Home At Last

It's been 9 days since I last saw Calleigh. My first time being away from her for more than 12 hours. The days went by fast as I was productive working but each night I wished I could be there to see her to sleep. It wasn't until I came home that I realized how much I missed her. Even though it had only been 9 days, CJ changed so much. Initally I was afraid she would not recognize me but once I had her in my arms, I think she knew Daddy was home.

Mom was a rock star as she took care of CJ all by herself for the 9 days. I wonder how I would do if I had her all alone. Now that I am home, Mom can take a break and get some rest and I can continue to spoil my daugher again.

Happy Feet

Two months and three days. 64 days to the average person can mean so little - work, eat, socialize, sleep - but for a newborn, life is evolving. I've seen CJ numerous times and with each visit, there is a new development. Whether it be her weight, her facial expressions, the shrieking cries for food or even her absurd amount of gas, I'm always marveling that this precious little girl can show me new antics that keep me enchanted for hours.

But it's not just her demeanor that warms my heart, it's also the peace I see in her Mom's eyes and the tenderness in Dad's touch. I tend to do the one thing everyone tells you not to do with babies: bother them while they're sleeping. I can't help it, I just want her to be awake for the few hours I see her. So of course CJ becomes agitated and I'm bracing myself for the reprimand I'm sure to get, but it doesn't come. Just a smile from Mom and a quick laugh from Dad followed by, "now you have to entertain her."

I snapped this picture while CJ's Mom was nursing and I can't help but look at it every day. I know it's just her feet but for me, it's 2 perfect little feet. 10 perfect little toes resting comfortably in Mom's lap and it fills me with a sense of peace.

It's only been 64 days. Maybe newborns aren't the only ones evolving.

Failure to Latch

So CJ recently learned how to latch onto Mom's breast. It was a tough road teaching her but I knew eventually she would catch on. She always had the concept down but needed more practice. Each time she feeds is a step towards mastering her technique. How could she complain, it's an all you can eat buffet.

Statistics say many babies take up to 3 months to learn how to breast feed, but I guess CJ has advanced skills and learned a lot sooner. Mom really didn't push it until the past couple of weeks so I have to say CJ learned in 2-3 weeks.

I have to give a lot of credit to Mothers that decide to breast feed. There are so many benefits for the baby but it is such a grueling task which I will never experience. All I know is that it is truly a test of a parent's unwavering level of patience. CJ's mom is truly fortunate because after hours of crying, trying, and frustration CJ is now consistently breast feeding.

I usually post a pic with my post but felt it was a bit inappropriate to post this event on the web, but seeing the bond between the Mom and baby is hard to explain and it's an amazing experience. At least I still have my 11pm to 3 am feedings which allows me to bottle feed and have my own bonding time with CJ, which usually ends up with her on my chest and me playing on my IPad.

The Origin of Boogie

Many have asked where CJs nickname Boogie originated from so I thought I would give a quick recap here. Chris, CJs mom, had people throughout her whole life have a problem saying her last name, Nguyen. People would say "Nu gen", "Nugent", "Nuh Guyan" and many others that were way off. Eventually, friends began to nickname Chris "Noogie" instead of trying to say her name correctly.

When we found out CJ was coming, a college friend of Chris, Jeff Wong, came up with the name Boogie. This name was derived from Baby Noogie, therefore Boogie. Because we were holding out on finding out our baby's sex, we just started referring to the baby as Boogie and it just stuck for us.

Funny thing is that when I was at BabysRUS I saw some wet wipes that were branded Boogie Wipes.

Day Out in New Bugaboo

CJ took her first stroll out of her home with her Mom and Dad to enjoy breakfast at Alana's Cafe in Burlingame, then to Target and Babies R US. She didn't really do much except sleep.

We realized she doesn't like it when I drive slow. When she starts to cry a bit, I speed up the car and she stops crying. Must have the need for speed.

During the day out, we experienced our first public changing experience. We learned a lot from this single event. First, if you are going to change a baby, try to get them on a flat surface. CJ decided to blow one out and it got all over Mom's hands and onto the vinyl changing pad, which eventually sloped down onto CJ's back and clothes since the car seat was at an angle. Not a very fun time cleaning up after the mess. As you can see from the picture below, Mom was not happy with her soiled hands.

Sleepy Time

Parents always warn me about sleepless nights. Well, I have yet to experience a sleepless night because I have had uninterrupted short naps throughout a night, 2 hour stretches, yet to wake up less than refreshed.

My wife and I agreed not to coddle our girl but it's hard not to want to pick her up every time she starts to cry. When I put CJ on my chest, she can sleep for hours without a problem. But I can't leave her on my chest and fall asleep with the fear of crushing her. So instead, I left her on my chest as I watched TV and did some work on my laptop. It was awesome, because i had 3 hours of uninterrupted time to myself!

Tonight, we let CJ cry her lungs to exhaustion for a few minutes in which she quickly stopped and fell asleep. I guess that's what we'll have to do and hopefully, sooner than later, we can get her to sleep through the night at least 6 hours. I can see why many parents say the days of 8-10 hour nights are over. The picture above shows me crashed out during the day while my Wife was cleaning. It's hard to resist CJ's sleepy time; she makes it look so inviting.

Defusing Bombs

I'm sure every parent has experienced some type of mishap while changing their kids diapers. After two weeks of changing CJ's diaper, I have been quick and steady to escape having soiled my hands. For my wife, she was caught off guard on several occasions with a shot of fluids as well as sharting onto her hands and clothes. I could not help to laugh while observing out of range.

After today, my streak was over. Although, I was quick to change CJ's diaper, at the last second, I was hit with a warm stream of pee on my hands. The funny thing was that I could not help to smile and laugh at my dripping hands. I just let her do her thing and then quickly washed my hands and changed to a new diaper before CJ decided to detonate a cluster bomb.

By the way, I have yet to perfect the optimal fit of a diaper onto CJ. Lately, I've been getting a lot of seeping waste through her clothes. I'd better grasp a better technique soon to avoid the additional laundry.