Parenting - Month #2!

As I look back over the pictures of Parker's second month of life, I recall a few moments where we both thought "Hey, we've got this.  We can have a baby and still have a life."  Those moments did increase in frequency, thankfuly, but that was in large part due to all the help we had.  Our families stepped up to the plate for the first several months of Parker's life, which was a huge blessing.

As Tyson's 4 weeks of Paternity leave came to a finish (which was actually when Parker was 3 weeks old, as one week was used while I was in the hospital), we decided to take advantage of our freedom from work.  One morning we realized that help didn't have to come to us, we could go TO help, and enjoy some other parts of Washington at the same time.  Mid-week no less, not just on our carefully hoarded and protected one-weekend-off-a-month!  So we packed up the Rav with baby gear - and I do mean packed!  Bassinet, vibrating seat, bouncy ball, box of diapers, several bags of sleepers, onesies, burp clothes, and blankets... plus our own outdoor gear... and off we went to Nana's (Tyson's mom's) cabin on Lake Cushman, out by Hood Canal.  Parker had some great cuddle time with Nana, and Mommy and Daddy were able to get a few more hours of sleep after he decided he was up for the day at 6 am!

We took Parker for his first "hike", which was actually a relatively flat trail several miles long along the lake.  Unfortunately an every 3 hour feeding schedule means you really only have about 2 hours to do something, as 1 hour is spent feeding!  Daddy took the 2nd shift, which meant he had a brisk run with Parker sucking on his finger when we hit the 3 hour mark about half-way back down the trail.  At least we had some fresh air and sunshine!

A few days after Tyson went back to work, my parents arrived in Seattle for 2 weeks - the "second wave" if you will.  Pappi had his first cuddle with Parker the second he woke up.  It had been a while since I saw my father holding a baby, but he did very well.  Just like riding a bicycle Dad!

Nonna had of course been fortunate to experience Parker's 1st week of life, and she was shocked at how much he had already grown.  As Parker is very advanced (we wouldn't have it any other way!), we will say that he remembered Nonna and even smiled at her a bit.  Tyson and I had our 1st baby-free evening while my parents were in town - my sister-in-law Jacqueline threw an amazing party to celebrate my brother-in-law Josh's graduation from Surgery residency.  We all survived the evening with very few tears on anyone's part.  The rest of the visit we even went to a few happy hours with Parker in tow, just to make sure he had a lasting memory of all Seattle has to offer - Ivar's on the water, Agua Verde, Uneeda Burger!

Though much of Parker's time was still spent like this....

He finally started to have some awake times where we could put him down and watch him start to interact with the world...

And we even got in the occasional "Activity Time" on his Baby Einstein mat.  This was generally VERY brief (on the order of 5 minutes or less), but it did give Mommy a chance to make a cup of coffee while he had some play time!

This is a great example of the faux-hawk Parker developed all on his own.  As his hair fell out like all newborns, a strip of longer hair remained on top.  It curls when washed, and doesn't want to be tamed.  No gel, we swear, but Daddy does try to give him 50 strokes a day with the hairbrush...

 The end of Parker's 2nd month coincided with a lot of end-of-the-year/end-of-residency events for us, so it was a great chance to show Parker off to our friends.  This created a bit of havoc with the sleep schedule Mommy was working on, but it turns out Parker actually does very well in large groups of people!  Lucky for me, I had a month to spend on a Reading Elective at home, and what is more applicable to Pediatrics than Infant Sleep Schedules?! Some light reading...

 4 of the 5 babies born in our class during our 3rd year.  From left to right, Parker, Wil (Tim & Rebecca's daughter, born October 2011), Josie (Eric & Elizabeth's daughter, born September 2011), and Rafa (Melisa and Jason's son, born just 2 weeks before Parker!).  Missing is Dave & Cori's son Cody, born in December, who left us early for Cali.  

 We had such fun watching these 4 "play" on the couch!

 One of Tyson's classmates organized a Mariner's game for the R3 class, which happened to be on Tyson's 32nd birthday.  A birthday and Parker's 1st Mariner's game, quite a celebration!

Looking a bit like Benjamin Button

The Mariners have not done so well in the past few years, and June 12th was no exception.  Though in the end the score wasn't awful, we did lose, and Parker insisted on hiding under his jacket so he wouldn't be seen at the game rooting for the losing team.








My graduation was on June 15th, with a lovely Grand Rounds that morning where a faculty member speaks about us, and a formal dinner/award ceremony that evening.

Graduation Grand Rounds

My good friend Sarah

My mentor through residency, Heather McPhillips

For our graduation dinner, our R3 class decided to surprise everyone by decorating the room 80s prom style and showing up in true 80s prom dresses.  Parker was lucky enough to be one of my dates ;)








Parker had his first long stretch of sleep on June 15th, after the graduation dinner.  After a nap during the dinner, he slept from 11 pm to 5 am!  Thanks for the graduation present Parker!

Well that concludes Parker's 2nd month of life, in a nutshell.  One more month to go before we are fully caught up and can actually blog as we go!  Thanks for following along!