She's Got Skills

It is amazing the things that we take for granted and realize that we actually had to learn how to do them. Even more amazing is the fact that children pick up on things so fast, without much in terms of intentional instruction. For instance, over the past few weeks she is starting to master the 'skills' of clapping and waving 'bye-bye'. If you think about them, the ideas of clapping and waving goodbye are quite arbitrary -- how is that placing our hands together ever became a sign of approval? Over the past few weeks, Lydia has certainly started to pick up on the 'context' behind waving and clapping - today in Church Lydia knew enough to start clapping when she heard others clapping -- she couldn't even see people clapping as she and I were in another room at that time. And waving, we no longer have to 'prompt' Lydia to make the action of saying 'bye-bye' -- she is getting to the point at which you say the words 'bye-bye' - she will start waving. She is one amazing little creature!

It has also been fun to see Lydia make the transition from baby food to real food, and start enjoying eating most foods now. She used to be such a picky eater and meal times would be more frustrating than anything. Well, she has definitely come along way -- all she used to eat was avacodo -- now she eats everything from Kale to Pasta. She even ate some garbanzo beans from my plate tonight, how fun!

It is hard to believe that is already August and summer is winding down. Fortunately we have been able to get outdoors alot with Lydia this summer. She loves to sit and feel the grass with her hands. We have also gotten to the pool several times and Lydia has become more and more fond of being in the water -- she is even starting to "let go" a little more and exploring more on her own. Probably the most fun that we have had outside this summer is going on family bike rides. We bought a infant bike trailer to pull behind one of our bikes and Lydia loves being it! Not once has she cried while being in it and she is almost always looking back and forth to see the scenery as she passes by it.

Mobile

A few weeks ago I started utilizing a nifty little mobile device called a BlackBerry for work. When I got the device, I had dreams of being always on top of tasks, emails, and my calendar; and never tied to my desk or PC. Well, 3 weeks in and I would say that it has started to help me to be better connected (like it or not) and I am keeping track of tasks better. Has it changed my world? Well maybe not quite yet.

I mention the BlackBerry only for reasons of talking about another "mobile" thing in my life. That's right -- Lydia is on the move. An this has definitely changed all of our lives in significant ways. Gone are the days of setting Lydia down to play and being able to go about other tasks for any amount of time. Set her down and 9 times out of ten she is gone - crawling off to the kitchen, off to find new territory that she is unfamiliar with. I have found my self saying "no" more in the last 3 weeks than in the rest of Lydia's life. We are slowly figuring out what needs to be locked up or moved and remembering not to set things on the floor where they can be gotten to.

Where has the time gone....another month and half gone by without a posting. I am going to try a new approach regarding this blog....short and simple. I think that I have struggled to write because I felt overwhelmed by the idea of having to write something significant and interesting. Well, new mind-set here I come.

For sake of catching up from last month and half - here are some highlights:

• Lydia and Daddy have a few days of "quality time" while Elizabeth gone on trip to Nebraska
• Trip to Rapid City for Dakotas United Methodist Annual Conference - Lydia had a great trip out, but the trip back was a little rough
• Trip to North Carolina to see Nana and Papa (and extended Turkington Family) - Lydia starts crawling in Chicago airport.

Spring - Finally!

Ok - so first of all, it has been way too long (over two months) since I have put out a blog posting...so I will have to do some catching up on Lydia happenings. I will start with the most recent stuff though...

Spring for most people starts in March -- well not for us in Fargo; we got to spend the end of March fighting floods and getting more snow in the midst of it. Daffodils? Tulips? They don't exist in Fargo! Our large cottonwood is just starting to get green on it and the grass is just getting green now.

Now that the tempuratures have been nicer, we have already started to get enjoy introducing Lydia to the wonders of outside. First of all, Lydia loves to swing! We have gone to the park twice now and she loved the swing both times! It is great to see her smile and laugh at us as she sways toward our beaming faces. I can't wait until they day that she says "push me daddy!"

Stroller rides outside have become a regular occurance too, Lydia seems to love looking around and observing the world around her. We certainly are enjoying getting outside more and more and are looking forward to the rest of spring and summer.

Just tonight we also found out that Lydia is very fond of dogs -- well at least our neighbors little dog, Dixie. While sitting outside visiting tonight, Dixie jumped up toward Lydia and Lydia responded with a squeel of delight! From then on she kept on squeeling and giggling when Dixie came near and her blue eyes continued to follow the little dog wherever she went. We are glad that we are able to expose her to a kind creature at a young age....but no, we are NOT getting a dog!

Other things happening...

Lydia's is very SLOWLY progressing into the world of eating solids. She has yet to really love anything but rice cereal -- and there is no telling if she is going to eat well or not at any given meal. When she does eat really well it seems to help her sleep better, so hopefully we can get the eating going more consistently before too long. The few nights of sleeping until 6:30 am have been a wonderful change for Elizabeth especially.

The other major happening is Lydia's continual strengthening in the legs. She is very interested in standing up with the support of daddy/mommy or by pulling herself up by a piece of furniture. She still has little/no progress on crawling, so both Elizabeth and I are thinking that crawling may be a skipped step in the whole mobility process. The gates will be going up soon!!

Sniffles, Stomach Bugs, and Sitting too

Poor Lydia has had her fair share of illness in the past few weeks. She has just gotten through her second cold and now she is just getting through her second time with the stomach flu in two weeks! Her colds certainly break your heart, because she can't breath when she's laying down and can't sleep very well whening sitting/laying more upright. I guess it just goes with the territory of being and infant -- just wish the communication thing was little easier so that she could tell us what is bothering her and we can assure her that she is going to be alright.

Even with all the sickness, Lydia has certainly continued to excel and flourish! She smiling and laughing so often now. Probably the best part of being a parent is knowing that you are one of the few that can invoke those smiles and laughter almost on command. It won't be long before the beginnings of "stranger anxiety" set in and we will not only be the only ones to make her laugh, but maybe the only ones she wants to be with. I actually think that we have done a fairly good job of letting others care for her, so hopefully she will skip by the stranger axiety all together.

A couple of weeks ago we decided that Lydia was strong enough that we might start putting her in her highchair to sit at the table with us at meals. Even though she isn't yet eating solids, it is great to have her "share a meal" with us. She loves to sit tall in her chair and play with the toys on her highchair tray. Hard to imagine it will less than a month before we actually start giving her the first solid foods.

All of that sitting in her high chair must have peaked her interest in seeing the world from a different point of view. It was late last week that Lydia started to be able to sit pretty well with only the boppy pillow to support her from tipping over. Nana was visiting last week and early this week and decided that Lydia needed a good toy for playing with while sitting - well it was a good motivator because she started sitting all by herself the very same night that she got her new stack of rings.

Watching Lydia sit up is so entertaining! She has such a look of excitement and wonder while sitting -- and of course being on the watch for her tipping over keeps us on our toes as well. I am a little bit scared to think that the next major milestones all include Lydia's ability to move of her own volition. Well, I guess we will just have to start thinking about transforming of our house -- otherwise known as "baby proofing" and keep on soaking in every little moment that we can.

Everyday Changes

Our little Lydia is very quickly becoming a little person all her own. She has quickly made great strides in her development and personality. Over the past week she has nearly mastered the art of rolling from her front to back; and even once this week she rolled back to front. Hard to think that scooting and crawling won't be that far away -- she is already utilizing her ability to roll back and forth in order to move short distances!

She has also developed her intentionality when it comes to using her hands. When she isn't busy sucking on both her hands, she is eagerly using them to play with hanging toys, pull at both Elizabeth and my shirt when we are holding her; and most recently pulling one foot or another to her mouth in order see what her feet taste like!! She certainly doesn't lack in her ability to entertain herself and is constantly exploring the world before her.

Smiles and giggles come much easier now and she is certainly more than happy to greet Elizabeth with smiles when she arrives at home. In fact, just the other day I was at home with Lydia for a few hours and didn't get a single smile, but the moment Lydia saw her mother walk in the door she was all smiles! It is wonderful to witness the strong bond that has developed between mother and daughter and I feel truly blessed to be invited to participate in that sacred circle of love.

For me, my favorite time has started to become bedtime when I get the privilege of reading Lydia a book before sleep. It amazing to see how attentive that Lydia is to books already and has even now started to try turning the pages herself (or at least grabbing for them). It was wonderful to get many new books as Christmas gifts. Probably her favorite books at this time are two 'first-word' picture books from her Uncle Mike -- she is very much enthralled by the large pictures of animals and other objects.

I am certainly glad to be mostly through the most stressful time in my professional life thus-far. My 7 month, very high-profile project is nearing completion and my work hours have cut back considerably. There was one day this week where some issues came up and I ended up having to work a longer day that I wanted, but it I very much enjoy having more time with Lydia - especially when I get the privilege to pick her up from daycare. She is now at daycare at NDSU for around 6-hours a day and it is working out great! We don't think that we could have found a better arrangement.

We were thankful for a visit from Grandpa and Grandma (Lee) this past weekend. Grandma was almost as good as Elizabeth in getting Lydia to giggle and Grandpa enjoyed pushing Lydia around the mall in her stroller. We are also looking forward to a visit from Nana next month and hope to make some trips to see other family soon.

Baby's First Christmas

Christmas, as in typical fashion, has passed us by all too quickly. The time leading up to Christmas celebrations was a little too busy and the actual time with family a little too brief. We were fortunate enough to spend some good time with many members of our families throughout this time. These family gatherings were of course all the more special, being that this was Lydia's first Christmas.

Now that we have joined in on the experience of Lydia's first Christmas, I am trying to pinpoint the significance of "Baby's First Christmas" What is it about this first Christmas that is so very special? After all, Lydia probably had no knowledge of what was going on and exactly what she was experiencing for the first time. She is not old enough to understand the story of Jesus' brith She was also too young to open presents or understand the concept of visiting family and friends. She was not able to enjoy the wonderful seasonal goodies and wonderful family meals. So, what was it that made this Christmas so special?

I guess that the most certain answer that I can come up with is that this time for a baby is as much special for the parents (and grandparents) as it is for the child. As a parent you get to enjoy seeing your child experience the things that you enjoyed so much as a child (and an adult) for the very first time. For us and Lydia, there were so many wonderful moments that we were able witness this Christmas. Here are some of the highlights:

It was quickly apparent that Lydia had reached an excellent age to enjoy the "season of light." She was very drawn to the many lights - lights on the Christmas tree and candlelight at Christmas Eve service. It was a marvel to see her curiosity sparked by the lights of the season.

With so much wonderful family; Lydia was bound to get some great gifts that she would be able to enjoy. Lydia was able to snuggle up with some new stuffed animal friends and even shake her own hand-carved rattle. Probably the most enjoyment has come from her new bouncy seat from Grandma and Grandpa Lee - she loves being able to make the sounds go with her movement!

Lydia was able to meet many new family members over Christmas and spend great time with all of the family. Lydia was able to make almost of all of her family feel special by sharing some smiles with them....timing was certainly perfect as Lydia had just begin to really smile more readily. Mommy and Daddy have started to get some giggles out of her in the last week too! Lydia of course had a great time being with all of her cousins (Maria, Alyssa, and Rachel). Cousin Rachel was at just the right age to be able to 'play' with Lydia. Rachel had a great time attending to Lydia - making her feel better when we she was 'sad' and tickling her in order to make her smile.

Probable the most special moment for me was when Lydia was able to make her acting debut. This came when Lydia was cast as the cutest baby Jesus that you could ever want to see! Elizabeth's mom's family has a tradition of acting out the story of Jesus' birth and Lydia did just great as the newborn baby Jesus. She definetly had the part down and helped me gain a renewed appreciation for gentle and peaceful way in which the savior entered our world. This was certainly a very worshipful moment for me and one that I will remember for many seasons to come.

Thanksgiving

As I sit here watching Lydia sleep beside me, I can't help but be very thankful for the little life that Elizabeth and I have been graced with. It is now hard to imagine our lives without Lydia -- but at the same time it is still quite surreal that we have a daughter. This Thanksgiving brings many things to be thankful for. Our immediate and extended families continue to be the thing that we are most thankful for.





Two weekends ago we were blessed to have a our families join us to celebrate Lydia's baptism. It was a very special day made even more special with her Aunt Sara performing the baptism and much of our family present to celebrate with us. The service was truly a time of celebration for us as a family -- celebrate God's wonderous love that we have been shown through Lydia's life.



Over Thanksgiving weekend we welcomed a new little one to the family! Our newest niece Alyssa was born on the day before Thanksgiving. We already had set plans to travel to Minnesota to see the expectant parents, Steve and Mary, and big sister, Maria - so it worked out nicely to be able to see Alyssa on the day after her birth, There is nothing like a newborn baby to put in perspective how much Lydia has changed and grown over the past 10 weeks! I think both Elizabeth and I were not able to believe that Lydia had actually changed as much as was apparent when Lydia was compared to newborn Alyssa. Alyssa was as light as a feather and Lydia now seems a little bit heavier than we previously perceived. Even the most uncoordinated movements of Lydia's now look quite advanced compared to a two-day old's. It will be fun to see Alyssa again at Christmas time to see how she makes these same fast progressions in her livelihood and appearance.

It was also enjoyable to have some good quality time with my family and to have cousins Maria and Lydia "interact" over a few days. Maria very much liked playing with the baby things of Lydia's and even tried to fit into Lydia's hat! It will exciting to see how Maria develops as a big sister to the newest one in our family.

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us we march forward into the Advent Season and toward Christmas. It will be a joy to help Lydia experience this time of year with Family and Friends. I think most of all we are looking forward to traveling to our family gatherings and getting to introduce Lydia to many more family members. Lydia is undoubtedly our pride and joy and we love to show her off to anybody that we know.

I hope that this time of Christmas preperation brings a renewed sense of joy and purpose to our family as well as many others around the world.

Oh So Many Things to Mention...

It has been a few weeks since my last post -- needless to say life has been quite busy and the weeks have flown by. Work is beyond busy, which makes coming home and seeing Lydia and Lib all that much more rewarding.

There are many exciting things that have happened since my last post, let me see if I can hit on some of the highlights.

1) First Snow -- October 26th -- Having heard that there was a chance of snow overnight, the moment I woke up on Sunday I checked outside our bedroom window. Seeing the snow coming down, I rushed to the nursery where Elizabeth and Lydia were and said "I have something to show you, Lydia!" I opened the shade to the window and held Lydia toward the window so that she could see the snow coming down and landing on the garage roof below her window. I am not sure that she could actually see the snow flakes, but she did stare out the window for a while which made me feel excited to share this with her. This undoubtedly will be her first of many 'snow-days' to come.

2) Halloween Activities -- One of Elizabeth's professors has started the tradition of having a halloween party for all of the Psychology Department Faculty and Grad Students. Every year there is a "theme" by which you are to dress up - this year was "Favorite Movie Monster" We decided to go as "kid friendly" monsters and dress as the characters from Disney's Monster's Inc. Elizabeth did a great job of creating a costume for Lydia to play the part of the little girl "Boo".

For Halloween night Lydia had another great costume that was given to her from Grandma Lee -- the little Pumpkin costume was perfect -- after all Lydia is our "little pumpkin."

3) First "real" smile - Laying on her changing table, Lydia gave us her first 'official' smile! We had hints of smirks prior to this, but this was the first one that both of us were like "that is a smile for sure!" It will be fun to see her smile at us more and more. Hopefully we will catch one on camera soon!!

4) First election -- we had a election day and night full of activities for Lydia to "participate" in -- she came with us to vote in the morning and then spent the evening with us watching the returns at two different election parties. Although she won't remember it, I am glad that Lydia was able to be a part of the historic day.

5) First Day at Daycare - Lydia went to daycare for the first time last Thursday -- Mommy started back meeting with her advisor Wendy, and so Lydia got to go to daycare. Lydia was awake for most of the time that she was there and the staff said that she was the "bell of the ball" So far the daycare center at NDSU has been impressive.

Pictures below will also capture some of the other happenings from the past 3 weeks -- note that there are two slide shows below (one for week 7 and one for weeks 5 and 6).

WEEK 7

WEEKS 5 & 6

Support and Generosity

Has it already been over a month since Lydia was born?! She of course has changed and grown so much over the past month. Being born at 7lb 6 oz, she is now over 9 pounds and starting to outgrow some of her newborn clothes. She is definitely becoming more aware of the world around her. The other night I was able to catch her attention with a toy and even get her to follow it with her eyes for a while when I moved it back and forth in front of her. Her sleep patterns are fluxuating, with her waking up more in the middle of the night than she used to. One thing is certain, it is a conflict of interest to have Lydia staring up at you with her wide awake but content eyes at 2 am when you are tired and want to go back to bed. Overall things are still going well, and I know personally that I am not pulling my fair share. Elizabeth has shown herself to be a wonderful mother to Lydia - she is absolutely giving of herself and does so with great pride and joy. I cannot thank her enough for the wonderful love and support that she is giving to Lydia and myself.

Over the past month we have continually been showered with many wonderful gifts from many people that certainly have helped us greatly. I know that even as all of us think about where the economy is going to go next, we have all these persons giving to us so abundantly! In addition to the gifts, we have also had wonderful friends and family come and cook meals for us and offer to help out with whatever we may need help with. If anybody loves to rake leaves, do I have just the yard for you! :)

More important than the gifts is knowing that Lydia has such wonderful friends and family that already love and support her. These friends and family will be there to help Lydia develop, grow, and discover the world.

We look forward to getting to introduce her to everyone who has yet to meet her!

First Time for Everything

It is a lot of fun helping Lydia experience many of her "firsts." Let's see, in the past week she has experienced her first doctor's appointment, first restaurant, and even her first trip to Target. Last Sunday she went to her first church service where she was the absolute center of attention! Yesterday she went on her first shopping trip with Mommy (and did just great!)

I got on this path of thinking while Elizabeth and I were talking about the many things that she is learning and will only know through experience. It is amazing the many instincts that she knows, but there is so so much that she has to learn - and I am sure she is learning every moment.

I actually get pretty excited thinking of all the things that she has yet to experience and that I get to help in the process. I will most likely get to be there when she gets to feel grass for the first time or the first time that snow falls on her face (hopefully not too soon!). We will get to push her on her first swing and be with her on her first plane trip. Oh, I could go on and on, but I will stop because I don't think I am ready to start thinking about first trips to school or first bike rides! No, I will just try to savor ever small moment and hope that time won't pass by too quickly (which it will, of course).

Other exiting things that happened this week:

• Uncle Mike, Uncle Steve, Aunt Mary, and Cousin Maria came to meet Lydia for the first time.
• Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a few hours on their way to New York Mills
• Daddy went back to work this week
• I accidentally flipped over to my stomach !

Two Weeks

It is hardly believable that two weeks have passed since Lydia's birth. But, then again, it is amazing how much we have done, learned, and witnessed over those same two weeks. I would have figured that it would be months before I would look the part of a parenting veteran - but now I can already see that both Elizabeth and I have quickly found our comfort zone in regards to caring for Lydia. Passing her off to one another or somebody is no longer done with full fear of "breaking" the baby. Instead we are now more relaxed and are really starting to have fun with our daughter.

I have to say, that this transition would have been many many times more difficult if we would not have had the wonderful help of Elizabeth's parents throughout these two weeks. I am not sure how we would have done it without Jack and Cynthia there to help around the house and be an extra set of arms that were more than willing to hold Lydia while Elizabeth and I rested or took care of other things. When Cynthia left on Friday, there was a moment of panick for both Elizabeth and I as we realized that we were "on our own" to take care of Lydia (and ourselves).

Well, Over 24-hours have passed, and I think that we will make it work. Lydia and I even had our first experience figuring out getting her fed and changed in a public place while mommy was on campus for class. I now know that College men's restrooms are not the ideal place to change a baby! No matter what happens in the next weeks and months, it is comforting to know that we have great support available from both sets of our parents and they are only a phone call away.

Here are this weeks pictures (note that some have been added since they were first posted).

Thanks to Cynthia/Nana for all her great photography! We will never be able to thank her enough for all the great memories that were captured during her visit. We will be doing our best to continue the great pictures coming!

Expectations

Leading up to Lydia's birth, there were many thoughts and planning that went into the time that would come right after our child was born. We started building expectations regarding how we would be able to transition from being two to being three: How much time off of work would be sufficient?; what would be like at home with a newborn? All of these expectations are of course without much merit, but simply based on what the "typical" new parent experience is thought to be.

Well, maybe my first lesson of fatherhood is that any of my pre-conceived expectations are most likely not going to reflect reality.

Over the past week, I have seen this as ringing true in two profound ways:

1. There is no way that I could have possibly expected the wonderful child that is Lydia. She is simply beyond-expectation. Everthing from the way she looks to the way she acts is outside of what I could have possibly imagined two weeks ago. Of course Elizabeth and I talked about things like "I hope he/she has your eyes" or "I really don't want the baby to have my nose;" but to be able to actually picture anything like this little baby that is now living in our midst...no way! Maybe this is lack of creativity on our part, but more so, I believe Lydia is living proof of the wonderful miracle of life! I feel truly blessed that God has created someone so special that we can now call our daughter!

2. Well, for the second week in a row we went in for a clinic visit on a Thursday and didn't leave until Sunday! The first time we gave birth to Lydia...this time Elizabeth was re-admitted to the hospital due to increasing blood pressure and liver enzymes. These symptoms typically subside after giving birth, but for reasons unknown, they were not acting in the "expected" way for Elizabeth.

The news that we would have to spend the next days in the hospital were tough to swallow. We very much expected and wanted to be at home, getting to know our new daughter and forming a routine. Instead, Elizabeth, Lydia, Elizabeth's Mom Cynthia, and I got to spend our time together in a small hospital room while Elizabeth's condition was treated with rest and IV medications. Elizabeth's dad returned to be with us on Saturday. Elizabeth was able to make a good turnaround over the few days in the hospital, and we are certainly glad to be home with a much better bill of health! Of course, this was not what we "expected" as part of our first week with Lydia, but in the long run this will be just another interesting part of the beginning of Lydia's life.

So, when it come to parenthood, now I am looking to "expect the unexpected." Hold on, here we go!!

Lydia Anne

I am amazed at how one small moment in time can change life forever. The birth of our daughter, Lydia Anne, on September 19th (3:26 am) was the perfect example of this type of transformational moment. Elizabeth and I cannot believe this amazing person that has entered into our life. At 7 pounds, 6 oz and 19.5 inches long, Lydia is unbelievably perfect (of course no father would say any different of their child).

The few days since her birth have seemed like a dream - partially due to the lack of sleep, but more so because it just seems unreal that we could now be in the presence of such a small wonder. I can't say that there haven't been frustrations along the way, but so far I have found every minute of it worth it tenfold. Lydia captivates us even more every minute and I can't begin to imagine the wonderful joy that we will experience over the next days, months, and years to come.

My plan is to use this blog as a means to describe some of the great things that Lydia shall do, like when she stretches out her legs as straight as can be for moments on end (now that she has room to do so). Some things, like the way she opens her eyes when waking, will be beyond description and so I also hope to capture some of my own thoughts on this little (all to soon to be bigger) life that has started before us.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support as we have welcomed our little Lydia into the world.




Pictures from our first few days with Lydia Anne: http://picasaweb.google.com/eaewinglee/LydiaAnne02#


All of the pictures of Lydia Anne will be posted at: http://picasaweb.google.com/eaewinglee/