Humanoid

Violet's progression from less of a bundle of nerve endings and flesh to a little human being is a constant state of amazement for me. My new favorite things to do with her is to make her giggle. Nothing... NOTHING sounds better to my ears than the laughter of my daughter. It's like a drug. I find myself mock eating her neck and "zerbus"ing her belly as often as I can to get one more fix of her laughter. It's the best sound in the world.

Violet is healthy, strong, and vibrant. We finally see teeth in that little mouth of hers. Two bottom front teeth that are razor sharp. I think the older we get we tend to take the whole tooth growing thing a little too much for granted. If you think about it, having sharp, calcified protrusions erutping through the sensitive tissue of our gum lines is really not a pleasant experience at all. I don't think I'd want to go through growing a new set of teeth. Once is enough. I suppose the reason why I don't remember growing my teeth when I was a baby was probably not because of my age, but because of it being such a traumatic experience that I've psychologically blocked it from my mind.

Melissa is still V's primary caretaker while I'm at work. She's pretty content with the whole affair. I think she's doing a hell of a job. Melissa has weathered every storm with speed, tact, and grace. Violet's tantrums have become less frequent and we've managed to get her back on a longer sleeping schedule. For a while there, I was really starting to worry about Melissa's lack of sleep. V's asleep as I type this. Her bedtime is 7PM and she'll stay down until about 5AM when she'll want another bottle. After the 5-6 AM bottle she'll stay asleep for another 1-2 hours. With some training on our end, we've managed to get her to self-regulate. A lot of her neediness stemmed from the cold she had recently, and that was no fun for anyone.

Violet is still working on the whole crawling thing, but she does a really good job at holding herself up and starting to walk with our assistance. She's incredibly grabby and getting better at manipulating and moving things around with her hands. It's really awesome to watch her interact with toys and the world around her (with the exception of her grabbing onto my face and pulling at it with her razor sharp talons).

Well, on to what everyone wants to see the most:


This was taken in early September. It's as if she's
winding up to deck the paparazzi.


Meow.


Aunt Vicki feeding the monster. Cool thing about having
people over is that I can shirk my responsibilities on others.
Little did I know that Vick was a pro.


Dad and his budding little rock-star.


V at 6 months. One of the coolest thing about
having kids is that you can accessorize them.
Glasses=brainy kid.


Apple Fest adventures. This was taken while waiting in
line for apple pie I can buy any time during the year
but am compelled to wait hours in line for during Apple Fest.
The older she gets, the more I see me in her.


V's 1st Halloween costume. Ugh. Can't take anymore cute.


Now Melissa and I have even more reason to love
Halloween season.


Mother and daughter.


Almost 2 feet tall at 6 months.


Fusstank in motion! Live and in 3-D!

Excuses?

My most sincere and humble apologies for those of you who were checking the blog in the past month. Being alone with baby while Melissa was at work was an eye-opening experience. I have learned that I am not the stay at home type. I have a new and profound respect for those individuals who stay home to raise their kids alone all year.

For the most part, my time with my 3 month daughter was fantastic. I'd make sure that I took her out every day for a walk. If weather was not permitting, she and I would pack up and hit the mall for a walk. It seemed that she liked being out in public as well as zooming around in the car. I got some exercise as well as a chance to leave the house. It wasn't until the end of the month of June that my experience had shifted from handful to harrowing.

Violet started teething at the end of June and the two weeks leading up to Melissa's exeunt from work were very, very hard on me. Most days she was a little fussy here and there, but other days she was nearly inconsolable and I could get nothing done. Screaming, crying, fussing, needing attention... it was then that I realized how difficult this parenting thing can actually be. I was always happy to see Melissa when she came home for work, now after a day of impossible behavior, I was ecstatic to see Melissa walk through the door because it meant that I could have a break from baby duty.

Now that I'm back to work and Melissa is at home with Violet, it's as if Melissa goes through the same kinds of thoughts I did when I was alone with her. When I come home from work most days I spend time with Violet to give Melissa a break , but most days I'm under the impression that I don't give Melissa enough of a break. I've been back for three weeks now and Melissa has had days that she admitted to losing her patience and getting upset.

Violet is really a joy and a blessing. I never considered ever using those words unless under the aegis of sarcasm, but I mean them. My time alone with Violet taught me a lot about my level of patience and my willingness to dig deep within myself to find more compassion and understanding than I thought I could ever muster.

Violet is still teething to this day. She has her good days and her bad days, but for the most part her good days outweigh and outnumber the bad. Even when she's a little fusstank (copyright Sean Conroy), all it takes is a smile from her to melt me into a sense of calm compassion.

Much has happened the past month, and if I were more on the ball (and less busy and exhausted at the end of the day), you'd have a better and more detailed account of her progress. During her 4th month checkup, she's off the chart for weight and height, and in the 95th percentile for head circumference. Doc Braverman also tested her absorbency by spilling a cup of water on the table and putting Violet in it. The end result only supports my suspicion that she would make an excellent sponge.

Violet is an incredibly fast learner. During the latter part of the 3rd month, we tried feeding her solid (more like mush) foods. The image that adorns the top of this post is the reaction we were presented with. Now in her 5th month (officially today), she's been eating a tablespoon of bananas. We're going to be introducing new foods in the upcoming weeks. Melissa is awesome with her during the feeding process. When I'm around, I join in on the fun by making yummy noises and applauding when V opens her rather large mouth that she inherited from me.

Violet is exploring everything with her hands and now plays with toys. One of her favorites is a small, plush Godzilla toy that vibrates when you pull its string. As it turns out, she started really liking this toy around the time of the advent of her teething. Melissa and I read later that babies often find the vibrations soothing on their aching gums. Regardless, she's the cutest thing since sliced bread when she grabs hold of the Godzilla toy, gets all wide-eyed and then jams it into her mouth. If Violet can fell Godzilla so easily: Next stop Tokyo.

Melissa and I are working well together as parents. We get frustrated with each other sometimes over downtime and how much time is spent with her, but we're looking to find a balance. I always tell Melissa that the more you take her out, the happier she'll be as Violet is a very social being and loves to look at new faces. More often than not we get a stranger sticking their face in the stroller to say hello to our little pudge stack.

All in all, life with baby is a constant source of challenges and rewards. The rewards are our favorite parts of the experience and do a wonderful job at overshadowing the bumps in the road.

On to the pics:


Round 2? Are you kidding?


No, really. Some food actually went down.


I remember reading in the manual that "the average capacity of your infant is
about 1 Tbsp of food. Never exceed, otherwise detonation will be
imminent". We were pushing the envelope here.


The look on her face says it all. "If you keep feeding me, I'm going to explode!"


She knows when the camera comes out it means trouble.


"Hey guys... have you seen my keys?"


She be hip-mo-tized. It was as if the pattern were an
ancient cipher that revealed the possibility of time travel...
or, it 's just a cool pattern to look at.


Who needs helping hands or flotation devices when
you have thighs like these?


With a look of stern concentration, Violet plunged
into the depths of the abyss to engage the monster
squid in mortal combat.


"Waaaaah! I'm naked and I have hands!"

Summer

As of this point, Melissa is officially done with maternity leave and I have been on summer vacation for a little over a month. Now that mommy is away (believe me when I say that it's hard for her to leave) it's time for Violet and dad to play. Yesterday was Melissa's first day back and my first day alone with Violet. I totally understand now what it's like to be a stay at home parent. Time is a luxury as these little people demand so much attention it's almost a full time job in and of itself.

The three of us have been getting along swimmingly (pun intended). Violet is much more vocal now than ever. She and I have already had a few conversations about topics I'm not sure of. She loves to look at us and chatter away making "ooohs" and "hmmmm" sounds smiling ear to ear all the while.

Melissa is a fantastic mom. She's attentive, cool, calm, and patient. I always knew she had it in her, but she's really, really good with our daughter. I was a little nervous and apprehensive about spending this much time alone with Violet. I am not blessed with the abundance of patience Melissa is and I saw myself cracking under the pressure and noise of an inconsolable daughter. As of yet, things have been a breeze. The more Violet gets regular naps and feedings, she's a ray of sunshine. So far, so good!

Violet's sleeping patterns are completely regulated now and she's like clockwork again. During the day she'll eat, stay up for 2 hours and then nap for 45 min to 1hour. When 9PM hits, she's out like a light and will stay that way until about 4-5AM for a feeding and then return to bed until about 8-9AM when she wakes up to start the day. The smiles I get every morning when she's awake are absolutely heart warming.

On the whole, Melissa and I can't wait to hear her first word. She's trying really hard to communicate with us, but I'm sure that we still have a little while to wait before she shocks us with English.

On with the show:


Taken at her 1st 4th of July fireworks show.
Melissa and I were worried that she would freak
at the loud noises. She seemed a little nutty at first
but she warmed up to the idea.


Both of them seem transfixed by fireworks.
I'd say we had a successful 1st 4th of July.


V's 1st time at the pool.
She was not a fan of the quick change in temperatures
from water to outside. She did better than we anticipated.


Man, are my legs white.


This smile is the smile we get every morning.



The sad face. Her bottom lip action is something to be
reckoned with.

Fatherhood

I really need to get on the ball with the updates. Time is moving so swiftly that I barely have enough hours in the day to get what I should get accomplished.

Violet is growing. She's slowly developing into a little person. She's incredibly fun to be around. She's reached that age where both Melissa and I can mess with her physically. For example, my new fun game with my daughter involves my lightly slapping both of her little fists really fast. She gives an open-mouthed and wide-eyed smile when I do this that makes me absolutely melt. I have also taken to blowing on her exposed tummy when I see it. Her reaction isn't as favorable as the hand slapping deal, but I'm working on it.

A few days ago, my first father's day sped by. Melissa made the day really special for me in taking me out for breakfast, pre-ordering Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced 2 in full, as well as ordering me a Cold Stone ice-cream cake. Melissa is really awesome in this regard. She works hard to make special days all the more special. I'm really lucky to call her my own.... because I own her.

Moving on...

We spent time with both sides of the family for Father's day. The three of us visited grandpa Mitchell in Chicago for the Old Town Art Fair. Melissa and I haven't been there in years and it was a lot of fun. The weather was awesome and the crowds weren't too terrible. Then on that Sunday afternoon/evening we visited grandpa Conroy and the rest of the clan. My uncle Jim (my mother's brother) visited from Colorado. His story is an amazing one. I'll just sum it up as my mother eloquently posited, "he's so brave". My uncle Jim has been through a series of strokes as well as myriad other health complications but he still works to travel around to see family. It was really, really good to see him again.

Back to Violet. She's managed to tease us with 3 nights of sleeping all the way through. However, as of late she's going at 6 hour stretches. We put her down at 9PM and she'll sleep to about 3AM. More often than not she'll be back up at about 6AM, but I noticed that if I rock her when she fusses about 6AM, she can go to about 9. A lot of my colleagues and friends tell me to try putting her to bed earlier each night to stretch out the sleep schedule. We've been trying and we'll continue to do so, but the 9PM mark seems pretty much ingrained into her mind as sleepy time. Melissa and I decided to consult Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child by Marc Weissbluth to see when we should get her on a schedule and when she should be sleeping in her crib alone. Looks like we have some work ahead of us.

Violet interacts with us all day now with smiles, whines, "cooing" nosies. It's awesome. She's making her presence known regularly now as she's starting to demand more and more attention. If I put her down and walk into the next room to get something, she'll call out to me in hopes for a reply. She loves it when Melissa and I get up close and engage her in conversation. Granted, her vocabulary is pretty limited; it seems that each of us get a little something out of our chats.

Here are some recent images of the kid. Enjoy:


Typical scenario in the AM. Melissa cuddled with V and V's
attention diverted to her boyfriend...


Mr. Ceiling Fan. Our fans receive more chatter and smiles
than we do. Violet loves our ceiling fans... even when they're not
in motion. Crazy kid.


Taken at Grandpa Mitchell's pad in Chicago.
Grandpa loves his granddaughter.


V meets her great grandmother Emilia (Melissa's grandmother).
Violet was a bit of a fussmonster on this trip, but seemed intrigued
by this new face.


Bath time with dad (and mom... snapping pictures
ad nauseum). Good practice come July when Melissa
returns to work. I'll be flying solo during bath times.


"Huh? What do you mean these are going on the
Internet?"


My god. .. What have we done!?
We fed her after midnight and now we have two!
It said nothing about this in the instruction manual.


Taken today. Next thing I know she'll be wanting the keys to the car.


Awesome. Violet later confided in me that she too
thinks Iron Man is a dick.

ACEN

Melissa and I are nerds. We're nerds because we enjoy subculture and juvenile humor over what most 30 year olds consider culture and humor. Melissa and I are so nerdy that we attend two conventions that are cesspools for nerd-dom. The first convention we hit (almost to commemorate the end of the school year for me) is a little thing called ACEN (click on the blue links for more information). ACEN is an annual convention that celebrates Japanese Anime and Manga culture, but it also transcends those lines into the realms of video games and other popular genres associated.

We knew that Violet was going to be with us when we ordered are passes this year for ACEN, and we joked about the prospect of bringing her along and having her cosplay. Well, as ACEN crept ever forward, I put the pressure on Melissa to make Violet a costume for ACEN to commemorate her first, and certainly not her last, visit to ACEN. Armed with her astounding creativity and artistic skills, Melissa churned out a Moogle costume for Violet (see above illustration). As she was working on the piece she would send me updates on the progress and my heart would melt. Little did we know that our reaction to our baby moogle would not only be matched, but multiplied exponentially when we exposed Violet to the denizens of the con.

We couldn't take more than ten steps without hearing someone (male or female) pause and swoon with a heart-wrenching "awwwwww" followed by a few small crowds and lots of pictures. Violet was a star of ACEN in her own right and was frequently brought up on the ACEN forums.

Violet handled all three days at the con with speed and grace. We also had to attend a wedding that Sunday evening and she was fine there too. She had only one small meltdown due to over stimulation as we were leaving the house for the reception, but other than that... she was an angel.

Violet continues to amaze and challenge us. Her calm moments are filled with smiles, gurgling noises, vomit, and chubby cheeks. I think Melissa and I have it pretty good. Hopefully Violet feels the same about us.

Now. On to the pics:


That's not a look of apprehension. Well, at least
we didn't think it was.


The costume is more visible in this pic.
This was taken by someone at the con and then
posted on the forums.


Please excuse the quality. This was taken by a gaggle
of ACEN goers with a cellphone. This was also found on
the forums.


We ran into this cosplayer in the lobby of the Hyatt. Underneath the costume is a 40 year old woman. She asked if she could hold Violet for a pic. Melissa and I bristled at the idea at first, but once She told us that she's a mother of 4... we decided it would be ok.


The response to this pic was amazing. Not only did we draw a crowd, three people went into diabetic shock because of the astounding sweetness.


These two can sleep through a nuclear holocaust. Especially
after a busy weekend.


"Where the hell is my coffee?"



So it begins. It's only a matter of time before I hear:
"Dad, What's Kotaku?"

Reality

It's been a while since my last post. A lot has happened in such a short time that it's difficult to chronicle all that occurred. I suppose the first thing I should mention is that I'm back to work. Funny story about that. According to my records at home, I was under the assumption that my first day back to work was the 7th of May. Melissa and I agreed that she would handle the feedings at night so as to allow me to get some uninterrupted sleep. A sacrifice that still astounds me today.

Anyway, the 7th rolled around. I didn't get much sleep, not because of Violet, but because of anxiety and waking up in a cold sweat of anticipation. When I walked into the building and saw some familiar faces I was overwhelmed not only by the positive comments from my colleagues, but also by the number of people reading the blog. Talk about pressure. As 1st hour inched closer, a few of my students sauntered in and greeted me when I remembered that I needed to check my mail downstairs. I ran into my department head and he told me that he had me down for coming back the 8th and not the 7th. I went back to my room, called the sub coordinator and double checked with her. Long story short, I came back to work a day early. I tied up some loose ends and I was out the door to help out for one more day.

The transition from spending 5 weeks with my wife and daughter to come back to work wasn't and isn't an easy one. I often thought that 5 weeks was too long of a time to take off to help with acclimating to the arrival of our daughter. In hindsight, it was absolutely the best decision I have made in my professional career. Those 5 weeks are indelible and irreplaceable. They put me at ease and really gave me some quality time with Violet that I may not have again... well... at least until summer break.

Violet has her ups and downs. Some days are fraught with fussiness, while others are as easy as can be. During the first few days of my return to work, Violet was gearing up for a growth spurt. She was fussy and borderline inconsolable when I was away, and she also seemed insatiable during her feedings. One three hour span she would awaken and only take an ounce and fall asleep for an hour, then she'd be up again and take another 4.

At this point in time, Violet is almost 6 weeks old. She is approximately 11 lbs and incredibly alert. Melissa told me that just today that Violet watched her prepare a bottle and followed her with her eyes as she walked around the room. When I came home today I picked her up and cuddled her and spoke to her and she gave me a wry little smile. My heart melted. 3 seconds later she spit up a small lake and dashed my hopes of receiving a smile of recognition. Looks like I'll just have to wait for that when she's a little older.

Melissa is really an excellent mother/caretaker. She handles every freak out with a level of patience and calm that is astounding. Only when she's sleep deprived does she crack under the pressure of a Violet fit, but it's so rare. Last weekend marked her 1st mother's day ever. Melissa insisted that I didn't have to get her a mother's day gift, but I couldn't help but ignore her request and present her with something I thought she'd like. I took her clothes shopping. While normally not that big of a deal, I knew Melissa was dreading going out and looking for clothes to fit her post pregnancy. The excursion was met with a few moments of tears, but she did find some items that she really liked and thus adding to her wardrobe of clothes. I never really knew how long the spectrum of emotions were going to last. I would sometimes get a little impatient with the mood swings... but after the shopping adventure I have a better understanding of how she feels as she works to get back to "normal".

Overall, things are running smoothly. Despite the fussiness and the mini-freak outs, Violet's astounding cute factor more than makes up for it.

Here are some updated pics:


"Hi there!"


A pic we used as a gift for Mother's day. The look on her
face is priceless.


"Hmm... should I make a mess today,
or shall I make their hearts explode?"


The whole cross-eyed thing is getting better. It comes back
when she's really relaxed or after she's had a poopsplosion.
However, most of the time when she's awake her eyes actually
work together.


The "Vomit Comet". Works well when she wants it to work.
Otherwise it just makes her puke. That's not a smile by the way...
it's a prelude to oral destruction.


She's really this long. No joke. No digital manipulation here.
I have a feeling that she's going to end up tall like mom. She's
certainly got just about all of the rest of mom's features.


Washed out, but still terrifying. Thanks to the Whispers
crew (Literary magazine staff) for this piece of equipment.
Great way to stave off the sickening gushing female response
when we bring Violet out in public. Have at you!

More soon.... seriously.