Mr. Normal Head

It's been brought to our attention that the "Old Man Simon" pic from 7/26 has caused some concern among our blog readers that Simon is suffering from macrocephaly.  Now I'll be the first to admit that the picture is unflattering, to say the least, but I should have explained that I took it at a strange angle: Simon looking down while I stood well above him and zoomed in to highlight the funny hairstyle.  Here's another shot from that same photo session:

less extreme angle = less creepy head

Please also keep in mind that these pics were taken after having just arrived home from the doctor's office, and nobody there noticed anything wrong.  In fact, one of them (the lactation consultant I posted about before) even explained to us that Simon's head growth -- and consequently unattractive hair pattern -- was completely normal and that her kids had experienced the same thing.

To further put any worrying minds at ease (and as an excuse to post more cuteness!), here are a couple pics from this weekend that feature profiles of Simon's perfectly healthy head.

more bathtime fun

Simon's Warrior Pose

 I don't know why, but Simon strikes this pose whenever he's on the changing table, and it's ADORABLE!

A very full day

Today we took our first family outing to someplace other than the doctor's office.

We walked around the local farmer's market and picked out some nice plums and watermelons.  I'd like to say Simon was enriched by all the new sights and sounds...

...but he slept the whole time.  He woke up when we entered city hall, though, to look at the new art installation.

Simon says, "That's a big brain!" 

When we got home, we decided to give Simon a bath since it was a warm morning and he was starting to smell a little cheesy. 

with modesty cloth cause we're good parents

After all that excitement, Simon needed a nap in his favorite position:

tied to Mommy's tummy

What a busy day!





Fashion Friday: Mr. Fancypants

Wouldn't it be fun if each Friday I feature one of Simon's cute outfits?  Simon says, yes!  So, welcome to the first edition of Fashion Friday.  This week's topic: fancy pants.

We're using the Flip cloth diapering system of removable inserts and colorful covers.  Simon has a nice selection of covers in solid greens and blues, but Bradley also bought a special one that caught his eye.

(These pre-balding pics are from last week.)

He was first drawn to this cover since the white tabs with black snaps made it look like a tux.  On closer examination, though, Bradley saw it was covered in mathematical equations as well.  Sold!

Bradley was already at the check-out counter when he noticed what else was included with the equations:

Now Simon will have something to wear when he's awarded the Nobel Prize in physics!  (No pressure, Simon.)

That is, of course, unless someone scoops his research.

Mr. Big Head

Simon's still a little fussy from the procedure last Friday, especially when we do the prescribed exercises -- Mommy, your pushing on my tongue HURTS! -- but we had a very good appointment this morning with the lactation consultant who assured us that Simon's tongue is healing well and that we're doing everything we should be to eventually transition to exclusive breastfeeding.  Since Simon's over a month old, though, it will probably take a month or more to make the transition since he's already an "old dog."

Speaking of old, just in the past couple days Simon seems to have aged considerably, judging by the male-pattern baldness he's now sporting.

Old Man Simon

I bemoaned the receding hairline at the consultant's office, and she surprised me by explaining that it's not so much hair loss but, rather, Simon's head growing too fast for his hair.  Well, if this is the price we have to pay for a very smart baby, Hello Baldy!

Four exciting weeks

Simon is four weeks old today, and the time has flown by.  But, of course, it also seems like we've been taking care of our little Yoda for much longer than that.  (My dad used to call me Yoda, and now I see it in Simon.)

Mr. Yoda-face (2 Days)

Mr. Handsome-face (4 weeks)

The tongue-tie procedure on Friday went very well, and Simon seems to be recovering nicely.  This week we'll work on relearning how to latch so we can wean from the bottle in the next few weeks.  Simon and I attended our first New Mom's Support Group meeting today, and I met another mom and baby who had the same tongue-tie procedure two weeks ago.  Now they're nursing like pros, so that's encouraging.

Since I've downloaded another batch of pictures to my computer, here are some fun ones from the last week or so.

Peek-a-boo!

floating baby head

father-son playtime

father-son naptime

One of the pack

Prior to Simon, our two "kids" were Moose and Sprite, a pair of Lowchen dogs who were quite used to being the center of our attention.  So we wondered how they would adjust to a new baby and slightly-to-significantly less attention from us.  We needn't have worried.

Simon's first bottle

While they're interested in this new hairless puppy, Moose and Sprite are content just to tentatively sniff his head and then settle down next to us.  The dogs knew intuitively that Simon has priority of our laps, so they don't try to jump onto us when we're holding him.  And since Sprite's favorite place in the world is shoved between me and the couch armrest (see above pic), she gets all the contact time she needs while I'm free to nurse and snuggle Simon.

The dogs, it seems, have adopted Simon into their pack and consider it their duty to protect him while he naps, usually by napping themselves under his swing.

Guarding the Little Prince

That's not to say the dogs aren't envious of all the attention Simon gets.  It didn't take long for Sprite to figure out the importance of my nursing pillow.

Puppy in a Boppy

My precious!

The downside to Simon being tongue-tied is tricky breastfeeding and the need to supplement with formula.  The upside is that Simon is ridiculously cute to bottle-feed.  His eyes grow wide and alert, and he often clasps his two fists under his chin, which makes me think of Gollum worshipping his precious ring bottle.

My precioussss!

I would like to resume exclusive breastfeeding, though, so we have the frenulum clipping scheduled for this Friday.  We're extremely lucky that one of the only two qualified surgeons in the state is here in town.  If you want to learn more about posterior (or "hidden") tongue-ties, a good article is here, and a description of the procedure is here.  I haven't captured a close-up picture of Simon's tongue yet (I'd rather console him when he cries), but it looks just like baby #6 at this link.  Hopefully, after Simon recovers, his tongue will look like pic #2 and we'll be nursing successfully in a couple weeks.

There's a human in there!

I was at the university library yesterday picking up a book I had requested (don't ask me when I'll read it, though), and a family (mom, dad, girl ~13yrs, boy ~10yrs) was ahead of me in the check-out line.  It was like I was looking at our future: the parents were probably faculty, all four wore glasses, both kids held a stack of books, and the boy was excitedly telling his mom about the intro-to-psych AND intro-to-stats books he found.  I was smiling to myself imagining Sunday family outings to the library when the mom turned around and exclaimed, "Oh!  There's a human in there!"


You see, I was wearing Simon in the incredibly handy (and fashionable!) sling Bradley made me.  The mom apologized and explained that she had turned to compliment my "purse" when she "realized it was full."  Of human, apparently.

my view of the sling's contents

Announcing Baby Simon

(Sent to friends and family on 6/27/12.)

I'm quickly learning new parenting skills such as one-handed typing and culling photos down to a sendable number (the latter is harder).

Official stats:
name - Simon Charles Barger
birthday - Sunday, June 24, 2012, 2:42pm
weight - 8lb 6oz
length - 19.5"

Birth story:

Labor started with mild contractions at 1am Sunday morning, and things progressed fairly quickly (with a sitcom-like breaking water episode on the living room rug as we're leaving the house for the hospital at 7am), until noon when the almost three hours (!!!) of pushing began. Big-headed baby was stuck at the pubic bone but eventually came out with lots of patience (Bradley & my labor team) and a broken tailbone (me) without any drugs or medical interventions. I was allowed to "unwrap my present" (It's a boy!), and Simon was deemed healthy-yet-cone-headed, while my cervix was stitched up following 1200ml blood loss. I'm recovering just fine, with no need for a transfusion, while poor Simon's boy-face has developed a rash from my girl-hormones. That should go away before too long, though. Bradley is a natural father who calms Simon as quickly as I do, and he's yet to let me change a diaper.

our first family portrait