One of these babies is not like the others...

Babies like to cry!!!

As you can see, here Mercy is grooming herself for a potential entertainment career. She is a natural at looking like she is totally zonked. Earlier today she showed us how she could roll from her stomach to her back at only 23 days. We read that this is a sign of an active personality and not necessarily a sign of development. So now she has three talents: nursing, pooping and rolling over. Is sleeping a talent? She's definitely better at the others. Oh and by the way, if the baby monitor is not in use for watching the baby you can reverse the components and watch television from another room.

Mercy Does Something Slightly Different

Oh hello there, it's me Mercy. Wanna hear the sound the tub makes when it drains....[incomprehensible sucking and smacking noises]...not bad huh.

Thank you very much Mercy.  Now if you don't mind I'd like to tell these nice folks about you a little.  Mercy went to church for the first time yesterday although the only thing she learned was how to nurse in a different room. It is kind of strange to reconnect to the outside world after holing up in our house for the better part of three weeks.  We were proud to show off our baby and excited to be able to talk to everyone again.  On the other hand it was a little bit twilight zone-ish I guess because we feel quite different as people and as a family after the adventure of delivery and the first couple of weeks of parenting. Maybe thats just the sleep deprivation talking.

Infant Slumber Parties

Mercy has been throwing slumber parties every few nights or so but only Sara and I are invited to them it seems.  The parties involve staying up late and hanging out along with some crying, lots of feeding and the 3am and 6am diaper changes. Last night there was a different party, a sleep party.  She slept for a solid four hours which means we did too. I never knew that I would someday be raving about the four hours of uninterrupted sleep I got last night but here I am. Tomorrow will mark three weeks. This time has been such an adventure and yet we have so much ahead of us. 

Mercy Becoming

Mercy is nearly three weeks out of the womb and growing subtly but noticeably. She is, as a friend from work called her, my nueva angelita. The whole experience of having her earlier than expected caught me off guard and sent me into crisis management mode for a while. But recently I have found myself spending more time just staring at her sleeping and thinking about how no matter how many books you read, your own unique child will break the rules. Even black and white still has shades of gray. It gives us joy to see her slowly experiencing her new world and her little personality showing more and more.

Fourth Trimester My Buttocks

So everything we've read and heard tells us to make our baby feel like she's still in the womb - swaddle, shhhh, swing, etc. This wisdom is working for us for the most part but I have a sneaking suspicion our daughter is a non-conformist. I wonder where she gets that from. Sometimes she is totally content laying on her back kicking and flailing for joy. We do, however, know five different ways to wrap a baby now. You never know when your life might depend on that sort of skill. All in all the moments of seeing our baby calm and asleep or awake and happy seem to outweigh the lack of sleep and the late night crying that cuts straight through to your bones like an arctic wind. It's awesome being a dad.

Growing Up Too Fast

As nice as it would be to have our daughter old enough to let us sleep through the night, I can't help but feel the time starting to race by already. It struck me as I looked at this photo from only two weeks ago.

Mercy Making Her Way in the World

Okay guys... we'll go through this one more time: eat, sleep, THEN poop. Seriously I think my parents are making this waaaay too complicated.

Mercy had a couple of firsts today. I suppose that will be the case for a while. She had her first trip to downtown Los Angeles to enjoy our beautiful government bureaucracy. Actually they were surprisingly helpful and kind at the birth records counter.

After that she had her first trip to a restaurant. Fortunately it was just after 11am and at Carrow's where the score of senior citizens didn't mind her bellowing for her share of lunch. I'm not sure which was more comical, the 88 year old lady at the next table who said she couldn't even remember her children being babies or the lady who remarked to her friend as they passed our table as if finishing a long lunch conversation, "This world is so tragic." Hey, at least they beat the lunch rush if nothing else.

¡Olé!

¡Olé!...and I reallllly mean it.

Ummm...Excuse Me, I Have a Poop Question

Fight The Power!!!

Oh wait.  That would be dad. Cooperate with the power instead!!! Especially while having your diaper changed.

Mercy Awake

If you have ever wondered if God has a sense of humor just observe how the cute newborn smile means a poopy present is being made just for you.

Mercy is two weeks old today. At one week her umbilical fell off. I wanted to save it as a souvenir to go with my wisdom teeth but I threw it out so Sara wouldn't be too grossed out. So the first two weeks have been mostly just sleeping, crying, and diapers.  Today, however, day 14 had a little surprise. Here is what I wrote in my journal:

It started as a simple diaper change after a nap. Sara caringly removed Mercy's diaper to find a small amount of post-nap mustard. While holding her feet up to begin the cleaning she was met by Mercy's battleship poop cannon. Sara was hit squarely in the right leg, a direct hit from more than 2 feet. She escaped uninjured but her pants did not fare as well. After starting damage control with multiple towels, Mercy struck a second time prompting us to opt for giving her a bath. With chaotic speed we whisked her into a swiftly drawn baby bath which she promptly soiled as well, that is, soiled it three times. Apparently warm water is a good motivator for Mercy. So, we eventually got her through a second bath, into a new diaper and sleeper, and a swaddle and then off to feed. What a happy baby. Lesson of the day: quiet baby during diaper change means storm's a comin'.