“If you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything”

The posts below are all new but came out in a different order than expected. I could attribute this to sleep deprivation, being a new parent, my dog, or any number of other excuses, but really I just haven't figured out this blog technology yet. Bear with me as I get the hang of this.

The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it. ~Author Unknown

Livia's first family friend to visit was Kate who came all the way from Boston to our humble abode. For those of you who don't know, Kate's dog Caliban was the LOVE of Cassidy's life before his departure for Beantown. A perfect juxtaposition awaited Kate as she entered our house, Livia was sleeping, but Cassidy, who remembers Kate as a second "mother", was off-the-wall crazy. I think the first picture with the three of them in it captures that moment pretty well: Kate holding Cassidy back while trying to soothe Livia. Good thing she has two arms....Thanks for coming down Kate - please come back soon (and Cassidy asks that you bring Caliban!)

If nothing is going well, call your grandmother. ~Italian Proverb

Marilyn stayed with us for a full week and a half after the baby was born. She helped Sharyn through feeding (see post above), cooking, cleaning, walking Cassidy, and putting up with Sharyn and I. She deserves an award for the last point, but certainly for everything else. As you can see from the photos, the "kids" feel close to Marilyn; especially Livia who could be crying in my arms in one second, but then, upon being given to Marilyn, would fall asleep soundly in an instant. I think I have a lot to learn

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. ~Buddy Hackett

Before we had the baby I asked a trusted source of information, "What is with this first 2 weeks after a baby is born? Why is it so hard? Don't babies sleep?" In response I was told that the stress following the delivery of a baby cannot be explained rather it must be experienced. In retrospect, I think this is true. What I can say however, is that feeding a baby can become an issue rather quickly. As a guy you would think, "The baby is hungry, it will eat..The end". What you don't get though is that the baby has no clue HOW TO EAT. Couple this with the fact that the parents have NO CLUE how to feed the baby because when the nurses were trying to explain it to you both of you were delusional from the delivery, and finally take into account that the baby has a HUNGER EMERGENCY about every 2 to 3 hours. It would leave anyone thinking, "Where's the beer?" I'm not sure who came up with this phase of human development, but I am certain there has to be a more efficient learning process.

Livia was no exception to the above. She is a delight in so many ways, but the feeding times were tiresome especially for Sharyn. Marilyn and I would spend hours hovering above Sharyn with a syringe of formula in our hands to drip food into Livia's mouth but only when she fed according the the ethical standards of breastfeeding (standards only known to lactation consultants) Shown here are some shots of the parphernalia used to feed Livia. Enough said.

It is not the work of a fortnight, a month or several months to train these girls for the work expected of them. Florenz Ziegfeld

Livia is now 2 weeks old. She is doing wonderfully, eating 1 - 2 oz at almost every feeding, sleeping 3 to 4 hours at a time (many times but not always!), and pooping like diapers are going out of style. She has really come a long way in 14 days. This is a good thing, because as the world series was so boring, at least we had some excitement around the house with Livia.

Sharyn and I find ourselves thinking how quickly everything went by, how fresh the thoughts of Livia's delivery are in our minds, yet how far away it all seems. In the past week alone, I've gone back to work and, after her tour of duty, Grandma Marilyn has gone home to get some rest and relaxation (Thanks again Marilyn). Sharyn is now on her own with Livia during the day and handling everything like a champ. Perhaps its the moments when I talk to her on the phone through a baby crying in the background whenI realize most that my wife has become a mother; a thought both strange and beautiful at once.

The posts below will hopefully catch you up on all things Livia (parents included).. We hope you enjoy...also check out the new poll on the right.

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” - Leonard Bernstein

Instead of writing a huge narrative for this post, I think that the following video will have to suffice. The way I figure it, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video has to be worth 1000 pictures. It's rather short but we hope you enjoy!!!

Introducing FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER....LIVIA JOY

Here are the hospital pictures that were taken about 24 hours after Livia's birth. We were so amazed at how the photographer got these expressions from her. Everybody seems to have a favorite. Going from top to bottom, mine is #1 to the left because I like the expression of her hands...Grandma Marilyn loves #2 ...Let us know your favorite by clicking on the poll to the right.

Babies are such a nice way to start people. -Don Herrold

These are an assortment of shots of Livia over the past couple of days. The first shots were taken right after she was born. Notice how she was born with a hat and diapers on - I didn't know babies came with these items included. Livia was adorable from the beginning.

The dark picture below was taken late at night when Livia was wearing her Bili Blanket to help her jaundice. In case you didn't know what a baby looked like wearing a Bili Blanket in a dark room late at night...this is it.

Finally, some shots of Livia hanging out watching the playoffs from her Boppy Pillow. She was a little upset that neither the Mets or Yankees are going to the world series, hence the spit up.

It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into. - Terri Guillemets

These shots capture some of the first moments we had with Livia. She was so small at 6 lb 5 oz. Missing from these set of photos is an action shot of me yelling PUSSSSSHHHHH! and then catching Livia with my Catcher's Mitt. Seriously, Sharyn did an amazing job in labor and delivery. Despite being so small, Livia took 3.5 hours of hard pushing to arrive. I am still in awe of Sharyn and the amount of effort, love, and energy she put into the whole of the pregnancy. After seeing it all, I am of the opinion that guys could never pull this off as well...certainly not me.

We quickly learned how to swaddle Livia, change her diapers, and how to manage on 2 hours of sleep. The nurses at the hospital would laugh at me as I tried to change her for the first time. Even putting on her hat seemed like an enormous obstacle during the first few hours. Luckily, we got some good training before we left the hospital and took Livia home

"When a child is born so are grandparents"

Although somewhat uncomfortable with the title, David and Marilyn are now Grandparents and, as you can see, they couldn't be more thrilled. Their help over the days since Livia was born was extraordinary and watching them with Livia was a thrill. We simply could not have gotten through these first couple of days without them. Sharyn and I could not say Thank You enough and the jury has ruled them as naturals in the Grandparenting role (just don't call them Gramps yet).

No symphony orchestra ever played music like a two-year-old girl laughing with a puppy. - Bern Williams

When we picked up Cassidy we got the following shots. Cassidy was unbelievable with Livia. She was really gentle and gave her a couple of soft licks. Later, Cassidy went to sleep besides Livia's bassinet and cried when Livia was upset. She is a natural big sister although I'm not sure of the family resemblence.


Make no mistakes you parents-to-be out there, having babies is not work for the weary.... and despite what I may have thought in my younger days it is a lot more work than having a dog (although I guess that depends on the problems you have with your dog)..