“Zoinks!”

“…Jeepers Scooby, what do we do now?”

Sometimes little Sarah looks like a cartoon character. In the picture on the left she is in the middle of a sneeze and a yawn here, with a bit of snot below her nose for good measure. It’s hard to believe that a little baby’s face can show so many emotions and looks.

Apparently she has hit a growth spurt and has decided that eating every 2 hours is much more efficient for her needs right now. Mommy and Daddy prefer the 4 hour schedule, but we are not the captains of this ship.

There are more pictures of the “boss” on her 1st trip to Costco as well as some other now up on the September 2004 gallery.

While you are here, please remember to fill out a page in our guestbook as well!!

I Come In Peace…

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"Make him stop!"

…but you go in pieces.

The Alien Child has landed. All of your diapers belong to her. You will no longer sleep, you will be too busy tending to her wants and needs. If you do not do this, you will force her to use her secret weapon… an ear shattering wail that will bring to your knees quicker than Captain Kirk on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Sarah has been having a rough few days. She has been full of gas and extremely unhappy about. (Her Daddy revels in his own gas filled state, but I guess it’s different for babies.) After not sleeping for 3 days, she was finally so worn out that she slept and slept and slept. She passed out after 2 hours of crying around 2:00 in the morning and then woke up for a feeding and slept from about 8:00am to almost 1:00pm. The poor little thing looked so exhausted that it made my heart break.

After some long needed rest for Mommy, Daddy and Baby all feel better. Sarah is taking some medicine to help her discomfort and it seems to be working. Daddy has added a few more gray hairs.

You can see some more pictures of the Alien Child and the unhappy baby over on the September 2004 gallery.

Daddy’s Little Girl

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Sleepy Time!

Needless to say, I have fallen in love with this little kid head over heels.

This whole experience from Dana’s pregnancy to Sarah’s birth has been remarkable.

So many events in life are all about the buildup: graduations, 18th/21st birthdays, marriage, gray hairs, 1st student loan payment, etc. but never actually live up to their expectations.

I have to say the birth of your child is the 1 event in a life that is everything it’s supposed to be and more. It changes who you are immediately. (For men, it forces you to realize how truly inferior we are to women in ways we could not fathom before that moment) It doesn’t get any better….

Everyday holds a new surprise. This little baby changes in some way, ever so slightly every single time I wake up. To think that she is a blank slate and could do or be anything she chooses is the best part of all. The choices that will be available to her as a student and adult are beyond anything even my generation could have hoped for. (Remember, we used to play video games with a square joystick and 1 red button.)

On Saturday we took Sarah for a car ride, mostly to save our sanity, because she was as fussy as could be. To see some pictures of her trip, click over to the September 2004 pics.

While you are here, please remember to fill out a page in our guestbook as well!!

It’s Cool To Go To School…

What's this stuff for?

With school starting after Labor Day, it is time for me to do what I do every year at this time; the same thing millions of teachers across the country are doing. (No, it’s not running off to the mountains screaming in terror, good try.)

It is time to setup the classroom.

Normally this is a fairly organized task. This will be my 4th year teaching 3rd grade so the pieces kind of fall into place…

…But, as you can see by the look on my face in the picture on the left, not all is well…

…This year we have been relocated to a different building while our school undergoes construction and, just to make things interesting, we have a whole new curriculum for Math, Reading & Language Arts to boot!!

Everything is in disarray, boxes of books, posters, paste and ping pong balls scattered about. I used to have 6 bulletin boards to display my wares and my students’ works, now I have 1. Normally I like a little bit of change to make the school year interesting, and doing the same over and over grows tiresome, but this is extreme!

It will all get where it belongs before the 3rd graders tumble in through the door, somehow. Have I mentioned I have a 3 week old baby and haven’t seen a full nights sleep in, coincidentally, 3 weeks!

But that’s not all!!

What time is it!?

Over here, on the right, you can see my pal Dave. He flew in from California (Home of the Govinator) to see Sarah. He also offered to help set up my classroom. Dana usually helps me with this noble endeavor, but taking care of a baby is a few steps up on the good karma scale.

As you can see in the picture, his form of “help” is questionable.

To be honest, he busted his tail, we both did. In a couple of days we unpacked everything that I packed up in June and was moved to this building over the summer. We also unpacked boxes of new textbooks, workbooks, manipulatives, markers, notebooks and a new clock. (The one Dave is modeling in the picture) With his help we able to get 90% of the classroom done. All that’s left is for me to hang some posters and signs. In addition, I have a co-teacher who did her fair share as well. (Everybody pitches in)

For his reward, I took Dave to Sizzler in Lakewood and then abandoned him at a Shop Rite on Route 9. (If you must know, yes he did deserve it.)

The Diaper Genie Is My Idol…

2004-08-31 (001)-2.jpgSome people say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, but the Diaper Genie is the greatest invention ever devised for new parents. I will leave the details of how it works to the imagination; but needless to say it’s rather full right now of a few days worth of baby cast offs and you can’t smell anything in the least bit malodorous in our bedroom. (The thing resides on my side of the bed in the bedroom.)

Sarah has a real belly button now. The dried up piece of her umbilical cord fell off and there is a cute little baby belly button underneath!!

Not much else is going on, Dad is getting ready to go back to school and mom has become a full fledged factory for baby’s wants and needs. I would try to help, but I am missing some key equipment in this area. (And a bit of common sense as well, according to mom.) There are a few new pictures for all to see on the September 2004 page so have a look.

The nights have been long lately. Some nights Sarah decides she needs no sleep at all, she just wants to eat and poop!! She is a real late nighter already.

While you are here, please remember to fill out a page in our guestbook as well!!

You’ve Got Mail!

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Got Mail?

Sarah received her 1st piece of official mail today! She exists in the real world!! It was her Social Security card. As you can see by the picture she was very happy and excited by this momentous occasion. There are a few more pictures of this on Baby – Page 4.

Now, she can go get a job and stop being such a sleepy, gassy, do nothing!!! (Oh wait a second, that’s her father.)

Sarah also went to the Dr. for the 1st time today. She is now 7 pounds 11 ounces (She has gained 12 ounces since leaving the hospital.) and 20 1/2 inches long. (She has grown an inch.) The visit with the Dr. was going very well until he stepped out at the end and came back with a needle for Sarah. It was a vaccination, but she didn’t like it at all. She did get a Daffy Duck band-aid to make it better, but she didn’t fall for it.

Since Sarah was such a brave girl at the Dr. she went to 7-11 afterwards so Mommy and Daddy could get Slurpees. She felt much better after that.

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Got Pixie Dustl?

As if Friday couldn’t get any better, Sarah had a visitor that came 3000 miles just to see her!! My best friend, Dave, came home from California to visit New Jersey for a little

while. He wanted to check out the new kid in town. Dave even brought her a gift from California… Pixie Dust!!! (Things are a little strange and the people are even stranger out in California)

We weren’t supposed to see Dave today, but he ended up at the wrong airport and a different train station, so we went and picked him up at the train station in Long Branch while his parents had to turn around and come home from the airport. Now this might sound like a strange and bizarre story, and would be, if it involved anyone but Dave.

All in all, not too bad for a girl who is 2 weeks old on Saturday! Imagine what the next 2 weeks will bring!!

Visitors!

2004-08-26 (005).jpgThursday was a good night for Sarah! Great Gramma, Great Aunt Julie and Big Cousin Jimmy all came to visit. We all had our digital cameras ready to go, but this picture of Sarah and Great Gramma is the only one we took. (I guess we were having to much fun to take pictures!)

Big cousin Jimmy, who is 4, has been waiting 9+ plus months to meet Sarah. But when he actually got to see her, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Instead he had more fun playing video games rather than with his new Baby Cousin.

Sarah slept most of the time that she had company and when it was time for everyone to leave, she was busy eating. Some host she is!!

There would be new pics on the picture pages if there were new pictures taken. Oops.

Just Hanging Around

2004-08-25 (001).jpgSome days are just lazy days for a baby. No tummy time or a chance to fuss & cry. Some days a baby, who isn’t even 2 weeks old, just likes to sit around the house in her purple outfit and relax. It is very hard to sleep 16 hours a day and look your best, but Sarah manages to do O.K.

Sarah did get some wonderful sunflowers from a her Mommy’s friend Nancy. They are very full and brighten up the whole room. Sarah gets more flowers and gifts than any baby, kid or adult I know!! (Enjoy it while it lasts little one!) Sarah wants Grandma to feel better after her arm surgery. She can’t wait until Grandma is good as new and can hold her in her arms. There are some new pictures of Sarah in her pretty purple outfit on Baby – Page 4.

Click the picture or the links to check her out!! While you are hanging around with Sarah, please take a moment to sign our Guestbook!! Someday when Sarah can read she will love to here what people thought of her when she was only a few days old!!

Play Time!

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"Oh the pain!"

We thought we would give little Sarah some tummy time on the play mat. They claim that a newborn is never to young to get started exploring and learning about the world. Besides, it says on the package 0 months and up. (You can see more pictures of this adventure on Baby – Page 4. Did somebody say baby feet?)

So, Daddy laid Sarah down on her tummy on the mat. She just laid there and probably would have suffocated if Mommy didn’t turn her over. (Bad Daddy!) I guess I forget that little bit of information after I read that chapter in Be Prepared. I should have written it on my arm, it seems important.

We tried Sarah on her back, on her side, with her head under the hanging toys, with her feet under the hanging toys, with her body away from the hanging toys. All gave us the same result as you can see by the picture.
She did not like to play on the mat, she did not like it with her Daddy, Pat. She did not like it on the mat, she did not like it with a cat.

I am not sure who is more creeped out by who at this point, the baby or the cat. Missy (The fat cat, or Pudge) has sniffed Sarah and doesn’t seem to know what to make of her just yet. And the cat wants nothing to do with Sarah when she starts crying.

Sarah on the other hand seems interested in the big fuzzy shape that is the cat. I think it is almost as if Sarah is wondering why that baby is so hairy. (Or Missy wondering why that cat is so bald.)While Sarah was enjoying herself on the play mat, Missy came over to join us and probably wanted us to take the baby off of the mat so she could lay on it.

Click on the picture of the cat to see a picture of Missy modeling some baby clothes!

Bad Kitty…

Somehow Gizmo (The Wondercat) managed to sneak into our bedroom yesterday. When Dana went in to put Sarah down for a nap, this is what she found. At least he was comfortable until he was chased out of the room. (Click on the picture to see him in his cool hat!)

While you are here, why not sign our Guestbook!!