avablog

Don’t tell Ava that Emmett is a much easier baby than she was. Ava was notorious for howling like crazy every time she was set down somewhere, which made for a really rough first three months home from the hospital. Emmett, by comparison, pretty much eats and sleeps, with an occasional fussy period now and then. He even sleeps in the car, which is a treat.
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Leah and Ava (and Emmett, I guess?) got me a new external flash for my camera for Father’s Day, and so far, this is my favorite shot with it:

I’m such a huge fan of natural light photography that it’s going to be a real transition to using this flash more, but I can already see how it’s going to free me up indoors, especially with my Sigma 17-70 lens. Gary Fong, here I come!

Aunt Rachel bought Em this cute onesie as a getting born gift. Leah tried to squeeze him into it this morning and found that it’s a little snug. Emmett didn’t seem to mind. Even so, I decided I’d better get a picture to document that he did actually wear it (it’s like hats and bandannas at a Willie Nelson concert; they’re somehow worth more if they’ve been thrown up onstage and wiped across Willie’s sweaty brow).

So far, the coolest thing about having Emmett in the house is how much more I’ve come to appreciate Ava.
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Oh, life with baby. It’s one thing right to another.

The little fella continues to eat, sleep, and defecate with regularity. He’s even entered something of a routine at night, fussing for an hour or so before falling asleep sometime around 9. Then he sleeps until 12 or 12:30, eats, sleeps another couple hours, eats again, then sleeps until around 4 or 4:30, when he wakes up and fusses for about 90 minutes before settling in for his morning nap. When Ava was this age, we would’ve KILLED (and almost did) for an hour of uninterrupted snoozing. So, you can see why we’re not complaining about Emmett’s nightly rounds.
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I was reminded today that there haven’t been any posts to this blog in five days. And I was like, “Really?” But I see it’s true. Why would MySQL lie?
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We’re just back from Emmett’s first doctor appointment. Turns out the little scribbler has gained 12 ounces since the Mercy home visit a week ago. He now weighs 8 pounds, 15.5 oz. (75%), is 21.75″ long (90%), and has a 14.75″ head (75%). If memory and my MySQL database serve, Ava’s only ever been as high as about 25% on any measure, so Emmett is on track to catch up with her, growth-wise, any time now.

Em did great at the appointment, too, which is another unexpected treat for us. I can’t wait to see how he does with his first shots.

Oh, Emmett. The tiny little brown stub of what was left of your umbilical cord fell off today. It’s only the first in a long line of losses that will mark your growing older. When your mom mentioned it to me today, the news of the event made me a little sad. This day is already gone. In a couple days, you’ll coo. In a couple more, you’ll smile. After that, tummy time. Rolling over. Crawling. And off you’ll go. I’ve seen it happen before.

I want to tell you not to worry, when you’re older, about not remembering that brief moment this afternoon at lunch when you were lying on my lap and I whispered in your ear and your eyes got big and blue and bright and your face turned squarely to mine as if to say “I know you, Daddy. That’s you. I hear you. I hear you!”

I’ll remember it for us both.

Before I left the house this morning, I made Ava pinky promise that she’d give her mom a break today. It’s Leah’s first day home solo with both kids, and I’m sure it’ll be trying.
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Whew. This morning was a doozy. Ava was insistent that she didn’t want to go to school, and Emmett’s fussiness from last night carried over into the daylight. At one point, both kids (weird…”both kids”) were crying away downstairs, Emmett on my lap and Ava to her mom on the sofa in the TV room. And I thought to myself, “So this is what it’s going to be like now.” Like any responsible adult, this thought was followed quickly by, “Well, I asked for it.”
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Just uploaded this video of Emmett last evening. It’s some of the first footage of him with his eyes open, which seemed noteworthy to me (they’re still blue/gray, BTW, but we expect that to change):

Konnichiwa, Emmett.

Today at lunch I sat on the sofa in our living room and held you for a while. You squirmed and thrashed and teetered to and fro on your back like you were fighting off a swarm of no-see-ums. It was pretty amazing to look into your eyes and wonder about what must be going through your mind. And all that movement got me thinking about your life and what it might hold for you.
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I’d always considered Ava a tiny little thing. Until recently. I held her on my lap this morning for some cuddles before leaving for work, and she seemed downright huge. It was really odd to have that big hunk of kid on my legs after toting Emmett around on my forearm last night for some burps.

We’re all eager to see what a great sister Ava becomes as the days and months go by. We tell her frequently about all the fun things she’ll have to show Emmett this summer, and her eyes light up at the prospects. Once Emmett can see a bit better, maybe Ava can blow some bubbles for him.

Hey, Emmett, it’s your very first moment of cuteness post! Huzzah! I anticipate many more to come.

Your Uncle Kevin took this shot for me while I held you. He and your Aunt Rachel visited last weekend. It was nice to have another photographer in the house, since I often find myself wishing I could get a certain shot of you when it’s impossible for me to hold a camera. I need to have Kevin around all the time to serve as your personal photographer. Think he’d go for it? Probably not. I’ll have to take advantage of him when I can.

The hospital in which Leah delivered Emmett has a nice service where they send a nurse by your house a couple days after you’re home. She checks on the mom and baby and provides lots of info on nursing, child safety, and even fire extinguishers. Our visit happened today.
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My dad dropped off a box full of old photos of his side of the family yesterday. Man, there’s some awesome stuff in there. It’s weird, though, that it still hasn’t hit home that I have a son. For all intents and purposes, Emmett’s kind of sexless right now. I know that’ll change quickly, but as it stands, the vast majority of my child interactions take place with a funny, bright, opinionated, strong-willed girl. Emmett just wiggles around on my chest or in my arms, and the only time I think about him being a boy is when I’m trying to keep from being peed on during diaper changes.
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So this was a weird day. Emmett came home from the hospital, which was great and new and exciting. But two other events transpired today that got me thinking about the interconnectedness of the universe.
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Seems like as good a time as any to jot down the details — as well as I can recall them — of Emmett’s arrival into the world.
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I’m someone who tries to not focus much on the regrets in my life. And maybe this isn’t exactly a regret. But I sure wish I could go back in time to my 20-year-old self and show him what it’s like to have your infant child nap on your chest for an hour. That is the real deal. If something like that doesn’t change you…well, you’re beyond changing.
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If you’ve been anywhere near Leah at any point over the last nine months, you know that she had no idea how to raise a son. Well, now she gets her chance.

Looks to me like she’s going to do just fine.