Happy Birthday Daddy!

I felt a little guilty that Osei's birthday wasn't going to be very special.  We are in Colorado for a month living out of suitcases (which is definitely special), but Osei and I have been together almost every minute.  So no chance for surprise plans or gifts or anything like that.  And, it is not like you can completely avoid new parental responsibilities just because it is your birthday (though I changed the big ones!).  So, we had to improvise a little to make the day special!

Thursday morning we met with my old high school cross country coach, Joanne, for coffee at the Laughing Goat in Boulder.  We enjoyed catching up with Joanne, and I have a feeling she made a quick expert assessment that our little girl has some athletic potential (wishful thinking that she'll follow our footsteps and fall in love with running?)

Then Osei and I went to Beau Jo's pizza for lunch.  We weren't that impressed, but were pleasantly surprised when Grandma Nancy stopped by to say hello.  Yay us for making a plan and sticking to it!

Afterwards, we took a drive around the neighborhoods of Denver to explore a little.  As we plan our move to Colorado later this winter, we can definitely both see ourselves ending up in Denver!

Then we met up with a high school friend of mine (and fellow Fairview cross country runner) for happy hour.  We enjoyed meeting her new husband, Nadav, and spending time with both of them.

As if we couldn't pack more activities into our busy day, then we met Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ralph at BJ's for dinner.  The pizza here exceeded our expectations, even though it meant a two-pizza kind of day!  I carried Palesa in the ring sling the whole evening, and she did wonderfully.  In fact, as we walked along Pearl Street to meet Beth, I even nursed Palesa in the sling (while walking).  We had a few strategically placed blankets for warmth, but otherwise, it was all pretty natural and normal!

Overall, I felt extremely blessed to spend another birthday with my dear husband, Osei.  Happy Birthday, love!

Palesa does her Party Tricks

On Wednesday, Osei, Palesa and I had dinner with Cyndi and Ron at their house.  The meal was delicious (no surprise there), the conversation wonderful, and all enjoyed getting to know Palesa.  Cyndi was astonished at the developmental progress Palesa had made in a few short weeks!  We put the blanket on the table and propped her up on her belly, and she was happy, smiling, and drooling the entire time.  She held her head and neck up for at least 3 minutes, though none of us bothered to time it as we encouraged her and made funny faces to keep her smiling.  This was especially fun for all of us because she maintained such good eye contact.

Yes, we make her work very hard to hold up her head and neck all by herself, but it is definitely paying off- Palesa is one strong little baby!

Playing Piano with Grandpa Larry

On Monday, we went to visit Grandpa Larry.  He introduced her to his Baby Grand piano.  (Palesa got a kick out of the "Baby" part of it, but there is nothing small about that piano!)  Grandpa Larry noticed that she responded to the sounds, but didn't really look at the keys and didn't connect where the sound was coming from.  Then again, she's only 6 weeks old- she has plenty of time to figure that out!

More visits with Grandpa

On Sunday, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Ralph and Great-Grandpa Dave came up to Windsor (at Suz and Bryan's house) to visit.  Palesa seemed pleased that the Broncos won, and enjoyed being held by her Great-Grandpa and hearing his stories.  He enjoyed watching her look around and make eye contact with her, and took extra delight when she smiled.  

This is what happens when Daddy falls asleep

I could not resit.

A few of the Grownups too...

Everywhere we go, people see us and excalim, "Palesa!!" and then say hello to us.  We figured it was time to take a picture of us parents.  Palesa was making faces, and finally, outright protesting!

Palesa meets her Great-Grandpa!

Thursday night my grandpa, Dave McCusker arrived in Colorado for a visit.  He lives in Pittsburgh and will be 86 years old on December 10th.  We loved seeing him hold his great-granddaughter.  And Palesa enjoyed looking at the new face!

Squeaky Clean Baby!

I firmly maintain that babies do not get dirty.  Though her neck may smell like sour milk sometimes and well, she's not yet 100% potty trained or anything, babies just don't get dirty.  I don't think babies should be bathed very often.  Maybe once a week, maximum.  Or as necessary due to extreme diaper blowouts.  So, when we do bathe her, it is an exciting event in the May household.  We heat up the bathroom nice and steamy, and then I take her with me in the shower and wash her.  Afterwards, we dry her off and make her smile laying on the bathmat of the bathroom floor.  And then we dress her in a cute little outfit and she sleeps. 

Our First Football Game!

On Saturday, we all went to the Windsor High School playoff football game.  Suz led the Pep Band, Bryan filled in to play trumpet, Palesa slept pretty much the whole time, Osei encouraged the team to try some passing plays rather than running the option play each time, and my dad and I just watched and cheered.

Windsor beat Frederick 13-0, which means they'll head to the State Championship next.  It was a cool day, but we stayed bundled up in jackets and blankets.  

Jazzercise, running, and cookies, oh my!

Osei thought this outfit looked like a Jazzercise housewife.  I think it is cute.  She is smiling and holding her head up all over the place.

Friday was a great day for all of us. In the morning, Bryan and I went running (!).  This was my second run post-Palesa.  I'm also testing a Nike + Sportwatch with GPS (this one), which tracks my pace, distance, calories burned, and elapsed time.  It is great for tracking my progress for getting back into shape.  I also am excited to do another product test for Nike.  My first run was on Tuesday, and Friday's run was also 3 miles, but my pace was about 1 1/2 minutes per mile faster!  It also helps that I got to run with Bryan, an excellent running partner!

Friday we also went to visit dear friends, Kevin and Becca at their house in Longmont.  They were so excited to finally meet little Palesa!  We really enjoyed our visit, getting to see them again, and the delicious cookies Becca made for us!

One month old... and even more to be thankful for!

Asleep at one month

Asleep at just a few hours old

Wow, a month old already! I am truly amazed at how fast this first month has flown by!  I can still hardly believe that I'm not pregnant anymore (I actually really miss being pregnant, though I still wouldn't trade that for Palesa for anything!)

We had our second Thanksgiving at Suz and Bryan's house with my dad.  Osei and Bryan brined the turkey and did all of the cooking.  In addition to normal stuffing, Osei made some experimental stuffing using the leftover grains from the beer home brew session the other day.  They were almost chocolaty.  Osei also made two more pies- one pure pumpkin, and one pure sweet-potato.  Again, we all preferred the sweet potato.  Palesa spent the day being held and making cute faces.

Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

We had two Thanksgivings this year.  The first was at my mom's house, and we enjoyed a pot roast, mashed potatoes, other delicious things I have since forgotten, and of course, pie.  Osei made a plain pumpkin pie, and then got creative and made a pumpkin-sweet potato mix.  Overall, we all seemed to prefer the pie with sweet potato.  We enjoyed the time with family.  Palesa was the centerpiece, and we all took turns holding her.  Also during the evening, we video chatted with Osei's parents.  They were very impressed to see how big Palesa was, and agreed that she is simply growing more precious and adorable by the day.

We have so much to be thankful for!  Having baby Palesa has been the biggest blessing we could imagine, and we are thankful to be able to spend this time in Colorado with family.  We are thankful for how well my mom is doing during chemotherapy, and we are faithful as we continue praying for her complete recovery from breast cancer. 

My two sweethearts

Since Palesa is sleeping in our bed with us, she and I will usually wake up and nurse, and then the three of us will cuddle in bed for a while.  I can't even tell you how many pictures I have of Palesa propped up on Osei's chest.  I love these pictures... my two loves snuggled together.  Osei is actually pretending to sleep in this picture, but Palesa was smiling all over the place.

The Baby Whisperer in Action

 

Osei is the master baby whisperer.  He will swaddle her, and through a complex (and secret) process of movements and sounds, he will calm even a crying baby and woo her to sleep.  One of his key tricks is eye contact.  She'll look at him very intently, but soon go to sleep.  I maintain that he has a fairly easy job.  Palesa rarely cries, and her tears/fussiness is limited to her telling us she is either hungry or needs a dry diaper.  I think the mellowness of her birth experience contributes to the mellowness of her personality, because Palesa is thankfully one happy baby!  

She's also a fairly good sleeper.  During the night, she typically sleeps for stretches of 3-5 hours.  Since we are co-sleeping (even here in Colorado, she is sleeping in our bed with us), I wake up before she is fully awake even, and without hardly disturbing her, I'll just roll her over and nurse her.  Most of the time she falls asleep nursing, so I'll gently lay her down and we'll both sleep for a few more hours.  I can't really claim to be well-rested these days, but I'm getting enough sleep to function and feel good!    

Some people do home brew, and some do home birth

Saturday evening, Uncle Bryan brewed a batch of beer at home.  We enjoyed watching, and smelling the brewing batch.  I think it will take about 6 weeks to be ready.  Palesa slept the whole time.

Hi, Grandpa!

Saturday afternoon, we went to visit Grandpa Benson, who made us lunch, and enjoyed playing with Palesa!  We had a great time with him.  He said he definitely thinks Palesa looks like a "Benson."

Palesa meets Auntie Suz and goes to school!

Friday morning we went to Denver for a few meetings.  Osei had meetings, and Palesa and I just hung out in the coffee shop.  Then we drove up to Windsor, CO, to meet Auntie Suz.  She was SO excited to finally meet Palesa that she was even waiting outside for us.  Palesa was very excited to see her too.  Auntie Suz is a band director at Windsor High School.

Later that afternoon, we went to pick up Uncle Bryan from school- he is a math teacher at the same school.  I wore Palesa in the Moby wrap, and since I generally don't spend much time these days in high schools, especially carrying a baby, I hoped that no one thought I was a high school student with a baby.  Actually, let's be realistic- what almost 30-year-old wouldn't want to be confused with an 18 year old?  What am I saying?

Anyway, after we visited the Math room, we went to the Band room and I got to meet many of her band students.  Windsor High School marching band and Palesa have a special connection, because the band won the marching band State Competition on the day Palesa was born.  The overwhelming consensus was that Palesa is 'sooooooooo cuuuuuute!"  It was a big day for Palesa.  After all, she was only 3.5 weeks old the first time she went to school!  (We take our education very seriously in this family, and I'll let you know when Palesa selects her instrument)

Then Palesa slept while Auntie Suz wore her in the Moby wrap.  I took a nap.

My afternoon nap routine

We're all amazed at how big Palesa can open her little nap to yawn.  Thursday we took it easy, and Palesa and I took many naps together.  All of the jet-lag combined with inadequate sleep and mamma was feeling a bit under the weather.  But luckily, thanks to Grandma, who was more than willing to hold Palesa, and Daddy, the famed baby-whisperer, I was able to catch up (in theory) on sleep and soon felt much better.

Our first plane trip!

 

Unlike previous trips with just Osei and I, we packed in advance, so getting ready to leave town wasn't too stressful.  We have an entire suitcase full cloth diapers, by the way.  Anyway, I put Palesa down at 10:00.  She was awake, but I turned the radio to static and she put herself to sleep.  Major success.  Osei and I went to bed around midnight, exactly when Palesa woke up again to eat.  And eat.  And eat.  And poop.  I tried putting her down, but she makes all kinds of cute noises, and I can't sleep when she's awake.  Finally, at 2:30, she and I both fell asleep, at last.  And at 4:45 am, the alarm clock rang.

We made it out the door and to the airport without incident.  Palesa spent most of her time in the Moby wrap, and she did wonderfully on the flight (a 5 hour flight from Boston to Denver).  She nursed during takeoff, but I couldn't wake her up to nurse for landing.  By the time we landed, she needed a new diaper and was pretty hungry.  She didn't cry until the plane landed, which I consider a major success.  Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep on the flight- just a few short cat-naps.

Mom and Ralph picked us up from the airport, and were so thrilled to meet their new granddaughter!  It is hard not to fall in love with Palesa as soon as you set eyes on her, and just as we predicted, they are both smitten.

Eventually, we put Palesa on the dining room table while we ate dinner.  She was our centerpiece.

Three weeks old!

 

We can't believe Palesa is already 3 weeks old.  She is getting cuter and cuter by the day.

She is definitely her daddy's daughter.  We love how she'll grip our finger, even when she is sleeping.  Palesa may or may not have been snoring in this picture.