New Parents = Living in Cave

I've been telling people lately that I've gotten really good at reading e-mail and blogs, but writing and responding just isn't all that easy when you've got a baby in your arms! So you can probably understand why the blogs haven't been all that plentiful in these last few weeks. And, well, the whole new to parenthood thing what with the endless diaper changes, feedings, playing with baby, sleepless nights, etc. makes it a little challenging to keep up with all things online. Would you believe it took me 3 days to get that blog about the labor and delivery experience posted?! And alas, I had high aspirations of posting all about our first week home with Caiden. We're what, going into the 4th week now? Amazing how quickly time is already flying by! But I do want to make sure I capture the highlights of the last few weeks here at Duchek West West. Please pardon me in advance for what may very well turn into a rambling post.

Our first week home certainly required a lot of adjustment, but having my mom here sure made things a lot easier! She took care of a lot of the behind the scenes kinds of things - keeping the house picked up, cooking and baking for us, making grocery store runs, and of course she got in plenty of baby time! It was really really hard to say goodbye to her at the airport when the time came for her to head back home to Chicago.



As far as getting to know Caiden that first week, I think the hardest adjustment was shifting to a 24 hour schedule. Gone are the nights of uninterrupted sleep. And learning to schedule life around the needs of a newborn has been a challenge, but I think we're starting to get the hang of things little by little. And I'm still trying to adjust to being the sole food source as I've been nursing Caiden. But still, I know that we're really lucky to have such a good baby. He's a sound sleeper, and just like his mom, he likes to sleep a lot! We learned pretty quickly that we had to get more aggressive about waking him up during the day so that he wouldn't miss a feeding. He doesn't cry or fuss to terribly much - really only when he's hungry or having a little bit of digestive upset. And when he is awake, he's pretty content to just chill out and gaze around the room for awhile. I took advantage of one of those contented awake periods and snapped off a dozen or so pictures of him. I'm sure this camera is going to get it's fair share of use!

In week 2, Brian was still off of work (thankfully!) and we took advantage of my fairly speedy recovery to take a trip to the mall one day. It was our first outing on our own with Caiden, and really it went pretty well. I learned how to nurse while parked in the car and Brian learned how to change a diaper in the back seat! Later that week we had great fun taking Caiden in to our respective workplaces and introducing him to all sorts of people. It's so fun watching people cuddle with and coo at newborns. :) Plus it helps that Caiden was on his best behavior for both trips (even with his marathon hour long feeding session at Brian's office!).

Something else that's been new for me is having random people admire and comment on Caiden. Never having really been a fan of kids in general, I'm certainly not one to talk to strangers about their babies. But it's been a pleasant experience so far when people stop to ask me how old he is, comment on his full head of hair, etc. I find myself looking forward to going out with him in public more and more often - particularly now that we're getting the hang of managing all of the baby gear and ins and outs of traveling around with a newborn. Oh! And an added bonus? We can take the carpool lane on 520 now. :P

Our next visitor was my best friend Summer. I was especially excited for her trip out here because it was looking like she wasn't going to be able to make it out here until much later. But she found a good deal on a flight and jumped right on it! It was a short but very enjoyable visit. She got in Friday (April 18th) night, and we all drove down to the airport to pick her up. She got to sit with Caiden for the ride back, but he insisted on staying asleep. :) Once we got home he perked up and Summer got to hold him and play with him for a little bit.



After some dinner, we decreed that Friday was to be Caiden's first proper bath! Captured on video and witnessed by Auntie Summer, I'd have to say that it was a success! Caiden definitely enjoyed his bath and BOY does his hair curl up something fierce when it gets wet! There is no doubt that this kid is gonna have some curly locks!



On Saturday Brian attended an all day conference which left Summer and me to spend the day hanging out with the baby and gab, gab, gab away. It was SO nice to just hang out with her (in person!) and talk about everything under the sun. I am also very excited that she has agreed to be Caiden's Godmother! Yay!!! Sadly, her flight back to MN was a red eye on Sat evening and our visit was over all too soon. :( But hopefully we'll get to see her again this summer when Caiden is baptized!

Sunday and Monday were big days for me as they were my first days completely on my own with Caiden. Overall, things went pretty well and he and I did just fine together. I was a little apprehensive about taking care of him completely on my own and still having somewhat limited mobility with my continued recovery from the c-section. But he was a good little baby, and the days were over before I knew it!

Tuesday (April 22nd) brought our most recent visitor - Grandma Rusti (Brian's mom)! Caiden is the first grandchild on Brian's side, and we've had great fun watching Rusti fall in love with the little guy.



This past week marked Brian's return to work, and Rusti has been keeping busy with cooking, cleaning and helping care for baby which has been a TREMENDOUS help to us as we continue to adjust to parenthood. We're gonna be sad to see her leave. :( Lucky for Brian, he got Friday and Monday off so we managed to squeeze in a trip to visit the tulips on Friday (and avoided the crowds)! The weather was gorgeous and most of the fields were still in full bloom. Woo hoo! (More tulip photos here.)







Saturday we took advantage of the amazing weather (made it up into the 70s!) and spent time getting outside and doing some shopping. Today (Sunday) our friends Colin, Dave and Jen came over for a visit and to meet Caiden. AND I managed to successfully make mom's banana cream pie - yum!!

So that about brings us up to date. I know there is probably a lot more I could go on at length about, but this entry is getting pretty long already. :) Oh - one last thing I do want to note - Caiden makes the cutest/funniest faces and noises when he is awake and even when he dozes. Sometimes he hoots. Sometimes he coos. Sometimes he sounds like a pterodactyl. And I love it when he sighs into my ear when I'm holding him over my shoulder. Oh and we keep getting lucky enough to see some previews of what his smiles/grins are gonna look like. :D