Sophie's Blog » Spouses

Baby Culture Shock

tarobot — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:44:32 +0000

The space between our writings is growing longer since it takes a while for us to collect fun Sophie things to share other than “Yowza! You should have seen the monumental diaper we had to change today!” This is a good thing as it means our efforts to create routines have not been in vain. Additionally, it means we aren’t bombarding your email with the same vague dribble that can be found on baby web sites.

CRAFTYMOM13: “My babies head keeps spinning round and round. Does that mean he’s began teething?”

I’ve spent a good part of this week experiencing an unpleasant sense of tiredness, moodiness, frustration, and a general feeling of being psychologically off kilter. The worst part is that I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so down and, therefore, couldn’t do much about it.
Thankfully, when Kelly and I talked about it, she said something that described my situation perfectly. I’m going through a bit of culture shock. Not exactly the same thing that happens in another country but Sophie has quite literally turned our world upside down. The “honeymoon” phase is over and all of my normal coping mechanisms don’t work anymore. I’m at the point where you psychologically reject or accept the drastically new situation. Obviously I am accepting of my new reality but it surprises me how intense life with our new child can become sometimes.
All of you experienced parents can begin snickering now. ;-D

NEW STUFF

My mom shot a great video of Sophie and Kelly dancing. We just had to share this:

Also, more photos have been added to Sophie’s “Second Month” photo set on Flickr:

Being sick sucks

tarobot — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:53:45 +0000

Since last Friday, the ability to hear out of my right ear has been replaced with stabbing pain. Somehow, on dry land, I gave myself a horrible case of swimmer’s ear. Something I was able to avoid for the NINE YEARS I was swimming on teams.
Stuff like this always happens on the weekends when you can’t get a doctor appointment of course. Saturday/Sunday night was almost sleepless so on Sunday morning Kelly took me to the emergency room for help. I received several prescriptions that are wonderfully powerful and worked almost immediately. Tonight is the first time I’m not watching the clock in a desperate countdown to taking them. Still, Vicodin is my new best friend.

Ok, I have to share a wonderful baby thing that just keeps making my day every time it happens. (And let’s be honest, all blogs are vanity writings anyway.) Sophie is trying to talk and it’s the most wonderful thing I’ve experienced yet. She gets very excited and alert, huffs and puffs trying to coordinate her lungs and throat, looks us right in the eyes and just makes a long cooing noise. The cuteness of this event is so powerful that she got a big smile out of me while I was still experiencing incredible ear pain. I would love to share this with you but getting content from our camcorder online isn’t nearly as easy as photos. I will give it a shot in the future.

On a side note, I just uploaded a ton of new Sophie photos to our Flickr account.

WeAddaBaby EetsaGirl

tarobot — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:43:47 +0000

It’s day 2 for little Sophie and she is doing great. The doctors tell us she is feeding well for only being a few days old and mom is enjoying the intimacy of feeding times. On the other hand, my intimate times with her involve diaper changes and burping. Maybe this is why guys think bodily humor is so funny.
We both can’t believe this amazing little life.

Kelly is recovering still and I am doing my best not to get sick. My parents brought Kelly’s mom yesterday so we are well taken care of. The hospital staff at Lakeland Regional are fantastic and we have both been telling the nurses how under appreciated they are.

My ability to share stuff online will go down a little while we attempt to establish a routine with Sophie but I will still put up pics to our Flickr account. www.flickr.com/photos/tarobot

Nine-month Blues

tarobot — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:49:17 +0000

*cue a blues harmonica while I complain*

Oh my goodness are we ever ready for Sophie to come out already! I say “we” because when Kelly does not get good sleep, neither do I. This week has been one big problem after another and frankly, we are ready for issues that are more productive than this last batch. Kelly has entered the final stages of pregnancy which includes, but is not limited to, being uncomfortable 99% of the time. (All you moms out there know what I’m talkin’ bout.) This uncomfortability extends through the night and interferes with sleep at will. It’s one thing to have pain because the baby is trying to come out and meet us; a whole other thing when it is seemingly unexplainable stuff that the doctors explain as “I don’t know, the baby just probably needs to come out.”

*sigh*

Anywhoo, on the bright side, Kelly and I are massively thankful for our wonderfully understanding jobs/bosses. I’m not exagerating when I say we feel like they are a blessing from God. I’ve got a whole system up and running so I can bring my work back and forth from my work computer to my home computer without hardly missing a beat. (Thanks ChronoSync!) Also, I was able to complete a coloring excercise tonight. Some of you may recognize this character as Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion. I did this exercise based off of a custom figure someone made in Japan. It was fun to do and it taught me not to shade along the edges. (A mistake many beginners like me make.) I still don’t know how people can color without reference photographs but it’s satisfying when you blend some colors and it actually looks like a real shape. Next time I need to try a more painterly brush. Well, you can tell it’s late and I need to go to bed. Tomorrow is a sleep-in day and I need to get started!

Surprising Greg

kelly — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:07:02 +0000

Every year I try my best to surprise Greg on his birthday. I enjoy the look on his face when I pull surprise after surprise out of my back pocket. The great thing is he LOVES being surprised! He never wants you to tell him what is coming next, just give him the thrill of the unexpected. This probably why he doesn’t like movie trailers that show you the whole movie, he wants to see the movie and have the fun of being lead through the adventure. That is one of his many great qualities. And something that will make him a great father.

I am looking forward to seeing him teach Sophie about surprise and wonder. Showing her there is something to waiting for the reveal moment, waiting to see what happens next. Teaching her that patience really is a virtue and living with a feeling of expectation makes for a wonderful life. I know I will be living with a husband and daughter who will be discovering the world together and loving every minute of it.

So this post is for my wonderful husband. My husband who will make his daughter’s life exciting and full of wonder. I love you honey.