The first week of paternity leave went pretty well. Tuesday was super easy, all playing and napping and casually eating. This made me overconfident. Wednesday he had an upset stomach and was really, really crabby. This made things much more difficult, and I was pretty sure I was doing a terrible job and he hated me. Thursday and Friday he felt better, and we finally started getting a routine down. As the week progressed I also started getting more competent with the bathing/changing/feeding/etc, so he was better able to put up with my ministrations.

He slept right until the end, and didn’t get fussy until we got home. I think we’re getting better at going out.

I started paternity leave last Thursday, 10/10, and it will run through 12/02. 54 days at home with Nathan. I’ll try to make some more regular posts while I’m home, but I can’t promise these production values every time. I present “The Many Noises of Nathaniel Stuart McGinty.”

Elaine sends me pictures of Nathan via chat during the day while I’m at work. Here’s a selection of some that haven’t already been posted here.

Tonight at 9:34 Rhett and I will split a beer, and toast the boy’s first four weeks. The boy himself will likely be passed out.

He partied hard this weekend; as evidence I offer:

Mom was not so good with the focus, but you get the idea.

The Boy did well the day of the party, but it required waking him up from a nap. Not a good idea. The next day he was off his routine and ended up overtired and overfed. What do turgidly full and tremendously fatigued babies do? Throw up a gallon of milk all over themselves, me and the bed at 11:30 on Sunday night. It is a testament to his adorableness that I saw fit to help Rhett clean and change The Boy before I showered and changed myself.

He continues to be a little different everyday. I put him on his playmat two weeks ago and he didn’t register anything around him. Yesterday he did this:

You can see the wheels turning in his head. He is right on the cusp of a social smile. He may have flashed a few yesterday, and he had a big grin when I got him up this morning. His other major accomplishments include cooing, sleeping five or six hours in a row, and letting Rhett and I know immediately when he is displeased. I think of that as a milestone because he used to be lackadaisical, as if he were only just aware that he was hungry or poopy or tired. Now he knows, right away. And so do Rhett and I. The boy is just more “on”.

As far as his day to day life goes, he wakes up every morning around five or six. He is swaddled and has oriented himself towards his best friend, Mr. Sleep Sheep. The Sleep Sheep generates wave sounds as the boy drifts off. It also has a tiny sheep face and is soft and therefore excellent for clumsy grasping. Or punching.

Diaper change, eat, diaper change, settle back in around six or seven. Wake up a little before nine to wish Dad a good day. Diaper. Eat. Diaper. Hang out on the playmate, maybe get some tummy time.

Then begins “the long stretch”. The more he sees, the less he wants to sleep. It’s one of his three internal conflicts: sleep or look at stuff. (Other two: eat or sleep, eat or burp.) Around 11 he is tired enough for a nap, but he resists. Mom has learned that as soon as he yawns, you rock him until he’s knocked out. He will try to fake you out by looking around, acting hungry or getting an angry red tomato face, but Mom is always right. I put him down in a light room so he will learn day and night. No matter how tired he is, a little voice in his head seems to whisper, “Get up and look at stuff. There is stuff everywhere. Look at it.” He does a lot of this:

The up down cycle lasts until two or three, when he finally is tired enough to take a real nap. He gets up around 6 after Dad gets home, eats with us, gets food dropped on him, oops, and then takes a short nap. Then it’s bath time! Rhett generally handles that. If we time everything really well, The Boy drifts off between 8:30 and 10. And if it’s a good night, he will sleep about five or six hours. Or two. Late night feedings are chill. No talking, just business: Diaper, eat, cuddle. Then we do it all again the next day. Or in two hours, depending on the tiny dictator’s whim.

Also, I left out about 15 diaper changes.

So babies apparently have developmental “leaps”, during which they gain some new mental or physical ability over the course of a week or two. Nathan started his first leap this week. It made him grumpy. He seems to be on the back end of it, and he has gained the ability to see things at a greater distance, track things with his eyes, and punch himself in the face. Ok, he always had that last one. He’s also making more noises which sound like accidental vocalizations.

Mom went to the doctor yesterday afternoon, which led to his first stay at home alone with dad. Things went great at first, but then he realized I did not have breasts. He got overtired and fussy, and we were glad to see mom come home.

After the rough night with dad we approached his first restaurant visit with some trepidation, but he handled it like a champ. We got to eat on the patio at El Chilito, and Nathan passed out. He has been invited to his first birthday party this afternoon, hopefully we didn’t use up all his good behavior.

Amongst all the talk of bodily functions in the last post I forgot to report on his week over week progress. His weight went from 8 lbs to 8 lbs 15 ozs. He would’ve been on track with only an ounce a day in weight gain, so 15 ounces in 7 days is another example of his precocious nature. He also gained an inch and a half in length, going from 19.5 to 21. His circumcision looked much better and almost fully healed, and his umbilical cord was still hanging on. All of those figures were as of last Tuesday, of course. I’m sure he’s grown since then. His next appointment isn’t until the 4 week mark, so I expect big changes by then.

And now for some newer pictures. As always, click to enlarge.

Yesterday was Nathan’s 2 week birthday, and a big day out and about. We went to Elaine’s c-section followup with Dr. Phillips in the morning, where he pooped and ate. Then we drove through P. Terry’s where we got some burgers and he pooped. We drove to Apple, where he charmed everyone (after being changed). Lastly we went to his pediatrician, where he pooped, peed on mom, peed out of his diaper somehow while Dr. Howard examined him, then pooped again. At that point we were out of diapers and exhausted, so we went home.

Today The Boy had his first (washcloth) bath. I would’ve taken pictures but we were so incompetent at it that it took all 4 of our hands to accomplish.

He also went on his first walk outside in his stroller. We only made it about 2/3 of the way to the end of the street before we had to turn back due to mom having had surgery 11 days ago and it being about 100 degrees outside.

He also got his first piece of mail…

…so now there’s nothing stopping him from getting his first job.