what who when how

claire was born in los angeles, ca in march of 2007. she was 7 weeks premature and came to us via emergency c-section due to preeclampsia. 10 months later her father and i separated.

these monthly letters follow our journey of illness, divorce, tears... but even more importantly, love, joy, life and laughter.

May 2, 2007

two months

dear claire,

happy 2 month birthday, little girl. this month was a rough one. you seemed so sad most of the time, showing us only quick glimpses of gleeful baby. so we finally took you to the dr to find out why. turns out you have acid reflux. i'd be sad too if my throat was on fire. so the dr gave us some medicine (medicine for you - though lord knows we need drugs too) and you are slowly but surely improving. we are still waiting on the edge of our seats for that first smile of yours. i can tell you're thinking about it, you know how to and you want to (you've been secretly laughing at us fools the whole time), but it wouldn't be any fun if you didn't make us work for it. it's a good thing i have practice talking like a total idiot to my cats, otherwise i'd have to hire a drunk clown to get you to smile. there is truly nothing more entertaining than a drunk clown.



while we were falling off the edge of our seats waiting for the first smile, you did supply us with something else: your first real tears. who knew that babies don't cry real tears right away? i didn't. not to embarrass you or anything, but your first real tears weren't of joy, or over spilled milk. they were over crap. yes. crap in your pants = real baby tears. the best part about this is you did it while we were in the car. the bester part was when you got your poop on my finger as i tried maneuvering a quick diaper change on a squirmy screamy teary poopy baby in the back seat. i will never forget the "first tears" experience.

you sucked your thumb for the first time the other day, which was both cute and ridiculous. ridiculous, i say because your thumb is about the size of a match, and it'd probably be more fulfilling if you would just learn to keep the pacifier in your mouth. though i suppose that would take the fun out of pulling over into the emergency lane on the freeway and watching me attempt to crawl in back and retrieve it for you when you are in hysterics because you spit it out. we do have some good times.

during the past few weeks you've begun to hold your head up, bringing you one step closer to being a real person, and one step further away from being a slimy blob. you're still closer on the map to blobville, but at least you look good doing it. and everybody knows that looking good is all that matters. once you've mastered the head holding up trick, i am going to teach you how to fetch mommy a glass of wine, oh the fun we shall have!

this month you've spent lots and lots of time with all your grandparents. a very strange thing happens when you are with them... YOU ARE PERFECT. you eat like a piggy, you sleep like an angel, you toot sunshine and rainbows, and basically make big fat liars out of us. our parents keep telling us we're crazy - we keep threatening to call them at 3am, put you on the phone, and prove we're not. if you keep up this "precious little angel" act at your grandparents' houses, one of two things will happen. one - we will let them keep you, or two - we will kidnap them, stow them away in our attic, and only bring them down when you are yelling and pooping all over the place. so claire, please make the wise decision here.... nobody wants old people in their attic.

in between sleeping, eating and screaming bloody murder you've began to develop a cute little personality. you've just started making eye contact, staring deeply into my eyes, scrunching your nose and pursing your lips as if to say, "i'm not quite sure what the deal is here, but i definitely do not approve." i have a feeling you are going to have a few choice words for us once you learn how to talk. until then - just keep up the cute faces, they make for great pictures and i'm thinking of selling them to people with ugly babies so they can frame them in their office and not get whispered about at the water cooler.

this month you were freed from your jail. when you turned 8 weeks old your doctor approved you leaving the confinements of this house and going whereverthehellyoupleased. you know where you went? the simi valley mall. now before you get all uppiddy on me, dsome people are BORN in simi valley. so don't even start. you did really well on your first outing. let me tell you, we were crowd pleasers. people would walk by and and exclaim, "OH! SO TINY!" and i would promptly reply, "thank you! i'm on diet!" i figure i can accept your compliments as my own for a while. ...at least until you learn to fetch me wine.


easter delight

love every piece of you, baby

-mama

April 2, 2007

one month

dear claire,


today we celebrated your one month birthday. what a celebration it was. you lovingly projectile puked an entire feeding on me. then i called your nana to come over so i could go spend daddy's hard earned cash on a new outfit (or two) for you as a reward. when people comment on how you already have too many clothes, i tell them (don't forget this), "a true lady has an outfit for EVERY occasion." that includes one month birthday vomit extravaganzas.

we took you to the dr's today and you weighed an astounding 6 lbs, 11oz. you've gained 50% of your body weight in 31 days. all the dr could do was let out a hearty chuckle and pat us on the back. we are TRULY amazing parents. duh. keep up the good work little piggy... but slow it down in a few years or you'll be hard pressed to find a prom dress.

i can hardly believe its been one month already. we've had you home from the nicu for 21 days now, and up until this week you've been the calmest, sweetest, gentlest baby in all the world. well sweetheart, the nurses in the nicu must have been bribing you, or drugging you or something... cuz for some reason you've recently decided it's quite fashionable to scream bloody murder.

you: "BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SOMETHING IS WRONG!!! SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG!!! BUT I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT IT IS!!! KEEP GUESSING, YOU JERKS!!!"

us: "help!"

lucky for all of us this only happens a few times a day, otherwise it'd be awfully embarrassing and we'd have to send fruit baskets to all the neighbors within a 2 mile radius. keep up the good work baby. tone those abs!

on to your cuteness... for someone who's not supposed to be born for three more weeks you have some mad skillz, lady. you can almost hold your head up completely by yourself. one day we were all like, "hey look, she can lift her head..." then a few days later, "hey look, she can lift her head and hold it steady for a few seconds and stare you down..." then this week it's been, "hey look, she's playing the piano and remodeling the kitchen..." seriously, you're really freakishly strong. you keep kicking daddy in the gut when he feeds you, and even though it hurts, we all think it's kinda cute when you're hungry and pissed and you slap me in the face. i'll let you get away with that for about 3 more months, so enjoy every last smack. certain people would pay good money for that privilege.

as far as daddy and i are concerned... i wont lie, being new parents is tough stuff. we are so insanely tired, and at times crazy-super-dont-even-look-at-me-stressed. but every once in a while you'll open up your pretty blue eyes, stick out your pouty bottom lip, and look at us like, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE AND DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!" no sweetie, we have no effing idea. but you definitely make it worth figuring out.



happy mama

welcome home baby claire. we love every second of you.


-mama