Hanging out with Baby David!

Baby's First Glamor Shot

Seriously, how cute is he?

Baby Vocabulary

As much as we promised not to be those annoying parents who start using ridiculous words when speaking to/about our baby...some words have managed to become quite common in our day-to-day conversations. Most of these words are resurfacing from my own childhood. I find myself forgetting that most people have no idea what it is I'm talking about when I use them...so here's a sampling of the Bowman family baby dictionary so we can all be on the same page.

Funja (foon-jah) - word used to describe a sour or grumpy facial expression. When David is pouting or being generally crabby....you could say..."Wow look at that funja face!"

Inky (In-kee) - another word for naked. When David is ready for his bath, we call him "Inky baby"

Poopers - shouldn't need to explain this one. What a great world when you get praised for how much "poopers" you produce.

Panza (Pahn-za) - a stomach that sticks out very much relative to the size of the rest of the body. Babies are famous for having great "panzas." This word is used especially when the tummy sticks out the bottom of the shirt...sort of like a beer belly.

Zerber - also commonly known as "rasberries." Perfect for baby panzas!

Fuss Pot - used to describe some one who is particularly crabby. Also callled "crabby-mc-crabby-panths."

That's all I can think of for now. Here are some more pictures of adorableness.

lounging around

one more cute picture we couldn't resist...

Recent Bowman Family Activities

Amy's been putting together the "Baby David Scrapbook" courtesy of Ellie Sherman's awesome box of scrapbooking goodies...






We've been doing a lot of staring at the boy recently too. Lots of funny faces, pretty much daily...

And we've both gotten pretty active in the Guitar Hero game on the Wii. David has started practicing his chords as well from time to time...

More family visits for Baby David

Baby David got a chance to meet more of his family this past weekend. Uncle David and Aunt Erin came down from Chicago for the holiday, and we all drove to Alabama to visit Uncle Corey. Big David and Erin were even nice enough to babysit for us on Saturday night so Kenneth and I could have a date. All's still going well. He's starting to sleep a little more during the night and he's getting more and more expresive every day. Enjoy the pictures. (Just a small sampling of the hundreds we take every week...the poor dogs have been replaced in our camera)

This kid is growing like a weed!!!

Seriously, I know everyone says that their kid is the (enter superlative here) at everything. And I swore to everyone that I was going to stay a low-key dad and not freak out on much of anything... but honestly, this kid has gained like a third of his own body weight in the last two weeks. It took him nine and some months to become eight and a half pounds. IT TOOK HIM TWO WEEKS TO GAIN TWO AND A HALF MORE!!! For the love of god I'm going to have to get a second job just to keep this kid in food.

I am reminded of my grandmother's words of advice - "Buy a cow now so buying milk doesn't make you go bankrupt."

But he is amazing. Good sleeper, good eater, relatively mild-mannered for the time being. Amy and I joke that we've got it easy right now because when we set him down he really just does stay there. No moving at all. Let alone have we found him toddling down stairs with a bottle of drano or anything... We're in trouble when he becomes mobile and when his diapers start getting really nasty. I will gladly accept donations of time, money, psychologist appointments and air freshener once he reaches that age.

One of these days I will get around to saying thank you to everyone (you're all unbelievable, by the way) who has sent us notes, gifts, and good vibes these past few weeks. We treasure every one of you and everything you've done for us and David, so thank you again. I'll get formal thank yous out there at some point, and your patience is much appreciated in the meantime while I try to get my head above water.

Enjoy the pictures. More soon!

Some more Pictures

Today is David's two week birthday. It's amazing how much he has changed already. I feel like every time he wakes up he looks different. The past two weeks have been wonderful. We've been so blessed by friends and family. Grandma St. John is still in town and that's been a huge help. I've been able to take a long, uninterrupted shower every day and I've even been able to get to the gym a few times and get my nails done! What a treat. We've also been blessed with home-cooked meals every night care of numerous friends and family members. All David does for now is eat, (and eat and EAT!!) sleep, and go to the bathroom...so he's pretty easy for now. What more could we ask for!

Also, we've officially introduced David to the dogs...huge success!! They've been WONDERFUL with him, so that's a big relief.

Here are some of the latest pictures. (We've only taken about a thousand at this point!!) Enjoy!

Baby's Arrival at Home, and some thoughts on the process of birth...

Great news is that we're all done with the "labor and delivery" process! (though some moms I've heard say that their "labor" doesn't really begin until the teenage years with some kids...) Baby David came home last night, and his daddy finally got his computer hooked up for the first time since the delivery.

So now we're home, and David's doing well and Amy's doing well and I'm doing well and Grandma's doing well... (and the second wave of family arrives tonight, and we've had all sorts of friends and visitors over the last couple of days...) This is all wonderful news. But it's funny the stuff you reflect on once a great event in your life has taken place - the color of the floors in the delivery room; the feel of the bleached-beyond-all-possible-shred-of-a-bacteria "dad's bedding kit" that I slept on for a couple of nights; the constant hum of activity in Amy's room (nurses; techs; nutritionists; the auxilliary volunteers; the lactation specialists; the baby's doctor; Amy's doctor; the "environmental" crew; the food services staff...); and how much sleep I would like to get now vs. how much I have actually gotten in the last four days. I think I will always remember taking David outside to watch his first sunrise while Amy got an hour of much needed sleep (since she'd let me sleep all night, which is amazing.) I think that nurses in the regular post-delivery nursery might have the best jobs in the whole world. I know I've never driven so slowly as I did when taking David home from the hospital (and I swore up and down that I would never change my driving habits just because a kid was in the car.) And I know that today is one of the hottest days ever and I will not be going outside for the forseeable future.

More annoying ruminations later. Amy and David need some sleep. Enjoy the pictures below.

David Michael Bowman - Born June 5 2008, 5:10 p.m.
8 lbs, 10 oz.; 22 in. long; 14 in. chest; 14 1/2 in. head
Mom is a superhero
Dad is very grateful
Grandparents and friends are blessed

10 Centimeters Dilated and Starting to Push!!!

Things are progressing...

Hey there everyone! it's about 10:00 here in Atlanta on the 5th. Amy is doing GREAT!!! She's a total trooper... I think it's safe to say that I agree with most of the books out there that say "If men were responsible for childbirth, our species would cease to exist." There is no way in heck I would be strong enough to deal with these contractions she's having, even if I had the epidural anesthesia that she's gotten.

Basically we're still on track for an afternoon delivery, as the doctors thought we'd be in for earlier this week. HUGE knock on wood here. We've still got a long way to go. She's dilated a bunch in only a couple of hours; her bag of waters has been broken since about 7:00; and the contractions are coming on nice and strong and regular (though she can't feel a thing with the epidural...)

No new pictures to share (Amy's got edit rights on everything, and no picture evidence is going to exist of her in her current condition. heh heh...)

Keep sending thoughts and prayers!!!

In Delivery Now... getting started!!!

This room is MUCH nicer than the room we were in last night, that is for sure. We're getting very excited now, as the IV is getting started now (5:30 a.m.) and the Petosin will start in a few minutes. Woo hoo! More soon!

Photos

First "sleeping room" pictures... including the first graphs of Amy's contractions and the baby's heartbeat; Amy's luxurious bed; and Kenneth's bed-chair.

Checked in and ready to roll

10:30 p.m. (eastern) June 4, 2008
So baby time is here. The littlest Bowman in on his/her way. We just checked in to Northside Hospital, and have gotten all the pre-work done. About five thousand forms filled out, measurements taken, and logistical stuff taken care of. Amy's already having contractions (even though she doesn't feel anything but "heavy pressure" yet) but her water hasn't broken yet.

The funny thing is that we're in the crazy-ugly part of the hospital. The part they don't show you on the tour and would like you to think doesn't exist. heh heh... We've got a room about the size of my closet, with a sink and a chair and a bed for Amy. Bathroom is about fifty feet down the hall, and there's a giant stain on the floor. We were like, "um, is this the room we're going to have the baby in? It's not really anything like the room on the tour..." They said, no, this is just the sleeping and pre-delivery room. We're going to be moved to our delivery room (complete with bathroom and a few more feet of space) at about 4:30 in the morning. Petosin will start at about 5:30, and baby soon thereafter.

Everyone seems healthy (enough so that they took the monitors off both Amy and the baby) and Amy just got a good dose of Ambien to help her sleep.

Unfortunately husbands are relegated to chairs next to the bed with no drugs to help them sleep. I'll just tough it out I guess. What can I say? The women get all the easy parts of pregnancy.

As I write this I've now been relegated to the floor because of that last comment.

Well, I'm off to sleep now. Pictures soon.

JUNE 5TH!!!!! THE END IS NEAR....

Or more accurately...the beginning!

It is very likely that our baby's birthday will be this Thursday, June 5th. YAY!!!!!!!! I went to the doctor this morning and he was very agreeable to the idea of inducing the baby this week. The doctor wants me to have an ultrasound this Wednesday morning and then go to the hospital Wednesday evening to start the induction process. The birth will most likely be Thursday!

I asked the doctor if the ultrasound was to make sure that the baby was big enough, and his repsonse was...."It's not a question of big enough...I just want to make sure we're not having the son or daughter of Hercules." I couldn't agree more!

Kenneth and I are SOOOOO excited! Now I feel like I should clean the whole house or something to get everything all ready. What fantastic news!! Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers!

38 Weeks....Any Day Now

I have been pestered for the past month to update my picture so I'm finally getting around to it. Sorry for the delay.

Only two more weeks to go (technically) but the doctor says it could be any time now. The baby has dropped and I've been two cm dilated for a week now. I feel great. No major complaints so we're pretty lucky. We're just playing the waiting game now. Kenneth is going to try and use his master sales skills to convince the doctor to induce me this week. I have an appointment on Tuesday so we'll see how that goes. Wish us luck.

Everything else is going well. Kenneth is working a lot, per usual, and our dogs are doing wonderful. Abbey; however, did just eat an entire plate of bacon and FIVE hard boiled eggs. Yup, that's right. What a genius. She is gonna be SICK tonight! That should be fun. That's what we get for leaving it out on the counter unattended. Whose to blame is currently being debated, but all signs are pointing NOT at me.

Some people have no tact

It absolutely amazes me at some of the things that total strangers (or even not so total strangers) will say to a pregnant lady. So far, on multiple occassions, I have faced the following comments regarding this fabulous blessing:

-"But why are you so big? Is everything okay?"
-"My friend is the same number of months, and she's MUCH smaller than you"
-"Wow, from the back you sure can tell you're pregnant"
-"You have HOW many more months? Oh. wow. You're gonna be REALLY uncomfortable"
-"You look like your ready to pop...any day now right?"

And then there's my personal favorite:

-"Are you SURE you're not having twins?"

Oh...no...actually I'm not sure. Gee...maybe I should ask about that. At the risk of sounding like one of those crazy hormonal women...What are these people thinking??? Honestly!! Who says things like that..and more importantly...what kind of response are they expecting?? I'm a fairly low-confrontational person. I've gotten very good at smiling and laughing it off..but honestly now, it's starting to amaze me.

Even if you're thinking it.....that doesn't mean you're supposed to SAY it. Everyone knows that when it comes to telling a pregnant lady how she looks...you LIE through your teeth! The answer is ALWAYS...wow, you look GREAT! NO EXCEPTIONS!

I'm open for some new responses to the less informed members of society. Any suggestions?

Last Trip Before Fatherhood

Not to jump back on the fatherhood bandwagon or anything (for those of you who are bored by this talk, please excuse my constant expressions of excitement and fear... writing about it keeps me from driving Amy totally insane) but I am back on the topic for this post.

This weekend was the best ever. My amazing wife conspired secretly with two of my best friends and former roommates from college to send us on a trip to Miami Beach for a long weekend. So she dropped me off at the train station, handed me an itinerary and told me that I was meeting Pete and Sargon at the beach. WOO HOOOO! We basically went to bed at 3:00 or 4:00 every night and sat on the beach each day. 80 degrees; breezy; and beautiful water. And all that came complete with even better people-watching than Las Vegas. I felt woefully out of place due to the fact that I don't have tattoos covering half my body; was not wearing a speedo; and had not had at least three plastic surgeries. But we had one of the more amazing dinners (a Cuban restaurant over in Coral Gables named Cacao) I've ever had in my life; got a good amount of sun; and enough going-out time to last me until next year when the three of us meet up again in France for Pete's wedding.

Which brings me back to the fatherhood thing. As much as I enjoyed this trip, I couldn't help but think how awesome it is going to be in a couple of years when we take "family vacation" and I get to chuck my kid around in the waves instead of just randomly people-watching. I'm sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight back to Atlanta surrounded by three families with small kids, and I think Amy and I (and my brother Mark, and my buddies Pete and Sargon) will enjoy that kind of vacation probably just as much. It'll be a bit different, in that we probably won't eat as much or as fancy of food, and most definitely won't be out until 4:00 in the morning... but fun city tours; hotel pools; and "exotic" kids meals will be a whole new adventure.

I can't wait.

-kb