From Mom

Earlier this week, when I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking of going in to school for one of the beginning-of-the-year meetings, she told me I was crazy and threatened to lock me in my house. "It will exhaust you," she insisted.

But I was feeling good: Katie had been sleeping for 5 - 6 hours at night, Jim had been great about giving me breaks--why not stop in to see my co-workers and join in? And maybe even introduce Katie around a bit?

Dare I say it? Sleeping Beauty :)

That was before I found out what being over-tired and over-stimulated can do to an 11-day old baby. BAD idea, mommy!

Katie actually held up incredibly well: she wowed everyone and made it home in one piece . . . and then fell apart. We're 29 hours out, and she's recovered--sleeping again, eating again, not quite so over-stressed. But I'm not sure Jim and I will ever look at a trip, a visit, or anything outside of the house the same again!

In other news, Katie is now almost two weeks old and is starting to fill out a bit. She's a lot more alert and will actually spend time looking around at her world and environment. Attached is a video . . . true, it's not the greatest quality, and babies this age don't actually do all that much . . . but it's HER!!

One Week In

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday . . .

OK, so it's only one week, but still: why not celebrate?

Since my last post, a lot has happened:

• my first "outing": we walked two blocks to Chocaholic (a coffee shop/cafe), Mom & Dad ordered dinner . . . and then decided that maybe it would be best to get the food "to go." I'm sure it had nothing to do with the popularity of "argileh" (water pipes) or with the fact that I was starting to get fussy!
• my first real trip in the car: to the Embassy. I've got to say, though, that some of the questions on the passport application didn't quite seem to apply: height? 50 cm. occupation: baby. have you ever been married before? hmmm . . . 
• my first visitors here at home: Mom's friend Manal was first, then some of her co-workers from school (I made sure to "baptize" one of them with spit-up . . . glad she's already an experienced grandma!), then the Wednesday night study group. Whew!

Asleep in Daddy's arms

They call me "Little Miss Houdini":
there's not a swaddle invented
I can't get at least one arm out of!

Other than that, it's been life as . . . well, "normal," I guess. I'm getting really good at eating and . . . shall we say eliminating? Once I'm asleep, I'm great at sleeping, and I'm even getting better at falling asleep, as long as Mom & Dad pay attention to when I get sleepy. After I've eaten, I love to just look around at my world and "taste" everything. Yeah, I know that seems strange, but Mom says that the way I stick my tongue out all the time makes it look like I'm wanting to taste my world. Little does she know that light & dark have different flavors! And, of course, hanging out in Daddy's arms is still a definite favorite . . .

Names and Hands

Dad just got back from getting my birth certificate, and it seems like a good time to properly introduce myself.

Yes, I'm called Katie, but that's actually only my nickname. It's what Mom & Dad have been calling me for months now--although they wouldn't tell anyone else. Mom wanted to "meet" me before deciding for sure on a name. Guess it must have fit!

My official name, however, is Karis Lydia VanCleave. Well, at least that's my official name according to Mom & Dad and, hopefully, according to the US government once I apply for my passport on Wednesday. Karis is Greek for "grace," and Mom & Dad say that that's what I am--an amazing gift of grace to them. Lydia comes from the woman talked about in Acts 16: 14 - 15. Apparently, she sold purple cloth and was from Thyatira. I don't think that's why Mom & Dad chose the name, though! But it does says that she "was a worshiper of God" and that God opened her heart so that she responded to the truth that Paul was sharing.

As far as hands are concerned, have I mentioned how great Dad's hands are? They're big, and they're great for calming me down when I'm upset, for sucking on (his thumb pad is just about the right size), and for making me feel safe before I go to sleep. And, yesterday, I "discovered" my hands! Well, not really: Dad helped me find them, but I've got to say that when Mom or Dad helps me out, my fists, fingers, thumbs, whole hands . . . pretty much any part of them . . . are also great for sucking on. Which does, by the way, seem to be my favorite thing to do when I'm awake.

Arrival

Dad "pushing":
He heard that Mom might have to push a lot,
 so he offered to help!

 Anyone who has ever visited Amman knows that, unless you're flying Royal Jordanian, chances are very good that you'll arrive some time in the wee hours of the morning--so why should I have been any different?

Yep, Mom & me

I was born at the Istishari Hospital in Amman, Jordan, at 1:40 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, 2011. I weighed 3.4 kg (that's about 7.5 lbs) and was 50 cm (about 20 inches) long. With my fringe of light blonde hair and dark blue eyes (well, for now at least), I definitely stuck out in the nursery--everyone else in there had dark eyes and a full head of jet black hair!!!

Here's Dad and me,
maybe a minute after I showed up

By the time the nurses were done cleaning me up, measuring me, and who knows what else (can you believe what they make you go through these days?!), I was ready to hang out with Mom for a while and try to figure out this whole eating thing. Not as easy as everyone makes it seem! Then it was back to the nursery for more trauma (sticking my foot for blood?!) before we finally got to go sleep for a few hours in the hospital room. 

According to Mom & Dad,
this is what I look like most of the time:
a blanket with a head.
Apparently, "swaddling" is a good thing!