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Eww.

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Lisa’s birth story and my birth story were posted at the same exact time. That was planned, you see. In order to keep with those plans, I wrote mine between 2 and 5 am, while the baby was fussy on and off.

The baby has slept through the night (mostly) for the last several nights, which means today I actually feel human (with the help of a monster energy drink). Lisa doesn’t go back to work yet, so graciously lets me sleep unless the baby needs to be changed, in which case I get up.

But I have to say, I do look fondly back at the sleepless (literally) first few nights with the baby at home. It’s one of those things first time parents have to do, like earning your stripes in the army.

Luckily, for those who haven’t met the baby, she’s incredibly easy going. She doesn’t appear to be allergic to the kitties, either – major concern of mine.

Now I’m back at work and I miss my wife, child and kitties terribly – I went from working to having a month off (and being up for 18 to 20 hours a day) to being back at work – there’s no way to ease the transition! It’s cold turkey, no seeing my baby and my wife.

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The baby is silly, if you’ve seen the videos. When the baby is upset, I take her feet and start kicking myself in the head. Or, if Lisa has the unlucky job of changing her, I take her feet and start kicking Lisa’s hands away (much to the delight of Nora and chagrin of Leesie).

She can also push herself to standing if she’s sitting against someone. Of course, she lacks balance, but it’s impressive how she can shoot herself straight up.

And she’s also taken to rolling – she absolutely adores her mommy, so at night she rolls on to her side to face her. When she’s laying on her back she babbles in her sleep, but on her side she sleeps peacefully (when she can see her lovely mommy). She has as of late managed to roll herself onto her stomach. We don’t know how she’s capable so early on, but hey, we’re excited. The more she develops while she’s at home with us, the better.

I know we should have her sleep in the co-sleeper. I know this. But, she gets upset when she sleeps without us. People say we shouldn’t spoil her – but I say ‘how can you let your child cry?’ Lisa and I have to console her, because it breaks our hearts. I mean, we can spoil her ‘less’ when she’s older and has some capability of understanding, but while she’s so small, so innocent, so helpless, how could she possibly understand why we won’t help her?

I can’t stand the notion of sending her to daycare. I know it has to be done, and people do it a lot sooner than we do. But Nora is our daughter, not theirs (a very Republican-esque way of looking at it, right?).

In light of this, we’ve made plans to go somewhere every weekend, like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the MET, MOMA, Longwood Gardens, and the like. Next year, if we save up enough money, perhaps maybe we can go to St. Martin again? Who knows with those sorts of things. This year we’ll have to be creative, with so many weddings to go to.

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We’re finally getting into a mode where we can work out at night. Lisa and I have to do it in shifts. We’re understanding now that things don’t all get done in a day like they used to – you have to decide when the dishes get done, when the laundry gets done, and the like. I feared a few months ago that things couldn’t be done on a whim – and I was right. If we want to go out ‘scrubby’, then it takes us about an hour to get out the door. If we want to go out showered, well dressed (i.e., shopping or someone’s house), it’s closer to two and half or three.

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In spite of it all, I wouldn’t trade a single moment for anything. The experience so far has been so incredibly joyful – I simply can’t imagine parents sending their children away to another country or simply having them watched by a nanny (full time, no parental involvement). This is the whole point of existing!

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In a few more days, I’ll be back to mundane posting. The baby blog, since Nora’s birth, has seen over 60,000 requests – so we’ll continue to update that section and that section alone regarding our little girl. It’s easier that way – there’s so many people coming out of the woodwork (literally, around the world) who rely on it to get their Nora fix.

“Successful requests in last 7 days 11,077 Requests”

Speaking of which, we’ll have the 28th day ceremony uploaded soon enough. The baby has been fussy the last few days – we think she’s going through a growth spurt.

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