So the kid likes to feed himself. Although the coordination is coming along, it's not quite there yet. And he's just discovering the joy of dangling food over the edge of the highchair tray, having the dogs get all squirrely, and then dropping it for them to fight over.
Good times!
KJT - Seattle (2010)
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
12 April 2010
Anatomy of a Mess
10 March 2010
08 March 2010
Out of Hibernation
"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."
William James, American philosopher.
Hello? Hello?
Is this thing on?
Got so busy with the kid and work and life that I've had to let the blog go into hibernation. I've posted more stuff on Facebook, so find me there if you want to see more. I'm hoping to get back on top of the blog soon. Especially more essays, travel writings, dreams, etc.
We'll see...
The kid is doing great, as are Stacie and myself. Sennet is almost 9 months old and he's developed a great personality.
He loves to laugh, seems like a happy kid. No teeth as of yet, and no crawling. But I have been taking him to swimming lessons, and we've been walking with him and the dogs, going to the park to swing, etc. Normal kid stuff. He's sleeping through the night for the most part now, so we are all doing much better. Out of the haze of sleep deprivation.
Here are a few pix & vids:
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KJT - Seattle (2010)
(Top three photos by Sara Tro, Sennet & Kramer by Stacie, vid by Stacie.)
22 October 2009
FOUR MONTHS
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UGH! I having really been slacking on this thing. Two whole months gone by without a single post.
Things have been going great, but very tired most of the time, and therefore a bit uninspired. Going to try to get back into a rhythm soon.
The kid and the family are doing great. Sennet is four months old today. We just had his checkup this morning and he is now 27.14 inches long/tall, and weighs 17.125lbs. Both above the 95% percentile - he's a big kid.
And seems like a really happy kid - loves to laugh and giggle. He just recently learned to turn himself over from his back to front, so that was pretty cool.
We had one night where he slept for a seven-hour unbroken stretch, and that was awesome. Lately though he's been back to waking every 3 or 4 hours and wants to feed. So we're still pretty tired most of the time. Happy and loving it, but a bit delirious too.
More to come... (hopefully)!
KJT - Seattle (2009)
28 August 2009
2-month Recap
(Huevos Verdes Con Jamón)
"I couldn't love you more
If time was running out
Couldn't love you more
Oh right now baby"
Sade, "I Couldn't Love You More" (1992)
The kid is now two months old (as of August 22). He's doing great. Sleeping in his own room now, and generally for a lot longer. One night he actually slept from 9pm until 3:30am. Heaven! Lately, however, he's been back on his every-two-hour feeding schedule during the night. Must be a growth spurt. Stacie and I are mighty weary. Especially Stace, as she's got to get up with him every time to feed and/or pump. I generally hold him and rock him to sleep every night. We sit in his room and listen to Sade and discuss current events (he loves Sade - good taste!) I try to take over when he wakes up early (between 5 and 6am) and feed him and try to give Stacie a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before I go to work.
We've also hired a Spanish nanny for a few hours a couple days a week. Gives Stacie a chance to get some work done outside of the house, and keeps Sennet in familiar surroundings. Erika is great, she sings Spanish songs to him and we've bought a few Spanish books for her to read to him. Dr. Seuss in Spanish is a total trip!
Sennet got a great review at his two month checkup. He's now 25-inches long (2-feet, 1-inch tall) and weighs 14 lbs 10 oz (both in the 95th percentile). He's smiling and laughing like crazy nowadays. Very happy bambino. Check out this short video of him cracking up with Stacie, just after a nap in the morning:
All is well.
KJT - Seattle (2009)
22 July 2009
One Month
Sennet is now one month old.
He weighs 12lbs 2oz and is 23.5 inches long.
Last night he actually slept from about 10:15pm to 1:30am and then from around 2am to almost 6am! We were very happy about that, as he's been getting up every two hours for the past few weeks... quite exhausting.
KJT - Seattle (2009)
04 July 2009
First Fourth
"Think what a better world it would be if we all,
the whole world, had cookies and milk
about three o'clock every afternoon
and then lay down on our blankets for a nap."
- Barbara Jordan, American politician (1936-1996)
Well we haven't been getting quite as much sleep as we'd like, but overall I think we're doing pretty good. Sennet seems to be waking up anywhere between 1 and 3 hours for feeding. I'll help change him sometimes, and give him the bottle if he's still hungry after Stacie feeds him. Also trying to give her a few hours each morning where I'll sit and rock him and snooze with him while she tries to sleep. It's all working out pretty well.
I took him for our first walks with the dogs the past two days. First in the stroller and then in a harness. He seemed to enjoy them both.
This morning was the fourth of July, and he was pretty fussy early so I sat up with him for a few hours until he slowly fell back asleep. We listened to John Coltrane's Blue Train. Then I napped with him. After I gave the dogs a quick walk while Stacie fed him, he and I settled in on the couch to watch the first stage of the Tour de France. Kudos to Fabian Cancellara, the big Swiss world champion smoked the field in the individual time trial. Then I put up the American flag and puttered around the house.
We took a bit of a nap later in the afternoon, and soon we'll be grilling burgers and keilbasa on the deck, where we can also see the fireworks show over Lake Union. Nice, lazy holiday with the family.
KJT - Seattle (2009) (Photo of Cancellara by Sirotti)
02 July 2009
Bath Time
“Everything is a miracle.
It is a miracle that one does not dissolve
in one's bath like a lump of sugar.”
- Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (1881-1973)
I'm seeing what a great mother Stacie is, and is going to be, every day. She is so patient and kind with the little man. He just lights up whenever she holds him.
Lately we think he's been on a growth spurt, he wants to feed all night long - she can hardly keep up with his breast milk needs. In between feedings she is pumping, and I am able to feed him this breast milk from the bottle and help her, as well as hold him more often. We were a little worried that if we introduced a bottle so soon that he wouldn't want to breast feed, but that sure hasn't been a problem - where ever and when ever there is breast milk available, he's up for the task. Hungry little bugger.
We also gave him his first bath at home a couple days ago. He wasn't overly happy about the whole affair, but calmed right down once the trauma was over. Clean and sweet.
To quote a (bad) Loverboy song, we are "Lovin' every minute of it."
KJT - Seattle (2009)
24 June 2009
Gently In The Night
"Don't let your mind get weary and confused
Your will be still, don't try...
Don't let your heart get heavy child,
Inside you there's a strength that lies..."
Ray LaMontagne, "Be Here Now" (2006)
Got up while it was still dark this morning. Sennet was a bit fussy so I took him into the nursery and held him - hoping to give Stacie a few hours of rest. Standing at the window I could see the Cascade Range off in the far distance to the northeast. A pre-dawn light just beginning to illuminate the highest peaks. The sky still a dark slate with a myriad of stars.
I sat in the rocker and gently held my boy in the dark. I remember stories my mother told me about her holding me in those first months. We lived on the Presidio in San Francisco and she would get up in the night and rock me in an upstairs window. On clear nights she said she could see the distant lights out on the Farallon Islands, lonely pinpoints out in the Pacfic. On foggy nights the house was enveloped in a quiet shroud. The haunting fog horns marking their melancholy warnings to the ships plying the waters around the bay.
I turned on some soft music and rocked. Sennet settled in, content in the crook of my arm. Occasionally he would squeak or coo. He seemed to have an early affinity to the songs of Ray LaMontagne and Elliot Smith.
Slowly the sun rose, but I remained where I was - profoundly happy. Stacie got up and whispered if I wanted a break. Not yet. She brought me a coffee and I held the quiet little man. Kramer wandered in and sniffed the baby - giving him an approving lick on the top of his head. Puppy-flavored kisses. The morning progressed and I felt like I was just where I wanted to be. This moment etched forever in my memory. First morning at home.
KJT - Seattle (2009)
22 June 2009
Fatherhood
Sennet Tiernan Timmermans 11:10am Seattle WA
Born 6/22/099lbs 12oz.22˝ long9 on the APGAR scale
We went in yesterday afternoon around 4pm. Contractions really started around 2am this morning. By 8am Stacie was pushing in earnest. 11:10 our boy was born.
Mom and the kid are doing great. Dad is greatly relieved.
More later, we're both exhausted. (She much more than me, of course...).
(Also, pix of Stacie and the baby together will come later... she made me promise not to post any of her until she gave her approval of them...)
KJT - Seattle (2009)
UPDATE:
Here's a great shot of Stacie & Sennet (and it's Stacie approved!):
06 May 2009
Belly Shot
A couple weeks ago went went to Seward Park and had some pictures professionally taken of the pregnant belly. Here's one of our favorites.
Not long now... 5-1/2 weeks left.
19 April 2009
The Kid, cont.
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.”
- Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991)
Stacie went for another ultrasound this week and happily the placenta prævia is completely gone! And Sennet keeps growing, we've got less than 10 weeks to go and he's 16˝ and 5lbs 6oz. Stacie is doing good, but wonders how her belly could get any bigger...
Meanwhile, I've been working on some paintings for the baby's room. With apologies to Dr. Seuss, I'm enlarging two of my favorite childhood stories: The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. These are painted on board with acrylic, about 2 feet by 3 feet. I'll also be doing four smaller pieces to hang above the dresser, probably 8˝x 10˝. Thinking of the Star-Bellied Sneetches, "Thing 1 and Thing 2" from Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham, and Horton (from "...Hears A Who" fame). Later on I'll start working on some of my own ideas for some more paintings.
Not much longer now...
KJT - Seattle (2009)
16 March 2009
Big Baby
Placenta prævia is an obstetric complication in which the placenta is attached to the uterine wall close to or covering the cervix. It can some times occur in the latter part of the first trimester, but usually during the second or third. It is a leading cause of antepartum haemorrhage (vaginal bleeding). It affects approximately 0.5% of all labors.
We just returned from another ultrasound, and the news was all good.
In an earlier ultrasound, we discovered that Stacie had placenta prævia, where the placenta is covering the cervix, potentially making for a complicated birth or a C-section. On today's ultrasound the doctor said the prævia was diminishing on it's own and would probably be gone in a few more weeks. That was the news we were hoping for. We'll have one more ultrasound at about 34 weeks.
We also got a couple more pictures, and learned that Sennet looks like he's going to be a BIG BOY. We're at 26.5 weeks right now and he's already 13 inches and over 3.5lbs. Not overly surprising considering his father (moi) is 6´5˝ and about 230lbs, my father was about 6-foot, Stacie's father is 6´4˝ and I've got two cousins who are over 6´6˝. Big runs in the family.
To date we've had four parenting classes: Infant Safety and CPR, Conscious Fathering, Breast Feeding, and Newborn Care. I now know the proper rhythm for giving CPR to a baby (the same beat as "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees), the correct way to swaddle and sooth a baby, the proper way to 'latch on' to the breast, and how to (try to) have the Happiest Baby on the Block. I think we're ready to move on from the classes and try it for real.
Three months left to go...
KJT - Seattle (2009)
18 February 2009
To Snip, or Not To Snip?
Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin (prepuce) from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin circum (meaning "around") and cædere (meaning "to cut").
So that's the debate we're having around the house these days. Do we have Sennet circumcised or not? (He's not due till June).
Neither one of us has terribly strong feelings either one way or another, so I thought I'd get some opinions.
Right now I'm probably leaning toward not having it done, since it's natural to have it (the foreskin), so why remove it.
I've done a little bit of research, including speaking with our OB-GYN, and it's no longer considered a medical necessity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global estimates are that 30% of males world-wide are circumcised. Seems the prevalence of 'the snip' varies mostly with religion and sometimes with culture. The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention give evidence that male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV acquisition, but still only provides partial protection and is not a replacement for other disease prevention techniques. Duh.
The American Medical Association states, from 1999: "Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice."
So there's my question to you:
Mothers: if you have a son, or have had the discussion, what do you think, yes or no?
Fathers: which decision did you make for your son? Or would if you had a son?
Ladies: have you been with "both kinds"? Any opinions on performance, presentation, grooming, friendliness?
Guys: Do you have strong feelings of your own either way? Why?
Please leave any and all opinions in the comments section, and thanks.
KJT - Seattle (2009) (Picture photoshopped this morning...)
The American Medical Association states, from 1999: "Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice."
So there's my question to you:
Mothers: if you have a son, or have had the discussion, what do you think, yes or no?
Fathers: which decision did you make for your son? Or would if you had a son?
Ladies: have you been with "both kinds"? Any opinions on performance, presentation, grooming, friendliness?
Guys: Do you have strong feelings of your own either way? Why?
Please leave any and all opinions in the comments section, and thanks.
KJT - Seattle (2009) (Picture photoshopped this morning...)
02 January 2009
Oh Boy!
"Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable."
- Plato, Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer (428/427 BCE – 348/347 BCE)
Just back from the doctor's... and we are going to have a boy!
Introducing: Sennet Tiernan Timmermans.
Sennet, from the French, meaning wise (pronounced 'senate').
Tiernan, from the Irish, meaning lord, master, regal.
Timmermans, from the Dutch, meaning carpenter.
I'm totally psyched, and truthfully, a bit relieved. I didn't really feel like I was leaning one way or the other in gender preference. But now that we have found out I see that, perhaps subconsciously, I really did want a baby boy. Carry on the family name, and all that hooey...
And from the looks of things, both Stacie and the baby are doing great. Again, another big relief.
The adventure continues...
KJT - Seattle (2009)
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