Latest milestone

The toe sandwich. They don't talk about this one in the books. Claire enjoys her time in the buff.

In the woods with wolves and woodpeckers

A brief hiatus from the visit with the grandparents.

Today, Claire and I hiked the Hoyt Arboretum and Forest Park in Portland. It was another spectacular day, the type you'd expect to find in July, not April. Wildwood Trail offered us clear views of Mt. St. Helens as we struck out on our 2.5-mile trek.



Claire enjoyed sampling the crabapple blossoms in the Arboretum.



We had an eventful hike. We spied a pileated woodpecker gouging away at two Douglas firs along the trail. The bird was tall and slender with its staple red cap. I love those birds.



We also came close to spotting Claire's first coyote. Another hiker spotted it first. Her dog barked and scared the coyote off before either of us could catch a peek. It probably had been staring at us, though, just moments earlier when we stopped in the same area to touch the moss on a tree hanging across the trail.

At another point in the trail, we stopped and counted the rings on another downed fir. This one lived at least 68 years before it fell. I told Claire, "That's older than papa. That's old!!!!!"



We got these brushes with wildlife along a trail that courses less than two miles from downtown Portland.

The return of Nana & Papa

That's right. They came back. Armed with clothes, toys, licorice and clothes -- in this case, a bathrobe -- that could be spit up on.

Boy, was Claire happy.

This time, they had a room in our house, the house was in order and we actually treated them like they were on vacation. Most of the time.








We bought sun hats to cope with the unseasonably sunny April weather.



We read books about farms and listened to Nana and Papa mimic the sounds of barnyard animals.











We watched Claire sit up on her own for the first time.










We hiked Tryon Creek.
And that was just the first half of the visit.

Happy Easter!

Milestones

These pleasant photos belie a hard truth.

Claire is teething.

Gone are the nights in which we all enjoyed uninterrupted sleep. Claire has gotten us up nearly every night in the past two weeks (last night brought a welcome respite), and she's hard to get back down to sleep. Sleeping on her back, apparently, bothers her, as it does many teething babies. She either keeps us up for two hours at a time or gets us up repeatedly through the night.


Two nights ago, to keep her down, one of us held her as she slept from about midnight to 6 a.m. Sleeping with a baby girl on your shoulder or next to your chest can be a wonderful feeling for a father, but that sleeping baby also fidgets and starts from time to time, making sleeping for longer than 45 minutes at a time impossible.

Some of our new parent friends are now chuckling and saying to themselves, "I told you so."

We're not completely sure teething is the culprit here. Parenting books/experts tell us it could be separation anxiety. Could be simply a new phase. But on several occasions, we've we walked up to the side of her crib in the middle of the night to find her fidgeting and whining with her eyes shut. That suggests gum pain to me.




So, enjoy the lovely photos of developmental milestones -- the toes and socks in the mouth, the fascination with chimes, the simultaneous holding of two different blocks while sitting up. We're trying to focus on the good times, too. Even through bloodshot eyes.

Gifts keep coming

Claire is taking showers these days. Showers of gifts. Here, she plays with some sort of plastic water-air-fish contraption from Nana and Papa. Good for that necessary floor-tummy time.



Granny sent some neat outfits that she'll be able to wear later. FedEx delivered the bashed and tattered box to our neighbor, but it got to us nonetheless.



Claire and her parents thank you.

Halfway there

My back aches. My left wrist feels as if it's been stabbed with a red-hot Leatherman blade.



Otherwise, taking care of this little girl has been pretty swell.

I reached the midway point of my parental leave on Wednesday. Rather than rehash what's already been posted, I'll try to answer questions that people have asked me while I'm off.

Q: Do you miss work?
A: No. N. O.

Q: Are you going to hate going back to work?
A: Would you stop asking me about work!?!?


Q: Will it be difficult to resume real life?
A: Yes, but not for the reasons you think. I can imagine settling back into my job, though it might take a day or two. The hard part, I can already tell, will be not being with Claire. I'm gonna miss her awful. Those throaty giggles. The smile she flashes nearly every time I look at her. The satisfied swallowing sounds she makes as she feeds. The peaceful look on her face as she naps in the daylight in her crib. I've got four weeks left. The separation anxiety's only going to get worse. Are there any support groups out there for that?

Q: I'm asking the questions.
A: Oh yeah. Right.




Q: Was it hard getting into the rhythm of caring for a baby? The feedings? The diaper changes?


A: Not this baby. She is a dream babe; the immaculate infant. She loves diaper changes. She eats every two hours, almost like clockwork. She fusses only when she had reason to. Oh, sure. She has her days. Like Thursday, when she hardly napped, fussed a lot and drank milk as if she suspected her supply had been hijacked. But her laughing outbursts and other precious moments make up for that.






Q: What's been your favorite part?
A: Seeing Claire light up when her mom comes home is something special. We look forward to it each day. But above that, I'd probably say the best part of this experience is the creative discoveries Claire and I make interacting with each other. Our current favorite game we came across by accident. We were on the bed one afternoon, making faces and shaking toys. For a change of scenery, I sat her atop my stomach. I soon noticed that everytime I craned my neck to look up at her, she was staring intently at my face with a look of anticipation. So, I laid my head back on the bed, then craned it forward again and made a silly face. She loved it. I did this over and over again, making a strange face each time (which isn't difficult for me to do). She'd respond with a laugh or a wide open mouth or by leaning toward me and resting her head against mine. Now, when I set her atop my stomach, she gets excited, knowing the game's coming.


Q: Do you wish you could be Mr. Mom?
A: Not entirely. Would I like more time off? Yes. Could I do this until she entered preschool? I'm not sure I could. I know she'll change as she grows and the type of care she demands and interactions we'll have will change, too. But this is work! I can't imagine taking care of a four or five month old for five years!!!