Playing by the Pond

It was another one of those beautiful Nashville Winter days.

Playing in the Grass

Today was one of those perfect Nashville Winter days when you'd just be crazy to stay inside. I got the bug to play with the camera and even convinced Beth to postpone cleaning the house for a while! The bad shots that I screwed up have already been deleted, but the great shots I got lucky with are up here to enjoy.

Straight From the Tub

Well, we've got to have something to show the first boy that comes knocking on the door with flowers, don't we? Here are a few shots of bath time...Amelia's favorite time of day. It's fascinating to watch a baby grow up. Tonight Beth and I just stood in awe as Amelia learned how to grab a rubber duck. Thrilling, I know. You could just about see her learning. She would move her hands, grab the duck. Then when it moved, you could see her puzzling about how to maneuver her hands to get it back. Absolutely fascinating. There's also a couple shots of her latest trick, standing up...with a little help on the balance of course.

The Taipei Collection

Last week I took my first business trip since Amelia was born. I visited Taipei for the 2nd International Plugfest conference; the conference was good and the trip was fine, but boy was it hard to leave my little girl.

Having a baby is full of clichés: they grow up so fast; they change so quickly; they sleep so little; and you love them so much. The cliché that hit home for me last week was "you have no idea until you have one". I had no idea it was possible to miss somebody so much. I was gone less than a week, but it tore at my heart to be away from Amelia. I couldn't help but think of how hard it will be when she goes away to college and how hard it must have been on my parents when I did the same. I'm sorry Mom and Dad, I had no idea.

She changed so much in that one week. She's more responsive, more aware of her surroundings and she's even laughing and playing more (baby smiles rule). The little stinker even had a full week of sleeping through the night while I was gone (so much for having at least one good aspect of being away!). Beth even said that she recognized my voice on the phone through the static! In the end, I quickly tired of Taipei and cut out a couple days of sightseeing to get home early.

Amelia and Beth had their first baby gym class last week; Amelia did great, but all the exercise wore her out pretty good.

Here's a collection of pictures from around my trip. You can also see some pictures from Taipei. Soon it's off to Denver for another conference. Sigh.

Sleep at last! Sleep at last! Thanks God Almighty, we can sleep at last!

Our emergence from the world of the living dead is finally eminent! Amelia slept for a record breaking 8.5 hours last night, which, by my account, constitutes a full night's rest! Now, let's not get too excited just yet. Just because Amelia slept through the night doesn't mean that Dad is well rested. We still have to work on getting Mom to sleep through the night...take last night for example:

Bedtime + 6 hours: "Hon...hey hon...are you awake", "Now I am", "Did you just hear her fuss", "No...maybe it was the ice maker"

+6.5 hours: "Hon, hey hon...are you awake", "No", "I'm worried about her", "Ok"

+7 hours: "Hon...hey hon", "What now?", "Don't you have to go to the bathroom?", "No, go check on her yourself"

+7.5 hours: "Hon...", "What, I'm still awake!", "Are you sure you don't have to go to the bathroom?"

+8 hours: "I'm gonna have to pump"

+8.49 hours: "Maybe I'll go see if she's stirring", "zzzzz"
+8.5 hours: "Hon...hey hon...she's stirring, I'll just wake her up. And guess what, she did a 180 in her crib last night!"