Alright, I think that this post pretty much brings things back up the present, now how long I can stay caught up is another question altogether.

February 20th – 24th, 2004

Saturday evening my parents and Grandmom drove up from Poway. The visit ended up being unfortunately short since it was bracketed between two feedings for Landon, but it was still great to see my family. Sometimes it seems that all I ever do now is bracketed between Landon’s meals, and typically those meals are only 3 hours apart, so getting things done is quickly becoming a challenge. Its amazing how fast the day disappears on a schedule like that, if we get one thing accomplished right now I consider the day a success, and one thing can encompass things as minute as a doctor’s appointment or a trip to the post office. I am sure that this will improve as the family adjusts to this new schedule. One nice thing though, is that it appears that Landon is already adjusting to sleeping more at night, and in turn letting his parents sleep more as well. Typically I’m walking away with at least six hours of sleep a night, who knows how long that will continue, I probably just jinxed myself pretty good.

So back to Saturday night. This was the first time that my Dad had held his grandson. It was great to see the love in his eyes for the little guy, I’m sure a flood of new poems are on the way. My Grandmom also met Landon for the first time. She is an amazing woman, she is now 92 years old, and firmly resides as the matriarch of our family. She looked so pleased to hold her newest great grandson; I only wish my Grandad was there to share the experience with her.

Rhiannon and I also had our greatest diaper changing calamity to date while my parents were visiting. Landon not only mustered up enough shit to fill a diaper well beyond its carrying capacity, but he also managed to launch a golden shower directly into Rhiannon’s face during the changing process. All the while my Dad looked on with the biggest grin on his face. I guess that karma does exist.

Sunday evening we went over to Rhiannon’s parents and visited with them, as well as with Rhiannon’s sister Andrea and her new husband Rick. We visited for several hours, and I am sure that Landon never touched the ground or any cushions or his bed – he was in somebody’s arms the entire time. I don’t know if a newborn can be held too much, but if that is possible I’m sure we will find out with Landon.

While at the Sharp’s, Landon also launched his first successful projectile vomit. Right after Rhiannon had finished feeding him I decided it would be cool to strike a few poses reminiscent of the scene from the Lion King where little Simba gets held out in the air for all of the animal kingdom to see. In hindsight this was probably a poor choice, for not moments after I handed him back to his mom, I heard a loud splat as his evening dinner came flying back out of his mouth and onto the hard wood floor below. Oops.

Monday was a very mellow day which was nice. Landon continues to sleep well. The big event today was a walk to the lake near our condo. The whole family ventured out and we decided to sit on a bench by the lake for a short rest and to enjoy the view. Dakota used this opportunity to find some fresh duck shit, still moist from the rains the night before, and use it to give her a full-body shit bath. She smelled incredible. Landon didn’t seem to mind at all, I’m sure in a few years he will be rolling around right next to his tail wagging pal.

We took Landon to get his first official portrait taken on Tuesday to celebrate his first week on the planet. He slept through most of the affair, which was nice since he was being poked and prodded this way and that like he was some sort of doll. I know I hate being told to drop my chin 2 inches to the left and to open my eyes up wide, and to smile at the camera… I can only imagine what it must feel like to be physically placed in all of these various positions without any personal control. Like I said, I was glad to see him sleep through most of it, and the pictures did turn out good which I guess in some small way made the torture worth it.

Tuesday evening the big, black, crusty mess that represented the remnants of Landon’s umbilical cord finally fell off. Now I won’t be as scared to tickle his cute little belly. The cord remnants which were about the size of a peach pit fell squarely into Rhiannon’s cleavage while she was feeding the tyke. Lets just say she wasn’t too pleased.

February 25th, 2004

Today we went to see a lactation nurse to make sure that Landon is getting all of the milk and nutrition he needs. Nursing is a black box operation, since breasts aren’t transparent, at least not Rhiannon’s, its hard to know exactly how much food the little guy is pulling out. Rhiannon was nervous that he wasn’t feeding long enough, and therefore wasn’t receiving enough milk. At this point, Landon seems healthy, so more that anything we went for reassurance that all was going well.

The nurse was very impressed with both Landon and Rhiannon. She put Landon on the scale and he now weighs in at 10lbs 2oz – he has now officially joined the double digit weight club, a club whose current members include Emmanuel Lewis and Laura Flynn Boyle to name a few. According to the lactation nurse he feeds, “like a barracuda”, which I enjoyed because of the fish reference, although I would have preferred something more along the likes of, “he sucks like a trout drunk on mayflies.”

Rhiannon also received a number of accolades from the lactation nurse. When she discovered that Rhiannon had given birth to such a large child naturally, she referred to her as a “remarkable woman” and then later, at the end of our visit she called her a “miraculous woman” as well. I am sure that I have never been labeled miraculous in any context. It’s got to feel good, and I have to admit, that I agree with the nurse’s description completely.

Tonight, Landon began to develop an eye infection, although he seems to be pretty unfazed by it, the yellow stalactites that hang across his eyes give me the creeps. A quick call to the doctor and we now have some eye drops to administer 3 times a day for the next 5 days, which is the good news, the more difficult part of this equation is actually administering an eye drop into the eyes of a newborn who more often than not is sleeping or scrunching his eyes closed for various reasons. It’s difficult to do something to your son that you know may inflict some pain, but that in the long run will help him heal or produce other beneficial results. I’m guessing that this is a recurring theme throughout fatherhood, but it doesn’t make holding his eye open and applying the drops any easier.