AC Capehart capehart

Update: Fixed day of week. (thanks bk) Apparently sleep deprivation also means inability to actually read a calendar. Pretty funny when you consider the nature of this post. Being that we now live in a proper neighborhood, complete with neighbors, and now that we have a kid, it seems like it is time to start participating in the whole Halloween thing again. We bought a great deal of candy. We turned on our front porch (and lamp post) lights.

We went back to the pediatrician’s office today. I think I may have mentioned earlier that Sam’s supposed to be gaining an ounce a day at this stage of life. So, she should have gained 7 ounces since we were last there. She gained 3.1. She’s now at 5lbs, 11 oz. We’ve been told to increase the frequency of the supplements — We’d been doing 2 a day. We’re now going for 3-4.

I’ve had some pretty good birthdays. Even this year, I had one that I really enjoyed. But, already, Sam has topped me. Just yesterday, 3 more packages came for Sam from such unlikely sources as the parents of my best friend from mid-late youth, and an administrative assistant that we rarely deal with any more from the campus. The outpouring has been amazing. Thank you. If you’re still thinking to join in on the give Sam stuff parade, I have just one request — no more “Goodnight Moon.

Well, Grand-mère left early afternoon today, right after breakfast. Yeah, you read that right. What of it? Now we’re out of biological grandmothers. OK, Sam has one more grandmother (my dad’s “new” wife). She’s been part of my dad’s life for years and years, but she still doesn’t really feel like family the same way to me. No offense meant, just that Carolyn and I each had mothers during our childhoods, neither of which she was.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for a weight check. She did pretty good. Last time we were there, she was 5lbs, 3.9 oz. (birth weight was 5lbs, 3.5oz). This time, she was 5lbs, 8.6oz. Apparently, the rule of thumb for this phase of life is “an ounce a day.” 4.7 ounces was apparently close enough for 5 days. We’re still a little stressed about her weight gain though. As I think I mentioned, we’re supplementing her intake with formula, and we increased the quantity some in the last few days to make sure she’s growing.

I’ve heard from a couple of people now that they’ve had trouble accessing Samantha’s website, or SamTrak from her site. I suspect DNS trouble. I set these sorts of things up with some regularity, so I should have a pretty good idea of what to do. Alas, I usually do it on more sleep than I had recently, so I could have screwed something up. It all works for me, but I use my own DNS servers.

They say that the poop of newborn, breast fed babies looks like mustard (complete with seeds), and on good days, that’s proving true. (Bad days, it’s greener and wetter, but you didn’t really want to know that, now did you?) They also say that it changes parents’ view of mustard at least during this phase of development. For me, it’s been mostly the other way. Instead of thinking that I have a jar of baby poop labeled “Dijon” in my refrigerator, I think “Cool, my baby poops fine French mustard!

You might think that since Grand-mère is a formal French title, that it might have something to do with Mom’s side of the family. After all, Mom studies all sorts of things French. And while neither side of the family stands greatly on formality, you’ll find fewer fart jokes told around the dinner table with Mom’s side of the family. But no, you’d be mistaken. OK, it’s not much of a fairy tale, but here’s the story of how Grand-mère got her name.

We met with a different pediatrician today (same office). I was worried about Sam’s wheezing — especially as I was just getting over a cold myself. It turned out to be nothing but regular snot, but I’m so glad we went. We had a much easier time communicating with this pediatrician than we did for Sam’s “regular” doctor. While her regular doctor has a fine command of English (though it’s not her native tongue), we don’t feel like she listens to us and our questions particularly well.

We made it from one grandmother to the next. Phew. Already Grand-mère’s been a big help. She’s returned a book to the library that would have been late tomorrow, she’s gone to the grocery store and she’s helping get the nursery prepped for the Trading Spaces style event down the road. This was a good thing because I hadn’t even been in that room for most of a month. The windows were open because, it had been summer not that long ago.