One Month Celebration

It was a big day yesterday as Ryan celebrated the end of month #1. It also means that, according to Chinese tradition, Carol's recovery period is complete. We're heading up to San Francisco this afternoon to take Carol's aunt to China Town and Carol will join the girls to celebrate Dea's bachelorette party for a few hours this evening. Let the good times roll...

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Ryan's Grandpa (what he calls him is still tbd) Douglas had a birthday today. Sounds like there was a little get together at Sarah's house to celebrate. Big Happy Birthday Gramps from Ryan, Carol and me.

Quick update on the little guy: today Carol and her aunt took him in to see the Doctor. He got a clean bill of health. The gas, the occasional heavy breathing, the dirty diapers...it's all normal!

Here's a gratuitous picture of Ryan in a sweatsuit hanging out on the couch. The socks over the pants were Carol's idea. Very handsome.

Guest Feeder

Carol's friend Kathy (now Mrs. Steele) dropped by for dinner last night. It was great to catch up and hear about life in San Francisco.

Boys and Bears

Did you know that the term "Teddy Bear" was based on a cartoon depiction of Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a leashed bear? My brother Mike always had a bear. His name was Ted. He used to take him everywhere. I remember having a Winnie the Pooh bear when I was younger, but the attachment wasn't as strong. Our friend Fion used to have an old, ratty comfort blanket that he affectionately, if not creatively, called "Blankety." That one's a little harder to explain...
It's too soon to say what Ryan will become attached to (I'm still hoping Smurfs make a comeback!), but so far he's received a lot of stuffed bears and other animals from friends and family. Here are a few pictures of him wearing his "I Love DC" outfit hanging with his pals.

Thunder Down Under

This was a funny moment. Ryan's had a restless couple of nights, but slept most of the day today. His metabolism is certainly moving quickly. I have to say, I really didn't realize how gassy babies can be. Because Carol's an avid researcher these days (and a loyal reader of this blog), here's a site that's 100% focused on baby gas.

Pacifying the Baby and the Parents

Not long ago I was amazed at how much information there was available on the topic of weddings. Then it was pregnancy. We'll now we're now in a tsunami of baby do's and don'ts and there doesn't seem to be an end in site for this one...

This week we decided to introduce the pacifier. Ryan's become increasingly fussy at bedtime, so this was was actually a pretty easy decision that didn't require much research (although I did find this article to be quite useful on the topic).

Not surprisingly, he took to the pacifier right away and so far he hasn't become too dependent on it. After a couple of hours of trying to soothe him on a Saturday morning, however, I'm not sure I can say the same for myself.
Here are a few more pictures of Ryan at 3 weeks.
Playtime:














Happy Mom:














Post-Bath Meltdown:














Taking His Vitamins:














And a Few More:

A Pampered Baby

Yesterday, I was cleaning Ryan's privates (sorry, I couldn't resist) as Carol was breastfeeding. The Doctor recommended a little "air time" to help with a slight rash down there and I found myself trying to create a gentle breeze to cool the area. I wondered if my Dad ever did that for me. It's pretty funny to even consider!

After work yesterday I filed Ryan's fingernails. Here's the picture:
This morning I changed a massively full diaper, took Ryan for a walk around the block (actually, so far I've taken 3 walks and it's 7am), and fed him so Carol could get a little bit of sleep after a long night.

Is this a pampered baby or what? Fortunately somebody sent me this informative article called, "Top 10 Things a New Dad Shouldn't Do." It's pretty funny (except for #7 of course). Actually, a more appropriate article might be this one, "10 Tips for New Dads."

They say that three weeks is another milestone. Ryan's a bit fussy right now, but he's certainly well looked after. My next post will be on the introduction of the pacifier. I think we may have discovered a solution...