Three weeks in

They say you don't get a lot of sleep as a new parent but I don't necessarily agree. Maybe I just have a good baby and a rockstar wife. Sure you don't get to crash out for 8 straight hours but we've been generally getting to bed at a reasonable hour and JJ will sleep until at least 7am. Subtract a little time for feeding and diaper changes and you still get a decent amount of rest. Plus it's easy to justify naps though I usually dedicate those to Momma as I don't have to feed JJ every night and get extra breaks. Of course I could have just jinxed the whole thing and it will all go south tonight...

In other news JJ likes his bath time. We've been giving him a little bath every other night now and he seems pretty pleased about it. Mom is the washer and I'm the holder. Little babies are slippery but no incidents yet ;)
Turbo is once again very interested in what's going on at bath time despite the fact that he doesn't like baths.
We're slowly learning which things are nice to have lots of and which aren't as critical. Laundry is a necessity every other day so certain items you only need a few while others it's nice to have a stash. Little onesies, even just the plain white ones, are one of the things I'm glad we have a lot of.
JJ likes to sleep in funny positions :) We generally just swaddle his body and legs now but he'll break out of that if he wants to.
I love getting to spend time with him. I had some training for the new job today and it was strange to be away from Marni and JJ all day. I'll be working at least part time after we get back from an upcoming trip to St.Louis to see more family and slowly getting towards working most days. The flexibility of subbing will really help on those days when JJ isn't feeling well and when Marni is sick I can probably even cover her classroom now!
I don't think JJ is smiling on purpose yet but the accidental ones are pretty cute!
He also likes to see if he can eat Turbo's fur. Good thing since it will be all over him for a long time to come.
Training is still going well. Monday I got in a good ride on the Selma for a while in the afternoon that was mostly dirt and some good rolling climbs. Tuesday I got into the BRC for a good session and last night I got out to the flatirons for the first time since JJ's arrival. I took a new climber for his first multipitch trad route and he seemed pretty psyched to get out. I ran into Stefan soloing the face, or he caught us rather and it was fun to catch up about each other's newborns for the first time. Tonight I cranked out about 75 minutes of good mountain biking on the Selma again with a small set of technical intervals in the middle and a bunch of 30 second hill sprints. Almost every ride I'm getting more psyched about 2011 and plenty of ideas are running through my head about training events as well as the yet to be unveiled "big ride". I've got about another week to ramp up the training in September before taking it easier while on our road trip. Perhaps while I'm gone I'll start putting together a bit of a plan for October. The desert is starting to beckon and fatty wants to see White Rim...

First Outings and Grandma Judy

JJ says..."I was thinking on Friday that I should do something exciting today."
I thought about it while I made Mom put on my awesome shirt.
Dad told me it was a good idea.
So we got in the car and went to go pick up Grandma Judy from the airport. Then we went to Starbucks. I like second hand whipped cream!
When we got home Grandma Judy was real nice and good at holding me.
Mom liked to show me off.
So did Dad.
Even Turbo was very happy.
I got tired so I had to rest for a while after my great idea.
Then later we went to Proto's and I was a great boy again. I decided to sleep while everyone ate pizza. Really I knew this would lead to second hand pizza. I like second hand pizza!
Everyone always has those flashy things out. Dad calls them a camera. Here are my little fingers.
And also my little Rhino feet.
I like when people hold me, it makes me sleepy. Speaking of which, I'm getting pretty sleepy right n...

More firsts!

Yesterday we took JJ on his first walk in the stroller. Of course we went at the hottest time of day so it was was a short one but we all still had lots of fun.
Turbo was especially pleased.
The little wheels did fine on the gravel path though eventually the big wheeled BOB or something will probably be better. JJ seemed to like it a lot.
Now that all systems are functioning well, JJ has increased his outfit per day quota. That's good because we have a lot of cute ones to get through while he's still small.
Mostly JJ has settled into a routine that centers around eating and sleeping. Throw in riding and he's ready for a blog and can join the enduronut crew.
This morning he was chilling on his monkey blanket with Turbo while Marni fixed some pancakes, it is Thursday after all. I was busy getting ready for an interview. It seemed to go well so crossing my fingers again and hopefully I hear soon. Last night I met the Wednesday night ride crew at Red Rocks and got in some riding on the Fatback. I have to say that it rides technical trails much better than the Pugsley and I cleaned almost everything I normally clean despite the 100mm rims (aka tanks). It will be in the regular riding rotation a lot more now to get my knees totally happy with the 100mm bottom bracket.
Tonight we get to see Leslie and Derrick and tomorrow Grandma Judy arrives from St. Louis!

What a difference

...the milk makes. I'm not going to lie. Life got a whole lot easier when Marni's milk started to come in on Monday. First we started to hear swallows, then the diaper timing started going in the right direction. JJ gained 5 oz between Monday morning and Tuesday morning making the nurses very happy and Monday night we finally got some real sleep. The picture below is our "yay we slept for several hours at a time" faces.
The little guy has just been 10x more content now that he has a full belly all the time.
I can only do so much to help but I can cook and change diapers. Deluxe omelet (bell pepper, chicken, cheese, avocado, tomato) and donut for breakfast with a sleeping baby on the side.
Since the nurse was slightly worried about JJ's weight on Monday, we got to pump a little extra milk and feed him once from a bottle to supplement the breastfeeding before a recheck on Tuesday. I wasn't expecting to get to feed him for a few more weeks so while not part of the plan, it was welcome surprise. Huge, giant thanks for Marni's parents for showing up with the pump on Sunday as we needed it unexpectedly on Monday and all I had to do was unbox it and sterilize it to have it ready to go.
Happy daddy with JJ's first small bottle (~20mL).
JJ likes his swing now too. Turbo likes to check on him every time he cries. Plus he peeks his head into JJ's bassinet every morning to sniff him.
JJ is also loving his tummy time now. He keeps picking his head up really well and has even somehow turned over twice. We thought we were imagining it but he did it again yesterday. I'm sure it requires the right surface or something but still really funny.
I love getting to spend so much time with him and Momma. I'm a lucky guy.
Now that JJ is feeling better and sleeping soundly, I even snuck out to the BRC yesterday afternoon for a quick session. It was just an hour but it was fun to climb and other than my skin paying the price for a week and a half of time off I felt great. I think being a new daddy is cheating as I jumped right back on and onsighted a new easy 12. Must be the extra daddy happiness.
Today we've had a brilliant morning following stretches of 3 hours of sleep at a time last night and JJ is going to go on his first stroller ride!
It's nice to be back to blogging too. I guess the secret is to have a cute baby and tons of pictures to share. Haha.

The first days

I tried to parse down the more than 100 pictures we've already filed into the save folder into just one blog. So this is my best shot at the early greatest hits. For those dying for more, there is a larger set on Marni or my facebook page.

Marni and I on the way to the hospital. There is a matching picture with smiles but this second one we took as the "how do you really feel?" picture.
Marni walking into labor and delivery on a beautiful early Colorado morning. Good thing we stopped at Starbucks on the way in. I wouldn't really eat or drink anything for the next 13 hours or so besides water and a few crackers.
Marni chilling in the delivery room with a Popsicle, waiting for that last centimeter.
Almost there.
John James arrives and we were happy to hear his cries.
Momma and baby meet for the first time.
Daddy gets to hold JJ for the first time.
JJ meets some of his cousins and his aunt.
Peaceful sleeping. We haven't got too much of this since night one though it's getting better.
Look at those long legs!
Momma almost ready to go home.
Comfy and cozy back at home in bed.
Sleeping peacefully for the moment.
JJ loves Grandma and Grandpa Berry.
A few little zzzz's.
Monkey!
Resting with Momma.
Testing those lungs. It's been chilly in the house with the AC on :)
Giving Momma some nap time.
Turbo came home last night and he's really interested in his new brother.
And I leave you with this. Cliche for new parents but Hootie has it right. I even reminded Marni of it last night during some extended crying. It all changes so fast already.