.\u00a0 Since she upped her formula intake to 4oz a feeding, she’s been able to overflow any diaper.\u00a0 OH THE HORROR.\u00a0 There have been occasions where I have to call a code red- meaning we need to get the bathtub ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Personally, my life seems to revolve around this topic on a daily basis.\u00a0 Here are some common phrases to give you an idea of what I mean, and keep in mind that we also have 2 cats with very active bowels.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“I think the baby poohed”… “Can you collect the garbage, and don’t forget the cat pooh and diapers”… “That cat pooh really stinks, can you\u00a0scoop the pooh now?”… “We need to clean the pooh off the (insert any\u00a0surface or fabric)”… “Ugh, can you smell that pooh?!”… and my favorite- “I think the pooh leaked out”<\/p>\n

\u00a0I think I’m beyond desensitized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0And finally in closing, here’s one more baby picture.\u00a0 She’s always had a strong neck, from the day she was born she had some control over her head, but being a baby, her head\/neck was still pretty floppy.\u00a0 Yesterday, E was carrying e, and she lifted her head up to look around.\u00a0 It may not seem significant (certainly to non-parents, believe me, I understand…) but for us it was kind of a milestone.\u00a0 She’s starting to interact with her world and take notice.\u00a0 As a parent, it’s a great feeling, and is just the beginning of many wonderful discoveries.\u00a0 A few seconds after the photo was taken, her head flopped back like a Muppet… but don’t worry, everything’s ok.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"head's<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking back, I can see that this blog is heavily weighted towards the pregnancy\/birth\/baby topics, and I KNOW how exciting that is for non-parents.\u00a0 Now that things are settling into a routine (sort of), I’m putting together a list of non-baby things to write about for the future.\u00a0 So if I could write and send […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derekandevonne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}