Pre-Xmas Photo Dump -- Now with Videos!

Today Tesla is 5 months and 5 days old. In three days our too-short but welcome Winter Break starts, and some of you will get to see Tesla -- some of you for the first time! Here are some photos we're late in posting, and three videos too.

Stylish mom, world-weary Tesla

Summit of Mount Patellae

Squash Soup!

Aunt meets Niece

O hai

Amanda's eyes seem hazel next to Tesla's, right?

Patio

Tesla poses for a classic Madonna/child pose with student Iona Swift

Tesla likes to try to eat her feet

Now the videos. This one shows one of Tesla's first attempts at eating something other than breast milk, with Amanda's assistance:

Next up, just a pile of adorable ladies:

Finally, Tesla laughs -- laughs! -- when Bridget pretends to eat her liver:

Chillin' on the Chaise Longue

Graham Frey, our Head of School, has been assuring us for a while that the Tesla car company was not doing so hot financially. Then last week the Tesla Model S was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year.

We don't think that this will result in a kindergarten class full of kids named Tesla — which is important to us — but we do think that if the company thrives, we are much more likely to hear the question "oh, is she named after the car?" Which might be kind of lame, but if all the girls named Kia, Sonata, and Portia can handle it, so can our little wonder.

Here's a video of her on the back patio in the silence after the kids have all gone on their Thanksgiving break (I sound a little throaty cuz I'm a little sick):

End of October Photo Dump

First the general update, then the photos

As of this writing...

• Tesla is 3 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days old.
• She weighs a little over 17lbs, which is about double her birth weight.
• She goes to bed at 7pm and generally wakes around 7am, with 1-2 wakings in the night for 20min feedings.
• After struggling with daytime naps, a coworker told us that she had success getting her kids down a scant hour after waking in the morning. It's worked pretty well for the last week!
• We got a white-noise maker after finding that she would sometimes wake up from naps if she heard our voices downstairs (even through closed doors!). What I like about WNMs is that the most popular design is still the same as it's been since the 70s: a frustum of a cone with perforated, nested, industrial beige powder-coated steel whoosies that turn to vary the pitch of the WN (no, can't be the pitch, because WN has got to be all over the spectrum, pitch-wise, right? The apparent pitch? The range of pitches?). I feel like the first one I ever saw was in Trudi's office in her apartment. If not, perhaps it was in Pearl-Ellen Gordon's office?
• It's 53°F in Sedona at 11pm. The heat doesn't get turned on at the VVS campus until after Field Trips. Luckily, while Jeremy is off in Los Angeles with unruly teens, Sue will be here to keep Bridget and Tesla warm. If anyone can talk Graham into turning the heat on early, it's Hurricane Sue!
• Speaking of hurricanes, Sandy is still rated a hurricane. Our thoughts are with everyone on the East Coast. Stay good and hunkered until it blows over, kay?
• In other news, Amanda (and her friend Sarah) will be driving to Arizona for Thanksgiving! We're looking forward to a restful week to recharge before the students return, and we're excited to introduce Tesla to her Aunt Amanda.
• Aunt Amanda!
• We think Tesla might be teething, as she's drooling like crazy and gnawing on her fingers to the point that sometimes her entire hand seems to disappear into her mouth. We live in fear of the day she yanks out her liver and drops it casually to the floor.
• We'd like to thank everyone who gave us all the baby stuff that we rely on every day. We would have a naked baby without you. Thank you so, so much.

We love you all! Here are the pictures!

Oct 9:

 Oct 10:

 Oct 12:

 Oct 22:

 Oct 23:

Tesla Making Noises

Tesla is starting to make gurgling sounds. Love the gurgles!

Some Tesla Pix for your Tesla Fix

Just some pix we snapped during "tummy time" this week.

Did anyone spot the Channing Tatum cameo?

Babies are Cute

Here's a song I just wrote for Tesla while changing her:

You love to be up on the changing table
You really love to hang out right up here
We didn't name you Agatha or Mabel
Cuz Tesla is the best name of the year

And here are some pictures:

Powerful Tesla

The Intergalactic Gangster (thanks Clay!)

Sally Cumberland

Okay let me say something about Sally. Sally is the most amazing friend, houseguest, person in the world. She is wearing Tesla about 80% of her (Sally's) waking hours. She's been here since mid-August and we are dreading our transition to normal unassisted parenting. We love you Sally!

The picture above is from yesterday. Tesla goes in for some shots on Monday. We finally have her official birth certificate from Maine, complete with the correct spelling of her first name! Next we have to fix the Social Security misspelling.

Love to all!

We've been delinquent

So here is a single image to tide you over until more time to blog appears:

August 25, 2012

Leaving Maine: Photo Dump

This coming Saturday we will leave our rental on 13 Hildreth Rd in Harpswell, ME, for a weeklong Heersink Family reunion (albeit a limited edition version featuring only the Ben & Sue Heersink branch) in Newburyport. So it's time for a photo dump!

Since I last posted, we received a new camera from my aunt Andrea: the totally awesome Sony RX100. Thanks Andrea! Here's the last picture taken with the Nikon Coolpix:

Clockwise from left: Fiona, Jeremy, Deirdre, Bridget, Sue, Tesla

Not terrible, by any means, though in order to take the picture without the flash, the shutter slowed to the point that I look like a blur. There's a foggy haze over Fiona's face, and the rafters seem warped and curved by the distortion of the lens.

From now on, not all the pictures will be museum quality, but here's one of the first I took with the new camera:

I just love this picture!

Here's one of our last strolls with the Rosemary's Baby carriage:

Here's the pic we'll probably use for the birth announcement (and I will probably try to make a painting from it too):

O hai!

In other news, I got a molar extracted yesterday after a valiant week-long struggle with intense maxillofacial pain:

Whatever! Moving on....

At long last, here are two adorable pictures of Tesla wearing the adorable bunny hat knitted by her aunt Amanda:

Here are some Tesla toes:

We had a visit today from some dear friends:

Eliza, Nathan, Rachel

And finally, here are two adorable pictures of our nuclear family:

Yay!

Stop Hitting Yourself!

Tesla can get very violent with her own self when she gets fussy. Usually this takes the form of raking her teeny tiny fingernails across her tiny fragile face. The doctor said it's normal and not to worry too much — baby faces heal fast.

Today while I was changing her, she started screaming like I've never heard her scream — like I had put her down on some thumbtacks or something. As I tried to figure out what was wrong, I looked at her head. No fingers in her eyes, and all eyes still intact and in their sockets.

She was pulling her own hair.

While reaching out, routinely, for something to grab, she had gotten a teeny tiny fistful of hair and started pulling. The pain made her tighten every muscle in her body, including the relevant fist-making muscles in the hand. I took me a few seconds to figure out how to get her to let go without damaging either her head or her hand. When I did, she drifted instantly into a contented slumber.

Babies, am I right?

I Have Hidden My Baby...

I have hidden my baby
somewhere on my person.
You are free to look anywhere for it.
I will think little of you
if you do not find it.

Tesla Making Faces

Not much more to this video than a 10-day-old baby making faces. Before we turned on the camera, she ran through a huge succession of expressions, like a master actor demonstrating her craft. We only caught a fraction of her repertoire.

Bridget says I should dub a version with silly voices. Perhaps I shall. But until then:

Two videos

Here are two videos from the first 10 days of Tesla's life.

The first is long, and you don't need to watch all of it to get the point:

Don't Wake the Baby, Can't Wake the Baby

And here is the first of a series demonstrating the effect of sleep deprivation on Broomfields:

Welcome to Centering

Back home (at the rented house)

We were discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and returned to the house in Harpswell, where Bridget's mom Sue, My mother Pam, and my stepfather Mike are around to make sure we remember to eat, bathe, and change our clothes. Of course, they will also share their child-rearing experience, and — when we ask for it —their advice. But ONLY when we ask for it — right, everybody?

Okay, so before we left the hospital, we took some more pictures:

Bridget and Tesla

An unplanned wardrobe color convergence (thanks for the shirt, Sue!)

 Then, we took pictures at the house:

Baby's first home-bath

After you become a father, food no longer seems impressive

Megan and David brought Sophia, Antonia, and Christianna to gaze upon their youngest cousin

Sleeping babies make me sleepy. Also, look at my temples: GREY HAIRS. It begins.

Tesla has adorable froggy legs. She likes to sleep on your chest with her arms stretched out and encompassing you. If you move too much she will tighten her grip on you. She smells like a fresh new baby. We can't wait for you to meet her.

Science rules?

I saw a couple checking out of maternity and went to look at their baby. It looked very much like my baby. All the babies here look pretty similar. I asked the child's name.
     "Sagan," said the mom.
     "Really!" I replied, overjoyed that there was another science baby on the ward. What were the odds? "Named for Carl Sagan?" I gushed, eager to tell her about Tesla.
     She winced slightly. "No... Tyler. " When I looked blank, she elaborated: "Bruins."
     Ah. An awkward silence.
     She named her baby after Tyler Seguin, a hockey player.

Tesla Ogden Broomfield

Tesla Ogden Broomfield

July 11, 2012

9:36pm EDT

at

Mid-Coast Hospital

123 Medical Center Drive

Brunswick, ME 04011

8lbs 12.7oz

20.5" tall

-----

Sorry for the delay in the information! The hospital's wi-fi service is terrible, so I'm out at Starbucks for this quick update. Meanwhile, our camera is just terrible, so a lot of the pictures we got were blurry, too dark, or washed out. But here's a quick set of photos until we can ge the better ones off Deirdre's camera.

Before it got really hectic, this was Bridget's belly

Tesla Ogden Broomfield

Our precocious baby feeding almost immediately after entering the world

Swaddled!

---------

Okay, a quick timeline!

Tuesday July 10

• 9pm — Bridget begins to feel frequent bouts of what feel like menstrual cramps. We eat some chicken and corn.
• 11pm — Bridget heads to bed, thinking she'd better rest while she can.

 Wednesday July 11

• 1:30am — Bridget moves to the couch, not wanting her inability to fall asleep to keep Jeremy awake (very considerate!)
• 3am — Bridget starts sleeping intermittently
• 7am — "I guess this is probably labor, huh?"
• 8am — Bridget takes a bath.
• 11am — Previously scheduled ultrasound at the hospital. Everything pretty okay.
• 12pm — Upstairs to Midwifery Suite. Natalie Rockwell looks at the results, agrees that all is pretty okay, and examines Bridget for progress. HOLY CRAP she's dilated 6cm and the cervix is "paper-thin"! Let's admit you right now to the Maternity Ward! We call Bridget's sister Deirdre (Brunswick resident, M.D. with baby-delivering experience, and all-around awesome human being to have in the room!) and tell her to head over.
• 1pm — As Bridget is admitted, Jeremy rushes back to house to feed Sonmi-451 and cancel her appointment with the veterinarian (lucky dog); grabs all the stuff we'll need at the hospital.
• 2pm-7pm — Bridget's contractions get stronger and more frequent, she breathes through it all. She starts to feel her first urge to push. 
• 8:00pm — We head to the birthing tub. Lots of amazing support from an amazing staff headed by midwife Angela Ripley. Lots of pushing and breathing.
• 9:36pm — Baby arrives! Then other stuff happened, none of it worth putting into this quick timeline. Pam and Mike Benning arrive after heroically driving up from NYC to watch the house and the dog while we're in the hospital. Lots of calls made to family. Eventually, sleep.

 Okay that's it for now! I love you all!

40w 3d: Contractions have begun

Contractions kept Bridget up all night, but they are irregular and don't meet the 4-1-1 test (4 minutes apart, lasting longer than 1 minute, for over an hour). We've got a scheduled ultrasound anyway at the hospital, so we'll see if we're getting close to admittance.

Due date here, but no baby yet

Hey all, we've been getting some calls wondering if the baby came exactly on time. The answer, as the odds predicted, is no. Around 5% of babies arrive on the official due date.

Today Bridget is going for a ride on Deirdre's boat, and then Dre, Myles, Megan, David, Sophia, Antonia, and Christianna will come over for dinner (Marc will tend to Fiona, who has a fever).

Tomorrow we meet again with the midwives. We will try to schedule an appointment with Eliza Nichols's acupuncturist, whom Eliza believes helped kickstart her labor.

Bridget is constantly eating frozen treats.

Due date arrives; baby remains inside.