the babe and eye

Some random sleeplessness-driven observations:

- We've been getting a ridiculous amount of food and presents from everyone lately. Thanks! We really appreciate it!

- Cassidy and I have started making excursions around the neighborhood, thanks to the 70+ degree weather. No, we don't miss Wisconsin.

- Cassidy's hiphop name is going to be 2Cute. (check out his shirt.)

- His hair is thinning on the sides, but still thick on top and particularly in the back. It's either a Mohawk or a mullet.

- But this is really just an excuse to put up some more pictures ...

on sleep and poo

The two most common questions we get asked are:

1. Are you getting any sleep? This is either asked with a snicker by childless friends, or with a knowing, sympathetic look by those with kids.

2. Isn't it gross having to change all those diapers?

As for sleep, we get some, although less than we're accustomed to. Our usual schedule goes something like this: Holly goes to sleep around 10 or 11. Cassidy eats then and falls asleep soon after. (He's sleeping in bed with us for now.) I go to bed around 12 or 1. Cassidy wakes up hungry at 2 or so and I feed him. Holly gets up around 5 to go to work and feeds him again sometime between 6 and 7. He comes back to bed and snoozes for an hour or so, and we get up around 8. When Holly's not working, she watches him in the morning and I sleep in more.

As for poo and pee, it's gross the first couple of times, but then you get used to it. He's developing an amazing number of ways to keep it novel, though - peeing on the changing table, peeing on himself, pooping on his clothes, waiting until the new diaper is on to poop, waiting until his legs are being lifted to projectile poop across the changing table, and so on. He doesn't like to rest on his laurels.

Here's a picture of Cassidy weighing his poo-distribution options, shortly after his bath last week.

sunday baby sunday

It was a busy weekend for young Cassidy. As of Sunday, he's 36 days old, and entering his sixth week of life. On Friday evening, Sean and Kim came by to visit and brought rotisserie chicken (Cassidy opted for formula instead). On Saturday, Ron and Mike came by bearing Chinese food and a stuffed dog bigger than he is, and on Sunday Carrie brought chocolate cake. (Again, Cassidy went with the formula option. He's a baby of simple tastes.)

He also squeezed in a bath, and a little bit of baby yoga. At this point, the baby yoga consists of some gentle massage, plus a few leg exercises to strengthen his hip flexors. Hanumanasana is probably a little ways off for him.

Here's some more pictures, including Cassidy flashing gang signs as he poses with his stuffed dog, giving a terrorist fist jab as he models the outfit he got from DD, Mike and Freya, and helping me come up with clever blog entries.

still life with baby and bugs

Cassidy is 33 days old, and growing. He's developing a bit of a buddha belly, although we're not sure yet if rubbing it gives us good luck. It certainly reduces his gas and post-feeding barfs, which seems lucky. He's still a simple, easygoing baby - he likes eating, pondering, sleeping, and posing for photos. It's good preparation to become either a philosopher or a supermodel.

month 2 begins

As Cassidy enters his fifth week of life, we're starting to see some changes. He's definitely getting bigger - there's rolls of baby fat around his neck, wrists and legs. He eats more, and can hold his head up better. He's starting to do something that might be considered a smile. His head looks much less pointy, also.

He's still a few weeks away from reading The Brothers Karamazov and learning about Gaussian distributions, although we figure sometime before week 8 seems about right.

equal time

Since Cassidy's arrival, our other two 'kids' have taken a back seat. In the case of Muffy, it hasn't been such a big adjustment; he was kitty #10,000 before, so the bottom of the totem pole is a familiar place for him. Flannery, on the other hand, was used to being the unquestioned queen of the house, and has had to adjust to being number 2. The most ironic thing with her is that Cassidy is still very young and sleeps a lot; there's plenty of time for her to get attention, if she'd just be willing to choose times other than when we're feeding him.

Writing this also makes me think a little about nicknames. Muffy's real name is actually Charlie, but we almost always call him Muffy or Scruffles or Mr. Guy. Similarly, Flannery is almost always referred to as Kitten or Squirrel. I'm assuming Cassidy will acquire some nicknames - so far, Dean Squirmer, Mama's Special Little Guy, and Baby the Hutt have gotten some play.

So in the interest of fair play, here's some pictures of the kitties.

nothing stands in your way when you're a boy

Today is Cassidy's four-week birthday. So far, he's doing quite well - he celebrated with the standard eating and pooping and napping, plus barfing up his lunch on the changing table. (not enough burping.) Stephanie also brought him some presents, plus food for us. (We think he has a crush on her.) We're excited to be nearing his six-week anniversary; his pediatrician recommended keeping him away from crowds and other kids until then to give his immune system time to develop, but we can tell he's craving adventure. In the meantime, he's enjoying his diverse wardrobe and taking some naps on his mom, along with Flannery.