Cinco de Mayo

It was a busy day yesterday. Anna got to:

play with Dad in the morning

Sleep with mom in the afternoon

Play with Dad in the afternoon

Go to the ice cream store

Lazy Sunday

On Sunday, Anna turned 1 week old. And what a difference a week makes. Both SJC and I feel much more like we have a routine with her now, and she seems much easier to handle after 5 days of being home with her. During the day yesterday, we went for a walk, watched basketball, and ate our lunch outside. Anna also got a visit from our neighbor Jennifer, who brought us delicious lasagna:

That's not my mom!

That's mommy!

This morning, we've been fooling around with the video capacity of our camera. Here's Anna's internet debut:

Uncle Dan and Aunt Bridget come to visit

Dan and Bridget came down from New York yesterday to see us. Anna took them for a nice walk and was kind enough to let them hold her.

Dan shows off his parenting skills

Bridget too!

That's some of the new pink wear dad bought for her

This morning, Anna took her first ride in her swing, which was generously loaned to us by a friend Sarah used to work with in Niskayuna. Anna loved it!

Another day, another roll of cute pictures

Yesterday, I did some shopping while SJC hung out with Anna. I went to Babies R Us and got Anna some pink clothes - a swaddler and two outfits. Today, Uncle Danny and Aunt Bridget are coming to visit!

Here are some photos from the day:

Looking cute with Mom

Hanging out at lunch on the back deck

Bananas!

I love my mommy!

And here's an old shot from the hospital, taken by Corrine:

Going for a walk...and sleeping alot

Yesterday afternoon, we took Anna out for a stroll in our neighborhood for the first time. Since she slept the whole time, it's not clear that she even knew we went. But I like to think she enjoyed it, it being the beautiful Spring weather in Virginia (which, unfortunately, will turn into the often-horrendous Virginia summer in about a month). Later in the afternoon, Anna slept a lot, with Mom and Dad taking turns snuggling with her. As a side note, Anna has been sleeping pretty darn well at night. The last two nights, she has slept for 2-3 hours at a time, and quickly gone back to bed after feedings.

Here are some photos:

Strolling the neighborhood

Loaded into her stroller

Sleeping on her boppy

Sleeping with Dad

Best Days

This is the first time I've been on the computer since Anna was born. (No, I was not the one who made the first blog post on April 27th...although it said it was done by me, Matt was accidentally logged in as me).

First of all, I need to say that April 27th, 2008 was probably the best day of my life. It is only rivaled by June 26th, 2004, the day I was married.

Before Anna was born I had an abstract idea of what it would mean to be a parent. Over the past eight months a lot of people have told me how wonderful it would be when our child was born. We had read books, taken baby care classes, tried to buy the right supplies, and set up all the gear around the house. When people asked us if we were ready, I always said, "yes, well as ready as I'll ever be."

The last hour before Anna was born became so incredibly exciting. I was so lucky in that by this point I had had an epidural that was working incredibly well and I had an amazing nurse who was coaching me as well as Matt and another nurse about what to do. I can't really describe in words what it was like when they gave Anna to me after she was born...everything people had told me about how I would feel was true. I couldn't believe that I was holding a new person in this world who needed us to care for her. This moment as well as thousands of moments through the rest of the day where Matt & I just stared at Anna in amazement made April 27th the best day of my life.

Since Sunday Matt and I have had so many wonderful moments with Anna. It has certainly been hard - in the middle of the night when Anna needed to be fed for the 6th consecutive hour in a row and I felt like I didn't have enough energy to sit up, I became so scared that I couldn't give Anna everything she needed. But Matt & I survived that challenge as well as many others. We both know there will be many more challenges like this, but these challenges are so worth all the joy she brings to our life.

There are so many more stories I would like to share, but the little banana is starting to stir from her "deep" sleep on Matt's lap.

To be continued...

Anna, time for your spongebath...

Until Anna's umbilical cord stump falls off (about a week or so), she can't take a regular bath. So today we did her first spongebath in the kitchen. We were nervous that it was going to be a cry-fest, but it actually was a lot of fun. Anna loved it!

Getting Prepped

Washing her arm

Posing for the camera

All done!