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Family Thanksgiving!

Well, we had a wonderful family Thanksgiving last weekend.  Both the Feinberg and O'Connor families descended upon Madison for a little time with Eli, Triscuit, Noodles, and, of course, turkey.  Eli enjoyed seeing all the people.  He smiled all weekend long!  And, with all the people holding him, he barely fussed at all.   Now, as people have left, Eli is stuck with me and Dave.  We'll make sure he still has a good time...

An all family Thanksgiving

Today should be an exciting day in the O'Connor household. Both sets of grandparents will be visiting for early Thanksgiving. In addition, uncles Jay and Jason will be coming from Chicago. this is the first time that Jay will meet Eli. We need to have Thanksgiving several weeks before the actual holiday because Shelby's parents need to work on the day after Thanksgiving. We have been having early Thanksgiving for three or four years, so it is becoming a bit of a tradition. Shelby enjoys cooking elaborate meal and I, of course, enjoy eating. But it will certainly be a crowded day at the O'Connor house.

Yesterday, we left Eli at daycare for the first time. Granted, it was only for a few hours, but that didn't make it any easier for Shelby. Though we feel very fortunate with the high-quality day care provided by the University Preschool Laboratory, the idea of leaving Eli with someone else is still hard to reconcile.

Tomorrow will mark another first. I need to fly to DC for an NIH study section. since Eli's arrival on September 10, this will be the first time that I have spent a night away from him. I'm sure that Shelby and Eli will be fine on their own, but much like leaving him at day care, that doesn't make it any easier for me.

One of the other major challenges now that Eli is six weeks old is trying to balance taking care of him with work. In an attempt to get more done in even less time, I am experimenting with voice dictation software. So if you find odd typographical errors, such as referring to the 'O'Connor house' as a 'neocon house', you will understand why. Generally I've been happy with the performance of voice dictation software. I'm even using it now. With that said, it did make a serious typographical error on one of my NIH grant reviews that I will have to explain away on Monday.

Confronting our own musical mortality

When I was younger, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike weaned me on the music of the Beatles. From an early age, I knew a few things: (1) there would be no new Beatles music and (2) their music was old. Before I was born old. As the years passed, Uncle Jay and I shared many derisive names for our parents' musical choices (old, boring, crappy, to name but a few).

In the presence of Eli, I've thought quite a lot about this. Can it possibly be true that music from the 80s and 90s will be as irrelevant and 'old' to Eli is the music of the 50s and 60s seemed to me? Perhaps even more importantly, will I be able to accept the music that Eli eventually likes with equanimity? Or will I silently curse 'all that new-fangled garbage'? 

In the interim, all we can do is control the house plalyist until Eli grows old enough to have an opinion on the matter. I believe that is why Shelby has chosen to listen to the Indigo Girls, Hootie and Blowfish, and other 90s bands as we've gone to sleep each of the last few nights. The strangest part is that until Eli arrived, many of these same CDs sat gathering dust on our shelves. It is only their status as future relics that motivated us to savor them while we can. 

More cute pics, and so on....

I just had too many cute pictures to post, so I felt the need to do so.  You can see pics of the whole family before Dave and I left for John and Ericka's wedding.  You can see that Grandma and Grandpa tired out Eli so much that he slept in his little pillow.  I also had to take a picture of Eli surrounded by jungle animals (Thanks again Renee!).  There are actually 6 animals in the set, but when I put up too many, little Eli got scared (aka fussy).  I also decided to see if Eli was big enough for his picnic tummy time playmat (Thanks to Deby).  But, alas, there is not yet enough head control.  

We are all looking forward to family Thanksgiving this weekend.  I hope there will be lots and lots of good pictures.  The one picture we are really missing is one of Dave, Shelby, Triscuit, and Eli.  But, when all 4 of us are on the couch, there is no one left to take the picture.  Maybe we'll get that one soon.

Enjoy!

More from the land of fuss

It seems like this week zoomed by in the blink of an eye. Eli visited the pediatrician on Tuesday and we learned that he is healthy and gaining weight - though he is at the lower range of normal. We is now up to a fighting weight of 8 Lb, 7 Oz. We also learned that he will need to get his first set of shots in about three weeks, one week before his DC/Miami adventure. 

The rest of the week was generally uneventful. Eli has taken to fussing a lot at night, especially between the hours of 8-12. Shelby has mitigated the fussing somewhat by instituting a more rigorous schedule. We know try to cycle between feeding, playing, and sleeping in roughly three hour increments. This works well, especially during the day. The true test will be how well it works when we stress the system by having Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike watch Eli while we go to a wedding tomorrow. 

Yesterday we took another field trip downtown to pickup lunch from the food carts next to the Union. The big question looming right now is whether we will try to take Eli to the Obama rally downtown next Thursday. There are lots of good reasons not to, but if we don't explore the world with Eli (and learn to deal with fussing in somewhat crowded places) it will be that much harder to learn on the fly (literally) when we are stuck in a plane in a few weeks time.

Eli Enjoys the Weather

This weekend brought uncharacteristically warm October weather to Madison. Eli (or perhaps more importantly, us) really wanted to get outside to enjoy the warmth. On Saturday, I got to go on a 15 mile bike ride on the Capitol City Trial, while Shelby got to ride through the UW Arboretum a few hours later. Today we bundled Eli into his sling and brought him for a walk through the paths of the Arboretum. I'm still recovering from an ankle sprain suffered in early August, but I was able to walk reasonably well on the uneven trails (with Shelby holding Eli). Tonight we did something that we thought would have to wait until spring - we walked Eli down to Monroe Street to pick up dinner. For those of you from out of town, one of our pre-Eli rituals was walking the two or so miles from our house along the Arboretum to Monroe St., where we would pick up dinner from one of several restaurants clustered within about a one block area. Shelby, Triscuit, and I got to walk to Monroe St. two weeks ago when Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike visited and watched Eli. Tonight we took the risk that a bundled Eli would handle the walk well on a full stomach. We were rewarded with a sleepy, sleeping, and generally docile Eli who stayed snug as a bug in his carrier for our entire walk. Taking the entire family (now with Eli) felt like a return to normalcy, though we are acutely aware that we probably won't have the confluence of ideal circumstances (time, weather, and Eli disposition) to do this again until the spring. 

Also, Eli has started recognizing objects a little bit. Here is a video of him trying to play 'swat the stuffed thing'.

Eli has had alot more "firsts" in the last few days.  Dad gave him his first bottle.  And, he tried swatting at the sun.  And, he is starting to grasp rings.  These new activities are giving us more to do during his awake time than just feeding and fussing. We all like that.  Oh, and as you can see, Triscuit is either beginning to take a liking to Eli, or he just likes the pillow.

Once again...

In case folks were curious...we got another 4 hour block of sleep in last night.  Woo hoo!

Four hours of sleeping bliss

Last night, the strangest thing happened.  Eli went to sleep around 11pm.  Dave and I woke up, naturally, at 2am.  But, alas, there was no crying or fussing.  I thought, "Should I wake Eli?? Does he need to eat??"  I thought better and left him alone.  Wonderfully, I was able to go back to sleep until 3am.  Then, I had to feed Eli.  But, 4 sweet hours of sleep.....  And, then, he went back to sleep for 3 hours more!  Overall, I only had to get up once to feed him last night!!  Woo hoo!!  Let's hope this continues....

Triscuit feels neglected

Since Eli's arrival, Triscuit has watched from afar as the new baby spent time with Shelby and Dave. "How can I get in on that sweet, sitting on the stomach action?," he thought. As the picture below attests, Triscuit found a way - despite being about 62 pounds heavier than Eli. Also below, more 'aww...' inducing photos from the last few days.

Another few days have come and gone. Eli has settled into a bit of a routine, though he manages to surprise us at least once each day. On Friday, Shelby managed to teach a class for the first time since Eli's birth. I stayed home with him and dealt with the mid-afternoon fuss. Who knew that a baby that was clean, well-fed, and otherwise had nothing to complain about would fuss so much? Fortunately, he was on good behavior last night when our friends Sue and Joe came over for dinner.

This morning marked a small return to the normalcy of our pre-Eli schedules. I got out and biked the Capital City trail. Suddenly it is fall (it really seems like only yesterday when it was summer). After I got back from my bike ride and we walked the dog, Shelby and I traded places and she went out to run errands. While that might seem unequal (and it undoubtedly is), that is really a return to our pre-Eli form. Before Eli, both Shelby and I would usually go out together for bike rides, but that hadn't been possible since pregnancy advanced beyond 4 or 5 months. 

The rest of the weekend will probably be spent catching up on sleep and doting on Eli. 

As you can see, Eli has been living it up at home this week.  We have been working on eye movement in the little bouncy seat (Thanks again Gretta -- he is a big fan!).  He likes to follow the kangaroo with his eyes.  But, it is so colorful...who wouldn't want to look at the roo?  And, he has been working on his leg muscles.  You can see that when he is fussy, his tummy time is much more productive for working on those muscles.   And, you can see that the proud Dad is showing off his little Eli.  But, Eli's favorite spot still seems to be my tummy.   That is most often the best way to keep him happy (besides eating, of course).

Lingo

Tomorrow Eli turns three weeks old. It is amazing to think about how our lives have changed in the last twenty days. I've gone from never having changed a diaper to simply not being very good at it. Shelby has learned that she is part milk machine. And we both learned that a three hour block of sleep is a luxury not to be dismissed lightly.

As I suspect is true for almost all new parents, we've come up with our own shorthand vocabulary to describe Eli and his activities, often euphemistically. I'm sure this will continue to evolve as Eli's behavioral repertoire expands. For the time being, we have:

'Checking the vitals' - Examining his diaper. This confused our pregnant friend Renee, who thought, initially, that we literally needed to check his vital signs regularly.

'Fuss-monster' - Slang for an awake Eli (usage: 'what's up with the fuss monster')

'Chasing the cow' - When Eli cries in search of food

'roo him up' - Putting Eli in his carrier sling

'Suck-monster' - Eli, while eating

'Sucktown' - Mom, while Eli eats

'Drunk on white gold' - Eli after eating

'Timing the time bomb' - Scheduling activities in two to three hour windows between feedings

The last few days have been comparatively uneventful. I worked a full day for the first time since Eli's birth, but the fuss-monster was on relatively good behavior with Shelby. Today I was home for most of the day, which allowed Shelby to go on a long walk this morning and run an errand this afternoon.

Eli's outings and more

You can see that Eli has been getting out and about and trying all sorts of new things.  He took his first trip to the Union terrace and to the zoo last week.  He also was showing his support for the Milwaukee Brewers with his baseball cap that is too big for him now.  I just hope it will still fit him next year during baseball season.  You can also see that Eli is enjoying the little bouncy chair that Gretta let us borrow (he really likes it).  And, I often have a bit of playtime with Eli at my feet.

Thai Iced Tea and the Hazards of Sleep, Interrupted

It is midnight. I haven't slept through the night in three weeks. Yet I sit here typing this wide-eyed. Since I gave up soda (almost entirely) nearly four years ago, I haven't had much caffeine. Not that I avoid it at all costs, but I generally just don't have much. Since Eli's birth, however, even small amounts of caffeine seem to be enough to totally rewire my sleep cycle. A Mountain Dew in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday helped me stay awake during class, a meeting after class, dinner, TV, putting Eli to sleep, more TV, more TV, more TV...and tonight's Thai Iced Tea, consumed without considering the consequence, appears to be having the same effect. 

The last few days have been exciting as we've debuted Eli to the larger world of Madison. We ate lunch at the Memorial Union yesterday, swung by our lab in Research Park, brought Eli to cheer me on in a soccer game (which we won, despite being outclassed, go us!), and took Eli to the dog park with Triscuit. Eli is adapting well, if that includes sleeping contentedly. Apparently we are entering the treacherous, colic-zone where Eli becomes more alert to his surroundings at the risk of becoming fussier. Thus far, we've been spared. But it may be only a matter of time. 

We've also made the major (though possibly misguided) decision to bring Eli with us on our travels the rest of the year. This will include a MSN-ORD-DCA-MIA-ORD-MSN trip to two NIH meetings and one great-grandmother in November, as well as a trip to San Juan in December. Fortunately, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike will be accompanying us to Puerto Rico to help with baby sitting, since I am chairing the conference and Shelby is integral to its organization. One saving grace, at least at the moment, is that Eli loves being worn in a sling, which could potentially make the flying, if not easier, at least less awful than it otherwise would be. 

OK, I should...actually, one of the strange effects of caffeine on me is the tendency towards manic obsessiveness. Don't ask why I suddenly decided that I needed to recover my calendars going back until 2001 from old backups, but here we are.

Eli tricked me!

As Dave may have explained, sleep deprivation is not too bad when we get 3 modules of sleep at night where each module is 2+ hours long.  Last night, the first module was just over 3 hours.  I was pretty excited because I thought that meant he might sleep for another module of 3 hours. Well, sure enough, the next module was 2 hours and the following module was 1 hour.  I was tricked!!!!  Fortunately, I got in a final 2 hour module that left me feeling better.  From now on, I'll be suspicious if I get a 3 hour block of sleep.....

The New Adventures of Mom Shelby

This is what work looks like these days. We have a persistent video link with our conference room at the lab so we can have real-time videoconferences with our lab staff and instructors in the HIV class we teach to undergrads (as shown below).

A content Wedensday

Well, little Eli has been pretty content today.  As you see in the picture that Dave posted -- I got a little extra family sleep this morning.  That was nice....real nice.  Eli has been generally quiet today.  Sue and I took him out on a walk earlier.  I put him in the carrier (while he was awake) and he fell right to sleep while we were out walking.  It must be cozy for him.  He also spent some time sitting in his pillow --- trying to help Sue and I with our puzzle.  Dave took a video, and I'm sure that will get posted later.  Anyway, I hear him waking now, so I better go check the vitals!

The Hound Adapts

Here is visual evidence that Triscuit isn't too perturbed by having Eli in 'his' room.