More Beach News

Apparently Lily had one of her famous tantrums yesterday. Amanda saw her grabbing herself as she tends to do when she has to go potty, so Amanda told her to go. Lily tried to find a compromise by saying that she would only go if Amanda came with her. Naturally, Amanda refused. This led to a screaming fit.

Amanda was then at a loss for what to do. When we're home we put her in her room or in the basement. Sometimes Amanda will put her out on the deck, which is what she initially did. Then she realized that there were many neighbors on vacation nearby, so that wasn't a good option. She couldn't put her in our room because Noah was trying to nap. She couldn't use any other bathroom because there was stuff she could get into. She ended up putting her in the half bathroom near the living area.

This caused much consternation for some because hearing a Lily tantrum really is not a pleasant experience. We just keep praying that eventually Lily will understand who is in charge. She just will not be told what to do.

The Beach

I am back from the whirlwind time at the beach. I am glad to say that Lily seems to be more comfortable with the ocean than she was last year. Unfortunately, I gave her a really bad introduction to the ocean. I took her down to the beach as soon as we arrived and I didn't think to hold her hand in the 1 inch wave that swept over her feet. She lost her balance and plopped down on the wet sand. Naturally, being Lily, this led to an ocean of tears and a complete fear of going in the water.

This year went much better. I held her hand at first and then she grew more confident. Of course, she's stronger on her feet now, so the waves weren't as much of a problem. In fact, she began to get really confident and started running in the shallow waves. As she got even more confident she would go down on all fours and splash around in the waves. Unfortunately, one got the better of her and rolled her around. She came up sputtering a bit (though we did discuss breath holding) and her eyes stung from the salt water. She then became more cautious.

It's good to see her overcome her fears and enjoy the water a little bit. She's still very tentative in the pool, despite wearing a suit that ensures she will float. Hopefully by the end of the week she will be more confident in the pool too. Of course, any fear she has in the water can be blamed on me rather than her mom. Amanda is an excellent swimmer and has been since she was very young. I can keep myself up, but I would hardly call myself a swimmer.

Everyone seems to be enjoying Lily and Noah. It's kind of sad to be home alone, but the tranquility is nice too :)

Noah Photos

Amanda took Noah to get some professional photos done by a friend of hers from church. Follow this link to see the proofs. I'm particularly fond of #10 as I think that is a signature Noah look.

I'm not sure what the process will be for ordering the actual photos. Amanda can tell you more.

New Experience

Lily had a landmark occasion yesterday in that she saw her first movie in the theater. Amanda took her to the $1 movies to see Curious George. Lily's only regret was that Amanda wouldn't spend $1 for the previous night's popcorn. Nevertheless, she had a great time and was eager to tell me about it. I suspect that we may have opened up the floodgates here, but that is OK.

As good as it went in the morning Lily had some problems in the evening. She fought with eating her dinner and didn't get any of my peanut butter chocolate brownie chunk ice cream. This was definitely a big loss to her. Amanda and I went to see Harry Potter and a friend came over to babysit. Lily gave her trouble because we had the audacity to suggest a different type of outfit for bedtime. Our poor friend got to see some vintage Lily at her obsessive best.

The good news through all of this is that Noah was good at both movies. He was very good at Harry Potter and Amanda said that he was even better at that than he was in the morning movie. It's such a relief to have such a sweet baby.

Keeping Up the Legacy

We're starting to get into freezer meals to keep up our stretch of not cooking in August. I think that we can make it through the rest of the week, which has been great. I made the comment yesterday that I think we can start cooking soon and Amanda said, "You mean that you can start cooking soon?" She was only half-joking. Still, it's going well.

We had some chili that a friend of Amanda's brought over very shortly after Noah was born. She included a little ziploc bag of 5 cornbread muffins, which of course complemented the chili nicely. We gave one to Lily who had a meal of "door cheese eggs" (scrambled eggs with American cheese). shh...don't tell Lily that I added some egg white for extra protein

As Lily ate her muffin I suggested a little honey on it. She was a bit reluctant at first, but quickly embraced it after trying it. I also had my second muffin with honey. I couldn't help but think of my Grandpa Chamberlain. It seemed like the way he would end such a meal if he could. I don't know if I could bring myself to chew on a honeycomb like I remember him doing, but I do remember his penchant for sweets.

Unfortunately, Lily eats at the speed of my Grandma Chamberlain. If she could find a balance there we might have something.

Breakfast with Lily

I'm in a training class this Wednesday - Friday. What's great is that the class starts at 8:30 each morning and the building is only 10-15 minutes from my house. This means that I have a little more time each morning, which I have enjoyed this week.

On Wednesday I decided that I could make pancakes for Thursday's breakfast. While discussing this with Lily she said that she wanted chocolate-chip pancakes. She asked, "Could you arrange that daddy?"

It's amazing the stuff she picks up from us.

Some New Pics

OK Bubbe...you can stop complaining now...

A Long Battle

We had another epic battle in the fight with Lily and eating last night. One of Amanda's friends from church brought over a casserole called "Santa Fe Chicken". We decided that Lily didn't have to eat that, but she could have a slice of quiche. This isn't any kind of funky quiche either -- it's just eggs and cheese. Not that big of a deal, but Lily ended up spending 50 minutes in her room screaming about it last night. Eventually she quit screaming and she rode her big wheel around the cul-de-sac while I mowed the lawn. We played some karaoke and some Chutes & Ladders as well. It ended up being an OK evening.

Noah was kind of fussy last night. Amanda is trying to stretch out the feedings at night, but he wouldn't have it. I think as a family we were up from about 3:00 to 3:30. I'm pretty sure Amanda fed him around 4:00, but I'm a bit fuzzy on it. All I know is that I ended up sleeping in until 6:00 this morning. Perhaps I'll get my lifting workout in this evening, though I'm not going to count on it.

Lily got up at 7:03 this morning and we resumed the battle over the quiche. I melted a piece of American cheese after she agreed to eat it that way. I told her that she had to eat the whole thing or I wouldn't flash the lights and beep the horn when I leave for the rest of the week. She didn't like that idea, so she finally ate it. Hopefully we're on the road to her enjoying a wider spectrum of food.

Degrees of Tiredness

Lily was a little rough around the edges yesterday. She didn't get to bed on Saturday until around 9 PM, but she was still up faithfully at "seven zero zero". She had some dark circles under her eyes.

For some reason she wasn't that interested in her breakfast. Then she put up a fight about eating quiche for lunch, which defies reason since she likes eggs, cheese, and pie crust. She was just being difficult. I took Noah out shopping after we ate lunch while Amanda and Lily napped. Lily said that she didn't sleep, but just "rested her eyes". Wonder where she heard that one before? Of course, she did sleep a little bit.

The funniest came later in the day. I suggested that perhaps she might need a nap since she didn't take one before. She declared, "I'm not sleepy, just resty."

I always like it when someone creates a new adverb!

For Noah news, it turns out that he was a little fussy last night. However, once he did fall asleep he was down from about 10 PM to about 2 AM. That was a great stretch for Amanda!

A Very Quiet Evening

There isn't much to report for tonight. Lily is spending the night with Uncle Bill & Aunt Tiff because I am going to Cleveland for a day trip tomorrow. I gave Noah a bath. Poor little guy couldn't stop spitting up tonight. We have no idea what Amanda could have eaten that might upset his stomach, but it appears that there was something!

Amanda and I were talking about how easy it is when it's just us and Noah. It makes me wonder why we thought it was so tough with Lily. Then we remember -- Lily wasn't like this. She was much higher-maintenance.

Strangely Fussy

Noah has had a few fussy moments that come seemingly out of the blue. I guess that this shows us that he is indeed a human baby and not a little angel.

The tough times have been shortly after bedtime. I'm a little fuzzy on the exact times, but I think that he has been fussy around midnight for the last two nights. I've found that doing a fresh, tight swaddle along with a tight football hold does the trick. By tight I mean it's the sense that I just ran through the line and am going to try putting a move on a linebacker, but don't want to get the ball stripped if I get hit.

The poor little guy has some dry skin on his face too. Amanda is working on that.

On a happier note, his face is starting to look less like a newborn and more like a baby. I would love to share a photo, but we can't find our camera.

A Great Day

Last night was rough. Amanda got back from a "girls night out" at a friend's house at around 10:00 PM. She fed Noah and tried to put him down. The problem was that he didn't really get quiet until I did a fresh swaddle at around 12:30. But then he slept for a good long time. We really didn't get a very good night's sleep last night.

The good news is that Lily was extra-quiet this morning. I gave her some breakfast before I left for work and then she played quietly by herself in the living room until Amanda got up. That was very sweet of her. Then one of Amanda's friends came and got Lily and kept her from 10 until 2. They took her swimming and even fed her lunch.

Basically, Amanda got to rest a little bit and catch up on some things. It's such a blessing to have a community to care for us. I don't know if it takes a village, but a good church sure helps! Thanks to all who have helped us so far and will help us in the future (like tomorrow -- thanks Cija!)

A Fairly Quiet Day

I'm not complaining, but today was pretty quiet. Noah was very good all day. I got to enjoy some of his alert time while I made granola after dinner. Lily behaved pretty well, though she made a huge mess in the living room. Nevertheless, it did get cleaned up. We had no theatrics at mealtime. In fact, Lily ate the food we gave her and enjoyed treats after lunch and dinner.

Though it wasn't anything to brag about I think I actually was reasonably productive while working from home. I got a paper turned in as well. As of right now, 9:59 PM on July 9, 2007 life is great.

Fewer Theatrics

Today has been a pretty mellow day. We made it to church on time, which was good considering I let Amanda sleep to her normal pre-Noah time and we had to scramble. I'm going to work on that in subsequent weeks :)

I made us a brunch of french toast and bacon. It was enjoyed by all. Hopefully Noah will like the version that he gets of it.

Amanda and Lily went to the pool while I stayed home with Noah. I played some Tiger Woods 2007 on the PS2 while he napped. He did have some alert time, which we enjoyed together with him on my lap while I played golf. I now remember how golf was one video game I could play with Lily since it didn't involve a lot of motion on my part.

I even got something of a wild hair and cleaned up the basement a little bit. Hopefully I can keep it somewhat tidy. It's always tough because of a combination of my indifference, Amanda's relative indifference (she figures that I don't care since I leave it messy), and Lily's influences. Still, how can it be a man-cave if it doesn't have some old bones scattered around?

Another Milestone

Today little Noah accomplished something else in his young life. He lost the last little bit of his umbilical cord so that he can have a belly button now. It's kind of nice not to have that little stump sticking out anymore.

It's pretty amazing to see the contrast of our attitudes with Noah compared to Lily. I remember being much more fastidious about things like cord care with her. I certainly did not apply alcohol to Noah's as much as I did Lily's. It seems like she got bathed more often too. Overall, it's still been a great experience.

He has his fussy times, but it's nothing like Lily's were. It's another reason to be thankful that he isn't just like his sister!

In the Man Cave

Little Noah wasn't going down for his nap very well, so I brought him down here to my "man cave", as I affectionately call my basement. What else can you call a room with 3 guitars, a PS2, a dartboard, a computer with games, and a pool table? Plus, it has that dark ambiance of a cave. This is one of the great things about working from home. I can help Amanda out sometimes. Hopefully she will get a nap.

I brought Noah down here yesterday as well. He was having an alert time and I wanted to enjoy him a little bit. Lily declared that she too was going to come down to the "man cave". I'm not sure that she gets what "man cave" is all about. At least we had a good time singing songs while I played the guitar. Noah seems to like my playing.

A Pretty Good Night

We had something of a Target shopping spree yesterday. We caught up on some stuff that we needed, and we also got something really helpful. I think that one of the best $3.50 we've spent in a long time was on a small Energizer LCD clip-on light. This allows Amanda to change and feed Noah without disturbing me much. I just have to wake up to swaddle him.

I realize I'm getting the good end of this deal. I almost feel guilty any time I yawn in front of Amanda.

More Settling In

We had a very quiet 4th of July. I suppose that in the future it will involve taking the family to fireworks, but as of right now we treated it like a Sunday in the middle of the week. I'd say Saturday, but I have to work tomorrow. We had pancakes for breakfast, which of course Lily thoroughly enjoyed. She is partial to chocolate chip pancakes. I did some yardwork, which kept Lily out of the house for a while. Then as a family we went to Target and caught up on some things we needed. It's amazing how flat-footed we were caught with Noah's early arrival.

I think today is starting to get more of a sense of "a day in the life". I gave him a bath before Lily had hers. We have it timed so that he can eat around 9:30 tonight, which is about when Amanda and I go to bed anyway. So far, so good.

He is not quite as angelic as he was for the first few days, but that's OK. It's just great that he is healthy and appears to be noticing what is going on in the world. I just need to make sure that I stay active with him. He's so sweet that it is easy for me not to step up like I did with Lily.

Getting Better All the Time

I think that Lily is starting to get a bit better with Noah. Of course, she's been highly distracted by Grandma Judy and Grandpa E lately. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when she has some time with just Amanda, her, and Noah.

This photo sure makes her look angelic though, doesn't it?