One Month Old

Tristan is one month old! Actually he is four weeks old. Since he was born on the 31st of Jan, when exactly is he one month? Is it the last day of Feb? Is it 3 days after the 28th, Mar 3rd, which is when Feb 31st would be if Feb had that many days? I don't know, but he's growing fast. He now weighs in at 10 lbs. 7 oz. and is 22 inches long.

My boys!

Just some cute pictures of my boys, all wrapped up.

First Smile!

I got the first smile! Well it's more like an open mouth, but it's definitely a happy social response. And I got it first. James is so jealous, but he got JR's first smile. I was playing pat-a-cake with Tristan and he just started opening his mouth really wide when I would do it. A few times it was a wide mouth with a grin - certainly the start of a smile!

JR's Song

When JR was first born, I picked a special song I'd sing for him to help calm him down when he was upset and help him fall asleep when he was tired. The song was Our Town, by Iris Dement:

And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Up the street beside that red neon light,
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.
He was the tender and I ordered a beer,
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.

But you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.
Over there is where I bought my first car.
It turned over once but then it never went far.

And I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.
I bring them flowers about every day,
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.

If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.

But I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,
But I'll hold to my lover,
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.

Tristan's Song

Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen:

I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah

hallelujah...

well your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah

hallelujah...

baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before i knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...

well there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me do you
but remember when i moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah

well, maybe there's a god above
but all I've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear at night
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...

Tristan has been meeting the family

Tristan with Bapa and Flor

Tristan with Auntie Cassie and cousins Tod, Jessica, and Emilly

Tristan with Granddad

Tristan with Uncle Nick and JR

There's Always A But...

Sure he's cute when sleeps, but...


...the boy snores!

Tristan in his bouncy chair

First Bath

There comes a point in every parent's life that they must admit even though their child is perfect, he stinks. Is it the jelly between the toes or that weird goop in the crease of the legs? I don't know, but something needed to be done.

Time just sped up

I forgot how fast time goes with a newborn. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and now Tristan is over a week old. At first it felt like that first day with him would last forever, but then the days just started flying by. Pretty soon he'll be a month old, then two, and on and on. I enjoy watching them grow, but I just have to remember to stop and stare at my baby every once in a while.

We Have A Bellybutton!

Tristan fell asleep on the couch tonight. After the mandatory cuteness pictures, we noticed he was a little wet.

We opened him up for a diaper change and discovered his umbilical cord had fallen off.


Like most mothers, Theresa plans on saving it. I just know I'm going to find it lying on the floor one day and mindlessly pop it in my mouth (although, that might just cure me from mindlessly popping things in my mouth I find on the floor).

Our First Outing

We make the leap today and actually left the safety of our home.


Theresa was happy to be out of the house for the first time in a week. Tristan, however, wasn't that excited. In fact, he promptly fell asleep. JR is thrilled that he can stare at Tristan while we drive thanks to the magic of rear-facing car seats.

Tales of Laughter and Hunger

Today I came home and Theresa was all smiles. She was holding Tristan while he slept and (so she claims) he was sleep-smiling and started laughing. Needless to say, he has yet to repeat the incident with me (and I'm supposed to be the funny one). Bah.


We have figured out two of Tristan's cries. There's a low-tone, huff/grunt that means he's gassy and a short, high pitch shriek he uses to say "Feed me...now!". Luckily for you, home viewer, Theresa thought it would be fun to catch this shriek on video rather than quench his hunger. Enjoy!

Big Brother JR

JR is a great big brother. We knew he would be. JR loves to hold Tristan, give him kisses, show him toys, tell him stories, and talk to him.

JR reading to Tristan

JR giving Tristan kisses

Prince JR, ready for another story

Three In A Bed

I love having a new baby in the house! He smells delicious (well, most of the time), he's soft and cuddly, and he makes great little noises (again, most of the time). The real treat, the best thing of all, though, is being able to cosleep again. We moved JR out of our bed after only eight months, and that turned out to be sooner than he or we wanted. I'd like to keep Tristan in with us for at least a year.

There are lots of reasons for cosleeping. Babies sleep better and safer. Studies have shown that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is greatly reduced for the breastfeeding, co-sleeping baby, when with non-smoking, sober parents in a standard adult bed with wedging dangers removed. Even parents sleep better and safer. Still half asleep, mommy can care to baby when he nudges to nurse. Restful hormones released in mother and baby through nursing then lull both gently back to sleep. There is no waking to a hungry, crying baby. I can even get baby and change him without waking up fully. There's even evidence that cosleeping babies can be awakened if the parents stop breathing and disturb them out of their apnea. When you combine this with the bonding that comes along for free, it's easy to love cosleeping. In fact, there's not one shred of evidence exists to support the widely-held notion that co-sleep is detrimental to the psychological or physical health of infants--just anecdotal claims, misconceptions, and unfounded fears. But don't just take my word for it, use google or check out this site and this site.

As good as all that is, though, those aren't the reasons I love cosleeping so much. Let's look at a diagram of our bed before we were married:

I'm represented in blue and Theresa is the anatomically correct, pink blob. As you can see, I'm on the left, Theresa's on the right, and everything is fair and balanced (in the true sense, not the Fox News sense). Now let's look at the same bed after marriage:
What's going on here!? I'm not even fully on the bed anymore. This, unmarried gentlemen, is what's referred to in the wedding vows as "or for worse". And now let's look at the same bed, but with a new baby thrown in the mix:
Much better! Harmony has been restored.

And that's why I love having three in a bed!

May I present to you...

After a long, hard night of name consideration, a winner has emerged. Be sure it was no easy choice. We went through the good: Maverick Chance Holliday (a name so cool it was sure to be envied by JR), the bad: Atticus Summerwind Holliday (I'm not sure where Summerwind came from), and the ugly: Booger Eyeball Holliday the Fifth (JR's contribution).

After considerable trimming, however, we were left with gold. And so, without further ado, may I present to you...

Tristan Thomas Holliday