Two weeks old

Jack is two weeks old today. We noticed that his eyelashes are coming in (one at a time, Jack doesn't hurry to do anything). He still has his head cold, but the added moisture from the humidifier seems to help keep the heat linger in the room longer,  so middle of the night diaper changes aren't the battle to stay warm like they had been. The doctor told us that Jack would probably scream when we used the drops, but Jack takes it in stride, sneezes a little and smiles. 

As you can see, Sean is getting quite good with the camera. 

Jack's responsiblities

Jack isn't at the stage where he's doing parlor tricks yet, he mostly gets paid to sit around and be cute. He eats and sleeps and poops a lot, and if we're lucky we get a few waking hours each day of smiles and funny faces and chill time.

When Jack was born his hands and feet were very thin (and a little blue), but as you can see by the pictures, he's got chubby little mitts now, with dimples like little kids do.

This past week he's had a slight cold, but the doctor says that it's not in his chest at all, just in his nose and head. It's hard to listen to him breathe so heavy when he sleeps, you feel so bad for the little guy. The doctor gave us some saline drops which Jack doesn't seem to mind, and Sean picked up a humidifier today. Hopefully we can get his nose running so it can clean out. The weather here has been really cold with rain pouring down constantly. Not conducive to trying to shake a cold, but we keep Jack bundled up and give him "steam baths" in the bathroom.

One Week Old

Yea, so pretty much I want to quit school, never work again and just spend my time staring at this little boy.

We've spent the week getting to know Jack and his language. He's a really mellow little guy. Between eating and sleeping and diaper changes he's often content to just look around the room, watch his fingers, and make funny faces. When he bobs his head like a chicken it means it's time to eat. We've managed to quickly adapt to a schedule, and although it means going to bed at 6:30 if we want to get enough sleep, it's pretty regular. 

Last week my dear friend Auntie Eileen was here, doing dishes, changing diapers, helping Sean to make sure I ate enough, and helping us get the house back in some kind of order after the hospital stay. Jack's Nana Catherine has been here since Thursday soaking up little Jack and letting Mama and Dad get a walk around the neighborhood and some fresh air. 

Today during an early morning diaper change Jack's dried umbilical cord tissue fell off, so just when we thought he couldn't get any cuter, he now has a perfect little belly button.

The milk pump my friend Sharon loaned us (which totally freaked me out at first) has been one of our biggest blessings. It lets me get a break (so I can update the blog), but more importantly, it lets Sean spend time feeding Jack and all the bonding that goes along with it. 

Thanks again for all your patience in our getting back to all the phone calls, cards, emails, gifts and well-wishes we receive. 

More Jack

Introducing Jack Francisco Simon

Thanks everybody for being so patient as we weren't returning your phone calls or responding to your emails. I went into the hospital Friday/Saturday at 1:30 am and Jack was born on Sunday, January 13th, 2008 at 5:25 pm. If you would like to hear the long, roller-coaster journey that happened in between, I'll tell you about it the next time we sit down together but you have to buy me a beer.

Jack is healthy and wonderful and so beautiful that I can hardly believe he's ours. 

He weighed in at 8 lbs. and 6/10 of an ounce and measured 21 inches long. He's got some dark hair on top and in the back. He's also got shoulders that I appreciate more now that I'm not trying to get them out of my body.

Thank you to everyone who sent their prayers, their love, their good wishes and good juju our way. We couldn't have done it without you.

41 weeks and counting

Between the ceaseless rain outside and the waiting inside I am beginning to lose my mind.

We went to the doctor yesterday and everything is still in good shape, Young Simon just isn't in any hurry to "move from mother ship to planetary"-(Cath Sjostedt, '08).

It's an awfully big thing not to know when it's going to happen

No baby yet. Sean thinks it might be all the news he listens to deterring the baby from wanting to join the rest of the world. 

I had visions of taking a long walk, which many people assure me is sure-fire way to get things moving, but the pouring rain and 55 mph winds were a deterrent. 

The waiting around is giving me time to get nervous so I've become a knitting machine: a vest, two hats and a pair of booties. I may need to go swim laps.