Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Helluva First Year
Today is Christopher Byrne V's first birthday.
It's been a helluva a year.
He's gone from 6 lbs, 15.8 oz and 18 inches long to 25 lbs and 34 inches long. He can now reach the kitchen table, kitchen counters, pretty much half of everything in the house.
He's extremely social, generally happy (there's a reason we call him Happy Boy), and crawling. He's almost standing and could walk if he wanted to, but he finds crawling to be faster. He can also climb though. He's become a master of getting on and off of the couch. He also has a fascination with crawling out the doggie door and exploring the outdoors.
He's got engineer brain. Toys aren't near as interesting as normal everyday adult items, which he tries to figure out how to manipulate constantly. His curiosity is endless. He's turning his mother's hair gray with his adventures and lack of fear.
He's already showing a distinct personality. Happy-go-lucky, intent, determined, generally calm. He already has his own taste in music (metal, old school hip hop, classic rock) and a favorite movie (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).
He's extremely easy to feed. He took to feeding himself very early and will try anything... provided it comes off of an adult's plate or a serving platter. He's tried everything from the standard hamburgers and pasta to prime rib, fried clam bellies, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Mexican, New Mexican, and barbecue (in Memphis no less).
This child has lived in 3 different states, traveled to and through 25 more, and logged over 10k miles of road time. He's traveled more and tried more cuisines than many adults I know.
He's met countless family members, spent holidays with both grandfathers and two great-grandmothers, and spent tons of time with family friends. He's also pick up a surrogate grandmother (since both genetic grandmothers have passed) and is about to pick up a step-grandmother.
This kid's been around and been busy his entire life. He's brought joy to everyone around him and delighted people we know and strangers alike.
We're extremely lucky to have him.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Lessons baby boy has been learning from the doggies
Evidently the boy thinks he's a puppy.
To be fair, he and the doggies move on all fours instead of two legs, so he might have a point.
Lessons the boy has picked up from the doggies:
1. An uncovered toilet bowl is for playing and, ideally, for splashing water onto the formerly clean and dry bathroom floor.
2. If the doggies congregate at the door Grandpa is home. Paying attention to you is Grandpa's only purpose; make sure to remind him as loudly as possible should he neglect to pay attention to you the minute he walks through the door.
3. An open door is an opportunity to escape. Never miss an opportunity to go through the open door for dirt and wonderful things to roll in are on the other side.
4. The fridge is a magic place where food comes from. Should a two-legged open the fridge door, make sure you hurry so you can take a peek inside and possibly claim something for yourself.
5. Food found on the floor is the best food.
6. Packaged food left on the table is just waiting for you to grab it and breach its packaging. This applies to both foods you are normally given (crackers) and food Mommy keeps away from you (bouillon cubes). Wait until Mommy's back is turned for maximum impact.
7. Bathroom doors are never to be closed. Ever. Someone attempting to use the bathroom by themselves is clearly rejecting you.
8. If it's not edible, it's chewable or bite-able. No exceptions.
9. If your food does not come from Mommy or Daddy's plate, you're being denied adequate nourishment. Complain loudly. Conversely...
10. If it's in the dog feeder, it's clearly edible and tasty. After all, the other four-leggeds eat it and they're fine.
11. If a two-legged should eat at the table without you, make sure you go beg with the other four-leggeds.
12. Dirty pots, dishes, and leftovers left on the floor are up for grabs. Make sure you hurry so you can attempt to push the other four-leggeds away from whatever they're eating.
And yes, the fact that he hasn't been bitten for attempting all of the above is proof that we have the most awesome dogs ever.
Mel
To be fair, he and the doggies move on all fours instead of two legs, so he might have a point.
Lessons the boy has picked up from the doggies:
1. An uncovered toilet bowl is for playing and, ideally, for splashing water onto the formerly clean and dry bathroom floor.
2. If the doggies congregate at the door Grandpa is home. Paying attention to you is Grandpa's only purpose; make sure to remind him as loudly as possible should he neglect to pay attention to you the minute he walks through the door.
3. An open door is an opportunity to escape. Never miss an opportunity to go through the open door for dirt and wonderful things to roll in are on the other side.
4. The fridge is a magic place where food comes from. Should a two-legged open the fridge door, make sure you hurry so you can take a peek inside and possibly claim something for yourself.
5. Food found on the floor is the best food.
6. Packaged food left on the table is just waiting for you to grab it and breach its packaging. This applies to both foods you are normally given (crackers) and food Mommy keeps away from you (bouillon cubes). Wait until Mommy's back is turned for maximum impact.
7. Bathroom doors are never to be closed. Ever. Someone attempting to use the bathroom by themselves is clearly rejecting you.
8. If it's not edible, it's chewable or bite-able. No exceptions.
9. If your food does not come from Mommy or Daddy's plate, you're being denied adequate nourishment. Complain loudly. Conversely...
10. If it's in the dog feeder, it's clearly edible and tasty. After all, the other four-leggeds eat it and they're fine.
11. If a two-legged should eat at the table without you, make sure you go beg with the other four-leggeds.
12. Dirty pots, dishes, and leftovers left on the floor are up for grabs. Make sure you hurry so you can attempt to push the other four-leggeds away from whatever they're eating.
And yes, the fact that he hasn't been bitten for attempting all of the above is proof that we have the most awesome dogs ever.
Mel
Friday, February 14, 2014
Monday, October 07, 2013
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
6 Months Old and We're in Trouble
Baby Chris turned 6 months old on Saturday.
Yes, it has been that long. No, we don't know where the time went either, other than mostly to sleep deprivation. Which isn't as bad since he's now sleeping through the night... most of the time.
So remember what I said about Baby Chris being a lot like his father?
... Yeah, just a little bit.
Christopher Byrne V entered this world at 6 lbs 15.8oz, 18 in, and with a head circumference of 13 in. He started out in the 25th percentile for weight, 5th percentile for height, and 10th percentile for head circumference. That didn't last long.
He's now 19 lbs, 29 1/2 in long, and 17 1/2 in head circumference. He's now up to about 85th in head circumference, 60th percentile in weight and... well I can't get a percentile for length, because he's literally off the chart. He's as tall as the average 12-month-old.
Somebody's been busy eating and sleeping, sometimes at the same time.
In fact, we had to start him on solids early because he could no longer be satisfied with the liquid diet. Now he's up to 4 solid meals a day (with bottles in between of course) and he will snub the bottle if he wants "real" food. He has not once snubbed solid food, and while most babies need to be encouraged to eat from a spoon (at least sometimes), he's been known to attempt to take the spoon out of my hand if I'm not moving fast enough. He's eating between a 1 and 1 1/3 cups a day of baby cereal, about 3/4 cup of baby food (of all sorts, it's all good to him), 3 oz of yogurt, and 30 fl oz of formula.
That's approximately 1000 calories a day, 53 calories per lb. And no, we're NOT overfeeding him, if he's not fed until he's full (which he indicates VERY well by stopping his requests for more food) he will either fuss or, if he's fallen asleep eating, will wake up an hour later screaming.
So my theory that I could not gain weight while pregnant because he was stealing all of the calories I ate (plus more)... more or less proven.
So where is all of that food going?
There are some other, less used measurements that tell the story.
Speaking of the physical stuff... he's almost mobile. He's figured out how to crawl backwards somewhat (and therefore give me heart attacks).
And he's perilously close to the "going forward" part.
He's also remarkably self-occupying for his age.
He's almost figured out that he can manipulate people. Almost. I give it another month, max. He's already showing signs.
And his innate curiosity and interest in the world is rather all-consuming. If he's bored, he will MAKE his own entertainment. Right now that means pulling on Jayne's ears. Later it might involve chemicals or explosives. Constant supervision is a must, and will be until he figures out how to NOT kill himself with his own curiosity. Some of LawDog's stories from his childhood come to mind.
Raising him is going to be... interesting and challenging.
But we're up for it and glad to be here, enjoying our baby boy.
Yes, it has been that long. No, we don't know where the time went either, other than mostly to sleep deprivation. Which isn't as bad since he's now sleeping through the night... most of the time.
So remember what I said about Baby Chris being a lot like his father?
... Yeah, just a little bit.
 |
| Daddy's foot is fascinating. |
 |
| And so is Mommy holding a camera. |
He's now 19 lbs, 29 1/2 in long, and 17 1/2 in head circumference. He's now up to about 85th in head circumference, 60th percentile in weight and... well I can't get a percentile for length, because he's literally off the chart. He's as tall as the average 12-month-old.
Somebody's been busy eating and sleeping, sometimes at the same time.
 |
| This growing stuff is hard work. |
In fact, we had to start him on solids early because he could no longer be satisfied with the liquid diet. Now he's up to 4 solid meals a day (with bottles in between of course) and he will snub the bottle if he wants "real" food. He has not once snubbed solid food, and while most babies need to be encouraged to eat from a spoon (at least sometimes), he's been known to attempt to take the spoon out of my hand if I'm not moving fast enough. He's eating between a 1 and 1 1/3 cups a day of baby cereal, about 3/4 cup of baby food (of all sorts, it's all good to him), 3 oz of yogurt, and 30 fl oz of formula.
That's approximately 1000 calories a day, 53 calories per lb. And no, we're NOT overfeeding him, if he's not fed until he's full (which he indicates VERY well by stopping his requests for more food) he will either fuss or, if he's fallen asleep eating, will wake up an hour later screaming.
So my theory that I could not gain weight while pregnant because he was stealing all of the calories I ate (plus more)... more or less proven.
So where is all of that food going?
There are some other, less used measurements that tell the story.
 |
| Yes, that is a normal shopping cart. |
Neck: 10 in
Chest (around): 18 in
Wingspan: 27 in
Bicep: 6 in
Calf: 7 1/4 in
He's just a little like his father. Just a tiny bit. We know grown women with smaller necks, and his calves are bigger than my wrists.
Speaking of the physical stuff... he's almost mobile. He's figured out how to crawl backwards somewhat (and therefore give me heart attacks).
 |
| What, you want me to KEEP my fingers and toes? |
And he's perilously close to the "going forward" part.
Yes, he is quite expressive.
How about the rest, the mental and emotional and social development. Well...
The first observations total strangers in the store make about him usually are:
"He's so alert. I've never seen a baby so alert."
"He's so calm. I've never seen a baby behave this well in a store."
"He's so happy. What a cute smile!"
This kid doesn't miss ANYTHING.
 |
| Watching his first football game. |
His attention span is also longer than that of many ADULTS, as well as his patience.
He developed a signal that he wanted to be picked up about a month and a half ago; he puts his arms straight out to his sides and waits. My 93-year-old grandmother won't pick him up because she's afraid of dropping him. He doesn't understand this though, so he'll sit there for 5 minutes, staring at her from his exersaucer, with his arms straight out waiting for her to pick him up. For 5 MINUTES. Then he'll fuss until I pick him up instead.
He doesn't have patience if he's hungry though. Food is the one thing he will not wait for.
He's also quite calm.
He doesn't really cry much. If he needs something he'll fuss, and if he fusses too long he might cry. Even the pain of teething doesn't cause more than the occasional fussing and crying usually signals pain. Outright screaming? That's only if he's fallen over or something equally disturbing to him.
This even applies to frustration. He can be attempting to crawl and get frustrated with his lack of progress and not fuss for a long time. Even once he starts fussing he won't give his signal to be picked up... if you go to pick him up he gives you a look like, "no, I got this." It will take him a good 10 minutes of frustration to ask to be picked up.
He's also quite happy.
Happy seems to be his natural state. And he's always looking for more reasons to be happy.
So this combination of natural innate happiness, alertness, long attention span, and ability to self-occupy makes it possible to do something I'd never dreamed of doing with a baby before: taking him out to dinner in public with friends.
Or spending all day at a friend's place, or taking him to a gaming event or... you get the idea. As long as we've got enough food and diapers with us, almost anything is possible.
It doesn't hurt that he's also extremely social and expressive.
"Wow Mel it sounds like you lucked out. You have an obscenely healthy, happy, well-tempered, easy-to-handle baby. You've got it made."
HAH.
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| This smile and what it does to people keeps me up at night. |
Sometimes infancy isn't the parental challenge presented to you. Sometimes it's every OTHER stage.
Chris V is uniformly advanced for his age. He's 2 months ahead on almost everything. This is a strong indicator of hyper-intelligence. Combine that with his temperament, attention span, patience, high frustration tolerance, sociability, expressiveness, and general level of cute and you have... a shameless flirt. Extremely shameless, extremely effective flirt.
And his innate curiosity and interest in the world is rather all-consuming. If he's bored, he will MAKE his own entertainment. Right now that means pulling on Jayne's ears. Later it might involve chemicals or explosives. Constant supervision is a must, and will be until he figures out how to NOT kill himself with his own curiosity. Some of LawDog's stories from his childhood come to mind.
Raising him is going to be... interesting and challenging.
But we're up for it and glad to be here, enjoying our baby boy.
Mel
Friday, June 28, 2013
He's a Biter
And he's already got that smile... that look in his eyes... We are in SUCH big trouble.
Friday, June 07, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Blargh
Perils of having a 2 month old (today actually)...
I haven't slept more than 4 continuous hours in 8 weeks... He has, I haven't. In fact I don't think more than 3.
Most days, I haven't slept more than 4 hours total actually.... with a couple of 8 or even 10 hour "catchup" days in there.
I haven't slept at all for the least two days, just dozed a bit, 45 minutes at a time maybe...
I'm sick, and I'm exhausted... I'm going to pass out now... might be alive tomorrow.
I haven't slept more than 4 continuous hours in 8 weeks... He has, I haven't. In fact I don't think more than 3.
Most days, I haven't slept more than 4 hours total actually.... with a couple of 8 or even 10 hour "catchup" days in there.
I haven't slept at all for the least two days, just dozed a bit, 45 minutes at a time maybe...
I'm sick, and I'm exhausted... I'm going to pass out now... might be alive tomorrow.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Friday, May 03, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Baby Boy Picture Update
Thinking... Thinking... hmmm... I think I want... how about... Boobs... yes, definitely boobs.
A great family friend made BabyBoy this beautiful blanket. He loves it... and that's one of my old t-shirts that he loves sleeping on as well.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Baby Boy Byrne - First Day, First Week
Baby Boy Byrne is 7 days old now... and settling in reasonably well. He's still a bit jaundiced, but nowhere near as bad as a few days ago.
We finally had a day without visiting docs today. We're going back in to the docs on Tuesday, but for now everything seems OK.
I've got a lot of pics from his first few days, most of which I'm not going to bother posting, but I thought I'd post some pics from the delivery and recovery room, and from today.
This one is just for my dad... he knows why:
I'm so damned big, and he's so damned small...
Though actually, they mismeasured him as 18" on birth, we remeasured him at the pediatrician the next day, and he was 19.25" (he's a squirmy little guy, and there was just one nurse trying to measure him. The next day we held him in fully extended position and didn't let him move).
And he's got a hell of a grasp on him (and DAMN big hands for a newborn):
Big Fingers, Little Fingers:
We're thinking his nickname is going to be CV (Charlie Victor), since I'm Chris, my dad is Christy, and he's Chris the Fifth... but we might as well nickname him bigfoot:
And now some pics from today.
He seems to like being in daddies arms... I calm him down pretty well:
Though he is probably the least fussy, quietest baby I've ever seen. He doesn't even bug the cat (and yes, before you warn us about cats and babies, we know, and are taking appropriate precautions):
The cat seems to like him... So do the dogs. Zoe is sleeping next to him on the couch here:
And although I know he can't focus well yet... I tell you he's a curious little guy, constantly looking around with those big eyes:
Oh and yeah... he's a redhead. Right now he's got a mix of red, brown, and blonde hair; and it looks like he's probably going to settle down to a slightly lighter and redder hair than me (more the color of my beard, which is a lighter red mixed with blonde and brown; than the color on my head, which is dark brown red).
I'll be honest... I'm worried. We're in a bad situation financially... I'm heading into middle age with a newborn, and I've got a pretty sketchy medical history.
Yeah, we've got two other kids, but they're 9 and 11... I guess at least I'll still be in prime earning years when he hits college... God knows how much college will cost at that point.
Back to nicer thoughts, I'm still getting questions about how to help us out, send us money to help with expenses, or get us baby stuff.
Coming three weeks early, we had to spend a few hundred dollars in money we really couldn't afford on stuff people had said they would be giving us (and never came through with), just to take him home.
Honestly, right now what we need most is money. We're paying for everything out of pocket... and you wouldn't believe how expensive that is... But in terms of baby stuff, we've kept the registries reasonably updated.
Baby boy Byrne has three registries established for him:
Babies 'r' Us registry number 48762442
Target Baby Registry
Amazon Baby Registry
However, as we are paying all costs out of pocket, donations would also be much appreciated:
I will say again, to everyone, thank you all for your kindness and support and... everything you all do for us... I can't tell you how important it has been.
We finally had a day without visiting docs today. We're going back in to the docs on Tuesday, but for now everything seems OK.
I've got a lot of pics from his first few days, most of which I'm not going to bother posting, but I thought I'd post some pics from the delivery and recovery room, and from today.
This one is just for my dad... he knows why:
I'm so damned big, and he's so damned small...
Though actually, they mismeasured him as 18" on birth, we remeasured him at the pediatrician the next day, and he was 19.25" (he's a squirmy little guy, and there was just one nurse trying to measure him. The next day we held him in fully extended position and didn't let him move).
And he's got a hell of a grasp on him (and DAMN big hands for a newborn):
Big Fingers, Little Fingers:
We're thinking his nickname is going to be CV (Charlie Victor), since I'm Chris, my dad is Christy, and he's Chris the Fifth... but we might as well nickname him bigfoot:
And now some pics from today.
He seems to like being in daddies arms... I calm him down pretty well:
Though he is probably the least fussy, quietest baby I've ever seen. He doesn't even bug the cat (and yes, before you warn us about cats and babies, we know, and are taking appropriate precautions):
The cat seems to like him... So do the dogs. Zoe is sleeping next to him on the couch here:
And although I know he can't focus well yet... I tell you he's a curious little guy, constantly looking around with those big eyes:
Oh and yeah... he's a redhead. Right now he's got a mix of red, brown, and blonde hair; and it looks like he's probably going to settle down to a slightly lighter and redder hair than me (more the color of my beard, which is a lighter red mixed with blonde and brown; than the color on my head, which is dark brown red).
I'll be honest... I'm worried. We're in a bad situation financially... I'm heading into middle age with a newborn, and I've got a pretty sketchy medical history.
Yeah, we've got two other kids, but they're 9 and 11... I guess at least I'll still be in prime earning years when he hits college... God knows how much college will cost at that point.
Back to nicer thoughts, I'm still getting questions about how to help us out, send us money to help with expenses, or get us baby stuff.
Coming three weeks early, we had to spend a few hundred dollars in money we really couldn't afford on stuff people had said they would be giving us (and never came through with), just to take him home.
Honestly, right now what we need most is money. We're paying for everything out of pocket... and you wouldn't believe how expensive that is... But in terms of baby stuff, we've kept the registries reasonably updated.
Baby boy Byrne has three registries established for him:
Babies 'r' Us registry number 48762442
Target Baby Registry
Amazon Baby Registry
However, as we are paying all costs out of pocket, donations would also be much appreciated:
I will say again, to everyone, thank you all for your kindness and support and... everything you all do for us... I can't tell you how important it has been.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
More pictures and updates later... for right now, our baby is sick
We woke up this morning and he looked damn near dyed in yellow.
Ayup, jaundice.
Unfortunately, it happens in something like 60% of premature babies.
He's in the Docs with Mel right now. I'm at home because the infection I've been fighting for weeks now (and last week seemed almost completely better) seems to have relapsed... either that, or it's just stress, or exhaustion...
Bills are killing us right now... God DAMN this is expensive (and paying out of pocket entirely... sucks...). Thanks to everyone who has helped out, really it's been great...
We're already supplementing the breast feeding with formula and vitamin D drops, so we may need to take him in for daily phototherapy for a few days.
He's going to be fine I'm sure... but it's never great being in this situation.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Welcome to the world, Christopher Byrne the Fifth
At 1935 pacific, March 28th 2013, Christopher Byrne the fifth was born to Christopher Jason Byrne IV and Melody Judith Byrne (nee Stern).
He came into this world three weeks early... At .2oz under 7lbs and just over 18 inches long; healthy, reactive, good breathing, and a strong sucker.
Mother and child are resting comfortably. Father is doing his best to tell everyone who needs to know, and fend off photo requests until he can get them off his camera.
Grandfather Chris the third, has completely lost his mind over his first grandson.
Baby boy Byrne has three registries established for him:
Babies 'r' Us registry number 48762442
Target Baby Registry
Amazon Baby Registry
However, as the family is paying all medical costs out of pocket, donations would also be much appreciated: PayPal Donation Link
Thank you all for your kindness and support and... everything you all do for us... I can't tell you how important it has been.
He came into this world three weeks early... At .2oz under 7lbs and just over 18 inches long; healthy, reactive, good breathing, and a strong sucker.
Grandfather Chris the third, has completely lost his mind over his first grandson.
Baby boy Byrne has three registries established for him:
Babies 'r' Us registry number 48762442
Target Baby Registry
Amazon Baby Registry
However, as the family is paying all medical costs out of pocket, donations would also be much appreciated: PayPal Donation Link
Thank you all for your kindness and support and... everything you all do for us... I can't tell you how important it has been.
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