In the Groove

We've been home with Simone for a week and a half now, and we're starting to settle into a routine. While she does little but sleep, eat and poop, Linda and I are constantly on the move, getting things done for her. As I don't have breast-icles, I have the time to chronicle our adventures and occasionally goof around on the internet. I think I can recite the last three days Sportscenters by heart. No such luck for Linda.

Linda has almost no time to herself. When Simone is awake, she is hungry, gassy or pooping. When she's sleeping, Linda tries to sneak in some rest or take a shower. That's not often, however, as Simone's feedings will sometimes run almost back-to-back. She's never in a hurry, often falling asleep for long stretches during feedings. Must be nice. While it's the lap of luxury for her, Linda has a 'lil barnacle attached to her for most of the day, and isn't able to get much else done. She's a trooper, though, and I'm very proud of her. All the feeding is paying off, too. Our little overachiever has back to her birth weight, ahead of schedule.

Although it may be unattractive to say so, this child is constantly taking a dump. They aren't epic dumps like the merconium-laced early days, but they are foul nonetheless. There's nothing quite like holding a baby and feeling the rushing river of refuse through the diaper. As a new dad, I find myself stunned at the amount of poo that can come out of a 9 pound child in a twenty minute span. We go through diapers like Cookie Monster through cookies. [You can see how this whole process is changing me; I would never have made this reference just two weeks ago.] The farting is legendary as well, occasionally sounding like a shotgun blast. It set Chunk off to barking one time, it was so loud.

Anja (Linda's Mom) has been here with us, providing us with much aid. A veteran of three kids and four other grandkids, she's providing us with valuable insight into the childrearing process. It's great to have her around, as we have little idea what we're doing. It takes a village, as some omnipresent presidential candidate once said. Kudos to Anja for her fearlessness, as well. She's not afraid to stick a finger into that diaper to see if it's dirty; must be a grandmother thing. I tread far more cautiously. She and Chunk are little buddies as well, taking smoke breaks and goofing around with Pup Treads. That's actually a big load off for us, as the Chunk-ster requires a lot of attention.

Chunk has actually been handling the whole thing remarkably well. She knows to be calm when she comes over and smells the baby, and she'll watch over Simone when she's in the swing. I still need to run off some of her excess energy, which will no doubt be a problem in the future. There's a bit of time to do that right now, so it's not too bad. If there is any jealousy on Chunk's part, I haven't detected it yet.

Although sleep has been in short supply, things are gradually getting better. The early feedings were tough, but Simone is getting the hang of it now. As I mentioned, that hasn't stopped her from taking forever with it, though. That's tough in the middle of the night, when all Linda wants to do is sleep, and she's got a half-awake baby hanging off of her. Lord knows Simone would be pissed if the food supply was cut off, but she takes her sweet time with it. I've actually been able to get a decent amount of sleep, as Linda has been wonderful enough to take care of most of the after-hours duties. I sometimes jump in there to change a diaper or rock Simone, and I've learned how to sleep while standing up. But the way it has [generally] worked out is that I get to sleep at night and Linda gets extended naps during the day. Certainly not an equitable state of affairs for Linda, but we're doing our best to make this thing work correctly. She's Mom of the Year, as far as I'm concerned.