yes, I am alive

But no, I haven't showered yet. However, I did make the bed.

Today officially marks 21 days of life for the little man (Henry). He and I are still getting to know each other. This is what I can tell you about him:

• He likes music. All kinds. He loves to R and R while Matt plays the piano--and he'll calm down to anything from Debussy to Chopin.
• He's a thinker. During his quiet-awake moments, his eyes are big and deep. I can't wait for him to be able to give me some commentary on what is going through his little head.
• He is strong. When not in a tired state, he will push against you and try to hold his head up to catch what's going on around him. And he's tried crawling while on his tummy.
• He likes to eat. He's averaging half a pound a week. (Plus a bit more.)

Motherhood is an adjustment for me. I have never had a dependent little person have my undivided attention for an entire 24-hour period. For days and weeks in a row. It is oh-so tiring, but at the same time, it is oh-so intimate. We're fast becoming best buddies. And Mom (that's me!) will be an even better buddy once the feeding schedule slows down.

Here's to another three weeks of adventure and discovery!

Dinner and pictures

Household chores have been reassigned at our home since Henry's birth. While I am a slow learner at doing laundry (I always forget which special buttons to press for darks, whites, or diapers), I've actually had fun taking over head chef duties. In the past week, we've had portobello mushroom quesadillas, broccoflower curry soup, and tonight, grilled chicken sandwiches with spicy avocado sauce and oven fries. Strangely, I picked all these recipes because they seemed "simple," but I've been rather late each time getting dinner on the table. Tonight, as we talked about that, Tricia reminded me that right after we got married, she had excitedly made fancy dinners each night of the week until we both realized how much time food prep was taking and decided to scale back a bit. I think I'll be doing the same now.

Here's a few pictures:

1. Tonight's dinner.


2. Henry's cloth diapers being washed.


3. Grandparents Newman vying for Henry's attention.


4. With Uncle Michael.


5. With Grandparents Sederberg.


6. First walk around the neighborhood with Dad.

Going back to church

Today I went to our ward's sacrament meeting for the first time since Henry was born. I feel like my reasons for not going the past two weeks were valid (the first week being completely overwhelmed with a newborn just home from the hospital and needing round-the-clock supervision as he was under a bank of lights, and the second week staying home with Henry so Tricia could go to church). However, even though I had good excuses, I still really missed being there.

So during church today, I found myself reading Moroni 6:4-5, which talks about why the ancient Saints met together often: they met both to worship Christ and to show concern for the welfare of each other's souls. As I read that, I understood one reason why regular Sunday worship so valuable: it helps us fulfill the first and second commandments--to love God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

As I looked around the congregation, I saw kids of all ages and looked forward to being able to bring Henry! We're waiting just a couple more weeks to avoid RSV...

Henry and the piano

This is our favorite father-son activity right now. When Henry is fussy and doesn’t need to burp, eat or get his diaper changed, he LOVES to hear the piano. We call it our giant music box. I hold him in the crook of one arm and play with my free hand. After about thirty seconds, he will listen mesmerized. Strangely, it never puts him to sleep—he just likes to listen. His favorite music is Beethoven and Chopin, and today we learned that he likes hymns, too!