Pictures and video coming up...

Probably this weekend. It's an easy process, but still somewhat time-consuming.

Dear Joseph,

Just a quick note here, buddy, but could you please stop pooping on me? If you find this request too burdensome, could you please wait until I get the new diaper on you?

Thanks much,

Dad

Joseph's first laugh

Just got a call from Judie--Joseph went into a milk coma after his third or fifth bender of the day, but he started laughing in the middle of his sleep. Judie cooed at him and he kept rumbling a little. Everyone say it with me:

"Awwwwwww."

I wonder if there's any significance in the fact that he got giggly at 4:20. Hmmm...

Joseph's First Smile

Remember this date: 3.16.08.

The day our little boy woke up in my arms and smiled--smiled so big and bright I thought the sun rose in my living room.

Excuse me while I go thank God for 12 hours or so for this child...

An 800-year-old Jedi Master

My son: Yoda Baby.

I'm teaching my son to be a coffee-drinking capitalist

Yes, there's an advertisement at the top of the page. That's for Mystic Monk Coffee, which I've tried and can wholeheartedly endorse. It easily replaces our usual Starbucks addiction, and its underlying ideology is far more enlightening. ;-)

Plus, if you click on the banner and end up buying a bag (or anything there), a portion of that goes right back to me! So, please, won't you help us feed our son?

Joseph 2.0

I hope this isn't premature, but it seems we've fixed some of the bugs in the whole daytime/night-time sleeping/feeding routine. Just as we had resigned ourselves to months of an aggravating schedule of him sleeping all day long and waking up at 11:00PM to cry and fuss, he seems to have settled in to a more human pattern. That's good, because I was starting to think my boss was onto something regarding that "E.T." comment.

And not only is he learning how good sleeping at night can be, he's also finally figured out the path of least resistance to a full belly. "Oooohhhh," he said to me recently, "So screaming and shaking my head WON'T fill me up faster..."

That's right, kiddo.

In fact, last night I was able to feed him with a bottle--something he hasn't traditionally gotten along with--and let mommy get some sleep. Joseph pretty much inhaled the bottle's contents, promptly burped, and fell asleep on my shoulder.

Cute days...

Thank you, Vernon and Vicki...

For your very nice card. It was well-received, and you're in our prayers, too.

God bless,
Chris

The kid loves music

Yes, SIR!

I'm going through my inbox at work today, and I came across a note from the president. It says, "Your boy looks like ET. Congratulations!"

Lol. Nice.

Few more Joseph pics...

Eventually, (sooner than later), this blog will have outlived its purpose, but in the meantime, here are a few more pics of the little guy.

Thank you...

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's brought things over, come by to visit, or sent us congratulatory e-mails. We're both zombies these days, and it becomes apparent (pun intended) every time we talk to outsiders that we have lost most, if not all, of our social skills this last week. So, let me just say "thank you" again for your concern and gifts. They've been a blessing.

12 Hours...

Time seems to have collapsed into a warm, taffy-like goo, so it's difficult to determine exactly how many hours I've been awake. Judging by archaeological evidence consisting of swaddling blankets, burp rags, miscellaneous cups of coffee and water bottles up to a depth of three feet in some places, I'd say that last night's crying jag lasted about twelve hours.

I might as well get used to it: I'll be saying "I just don't get my kid(s)" for the rest of my life. They're irrational. In fact, Joseph seems suicidally insane. We know he's hungry, but he does this head-shaking thing that prevents him from latching on and eating. When he does, then he starts screaming. He hasn't gotten control of his fists yet, so that's a big problem. I tried gently explaining that he can't have both the boob AND his fist in his mouth at the same time, but his response has thus far been, "I'll do it MY way, thank you very much."

It's amazing human beings have been able to survive childhood all these millenia.

Anyway, here's a fun little minute-long clip showing what we do around here at night:

I may have a bad sense of humor, but I'm not a bad father...

...at least not yet. I haven't had time to really screw him up yet, although he seems pretty traumatized by the fact that I had the gall to change his diaper. Not only that, I pinned him down while mommy brutally assaulted him with a damp, warm washcloth. The look in his eyes said "I thought I could trust you--you said I could!" Well, them's the breaks, kid. Around here we like our coffee sweet and our babies clean.

Where was I?

Oh yes--my son is not Satan. He's not possessed by Satan. I love him very much. He's a sweet little angel with terrible communication skills. We bear him no resentment, even now as we look down the barrel of another long night. So please, friends, no need to worry.

For those of you who've written with advice, thank you. We're trying anything and everything.

Reality sets in...

It's 2:30AM and my beautiful little angel has been possessed by Satan. I'm only able to write this now because Judie is taking over the futile duty of calming him down. We've tried everything--feeding, burping, changing, walking, rocking, leaving him alone. I finally had to just lay him down and walk away because while I've avoided my breaking point lo these many months and trials, a shrieking, irrational beast who's both hungry and refuses to eat may just crack me wide open. I've been told that I "will be" a good father and that I "am" a good father. I like the compliment, but right now it's all I can do to keep from putting my fist through one of those nice, thin balsa wood closet doors we have...

Doing Cute Things

Life at the Hospital, Part II

Life at the Hospital, Part I

Long one...

Just hanging out...

Some pics

Pic test

Testing...

Testing e-mail blogging...

Even though I'm pretty sure I'm not going to use this blog at all, I still want to know if I got this feature right.

Video I

Testing...1...2...3...