Baby's First Christmas

Well... we're two thirds of the way through the 2006 holidays (for the Davis' anyway). Charlotte has seen her first Thanksgiving, her first Christmas, and this weekend she'll experience her first New Years... and get to do it with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Davis side of the family.

This past weekend was a whirlwind for my baby girl. She went to two Christmas parties, two dinners, and had Christmas morning at G and Pop Rose's house. Tons of activity for a 5-week old, and boy did it show by Saturday night and Sunday.

Charlotte was as overloaded as I've ever seen her. Too much, too much! She loves to see her cousins, aunts and uncles, and G and Pop, but her little disposition can only take so much. Mommy and Daddy really should have limited her activity a little more, but it's so hard to disappoint people on the holidays.

I had my first daddy "run-in" on Christmas though, as I had to keep some friends and family from going into the room she was napping in to say hello. They were initially put off, but they understood when I explained how fussy Charlotte had been because of her straying from her normal routine. She just needed some "peaceful" sleep without everyone poking and prodding her... and thankfully, they understood that explanation.

Mommy has been so good with keeping Charlotte on a tight schedule, and we think our little sweetie is benefiting greatly from the structure. She is becoming such a great little personality... and the best part, we think, is that we are as predictable to her as she is to us.

They say you can't learn everything in a book, but I will tell you that there are some VERY good books out there to help get you through pregnancy and having a newborn. I'm sure everyone has their own stories, but we are so glad that we took the time to read up a little and take some classes before we had our daughter. There are plenty of parents who are experts at "winging it" and have been super successful at it, but in my opinion, if you can get some help, take it! It's just so helpful to be able to recognize things when they happen rather than guess.

Thanks for reading everyone... and I'll try not to take six more days to write again this time!

Anticipation

Beck and I were talking last night about our plans for next week when my entire family comes into Maryland for a visit for a few days. We are so excited that everyone is making the time and effort to travel so far.

My brothers and their families live in Cincinnati and Oregon, and my parents live in North Carolina. We're doing a "Davis Extravaganza" on December 29th and then having an updated family portrait taken on the 31st.

I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to have "my family" in the portrait. What I mean is that before this one, every family portrait before was everyone else's family... and me. The only exception was in 2003 when Rebecca was in the portrait, even though we weren't married yet. I guess everyone must have thought it was an even money bet at the time.

There was a time in my life that I wasn't sure if I would ever have a family of my own. So the family portrait is sort of a coming of age for me... as most of the last 11 months have been.

You know, fatherhood really isn't as scary as I always thought it would be!

Perspective

Funny how having some new perspective completely changes the way you view or react to things.

Today my beautiful baby girl pooped all over me... and then pee'd all over me... I was in the middle of changing her and she just started to shoot from both barrels (so to speak). I used 4 diapers to get her 1 clean one.

If this were just a few months ago (and someone else's kid), I would have been absolutely disgusted and my day would have been ruined. Not today. Today I just laughed and weathered the storm, diaper after diaper.

What a change for a guy who never changed a diaper before a month ago. What an AWESOME change!

My Little Dinosaur

Charlotte must have been a velociraptor in another life or something. Among her repertoire of noises now is a sort of grunting shriek that sounds like something directly out of Jurassic Park. It's hilarious. Combined with the way she moves her head around when she does it, it's really a little bizarre. She is so cute (if I do say so myself).

Monday she went shopping with Mommy (and "G" and Pop Rose) while Daddy worked. Mommy took Charlie to Target and this new place called Boscov's and they all had a great time. Charlie slept most of the day away in her stroller and was just barely waking up when she came home. Just in time to let Daddy spend some quality time with her before bedtime.

Little Charlotte is exactly 4 weeks old today (at 1:17pm). I told her Mom last night that she is looking more like a little person now more than a little baby. She makes the funniest faces and noises, and she is really starting to get more and more coordinated.

I can't believe she is growing up so fast! It amazes me more and more everyday.

I'm In Big Trouble

Beck and I went to her salon's holiday open house last night. It was the first time since we brought Charlotte home from the hospital that we ventured out without her. I thought I would be completely on edge the whole night, but I wasn't. After all, I knew Charlotte was in good hands with her Grandma "G" at home. It was very relaxing for us to see all our friends from Mason's.

Here's the thing though... I spent the whole night talking to people about my daughter. Completely exciting for me, but I'm afraid I put several people to sleep. If you're one of those people and you're reading this, I apologize. I know I can get out of control a little when I talk about her. I'll try to do a better job understanding that everyone else's world doesn't revolve around my baby girl the way mine does.

I'm really not sure what has happened to me... but it sure feels pretty good.

The New Blog Format (What do you think?)

Our friend Cheryl told me how to do this on a "real" BLOG site. I liked the "old" BLOG just fine, but this format gives me easier access and takes less management from me! Not to mention I get to use space on someone else's server this way.

If you like to read my BLOG, please leave me some comments or share your stories with me. I am humbled by how many people have told me they read this thing... and I thought it was just something for me to use to clear my head!

Thanks to everyone for all the great comments about Charlotte's site, and for visiting often. She is such a wonderful baby girl... I can't imagine what I was doing with my life BEFORE she arrived. It seems so insignificant.

I'm Becoming A Whisperer (Kind Of)

My Mom gave us a book back in June called the "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer". Beck and I have read it and she now uses it as a reference when Charlotte does new things... just to see how she is developing. I've just discovered a new read: "The Happiest Baby On the Block". It's pretty straight forward and filled with logical stuff, but I've discovered some tricks that really work. I can now make my sweet baby girl relax within 3-5 minutes, fairly easily. Of course, she IS an easy baby, but it is just amazing that I can literally put her to sleep without much effort. It's worked probably 8 of 10 times so far, and I believe the 2 times it didn't work, she was just very hungry (because she fell asleep while she fed). There is no better feeling in the world than holding my baby girl while she sleeps on my chest. To try and choose just one emotion to describe it would be grossly inadequate. I'm sure that all the parents out there understand what I'm trying to say though...

She's Getting So Big!

It's amazing how little time it takes before your "little" girl starts to grow faster than you're ready for. Charlotte has already gained back her birth weight, and a few ounces to spare. Each day, she becomes more awake and aware of the things around her, and I absolutely love it when she stares into my eyes when I talk to her. If it's possible, my baby girl is starting to grow up already! What an amazing thing to watch and experience... even though she just 2 1/2 weeks old. We had our first "Father / Daughter Day" on Friday. Mommy had some errands to run and Daddy and Charlotte did just fine. All by ourselves for about 4 hours. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for a guy like me who NEVER changed a diaper until November 15th 2006, it's a major accomplishment. Not that I doubted I'd love her, but I just never knew HOW MUCH I'd love my baby girl so quickly. She makes me so proud to be her Daddy.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa D

What a great weekend we had! Grandma and Grandpa Davis came to visit from North Carolina and Charlotte was on her best behavior. Of course we've only had her home a little more than a week so we can't really distinguish between her "good" and "bad" behaviors yet! All I know is that she really was happy to see her Grandparents this weekend... and so were her parents! We really appreciate them making the 9 hour drive up so soon to see their 6th grandchild (5th granddaughter... that x chromosome runs wild in the Davis family). While we aren't the most exciting family right now, it was nice just seeing how comfy Charlie was with her grandparents... even though we had to pry her away from Grandma D a few times!

Cloudy but Proud

Well... let's hope that ZICAM is as good as all the hype. After a night of Mucinex, Tylenol Cold & Flu, and some Airborne, I went to the grocery store today to get some ingredients for a Turkey Day dish and I saw this stuff called ZICAM. The Pharmacist says it's good stuff and recommended the nasal swabs to me. So I've swabbed, and I'm waiting. With all the other medicine in me, I've been groggy and cloudy all day, but I'll tell you, Charlotte still makes me smile bigger than ever. I'm so proud of her progress sleeping in her crib and how well she's adapting to our home. Beck and I are adapting too, but my little Charlie has made the transition pretty easy for us. I just can't wait to hug her and kiss her little head! Let's go ZICAM!

Daddy's Broken Heart

Daddy wasn't feeling well last night so I decided to take some Tylenol Cold and Flu and go to bed early. I woke up several times during the night to hear from Beck how well Charlotte was doing in her crib... sleeping like an angel. Each time, I wanted to go see her but Beck wouldn't let me near her with my sneezes and coughs. She said you'll have to stay in the basement until you get better. Of course she was joking, but we both were serious about keeping Charlie safe, so I kept my distance last night and this morning. Today though, I went to the doctor and she told me I have a bad cold (which I would normally have just lived with) and that I should do everything I can to stay away from Charlie for at least 3 to 5 days and give the cold a chance to pass. I am devastated. So much so that I literally welled up with tears in the office when she told me. I just can't imagine not being able to hold my baby girl and kiss her soft little head. I am just crushed. I don't know how I'm going to make through the next few days.

Charlotte's Busy Weekend

My little Charlie is so funny. She has started to really make faces now and even smiled at Auntie Anne on Sunday. It's so funny how you can already start to detect her little personality after only a few days. Thanks so much to our friends (and neighbors) Jeff and Lori for bringing us homemade Chicken Parm on Saturday night. Nothing beats that sauce Lori! Then on Sunday, our friends Jeff and Robin Martin brought us a WHOLE Turkey dinner, including mashed potatoes and gravy. It was gone in under an hour! That stuffing was really great Robin. Charlotte had lots of visitors this weekend and we are grateful for all the love you all gave our little girl. We are so lucky to have this little charmer!

Our First Night At Home

What a peaceful night at home. Charlotte (sometimes I call her Charlie) was such a princess. She is an eating and pooping machine, and last night she slept so well in between feedings. I'm sure we'll have some rough nights, but for the first one at home, we feel pretty lucky to get some solid 3-hour blocks of sleep time. This is such a cool time for Rebecca and I. Neither of us can believe that we have this little angel in our lives. She is such a good little girl! Today I teach her about college football!

Welcome Home, and Special Thanks

We brought our beautiful daughter home just a few minutes ago and the house just feels so much more special. Charlotte has been such a great little girl over the past two days, and we feel sooooo lucky to be her parents. The experience at the hospital couldn't have been better. From the minute the Doc sent us from his office to the delivery room, we were treated first class. Doctor Pataki is a wonderful OB and we can't thank him enough for everything over the past 39 weeks. His sense of humor, straight forward demeanor, and professionalism is one of a kind. Our nurse Donna in the delivery room was the best. We saw her two weeks ago when we had some major false labor, and when we found out she was going to be with us during the birth of our baby, we were so thankful. What a great lady! Then there is Renee Mason. She's our friend who happens to work in L&D at St. Agnes and is Mason's (Mason & Friends) Daughter-in-law. We also owe our baby's name to her too (her daughter is named Charlotte). She was off Wednesday but was in the hospital attending a meeting. When she heard Rebecca was delivering, she ran upstairs and came in the room just as were were getting ready to push. She stayed through her lunch to help out and between she and Donna, our little princess couldn't have been in better hands. She came and visited us several times the next two days to make sure we were okay, and even brought us a VERY special dinner on our second night. Renee, your generosity and thoughtfulness will never be forgotten. We can't thank you enough for being such a big part of the birth of our little princess.

Whoa!!

I've titled this blog in honor of Joey Lawrence (and his elimination from Dancing With the Stars). His famous exclamation from his days on 'Blossom' is the only way to describe how I feel right now. What a day yesterday was! I can't even believe that was real. My wife is unbelievable. We walked into our OB's office yesterday morning at 9:00am, he said "okay, looks like she's ready. You want to have this baby today?" He told us to go to the hospital and he'd meet us there in a "couple of hours." By 12:30pm Beck started pushing and at 1:17pm, baby Charlotte was finally here! This is the most amazing emotion ever. All those years of being afraid to be a Dad for some reason seem so ridiculous all of the sudden. Holding my little girl in my arms is the most priceless feeling in the world. I told my buddy Yaphet last night, I wish you could pass that feeling on to people, like those Nissan Maxima commercials. The one where the guy touches the car and instantly feels all the exhilaration that car has given its' owner...

Something Is Going On!!!

Beck is having some MAJOR contractions this morning. On a scale of 1-10, she describes them as an "8" as far as pain goes. Prior to tonight, she says her Braxton Hicks were maybe "1" or "2" on the same scale. The contractions are about 2-3 minutes long and keep coming every 10-12 minutes. Earlier tonight when she came home from work, she told me she was having "different" contractions all day, about 25-35 minutes apart. I'm using my stopwatch from soccer tryouts so I can really feel like a coach! She is having to use some breathing techniques to get through these contractions... Could this be it? Really it? We don't want to jump the gun, but this morning is different then anything she's felt over the last 2 weeks of "early labor". Holy S&*T!!!!! :-)

How Do I Help My Girls?

Well we're still waiting. Charlotte gave us all some excitement nearly two weeks ago in the hospital and we really thought she was on her way. Now it seems like we've been taught a valuable lesson: Our little Charlie is going to be her own girl. That's all well and good for me, but I'm worried about my wife.

Beck has been so tough all this time, and I feel like it's finally starting to wear her down a little. It has to. She's never really complained at all for nearly 39 weeks but I can tell she's ready now. I wish I knew of something I could do to ease her anxiety.

I read so much these days online about birthing and labor. I've even been adopted by a November "Birth" club at BabyCenter.com. All the women are so amazed that a DH (dear husband) is ACTUALLY on the site. Personally, I think there are plenty of us, but we are a little apprehensive about making it known for some reason. I'm sure all of the husbands are feeling compassion and concern right now for their wives. For me, I feel a little helpless, and I'm told that's normal. Beck is so tough, sometimes I feel like she could do this on her own, but I really want to help her... and Charlotte of course.

I guess I'll continue to get her water, vacuum, make dinner, empty the dishwasher, and whatever else I can offer until Charlotte gets here. It's just such an odd feeling as a husband at this point, to see your wife in pain, and feel like it's your fault, and not be able to make her comfortable. It's like I'm in a gun fight without bullets.