Our Baby Size Life!

Archive for February, 2008

I bought a new digital camera about a week before Sam was born because I wanted to capture as much as I could of Sammy’s first days in our world. Melissa and I settled on a Nikon CoolPix 5100 and we are, as of yet, not disappointed.

So like any proud parents, we’ve been having some fun taking a lot of pictures of Sam. People reading the blog have been asking for some pictures of the little guy, so I must acquiesce to their request… Pirates reference anybody?.
So please click through for…

The Many Face of Sam

*******Update! The score is now 4-1 for me over Melissa in the peed on category.  Sammy strikes again! *******

I don’t know if it’s a right of passage, or time honored tradition, but kids peeing on their parents is an age old occurrence. And Samuel is no exception. No head shots yet, but our little Sammy has left his mark on both Mommy and Daddy during his diaper changes. Despite our best efforts at covering him up, Sam’s timing is impeccable as he waits for the one moment of weakness in our changing routine, to strike.

‘Hawkeye Sam’

He waits for that moment when we remove the wash cloth hiding his supersoaker in check, so we can place the clean diaper… and he hits! It’s as if that half second of cool air is the trigger because he lets fly and he takes no prisoners!

So as it stands now, after 8 days, I lead Melissa 3 to 1 for being peed on, but she leads me 1 to 0 for being pooped on. What??? She got pooped on!?!? Yes folks, it happens! Sammy doesn’t just specialize in light artillery, sometimes he feels the need to lob a mustard grenade our way just to remind us who’s boss!

Considering a new born wets his diaper on average 8 to 10 times a day, with 5 to 7 of those containing more than just a golden tinkle, we’re doing pretty good!

Six days old and already little Samuel is calling the shots! He’s an avid listener and is always got the ear out for some good tunes. He’s heard music since his first moments in our house. We love having the radio on much of the day, so he’s heard his fair share of today’s musical variety. So, it was second nature to me when I was in the kitchen with a fussy Sam in my arms, and I decided to put some Michael Bublé on seeing the CD lying on top of the stereo. His reaction was almost immediate.

He just loves Michael Bublé.

Every time I put a Bublé CD on, he’s transfixed. He stops crying and looks around a lot as if he’s trying to figure out who’s singing and is totally distracted from whatever he was doing. Looks like Sammy-boy loves the crooners.

I’ve tried other types of music and he’s shown an acute dislike for rap, heavy metal and Mix96 in general . I am going to try some classical stuff too. I will be playing some Bach, Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven in the coming days. Certain studies seem to say classical music improves a child’s I.Q., its called The Mozart Effect. Who knows if it really works , but at least its not Britney Spears. Now that would be quite the dilemma for a parent. Boost your tots I.Q. easily, but to do so you must listen to Britney Spears music for hours…:cry:

It’s almost enough for a parent to say: “Sorry son, it looks like you’ll be a garbage man after all.”

Just a little follow up to my previous post called: Pregnancy Mythbusters!!! Read it here to catch up.

Well the verdict is in, and all three myths had predicted a girl. They were, of course, wrong. The tarot cards, number addition and needle myths all have been debunked by Sam’s ‘McCormick Size‘ equipment

I think this serves as a great reminder that no matter what myths you’ve heard, the only sure way to know the sex of your baby ahead of the actual birth, is the ultrasound. However, the myths did provide countless topics of conversation between friends and family leading to some of the most enjoyable family dinners! What amazes me is how passionate some people are about the validity of their particular myth.

Speaking of myths/superstitions/old wives tales, check out Snopes.com. Ever get an email warning about HIV positive needles in cinema seats? A plea for help in finding a missing child? Or maybe you’ve heard a rumor about a certain movie or poisonous food? Snopes covers it all! So if I ask nicely, pretty please with freaking sugar on top, will all you serial emailers out there please check Snopes before sending off your ‘potentially life saving email’. Help cut down on spam!

Whew! I guess I threw a little rant in there eh? …felt good!

Well that nine month long debate about choosing a name is over, with Melissa making the final call…a call that I totally agree with by the way We were on the fence with Nathan or Samuel and I figured Melissa deserved the final say after all that hard work.

So now that little Samuel is here, what’s does he name mean if anything? Well if we go down the religious path, the name Samuel stems from the Hebrew name Shemu’el, which could mean either “name of God” or “God has heard”. If you wanna go even deeper, in the Old Testament, Samuel was the son of Hannah, a prophet and a judge who anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. What does that mean for my little guy? Well nuthin‘! Its just a little back story, and that’s always in abundant supply when researching the meaning of names, which is why I like doing it. Everything from family trees to immigration documents can now be easily searched and ordered to complete you very own family tree/history book.

On the modern front, Samuel was the 25th most popular boy’s name in the US in 2006 and the 8th most popular in the UK. Other interesting info on the name Samuel like “Were you bullied a lot because of your name?” be found here. They even supply examples as to how to use the name for bullying. So if you’re a bully with a lack of imagination, this site is for you

There is also this site, that figures out what your name means in the world of Numerology. I believe in Numerology about as much as I believe Richard Simmons isn’t a caffeine addict, but its fun to check out for some laughs

Hyper much???

So check out the meaning of your own names just for fun, you might find something interesting… at the very least you’ll learn a little history.

Well its done! We are back from the hospital and we are pooped! Here’s a quick summary for now, I’ll post more soon!

Sleepin’ Sammy

A BIG thanks to our families and friends for their well wishes and generous gifts… Your support means a lot to us and we LOVE you all back – special thanks to Anna Maria for all her efforts, enthusiasm and FOOD! (Yummy Italian cooking )

My Dad deserves a medal or something…He sat in this hospital waiting room crap chair for over 12 hours, all alone, in a creepy little waiting room full of French teen pop mags, sleeping on his rolled up winter coat, no food, no water and only a bit of news every hour to keep him going…now that’s commitment to family!

Melissa worked hard an gave me the most beautiful little baby…Samuel! Our little guy’s stats:

Date of Birth: February 20, 12:34 pm

Weight: 8lbs 8oz

Length: 19 3/4 inches

Package: Yes

I think I’ll turn in now, gonna be a loooooong night. Who knows, maybe I’ll be posting at 3 in the morning

The new family of 3!

****Scroll down for updates!!! Last:4:30 pm****

6:22 am:

We woke up a little early this morning…around 5 am…because Melissa was having contractions! After calming down my initial butterflies, we started timing them and I, secretly, began running through my mental checklist of what I had to do.

Its 6:22 am now and they are happening about every 10 minutes… If they vary in length, its false labor…if they remain steady and/or increase in frequency, its the real deal!

If I don’t post again, you’ll know why

9:10 am:

The contractions have slowed down to 15 minute intervals, which means we had somewhat of a test run. Melissa has now fallen back to sleep after an early wake up call At one point, they were as soon as 7 minutes apart, which is only 2 minutes of the 5 minute benchmark of “get to the freakin’ hospital now!”.

I’ll try to update here as the day goes on.

10:55 am:

Things have calmed down now…the contractions are now irregular and over 10 minutes each time. Melissa is up and about, and now watching some TV. I guess this mornings events were natures way of giving us a little taste of what’s coming. As my buddy Aaron stated: “warming up the engines”.

Melissa says the pain isn’t too intense, but enough to cause discomfort. So when she has a contraction, she walks/waddles to ease the pain. Movement is key! Laying in bed seems to increase the pain of the contraction. But while I had my initial butterflies and was bruising my brain flying through the “things to do before liftoff” checklist, Melissa was calm, cool and collected.

What a great girl.

4:04 pm:

Quick word here! I think its time, Melissa has been at 5 minute contractions for over an hour and we are prepping for a hospital run! Wish us luck, hopefully they won’t send us back home with an “its too early excuse”!

The trick that got her to 5 minutes was a warm bath! Very good trick!

Gotta go!!!

4:30 pm:

OK, so we called the hospital before leaving like they tells us to, and Melissa speaks with the nurse who asks us to stay home for another hour to ensure the contractions stay at 5 minutes or less.  Because its possible that they stop all together and Melissa will have to start all over again.

So she’s in the bath again working out the contractions and we’ll see in about 40 minutes!

Sorry about the panicked post…but I was well really excited!

You may or may not have heard of pregnancy myths before, but when your expecting a baby, you will hear them all!

Everyone has a trick, test or old wives tale that will give you the definitive answer as to what is the sex of your baby! Some people even go to a medium to pay the spirits for answers, use tarot cards or crystal balls and other such…well *ahem!* crap.

Melissa and I had both agreed early during her pregnancy that we didn’t want to know the sex because we wanted to experience on of life’s greatest surprises; however, we have taken note of various people’s myths and their answers to the big “Is it a boy or girl?” question. Will they be right? We shall see, to see the predictions…

Check them out here!

Here we are! After all the preparation, the classes, the prenatal exercises, the books, the baby room, the shower, the shopping and the doctors appointments…we have reached the due date.

And nothing has happened…yet!

I don’t know why I am more nervous now that we’ve hit the ‘official’ date than I was before. Its not like drinking milk past the due date, but there’s a realization of increased chances that the baby squirts sooner than later

For most of the 9 months, you’re always thinking ahead, preparing for the date and you don’t really think about the baby coming early. The doctors give you a date and you focus on it. You scramble and plan and worry and shop and paint and build and do everything else with the idea of the baby coming on that date. So now that were here…what’s up doc?

Being a marginally rational adult I understand that the baby may not come today, but its comparable to being 5 years old and waking up Christmas morning only to be told Santa’s been delayed at the border and had his sled searched because they found ‘white powder’ on his boots, and Rudolph’s having trouble flying because of his encounter with a security guard with fat fingers and an over zealous attention to detail… namely this guy:

Anyways, you get the idea!

Having a baby means big responsibility, and that includes picking a name for that bundle-o-joy-and-poop (oh yes, there will be poop!).

That statement may seem a little inconsequential considering everything else having to do with a baby kicking your former life to the curb, but its an important part of becoming a parent. It can also be the most intense and aggravating spouse negotiating experience you’ll ever have next to deciding just when is the right time for that post-children vasectomy.

Fortunately, Melissa and I have easily narrowed down our lists of boys and girls name to four of each. However, I suspect that we are indeed knee deep in the nitty-gritty because working these list down to one will be as hard as shooting pool with rope! Book and sites can help you in this decision, but I’ve realized that your first picks almost always stick around near the top of your list throughout the whole 9 months.

Wanna know what names are all the rage? Is your name as popular as you think? See 2007s most popular names here! And don’t cry if your not in the top 100…just think of yourself as “unique”…yeah you’re “unique” alright…

Check out our lists after the break, and hit us with some feedback!

see our names lists