Free at last

Schuyler's sleeping positions are varied. At left, you see her latest contortion which looks kind of like a frog beginning to dance to "YMCA" by the Village People. I guess, if you spent 9 months cramped up in some amniotic sac, you'd probably need to boogie as well.

On another note, we went for our first walk as a family today which was a really great move... it's amazing how the simple little routines from your past can restore you in the present. We had Schuyler in one of those baby carriers that strap her to your chest facing you so you spend the entire time paranoid about her ability to breathe. Then Kim swooped in and absconded with her for a couple of hours in the evening which gave us a nice break. We didn't even charge her for the privilege of Schuyler sitting. We're that generous.

Anatomically Correct

Schuyler, thankfully, has all of her fingers, toes, etc. without any of those pesky extras like a vestigial tail.
Here, her cute little foot features her daddy's toes, or what we like to call "fingers on the foot".
Luckily she also seems to have inherited her dad's long elegant fingers. Let's hope she enjoys her piano lessons more than he did!

Happy Bermuda Day!

We tried to convince Schuyler that she should go for the traditional first dip in the ocean to celebrate Bermuda Day but the prospect of floating in a mangrove swamp was strangely unappealing. She is shown here exhibiting her typical level of enthusiasm for icy* waters in her Mission Impossible style carrier donated to our family by the kind gang at Marsh Management Services.


We took her to the nature reserve at nearby Tom Moore's Tavern where she found the natural beauty so exhilirating, she almost opened her eyes.

*by Bermudian standards

Sweet Dreams

Grandma Tobe managed to capture these cute photos of Schuyler's happy slumber.

first cousin not removed

Today Schuyler was gracious enough to receive her Godmother and her first cousins, Mitchell and Walker. I think it took a second for the boys to wrap their minds around the fact that the milk in the bottle actually came from their Aunt's body. Their morning cereal will probably never be the same. And, yet, how strange is it that we think that drinking milk made for a baby cow is a good idea?

In any case, she did some socialising before her afternoon siesta.

And slept all afternoon until midnight when her parents decided to go to bed. At precisely the point that her parents shut their eyes, she decided to test the volume control on her lungs. It goes to "11".


I think good training for having a baby would be to hire an ambulance and park it in your bedroom. Then at undisclosed and random moments throughout the night, turn on the siren. Then get up, poop on your hands and wee on the floor and then clean it all up. Repeat. Schuyler is now a fully functioning baby. And we are mostly grateful.

Water Baby

As Schuyler was attending an intimate family dinner party on Friday evening she requested a proper bath using the explicit command "waaa". We felt it was only proper given that we have bathed the dogs more than her since she's been home.

She was a real trooper considering we indelicately sprayed her down with the shower nozzle like she were a miniature rioter. Well, she's clean now and she had a great time at Kim and Ward's house where she dined on a wonderful 2008 vintage breast milk and contributed handily to the conversation with such repartee and persiflage as "oooh" and "waaa waaa".

Little Women

Well, one tiny little woman and some of her family matriarchs. Schuyler is now becoming a real little person rather than a cute hungry blob. her eyes now focus on you intently, she flashes smiles that would end any argument (and possibly longstanding wars - i'll take her to Gaza and see if her smiles can forge a peace agreement). true, the books will tell you her smiles are just the pleasurable passing of wind but i know better. i know that smile is saying "there's trouble ahead for you, Daddy - enjoy this peace while you can".

We've had Grandma Tobe in residence for the past week which has been such an incredible help. i was even able to meet a couple of client deadlines this week for a change. Moreover, her other grandparents (known affectionately to Schuyler by the monikers "Ward" and "Kim") are now returned to these fair isles and have also helped lighten the load and fatten our stomachs with homemade soups and a beautiful dinner last night (Schuyler showed her appreciation by sleeping through the whole meal). It doesn't necessarily take a village, but it sure as heck helps when the village is there to help.

The Dimps...

Schuyler appears to have her daddy's dimples. They are very difficult to catch in a photograph in these early days. We certainly hope that there will be some genuine smiles in the future but for now we are enjoying an occasional glimpse of "the dimps".

reflecting

After finally coming to a solution with the feeding issues, Schuyler is now officially a wailing, eating, peeing and pooing machine weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs 7 ounces and hitting the milestone of sneaking past her birth weight.

the new regimen of breast-in-a-bottle is working much better and we are all a lot happier and saner which is a welcomed change. now we can begin having fun again with her playing games (chess, occasionally Risk or Civilization), reading to her (she is up to date on most of the Time/Newsweek reporting on the Obama/Clinton primary battle as well as some baby friendly articles from the economist) and exercises (the baby sit ups and the occasional push up).

it is still overwhelming to comprehend that she is actually ours - that she is made from us. what a gift.

Corrections

Our alert readers have pointed out the following corrections:

In our article "mudslides and fish" [May 13th 2008] we stated that Schuyler resembles a fish. This was inaccurate. She more closely resembles a mon-chi-chi.

In our article "It's a girl" [April 30th 2008] we stated her length as 18 3/4 inches which was the official length measured by the midwife. Her pediatrician stretched her to 20.1 inches. Unless she grew over an inch in a day, the latter is a more accurate reading.

BermyBaby regrets these errors.

mudslides and fish

i think i know why the first few days (and even now) can be difficult: we've often joked that her dimples have saved her life on a number of occasions and it's not that far from the truth. i think the chief difficulty in maintaining your energy toward babies is that they are little tiny strangers who cannot show you any sense of emotional attachment. their needs are primal and basic sustenance needs. they cannot demonstrate any affection. even new born puppies nuzzle you or lick your face. having a newborn baby is more like having a fish.

Number 2 Update (no need to read the below unless you are medically interested)
well, in case you are interested, Schuyler finally demonstrated her output capacity in the chocolate pudding department (3 diaper's worth within 15 seconds). i have never seen the like. she has maintained her weight but not put any on because she is a "lazy, ineffective suckler" according to the books. i would also add the words "very cute" in there. so we are going to supplement with expressed milk for three feeds per the doctor's orders to see if she gains weight

midnight hour and polar bears

our favourite time of night is when we swaddle her in this cosy baby polar bear outfit because it means our first sleep shift is about to start. we can close our eyes and sink into the halcyonic slumber of dreamland for a whole 180 minutes before the alarm cruelly beeps and the first feed of new day begins. it reminds me of working at the zoo.

tummy time

it would be nice if babies came with a little gauge that told you when they were full. right now our main concern is that she might not be getting enough inputs because we have had five days of no output. we think we might have to take this one back to the baby store and get another one with a functioning waste disposal unit.

in any case, while we have her, we decided she

could put her seemingly super baby strength to good use with some morning yoga. she mastered Child's Pose without prompting, however, Warrior II might take a bit of time. still i think she enjoyed a bit of time when she didn't have to face the ceiling and had some freedom to attempt a laboured pseudo crawl.

[This post: Schuyler Young wears a white cotton one piece from Kim on a polka dot blanket from Annie]

Blame the Baby Mama

Jonathan and I both liked the name Schuyler but there was indeed some debate about the spelling. You can all blame me for the traditional Dutch spelling that we finally settled on. Jonathan argued that she would always be spelling it for people as well as correcting the pronounciation. I pointed out that he frequently had to spell Jonathan, not to mention Young! Oh, well she can blame her mom for constantly correcting people when they butcher her first name. After 30+ years of correcting Zalinger I am sure it will help build character...or something like that...

Sunbathing Beauty

Schuyler has to fit in a little time in the sun every day to help sort out her jaundice.

frequent diaper miles

as the one without functioning nipples, diapers are supposed to be my job. i was all geared up and ready to take on puddles and piles of baby elimination. the problem was that there weren't any. and she slept all the time - so much so that we have to go through pains to wake her for night feeds. this should all be good - who doesn't want a baby who sleeps through the night and doesn't cover herself with filth? so i read about this and online and in all the books they make it sound like these are symptoms of imminent death or at least severe mental retardation. our doctor sent us to the hospital where we were issued with t-shirts and tattoos that read "new parent - excuse my paranoia" and Schuyler was checked out over the course of a mere five hours. she's fine. doctor check up the next day reveals she has gained a very nice 7 ounces in two days. we're happy. then of course, she skips another day of elimination of any kind (with the exception of a urinal tsunami on our guest bed - feel free to come stay with us). so the doc says to bring her in (we were fine to just talk with him on the phone)... anyway, just like in The Dog Whisperer, Nurse Debbie (playing Cesar Milan) looks in her diaper (which was changed before we left the house) and there is a delicious lemonade colour. so eventful and full of clichés. Just like the future.

newborns and the bush administration

the bush administration was recently re-scandalised with a memo that details high level officials being directly involved in outlining specific torture techniques such as "sleep deprivation" and "prolonged subjection to loud sounds". or, as we know it, "life with a newborn". schuyler is apparently in training as an anti-terrorist tactic. these first few days have been really hard - we were intellectually prepared for the sleeplessness but with everything else and the lack of wee, it's been an interesting experience with all the doubts, fears, joys that come along with the cliches of early parenthood. more cliches and banalities when i have had more sleep... see you in 2009

just in case you aren't yet bored of schuyler

here are some pictures from today of her "reading" and hanging out with Mum while mum reads