48 hours

Ana is hanging out in her crib talking to me this morning, so I wanted to post a couple of pics I like before it is time for the next diaper change. The first is a picture Lidia and I made on campus Sunday, June 5. We'd been meaning to go and take some pictures of her belly before the baby came. I'm so glad we did it then and got a great set of pictures just before Ana was born. The second picture is only a little over 48 hours later on Tuesday evening.

Prelude to Barney

The past couple days when Ana has been hanging out in her crib so I can keep an eye/ear on her I've played music. The idea is to have noise in the house during the day and not at night so she gets an idea of when she should be sleeping. It is working with moderate success, but we still had play time from midnight until 2am last night. My baby is a night owl.

Anyway, I've been playing through the classical music that I have. I figure country music will naturally follow in a couple of months. :) We listened to Brahms Symphony No. 2. a couple of times, and today I can't get it out of my head. I guess this is my brain's way of training for when Ana is a little older and wants to watch the same things over and over.

Why all daddies have a pot belly

Everything at home is going well. Ana is eating like a champ. She's also sucessfully pooped and peed on Lidia and I. She managed to do the first within hours of my post laughing about how she had gotten grandma twice. I should have known better than to do that.

Lidia is doing great. She is recovering quickly, and seems to be adjusting to the sleep schedule better than I am. I'm doing pretty good too, but haven't been able to hold two thoughts in my head at the same time. That is part of the reason for the lack of updates here. I think about posting two or three times a day, sit down at the computer to do that, get distracted by email, then get up to check on my girls, and then repeat the whole process. Life as a dad is a trip, and I'm loving it.

Finally, a shout out to the peeps that have provided dinner the past couple days for us. Kate graced us with a baked chicken and a batch of great guacamole on Sunday. Sara brought over chicken enchiladas and an awesome cake last night. They rock! I've made sure that Lidia is eating more than I am these days, but between that great food and the couple of quality assurance sips I take of her milkshakes I'm still getting plenty. The reason our dads all had pot bellies wasn't because they were lazy, it was because they ate too much when we were born and just weren't able to work it all off.

Daily update? Not likely, but any baby news is good news

Finally getting around to getting something new posted. Thanks for all the friendly (and some not so freindly :) ) reminders that I need to post.

The biggest news. Ana was born this past Tuesday, June 7, at 3:08pm. For those just finding this out I apologize for not getting word to you sooner and in a little more personal manner (email to the world is better than reading it off a blog, I think). I tried sending an email announcement on Tuesday evening, but in my excited/exhausted/preoccupied state I think I only managed to get mail sent to about 1/3 of the people I wanted to send the message to. Here are the vital statistics in case I did miss you in the shotgun email.

Name: Ana Katherin Smith
Birth Weight: 6 lbs. 11.5 oz.
Birth Length: 19.75 in.

Ana did well at the hospital and only lost an ounce and a half before she came home. Since then her appetite has kicked in and she is eating like a champ. She's also found a fun game at diaper time. She'll make all the right sounds and few of the moves so you think she's dirtied her diaper. Then she'll wait until you've gotten the semi-dirty one off before really doing her business. She got her Gmama (my mother) twice with that little trick. She almost got her tata (daddy) with it too, but he's still a little slow getting the diaper off so it acted as a shield.

We're all getting used to life at home. Mom and baby are getting in the habit of eating a lot of the great food that Gmama and my aunt Judy (Grammy Ju) left us. Dad is trying to keep out of it so as to not rocket to 300 lbs.

I promise I'll get some pictures online at some point soonish. Right now all I can offer is this picture taken by the staff at the hospital. I'll also try to post my new lessons learned more regularly. The name of the blog is more appropriate than ever, and the subject of study is more lively, demanding, and loveable than anything I've ever seen before.

Take care all. I'm off to check on my ladies.