Visitors and "peak fuss"

Well,

What you see above in italics is what I typed on April 2. I sat down after a nice session of feeding, bouncing, singing and rocking that ended successfully in an asleep Emmett. I decided to take the chance to update our blog.

I sat down at the computer, bowl of ice cream in hand and ready to recount precious memories. At that point, my "Well" became "Whoa he's awake" which became "Wah." As you may have guessed, we got stuck at "Wah." For about 3 weeks. Since then we have been part of one long session of, well, wah. Don't get me wrong, folks; this is about the most fun I've ever had. But the Emmettster has got some pipes and has figured out how to use them for long periods of time.

The dialogue of his most recent check-up was something like this:
Me: This one's broken. It cries and it doesn't sleep.
Pediatrician: Well...

Anyhow, Andy and I have spent hours bouncing Emmett on the birth ball, singing hymns, walking him around the house, shooshing, rocking, etc. We checked out a few books about babies and sleep and gleaned the following conflicting advice:

Do whatever it takes to get them to sleep.
Don't do whatever it takes unless you want to keep doing it until your child is about fifteen.

Sing and rock them.
Don't stimulate them.

Don't let them cry.
Have them cry it out.

Family bed is the way to go.
Family bed results in irreversible co-dependence and inevitable sleep dysfunction for all involved.

The beauty of conflicting advice is that you can do whatever you want and someone will think it's okay. We decided to embrace inconsistency and see what happened. Sometimes family bed, sometimes shoosh, sometimes bounce, sometimes rock. Sometimes sleep.

Here we are a few weeks later and life is good. We had multiple visitors who, as they say, got their own soothe on. They helped calm the little dude and, if that didn't work, they helped us laugh about it all. Nowadays he needs a little rock, a bit of bounce or swing and a touch of song and is out like a light. Or, to our amazement, he just decides he's tired and goes to sleep.

In addition, he's huge. We're discovering that when everyone says, "He'll be grown before you know it," it's not just a figure of speech. He was 12 1/2 pounds at his 7 week checkup and appears to be, um, larger these days. Please note our raging deltoid muscles in the pictures below.

The verdict thus far:

Andy's nose, ears and eyes. Brooke's mouth. Andy said that he has my chin and I was a wee bit offended as Emmett has three chins

Emmett's first full-immersion bath. Contrary to the earlier sponge-baths, he loved it. *

*Please note strategic hand placement. This is a family blog.

A common sight and sound in the house between weeks 6 and 8. Note the arm lift. He does that to increase the power to the diaphragm so he can "kick it up a notch."

We are family. Our boy might have a future on the disco circuit. Kind of a small, white and slightly more irritated James Brown.

The result of bouncing, walking, shushing, praying, singing, and nursing Baby E to sleep. When we succeeded, he sure was cute.

I pleaded with Andy to get this shot. Emmett will one day envy what his Dad attained after a mere 8 seconds with a hair pick. Or he will be horrified and that's okay, too.

Andy's aunt Margi from NC came for a visit - the greeting at Salt Lake airport. Emmett showed his enthusiasm by sleeping.

Hearing about the Runaway Bunny while staring in the general direction of the window.

The next weekend, Emmett was visited by two of our friends who had been roomies with Brooke at Appalachian. Mary came from Kansas City and Jeannie came from Albany to meet the new guy and visit with his parents. Here, Jeannie models the Snugli carrier and the sunshade Andy constructed from a T-shirt (patent pending).

Thanks for cooking the pancakes Mary. (Bill, she also makes crepes and coq au vin. Don't believe her lies about inadequacy in the kitchen).

Diaper changing: a learned skill. One wrong move, one loose leg, and next time you're changing diaper AND outfit. You'll also notice that Wiley is within 5 feet of the baby. He likes to keep that distance if possible, except when Emmett starts crying. Then the dog leaves the room, finds one of us adults, and tries to explain that someone is upset and should be calmed down immediately. And if he can't be calmed, we need to evacuate to the dog park.

Emmett's first introduction to "Uncle Dave" - our friend and pastor down in Sandy, UT. Once again, Emmett shows his affection by being willing to collapse in slumber in someone's arms.

Tummy time on the dining room table. He prefers doing his pushups on his Winnie-the-Pooh blanket.

One of our favorite pictures.

...And a watchful dog.

"What do you want to do tonight?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Whatever. I'm cool if we stay here and I soil my drawers."
"Cool."

What a wonderful role to play for someone - a parent. What a joyous responsibility. Emmett, we'll do the best we know how, and we're enjoying the ride - every bit of it.