We had a very busy weekend.

It started out with a trip to see Cousin Julia who gave Timmy some love while her mom held him...

We also stopped by to see Great Grandma Rose.  It was a meeting of four generations of Mehan's as Timothy joined his dad, Grandpa Tom and Great Grandma for this picture.  You can catch a couple other pictures of the visit (Along with some other recent pictures) by clicking here...




We also made it out to the Big E. where once again, we ate waaay too much crap,  Including these.


One of Chrissie's must see exhibits each year is the baby chickens.  And as you can cleary see, "The chicks dig us!"



Now that we are done with all that excitement, we are ready to just chill...




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Monday 9/15  First Play Date yesterday.

I think we had our first official playdate yesterday evening as Matthew stopped by with Dennis and Kim in tow.

"Uncle" Dennis clearly had his hands full trying to juggle both boys:


While Kim was a natural...


Below is a picture of them in heated discussion about whether Lester or Dice-K should follow Beckett the Sox playoff rotation.  (Sorry about the baseball reference for those that don't follow it, but it's clearly what they were doing.)


Everyone had a great time, but little Timothy sure was worn out...


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Hi Mummy, Its mee Timothy.  Jus so yu now, whin yu left me wif Daddie on Saterday, he told yu that we hung out and listned to edukashional TV.  He lied.

We had pitza, washed the Simpsons on TV in our undrwhere, teased Kobe and drank somthin he called Beer.  It shure is eazier to burp after beer than formyoula!

You kan leeve me wif dady anytime!

PS  Katz realy do land on their feet al the tyme.  Well, excpt when they ar in the cloths drier.
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Saturday 8/30

Just a quick update from the 8/19 post below about Timmy's Torticollis:  We had an inhome visit from two people from "BirthtoThree" to check out Timmy's condition and see if he qualified for a special program for it.  Tim checked out very well and they said his progress is very good on a number of different fronts.  They were pleased enough from what they saw to recommend that he did not have to join the special program and they gave us a list of simple exercises/therapies that Chrissie and I can do on our own that should get him to 100%.  He will be evaluated at the next Pediatric appointment in September but they were pleasantly surprised with how strong he was already and he should be able to throw a baseball 98 MPH's in another month or two.  (I'm not sure if I heard them correctly, it was either throw a fastball 98 MPH's or have no lingering effects.)

Look for more pictures tonight or tomorrow.


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Wednesday 8/27

Since our coming out party at our friend Chet's 90th birthday party, we've had quite the social schedule.  We've been dodging the paparazzi as we made stops at the traditional hotspots of Big Y in Ellington and Smyth's Ice Cream stand in Enfield.

Smyth's has long been a favorite of ours.  It may have been founded by the Smyth family, but it has definitely been funded by the Mehan family.

Since Timmy is still a bit young for ice cream, when we got home I made him eat some cold formula and told him it was a shake.




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Sunday 8/24

Daddy and Timmy had a great bonding experience yesterday afternoon.  It's difficult to capture all of the action in words.  It was high energy.  Lots of excitement.  We did what men do best...


We took a nap watching the Sox game on a Saturday afternoon...



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Saturday 8/23

Today we celebrated the 90th Birthday of a family friend:  Chet.  He's been a part of Chrissie's family for more than 50 years!  It was also the public debut of Timothy.  Mom and dad were a bit concerned since the Doc said no public debuts until about the 4 week mark, but he gave us a few tips to follow and everything went great.


Here is a picture of the Podosek family featuring 90 year old Chet and 15 day old Timothy...



On the way home from the gathering, just as we were turning into the driveway, Sweet Caroline game on the radio.  Since Timothy has been a die-hard Sox fan for each of his 15 days alive we all sat in the car, in the garage, singing along to this Fenway tradition.  (Sorry for the baseball reference for those who don't understand it.  But ask anyone who's been to a Sox game in the past decade or so and they will explain it to you.)
 

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Friday 8/22  "Fourteen and Fifteen"

Today marks 14 days for Timothy.  2 Weeks.  A Fortnight for you English chaps.  Here is a recent picture...

Today also marks 15 years that Chrissie and I have been together, with this past Spring also marking our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Although it's a bit fuzzy, I am pretty sure this is our very first picture as a couple from the fall of 1993:



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Wednesday 8/20

Things are going pretty well here.  But I can't help thinking that Tim will eventually get me back for documenting the beginning of his fantastic voyage through life.  I could see him finally getting his revenge on the other side of the journey of life--when he puts me into a nursing home.

The similarities will be striking...Him documenting my diaper changes.  Writing about how all I do is take naps.  Telling the staff to only feed me mushed up oatmeal--mixed with cold water, of course.  Telling me how proud he is of me when I burp or am able to lift my head off the pillow.

Oh well...Tim, when you read this at least have them put a little cinnamon in my cold mushed up oatmeal and we can call it even.

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Tuesday 8/19

Well, we survived two more little milestones.  I survived my first day back at work and yesterday Tim survived his first Pediatric visit.  Things went well for him although there is a little watchout concerning his neck.  He has a tendency to tilt his head to the left, down to his shoulder.  Apparently this was his favorite position in the womb and being in that position so much during his development caused some issues with his neck muscle on that side.  The Doc wasn't too concerned and thought that if we addressed the issue now it wouldn't have any long term effects.  So we have essentially a physical therapist coming in to help us with the proper stretching exercises for him.

I forget the exact name of the diagnosis for him, something like Torticollis.  And as sure as the Pediatrician was that a little PT would clear everything up, we are being typical first time parents which means doing what first time parents do best:  Over-worrying about simple things.

Everything else checked out great with him, even getting an A+ from the Doc.  (See, didn't I tell you we were over-worrying?)  He has already gained back the normal few ounces that a newborn loses those first few days and is up to 7lbs, 4 ounces.  A strapping young man if I do say so myself.   Yet, for some reason Mom won't let me take him out a mow the yard with me.  I assured her that I would control the gears and all he would do is steer, but she still wouldn't relent.

The good news is that since he turned 11 days old today, I think that makes him eligible for the Chinese Gymnastics team

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Sunday 8/17:  Day Nine of the Adventures of Timothy.  Tomorrow morning will be a big change as Daddy has to go back to work for the week.  (I have the week after that off.)  At this point I'm 100% positive that he will take me going back to work much easier than I will.  Hate to leave him all day, but Grandma Linda is staying with Chrissie each day this week so that definitely makes it a lot more bearable.  So far, we've been doing pretty well but I could see that changing a bit now that I need to head back to work for 9 hours a day (and supposedly be productive there as well).  I think this is when the sleep deprivation will really kick in.

We had a bunch of visitors this weekend including Auntie Kate up from New York City.  She keeps calling me every three hours to see when I'll put the pictures of her and Tim up on this website, so here you go Kate:

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8/15  Aside from the formal name, most parents have nicknames for their infants:  Buddy, little guy, sweet pea, etc.  Our friends used the nickname "Squeaks".  I completely understand it now.  Timmy can offer a wide range of squeaks and squeals.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what they mean--though I am certain it's a form of communication.  He isn't wailing so I know it's not one of the Big Three (Tired, Hungry, Dirty Diaper) but there's certainly something he's trying to say.

It's a really fun game to play at 3:45 in the morning when you've just fed and changed him and put him back down to sleep.  You hear him squeaking and you are wondering did he not eat enough?  Did he eat too much?  Does he still have a burp left in him?  Did he already dirty his diapers?  Or maybe it's simply "Thanks for the great meal, Dad.  It was quite delicious and I loved the way you marinated the formula with just a touch of formula and then topped it off with a pinch of my favorite spice:  Formula."  "By the way, that was an excellent diaper change, pops.  One of the best ones yet.  Nice and snug, but not too tight!"

Of course, I suppose it's also possible, just slightly possible, that I'm reading into things just a bit too much at that time of night.  He's probably just giggling at the thoughts of different ways he can torture the cats as soon as he is mobile.

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8/14  Starting to get settled in a bit.  He's doing pretty well with eating every 3 - 4 hours.   But no rythm to his sleep yet--sometimes he can barely make it through his bottle without falling asleep.

Sometimes sitting with him on your lap you get a warm fuzzy feeling.  Sometimes you realize the warmth is wet rather than fuzzy.

Auntie Beck came up from NYC to visit today, I posted a couple more pictures on the front page (click on "And Baby Makes Three!!! in the upper left corner of this page if you haven't seen those yet.)

Here is another picture from the hospital:


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8/12  HOME SWEET HOME

We made it home!  Sure, it took a while as I drove up I-91 going 35 MPH in the slow lane with my Hazards on waving people around us, but we did it.  Too busy to write too much, but just wanted to let everyone know we made it and are settling in.



8/12  Gas, Gas, Gas.  That's all the doctors and nurses wanted to talk about the past couple days.  They wanted to make sure Chrissie had some as that meant her plumbing was working again after the surgery.  Timothy's gas was monitored to make sure his internal plumbing was working (and also to give us a head's up that a diaper change may be in the very near future.)  But nobody asked me about gas.  The one thing I actually might have some knowledge about in this whole birthing process and nobody sought out my expertise.  Clearly a lost opportunity for them!


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8/11

I've gotten to the point where my diaper changing time has gone from two hours for a full changing to merely 5 minutes.  Which is pretty astounding since I can't even dress myself in less than 10.

One question we've gotten is should we call him Timothy, Tim, Timmy or TJ.  That's one of the reasons we liked the name.  It can be changed to fit the situation or mood.  So it really doesn't matter to us, whatever strikes your fancy at the time works for us.

In the meantime, I posted some of our pictures of him, including those when he was just a couple minutes old and still in the Operating Room.  Just click over here and scroll to the bottom.

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8/10  8:04PM

Things are going very well here.  Chrissie gets better with each day.  Timothy is also doing great.  In fact, as I write this, Mom and Tim are snuggled up together in bed.  They are both asleep with Tim snuggled right up near her neck under her chin.  I'm still new at this whole parenthood concept, but I'm certain images like that are the things people are talking about when they say you witness little things along the way that make all the tougher times worth it. 

I'm still not sure how you can get so exhausted from taking care of someone who just eats, craps and sleeps all day long!



Still haven't made it home yet (just can't seem to really want to leave Tim and Mom for that long) so I haven't had a chance to download our own pictures yet.  But here is a great one from Chrissie's friend Jeanne:






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8/9  10:14 PM
I thought I became a dad on 8/8.  But now I know I'm a dad.  Got hit with the flying nozzle today.  Yep, you parents of baby boys know exactly what I'm talking about.  Luckily not a direct shot, as the little bugger doesn't have his aim down yet, but today I feel truly like a dad (which is apparently wet and warm!)





(Sorry for the poor picture quality, using the cell phone camera since I haven't been home yet to download the digital camera pictures.)


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8/9  5:21PM  Day Two:  Everything is going well.  Here are some pictures.  Not enough sleep to be witty at this point...

Grandpa Mehan

Proud mother