A Night and a Day

Caleb and I had a good night. He woke up multiple times to eat, but I think we're figuring out how to communicate and, really, I expect to be up in the night with a newborn. (And after a nap today, I reached almost 20 hours of sleep since I got up Monday morning, as best as I can figure, though I have rested a lot.)

Phil was ready to get back to work. We had two very different sources recommend the same dry-waller. Phil was able to reach him, and he'll be out on Monday to take a look. I would be so happy if Phil did not have to do the drywall. Like with electrical work: Phil could do it (he can do just about anything), but it's not his favorite task at all.

Just in case the drywaller can come early next week to start, Phil went back to work on plumbing. He was close before; he is closer now. It is beautiful to see the critical path tasks unfold for him. Filling in the trench wouldn't be the most important (though might make it more safe around the farm), and so plumbing comes to the forefront.

I have been astounded by how frequently and how long Caleb eats. The midwife came to see us today, and weighed him. Babies lose a good bit of birthweight once they poop out the meconium, and before the milk comes in. In fact, it is a good sign if the baby regains birthweight by two weeks. Caleb is only two ounces less than his birthweight right now. I don't think he'll have any trouble.

The Huggies Newborn diapers I bought are the most woefully inadequate product I've ever come across. I don't think Caleb has had a pee yet that didn't soak through his clothes. With only six long-sleeved outfits (which would be more than adequate if we went to the laundromat more than once a month), he exhausted his supply of clean clothes in about a half day. So I hang the clothes up to dry and recycle through them.

And I'm pretty sure I'm missing a box of baby clothes, somewhere in the depths of storage, because I have a few infant clothes, and a few nice blankets, but no 3, 6, or 9 month clothes, and no average baby blankets, useful for spit-ups. This gave me pause. I asked my sister, if she was going garage sale-ing in her neighborhood and came across any baby boy clothes, to please buy them for me.

She hadn't been planning on going, but she put her two daughters in the car, drove by a couple of sales that didn't have what she was looking for, and then came across one that had everything we needed. Best sister award!

"Is that normal?" I asked. "Do you come across mountains of baby boy clothes every time you go out?"

"No," she said. "But God provides." Best God award!

This morning, I had just changed Caleb after a massive poop. I changed his clothes. And I had just gotten him all swaddled again nicely, when he pooped again. "Caleb, you're hilarious!" said Jadon with delight.

If the only trick you know is how to poop, it helps to have an audience that appreciates that one trick.

Well, Joe likes the tongue sticking-out trick, too.

On the morning of Caleb's birth, Isaiah asked why his hands were covered. I explained that babies can have sharp fingernails and accidentally scratch themselves when they touch their faces.

"Huh. Babies aren't very smart," was Isaiah's comment.

We are all still flying high. If Caleb peeps when I'm away making bread, the brothers come find me. Yesterday Abraham told me, about five times in five minutes, not to forget to feed Caleb. If Grandma holds the baby and starts to peep, Joe says, "Is he turning his head and opening his mouth? Because that means he's hungry." Abraham wanted to hear all about the birth: where I was in the house, what the midwife was doing, why things happen the way they do.

It was precious to have babies when the boys were young. It may be more precious now, to have a larger number of people doting.