Bathing Baby O

Memorial Day 2014 - Woodstock, VA

 We decided to get away from the D.C. Memorial Day crowds, so we drove 90 minutes west to the town of Woodstock, VA.  That name will be familiar to those of you who have read The Wedding Letters or The Wednesday Letters, by Jason Wright.

 We stopped first at a statue of Peter Muhlenberg.  From Wikipedia:  Toward the end of 1775, Muhlenberg was authorized to raise and command as its colonel the 8th Virginia Regiment of theContinental Army. After George Washington personally asked him to accept this task, he agreed. However, his brother Fredrick Augustus Muhlenberg, who was also a minister, did not approve of him going into the army until the British burned down his own church in front of him. Then he joined the military himself.

According to a biography written by his great nephew in the mid-19th century,.^[2] on January 21, 1776 in the Lutheran church inWoodstock, Virginia, Reverend Muhlenberg took his sermon text from the third chapter Ecclesiastes, which starts with "To every thing there is a season..."; after reading the eighth verse, "a time of war, and a time of peace," he declared, "And this is the time of war," removing his clerical robe to reveal his Colonel's uniform. Outside the church door the drums began to roll as men turned to kiss their wives and then walked down the aisle to enlist, and within half an hour, 162 men were enrolled.^[3] The next day he led out 300 men from the county to form the nucleus of the 8th Virginia Regiment. Though it is accepted that Muhlenberg helped form and lead the 8th, historians doubt the account of the sermon, as there are no reports prior to Muhlenberg's great-nephew's biography.^[2][4]

Multitasking

We drove into the hills, entered George Washington National Forest, and hiked 100 yards to the Woodstock Tower, which overlooks much of the valley.

 We didn't want to transfer the sleeping Baby O to another carrier, so we just took the whole car seat up to the top.

 Woodstock Tower

 View from the top of the tower

I had "water tower" in my head when I made this video, because we both thought that the tower mentioned numerous times in Jason Wright's books was a water tower.  We also saw two large Woodstock water towers as we entered the town, so we just assumed it was a water tower.  Not so.  We were corrected by a kind local lady who gave us great directions to the actual Woodstock tower.

And then we left George Washington National Forest

 How could I create another blog post without including a few more photos of our cute little man?

 He loves to have his hands next to his head.

He did really well for us today.  He only squawked when he got hungry, even though we didn't turn the A/C up high enough on the drive back and he was sweating when we arrived.  Oops.  I'm glad we learned that lesson before summer really sets in.

My 10-pound weight

 Singing to my boy

 Hangin' out with daddy

 We took Baby O to Antietam Battlefield in Maryland to watch their Memorial Day parade (one of the oldest in the country).

 See that little smile on him?!

 I had fun moving his arms/hands while he was sleeping.

One Week Old

They say that time flies when you're having fun.  I think time just flies, period.  Our little Douglas is one week old today, and what a week it has been!  We look forward to many more.

 He starts off in one position...

 ...and always ends up a bit lower.  Perhaps he's searching for food.  Perhaps he simply likes to curl up into the fetal position.  Either way, he's cute and cuddly!

LOVE

I know his BYU outfit is too big for him right now, but I couldn't resist.

Milk-Induced Coma

I don't have much commentary today.  A few videos will suffice, I think.

The Little Water Cannon

Douglas used his little water cannon to attack various targets today.  During the first attack he strafed his blanket, his bassinet, and part of the floor.  During the second attack he scored a direct hit on his arms and hands, the carpet, another blanket, Sam's exercise ball, and my pants.  We have discussed measures we can take to prevent future attacks during diaper-changing operations, including one suggestion made by Lizzie........the pee pee teepee (http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/pee-pee-teepees).

I went to Babies R Us to look for baby straitjackets.  Douglas (aka "Little Houdini") continues to defy my swaddling attempts.  He loves to have his hands by his face and no matter how well I swaddle him, somehow his hands always end up outside the baby blanket.  Babies R Us doesn't have baby straitjackets, but you can buy them online.  I stared at some adjustable swaddling outfits for a few minutes, but then my competitive nature got the best of me and I decided not to let Douglas win just yet.  I'll keep trying to improve my infant restraint skills.

Sports Time

 D & d watching some b-ball.......or at least D was watching some ball.  d was in and out of consciousness.

Home Sweet Home

After another long day at the birthing inn (waiting for Douglas to be circumcised) we are back home, and boy does it feel good.

We need dirty diapers?

We were told today that our goal is to get 8-12 feedings and 3-4 wet/dirty diapers in the next 24 hours.  I never thought I would be excited to see a dirty diaper, but they told us that Douglas is a bit too yellow (bilirubin-jaundice - very common in babies) and that breastfeeding and the resulting wet/dirty diapers usually take care of the problem, so I'm excited when I see unclean diapers.  I'm sure that excitement will wear off soon.

We are also excited to leave this place tomorrow.  The staff have been very good to us, but it's time to go home.  I drove home last night to get a shower and a few hours of sleep in a real bed.  We're tired of people coming in the room to check this, clean that, deliver this, take that.  Douglas had an ultrasound this morning to make sure his previously-enlarged kidney has returned to its normal size.  It has.  He got another blood sample taken to test for jaundice.  He had his hearing examine.  He had an EKG because the pediatrician heard a varying heart rate when she checked his heart.  Everything has turned out well so far, but we look forward to having only one person constantly interrupting our daily (and nightly!) routine - Douglas.

The baby photographer came by today.

 I edited this photo, which is why it is more yellow than the others.  I paid for a DVD that contains all of the photos taken by the baby photographer (because I wanted digital copies), but she only edited her "top 15."

I edited this one as well.

 When we came over here early Sunday morning I brought my homemade bread, almond butter, honey, a cutting board, and a bread knife.  Why should I be without a good sandwich for three days?

 This is one of my jobs during our stay here - helping the nurses by pacifying Douglas during his check-ups.

 This is Douglas' favorite sleeping position.  He loves to have his hands up.

 Looking at Mommy

 Hands Up!

Shout-out to Aunt Lola and Aunt Roxie!  We're starting early with him.

 Family photos