Snerking

Babies have snotty noses. Who knew?

Matthew has been having some issues with his snotty nose these past few nights. He has been making ridiculous noises and getting a bit fussy what with the trouble breathing and all. Apparently this is fine and normal and there is nothing we can do. At this age the little ones are "obligate nose breathers" meaning that they can't breath through their mouths (see what you learn when you read the manual). So if there is gunk all up in there, it gets noisy (really noisy). We have become experts at the nasal aspirator, steam therapy, and appropriate angles of bedding to maximize nasal drainage. A whole new world of bodily fluids is opening up to us. By far the best advice we have read/received – from many sources -  is to just shut the door and turn down the monitor. Easier said that done. We have both spend hours sitting on a stool in the dark beside the crib watching baby snerk and snort the night away.

One Month

The one month shot is the most important - assuming that one plans to continue this month-after-month for the foreseeable future. The spot is critical. It must be stable (in that it will be there for a while so the picture is consistent - not so much relating to the structural integrity) and it must be big enough to have him grow into it (ie, not a bag like what joey favours). It also must allow for appropriate size differentiation from month to month. Anyway this is what we picked - the chair. We have pictures with him and one of his myriad of stuffed beings. We hope this works (oh the pressure!)

Dramatic Debut

We may have set the little guy up for a life of failure. In his first ever dramatic performance - a the tender age of 28 day old - he has played the role of a lifetime: Baby Jesus. How does one top that? Where does one go after playing the son of God! Oh well, at least he was brilliant in his role. And aside from the slightly unplanned interaction with the communion table, all was alright. Marissa (Mary) was taking Matthew up on stage and there was the gentlest of bonks on the table. Kristine and I didn't notice, but all the other parents did and there was this collective gasp and a swivel of heads to look back at us. We were all like "what? Is it wrong that our baby is playing Jesus or something?" Matthew didn't really care, but in the reprise performance we ensured that there weren't many table about.

Sharing the News: Kristine's parents

The curling bonspiel in Pilot Mound was happening this year on the Easter weekend. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get together to celebrate the holiday as well as do a little bit of curling. As it turned out, it was also the perfect opportunity to share some very exciting news.

Now, you can't just come out and say "hey, we are having a baby!" It is a kind of game where the new parents set up a situation so that the news is shared very subtly and then you wait to see how long it takes recipients of the news to figure it out. This is the fun part. They did it on the A&W commercial where the couple buys the new grandpa a Grandpa burger. Our friends did it when they invited us over for pie. And we did it with Adam's parents by sticking the photo of the pregnancy test in the middle of the Arizona trip slideshow.

So, for my parents, I bought an Easter card that said "For Grandma and Grandpa".


It took mom 0.3 seconds.

More excited and cheerful madness ensued.

Sharing the News: Adam's Parents

Planning how to share this news is almost as challenging and planning how to propose. You can do the straight up "hey mom, dad, we're pregnant". But sometimes things present themselves that are too good an opportunity to pass up. First, note that we had the picture of the pregnancy test. Secondly, we have just returned from an adventure to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon with Lenore so we had many many pictures to share with family. I nefariously snuck the pregnancy test pic into the set of Grand Canyon pics, and our ploy was set.

We ventured to my parents house for the big show.

We trucked through the pictures in standard format. Sharing stories etc. then we got to the Grand Canyon itself: "Here is a picture of the canyon; here is looking way down at some of the donkey trains; here is our pregnancy test showing that we are pregnant; here is another view of the donkey trains close up; here is Kristine and Lenore..."

It took about 2 pictures past the pregnancy test when my mom said "wait a minute, go back". So I went back to the donkey train pic. "the donkey trains? yea they were pretty interesting, you see they are more stable on the" "No not that!!" "oh this? yeah, Kristine is pregnant".

The excited and cheerful madness ensued.

So it begins

There are signposts throughout life that tell you where to go, where you have been, or where you are about to go. Sometimes they are subtle, sometimes obvious, sometimes a great big neon flashing sign with bells and arrows. This was one of the latter. In 9 months (give or take) we will transition (read instantly shift) from being a couple to being parents. As with most first timers, we have absolutely no idea what we are getting into. Sure, we will read books, watch videos, receive advice (solicited and not) and eventually become somewhat comfortable in our belief that we are ready, but really, nothing can actually prepare you. We will watch and wonder why people who have kids start to smirk or smile knowingly, sometimes with wistful regret that they are past that stage, but usually with something that is a mixture of fondness and pitty, as we share our exciting news. We will eventually figure out why. But for now, before the news is public, before anyone besides us knows, while it is still our news, and our secret, we sit together and stare and these two pink lines that speak louder than any words can: something big is about to happen, and your world is about to change.