Porter’s current repertoir includes: sleeping, eating, not sleeping, marathon hiccuping, crying, perfecting his aim in long-distance projectile spitting and peeing all over the place each time his diaper is being changed. Not bad for being just short of 2 weeks old.

(you can either click here, or on the photo to see the Porter Portfolio: Week 1)

It is so hard to remember exactly when Stella settled down into a regular sleep-wake cycle, which makes it that much more difficult to feel optimistic that our sleep schedule will find a rhythm anytime soon. Thankfully, Stella has been a champ at sleeping through all the late-night activities – a miracle, considering we are up no less than 4 times a night. My mantra of late: although things are crazy, they could be SO much worse.

We have had to resort to some less than desirable tools in our attempts at maintaining sanity, and Stella has watched Toy Story roughly 67 times in the short period since receiving it on Easter. I have even been so desparate as to try to buy her a new video (Shrek) so we don’t have to hear “To Infinity and beyond!” one more time, but she would have none of it. It’s Toy Story or it’s nothing. End of story.

Through all this insanity I have been somehow able to recognize – and revel in – some of the finer moments, the kind of moments that give me hope that I have not yet reached the dead end of Sanity Avenue. Like when Stella and I sat quietly on the kitchen floor sharing a peanut butter sandwich, or getting to sit with Porter propped up in front of me watching him try to focus his little eyes on the mini-blinds behind my head. And then there was the brief glimpse of normalcy I witnessed this past week when, on one of our rare sunny days, we had the house opened up and the radio on, Stella was running in and out, and Steve and I were cooking in the kitchen while I wore Porter in the sling, nestled contently against my chest. A moment that made me realize just how worth it it all really is.

Is there someone who could explain to me why babies come straight from the factory defaulted to nocturnal mode, leaving parents to have to spend the first month rewiring them? I would like to have a sit-down with the head of the product design department on who thought up this particular feature…and smack them around a little.

Aside from the sleeping glitches, Porter is awesome in about every other way. We are busy teaching him parlor tricks, and some basic survival skills like how to play blackjack and how to heat food on the manifold of a car. We suspect he will be a real renaissance man.

We have finally managed to get Stella to stop calling him Quarter and start calling him Porter, and are so pleased that she has exhibited nothing but love and sweetness towards him from the first moment she laid eyes on him. Being the yuckster she is, she is constantly is trying to tickle him and I know it is only a matter of time before she starts him in on her knock-knock jokes. Maybe someday they will take their act on the road.

After taking Porter in for his first official doctor visit today, I was informed that he still weighs nine and a half pounds. The doctor indicated that most newborns lose weight quickly after birth, and take about 10 days to get back to their original birth weight. I swore up and down that we hadn’t been feeding him Oreos and french fries and that, due to some breastfeeding issues, he had even experienced a 12-hour stretch where he hadn’t consumed a single ounce of anything. You’d think I’d be used to this kind of thing by now.

Thanks again to all of you who have sent along your good wishes and generous gifts. We feel very lucky to have such a supportive group of friends and family.

(click either here or on the photo to see a quick round-up of photos from Porter’s grand arrival)