A Week of Firsts

The last 7-day period has held many firsts for Nicholas, Leah, and me. Some might be seen at some point as utterly insignificant, yet some were a bit emotional and tear-inducing. I'm sure you can figure out which is which.

Sleeping solo - Last Thursday, Nicholas spent his first night in his crib. He had slept in our room in the bassinet since coming home from the hospital. But it was time for Nicholas to put on his big boy diapers and fall asleep in his bed. Yep, he's an independent 3-week old. According to our pediatrician, kids have a self-calming ability that some apparently refuse to believe exists or works. Plus, hopefully we've put a stop to any potentially embarassing moment at daycare or school like, "He he he.......You're HOW old and you still sleep with Mommy and Daddy?!" I don't think Leah or I ever slept with our respective parents, and we weren't about to start a habit that gets harder and harder to break every as every day goes by. Plus, I yearn for the day when Nicholas loves his room, his bed, his space, and his independence.

Stump fell off - On Saturday evening, Leah was changing his clothes and found the separated remnants of his umbilical cord. The umbilical cord stump becomes a tiny thing of ceremony until it falls off. They tell you all the potential things to look out for, but for the most part, you're just cleaning it with alcohol swabs or something of the sort. Every diaper change, you're checking it, and you kinda have to account for it. It's always in your mind, wondering if the diaper is covering it, or getting in the way, or snagging it, or whatever. Supposedly it doesn't hurt them to mess with it, but nevertheless, when it falls off, your kid gains a real, live belly button. Also, until it falls off, it's sponge-bath only, and you can't put your baby in his cute little sink-top tub and give him a bath.

First night away - A co-worker gave me some Titans tickets for Sunday, so Leah and I kinda took a last-minute, quick, one-night getaway to Nashvegas. Which meant one thing--leaving our baby. This night was the textbook definition of mixed emotions. Leah had been talking recently about wanting to go to Nashville, so this was perfect. And she has also been talking about having "cabin fever" to the nth degree and wanting to get out of the house. Yet the thought of leaving Nicholas was kind of intimidating. She said at one point, "If I don't do it now, how in the heck am I gonna leave him at a babysitter's in 3 weeks?". Good point, but what is often easy on paper is hard as you-now-what in real life. So we leave Nicholas in the care of his Granny and Grandaddy (aka Leah's parents) on Sunday morning, and leave the driveway pointed toward I-40. I look over, and Leah's eyes are leaking. I tried to reassure her and tell her that it was perfectly normal, but what we were doing was good for US which in turn is good for Nicholas. It was definitely different going from 24/7 Nicholas care to having some time to ourselves. We had a great time, and were glad to take the trip, but we also missed him dearly and can't wait to show him Opry Mills aboard his stroller sometime soon.

First bath!! - On Monday night, upon our return from Nashville, Nicholas got his first bath. Rumor has it that eventually, they learn to like and enjoy this sort of thing, but 99% of all babies scream "bloody murder" and he was no exception. Leah says that she can hardly wait until he can sit in the tub and splash around and play, but for now, we have to face our heartache because he acts as if we're hurting him to the very core. That's definitely tough--you know that you're not doing anything to harm them in any way, yet they are expressing their anger/displeasure/unhappiness/etc. Oh well, time to toughen up. It's not funny that your kid is crying his eyes out and his face is beet-red, but you also can't beat yourself up over giving him a bath!!!!

First piercing - All cool infants these days have a . . . ahh, never mind.