Johanna with Auntie C from the Bay Area.

Today Johanna toured the Gorge and the Rose Garden, the last two places on Auntie C.'s to-do list. C goes home tomorrow.

Daddy isn't getting a lot of baby time since he is working this week, but I grab her as soon as I get home and try to spend as much time with her as I can. She was a bit colicy (sp.?), so S and I passed her back and forth trying to calm her down. I really don't know what finally did it - the chamomile tea, the colic tablets, feeding her more. Who knows. For the last 1/2 hour she's been weezing and snoring on my lap; now she's against my chest as I type. What a great way to end the day!

On Friday we visited Grandma who was in town helping Sharon G with a garage sale. Cousin H likes babies. So cute!

Johanna and C went to a Beach where there might have once been a Cannon on Sunday with Mommy, Auntie, and Buster.

With Mommy at the undisclosed beach.

Johanna came back from the beach with a sunburn on her face, and if you look close, you'll see a little blister on her nose. OUCH!

Auntie C came from Oakland for a few days. They spent Sunday at the coast, and Monday at a lake near a Battle Ground that didn't really have a battle on it (a little history lesson for you). Sorry, no pics of Johanna there.

Daddy is back to work for two weeks, then he'll be home with Johanna for 11 weeks! Maybe during that time he will learn to be patient with little kids who ask a lot of questions like one of his co-workers hopes he will.

It's 6:15 a.m., and the day is off to a fun start. After feeding Johanna at 2:30 and again at 5, S asked me to take Johaana out of the room. This is a typical early morning practice. She needed the sleep, she had done the earlier feeding, it was my turn. It is also becoming Johanna's practice that if she is awake, she doesn't want to lie there in the dark while S and I sleep - she wants to be awake and active - so what might look like fussiness (my first question is always, "is she hungry?") was really a desire to get out of bed. S and I appreciate this because S wanted to be a farmer, and now her daughter likes to get up as early as farmers do. It's enough to make a parent proud.

Anyway, we were sitting out here on the chaise when Johanna makes it apparent her diaper will need to be changed. I wait a few minutes to make sure she's done, then get up to get the changing pad. I set the pad on the chaise and remove the poopy diaper. This is where the comedy begins. The onesie gets dirty because I didn't get wipe her clean the first time, so now I have to change her clothes. She hates it when I have to remove anything over her head, and she cries as usual. I'm out in the living room, trying not to disturb S, so I calm Johanna down and leave her on the changing mat and go to the dryer, remembering that we had just done a load. The outfit I find is an over the head piece, so I dive right in, wanting to get this part over with. If you recall, I haven't mentioned putting a diaper back on, and I don't realize the problem that caused until my hand slips on the wet pad. The new outfit, Johanna's back, the chaise, and the entire changing pad are covered in urine. Johanna is not happy! I clean her, lay her on the white shag carpet (no diaper!) and clean everything up with the only things available - the clean cloth diaper and a cloth dinner napkin that had been left out in the living room. Finally, two outfits and two diapers later, she's calmed down and clean. This time I get a button up onesie to avoid the head and neck problem. She's falling asleep on my lap right now, and I'm faced with another dilemma: the blanket I'm using is letting in a draft around my feet, but if I move, Johanna will wake up. Is it worth it?

Thursday Johanna came to see the teachers at F school. She spent the afternoon being passed around and pampered. There's something about seeing her loved and accepted and praised by other people that makes me feel good. We also had a teacher volunteer to babysit if we ever needed it, so I'm taking Johanna to L's house for the weekend. L, she likes to hear Sinatra's music sung in a deep voice. It's the only way she will go to sleep at night. I'm sure you'll be a natural.

The picture of the day was taken at night by mommy. I realized too late that I had forgotten to ask S to bring my camera to our rendezvous point, so I didn't get any pictures at work. Oh well, that means I'll have to bring her by again!


Johanna was cuddling with S on the couch in a secret location that might or might be Canada. She looks so cute when she's wrapped up tight!

Sheryl (if that's her real name) said she didn't really mean that I had to stop the blog, only that we shouldn't put personal information on the site. So, all names from now on will be changed to protect the innocent. And don't think for a second I won't have fun with this one! After all, I'm a huge Lemony Snicket fan.

You'll notice that my name and profile are no longer on the sidebar, and the links are gone, if you ever paid attention to the sidebar at all...

So... here goes the new sleath blog.


Santa tryouts were held today in our living room. This one was the winner. Any resemble to my nephews is purely coincidental.

This might be her grandmother and sister, but we'll never tell.

Most of the 3rd generation of the _______ family. One of the grandkids, who might or might not be named after a famous river in NY, was enjoying his nap at home (wherever that may be).

Johanna likes Santa!

Grandma H drove up from the city she lives in to our unnamed city with three of the boys for a short visit. C was reluctant to join into the picture, so H had to help. Johanna would have rushed to C's aid, but she was so taken with Santa (C.D.), that she hardly noticed.

The rest of the day we sat on the chaise, eating, sleeping, all sorts of fun. I am enjoying doing nothing. In fact, when I try to feed her and play chess at the same time, it just doesn't work. So I stop feeding her... just kidding!

Mommy is afraid of stalkers finding this blog and stalking her, so I have been asked to stop posting. Thanks for all the comments, it was fun while it lasted. I'll keep this up for a few more days so the word gets out. It'll be gone Friday, along with the pics that were on Yahoo!

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My good camera was in the diaper bag, which was in mommy's car, so I used an inferior camera for today's pic. Sorry for the blurriness!

A minor debate is brewing over whether it's better to have a bunch of pics of Johanna, close-up style, or to have pictures of her in different places with different people, etc. (I've tried to have both on the site, but that's not the point.) I like the different pics because it reminds me that Sheryl and I are not the only ones who care about Johanna; she has a lot of friends and adopted family members. Taking and posting the pics is a way of saying thanks to these people for being in our lives and for showing love to my daughter. I doubt the blog will be around when she's old enough to understand it (evolution of the 'net and all...), but the pics will be, and I can tell her about all the people who loved her when she was a baby.

I also was told today that some people are having trouble posting comments. I've only seen one, from the first week of the blog, from Tonia. I just figured people were making their comments via e-mail or when they saw us. If you've tried to make a comment and couldn't, please contact me and I will look into it.


PS A link to my e-mail address is always at the bottom of the page.

Johanna and I went to visit Max and Phyllis over at Max's house after church. Max lives in an area of Washougal so quiet, it's almost eerie. I tried to help Max with his iMac issues, while Phyllis tended to Johanna and Phyllis' own granddaughter Briyanna. If I weren't partial to Johanna, I'd say Briyanna was the cutest little girl I'd ever seen - big dark eyes, a huge smile with her mother's big lips.

I wish every Sunday were so relaxing.

Aunt Sue enjoying her time with Johanna at Grandma's house.

Cousin Hudson is no longer the baby of the family, but he is still an adorable little boy. Last time he saw Johanna he was too busy playing with the other cousins. This time he and his mom Dorothy stopped to introduce him.

I can't explain the emotion I felt when I saw this site - Johanna so perfectly content with my mother smiling down on her. She was so warm and cuddly on her lap, I hated to take her home.


Saturday was a wonderful Grandma day for Johanna. While Dad and Grandpa went out looking for windows, Grandma and Johanna went to the store, sat on the porch, and spent a lot of time cuddling. Aunts Sue, Dorothy, and Tina also came by, since Grandma's house is baby-sitting central and a kind of home base for the entire family. Sue had seen Johanna before, but this is the first time she'd held her.

Grandma babysat while Sheryl and I went to dinner and a movie. When I came back and saw Johanna sleeping peacefully, with her mouth wide open and her hands over her head, I hated to interrupt. Grandma sure has a way with babies!

On another note, people keep asking what her size/weight have changed to. I haven't weighed her, and she doesn't have another appointment until the 2 month mark. I can tell you that the newborn diapers don't work for her anymore, so I know she's growing. She's just the perfect size for her head to be balanced in my hand, laying down on my forearm, with her butt against my bicep. How long that is in inches, I have no clue.

No pics today. I left work early and took Johanna to my mother's house for the afternoon. She (hopefully) helped us solve one problem. Mom reminded me that each of my 4 nephews were raised on either breast milk or soy milk - a cow milk allergy runs in our family. So we picked up some Enfamil with Soy, and wow, grandma was right! No more colic, less whining (from me and the baby), and no painful pooping or tooting (to use the scientific terms). I returned from Bible study at 9, and Johanna was peacefully sleeping on grandma's help, content as can be. After raising 2 generations of Wagners plus helping with countless other babies, I guess grandma knows a few things....

Today we went to Sarah J. Anderson school to play on the playground. Johanna's first experience on a slide. (In case you're wondering, no, I'm not stupid enough to actually slide her down in that thing!)

After Sarah J. and a bottle, Johanna and I relaxed on our hammock in the backyard. She seems to like it (or does she just like me? :) )

A little blurry, but this is how the hammock looks lately: Buster trying to assert himself into his usual spot (on my lap), even going so far as to lean his paws and head on top of Johanna. It becomes a bit of a wrestling match as he doesn't like the idea of being replaced!


Woke up at 4:30 today. Why? Because Johanna was awake at 4:30 today. So was Sheryl. But she had 8 hours of clinic shifts ahead of her, so I took Johanna to the living room to cry out there. It took about an hour (and a little bit from a bottle) to settle down, and I slept on the chaise with her until 7:45. Waking up in a half-sitting, half-lying position on a chaise lounge is no fun, especially when you can't move for fear of waking or dropping the baby!

Having visited her first library yesterday, Johanna visited Three Creeks today. Cedar had earned some prizes, and I wanted to return the 9 books I had out. I know several of the staff, so they were excited to see Johanna as well (which reminds me - it's 10:30 at night, and I told Megan at 3 Creeks I'd e-mail her a better copy of the BB lists! Oops).

The colic is still an issue, and I can tell she's in pain because her crying sounds like they're coming from a sore throat. Sounds like my reflux, and while we're on the subject, her snoring sounds like grandpa Fred's, we know she's a true Wagner! But don't worry, mommy's a doctor, so we're good to go.

That's all for today, here's another pic of Sleeping Cutey (Cedar's idea). Enjoy!

All last year I listened to stories of how much Judy loves her grandson Jance. Now it's fun to see her care about my Johanna, too.

The future librarian gets ready to lead storytime from Daddy's reading chair. I tried to tell her War and Peace wasn't good as a read-aloud, but she insisted on trying anyway.

Daddy distracted from work by more important things...

Doing what she does best: Looking cute and napping!

Today Johanna went to Felida for the first time. She was held by Jeniffer Williams, who has a daughter of her own, and was fed by Judy Hermann. Judy is Cedar's "4th grandma" and I'm sure she'd claim Johanna, too, if asked.

Speaking of Jeniffer, I remember back when her baby was born and I'd say things like, "yup, it's a baby" when I saw JC or her pics. Now I understand, it's not "just a baby." I've only heard one person give negative comments about how Johanna looks, and I was extremely upset at hearing it. I happen to think Johanna is a beautiful little girl. People say she looks like me, which I don't see yet, so I end up just smiling and saying something like, "you'd see more of a resemblance if I hadn't shaved her goatee this morning."

At work I kept thinking about the "work" that needs to be done before I go on leave, but I couldn't stop looking at Johanna, even when Judy was holding her. At home, part of me wants her to fall asleep so I can get things done around the house, but I'm spending more time just letting her sleep against my chest and talking to her when she's awake. She likes to move around while she's awake, so we move around the house, sometimes stopping in the dining room to waltz a few steps.

On another note, Buster has decided he likes taking diapers out of the garbage. I don't know why, but he's done it a lot in the last few days. Jealousy over the new favorite pet in the house?

Johanna's stomach problems continue, but she's calmed down since Sheryl got her some homeopathic colic medication. It's hard watching her turn beet red in pain, with her stomach hard as a rock, trying to poop, etc. knowing there's nothing I can do but try to calm her down. I'm glad Sheryl knows what she's doing because I sure don't (yet)!

Today was my first day back to work at Felida. I will work a few pre-service days and the first week of school, then I'll have 11 weeks to enjoy with Johanna. I spent 8 hours away from her and I thought about her a lot. I spent 2-3 hours with her when I got home. I'm really looking forward to my time with her!

So I feel like I'm playing catch-up each day. I'm hearing from Johanna's fans that I'm slacking...


This weekend we purchased an inflatable kayak. We took it for a test ride on Salmon Creek, near the popular swimming hole. Johanna had a blast on her first solo ride.

She also spent some time sun-bathing Sunday along the Columbia River while Sheryl, Cedar, and I took turns on the kayak. We met a family with a 4 month old boy who looks huge. I can't imagine that she'll be that big some day!

The final pick says it all - my baby is so darn cute!!!!

Here we see Johanna sleeping soundly on the blanket hand-made by one of my co-workers, Peggy Phemister. Beautiful baby, beautiful blanket.

The last few days we've been dealing with a not-so-beautiful subject: constipation! Johanna went nearly 24 hours without any poop, and she was screaming in pain every time she tried. The answer: castor oil! When I rubbed it on Johanna's tummy in a clock-wise direction, hoo-wee, the floodgates opened! I had to use it (on Johanna) twice Friday.

This whole incident led my mind to a fairly twisted thought. I can imagine when Johanna is 16 and being annoying around her friends. I see myself walking up to them and saying, "Did I ever tell you about the time when Johanna was constipated as a baby? She'd wake up, she'd streeeeetch out her little body, make a face, and getter redder and redder and redder (kinda like she is now), and then she'd yell at the top of her lungs! For days she was like this. When she finally pooped, her face would relax and she'd smile in relief. Funny thing is," I'd say, with a wink, "she still does that every once in a while when she ...." I'm sure Johanna would love to hear that story. (Disclaimer: this is just a joke - I would NEVER do anything to embarass my child when she is a teenager!)

Thursday Johanna met the rest of her cousins (on Daddy's side). The boys were very impressed, and almost stopped running around with their Lego guns to take a look at her. While Johanna slept I played catch with Chris, but after a feeding and a changing, I fell asleep with her and didn't get the yardwork done I had promised to do.

Aunt Dorothy and Grandma Helene took turns holding her while we discussed feeding schedules, clothing necessities (the rule is - dress her with one more layer than what you are wearing!), etc.

Tonight Osha Cronk came by to visit, bringing a good spaghetti dinner (I had leftovers after Bible study) with her. Thank you!

Even though it says Thursday, this post is about Wednesday (I'm a slacker, what can I say?)






We had a special visit today from Phyllis Taylor and her granddaughter Briyanna. Bri is Marissa's daughter. I used to change Marissa's diapers, and here is her baby next to mine! Bri is 2 months old and is huge compared to Johanna. She's got a cute smile, although she wasn't too happy when grandma and I exchanged babies for a few minutes. Johanna slept; Bri cried!

Also, I realized how quickly I have picked up baby lingo. I went to work Wednesday to discuss my paternity leave with my new principal; our school's secretary has a new grandchild, so we had quite a discussion about different kinds of onesies - snaps, buttons, ones that go over their heads, etc. A month ago, I didn't even know what a onesie was! (FYI, the ones that snap across the front AND at the bottom are best. Pulling a onesie over a newborn's head is not a fun experience!) Body functions are also discussed openly at our house. I haven't heard "good burp" or "good one - did you hear that" since jr. high! Of course, Johanna gets blamed when someone else does it near her....

This is becoming an every-other-day blog. Hope you can survive a day or so without news from Johanna...

Tuesday was Johanna's official due date. Also, I found out yesterday that Sheryl's younger sister, Cari, and her mother are both coming up to visit for a few days, both near the end the month. Thank you in advance! As you can see below, we need the help!

The lack of sleep is starting to wear mommy and daddy thin. I can't convince Sheryl that she's not "boring" just because she's sleeping in until noon each day while recovering from a c-section, pneumonia, and the general trauma of having a baby. She's used to being active, she's a morning person, and it's her summer, where she's supposed to have fun away from NCNM, and it's not happenning. Top that with an anemic baby who cries when the constipation kicks in (and stops crying only when she finally squeezes something out!) and you can see why Sheryl is ... a little down lately. As for this daddy, I don't know how many more days I can take of going to bed at midnight, turning lights out around 1, waking up at least once and then taking baby out of the room at 5:30 so Sheryl can finally sleep. I'm not napping at all, but I'm doing very little of anything, just trying to care for baby, Sheryl, and keeping track of Cedar (who is being her usual resilient self...). Yesterday I read 3 books cover to cover since I couldn't go anywhere, and even video games are not interesting any more. I think we need to take some of our friends up on their multiple babysitting offers. I know this is hard for some people to believe, but I might start getting grumpy soon! (Imagine that! Big shock, eh?) All said, if I had to choose, I'd take my lack of sleep over what Sheryl is going through; I'm not sure I could handle it...

Enough whining already!

Today's shot is enough to make any computer-loving daddy proud. Here's Johanna, taking a break for eating, sleeping, and pooping (when she can) in order to surf the web on mommy's computer. Any guesses as to what site she visited? It won't be long now until she can starting doing her own blog entries!

After a night of partying with NCNM grads, Johanna had a bad day today. It didn't help that Mommy was running a temp over 101, a night fever she's had the last few nights.

As the pics show, she spent a lot of time in bed, exccept for an exciting break to Home Depot, Who-Song and Larry's, and a visit to Tom and Shawn down at the Vancouver Farmer's Market. They host a witnessing tent at the market every Saturday. This was Johanna's first visit with Tom, who was very taken with her.

As for the photo blog previously mentioned, the guy opted for a pic of his wife for the "pic of the day" instead of Johanna, so no link for you Mr. Bernhard! Actually, it's a pretty cool site, all photos, very little text.

So it's been only two weeks and already I'm slacking... it's been three days since I added to Johanna's experiences. I haven't used the camera, either.

Wednesday was another marathon day as Johanna again survived her second all-day-with-Daddy experience. We were visited on Wednesday by two of my co-workers from Felida, Sara Van Brunt and Jennifer Beaman, both 5th grade teachers. They brought some cute gifts for Johanna and for Cedar (which may be why Cedar likes the baby so much: every visitor brings her a gift!). Jennifer and Sara stayed with Johanna while I went to pick up Zoe from summer school, which saved Johanna the trip - she cries every time I put her in the car seat!

Thursday was a sleep-in day as Mommy was beat after her long shifts Wednesday and from being up all night with baby. Johanna did have her first experience of lying on the hammock with daddy, an episode which would have gone smoother if Buster hadn't decided to assert himself and sit on her. Buster is used to lying across or on me on the hammock, and he did not see why having a baby there should stop him. After being shooed off once or two, he sat waiting with a sad look on his face, so we compromised and he laid next to us. I tell him each time something like this happens that I like him, but I love the baby, and she is more important!

Friday johanna went to her first party! We attended the graduation party of a student from Sheryl's school, one of many this summer. Everyone oohed and aahed at her size (I hear "tiny" alot) and her cuteness. She behaved very well, and even had her picture taken for a "one photo a day" blog that a student's husband publishes. I'll link to it once it's posted.