First Road Trip

On the road, a photo by tf-oto on Flickr.

Miss Mia's first big road trip was to visit her mom's family in Pennsylvania.  I was plenty nervous driving 400+ miles in the constant driving rain with a three week old baby, but she was an absolute angel in the car.  I've heard many children love the motion and rumbling, and she slept probably 90% of the way there.  I also discovered that she loves Bruce Springsteen, because when I took the CD out, she started crying.  I suppose it could have been a coincidence, but I'd rather think she's a Boss fan.  After re-routing around a pretty nasty truck slide-off wreck in Dayton, where a truck started backing up at me while we were all at a standstill, Daddy got to perform his very first public diaper change at a rest stop just west of Columbus (where the picture above was taken).  It was also my first visit to a "family restroom" ... much nicer, go figure!  One question about Ohio though:  Does the state have ANY legitimate revenue streams other than posting cops every other mile on the highways?  It's complete overkill, which actually makes travel LESS safe, as everyone drives fast then brakes over and over again.  What's normally a 6.5 hour trip was a good 8 hours this time, with two stops for changes, feedings, etc.  I also discovered that our bigger car is just barely big enough.  It's amazing how much trunk, front and back seat space a 7 pound, 20 inch baby needs.  All in all, a safe journey.

Visit from Grammy Frampton

Grammy Frampton from Maine came out for a week to visit with Mia. They spent the best part of the week doing just this. It was such a big help having a couple extra hands to hold Mia, freeing us up to nap, cook, clean etc. A trip to Babies R Us and the Children's Museum highlighted a wonderful week!

First Feeding for Daddy

Sleep Struggle

Mia is still having a lot of trouble sleeping in her bassinet, right next to our bed. She's an absolute angel during the day, but mainly because she's being held. But at night she screams like there is a demon inside her for a good 10 minutes half hour or more, then drifts off. Right now she's sleeping on my chest, as I blog with one thumb. By 12:15a hopefully she'll still be out, and I'll lay her down again, and pray that gets us to 3:00a at least.

looking pretty weary, iPhone self photo

Lounging

Lounging, a photo by tf-oto on Flickr.

Mia has been spending a lot of time doing just this.  Lounging during the day.  Unfortunately that messes up her evening sleep patterns, not that there was much of a pattern to begin with.  Our days and nights have been pretty much sleep, eat, poop, rinse and repeat.  I did get my tDap shot (ow!) for pertussis, diptheria and tetanus.  Went to the local department of health, which was kind of scary in it's own right.  Kind of like the BMV, but with needles.  Yesterday, Jackie, Mia and I went to the mall, to get some new sleepers.  All of ours were for three months and up - needed some newborn sizes.  What was pretty exciting is folding the stroller up into the trunk of my small car, and then pushing it around the mall for an hour. It was our first time "in public" meaning not at a doctor's office.  Mia was perfectly behaved, sleeping through the entire exercise.  It was even snowing for the first measurable time this season, which didn't faze her a bit.  Such a brave little girl, for only eleven days old.

Nappin

Test post from iPhone blogger app.

Home, and Sleepy ...

Mia sleeping off her first big doctor's appointment

Mia in her Boppy, a photo by tf-oto on Flickr.

January 7 was actually Little Miss Mia's official due date, but the forces that be decided to bring her to us early. We actually were discharged on Thursday evening, and now have two broken up sleepless nights under our belt. Night One was pretty rough, if only because the stories of sleepless parents we've heard suddenly became a reality. I got about four hours that first night, broken into three shifts. She feeds (and soils) every couple hours as she should, but the tricky part has been getting her back to sleep at 4am. She understandably doesn't want to sleep in her bassinet alone at night, even if it's only four feet from Mommy. Night Two, I discovered she likes Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. I played a few tracks on my iPod, and gently rubbed her temples until those eyes faded to sleep. It worked surprisingly well, and will create a playlist later today of some classical tracks I think could be soothing. I'll post the list sometime soon. She actually slept for the better part of three hours in one stint, which was heavenly.

Today is also our "Open House" for a few friends and family to come meet our angel. We decided it made sense to have a short four hour window for visitors, just so we can control the flow of guests a bit. It sounds like it might be more work/stress to have people popping in all the time. The house actually doesn't look too bad, just a little light sweeping and cleaning is all that's required. My back is starting to bother me, so I'd better not overdo it today.

Welcome, Mia Rachel Frampton

12:13, 1/2/12

6 pounds, 8 ounces

Day One

On Friday, after 14 years of service to the biggest and best Children's Museum in the world, I have quit my job to take a new position - stay at home pa!  Tomorrow morning, we are expecting our little girl to enter 2012.  I will update this blog with photos and stories as this new excting chapter in our lives unfolds.