fletcher and mommy

pay close attention to those little monkey feet.

the two most wonderful people in the world. brett favre excluded.

fletcher's room

these little critters hang over the crib to watch over the little one. of course, his vision currently only extends about 12 inches, so he hasn't even seen them yet.

a close-up view of the border. it runs about waist-high around the entire room. we couldn't get them to stick following the instructions so we used three bottles of white glue, elmer's style.

the room does not afford a side shot (or maybe it's the camera), but this gives you an idea as to the general feel.

ineptitude

We were at CVS the other day with Fletcher. It was his first outing in the baby sling. He liked it apparently, as he slept contentedly the whole time. We were attempting to have some prints made of a particularly cute picture that we would send out as a birth announcement/thank you card.

Well, the manager at CVS that day was absolutely clueless. He couldn't figure out how to print our order. He kept asking us to wait until his photo lab guy got there. Ridiculous. It just seems obvious to me that the manager of a store should know how to work every aspect of the store. Hence the name "manager."

So, he finally gave us a cd with all of our pictures on it (which we didn't need or want), but the prints were not usable. I brought the cd with me today so that I could share some photos with you. But when I stuck the thing in the computer, I got 7 rolls of some couple and their kids. Half of them family shots and the other half of the wife parading around nude. What a nice surprise. So, unless you want pictures of a naked mom or someone else's kids, I think you will have to settle for some pictures of what Fletcher's room looks like.

So, unless Fletcher has urinated on my laptop (he's already successfully targeted both my shirt and his own face), you will have new pictures tomorrow.

sorry...

no new pictures today.

I escaped to school to try to get my bearings on where I'm at as far as school work. I have to start back tomorrow. The last five days have been ridiculous. But in a good way. Except I forgot to bring my memory disk with the pictures. I promise I'll put some new ones up tomorrow.

We took Fletcher to the doctor today. The doctor's name is Durdana Malik. I predicted Scandinavian heritage, but it turns out she's Indian. He had to get a blood test in a freezing cold room to test his bili levels (toxins in blood that create jaundice). He of course screamed like an infant but I'm proud of him. He's been really sleepy all day since and won't even eat. He's had a rough day. We're trying to keep him up during the day so he won't be quite so difficult at night, but it's not easy. He must have learned from Giada (friends have a 3 month old who slept through an ambulance blaring sirens not twenty feet away).

For those of you who are keeping track, here are some stats:

birth weight/current weight: 7 #, 9 oz/7#, 3.5 oz (this is normal, they lose 10% in first week)length: 20 inches
foot size: 3.5 inches
hair color: dark brown/black
eye color: dark brown/black
skin color: yellow (un-dangerously and kind of cutely jaundiced.) we call him mellow yellow. quite rightly.

Sara's doing okay. Tired. But what's new? Send out your prayers and good vibes for her tomorrow, as it will be her first day home alone with the little man (I'll be busy from 9 am - 10 pm, ugh.)

OK, must depart. Need to go buy vaseline. More soon, I promise, with pictures.

long day

but totally worth it. at the end of it, i got to pose for this picture with my new new son. i'll share details later, but just let me tell you that sara, and women in general, are tough. sara endured things i wouldn't wish upon jack bauer's most insidious foes. words and pictures enough to annoy the hell out of everyone will follow, but right now i'm going back to the hospital (they don't have wireless, so i'm sitting at freebirds eating a beautiful burrito).

introducing...

fletcher weston sythoff.

anti-climactica

Well, we spent about 6 hours at the hospital this morning. Fun. To avoid any of the icky details, we were advised to proceed to the hospital by our doctor at about 6 o'clock this morning due to an alarming symptom that turned out to be routine. They kept us there till about 12:00, monitoring Fletcher's heart-beat and Sara's contractions. Since after a quarter of a revolution around the sun there was no significant progression on the part of our mother and baby, they have sent us home.

So now we get to sit around and wait. Forever thinking that at any moment we could be on our way back to hospital, never being able to relax or commit to anything time consuming. I have a test tonight that I am going to try to take, though I'm sure my mind won't really be the sharpest. We're hoping that we'll be back tonight, because we really liked our nurse Luann, and she's not back on shift until Friday. So it's either today or Friday, Fletcher, and no talk-back. Already I am a good father.

the grind

spring break is over. i spent the week trying to take care of a laundry list of things in preparationg for f-day (fletcher's arrival), while also trying to relax. we got the car seat installed, finished the border in fletcher's room, bought a diaper pail (the only essential item not received as a gift - to those of you who gave us stuff, thank you), did some house cleaning, and stocked the cupboards and freezer. and i even managed to read a book. john le carre's 'the night manager.' it was good. and the longhorns made it to the sweet 16. also good.

so now it's back to the ol' grind while dealing with the knowledge that fletcher could be upon us at any moment.

sara has an epic headache that will not quit. she's been dealing with some braxton-hicks contractions, which are basically warm-up cramps. the frustrating thing about this is that it kind of signals that labor is near, but doesn't give any kind of time-table. we could still be two weeks out.

oh, we also bought a digital camera with some gift-card money (thanks again), so pictures will be swift and ample. stay tuned.

rice

he was a grain of rice at this point. sara was only 5 weeks along. i suppose right now i'm supposed to wax romantic about how a little speck of goo could grow into the chubby face below, but i'll spare you. i've got another picture that shows the little guy's manhood, but i'll save that for the time being. unless the response in protest is ovewhelming.

fletcher's face

isn't it great how you can see his chubby cheeks?

ignorance?

We just finished our last child-birth class. A family friend named Alice was gracious enough to give us some private lessons. Sara and her mom had attended some free, perfunctory classes at a local pregnancy services agency. There were so many attendees that they didn't have room to lay down and actually practice anyting of use. And the classes were held on Monday nights, which is when I have a class. So Alice's visits gave me the chance to actually participate a little, and also provided Sara with some real practice and useful knowledge. We're very grateful.

Sara is due in about two weeks. 16 days to be exact, though Sara insists she is actually not due until the first week of April. A woman's intuition, I suppose...

I don't doubt her, though. I've learned that much. She can predict a sports match with uncanny accuracy, especially given her relative lack of interest and knowledge. She predicted the Longhorns' loss to Kansas today even though we could barely see the TV at Doc's and the score was tied. She's just got some sort of insight. The worst is when she predicts a Packers' loss when it's barely the second quarter. I might as well just turn off and do some dishes.

So, with Sara's mental accuity, a couple in-depth lessons, and plenty of hearty reading of books and magazines, we feel like maybe we're approaching the proximity of the outskirts of ready. But I'm sure this is what most new parents are feeling. We've learned new words and techniques with strange and exocit names: braxton-hicks, sitz, back labor (this does not involve heavy lifting, apparently), meconium, and hep-lock. Even if we're not necessarily mentally, physically or emotionally ready for this new, pink, squirrely young man to enter our lives in less than a month, we're certainly not ignorant.