Ava Night

Ava's up tonight. Heather took care of her from midnight until about 3:30AM. I just took over and am in the basement. She's wide awake but not crying much. Instead of trying to get her to sleep, I spend time getting her to learn her senses. We work on things like grasping and pulling, tracking with the eyes and head balance (I prop her up in a sitting position and she tries to balance her head). She's wide awake and not fussy. She just wants to learn. Right now she's on a blanket in the middle of the floor just waving, kicking and looking all over the place. It's very cool because even in the few short weeks she's been here we've seen progress. It's subtle, but it's there.

She's not yet consistent at night. But neither are her parents. We're not on a rigid schedule of any sort. Feedings are roughly every two to three hours or when she gets fussy. Last night she was asleep for much of the night. Tonight she's alert and awake. Heather's always convinced that she's five minutes from being asleep, but when it comes to her night times I'm generally convinced that she's alert for a reason. Nature wants her to learn. So I help her along, as much as I can.

Heather says that Ava's my little science experiment. In a way, she is. I love seeing glimpses of all of the developmental psychology coming out to play. And I know that it'll only get more interesting from here. She's my science experiment, but I take her very seriously and love her immensely.

Anna said today that in my posts we "pretty much have things under control." I think that's a wonderful compliment and very accurate. We're just loving being parents. I told Cindy that I was a wreck during the last part of the pregnancy, but since the moment I met little Ava I've been as calm as can be. Taking care of somebody you love this much is simple. It doesn't require book smarts... it comes naturally. Of course, some book smarts is nice... like how much to feed her... in ounces. But much of it is overkill. I think this may be why Heather calls her my science experiment. She knows that I have the love for Ava and that all of the flashy dev psych stuff is playtime for me... I don't take it too seriously. Babies have been learning language accidentally for hundreds of thousands of years. Same for walking. I don't really believe that I can/should accelerate her development. I just enjoy seeing it in action... probing her progress.

We're at the base right now. She can't use her hands. She's pure reptilian impulse. Base of the brain stuff. I can't wait to see her grow into a functioning human being.

Alright, I've got to get back to Ava.

Update 4:37AM: I've changed two diapers in the last 30 minutes. I think I may have actually caught one of the poop-farts on video. I'll download it and see what I've got in a bit. Right now she's in my lap and starting to get really fussy... hungry. We want to give Heather some rest though so we're gonna tough it out for a little while longer. Incidentally, one thing Heather and I did well tonight was split the night. In the past we both stayed up until we were exhausted and then one of us had to tough it out staying up with Ava. Tonight we made a conscious decision for me to sleep early and Heather to sleep late. Right now I feel wide awake and am having a blast taking care of Ava.

Update 4:40AM: Wow. She just fell asleep in my lap. Belly up. Sound asleep. Such a sweetie!

Update 4:51AM: She's into the crying fits now. And she's had her third poop in the last 50 minutes. Third diaper change. She's really working something through.

Update 5:16AM: Crying fit for 15 min but now she's sound asleep on my lap, a little squiggly every few minutes.

Update 5:35AM: Another poopie and diaper change. Four tonight. She's pretty fussy right now so I'm going to take her to the supermarket... a.k.a. mommy.