Hello blog world. I feel like its been a while since I've been able to sit down and reflect on all the wonderful things that have taken place over the last couple of weeks. I suppose in the life of the newborn child pretty much everything is a "first" - and I suppose the same can be said for the life of a newborn's parents. So here are some of Emma's and her parents first go rounds...
A while back, July 3rd to be exact, we had a Emma's first professional photo shoot with a lovely photographer named Jen Taylor. Emma was a rock star and quite the exhibitionist - she loved being naked! We were with Jen for a 3 hour session and she was so patient with us and with Emma. It took a couple feedings and about 6 diaper changes before she finally conked out and slept, allowing us to move her into all sorts of cute poses. You can check out the photos at http://jentaylorphotography.
Emma also met a number of new friends for the first time. Kyle Orris, a Luther classmate of ours, stopped by from Jefferson, Iowa and brought Emma her first Iowa State paraphernalia. To all the Iowa fans, especially the Stulls, it is Iowa State gear from here on out. We would hate to create confusion and since she was exposed to ISU first, well, you're just too late. Thanks Kyle!
More Luther folks stopped by and brought dinner. Kelsey and Phil Pappano, who live about a mile away, were fantastic visitors and Emma loved every minute.
 |
| Phil and Kelsey |
Thanks also to Brett and Shannon Johnson, who are also going to have a baby girl in August, for bringing dinner as a ploy to hang out with Emma. They were so comfortable with Emma and are no doubt going to make great parents.
 |
| Brett, Shannon, and Emma (not pictured: Baby Johnson) |
A few of Melissa's co-workers also stopped by to meet Emma. Barry and Lindsay Koopmann and their daughter Charlotte came over with Leah Huyser. Charlotte could hardly wait to meet Emma and was very "helpful" while Melissa was opening Emma's gifts. (read: she opened Emma's gifts!) It was adorable, thanks Charlotte!
 |
| From front to back: Charlotte, Leah, Emma, Lindsay |
 |
| Barry n Emma |
For this very noisy reason she spent her first night in her crib and nursery about 4 days ago. She had been sleeping in a bassinet in next to our bed but she does pretty well in her crib. I think she sleeps better and as a result so do Melissa and I.
This past Saturday was full of firsts for Emma and her parents. We kicked off the trial of new things in the afternoon by feeding her a bottle! Up to this point she has only been breast feeding so we thought we would open some doors to allow babysitters by having Melissa pump some milk and introduce a bottle. Emma took right to it and Daddy was able to feed her for the first time. It was kind of a cool feeling for me and for Melissa it was a very liberating experience. So too was going out to dinner for the first time that evening. We took Emma along and she was a champ, she slept through the entire dinner and let mommy and daddy enjoy a night out. We must have been in the baby section because we were seated next to a couple with a 6 week old and when they left the table was filled with a couple with a 2 week old! Good for those parents. I'm pretty sure Melissa and I were having trouble enough finding time to shower when Emma was 2 weeks old, let alone getting ready for a date!
Probably the most difficult "first" happened sometime last night when Emma was acting a little ill. We noticed that she had a trace amount of blood in her stool 2 nights ago and yesterday was acting just a bit unsettled and lethargic. It was the first time that Melissa and I had really felt the vulnerability of this child and the heavy responsibility to keep her healthy and safe from harm. Melissa took a trip to the pediatrician today and as it turns out she is healthy as a horse but has a dairy allergy. Bummer. Its confusing to say that she has a milk allergy because she can drink all of mom's milk that she wants to, but, Mom's milk needs to be free of cow's milk. So, no more cheese, milk, yogurt, or...ICE CREAM!!!! That last one could be tough. But it's only for about another month, at which time we can slowly start to re-introduce dairy back into Melissa's diet as Emma develops enzymes in her stomach to break down the lactose in the cow's milk. In an act of solidarity, I too have decided to boycott ice cream (in front of Melissa)....kidding, I can and probably should kick the habit for a while to lose some of my baby weight.
Emma continues to pack on the weight - she tipped the scales today 10 lbs 6 oz! Here are some parting pictures of the pretty baby with just the right amount of chub in her cheeks...our Miss Emma!
Love to all - Jason, Melissa, and Emma
No comments:
Post a Comment