Watching Sullivan and Calliope

Today was Marsh’s first real day of work since becoming a father. Working from home means that occasionally he gets to hold the little one. Believe it or not, it is possible to type, at least until he gets more wiggly.
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Our friend Matt also dropped by for a quick visit to meet SMG.

Monday, Memorial Day
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Sullivan’s paternal grandparents (ed: who still need to choose their names!) arrived just after lunch. When he was removed from his carseat where he had fallen asleep on a walk, the stub of his umbilical cord fell off!

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We also said goodbye to Izzy, who had spent the weekend with us. She had a little trouble adjusting her alpha-style to the new arrival, and spent the first day begging for attention.

Sunday, a day of rest–and rest we did. Sullivan kept us up for a couple of hours last night, but we really can’t complain as he has been an amazing sleeper so far. It made for a slow start to our day, for which we were more than ready. After pancakes, we took a nice long walk with Izzy, but as the skies darkened, we returned home.
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The biggest event turned out to be Dad’s first bath. This time the water was a little warmer, a little deeper, and Sullivan a little happier.
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Taking advantage of the good weather on Memorial Day weekend, Sullivan spent a good amount of time outside in his carseat. His parents spent the afternoon seeding grass in the backyard and weeding flowerbeds.

Sullivan, Mom, and Dad took a quick trip to the grocery store to re-stock diapers and wipes–in only four days we have gone through almost 40 diapers! While Sullivan is a newborn, we’re using disposables, but we hope to switch to cloth as soon as he fits into them better.
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Debbie, Alan, and Scout popped in for a visit. Apparently the sight of Marsh in Teressa’s bathrobe when they brought breakfast by that morning hadn’t scared them away!

Sullivan saw his first ray of sunshine today.

The day he was born, on the hour of his birth, it began to rain and didn’t stop until today. Great aunts Allison and Holly were visiting, so the five of us took the new stroller out for a spin. 45 minutes later the sun was gone, but at least we had seen it!
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Sullivan’s 7th day saw a number of visitors, including our neighbor, Becky, who brought dinner from the Greater Glen Avenue Neighbors. Yum. Izzy, the jack russel, also came to stay for the night.
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More laundry and housekeeping and a first bath at home. Sullivan seems to grow before our eyes. His cheeks look pudgier, and his chin has doubled. He certainly has an appetite!

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May 25th was our original due date. Sullivan had decided to arrive early–a genetic trait that must have skipped a generation, for his parents have an uncanny temporal disability.
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The three of us took our first trip out of the house to see the pediatrician for his 5th day exam. He passed with flying colors, having returned to his birth weight two days early. The entire day taught us that everything takes at least twice as long when you have an infant.

Sullivan has been a good sleeper, letting us get reasonably good rests in each night. We only hope it continues!

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On the fourth day we did more laundry than we had in a month. Sullivan ate, slept, pooped, and smiled back at his proud parents. By now we were getting faster at changing diapers, though he discovered a knack for peeing on his mother or father whenever the diaper came off. We all mostly concentrated on our first full day as a family at home. Visitors and phone calls kept us busy.
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After one last educational session with a Mercy nurse, the three of us packed up our things to come home. I had been able to stay the night on a cot in Teressa and Sullivan’s room, which was perfect because I didn’t want to leave.

Walking through the hallway carrying a new car seat, I was sure that everyone knew I was a new dad. On the drive home we were hypersensitive to the dangers of cars on the road. When the three of us got home to Cape Elizabeth, we found a blue balloon on the front door and groceries in the kitchen. Anne, the new grandmother, had been busy. We were welcome.
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We spent the rest of the day staring at our beautiful son, unable to believe our eyes. The gravity in our solar system had shifted with the arrival of a new planet.

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Teressa and I had spent hours reading through name books, writing down the names we liked, and vetoing the ones we didn’t. This task was at least twice as hard because we didn’t know the baby’s gender. Finally we had a short list of names that we could pair with family names in some way.

Sullivan Marsh Gardiner had been our favourite boy’s name, but we wanted to sleep on it to make sure it fit. How do you name a person–it seemed so arbitrary but at the same time such a huge responsibility. What made him a Sullivan? His black eyes?

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Even though we had decided, it wasn’t his name until we told it to everyone else. On Sunday morning the phone began to ring, and his name became official. Sheri and Keith brought 7 month old Noah to visit, and Shane and Meg (who is 8 months pregnant) came in to see us. Rob and Anne came by for another glimpse and more photos.

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Sullivan also had his first bath that evening. His new mom and dad tried to learn as much as they could from the amazing nurses at Mercy Hospital. With help at the call of a button (please teach me how to better change his diaper, etc) it felt a bit like practicing a trapeze act knowing that there would be no net in another day.