Happy Thanksgiving!

Some laughs, some smiles - all for the folks back home!

Happy Thanksgiving! from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

We love you all, and are thankful for all you have brought to our lives!

All in the Family

It takes a village.

I was always a believer in the idea that it takes more than just parents to raise a child, but actually having a child has lit that idea up in neon, underlined it and put flashing arrows all the way around it.  We are lucky and privileged to have had visits from Abuelita Kit, Tía Laura, and Nanny and Granddad all since Peanut joined us.

Abuelita Kit (Mamie's mom) came just three days after Peanut came unshelled.  She dealt with post-partum Mama, got to watch the first bath ever, went to the first pediatrician appointment and watched full screams in action with the first vaccination.  She changed diapers and sat at the window for sun time.  She brought down a ton of stuff including the entire stock of Costco's protein bars, some Combos, Cheerwine, baby stuff galore, and she continues to scheme on how to get North Carolina barbecue into the country.  She will be the most surprised when chubbalicious Nut of the now knocks on her door in December.

 Tía Laura saw a pretty sweet snoozer, but one who was definitely putting on the pounds.  She did a ton of changing and holding as well as calming a hyperventilating  Mama who was worried she had scratched her daugher's eye thus partially blinding her for life (the Legume is fine).  She had the chance to see a little bit of Peanut's hometown, but most of the time she just hung out and shnuzzled on the sweetest and best Williams-side-of-the-family niece in existence.  She will get to introduce Peanut to her kids, the nutty cousins when we visit in January.

Nanny and Granddad (Richard's parents) just left this week, and man we were sad to see them go!  Granddad is an expert sleep inducer with a back of steel and arms like springs.  Nanny is a Jane of all trades who did a little of everything, including taking care of Mami and Papi!  They went on Peanut's first voyage (to Cartagena), lived through the ups and downs of a 5-6 week old, and caught the first real smiles being given away.  We even got to spend Nanny's birthday with her.  It was a treat!  They are glad to have  a January visit on the books, but are a little nervous about when they get to see her after that!

 Now it seems real life begins and we are really on our own.  So far we are making it, but dang I enjoyed my village!  Thanks to all of you for taking the time, spending the money, and spreading the love to us and to the newest family nut.

(PS. We look forward to seeing GIT, Libby, Rob and Jean in December as well.  You all are in for quite a treat!)

Warning

Bath water can get too hot when you make it on the stove.

Do not worry. No Peanuts were harmed in the making of this blog post.  

The duck was harmed though, that's for real.

The Greatest Pumpkin of All

Peanuts (the comic stip) has a television special every year at this time called "The Great Pumpkin."  Perhaps it has already been on?  At any rate, I thought I would tell you all that we have finally seen it - the Great Pumpkin...actually, The Greatest Pumpkin of All.  :)

From Collages

Helpful Hints

New parents - heck, probably any parents - are subject to loads of advice.  In general I am quite appreciative.  I recognize that I do not know what I am doing, and I am glad for the suggestions and opinions of others.  Clearly my instruction manual for Peanut got lost in the mail (maybe it's just delayed, mail here does take at least 3 weeks to arrive), so while we wait for it, I am glad for folks who are interested in helping us out.

Still, there are some tips that strike me as less necessary.  They are the kind of things that make you wonder who has done this unrecommended thing in order to warrant such specific advice.  It is sort of like the "Do Not Eat" warnings plastered on the white packets you find in your box of new shoes.  I mean, at one point did the manufacturers put Tootsie Rolls or anything that you should eat as some sort of extra prize in your shoe box?  That this warning exists is proof that someone opened that sucker up and tossed it back and consequently had their tongue shrivel up inside their mouth or their tonsils crawl up their throat and jump out or whatever happens when one does upend that little white packet as if it were a foot wear appetizer.   

Seriously though, there are a lot of things that I would like to know and I think someone should probably have let me know before they let me roll on out of the hospital.  Instead, this is just a sample of the helpful hints we have gotten since we started this adventure...

1. It is true that Peanut gets the hiccups all the time.  They look like they absolutely wrack her little body, but they don't seem to bother her at all.  Still, when a Baby Center email popped up with a hotlink to "Is it normal for my baby to hiccup all the time?", I figured what the heck...let's look at that.  In general the small article there confirmed that this was all quite normal and one should not worry, but also offered this sage wisdom...

* Don't try to cure hiccups by startling your baby, pressing on her eyeballs, pushing on her fontanel, or pulling her tongue, which are common folk remedies in some cultures.  There's no proof that any of these methods work, and you could hurt your baby in the process.  

Well, okay.  I had considered delving into her soft spot or sneaking up on her and scaring the hell out of her...but now I won't.  Thanks Baby Center.  Luckily getting her to hold her breath or drink water upside down is still totally on the table.

2.  I was reading about baby reflexes in one of the many books we now have.  (Your Baby's First Year from the American Academy of Pediatrics, p.184)  After talking about the grasping reflex in which you stroke the palm of your baby's hand and she immediately grips your finger, it makes sure to warn you:

* In the first few days after birth, your baby's grasp will be so strong that it may seem she can hold her own weight -- but don't try it.  She has no control over this response and may let go suddenly.

Seriously who is lifting their child by their hands on Day 3?  

3.  And finally, for some in-person advice, at her first check-up our pediatrician, Dr. Farrah, was doing the normal (I suppose) routine examination when he got to two spots on her chest right around her nipples.  

He said, "Do you feel these knots?"  

"Yes...," said Peanut's mother with fear and trembling that she was about to hear how we had to watch that 

               these did not grow into cancerous lumps or begin to sprout vines or turn red and pussy.  
"These are her mammary glands.  Don't pinch them."

Ohhhhhh, okay.  Don't tweak her nipples.  Check.  I guess by the transitive property of stupidity we can't try to have her hang by her nipples either...


Feel free to leave comments with some actually useful advice, or pass along some of your zingers.  I love this stuff.