A Weekend of First's

Memorial Day weekend was a weekend of first's for our family:

1. First long car ride with Nolan (4hrs) which went really pretty well
2. First wedding with baby - Danielle's cousin Emily was married on Friday evening. Nolan did OK for about 20 minutes and then started fussing a little bit.
3. First trip to the lake and first boat ride for Nolan. As you can see from the picture he pretty much just slept in the shade.
4. First bath - his cord finally fell out and we were able to give him his first bath at the cabin. He seemed to like this bath much better than the bath with a wet washcloth - a lot less screaming which was nice.

Danielle and I love to travel and it appears that Nolan has inherited some of those same genes which we are thankful for. Trips with an upset kid would definitely cut back on our motivation to leave town!

"The burrito"

Little did Danielle and I know when we sat thru pre-natal class that one of the topics would be so very important. The instructor was talking about the 5 S's - of which I cannot even remember all of them at this point - but I do remember the most important one: SWADDLE.

Without that little nugget we would be up a creek without the paddle. Our little boy seems to only sleep well when his arms are securely tucked to his sides and he cannot move. The above picture tells the story - when he is snuggled tight into his little swaddler he sleeps well, without it not so much.

We found this out the hard way our first night at home as he screamed most of the night with his arms flailing and his legs kicking. The next night we wrapped him up like a burrito and he slept for 3-4 hour stretches. The comical thing is that when he is crying and we wrap him up you can hear him make little noises of satisfaction as we wrap him up and usually he quits crying within about 10 seconds.

We also found out that having a 9lb newborn means that he is stronger than the average newborn. The first 2 swaddlers that we wrapped him in had flimsy velcro and he ripped those off within a few seconds with no trouble. The one he is wearing in the picture has some heavy duty velcro and it keeps him wrapped most of the time. We also have "The Miracle Blanket" from Mimi Gwen that we still need to figure out how to use correctly. This will come in handy during the summer as it is a lot thinner. Not sure how long we will need to utilize this tactic to get him to sleep well but we are sure thankful to have it!

Diaper changes - a dad's perspective

One of my best friend's Brett wanted an update on how my diaper changing skills are progressing so I thought I would put together a few of my thoughts 3 weeks into parenting.

1. If evolution were true every mom would have grown a third arm by now - holding up Nolan's legs, trying to use a baby wipe and position a diaper with 2 hands is tough.
2. Having to "get your feet wet" in the diaper changing business with a meconium filled diaper is cruel. I think I used 12 baby wipes on my first diaper change. (I need to buy some stock in the baby wipe company)
3. Changing a little boy's diaper is an adventure in which I pray that he doesn't decide to spray me. Once that diaper is off it is like a countdown clock is on - I need to do a good job cleaning him up but I also need to work quickly before the clock expires and I get wet. It's like deactivating a bomb.
4. Infant clothing is overrated. Having to pull his arms and head thru clothes while he screams only to have him need a diaper change 5 minutes later is not my idea of a good time. Nolan hangs out in a diaper and onesie most days.
5. The diaper genie was a pleasant surprise. We had heard from a few different people that they didn't like it but for us it has been a good asset. It's always unbelievable when you pull the bag out and see about 50 used diapers - every 3 days!
6. What a blessing to have an awesome wife that probably changes 90% of the diapers in our house! Danielle is a great mommy!
   

Fargo Marathon 2009

After tense negotiations with my wife following last years Fargo half marathon she reluctantly agreed to let me run the 13.1 miles again this year on one condition - I had to find a friend to run with the entire length of the race. For those who don't know the story of the 2008 marathon it basically entailed me hitting the wall at about mile 8 and refusing to stop. I suffered until mile 12, remember seeing the Fargodome and then woke up on my back at the medic tent in the dome. I took a fun filled ride to the ER and spent the night at Innovis Hospital a.k.a. the most expensive hotel room in Fargo. My poor wife had also just run 13.1 miles and had to spend a miserable day with me in the hospital.

Understandably she was less than thrilled when I wanted to run again this year. As luck would have it my friend Kelan Moser was training for his first half marathon and turned out to be a great running partner. The morning of the race arrived with gray skies and a temperature in the upper 30's - perfect for me to avoid heat stroke this year. Kelan and I settled into a nice 9 minute mile pace led by Pacer Jim who was a crazy marathoner with his hair dyed bright green so it was easier to follow him. At about mile 10 we were feeling pretty good so Kelan and I decided that we should try and get under 2 hours. We picked up the pace for the last 3 miles, suffered a little bit but managed to finish with smiles on our faces in just over 1 hour 58 minutes. Some of the highlights along the route included a real live Elvis impersonator singing along the side of the road and seeing the marathon leaders. The leaders were running in the opposite direction and were absolutely flying. All in all a great experience and very excited for next year.

"Meet the Cousins" and Baptism

This past weekend my sister and brother in law came to visit for the weekend and Nolan was able to meet his cousins Scarlett and Kylar for the first time. We also baptized both the little ones on Saturday evening in a neat private service. Nolan is definitely the larger of the two even though he is a week younger. At birth the cousins were 6lbs 6oz and 9lbs 13oz respectively. Scarlett is a bit easier on the arm to hold!

"Baby Readying" our Home

When preparing for Nolan's arrival my wife informed me of a few changes that we needed to make around the home. 1) My blessed "Tar Heel" room was going to have to be deconstructed and turned into Nolan's nursery and 2) Carpet under the dining room table was not going to cut it when he starts eating at the table with us.

I definitely agreed that #2 had to happen. Vacuuming and cleaning the carpet once per day did not sound very appealing but #1 just didn't quite make sense to me. We were having a boy and the room was already light blue. We were also having a little Tar Heel fan so wouldn't he love to have his room already decorated in Tar Heel apparel? A resounding "no" was the answer.

We have a picture of our kitchen in destruct mode and also a picture with the finished tile in the kitchen and dining area. Being the very unhandy handyman that I am our good friend JP helped us with the kitchen. He did a great job laying the tile and I did a great job handing him tiles and glasses of water throughout the project.

Grandpa Steve came up to help us with the nursery. He painted over the beautiful Carolina blue walls but I have to admit that it ended up looking really good!