We can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks already.

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The baby showed up, and pragmatism and fatigue have led to a bit of a shopping spree on stuff we previously resisted getting . . .

• Vacuum cleaner – the time efficiency of the swiffer and dust-buster weren’t quite cutting it anymore
• Stroller – an awesome Maclaren XT  loaner from Haritha and Mike.  It’s great to use at restaurants when Belle is sleeping
• Changing table – I wanted our bedroom desk back, and Cynthia’s back was starting to hurt.  I bought the floor model from IKEA since it was the only one available in Taiwan until the next shipment in 2 months.   I asked them to disassemble it but this didn’t exactly translate, so I stood on Dunhua and flagged down a hatchback cab that could eat it whole.
• Convertible High chair/rolling bassinet – a friend at work has one that’s no longer useful to him, but will be to us
• SLR camera – I mentioned buying this already, but now I need to get some kind of  camera box/bag, because there is an unsustainable pile of random camera accessories sitting on the desk.
• Wet wipes – the cloth diapers are working awesome, but the homemade wipes were marginal.  Costco sells them 900 at a time which is handy.

I’d suppose rather have it this way then buying buying a bunch of stuff in advance and finding out we don’t need half of it.

Belle and Cynthia moved to the other room last night, and I got my first full nights sleep in a couple weeks – Cynthia is so awesome she even put up with the broken AC in that room  (hopefully the guy will come fix it tomorrow).

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Just a quick post of some more pics . . . most of these are meta-shots the 1 week photo shoot Mike did for us.  I bought an 1100D  SLR over the weekend, so I’ll keep the pics coming as something interesting arises.  Belle is doing well, Mom is tired.

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We said farewell to the insulated bubble of our recovery room and the staff yesterday morning to head home.  I told the cab driver to ” 開車小心” (drive carefully) bit it didn’t seem to make a difference in his style; we made it home safe regardless.  Belle slept the whole ride. She seems to like sleeping during the day and being awake at night.   We do not like this as much.    Cynthia’s milk came in which was painful and frustrating for her but is already getting better today.

As I’m writing this on Wednesday night, we’re both cracking up as Belle, in the midst of a two hour nap, made sounds advertising she’d  just filled a diaper.  Tomorrow we are going to make the jump and switch to cloth ones.

The adults around here are eating the pre-made frozen dinners Cynthia prepped specifically for this post-partum month: enchilada’s yesterday (with guacamole since they had avacados at Costco last week)  and lasagna today (with a salad).    The plethora of baby stuff we bought seems to be working as it should. The only gaps on my shopping list besides some fresh veggies were a hamper for baby clothes (which I walked down the street to pick up IKEA), some night lights for evening feedings and changes (room lights are too bright in the middle of the night), and an SLR camera (more on that in a second).

Tomorrow I go back to the office at least for some of day and try to get back into the swing of things. Cynthia and I were saying that that as incredible and joyful it is to have Belle, we’re already a little bit sad that she’s already 4 days old. All the attention and novelty is addictive – now we’re moving into the phase where things are just a bit more settled in and “normal”.

(click for todays gallery of pictures)

You may notice that the quality of many of these pictures improved in this set – this is because my professional photographer friend Mike dropped off his spare Canon 5D II mounted with a 35mm f/1.4 to borrow for a few days. Wayne also dropped off an Olympus EPL-1 with a 20mm f/1.7.

The options

The ISO noise in indoor light and infinite depth of field of my 870IS point and shoot had reached the breaking point for me over the last couple days of once in a lifetime events. It’s still an awesome camera given it’s size and fantastic to use outside and easily fits in a pocket (even with the screen I partially broke).  I still plan to use it this way. However, Megan has really raised my expectations for what a great photo should look like, and I while I do not aspire to her level I want to take better candid photos of my kid than the point and shoot. I took a couple comparable shots to show off the difference between a professional grade SLR and the handheld and of course it’s no contest.

So, that means I need something with a larger sensor and bigger aperture – the only question is whether to go with the rangfinder style u4/3 camera like the E-PL1 or an entry level SLR with an even bigger APS-C sensor. The cost is about the same in the end for the body, kit lens, and an extra prime with either system (actually, the SLR could even be a bit cheaper) – it’s really a tradeoff between size and photo quality. Wayne has been influencing my thinking that SLR is a better choice if I’m really after low light performance, and I’m starting to agree with him.  Given that I have the luxury to experiment with all the options for the next few days, I’ll do some more test driving before making a final decision. If you have any advice for me, people of the internet, I’m listening.

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Made it through another night and day pretty smoothly with one hiccup: Belle’s bilirubin was up to 11.5 unknown units in the morning and 13 of those same units in the evening.  They say the normal limit for a 2 day old is 12 of these, so they moved her to sleep on a UV table that she hates because she can’t be swaddled in it.   She essentially missed a nap fussing until we opened up our package of pacifiers and popped one in.   Tonight may still end up a bit longer night, but we hope it’s worth it so when we go home tomorrow we won’t need a lot of follow up.

I got the bill today as Dad’s are wont to do I suppose – having a baby in Taiwan and staying for three days costs $557.22.   The service has been top notch. Nationalized health care isn’t so bad I guess.

Everyone we talked to today has been asking for more pictures so I did my best to oblige.  I also added a short movie of Belle having her first swim, Taiwan style, that you can download through the gallery (if it doesn’t play download VLC).

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