Welcome to the World Erin Hazel Sheehey!

We want to congratulate Bridget and Brendan on the arrival of their daughter, Erin Hazel.  Welcome to the club!  We can't wait to meet her!

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent part of Memorial Day weekend visiting with family at Wyatt's Great Aunt Vicky's house.  Here Wyatt is getting some love from his Grandma Vickie.
Wyatt with his cousin Jennifer. He woke up from his nap just to say goodbye to her, then promptly fell back asleep!
Wyatt finally got to meet his Great Grandpa Dick and Great Grandma Jeanine.  He was sad that Grandma Jeanine didn't get to hold him because of her cold, but is excited to see her again in a week for some quality snuggling time. 
Our family, the first picture of the three of us since Wyatt was born. 
Four generations of Taft men: Grandpa Richard, Brian, Wyatt, & Great Grandpa Dick

I Love My Mobile

An Eventful Week

This week Wyatt moved out of the bassinet in our room and into his crib.  

Wyatt and his daddy spent some quality time together. 

On Saturday morning we took Wyatt to Franks & Sons collectibles show.  I think Brian is hoping that if we expose him to baseball cards and comic books early he'll love them as much as his daddy!

On Sunday, Wyatt met his Auntie Anne, who was visiting from North Carolina.  He slept through lunch, but apparently that took a lot out of him, so he needed another nap.  It was hot again so the three of us chilled in the bedroom again to stay cool. 

We spent Sunday night hanging out in the bedroom too, where Wyatt fell asleep leaned up against my pillows.  While he was sleeping we had an earthquake, which he slept right through. So far Wyatt hasn't been impressed by earthquakes, as this is the second we've had since he's been born and he's slept through both of them! 

What Did We Do Before Cell Phone Cameras?

I try to keep our camera nearby, but it never fails that I don't have it handy when Wyatt does something particularly funny or cute.  Thankfully, I always have my cell phone with me, so I can usually capture the moment, even though it tends to be slightly fuzzy....

At first glance, this looks like an average sleeping baby photo, but look closely to see that in fact Wyatt is giving me the finger!
I love just about everything about this picture: 1) his expression 2) the way his arms are thrown up in the air and 3) the fact that he finally fell asleep after fighting it for 45 minutes!!

Who Does Wyatt Look Like Revisted

You may recall that we did a poll to see who Wyatt looks like when he was only a couple of weeks old.  I managed to squeak out a narrow victory only, I think, because Wyatt and I had approximately the same amount/color hair and we both chubby babies (scroll to the bottom of the page to see full results).  Now though, it is clear that Wyatt is the spitting image of his poppa. Literally every single person who has seen Wyatt in the last month has said that he looks like Brian.  Today even our cleaning lady commented on how much he looks like Brian.  Here's the crazy thing, since Brian and I started dating eleven years ago, I always joked that I was with him because I wanted to have red-headed, blue-eyed babies.  Now that I have such a child, who is my beloved husband's mini-me, I not-so-secretly wish that he looked at least a little like me (you know, like have my brown eyes or something).  Oh well, I guess there's always the next kid....

Playtime

Heat Wave

We're having a mini heat wave this week in Pasadena.  It turns out that having air conditioning destroys your ability to deal with hot weather (in the upper 80s/low 90s), which I learned only after our air conditioner died last night.  When I called the HVAC people the soonest they could come out was next Tuesday, by which time the heat wave would have passed and we wouldn't care that the A/C doesn't put out any air at all.  Thankfully, the kind, wonderful people at Connor Air, are squeezing us in tomorrow morning.  All I had to say was that I wanted to book the Tuesday appointment, but might call and cancel it because I was going to try to find someone who could come out sooner because I didn't want my newborn to be overheated.  The sweet angel of a lady (whose name I wish I remembered so I could give her a proper shout out) immediately said they would fit us in.  So today we are remembering what it was to live without air conditioning by getting out every fan we own (which is eight, an amazing number considering we live in a two bedroom apartment) and sitting in front of them in our underwear. 

I thought I would post a picture of Wyatt with his fussy face -- he was working up a good scream here, probably because I kept taking pictures of him.  
Wyatt's cute face.  He's enjoying the sheet I put over his bouncer so that he's sitting on something a little cooler than the flannel-like fabric that it's made of. 
When Brian saw this picture he said it reminded him of the episode of Seinfeld where George has pictures taken of himself in his underwear; I think the episode is called "The Timeless Art of Seduction".  It's not quite the same pose and since he's only 7 1/2 weeks old I think it's safe to say that Wyatt isn't trying to seduce anyone here! 

Visit to Grandma & Grandpa's House

This weekend we went to visit Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Richard.  Wyatt had a great time being snuggled by both his grandparents and all the rest of the family that came to see us! 

Grandpa Richard was eager to hold Wyatt when he woke up on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, Wyatt christened Grandpa by spitting up all over his shirt!
Grandma Vickie got lots of snuggle time in too.  She taught us the "Bicycle" where you lay Wyatt flat on his back on your knees and pump his legs to work out the gas bubbles.  This is why Grandma's are so important - they teach you things that once you know them, you wonder how you ever survived without the knowledge!  She gets a special shout out for taking Wyatt when he was super fussy and giving me a chance to take a nice, long, hot shower!
Aunt Lori came over to bring cousin Dean to visit.  They are only four weeks apart, but Wyatt is at least twice the size of Dean.  Wyatt looks like a tank compared to Dean!  Here they are doing what they do best - sleeping!

The Best Advice I've Gotten

Below is an email that I got recently from Aditi, one of my best friends.  This came at just the right time for me, when Wyatt and I were in the middle of a couple of really bad days and I was just about ready to throw in the parenting towel (so to speak).  I think that this is especially good for any new mom to read, because one thing that I have figured out since Wyatt was born is that it's important to be the best parent you can be for your child.  And each child is unique, so parenting will be different from parent to parent, so comparing yourself to other moms and babies doesn't get you anywhere.  That being said, I do think its important to speak honestly about the good and the bad times of motherhood.  This blog is a tribute to the good times I have with Wyatt, but there are rough days (and nights) when I don't think he will ever fall asleep or when I am so tired that all I want to do it cry (and usually do end up crying) or when he's peed on three successive clean diapers (and all over himself and the changing pad and the third pair of pajamas).  Basically, I think it's important to acknowledge that motherhood is hard.  In fact, it is harder than anything I've ever done before.  And most importantly, even though all babies and parenting situations are unique, there are some universal truths that moms need to hear so that they know they aren't alone in this whole crazy thing.  One other thing, I really do believe, as cheesy as it sounds, that it takes a village to raise a child and as you can see I am truly blessed to have wonderful friends like Aditi (and so many others) in my village giving me the love and support that I need!

hon,

i have to say that you are now officially in the throws of new motherhood. it's exhausting and intense. emotions are everywhere...that's why they call the first 2 weeks the honeymoon period :)

i HIGHLY recommend you get "the girlfriend's guide to the first year". it's a life saver. 

i had a few friends tell me how hard this was going to be, but i thought that their kids must've been difficult..didn't realize it's a universal experience! I remember at the beginning you were convinced you had the easiest baby in the world...we all thought the same thing. and then it gets bad. and there seems to be no end in sight. but there is. i promise. just when you think you simply can't function like this anymore, something will happen to make it a little better.

the sleep is bad. i don't want to lie to you. it's gonna get worse before it gets better. but it's gonna get better REALLY soon. wyatt is such a good baby - he's big and eats well and the bigger he gets, the longer he'll sleep. 

ananya is, and always has been, 3rd percentile in weight. imagine how long it took her to sleep! when other moms were getting 5-7 hours in a row of sleep in the 3rd or 4th month, that only happened to me in the 6th month. trust me, i understand what you're going through. 

you can do this. most importantly, you can do this. but you cannot do it alone. we were not meant to raise kids on our own. you need your husband, your mom, your mom in law, and all the help you can get. it's very very difficult work...but there IS light at the end of the tunnel, i promise. 

get someone to do all/most of the cooking. don't worry about the cleanliness of your house. try to take a shower every day. get some fresh air as often as possible. it's okay if wyatt cries a little..you don't have to be perfect, you just need to be present :)

and try your best to sleep when wyatt sleeps. it's the only way you'll even begin to catch up a little. on weekends/evenings, brian has to take over - as hard as his life is with work, yours is much much harder and overwhelming. get help on weekends - that's what parents are for (whether it's yours or his), or friends. 

here's what got me through:
1. i held/fed/soothed ananya as often as i felt like it. i didn't stick to any schedules or any rigid rules...
2. they say you can't spoil your baby or create any habits in the first few months. i believe that. so i held her while she slept during the day. i was so scared to put her down b/c she'd wake up, so i just held her and we'd both nap during the day. only when i felt like i had gotten a decent enough amoutn of sleep did i put her down and not hold her. and yes, in the mornings when pooneet would go to work, i would bring Ananya into bed and we'd try to squeeze an hour or two of napping in bed :)
3. the bouncy exercise ball saved us, as did the pacifier. our ped told us we could start using the paci after 1 mo and it was a life saver
4. ask for help. don't feel shy. 
5. don't put any pressure/expectations on yourself until around month 6 or 7. 

this is only temporary. it's brutal and bone-crushing and soul-sucking, but it's only temporary. he will start sleeping more and, from his size and how he eats, it's gonna happen soon! 

in the meantime, take all the pressure off, don't do things during the day that aren't necessary, and don't feel like you have to "enjoy this magical time in your life". it's not magical right now, it's a crapload of work. it gets magical once they start sleeping through the night :)

you can always call/email. i hope i don't sound too harsh, but i just think it's always better to know what's ahead of you. but if this isn't helpful, let me know what i can do - tell me if you want advice or don't want advice or want to hear the truth or just want to be told that it'll all be better soon. 

but it is true. it will be all better soon.

lots of love and hang in there!
aditi

Walking

Wyatt and I try to go on a walk every day.  Sometimes these walks are short walks down the street to the grocery store and sometimes they are longer walks through the neighborhood.  Up until recently, Wyatt fell asleep as soon as the stroller (or the car for that matter) started to move.  However, in the last week Wyatt has started to stay awake during our walks or other trips out of the house.  He is now fascinated by lights and by objects that move above him, like tree branches or ceiling fans.  In the car we have a mirror on the back of the headrest so we can see him while he's in his car seat, today he spent the entire car ride as we ran errands looking at himself in the mirror.  It's amazing to see how much more alert he is than he was just a week ago!