MKS on the MTA

Molly had her first ride on the subway today. Courtney and Grandmama decided to take Molly along on a trip to Target at the Atlantic Center (probably the worst Target in existence, by the way). She did well on the train, but I'm told that getting up and down the stairs was a bit harrowing... pacifiers, blankets, and other paraphernalia flying out... a dangerous lean... and generally slippery conditions. But they all made it back safely and loaded down with baby provisions.

*I know the posts have been coming less frequently the past couple weeks (for those of you that care)...   but honestly, she doesn't do that much. But I think her first smile is right around the corner... so expect lots of pictures then.

Molly Jolly Christmas

The first Christmas for our new family. Molly had no idea what was going on, but that didn't stop us from pretending like she did. To wit:

Looking at our tree.

In her Christmas outfit from Grammy.

And a couple more examples of the Christmas cheer we forced on our little blank slate:

Family portrait... Tabitha struggles to escape
and Molly struggles to comprehend.

kissed? attacked?

But, in truth, we all had a great day and feel incredibly blessed to have spent it with our daughter and her Grandmama. Warm Christmas wishes and love to all our friends and family.

One Month

Molly is one (calendar) month today and still going strong... especially in the crying department (we're working on it). My Mom, aka Grandmama, is visiting us until next weekend. She's cooking up a storm... making sure we're fattened up for a big batch of New Year's resolutions. We all took a stroll this afternoon... Molly wore her improvised Holiday outfit. Hope everyone has a pleasant Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Bonus nap pictures from this morning.

Sunday

The three of us took a walk this morning. We stopped at the bagel store to have breakfast, and just as we sat down she started to cry. We quickly realized we were, for the first time, "those people"... so we left and ate on foot... and I spilled a bottle of orange juice in my coat pocket.

And then we went home and watched her basically doing nothing...

... a cute nothing, but nothing just the same.

Firsts

We checked off a few more firsts since the last post...

First stroll.

First bath (in the tub).

First cousins.

Courtney's sister, Kathryn (yes, Molly is her middle-namesake), her husband Stacy, and their six-month old daughter, Evelyn, came up from Atlanta (excuse me, Stacy... Decatur) to visit us on Friday and returned this morning... everyone had a great time and we were sad to see them go. 

Back to Work

Went back to work today after two weeks at home with my girls... seeing this didn't make it any easier.

Taking a little nap after breakfast.

Fighting out of the pink corner...

These last few days we've discovered that Molly has some fight in her. Normal baby stuff, I'm sure... but it's still pretty intense.

She fights orthodox and prefers the peek-a-boo guard, as shown in this comparison with the great Floyd Patterson, one of the most well-known practitioners of the style.

And her parents? We'll quote Roberto Duran in

saying to our little Leonard, "No más, no más."

Growth Spurt

Molly seems to be going through her first growth spurt... she's wanting to eat constantly... and letting us know (in her way). A couple pictures from the eye of the storm.

War Eagle!

Family portrait watching the SEC Championship. Pulling for Auburn due to a mixture of family allegiances and a distaste for Spurrier.

Belly Button!

Molly's umbilical stump fell off today and now she has a belly button! A little rough and gristly, but well on it's way to unqualified cuteness.

Speaking of cuteness... this morning, Tabitha decided to join Molly in Courtney's lap for a snooze.

Grammy and Grandaddy go home

Courtney's mom, Sharon, returned to Atlanta today. She and Courtney's dad, Bill, have been in New York since Molly was born (Bill went home Monday), and have been a tremendous help and comfort... we can't thank them enough. 

Sleeping In

I got up this morning to catch up on some work and when I walked back to the bedroom...

First Bath

Molly had her first (sponge) bath today. Courtney did the sponging, her mom, Sharon, held and soothed, and I was gopher and official photographer. The blurry picture below sums the whole procedure up... flying limbs, sponge, water, diapers, towel... and Grammy Sharon steady at her post.

And at the end of it all...

Clean baby.

Happy Mom.

Inherit the Chin

I get a little weary of the constant figuring out of whose eyes, ears, nose, forehead, etc. every new baby has... which near or distant relative he or she looks like. Nevertheless, I submit the following for consideration:

     Molly                                                                                             Courtney

Doctor

Molly had her first checkup today... and she's doing well. All of our (mostly mine) little worries were answered.

But our first visit to a pediatrician's office (since I was the patient, anyway) was not confidence inspiring. Ruddy-faced, snotty little disease carriers flailing around, sweating, coughing, sneezing, wiping their noses, playing with the same toys... In Molly's future, no doubt... but hopefully not her immediate future. 

I only bothered to take one picture... but it's enough.

Cinco de Molly

5 days old...

She sleeps a lot... more than our cat.

Burping.

Naked baby!

Hand. Little, splotchy, wrinkly old-lady hand.

Foot.

Day 3

Things have calmed down some. We're home, we've rested a bit (thanks to lots of help from Courtney's parents), and are getting used to the idea of a baby. I'm sure all the parents out there are laughing at the naivete of that last bit... but naifs is what we are.

Here are a few pictures of Molly lounging on our bed.

With our old bears, Corduroy and Joshua.

Tabitha checking Molly out...

...and, sweet kitty that she is, taking it all in stride.

My Mom wanted a picture showing her eyes. Success.

Then I tried to remove the pacifier to show her mouth and

this is what happened... she showed me her mouth.

Molly!

Molly Kathryn Shaddock was born at 9:58am on Wednesday, November 24. She weighed 7lbs 1.5oz and was 20 inches long. This photo was taken a few minutes after she was born.

Here's the rundown:

About 12:30am on Wednesday Courtney started feeling a little strange and crampy (she approved this word), and by about 1:30, she was having full-fledged contractions. I swung into modern husband mode and started soothing and timing (although the rule was quickly established that during contractions I was neither allowed to touch nor speak). By 5:00 her contractions were about 9-10 minutes apart. We called the midwife at 6:00 and she told us to wait. At 7:00 they were 5-6 minutes apart and we called again and were told to wait again. 8:00, 4-5 minutes apart... still told to wait. 30 minutes later and it was 2-3 minutes apart and Courtney was in serious pain. With all due respect to our midwife, Beverly, I called and told her no more waiting, we're going to the hospital. And when we arrived at 9:00... victory was ours! Courtney was fully dilated and ready to push. Less than an hour later, and after some painful, gory stuff, Molly was born. She's adorable and she kept us up all night.

Crying on the way home...

...and Mom makes it better.

This is the only picture I have been able to get since we've been home.

She's been in her swing in low light... not the best conditions for photography.

I stopped the swing, turned on the light, snapped this... and she erupted 

(you can see her little hand starting to shake in protest). It was dark and 

she was rocking again a few seconds later.

And so after being exposed to the near-narcotic combination of two sleepless

nights and Thanksgiving dinner... we're off to bed. We send our love and 

gratitude to all our friends and family who've sent so many kind words and 

given us so much support.