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.

Gifts!

Melissa and I are completely overwhelmed by the love and support we've received from family, friends, and colleagues. Initially I aimed to make this post about all the things we have gotten from other people as gifts for Violet, but I seriously think that it's way too daunting of a task to keep it all straight. Besides, that's what thank-you cards are for.

However, I do want to make specific mention of some of the gifts and well-wishing that our new family has received from readers of the blog and the like. Melissa's father Mitchell's gift for Violet is, in a word, art. It is something that Violet will have for the rest of her life as a reminder of her grandfather. Here it is:


Classic and artistic. Exactly what we want for Violet.

Next is another gift that knocked our socks off. This quilt was made by my aunt Sancy from New York (from the Conroy clan). When I opened up the package that it came in, I got a little choked up:


It's big and comfy. Many thanks to Aunt Sancy.



Another gift that's classic and timeless.
Violet will have this for the rest of her life.

And thirdly, but certainly not last. The crib from Grandma Basha.


Another piece that will be with Violet for a long time to come.

There are myriad other gifts and cards that all contributed to this amazing experience. I was really impressed with the outpouring of support from VHHS. When I visited last week, I received so many gifts and well wishes that it was almost overwhelming. Later during that week, Melissa and I received cards from the English department, the superintendent, and a card from VHHS administration.

Thank you everyone. It's great to know that the new edition to the Conroy name has such wonderful and kind people behind her.

And now... the Violet update.

Violet had a follow up appointment with Dr. Braverman last week to check up on the thrush issue. It has cleared out of her mouth and throat and she is to complete the anti-yeast treatment by the middle of next week. We also discussed immunizations. We have about a month and a half to go through the stack of paperwork that we got from the doc about the shots. Dr. Braverman also gave us a little score card with the following, most current information on the kid:

At two weeks, Violet weighs 8lbs 10.5 oz and is in the 75th percentile.
Violet measures 21 3/4" which puts her into the 95%!
Violet's head is 37.7cm around which puts her in the 90%.

Melissa and I knew she was big, but not nearly as long as she is. Violet has power forward for the WNBA written all over her.

Overall, Violet's feedings are like clockwork. Every three hours she's up and rooting around for food. Melissa and I are waiting for the thrush to clear up before we give nursing another go. At this point, Violet may have become so accustomed to the bottle that we may be at the point of no return. We'll give it a shot. Violet seems to have gotten a lot sloppier with the bottle. It breaks our heart to lose what I call "liquid gold" when she lets it stream out of her mouth, but patience is key. Some feedings are frustrating because it seems as though she's much more entertained by making a mess all over her face instead of getting down to business. We will remain diligent and realize that little Violet isn't being messy on purpose.

Things are coming along swimmingly. We have stretches of 3-4 days when Violet sleeps well during the night. We also have others like last night where her fussiness lasted until 1AM and continued sporadically during the wee hours of the morning thus making for two very tired parents today.

Enough of the verbiage, on to the pics. I've taken the liberty of including some shots that our friend Jennifer (Jef) took of the three of us with her super camera. Enjoy!


This is Jef. She has been of great help to the three of us.
The images below are some that she captured while she was here.


Cute shot of Violet.
I'm pretty sure she's contemplating whether or not to
eliminate while we change her diaper or immediately before.
Little stinker.


Don't let that smile fool you. This grimace is a prelude to a cry. Awesome shot, Jef.


The family.


I can attest to the authenticity of this shot.
Little Violet here expelled some daemons on my lap
and took me a little by surprise.


That's right... Violet gives dad a +5 to pwnage.
Maybe Violet's 1st word will be killtacular?


One of the few moments of downtime for mom.
This is to show that she too uses the Violet attachment for gaming awesomeness.


More to come!

Sleep?

The heading of this blog entry (sure hope I spelled this one right) is a lot like a previous, however the message behind it is a little different.

It's been a few days since my last post. Not much has happened, but here's a quick update: Last weekend, Melissa and I noticed that Violet's tongue looked like she had some left over formula on it. Melissa took a wet cloth to it and it didn't wipe off as expected. By the time our Doctor's appointment with Braverman rolled around, the spots had spread to cover most of her tongue and a little bit of her mouth. One quick Google session later, we discovered that it was thrush. At the appointment with Dr. Braverman, he gave us a prescription to an anti-yeast medication and within 2-3 days of treatment, we all noticed a difference. She's to continue treatment for two weeks taking a dose once a day.

As I type, the thrush is 100% clear from her mouth. With every spit up comes a little more of the material from the back of her throat and tongue. The thrush didn't cause any issues during feeding, but it certainly caused a lot of late night scream sessions that would last for an hour or so. She's feeling a lot better now and we're seeing an improvement in her disposition again. She's very vocal when something isn't right with her and Melissa and I appreciate it.

Little Violet passed the weight requirement at our last visit to Dr. Braverman. She weighed in at just a few ounces under her original birth weight and the doc was pleased. Melissa and I breathed a sigh of relief. Violet chose to defecate on the scale in an act of poopy defiance for having to strip her down and put her naked butt on a cold scale. Let's hope she doesn't have it in her to stage a full scale poo d'etat.

Melissa and I are tired. She has the worse end of things again because of the pumping, but we're slowly trying to get a schedule going where we share the responsibilities of feeding, cleaning, and burping. Most of the day while Violet sleeps, we're either busy cleaning and prepping for the next feeding or we're napping. "Get some rest" indeed.

It was just yesterday that Melissa and I noticed that Violet now knows that she needs to be fed every 3 hours.Like clockwork, Violet alerts us to her feeding times without us having to look at a clock beforehand. Amazing.

Overall, things are running smoothly and Violet is getting healthier and chunkier.

Here are some new pics:


I don't want to ruin this with a snide caption.


1st go at "tummy time"... or as Ryan would put it,
"commando time".


This came out a little dark but I had to post it because
it looks like the plush insect swarm is attacking our child.
Good times!


Violet's favorite time of day.


Any Conroy in there?


Any sign of Howard?


I'm convinced that Violet is a Melissa Clone. She didn't even
need me to produce offspring. If I wasn't there for the birth
I'd say that Violet sprung forth from Melissa's head. If we want a second,
we'll just cut off Melissa's pinkie finger and watch a child grow from the appendage .

Thanks for all the support, comments, and gifts. It's nice to be able to share all this with people who care!