Nolan Comes Clean

Well, I'm sorry for the lack of postings yesterday....it's tiring to be a parent at times. :) It's amazing how quickly time goes by; we generally get going around 11:00am each day, and somehow it's dinner time before we know it.

As I look back on yesterday's happenings, it's honestly hard to remember all of what's transpired. I guess I'll start from the evening and wo

rk my way backwards. Grammy R made us a delicious potato soup for dinner, which was paired very well with the winter-esk we

ather and a nice bottle of VINTJS wine. Family and friends have faithfully provided lots of easy meals for us, and we feel very cared for!! Prior to that, Nolan got his first bath! Boy, what a fun experience that was.....for us; poor kid hated every sponge stroke and towel rub. That is, until he got loungy in his paw-printed bathrobe!

Earlier in the afternoon we learned that Gavin actually does have a little guard dog instinct in him (despite any previous showings, even while Christine was very pregnant). I was napping at the time, but the story goes that a cousin Christine hadn' seen in years came by our place and, after hanging out for a

while went over to see Nolan, but was greeting instead by a 65lb growling pit bull. Apparently Gavin doesn't like strangers getting near li'l Nolan. Everything worked out fine and the cousin got her peak at the babe, but it was nice for us to get a peek at Gavin's protective nature as well. :)

Aside from that, it was fairly mellow day. Christine's body still isn't allowing her to venture far from the couch or bed, so I (chris) push off to the dog park, store and such on my own; I'll be very glad to have her company again on our normal routines, with the added bonus of Nolan's smiling face.

Big Day for Nolan

The last 24 hours have held many new experiences for this young Kernaghan family. Gavin was much quieter than last night, but no less compassionate, of course. Unfortunately Nolan's rear compensated for our pup's silence. According to Christine, Nolan rip-roared his way to 3 diaper changes between 11:00pm and 6:00am. I did one of them, but don't really remember the other two.

After we got going this morning we hopped in the car and headed to Nolan's first doctor's appointment, which he endured as well as a 5-day old could. He's officially started regaining weight, has little-to-no jaundice and is quite healthy! From there we dropped Nolan off with Gramma Myra and begain our disappointing trip to Target and Babies R Us. Not only could we find 0% of our shopping list, but apparently Christine isn't quite healed enough to endure short public visits. She quickly began to feel super warn out and achy, returning to the car before I could finish checking out.

Otherwise, Nolan's eating well, sleeping much better and moving right along.

Fun new facts about Nolan:
1. He doesn't like getting his photo taken while sleeping
2. He, like Gavin, loves covering himself in his blanket (note: Nolan's blanket is super thin and not a choking hazard)

Thanks to Alexis and Ryan for bringing us a delicious Eggplant Parmessan with fresh zuccini and a delightful fruit salad!!

-chris, from the verge of sleep.

Gavin, say hello to Nolan

Well, we've been home for just over 24 hours and parents for about 76 hours. Nights so far have been a ridiculous mess of dreams, poop wiping, yelling at the dog out of disorientation, and even a little sleep.

When we brought Nolan home last night we did a good job of making sure our fearless pup felt cared for and in the circle, but man, a little person screaming and crying sure knocked him off his game. He still isn't quite sure what to make of Nolan, but he's so far been very safe and even concerned for the babe. In fact, Christine called him "the most compassionnate pitbull ever" as each of Nolan's cries and whimpers last night brought Gavin running to my side of the bed as if to wake me up and say, "Hey! Somebody's having a bad go at things and you need to help."

In reality, Gavin's had three major responses to Nolan: 1. VERY intrigued and needing to sniff everything that's touch him, even going so far as to lick his feet once, 2. VERY concerned for the well-being of the new baby and the sounds of distress heard during normal sleeping hours, and 3. VERY needy, often dragging each of his toys and blanket systematically into the center of the room so that everyone present can see how cute and playful he really is.

The above pics are of Gavin's #1 & 3 responses to Nolan, separated only by a few seconds. As well, Nolan reclining for the first time in his new loungy chair, mid-poop.

-chris, relaxing with the fruit of the vine

Nolan Judah Kernaghan is Home!

After a long and tiring day at the hospital I can look back on the day and feel like we've accomplished something. First came the hearing test: A+. Next was an ultrasound to revisit an issue within his left kidney: looks like it's nothing too serious. Then......his first (and hopefully last) circumcision. As mentioned before, I'm glad it happens so early in life!

Intermitment within all activities today were phone calls and visits from the Social Security people, kindly reminding us the baby needed a name before being discharged. Aside from labor/birthing, this may have been the most difficult parenting experience for us so far. We wrestled the whole time we were in the hospital, spending a couple hours calling our baby one name and then trying out the other option. Finally a coin toss later and discussing all possibilities of nicknames for each option led us to Nolan Judah. The paperwork is in, but hey, Prince couldn't figure it out forever, so I guess we still have some time if he doesn't seem to be a Nolan.

Included are some pics from us leaving the hospital while Nolan sports some jeans knit by Christine's mom. Also, it turns out the Giants' trouncing of LA surrounding his birth convinced him to cheer for the orange and black....making me proud!

-chris, from my armchair

Well, it's a cold foggy morning, but it was a relatively easy night, for me (chris). I think (but could be wrong, as i was fairly drowsy) Christine got some decent rest for the most part. Apparently the first time the nurse brought our baby in at 1:00am for feeding Christine looked at her and said, "We put the baby in the nursey so i could sleep tonight, but he (looking at me) has been snoring this whole time." CPK said I stopped after that.

As for the babe, he's with Christine's OB, getting his little wee-wee unhooded. Poor guy, but it's better than being Jewish (on the 8th day) or Muslim (when he's 13 years old).

Time for some rest.

-chris, from the hospital

Endurance Parenting

So, there are endurance athletes who compete for 24 hours at a time, but our first day of parenting has had some runner's highs and a couple big bonks.

I (chris) had no concept of time last night as this new member of our family kept crying and eating and getting his diaper changed. Christine's energy was amazing! I didn't got through 16 hours of active labor, nor did i push with all my might for 2 hours, but she still managed to tend to the little one like a perfect new mother.

Once we got our footing mid-morning we found out that our boy farts like none other. (the nurse just walked in the room and mentioned the lingering smell) After eating he generally gets a little cranky and then, ka-pow!.....his diaper is filled and so is the air!

On another topic, my parents and brother flew up for the day to meet the newest Kernaghan. Both sides of Christine's family arrived before birth, but as is standard, my dad was about to leave the country just as a major event was to occur. Luckily he, my mom and Darren were able to swing up for 1/2 a day to partake in family photos, chocolate cigars (pictured above) and a shared meal.

It's now 11:00pm and we just dropped the little one off at the nursey (it's our last night to have nurses change his diaper). Tomorrow we'll lounge around for awhile and eventually make our way back home. I hope Gavin enjoys the stinkiness competition!

-chris, from the road

Introducing the Newest Kernaghan!

Here he is!! Give us some recovery time to release his name. :)

-chris, from the road