pieces of the journey

We drove for 7 days to get from Austin to Astoria... a bit excessive sounding, but we stopped one night at my parents' and had some sightseeing that we wanted to do in Virginia.  We also took time to do some minimal exploring of Memphis and Knoxville, and then when you add in the dictatorial style of a 3 week old and bathroom needs of a 3 year old... well, even about four or five hours of linear road time pretty much took all day.

Especially when you factor in the unexpected, like your rented minivan chiming at you about oil changes and low tire pressure.  Thankfully the car service place we came across had a big open space and kitchen set for children, along with coloring sheets and toys.  I think it was the highlight of the whole journey for Josephine.  (And I had an air conditioned place to nurse Clement and a vending machine with Nutter Butters, so I wasn't complaining either).

Here are some hotel pictures from the first night.  After that, I pretty much lost the energy to take any pictures at all.

We didn't stay at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis (we stayed at hotels belonging to the Marriott group the whole time to use and earn points)... but we did walk a few blocks over to watch the marching ducks before we left that morning.

Every morning and evening they make the journey from their lodging on the roof to the elaborate fountain in the lobby.  Quite the ordeal.  It was cute.  You can read about it here.

Knoxville has an appealing downtown area.  We ate an early lunch there before leaving town.

I can't believe I didn't get more accurate photos of the size of the minivan and how full it was.  It occurred to me at one point during the journey, but neither of the resulting photos are very representative.

And I took all of two pictures looking outside the car, despite a good amount of pretty scenery along the drive.  Here's one.  Just really wasn't on my game.  Did I mention I was tired?

Virginia had some truly quaint towns-- especially Lexington and Staunton.  Sean did a good job researching nice pit stop places ahead of time.  The whole of Interstate 81 provided quite the contrast to our final stretch, driving through lower Manhattan on a Saturday evening!

Although, I'd like to point out that the interstate in Pennsylvania and New Jersey makes a serious effort at prepping drivers for their final destination of NYC.  This is what I noticed, and I found it correlated appropriately to our destination:

1.  First, you experience a loss of rest (areas).  My atlas, which has them marked and had been very handy with that feature, simply didn't show any in PA or NJ, along our route.  A bit intimidating, bleak, depressing, what have you... but that is just the start.

2.  Next I noticed multiple billboards aimed at all the heathens who choose to leave the South and drive straight towards cosmopolitan debauchery.  (My soul was thus adequately prepared for the possibility of its imminent demise/dereliction.)

3.  The billboards are followed by a new series of highway signage apparently directed at teaching people how to drive.  Yes.  While they're cruising along at a pretty 70 mph.  Call me old-fashioned, but the timing just seemed off.  On the other hand, I guess if the drivers don't know these basic rules, one can be grateful that they now do.
And regardless-- driving knowledge is certainly helpful if you are going to attempt to transport yourself in NYC via automobile.  Point taken, Pennsylvania.

4.  Those fade away in time for a series of signs indicating an increase in traffic fines.  The increase does not seem to be in conjunction with a construction zone or anything temporary-- not that I noticed.  So I concluded it is part of the preparation:  Just get used to every expense costing twice as much as it does elsewhere.

5.  New Jersey gets even more hardcore.  Forget public bathrooms.  The one rest stop we did find didn't have facilities (probably why it wasn't on my atlas), and you can't seem to find a convenient gas station at any exit.  This, of course, is to prepare travelers for the fact that 99% of New York establishments do not acknowledge this basic human need either.  It turns out the only solution (along this highway and in Manhattan, both) is Starbucks.

6.  There are multiple overpasses in NJ displaying the American flag.  They were dingy from car exhaust but still the most uplifting aspect of the preparation.  Good to be reminded of the solemn, steadfast patriotism of NYC.  (Because that is why they were there.  In NJ.)

7.  And lastly, as one would expect upon approaching a city that affords something like three square inches per capita, there comes the inevitable narrowing of lanes, general shortage of space, and mind-blowing feats of merging.  Case in point:  the Holland Tunnel...

Nine lanes of traffic mash down to two.  How about that for a daily morning commute?
Here we are, waiting our turn to enter the tunnel and cross from New Jersey into Manhattan.  (This is the second photo I took from the car window.  We sat there so long, I ran out of crackers and got bored, so it finally dawned on me to take another photo.) Anyway, we eventually got there.  Good thing we were so very PREPARED.

Funnily, while we were in the tunnel (several minutes after explaining to Josephine how the tunnel goes under the river), she piped up in a serious tone, "I don't like the tunnel.  Water is for fish for swimming, not for tunnels."  After a couple follow up questions, it was clear she just didn't like the concept of driving through a tunnel that went underwater.  Isn't she too young for those sorts of paranoias?

Here's some of the load after a mad session of dragging things from the car up to our third floor apartment. What you can't see here is the crib frame, several bags I put straight into the kitchen, two large car seats, et al.  Quite the haul.  From Sean's rough estimates, the cost of three airplane tickets and all new baby gear (especially considering the organic mattress)... vs. the cost of the hotels nights we didn't have enough points for and the car rental and gas... it all worked out about the same.  So the journey, while long and tedious, was worth it in my mind, as I put a good amount of value on reusing the gear we already had, being able to pack a lot more stuff than we could have if we'd flown, and avoiding the high intensity stress of an airport journey.  And since I've already learned to let go of how much I value sanity and sleep, that loss didn't factor in, technically.

Now.  How we get everything BACK to Texas in January... that'll be interesting...

scrub-a-doo, buckaroo.

Some photos from Clement's first bath, August 19th, three weeks old.  (I'd previously dragged him into the shower with me following some major spit-up events, but this was his first premeditated scrub.)  He didn't make a peep the whole time; I think he'd have been happy to stay in there as long as I let him.  

After typing the title, I got curious about the word "buckaroo".  According to Wikipedia it's an Anglicization of the Spanish word vaquero.  If that isn't true, it is at least interesting and fairly believable...  

clement is one month!

It seems impossible to believe, but a month has already flown by!

A large chunk of my heart is still stuck back in the hospital, snuggling his soft pink self and -- with tunnel vision -- reveling in all the newness and excitement.  With the chaos of the last couple weeks, packing and road tripping up here, and now the adjustment phase as we try to get settled in, I find myself torn.  I'm usually either pining for those initial, focused moments of his life, or else feeling anxious to get to a phase where things feel routine and calm and I'm sleeping more than 2 or 3 hours at a time each night.  It is especially challenging to be present right now.  And yet I must seek that mentality and contentedness, lest I miss out on the charms of Clement's one month old self.

After all, he reminds me daily of how much he's changing and how quickly!  Already he is getting SO strong, his skinny thigh wrinkles are morphing into pudges, and he had already grown half an inch at his 2 week check up.  (I feel like he's sprouted two more since, but I haven't made an appointment for his one month check-up here in Astoria.  Need to do that.)  His head still flops some, but he can hold it in place about 75% of the time now.  He moves it around to track us (when he deems us more interesting than the window), and it sure seems to me like he uses his arms to bat at things he's really focused on, but that must be a coincidence because he hasn't discovered his hands yet (other than when they magically and delightfully appear near his mouth in prime sucking territory).  While he has started smiling socially, he isn't bestowing them nearly as generously as Josephine was by one month.  His first came the day before he turned 3 weeks; it was probably no coincidence that he was being fawned over by three gorgeous 20-somethings who were in town for my sister's bachelorette party.  The little flirt.

He did it enough that I was able to take a picture (see below)... I love his dimples!  Josephine didn't have those... but she did have the same squirrelly grin... see here.

Not long thereafter he started sharing them with dull, old Mom, and now he gives them out a few times per day (at least one of which is saved for his beloved crib slats.  The white blanket hung behind them really makes them "pop."  He seems quite fond.)

In other social interactions: here's a photo of Clement at two weeks old, lying next to best buddy Wyatt (Zanna's little brother, who is 2 months older than Clement).  We need to have a face-time session with the two boys so Wyatt can talk to Clement about how delightful it is to sleep through the night!!  I'm all about working some peer pressure here...

Clement still has all the reddish hair he was born with, and while I adore red hair, it does seem to color his personality as well-- true to all the stereotypes.  He's a very DETERMINED little fellow with serious horsepower: goes from 0 to 90 in about 5 seconds flat.  If you're not quick enough on the draw, he can show you angry like you've never before seen.  His powerful lungs skipped the newborn cry stage altogether, and his fair skin turns purplish red in a heartbeat once he starts screaming.  These are favors he extended to everyone in the hospital, his pediatrician twice now, and countless assistants.  Unlike Josephine's charms and social butterfly behavior with nurses (and everyone), Clement sees no innate reason to please those folks (or anyone).

He doesn't reject a pacifier as vehemently as Josephine did, but he doesn't like them, either.  Every now and then you can convince him to take one.  Due to his short fuse and strong lungs, I've even invested in trying to find a different kind, thinking he might prefer another size/shape (color, maybe?  one that "pops" perhaps?)--  hoping to find a reliable plug for the kid... but to no avail.  Don't get me wrong-- he's really a tremendously sweet boy, and he doesn't cry unless he has a reason-- but it's just that if he does have a reason, he let's you KNOW about it, and is quite LOUD about it until you have it remedied.  And sometimes you just need to hold off the hunger pangs for 5 more minutes, or finish changing the diaper, or can't get the bubble out of either end... and in those cases, it'd be nice to have something to soothe the furious little guy!

That said, he spends most of his time hanging out at the other end of the spectrum: he's been a total snuggle bug from the get go.  Nothing makes him happier than having his face nestled up in someone's neck, which melts my heart to the extreme.  All the typical "happiest baby on the block" tricks that Sean worked so well with Josephine are pretty much a wash with Clement.  I remember a night early on when Sean was trying to comfort him with the "happiest baby" techniques, and it simply wasn't working.  The second he pulled him up to snuggle him against his neck, however, Clement was perfectly pleased.  Those patterns have held true; that's just the way this little guy works.  He really loves some face-in-neck time.  (Since it calms him so much, this is also his favorite position in which to burp and spit up all down my shirt.  So sometimes Mommy gets a liiiittle gun shy with the snuggling.)  I use this same method to help him nap; if he's fussy going down, it usually just takes a few times of checking on him and pulling him up to snuggle for a second and coo at him about napping, then laying him back down.  After about 2 or 3 of these visits from me, he typically just yawns and goes to sleep the next time I lay him down.  The boy just wants a little face-in-neck time to know he's loved.  In this way, he's actually more social than Josephine was; I love having a snuggle bug!

So, not to overly generalize, but it seems Clement's either THE sweetest little baby-- or, at times, the angriest.  Thank the Lord that the vast majority of the time he's content or has an issue that is relatively simple to fix!

As for the big sister:  Josephine has handled Clement like a champ.  Even being stuck next to him for about 1,800 miles, many of which he was discontented, didn't seem to faze her.  Sometimes she puts her hands over her ears when he cries, sometimes she tries singing to him (bless her heart), sometimes she soothes herself by sucking on her fingers, but on whole she copes supremely well.  She mostly responds with oodles of baby talk either to him, or on his behalf to me, letting me know what she imagines he is wanting.  She also manages to just sleep right through the screaming, which I find downright impressive.

Our pediatrician has warned us that this is the sibling "honeymoon phase."  We expect things to change once he manages to get into her stuff.  But for now, it's delightful.  She LOVES checking on him, rushes to his aid if she hears so much as a grunt, and delights in bringing him toys.  I watch her like a hawk when she's around him, naturally, but am glad that she is so good at distracting him when he's bored, as it usually buys me enough time to finish whatever I'm doing before attending to whatever's grumping up the baby.

That about sums things up!  I am in the process of learning how to meld Josephine's daily schedule with Clement's emerging routine (basically feeding every 3 hours, followed by wake time, then nap time, with the occasional [and hopefully continued] extension of night time cycles to more like 5 or 6 hours [sans wake time]).  It requires a lot of discipline (which I don't naturally come by) to stay on track so that I feel in control of the schedule-- as opposed to feeling like my kids are in control and just pulling me a thousand different directions all at once.  But with a little time to get settled in, and some more deciphering of what Clement needs, I know we'll adjust.  And then maybe you'll start seeing more regular blog posts from me!

But for now, in exchange for your patience, here's one final picture of our little one month old.  He does a number on my heart (and eardrums) daily.  We love him to pieces, and if you had that soft little head in your neck right now, you'd know exactly what I mean.  Don't worry-- I'll give him a snuggle on behalf of each of you.  :-)

here

Well, we made it back to NY!  I know I'm behind on the -- oh, let's estimate 1,000 -- photos of the last month, and I do aim to fill in the gap gradually.  But for now, here are some pictures from Sunday. 

We had an extra full day on our car rental (it was a grand total of $4 more to get it for seven days as opposed to five) so after heaping ridiculous amounts of gear from the minivan into our apartment Saturday night, we instituted full denial Sunday morning and left the madness behind.  We got up, drove ourselves to church, to the grocery store to stock up, to City Island for a meal, and to Orchard Beach.

We only had 20 minutes or so for Josephine to swim, as it turned out the lifeguards quit at 6 pm and the waters have to be vacated then.  That's okay, though, as Sean was already maxing out his conscience by letting her play in waters that close a major city.   I didn't go down to get a close look, but he said it wasn't the most pristine of conditions, and that's not hard to believe.

Someone wasn't bothered in the least, however.

The photo below gives a slight sense of how packed the place was.  It was equally crowded the other direction, twice as deep as you can see here, and the parking lot was only half full.  I'd hate to see the place when that parking lot is at maximum capacity!  But I hear that's standard for beaches up here; I've seen photos of Coney Island in the summertime that are downright frightening.

At least this had an interesting cultural twist.  As we were walking towards the beach we passed a guy wearing a shirt that read, "Orchard Beach.  Little Puerto Rico.  Exit 8B."  Turns out that's totally accurate.  I've never been to the island, but now I feel no need.

(If you're a fan of Where's Waldo, you can play Where's Josephine in the above photo. You're welcome.)  

This next photo is after closing time, and with a little cropping help, makes the place look deceptively peaceful...

Didn't get any great pictures of Clement; he was tucked away in the Ergo the whole time, except for when Sean was holding him while I got Josephine cleaned up.  Which, interestingly, exposed him to vast quantities of comments like "God bless!" from all demographics, including young, rough-looking macho men.  I intend to experiment with this further.  Perhaps it's similar to all the comments I got while pregnant from strangers who felt driven to pronounce my prenatal baby a boy.  I'm curious to see if a dad cradling a newborn consistently elicits attention up here, or just in Puerto Rico.

Here's a smile to tide over grandmothers until the next post:

august 21

In an effort to start filling in some missing pictures/events, I'll be posting random groups of photos-- mostly according to how much time I have to work on any given post.  I'll leave them as the top story for a little while after posting each one, but eventually will change their posting dates to match the corresponding time they were taken, so that they get "filed" away on the blog in the correct sequence.

Here are some photos from Sean's iphone that he took while I was feeding Clement.  Josephine was enjoying the unfamiliar foliage at a rest on our way up to NY; she is showing him the wee little pine needles, fistfuls of which she wanted to put in the car and take with us.  

We talked her down to five. 

Which "must have fallen out of the car somehow" at the next stop... 

 

{  Is my blatant frustration with blogger formatting obvious?  Good.  }