Big Brother, Little Sister!

Here's a picture of Jeffrey doing the 'happy dance' for Meredith. She loves it!

Meredith is one month old!

Meredith is doing great, she was four weeks old yesterday! The time goes by fast when you have two kids to take care of! I have been doing pretty well getting back into our routine with the addition of Meredith. We have taken Jeffrey to school and gone to our morning park playdates, with minimal crying and everyone had a good time. It just takes a lot more planning and a lot more stuff! Many of Jeffrey's friends have new siblings this spring, so Meredith has a lot of baby friends to hang out with! Here's two pictures of Meredith at 4 weeks old:
On Monday Jeffrey, Meredith and I went to the State College Babywearing group meeting. We saw some friends and met some new kids and Moms and I learned how to use a 'Moby' baby wrap. Meredith really likes it and falls asleep when I wrap her up in it. I think it will help us when she is fussy in the evenings, and maybe we can go for some walks together. Jeffrey has been really nice to Meredith the last few days and has been kissing her goodnight. Here's one last picture of the cute girl relaxing:

hot and sick...

Hi everyone. Sorry it's been so long between posts. I'm sure you can imagine how one thing stacks on top of another for us these days.

First off, sick. Don't worry, nothing dire. I had a strong sore throat and fever for a day or so, but now feel pretty much better. Sadly, Gwen came down with the same thing today. Hope she feels better tomorrow! Especially hope that Meredith and Jeffrey don't get it too.

Hot hot hot down here too. I'm sure it is at your place for most of the thousands who read this blog (ha ha). Our house does not have central air. We have three window units instead. They work fine but are noisy, and man I hate putting them in every spring. There is always swearing and minor repairs to those stupid vinyl accordions on the sides. but, its done now for the season.

Meredith is growing noticeably, mostly getting chubbier. Her cheeks are so much fuller then they were at birth. Tomorrow is her 4 week birthday, and one month is on Saturday. Time flies! She continues to get through most nights. Here's a picture of the chubby cheeks:

From Mid to Late May, 2010

The garden that Jeffrey and I planted is doing well. Here are some pictures.

From Mid to Late May, 2010

From Mid to Late May, 2010

From Mid to Late May, 2010

Other random stuff: Jeffrey and I spotted a pair of rabbits this morning. They like to eat the clover that's all over our lawn. In fact, because we don't do any sort of weed control in our lawn (except that I make a half-hearted effort in the spring to dig up dandelions by hand), there's all sorts of good things for them to eat. We think they have a den or whatever under the spruce trees in the north corner of our yard.

From Mid to Late May, 2010

Here's a good one of Jeffrey on his tricycle. He's a total racecar driver on that thing now, as well as on his big wheels.

From Mid to Late May, 2010

Final story: I've been biking to work more lately, and am going to get rid of my parking pass for the summer and fall to save 35 bucks a month. I even got some new rain gear finally that actually might work well. Anyway, coming home yesterday I noticed that my seat started to feel a little loose. That's happened a few times over the years. I figured I'd just tighten it when I got home. About half a block from home, suddenly there's a loud sound of metal on metal, and the seat self-destructs! The saddle just fell off. I was going pretty fast, as it was on the downhill, but I had no problem staying up -- just stood up on the pedals. I collected the debris from the street and found that the saddle post bolt had sheared off into two pieces! The bike I think is about as old as miles .. I think I got it either in 99 or 00. Time for a new seat! Here's a pic of the poor old bike, with no seat and the post removed.

From Mid to Late May, 2010

Note: Full sizes of all these pictures are here.

some new photos

Hi everyone. This is the first week that Gwen has been home alone with both kids while I'm gone. Everything is going very well, which is great. Meredith still seems relatively easy to care for and we're thankful for that.

OK, for the photos: I've changed the way my photos are available on Picassa. Everything now is in my public gallery, so all of my photos can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/axtell.mj

You can bookmark that and receive notifications when it's updated if you like. I think that will be easier for everyone, and who cares about privacy anyway (its an illusion!)

There is a new gallery of photos just posted there at http://picasaweb.google.com/axtell.mj/Springtime#

In garden news, we got our first radishes and spinach out this week. Jeffrey and I are having fun working in there together.

OK, that it for now. gotta go. later will post some funny videos of Jeffrey..

mike

Trike

Jeffrey has been way into his tricycle (which we got him last year) and into the big wheels (which we got him this year) lately. Only in the last month or so has he really learned how to pedal, steer, and basically haul down the street. He wants to ride it all the time down to the 'secret path', which cuts between some side streets near us. This photo pretty much captures the scene. He got the new red helmet today. His old helmet doesn't really fit this year anymore. Not sure if we'll keep this one though. But whatever we get, it better be red. Jeffrey is so far gone into his love of the color red that nothing else would satisfy him.

It's too bad the second picture here came out blurry. But still worth showing.

Meredith is still doing well and healthy. She saw her pediatrician today and is gaining weight at a good clip (up to 9lbs 4oz today). Everything else is healthy too, which we are grateful for.

-- mike

Crafty

Mom and I did a craft project while Jeffrey was at preschool this morning. We got the idea from a family magazine and I wanted to have Jeffrey help, but it didn't really seem like a craft that a 3 year old could do - lots of cutting with utility scissors and using wires. We made some 'bugs' to put out in the 'Axtell Family Veggie Garden'. When Jeffrey came home and saw them he thought they were really great, and when the weather is finally nice again he is going to put them out in the garden.

Gwen's Bugs

Mom's 'Red' Bugs - Jeffrey called them 'red' because they have red eyes.

Jeffrey has been very sweet to Meredith, he always wants to help take care of her. He has been helping to 'push' the aquarium swing while Meredith is in it, and I always ask him to turn it on for her, or to push the button that makes the fish swim. He always wants us to help her right away if she is crying and makes suggestions as to what he thinks might be upsetting her - 'maybe she needs her diaper changed', or 'maybe she is hungry'. I didn't imagine he would be so nice and helpful already, but it is wonderful to see.

Jeffrey helping Meredith enjoy her swing.

Iridium Flare

Meredith and Jeffrey doing great. I'm back at work full time now. Students are all gone, except those who are sticking around for commencement this weekend. The campus is very quiet and it is a good time to get work done.

I've been goofing around for a while now in the backyard with nighttime photography. I have a little canon point and shoot (A570IS), so it's not optimal at all for high sensitivity photography. But, despite that, I can put it on a tripod and open the shutter for a max of 15 seconds at a time. With a 15 sec. exposure on the correct settings I can image stars that are just a little fainter than what the naked eye can see. Although during true darkness, ISO200 is as high as I can go for 15 seconds before the image gets too noisy.

Anyway, one target that's fun (in a geeky way) is shooting Iridium Flares. These are very brief, very bright emissions reflected off of one of the Iridium Constellation Satellites. Apparently, the shape of these particular satellites makes allows them to reflect a pinpoint spot of very intense light. The precise timing and locations of these 'flares' is very predictable -- see the heavens above website.

This one is Iridium 10, captured at 09:05 EDT tonight (May 10, 2010). It is still twilight, but the first stars are poking out, as you can see. It's a 15 second exposure. In real time, it doesn't look like an elongated flying saucer, as it seems in my image. It is a weak dot traveling relatively slowly (for a satellite) until it suddenly becomes very bright for 3 or 4 seconds, then quickly fades again. I think it will be impossible to shoot a movie with my equipment.

Gwen had better start to post soon so I don't geek up our blog too much for her!

Windy Day

Today it's been very windy here. The weather forecast claims steady winds over 30, with gusts to 50. We all went out this morning to the Centre Furnace Mansion to their annual plant sale this morning. The sale was nice, but the weather was not. Jeffrey was grumpy anyway because he has the cold that Gwen had the week before. So, we left early.

Meredith has been pretty mellow mostly. Gwen and I don't remember things (things like sleeping, amount of crying) being this easy when Jeffrey was a newborn. Meredith has been eating a lot, basically non-stop, between around 8 and midnight, and then going to sleep by midnight or a little later. After that she's been just getting up once, around 3 or 4AM, and then right back to bed. Which means everyone is getting plenty of sleep. Of course, maybe we remember it being more difficult with Jeffrey because we were new parents and didn't really know what to expect.

The one thing that is definitely different than with Jeffrey is the amount of "alert time" that Meredith has. She spends a lot of time looking around, definitely much more than Jeffrey did. Here's a picture of her in her aquarium swing:




Looking forward to grilling up some chicken thighs marinaded in some new sauce that Laurie whipped up tonight. Lots of horseradish. Doppler shows rain is on the way soon, probably just in time for rain. Dad always claimed that grilling chicken attracts the rain. Seems that way today.

Hope everyone's well -- Mike

Big Brother

Since Meredith has been home, Jeffrey has been acting really great. Everyone keeps asking Gwen and I questions along the line of "How's Jeffrey coping with having a baby sister?" He's really been happy and excitable. He tries to give her toys from time to time, but doesn't push it. Certainly no temper tantrums or anything like that. On Tuesday he went to pre-school for the first time since Meredith was born, and Gwen had him wear his "Big Brother" T-shirt. His pre-school teachers were happy to hear the news. As it turns out, tuesday was family day in Jeffrey's pre-school class. He brought in a picture of his

family, with all four of us, to show to the class.
He's been sleeping fine and not showing any other signs of being jealous or anything like that. He seems to like reading his new book about being a big brother as well.

Meredith had a routine doctor's appointment today. She weighed 8lbs 7.5oz, which is close to regaining her birth weight. Just confirms what Gwen and I already knew -- that she is feeding well and happy.

Last night she was fussy and hungry for a long stretch between about 7 and after midnight. I finally got her to sleep in the old rocking aquarium swing that Jeffrey used to have. I slept on the couch for a few hours while she was in the swing to give Gwen a bit of good sleep time. Gwen got her at 3:30 and put her up in the bassinet in our room. I went to sleep after that and I guess that Meredith made it all the way until the morning without feeding again. Gwen was telling me that it's pretty common that very young babies have a fussy and clusterfeeding time in the evening and night. Tonight so far might be shaping up the same. I don't mind that much .. although I'm (obviously) tired when I stay up so late, I also kind of like the quiet of the very late night and early morning hours.

Meredith playing with bunny

Hi everyone. Meredith's first night at home went well. She woke up gently at night, ate, and then quietly went back to bed. Gwen feels OK, although Gwen has a cold and a sore throat which is annoying her.

Emily gave Meredith a little stuffed bunny when she visited in the hospital. Last night Meredith was really alert and playing with the bunny. You can see in this video that she was sad when it fell over.



Jeffrey and I are waiting until the last of the rain passes through this morning, and then we'll go take a bike ride.

Meredith is home!

Meredith and her Mom finally came home this morning. Everyone is happy to be here. The pediatricians kept Meredith in the hospital for an extra day as a precaution against Strep B - long story but basically a lot of precaution. Meredith is fine and so is Gwen. I went in to the hospital this morning around 7AM to make sure I'd be able to speak with the pediatrician along with Gwen, and we didn't get her released until around 10:20. What a pain. Things in the hospital were grinding very slowly and Gwen and I were frustrated by the end. It probably didn't help that there were 13 babies born in the ward in the last 24 hrs., including some twins. I think the staff and doctors had their hands full. I guess because of all of the babies, they made Gwen and Meredith change hospital rooms last night, and she got moved a ways down the hall. She had a really great view from the new room. Our hospital is on top of a big hill with a panoramic view of the valley and Mt. Nittany. A lot of the land surrounding the hospital is Penn State Ag. land. Out of Gwen's windows we could see beef cattle grazing, which was neat. While we were watching, we saw some cattle hanky-panky. Don't they usually keep bulls and cows separate? In the morning we noticed there were calves there too. How shocking in front of the calves..

Gwen's upstairs taking a nap (for real). Jeffrey is up in his crib taking "a nap", which these days means messing around in his crib singing songs and throwing things around. Meredith is peacefully sleeping downstairs. The picture on top of this post shows her sleeping in our downstairs bassinet (which used to be Jeffrey's). She's doing great and eating a bunch. When she was discharged, she had only lost 5 1/2 Oz. relative to her birth weight, which is good. (All newborns lose weight in the first few days as their feeding comes online and they burn through stored energy).

hope everyone's well - mike

Jeffrey and Meredith

Yesterday morning Jeffrey and I talked about his little sister during breakfast. I worked on getting Jeffrey to say her name. He was really excited when I showed him the pictures, and especially the videos...



After breakfast, I went in to the hospital to see everyone, and stayed until 10 or so. Meredith and Gwen were both doing well, although Gwen did not get a lot of sleep, so I went back home, picked up Grandma Laurie and Jeffrey, and we all visited the hospital together around 11AM. Jeffrey was pretty excited to go, and acted very good. He spent some time looking at Meredith, but was more excited about the big cabinets in the room and the view. The nurses station also has a lot of juice boxes and milk boxes for Moms and families to take; Jeffrey was probably more excited about the Chocolate Milk that he got more than anything else.

Click on the link below to see here to see pictures from yesterday's visit.

http://picasaweb.google.com/axtell.mj/JeffreyVisitingMeredith?authkey=Gv1sRgCKnFt92W7KaTIw&feat=directlink

You can share this link with anyone else as well. Mom, I know you were asking about the other gallery .. that link which you can share is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/axtell.mj/MeredithS0thBirthday?authkey=Gv1sRgCJy98ZbK1LnbKg&feat=directlink


After the visit yesterday, we all went home and had lunch. During Jeffrey's nap I got the lawn mowed and some other chores done while Grandma Laurie went grocery shopping. I went back to the hospital around 4PM, and Gwen and I had our 'special meal'. For every maternity stay, the hospital makes a big meal for the Mom and Dad. It was actually pretty good - Gwen had stuffed shells and I had crabmeat-stuffed sole. The peanut butter pie was the best. After that I went home again to give Jefrrey a bath and put him to bed. Gwen's friends Emily and Jen visited while I was away. Emily is also pregnant - due on May 4th or something like that. I was joking with Gwen that she should put the hex on her to get her to go into labor and keep Gwen company. I came back again to the hospital to visit between 9 and about 11 last night to keep everyone company. Gwen was pretty tired and hoping to get a little bit of sleep. Meredith was a hungry girl.

Today, Gwen was told she'd be discharged tonight, but that Meredith needs to stay as a patient until Sunday morning. This is to finish the course of antibiotics that she needs. Although discharged, Gwen will stay in a post-partum room with Meredith overnight tonight as well. It's a long time in the hospital and we all wish we could go home today. But, better to be safe and complete the antibiotic course for Meredith. She is doing just fine by the way; there's no reason to be concerned. I think Gwen said that Meredith will be discharged early in the morning tomorrow (7AM? - that's early!), so hopefully we'll get everyone home at that point.

I'm at the hospital now. Their wireless connection is better than even our home connection, so it's really easy to do web stuff. More importantly, for Gwen, streaming movies and TV from Hulu etc. work really good.

OK, that's all for now. More later when there is more to tell.. mike