week 1: a blissful fog

Ewan is one week old! We've spent the week adjusting to our new lives and getting to know and falling deeply in love with our baby. We've learned a lot about him already. A few things were clear right from the start...

Ewan has his mama's feet! As most of you probably know, that means they're gigantic. Yup, looks like he'll have Grampa Don's and Uncles Ian's and Reid's size 13ers, not Daddy's size 8.5s. He also has Aunt Katherine's long fingers and toes. When she was a baby, our parents called her E.T. and "piano fingers." Here you can see how big our little dude's feet are. They didn't even fit in the allotted space on the card:

Ewan has his Papa T's (Troy's Dad's) nose. So cute! I'm thinking and hoping he may also have the Turvy mouth.

In general, he definitely strongly resembles both Troy and I as newborns, but a few people, including myself, think he looks like my mom, his Gram. Others, including Troy, think he looks like my brother, his Uncle Ian. Since Ian looks like our mom, that's not surprising. We're sure he'll change a lot as time goes on and we'll see more resemblances to both sides of the family.

What about his personality? Well, he's definitely strong and athletic like his dad, and maybe a little adventurous, too. He has a super grip and also manages to bust out of any swaddle, at least the ones I do (Troy is a little better at them). Troy expects to find one of the swaddle blankets ripped to shreds one of these mornings, after an Incredible Hulk style bust-out. Most impressively, though, he has amazing neck strength and head control. I took this photo after Ewan lifted up his head from flat on Troy's chest and held it in this position perfectly still for a solid 20-30 seconds. Below is a video from a separate head lift that was not quite as impressive, but gives you the idea. Sorry it's a little blurry - I'm still figuring out the video mode on our new camera.

Ewan head lift from Rebecca Turvy on Vimeo.

My mom also swore that on their trip to the Farmers Market, they went over a couple bumps and Ewan got really excited. We think it's just a matter of time before it's, "Daddy, let's get some air on the next one!" Do we have a Crash Turvy, Jr. on our hands?

Ok, enough from us. Here's what Ewan has to say about his first week:

I am loving being home. Grandview Avenue is really cool. All the neighbors want to come visit me, and they're really nice. I am also getting to know Clyde dog and Lola cat. Clyde has a really loud bark that sometimes startles Mommy and Daddy, but it doesn't phase me at all. I sleep right through it! What do you expect after I've been hearing it for nine months? He seems to like me pretty well. He gives me kisses and likes to be near me, especially when I'm with Daddy. Lola is cool, too, but she minds her own business a little more.

I sleep in a co-sleeper next to Mommy and Daddy's bed. It works out really well for all of us. Mommy feeds me (a lot!) and Daddy and Gram do most of the diaper changes and other duties. Daddy and I love our special skin-to-skin time and time in the Moby Wrap. We talk about how much we love Mommy and it makes her cry. Mommy cries a lot - more than me I think! But I think it's mostly happy tears. I don't cry very much, except when I'm getting my diaper changed. I really don't like those cold wipes, but my Gram just bought me a wipes warmer, so we'll see if that helps.

I also love my time with my grand-
parents. Gram sings me all kinds of songs and I can't get enough! Nanas has been around a lot, too, and she took me for a walk in the Ergo yesterday. Papa Rog came down last night, too. They are all helping a lot and taking really good care of my parents and me. We also got to skype with my Papa T, Grandma Betty, and Uncle Jimmy in Ohio. I think they liked me. Auntie Amber came back for a little visit last night, too. She helped Mommy a lot in bringing me into the world. Mommy and Daddy's friends Kevin and Jenn also came to meet me today. Mommy and Daddy got to share my birth story with them, which was very special. Tomorrow my Grampa is coming in from NY. I can't wait to meet him! I hope he will be the one to introduce me to the redwoods. I hear he loves hiking and nature.

Oh yeah, and I went to my first doctor's appointment on Thursday and I am the picture of health. That made Mommy and Daddy and my grandparents very happy.

Well, those are my thoughts so far on being a baby in the real world. Mommy says she promises she will get to working on my birth story soon, but until she learns how to feed me and type at the same time, it could be a little while. Even though she read all the books and talked to lots of other mommies, she didn't quite realize how much time she'd spend feeding me. I spend almost half my time eating! It's not a bad life for me, I must say, and at least Mommy and I have gotten it figured out pretty well. We feel lucky that we're such a good time when it comes to me eating!