Lots going on . . .

Well, folks, it has been a busy couple of weeks, which accounts for my lack of posting. I'll try to make up for it with a nice long entry today. Since I've got updates on both kids, you'll have a lot to read.



Amanda's Birthday

Although the blog is generally Reagan-centric, I'm going to deviate from that focus a bit right now in order to address Amanda's birthday. She turned three on Saturday, August 28th, and we had a party for her that day at Gymboree. But more on that in a moment.

Leading up to Amanda's birthday, Susan and I realized we hadn't really given much thought (actually, no thought) to what we would get her for her birthday. So one afternoon I trekked over to the Toys R Us near my office to see what looked good. Not surprisingly, it was difficult to make decisions from among all of the awesome (and expensive) toys. What struck me as I was shopping, though, was just how close I came to being one of "those" dads. Let me try to explain what I mean. Amanda has always liked playing with little Matchbox cars, and she is now aware of the Pixar movie "Cars." It made sense, therefore, to get a copy of the movie for her birthday, right? Well, those Pixar movies ain't free, and in a fit of weakness, I found myself digging instead through the bargain DVD bin looking for a cartoon with talking cars in it that could be had for $4.99. She won't know the difference, right? She's three! Fortunately, I caught myself before I tried to pass off something like "Automobiles" as "Cars," but it was scary how close I came to becoming the type of parent who buys Hydrox cookies and Chek Cola and doesn't think anyone will notice. For the record, we got her a mini trampoline, a minivan for her dollhouse family, and a couple of DVDs (including the real "Cars"). Swish!

We had some family come to town for Amanda's birthday (and to meet Reagan). Cousin Danielle and her boyfriend Brian came in from Austin, TX, and it was great to have them here. I'd say something about what a great couple they are, but I don't want to be viewed as putting any undue pressure on the fine young man. And, of course, Aunt Terri (Danielle's mom) came in both for Amanda's birthday and to help with Reagan during the following week. She was really a God-send, volunteering to take the middle-of-the-night feeding most of the nights she was here. That really helped Susan and me a lot, and words cannot express how grateful we are for her.

Amanda's birthday party at Gymboree went really well. We had never been to Gymboree before, so we really didn't know what to expect. And, as always, we worried that Amanda would be all clingy when faced with a new environment. As always, she surprised us. She got right into the activities and really played well. One of these days, we're going to stop being surprised by the fact that Amanda does just fine without us hovering over her. All of the other kids (there were about 13 total) seemed to have fun, too, which was great to see. The best part of the party, though, was not having to prepare for it or clean up after it. There's no way we could have had a party at the house with a month-old infant, so it's a good thing we didn't even try.

Reagan News

Life with an almost-six-week old baby continues to be challenging. Since all Reagan really does is sleep, eat, and fuss, we probably over-analyze each of these activities. When she has a good night, we think we're out of the woods, and when she is up fussing half the night, we assume we must be doing something wrong. We know that neither extreme is the truth, but it's hard to keep the necessary perspective sometimes, especially on very little sleep.

So, as you may have surmised, Reagan has yet to settle into a predictable sleep pattern. We'll go a night or two where she goes right to sleep after the midnight feeding, sleeps for about four hours, then takes another bottle and goes right back down. The next night, it's back to being wide awake (and inconsolable) from 4:00 a.m. on. We haven't yet figured out which condition(s) favor one type of night over the other, and I have a sneaking suspicion there is no right answer.

Despite our concerns with what we view as excess sleep problems, we held off contacting the pediatrician's office for advice since we knew we had Reagan's one-month appointment set for August 30th, and we'd be able to find out what we were doing wrong at that point. Of course, when we told the doctor that Reagan has one or two feedings a day where she gets very fussy afterward, she said, "One or two problem feedings a day? You two must be doing something really right!" That was nice to hear, and it managed to assuage some of our anxiety, at least for a little while.

In general, Reagan's one-month appointment went great. She was up to 8 lbs. 8.5 oz. after her birth weight was 6-12, so there's no concern that she's failing to thrive. She's in the 25th percentile of length and weight, which is fine. And best of all, her head size is also in the 25th percentile, so she's a very proportional little girl. Who'da thunk I could have a kid with a normal-sized head? Maybe this one will be able to find hats that fit!

Even through all of the hand-wringing over perceived sleep issues, we can clearly see that Reagan has changed tremendously from when we brought her home. She is awake and alert more and more each day, and with her eyes open more, we can finally get a good luck at the color -- I'm calling it "gunmetal blue."

I apologize for not posting any new photo albums lately, but I plan to put one up over the long holiday weekend.