Thursday, May 10, 2001

Whenever Mia's hand happens to be near her mouth, she'll now start sucking on it. She keeps it up for a few moments, then her hand and arm flail away from her mouth, and she's lost it.

This early attempt does seem like she'll become a thumb sucker. She also stares at Jenn and I a lot longer: "Who are you two?" she seems to be pondering.
posted by Rick Umali 10:45 PM

Tuesday, May 08, 2001

I shouldn't neglect to mention how powerfully Mia has affected our marriage. Most of the time, the affect is wonderfully positive. At other times, Mia has placed a definite strain, as Jenn and I sort out how to live with her, care for her, and raise her. Mia's presence has raised our communication levels (and to date, I always felt we communicated well). We have argued over who is doing what household chore, and who should hold the baby. Our tempers are shortened, often in the wake of Mia's crying.

I think a lot of the strain is the realization that our lives aren't the same anymore. The rules are different, and we don't often know what they are, especially the rules that we had for one another. The fact that Mia is making up rules adds to all this.

Writing all this now makes it seem as if all we do is argue and fight, but that's not correct. There's happiness, and I hope this diary documents a lot of it. I am, however, injecting a little reality by saying that there is the other side of happiness, the stress and strain. We are learning from this too.
posted by Rick Umali 11:53 PM

In all of this, I should mention that Jenn and I felt Mia was 'getting better'. Mia continues to cry her eyes out, but she calms down a little faster (fifteen minutes, versus crying for forty minutes). We've never timed how long she cries (now there's an idea), but it feels that she's crying less.

I also attribute this feeling to Jenn and I getting a lot better. We're so much more used to Mia's crying spells, and we're so much more used to responding to her. Even though the crying gets tiring, we're able to bear it a lot better.
posted by Rick Umali 11:15 PM

Monday, May 07, 2001

We made our first call to the pediatrician a few days ago. Mia had some mucous-like discharge coming out of one of her eyes. We feared the worst: Conjunctivitis. The pediatrician advised that it's too early for Mia to be developing conjunctivitis (aka "pink eye"); it was most likely a blocked tear duct. Wiping the eyes with a damp cloth using a gentle, circular motion over the next few days should clear it up.
posted by Rick Umali 11:38 PM