Missing Baby

I had to go out of town for business and I miss Rachel like crazy. I miss her mom, too. Last night I stayed up late packing and only got two hours of sleep. I didn't sleep on the plane and now I'm in Virginia, it's nearly 3 am EST and the alarm is going off at 6:30 am and I'm still awake. They put the three of us in a single room and the other two guys are snoring.

But, anyhow, about the baby. I knew that the hotel we were staying at had complimentary wireless internet access, so before I left, I bought two GE Webcams from Target. They're USB. I put one on the computer at home and brought one with me on the trip. So tonight when it was time to get Rachel for bed, I called home and Lori put the phone on speaker and then we opened up MSN Instant Messenger and shared video and could see each other. It worked extremely well. Rachel stared at the screen almost the entire time we were chatting, but occasionally she would look at the phone. She cooed a lot.

But nothing beats last night. We heard clicking noises coming from the cradle at the food of our bed as Lori and I settled down and got ready to pray. We were like "What is that kid doing?" Attached to the cradle is an "Ocean Wonders" aquarium from Fischer Price. It plays music, has lights that fade on and off and a compartment filled with water with plastic fish inside that move when air bubbles are released from the bottom of the compartment and float up. Well, we're laying there wondering what on earth she's doing. Then there's a *click* and the music stops and the lights fade. Did she? Could she? Was it an accident? And then *click* again and the music started back up. That seemed too huge to be coincidental. So we quickly turned in our beds so that our faces were down peering in the crib. Our little baby, her eyes staring intently out the aquarium, was using all her powers of concentration to try to get her arm, which she still doesn't have full motion control over, to hit the big blue button. And by golly, she did it and the music turned back off.

We just started laughing and could not stop laughing for several minutes. This baby, a mere two months old, had figured out how to turn the music on and off just from seeing us do it. She doesn't even have full motion control and here she is, comprehending cause and effect and actually making things happen.

Ok, now I miss her even more. I get back on Tuesday and I don't want to take any more business trips.

Strawberries and Stork Bites

Rachel's got a red spot on the back of her head and smaller red spots on her neck. We looked them up and the spot on her head is called a "strawberry mark" -- they typically appear after birth and normally go away between seven and ten years, but will be covered with hair anyway. The spots on her neck are from dilated veins and are typically called "stork bites" or "angel kisses" and too usually go away with time.

Here's a whole article on BabyCenter.com about birthmarks.

Baby Talk

When I change Rachel's diaper, often she is crying when I start. Usually eyes closed, full-on bawling. Well, I always call her by name and try to get her attention. Because now, as soon as the sees the diaper in my hand, she quiets down, knowing what's coming next. If she's really cranky, the hold wipe may start her up again, but usually not.

Well yesterday, she was squirmy. Not quite fussy, but not calm either. When I was finished, she made a noise like "eh." So I said "Eh" back. She stopped. Everything. Froze and just stared at me. Then she made the noise again. So I said "eh" back again. She just lit up with the most gigantic smile and her eyes were positively sparkling. I was speaking her language. Though I have no idea what I said. (She'll read this later, claim she remembers the exchange and that I promised her a car and a pony.)

They say that part of the reason babies get upset is because they can't communicate. I think that she thought we were communicating. I tell her I love her all the time, but I don't think she knows what that means yet. I haven't been able to get her to do it again since then, but it was just an amazing thing to behold. She is an amazing thing to behold.

And the heavens opened...

And angels, in rows, stood wingtip to wingtip, singing "Hallelujah!"

Baby slept non-stop from 1:30 am to 7 am when we woke her to change her (nearly nothing) and feed her. Of course, for most of the day and night, up until 1:30 am she cried constantly (teething?). But as soon as we placed her in her car seat, she went out light a light. Being turned off.

Now, 45 minutes later, she is once again sleep, this time in her crib. The wifey preparing to join her in sleepland while I get ready for work. (Normally I would type grumble grumble here but I was the one trying to placate the baby last night for awhile and from what I hear, she had been problematic all day, so I'm not sure staying home would be more fun than going to work.)

So, it's not easy being a parent. They start out not sleeping very much and you worry and you fret and you stress over your own lack of sleep. Then they do sleep through the night and you keep waking up wondering why it's so quiet and you have to keep sneaking over and tickling their feet to make them make some kind of movement to prove they're still breathing but at the same time hoping it won't be enough to actually wake them.