Maiden Voyage

Last week we took baby out on his maiden voyage in the car! He loves driving. Like any true Stanfill man, he quiets right down when his Dad revs the engine for that manly '92 Honda engine growl. I already feel the dearth of estrogen in our household. I think we need a female pet.

Jed's car seat is still a leetle big for him, so we support his head with a rolled up towel. And cover him up warm with a blanket. The result looks like this:


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Baby Rock

So a couple mornings ago I asked Michael to take the fussy kid while I took a quick shower. (I shower often, did I mention that?) When I finished, I didn't hear any squalling from the living room... but I did hear some music playing. I assumed it was from the construction site across the street (We awake each morning now to the massaging vibrations of heavy machinery... ahhhhhh.... ) I emerged into the front room and there was my adorable spouse with a ridiculous grin on his face rocking the baby. Or should I say "rocking out" with the baby. "Hey, honey!" he said, "I'm helping him discover his musical tastes! He LOVES Pearl Jam!" Sure enough, there was baby with the blaring stereo and blissfully sleeping in his papa's arms, Here's an actual photo:

Clarification

Just to clarify, the "FYI" post below was written by Michael, not his gorgeous, well-bathed babe-o-licious wife. :c)
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FYI

It has come to my attention that some of my family members (who shall remain nameless to protect their identity) have not seen me showered or shaved for almost a month now, which may lead some to think that I have not showered, shaved, or left the house for the last month. I just wanted clear up any misconceptions. I have showered. And shaved. A couple of times!

Two Jeds

Vanessa has been learning how to use the Canon. She is quite good!

Michael Jed and Perry Jed


Morning cuddle time


Jed is discovering that he has hands with which to dig his Daddy's eyeballs out!


I caught my two boys with matching yawns. Jed's taking after his Dad already.

More Comments! We Love Comments!

This is a shameless plea for more comments! I find them ridiculously gratifying and motivational, too. It's a lot more fun to post stories and photos when we know that other people are reading them!

For those who are yet uninitiated into the world of blog commentary, at the bottom of each post there's a little note that states how many comments that post has. Click on the note and you'll find the window with comments from people who have seen our blog... and a place for you to add your own!

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Three Weeks Old

We love to listen to Baby Jed cry. Heartless parents that we are, we think it is ADORABLE! Well, at least before midnight. One of our favorite cries is when he starts to hyperventilate and turns violent red. He screws up his little face and opens his mouth wide and just as you're expecting the world's loudest most awful tortured cry.... *aah!* One strangled little split-second squawk and then he passes out, blissfully asleep, in our arms.

And then we have our happy boy back again.

Yesterday Mommy gave Baby his second bath. And it was a success! I used a different baby bather that sits in the tub and soaks up water. I filled the tub nice and warm, set him down, and his little arms unfolded, feet waved in the water, he peacefully looked up with a generally pleased look on his face. I put a washcloth over his tummy, another over his head, and then used a little cup (improvised from the cap to my hair mousse) to pour warm water over all his body parts. He loved it! We sat there quietly playing in the water for twenty minutes or so until his eyes started to half-mast and soon he was dead asleep. Afterward, I bundled him up and we took a looooooong nap. Here's our little angel all bundled up in his blankie, gazing out the window.

Hearing Test & Walks

These past couple of days have been big for baby Jed. Two days ago, Vanessa took him out for his first walk. She wanted to try out one of the strollers that we have, but... they are just a little bit to big for him just yet. So she carried him in a sling. He loved it so much that he immediately fell asleep. Yesterday we took him to have his hearing tested. He passed with flying colors. That was also the first car ride for him, which he also loved so much, he fell asleep.

Here is our collapsible infant in his daddy's hand

Daddy and little boy curled up in bed

We tried putting baby in the jogging stroller, but he still has a little growing to do!

So, instead, Momma put him in her little baby sling for their first walk. This is a photo looking down at him curled up against her chest.

Frizzle hair! That's totally from his dad's side... hee hee hee...

First Bath

Tonight was baby's first bath! He was getting pretty stinky, even despite my occasional sponge baths. This afternoon while his Aunt Emily was changing him, he treated her with an extra spectacular fountain of pee that managed to soak him, the general surroundings, his clothes, and, um, a bit of poor Auntie.
As you can imagine, this only improved the general sticky feel of the kid's little bod. That was the final straw--tonight is bath night!

Since his bellybutton is pretty close to being healed, we thought we'd give it a try tonight. We warmed up the bathroom with a space heater and got the little baby bathtub filled up with warm water. Michael stripped him down and gently laid his little squirmy body down into the warm water. He quieted down and looked up at us thoughtfully. We put a washcloth over his tummy to keep him warm when he started to shiver a bit. Didn't get a whole heck of a lot of enthusiasm from the kiddo, but he didn't seem particularly upset about it.

Michael washed him up. After a few minutes we pulled him out before he got chilly. We put him on a cozy towel in front of the space heater and dried him off. Michael put some goop on his diaper rash and got the diaper ready. Baby was so quiet and happy! Just as Michael reached down to pull up the sides and fasten little cozy kid all together... Pssssssssssssssssssss! Pee fountain! Whee! It went everywhere, all the way up to his chin, in the belly button, all over the towel, the diaper, the clean onesie....

Giggling, we put him back in the bath. (Well, ok, I was giggling. Michael was annoyed.) The water was a tad chilly by now, though, and poor little darling started to squall. Fast forward this time: quick bath, back onto a new towel, new diaper goop, new diaper, new onesie, and he was shivering cold. His little lips and nose turn purple when he's chilly. We wrapped him up in a sleep snack and hat and then in a blankie and snuggled him until he was warm and quiet.

So the bath turned out a tad more traumatic than we'd hoped. Apparently new mom and dad haven't mastered the "relaxing bedtime bath" that my mother has told me about. But the good news is that baby's hair is soooo soft and clean and blonde curly when it's freshly washed and dried. I've been burying my nose in all its deliciousness for the last hour. Ah, life is good! How we love our baby Jed!

-Vanessa

Vanessa, My Superhero!

Since Sunday, I've been sick as a dog. The worst so far was last night where I had a temperature of 103. I haven't been able to hold the baby, and I've been very little use around the house. I just wanted to tell you all that Vanessa has managed to take care of me, the baby (two babies, I guess) almost all by herself, and she still has a smile on her face. I just wanted to tell you all that she is amazing, and I love her.

A Momentous Day

Baby Jed turned a WEEK old yesterday. Wow! What a big boy! So far as I can tell he looks pretty much the same, but with a nice new layer of pink skin instead of the wrinkly/peely old-man skin with which he was born. His beautiful head of hair is still firmly attached and every time she comes over Granny Zo'An puts it into a curly mohawk (aka "ducky curl," but let's be honest--it's a mohawk!)
Today was a momentous day for me because......
I get to leave the bedroom!
Yahoo!
For the last week I've been under strict orders to stay to the bed so I can heal up some tearing from the birth. I was allowed to shuffle to the bathroom but that was it! As of today, however, I am permitted such wild activities as shuffling into the kitchen and living room, or maybe even to the COUCH! Pretty thrilling, eh?! Well, my backside is dang excited :c)
Uh oh, Jed's hungry, gotta run.
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Nicknames and New Photos

New nickname for Jed: no longer is he "Baby Boo" but Michael has officially retitled him as "Squirt." Michael is the professional diaper changer of the family and, well, I imagine the name pretty much explains itself.
I, on the other hand, have started calling him my little "snugglebug" because he is SO snuggly! He's been sleeping in bed with us because I just can't put all that cuteness down, plus it makes night feedings so much easier. Last night I set him about a foot away from me because it was hot and he's a little heat machine. We turned the lights out. Within a few moments, I started to feel him kicking and wiggling about. Not fussing, but some kind of crazy movement going on over there. Soon I felt little feet kicking at my stomach. Then hands. Within a few minutes, he was completely pressed against me, snuggled in tight to his mommy. He didn't want to be so far away, he wants full body contact all the time! Sweet little thing.
I used to be known by the nickname "NessaAnn"--but now I have a new moniker, "BessahAnn" because I'm essentially little more than a milk-makin' animal! Baby Jed should be getting REALLY chubby any day now judging by the sheer quantity of milk consumption going into that little body. Truly astonishing.

Little details

Things are going well. Vanessa continues to recover nicely, and Baby Jed is doing well too.

Videos of Baby Jed

Anyone interested in seeing videos of Baby Jed? Go to www.stanfill.org and click on "download link". Any video with baby in the title is one you'll want to see. They are huge so they'll take a while, but they are totally worth the wait.

WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT!!!

Baby Jed was a real handful last night. He is definitely a nocturnal animal. Yesterday during the day he was calm, he was peaceful, we almost thought he was dead a couple of times... but then 9:00 rolled around, and he was just as lively and awake as when he was born. He did not want to sleep. This morning he's settled down again and is peacefully sleeping in his mother's arms.

The Baby is here!!!

Early Early this morning, at 12:02 a.m., our baby boy, Perry Jed Stanfill, came into the world. He weighs 7 pounds 14 ounces and he's 19 inches long. He is just the cutest thing that you have ever seen. He has got TONS of hair, as you can see from the pictures, long slender fingers, and a squished sideways nose from all the abuse he took last night. Vanessa went into labor at about 8:30 and had him out in three and half hours. What a champ! She is doing well, and resting from the long night. Obviously, this is going to be one well documented baby. We'll update this website often to keep you informed!

Baby On the Way!

But still not here--sorry, folks! We're doin' our best, but he/she must not be ready yet! Dilation and effacement was about halfway along as of Tuesday... so I figure the little bugger had better get labor going active soon or it's just gonna fall right out as I'm walking around the house.

Belly Cast

Our midwife Jules and her assistant Jessica came over Tuesday to check me and baby over. For those unaware, we're going with a homebirth, which means that all your checkups are at home! It's great! We sit around and drink tea and talk about babies and giggle for hours.

Our other activity for the morning was making a BELLY CAST! A belly cast, in case you've never observed such a thing before, is a plaster of paris cast of my huge, gorgeous belly so as to preserve it in all its glory forever. M and I are planning on making it into a shiny bronze bowl. hee hee hee. Maybe we'll put baby in it and take a picture.

And this is how my beloved husband sees me: all stomach and chin, apparently. :c)

We had so much fun! Nearly 40 weeks, fat, happy, and waiting for our cute new baby to come!