Tummy Time and First Real Bath

Tummy Time

It is suggested that under close supervision you can give your infant "tummy time" in order to begin to build some muscles in the neck, back, and head. Melanie has begun giving Corinne this time and we've captured some pretty good images during this exercise.

"A few more years and I'm outta here"

"This is the biggest and tastiest doughnut I've ever tried."

"Found my Thumb!!"

Bath Time

Since Corinne's umbilical cord finally fell off the other day we are now able to give her a real bath. She took to it real well considering it was quite chilly in the house. She did not make a peep. However, if I had a hammock strung up across warm bath water I'd probably be pretty relaxed too.

"O.K. Mom and Dad, you can take my picture-JUST COVER UP THE JUNK."

For those of you who do not know Chloe very well, she finds the strangest positions in which to sleep. Occasionally, I will throw some of these pics up on the blog. This was taken the other night.

"None of us are getting enough sleep around here!"

Finally, A funny political quote:

What we really expect out of the Democrats is for them to treat us as they would like to have been treated"

-John Boehner House minority leader from Ohio

2 weeks old

Things are still progressing for Corinne and family. The day following her first doctor's appointment last week she had what seemed to be an eye infection. I thought "isn't that great, her first visit to the doctor's office (a known vector for disease) she catches a bug." Well, it was nothing to worry about- just a blocked tear duct. We denied her food for a day, until the crying was so intense that the build up of tears in that eye forced their way through the little gland. Just joking, a few warm water rubs and she was fine.

Chris and Betty Ann DiSilvestro (Mel's aunt and uncle) stopped by this weekend to not only see little Corinne, but also to get away from the daily grind for a day. It was short, but very welcomed visit.

Speaking of the daily grind, daddy went back to work full time today. I also worked at the Cafe on Sunday showing off pics of my beautiful daughter to my weekend regulars. I recently have entered the 21st century by purchasing a video ipod. It was pretty funny seeing some of these folks attempting to use the device. "just touch it to the right" I'd explain. Inevitably, they could not figure it out and the screen would "time-out' before they could figure out what I meant. Crazy technology! Mostly, I was just worried that they may find some of the downloaded videos i dont want anyone to see;)-just kidding, I haven't figured out how to download videos yet;-)

Finally, in all of our sessile activities since Corinne's emergence, Melanie and I realized how crappy our Cable TV package was. It was called "Baby basic" when we ordered and basically it just insured that we received all of our network channels with good reception. The premium channels in this package were QVC, Hallmark and Oh! (as in Oh my god this really sucks). So we decided to upgrade. Coincidentally the upgrade occurred just in time to avoid our fearless leader's spin on the state of our country. Rumor has it he won't mention Iraq-Hmmmm, I wonder why?

First Doctor's Appointment

There will be many firsts in the upcoming months for little miss Corinne. Today we took her to her first appointment with the pediatrician. This being a totally new experience for Melanie and I, we had no idea what to expect. Would she be getting shots today? Temperature taken? Examination of her stool? Anything would be a surprise. After filling out the paperwork, the nurse came in to prep for the weigh-in. She asked us to remove Corinne's clothes. "All of them?" we asked. "Yes" she said. "Even the diaper?" we continued. "Yep" she replied. Melanie and I didn't want to get her in the buff since it was rather cold in the room, but with gj's hat, and Mimi's blanket she should have no problem. The nurse walked in as we were getting the diaper off and turned on the water to wash her hands. At that exact moment urine squirted from Corinnes bottom as if the sound of the water running made her go. Is this possible? Is the sound of water running linking to the urge to go pee a learned behavior or instinctual? We will set up a study and get back to you after the peer-review process. ;)

By the way, the doctor said that Corinne was doing excellent, Melanie's feeding must be beneficial since Corinne now weighs 7 lbs 7 oz. Remember, her birth weight was 7lbs 1 oz and her weight the day she was released from the hospital was 6 lbs 13 oz. So in 8 days she has put on a whopping 10 oz. Must be those Johnson genetics showing (let's hope not too much though).

Here's a few more pics to keep y'all happy

This is Jody Plotkin with Corinne. Jody is Joels youngest and came over with Suzi a couple of days ago to see the little one.

Close-up of Corinne. Please, please, please just let me sleep!

This is from the day we brought Corinne home. That outfit was the same Melanie was wearing the day she came home from the hospital. Chloe gets a good sniff-of jealousy!

Harry Houdini, ahem- I mean Corinne at the hospital. Notice her leg band. They give each child two, one for each leg, but Corinne is an escape artist and had no problem getting that off. Keeping her socks on is a full-time job.

Sorry some of these pics are late- they were lost somewhere in the computer

Corinnes cute outfit that Heather gave her. the kitten on her shirt is wearing ear muffs, and her hat says "I've been a good girl". Heather wanted to get Corinne her first gender specific outfit and presented it to us at the hospital.

A History Lesson

For those of you who do not know much about Charleston, SC it is a place of incredible history. From the site of the first shot of the Civil War (Ft. Sumter), to the Beach where the movie Glory was based on (Morris Island-I forget the name of the Ft.), all the plantations and associated gardens, as well as the haunted mansions and restaurants downtown there is a history lesson around every turn. So today we thought we'd start Corinne out with a brief review of where she lives by taking her on a tour of the historic landmark in the neighborhood-Ft. Lamar!

James Island (where we live) is slightly southeast of the peninsula of Charleston, and is separated from the peninsula by the Ashley River and Charleston Harbor. James Island is inland of Folly Beach and Morris Island and provided a great spot for the confederates to set up large forts to protect Charleston from southerly attacks.

Ft. Lamar is an earthwork built by the Confederates and its remains are less than 1/2 mile from our front door. Before it was completely finished, the Yankees attacked on June 16th, 1862 that comprised troops from many Union states (including the 8th division from Michigan). This confrontation was called the Battle of Secessionville and has been considered one of the most significant Civil War battles that occurred in South Carolina. The Confederates held their ground and won this conflict. Sources say that the Yankees were sent reeling into the marshes and creeks just to get away from the barrage of musket and cannon fire (probably the mosquitos too!).

I have provided a few pics below of our trip today!

Melanie and Corinne in front of the monuments where i learned all of the above

(it was a history lesson for all)

Corinne just can't appreciate the history of the area. At least not yet.

Uncle D and other things

Uncle Derek (one author of The Rutledge Farm) stopped by this Friday to see his new niece. It was a short (but VERY sweet) visit.

Well, as of Saturday night Melanie and I began to hit "the wall". We're beginning to get a bit tired, but hopefully not for long. Mel has worked out a new feeding method that is less stressful on both and last night we slept very well.

As for Corinne, she sleeps like a rock for 2-3 hours at a time. We have not been overly cautious to wake her up (i.e. tiptoeing around). Interestingly, when Chloe and Terra begin barking she doesn't even stir- and she is usually is in the same room.

For those of you who are not familiar with Terra and Chloe I have supplied pics below. Mona is our cat.

Chloe

Gangsta name "C-Note"

Terra

Gangsta name "T-Money"

Mona
Gangsta name "Mo Flo"

This pic was taken by Uncle D.-Thanks Uncle D!

Finally, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday today:

May we all strive to judge others by the content of thier character regardless of the color of their skin.

Coming home

Here is a short video of Corinne's trip home. It's short but may take some of you with "dial up" connections a bit longer to download. Aunt Sal- you cannot undress her in the video either-no matter how hard you try ;)

Enjoy!!

More Pics

Just a few more pics to satisfy some of you (You know who you are!!)







Corinne; ready for a diaper change.

The photo on the left was provided by Mimi. It is Roman at 4 days old. The photo on the right is Corinne and may have already been posted previously. Notice any resemblance?

Day two (and a half)

Corinne is home and doin' fine!

She has her daddy's appetite which keeps her "strong as a bull"-C.E. Rutledge.

She eats about 30 minutes at every feeding which is excellent. She sleeps a lot too.

Mel's milk is beginning to come in, and Corinne's diaper doodee is beginning to take on the transitional look. :-)

All this said, she is fine and dandy.

Sam or Jane???

Well, after 40 weeks of dedicated incubating, Melanie finally laid our new egg. Melanie and I decided not to know the sex of the baby until Birth. I was sure that during one of the first ultrasounds I saw a penis though, and of course for the next 25+ weeks I reminded her that it was a boy.

We'd considered many names and agreed upon Jane Corinne for a girl and Samuel Carver for a boy. Other names considered by anonymous other people were Poppy (no, really), Roman, Cora, Thomas, "Kat"hryn, Doogie, Dweezil, and Jub Jub. (Can anyone pick out the Simpson's reference?)

The baby's due date, Monday, January 8th, came and went without much action. However, with the arrival of the 9th things began happening. I took the day off work to go to the scheduled doctors appointment with Mel. The doctor informed us that she was progressing (1 cm dilated) and that the grandparents should begin their journey to Charleston.

Following the appointment we ran some errands and got some movies to help time pass. At this stage you've already heard the agonizing sagas of many other mothers' deliveries (I think that one even told us she was 1 cm for a month). After getting home around noon on Tuesday, January 9th (one day late) I worked around the house in preparation for the arrival of the grandparents. I gave Mel the task of chopping the veggies for the shrimp fried rice I planned to prepare that evening. While Melanie was chopping I hopped in the shower. Minutes later Mel came in with this statement "This may sound crazy but I think my water just broke". "HUH?!?" was about all I could get out. So we called the doctor, got our bags and headed for the hospital. Throughout the evening I had been asking Melanie if she'd been feeling anything. "Just some light cramps" was her reply. I'd even asked "are they frequent, consistent, regular, or irregular?" "No, not really," she'd reply.

Upon arrival at the hospital Mel was examined and sure enough her membrane had ruptured. She was still dilated at 1 cm and feeling some light menstrual cramping (i.e. no change). Pitosin was administered shortly after and contractions began intensifying. At 10:00 pm on Tuesday evening the doctor gave Mel her epidural. At 11:00 Mel had dilated to 3 cm's and the doctor suggested we get some rest. I had no problem falling asleep (as usual). Not two hours later I was awoken to a room full of nurses telling me to get it together here comes the baby. I threw my shoes on, rubbed my eyes set my sights on Mel- looking surprised and nervous. The epidural was so good we had to tell her when the contractions were coming based upon the monitors. In about 10 contractions (3 BIG pushes per contraction) Mel squeezed out our new Baby Girl: Jane Corinne Crumpton

Note: The grandparents made it 10 minutes before the birth- No thanks to the icy roads west of Asheville, NC. Rumor has it that C.E. was doing 95 mph on I-526, an impressive play in the last minutes of regulation.

Tale of the tape:
Born: January 10, 2007. 1:24 am
Height (I mean length): 21.5 in
Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz
Reach: Just enough to tug at your heart strings

Thanks everyone for your visits and enjoy our posts.

Roamin'and Mel

Photos and visitors

A Happy New Mom!!

A Proud New Daddy!!

Pappy and Corinne

gj and Corinne

Robbie, Elizabeth, and Corinne

Dave Joyner and Corinne

Charlie and Corinne

Heather and Corinne

Joel "Jim Croce" and Corinne

Daddy, Jody, and Corinne

Numero Uno!

For the first posting Melanie and I would like to welcome everyone to "the corral", a blogsite set up to keep the loved ones in our lives informed of our new addition. Please feel free to post ideas, concerns, secrets, and stories. We have created this blog in the shadow of Derek and Amy Rutledge's "The Rutledge Farm" http://www.rutlfarm.blogspot.com/ blog to honor their 20-month-old twin boys. They are exceptional people and the writings posted by the rutledges are "one of a kind" and will undoubtedly make you crack a smile. (FYI: Derek and I [Roamin'] have nearly the same sense of humor). Proceed with caution ;)