So Far, So Good

After 2 nights at home with Mason, we're starting to settle in.

Tuesday night was a bit on the rough side. Mason spent the majority of the daylight hours sleeping, which of course led to a wakeful night. As tired as Mandi and I were after getting only about 3 hours of sleep each, there was no time to pout. Mason's first appointment at the doctor's office was Wednesday morning at 8:30.

We didn't see a doctor this time, as it was really more of a weight check appointment than anything. The lactation specialist we saw gave him a quick once-over and was very helpful in addressing some of our concerns.

After dropping down from his birth weight of 7lb. 6oz. to 6lb. 11oz. on Saturday, Mason's bounced back like a champ and was up to 6lb. 14oz. yesterday morning. The expectation is that he reaches his birthweight by 14 days of life, meaning he's got to gain about 3/4 of an ounce each day. They weighed him again after a feeding and determined that he'd eaten almost an ounce and a third, which we're told was great for a 14 minute feeding. Go Mommy! With his zeal for eating, I forsee him easily regaining his birthweight by his 14 day appointment.

When we told the specialist about our rough night she immediately gave us a few suggestions regarding how to avoid those in the future. Without getting too specific, she basically just told us to aggrivate the hell out of him during the day so he'd be worn out at night time and ready to sleep. She told us to cluster feed him, keep him awake after feedings, and basically just wear his little butt out. I guess I didn't expect him to be treated so much like the other kids so soon! So that's what we did. We let him try out his vibrating bouncy seat and the swing, both of which he seemed to enjoy. He stayed alert quite a bit and ate well every time he was given the opportunity.

And wouldn't you know it, just as predicted he went to bed at 8:30 when the girls did and only woke up twice in the night to eat. Mandi and I each got about 7 hours of sleep, which is more than double what we got on the previous night. In fact, we slept so late that we had to really hustle to get Avery out the door to the bus! No worries, she made it on time and had a good breakfast too. Hopefully this pattern will continue and Mason won't be the insufferable sleeper that Lily was for so long. After his morning feedings today he sat for about an hour in the bouncy seat facing the windows, the curtains drawn back and the sun warming the room. He watched Mike & Mike in The Morning with me and listened to Lily tell him how much she loves him. She absolutely can not get enough of her baby brother. I love watching the way he responds to the sound of her voice when she talks to him. It's apparent to me that all that time she spent talking to him while he was in Mandi's belly paid off for both of them, as he quite obviously recognizes her loving tone.


It doesn't really fit here in the story, but when looking through pictures to add to this post I decided I had to add one of Mason's first bath at home. Mandi had him all set up in the sink in our bathroom . . he again loved having his hair washed but really didn't care for the body scrubbing. Oh well, he can't be perfect!

I'll do my best to keep the updates coming, but computer time has been lacking the last few days. I've been trying to make the most of the time I have when Mandi's feeding Mason in the middle of the night, but so far that's amounted to getting the girls' lunches packed and keeping the medicine and nursing journal. As for my birding reports, it's safe to say they might be few and far between for a week or so. I've heard reports of some of the wintering sparrows arriving in the area, but I've yet to see any for myself. No worries though, those things can wait.

More Pics From Day 1

Mason had some more visitors later on in the afternoon Friday. His Aunt Emily and his cousin Taylor came by, as well as a lot of Mandi's friends from work. Some more folks came by on Saturday while I was at work and at Avery's soccer game, but the camera had the day off. Thanks to everyone for all of the well-wishes. Mason's doing really well so far, still eating well and just generally being a chilled out baby. He LOVES to snuggle his mommy after he's done eating, and he really loves to be wrapped up in the blanket his Aunt Carolyn made for him. We'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Mason!

Mason James Slovick was born this morning at 8:00 am. He weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs. 6 oz., a good pound and a half lighter than Lily was! He's 20 inches long, has pretty blue eyes and a FULL head of copper-colored red hair. So far, we don't really see a lot of resemblance between him and anyone else . . except for his mouth, which looks a lot like Lily's. Here's a little slideshow of some photos from his first day!

T-Minus 38 Hours

Ok, so that's probably a bit too far out for a countdown, but I'm just getting really excited. Mason James Slovick will enter this world Friday morning at around 8:00 AM, and these last few hours are ones I hope to spend reflecting as well as wondering. I have had a tremendous last year and a half, with more life changes than I could have ever imagined. My time at home has allowed me to really explore not only the world around me, but also the person inside me. I feel like I've learned how to be a better husband and father, although it admittedly took quite a bit of shoving to get me over that precipice. I'm far from perfect, but at least I'm headed in the general direction.

I can't wait to meet my son on Friday.

You can count on continuous updates throughout the weekend, as I'll be armed with still and video cameras and the laptop at the hospital.

I decided to end this post with one last bird photo, since I am certain it'll be one of the last ones I take for a little while. It's a very cooperative Blackburnian Warbler I saw while birding at McGee Park in Concord on Tuesday.



EDIT: I'm going to leave the original post as it was and just add this note. That is NOT a Blackburnian Warbler. I struggled in the field to accept that ID, but I just didn't see anything else that made me say "Yes!". After posting the photo I picked up my Sibley Guide to The Birds, the larger copy that I keep at home. It's nearly identical to the Field version that I carry, but sometimes a fresh look at a different guide will open your eyes. This bird, upon further review, is a new life and Big Year bird for me. It is a Black-throated Green Warbler, and judging by the dull streaking on its breast I'd say it's a juvenile example of the species. Feel free to make fun of me for the mistaken ID, I know I've got it coming.

Go Commodores!

There's one unwritten rule of blogging that I've tried to follow since I started this blog last summer. Put simply . . don't write about stuff that will get you ridiculed. I think I've done well with that until now, but the streak will no doubt end today. Why, you ask? Two words: Vanderbilt football.

That's right my friends, The Vanderbilt Commodores football team is 4-0, 2-0 in SEC play and ranked #19 in the country. Let's forget, just for a moment, that their 2 SEC wins are against South Carolina, whose collection of quarterbacks couldn't start for at least 10 Charlotte-area high school teams, and lowly Ole Miss, although to Ole Miss's credit, they did beat Florida in Gainesville AND they hosted the first Presidential debate this year. Pithy put-downs aside, wins are wins, and the Commodores should make no apologies for their current record. Florida doesn't get to say "Well, one of our losses was to Ole Miss, and they suck", so Vandy can flaunt the win without an asterisk.

Today the Commodores take on the #13 Auburn Tigers, a one-loss team that's a perennial power in the SEC's Western division. Their one loss this season came at the hands of LSU, a top-five program by all accounts. The Tigers get their star running back back from injuries today, and they come to Nashville today as the favorite to win the 6:00 EST matchup.

Noteworthy about the game today is, among other things, the fact that ESPN's College Gameday is being broadcast from the Commodores' home in Nashville, TN for the first time in its history. The #19 ranking in the national poll is Vanderbilt's highest such ranking in nearly 50 years, and I'd venture to guess there aren't a whole lot of folks out there that expect it to continue after tonight's game. Those skeptics have a lot to base their predictions on, namely Vandy's paltry offensive and devensive production numbers for the season. The Commodores aren't ranked in the top 70 in the country in either offense or defense. But, as you'd expect from an academically-focused school like Vanderbilt, their team is extremely well disciplined, so much so that they're the least penalized team in the SEC. When you're trying to take down the big boys, you can't afford the little mistakes that can cost you yards, drives, and points. Also noteworthy is the Commodores' #1 ranking in all of college football in terms of turnover margin. Vandy's offense takes care of the football, and the defensive playmakers and schemes create turnovers by their opponents.

Now listen, people. I'm asking for a little bit of help today. It just so happens that on the hour of this highly-publicized, important matchup for my alma mater's team I will be attending, of all things, a wedding. For a couple that, quite frankly, I'm not overly fond of. But, we've already bought the gifts, so we'll be going to the wedding and hoping for both an open bar and a TV tuned to ESPN at the reception. If I don't find a TV, I expect all of you to flip on the tube around 6:00 Eastern and root for the Commodores to upset Auburn tonight. If you don't, just at least tell me you did, so that I can feel better. If anyone wants to take on the role of "scoring update text-messager", feel free. And now, we will return to our regularly scheduled birds-and-kids themed programming here at The Guide.

Owl #3

This morning I planned to bird on the McEachern Greenway near Downtown Concord. When I got to the parking lot, I decided to change plans and explore the area on the other side of the park, near where construction is beginning on the Downtown Connector Greenway. The vegetation has been cleared out for the connector, but no work has been done yet on the actual improvements. I saw this as an opportunity to explore the area before it becomes heavily trafficked.

The weather this morning was perfect, low 60's, no humidity, clear sunny sky. The birds obviously thought it was pretty great as well, because they were active, vocal, and surprisingly congenial. I was getting great looks at numerous species, including Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, American Redstarts, and throngs of Carolina Wrens. In one of the deepest parts of the woods I saw a raptor fly out and across the clearing above the path. I looked up and got a great view of my third owl of the year, a Barred Owl. He was gone within a matter of seconds, but his markings and shape were unmistakeable, so I feel confident in the ID. It took me long enough, but I finally added all three of the area's common owls to my Big Year list.

There is no really exciting conclusion to this story . . the owl's pretty much it. I did, however, get a couple of good photos, so I figure why not share them. Ok, so the one of the Black and White Warbler isn't exactly a "good" photo, but photos of warblers are so danged difficult to get that I feel obligated to share them. As always, click the photos to enlarge. In order, they're Downy Woodpecker (male), Black-and-White Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Common Yellowthroat (female), and Northern Cardinal (duh, male).

Say it ain't so!

The girls and I had already taken one long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, but the cabin fever was still lingering. Granted, it was Mandi that was suffering from it, but as she's far less mobile than the rest of us these days, it's up to me to get the kids out of the house when their rambunctiousness threatens to drive her over the edge. So, after dinner, we put on our coats and headed out for another walk around the block.

Our first walk took us toward the main roads and the playground, so this time we decided to go the other direction and head down toward the nature trail. It quickly became obvious, as it often does, that Lily would need to be coaxed into keeping up with Avery and I, so I enticed her to pick up the pace by promising to walk by her friend Matt's house. The tactic seemed to work well, as she immediately picked up the pace and said, "Ooh, yeah, I wanna go play with him!"

As we made our way down the street the end-game began to evolve. The prospect of simply playing with Matt seemed to be losing its luster, so eventually her plan morphed into a much more endearing one. Now she did not want to play, but rather she wanted to go give Matt a hug. I began to formulate my rationale for not actually stopping at Matt's house, which frankly was not that difficult because it was getting both chilly and dark outside. Surely she'd go for that line of reasoning.


Then, as we rounded the corner and passed by Matt's neighbor's house, Lily changed things up again. But this time, I was ill-prepared.

As she asked to go ring the doorbell, I started in with the "It's too cold and it's getting dark" spiel. Undaunted, she replied with something I never saw coming, and the only response I could muster was one of unbridled laughter.

"Daddy, can we PLEEEEEEASE go see Matt???"

"No, Lily, we've got to get home!"

"But Dadddddddyyyy, I really want to give Matt a kiss!"

"Baaahhhhhh!!!"

I literally laughed out loud . . so loud that I'm quite sure a few neighbors came to their front doors to see what the heck was going on. I hurried the girls along and assured Lily that not only would we not be going to Matt's house, but that the next time he came over to play they would NOT be allowed out of my sight!

They grow up so quickly, eh?