I taped AI2 for CootieMom (or at least thought I was taking it) while she watched Buffy. Have to watch Buffy. But I wound up taping nothing but snow. So there isn’t going to be any smart-alicky comments from CootieMom tonight. I blame myself. You can have my comments instead. I only got to watch bits and pieces of the show as I was doing everything else. Clay seemed like a winner tonight. Gone are the smurks and the Broadway singing. He still doesn’t do anything for me, but I’m switching my money from Reuben to Clay. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.

It’s either see ya to Josh, Trenyce or Kimberly. I say Trenyce is gone. I liked her version of Proud Mary though.

Tomorrow is CootieGirl’s first doctor’s appointment. Hopefully, everything checks out. Maybe they can give us something for her terminal cuteness. Not!

I registered our new car with the DMV (Actually they don’t call it the DMV in NJ but Motor Vehicle Services or something lame like that. Yet, everyone calls it the DMV.) Not horrible, but I got there forgetting to take extra money with me or my checkbook. Of course, NJ doesn’t take credit or debit cards. Such an advanced state. They are just moving over to digital photos on their driver’s licenses. Shesh! Turns out the bill was $81.56. I had $82 and about $2 in change on me, minus the 55 cents I spend on a .825 oz. bag of potato chips. Can you believe they sell a bag of chips lighter than an ounce? And have the nerve to charge 55 cents for it.

Anyway, we are not the proud owners of a 95 Green Ford Explorer. Whoo Hoo!!! I had to try twice before I could get it to start. Don’t worry, I’m sure it was just me. I’m used to our Corolla starting on a wink and a smile. Ahhhhhh……

I’m going back to work tomorrow so I want to call it an early night and pray that the baby doesn’t wake us up for hours tonight. Let’s see.

First night home, first night of little sleep. We thought CootieGirlhad been such a good girl up to this point, but now that we have her home, we’ve seen her true personality. Give me food! More food! I don’t want to sleep!

I fed her two ounces of formula at two a.m., and burped and rocked her for the next hour, but she wasn’t tired. Nothing seemed to settle her. I left her in the crib and CootieMom and I thought she’d cry herself to sleep. No dice. Grandma eventually got up and spent the next four or five hours rocking, and eventually feeding her again. She ate three or four ounces this time. We are going to have a chunker. It’s baby fat, right?

Whoever said taking care of a puppy is good preparation for taking care of a baby was wrong! I think it was me who said that. A puppy needs to be let out every few hours, does what he has to do, and goes back to sleep. That is not O.

Angie, you’re in for a treat. Hope you have an angel.

And CootieMom is in a lot of pain. I’m trying to make her comfortable by constantly moving pillows around. Three on the back, two under the legs, two behind the head, then move them all around again, five minutes later. Hope she feels better very soon. The tears have been flying. It’s not me, it’s the hormones. She’s going to ask the doc for a sleeping pill prescription.

Ginger finally slept in the bed with us, something she did not do at all while mom was in the hospital. We were pretty successful at keeping her off mommy’s sore belly.

Today, I hope to register the truck at the dmv, and run a few other errands. Let’s see how it goes. The weather is nice at least.

Let it be said, “There’s no place like home.” I’m truly queen of my castle sitting in my recliner, drinkng chocolate milk, eating waffles, dog at my side, mother tending to infant, wondering what to do with my day. Sleep? Watch a movie? the house is my oyster.

My stitches were taken out today and I instantly felt better — less pain while moving around. Last night I was really sore and needed help getting into bed. This morning I still asked for help but didn’t have the searing hot pain while they helped me get up for the day.

We got discharged from the hospital and went to put CootieGirl in her car seat. For some reason it would only accept an infant the size of a grapefruit. So I sat in the back seat with her and we managed to get half her body locked in. On the ride home, I held the other side. Luckily, it’s a short ride home. Even more luckly, it seems our little CootieGirl likes car rides.

We’ve already received lots of “advice” on how to care for our newly arrived infant. Magically, a lot of it conflicts, much like many well-intentioned pregnancy advice. What’s the polite way to say “Thanks, but we can do this ourselves.” Is there a polite way? Somehow I think not, which means I am stuck nodding my head politely and replying “Oh, that could be helpful — thanks.” Gag.

True to mom form, the house is immaculate. (editor’s note: I think I helped too.) She’s a star.

Upon arriving home Cooper attempted to jump on me as he always does, but I managed to dissuade him and gave him permission to jump up on my hip. He’s been devine since. Of course, he hasn’t even seen CootieGirl yet, so all bets may be off once he gets a look at the new toy.

I’m sleepy, may go take a nap. More later!

CootieDad adds: I just got finished helping CootieMom into bed, lifting legs, positioning body parts, proping up pillows. They can’t pay nurses’ aides enough money. I have to get CootieMom’s perscription filled and run some other errands now.

I’ll be leaving for my trip to the hospital in twenty minutes to pick up CootieMom and CootieGirl this morning. We’re not exactly sure what time they’ll be released, but we hope sooner than later. Don’t worry, we’ll let you loyal Cootiehog readers know as soon as we can.

In the meantime, the Mets still stink. It’s good to see there’s a consistent here.

In case you haven’t heard, Fluid Pudding is scheduled to deliver on Wednesday. Finally! Great news! You go, girls! Can’t wait to see Pudding Pop. Cootie Pie meet Pudding Pop. That sentence would never have been part of English writing history if not for the Internet.

Well, two more visitors (my mom and brother). Not sure when my sister will get out to visit. Hopefully soon. She has two kids and lives in Long Island, but I bet the nephews are anxious to meet their first cousin. *hint, hint*

CootieMom was changing the baby’s diaper when she decided she wasn’t finished. Then we had to wheel the baby to the nursery so they could change her bed sheet. My mom said, CootieMom should be lucky we don’t have a boy. I think you know what she was getting at.

I might be going over one last time for a visit tonight. Are you getting sick of all this CootieGirl talk? What about American Idol? Survivor? We used to be interesting, right?

CootieMom is kidding if she thinks I’ll have much chance to post for her more than once a night. I hope she heals quickly. This is going to become a very boring place.

Only one more day and I’ll finally be home for good. Can I make it? I hope so!

Yesterday my awesome roomate was discharged and in her place was put a nauseated replacement with rude guests — so I got permission to move to another room down the hall. The perk? PRIVATE ROOM!

Still not sleeping a lot — last night I got six hours, interrupted twice by the need to pee. Can’t wait to sleep my normal 12 hours, interrupted three times by the need to pee. That’s what I got used to by the time CootieGirl arrived.

Today, CootieDad’ mom and brother were able to come see the baby — as predicted, she claimed the baby looked like CootieDad. (editor’s note: I don’t think she said that.) So each grandmother has staked a claim on the baby’s appearance.

Yesterday, my dad was able to visit for a few hours between business trips. He has agreed (finally) to being called “Pop” — a name his own father used. He was about to be dubbed “Big Daddy” by me, so it’s a good thing he finally spoke up and agreed to “Pop.”

He generously gave us an unbelievable present — his Ford Explorer. It’s an older car, but he’s taken good care of it and it’ll definitely come in handy to have a true “family” sized vehicle!

So, for a while, CootieDad will have to continue to post for me since there’s no way I’ll be able to access the attic, but he’s keeping me informed nonetheless!

I’ve taken photos of Grand Pa, or is it The Great One? Gramps? We might still be working on this one. CootieMom’s dad drove up and spent most of the afternoon holding the baby. The rest of the day was spent in the back seat of a SUV as CootieMom’s sister treated us to a 90-minute drive to a restaurant that was five minutes from the hospital. Not totally her fault. I thought she was heading in the right direction when she started out. We even found the mall just where we thought we left it, but it turned out that it was a different mall.

We never did find the restaurant we were looking for, but at least we gave CootieMom the break we promised and bonded as a family.

We ate at the Tick Tock diner after we left the hospital, where we celebrated the newest edition to our family. No, not CootieGirl. CootieMom’s dad is selling us his SUV for a dollar. Yep. One buck. I told him we might have to take it out of CootieGirl’s college fund money. What a baby present. And we get to use it for the next 16 years as CootieGirl prepares for her driver’s license.

My mom and brother are coming out to visit the baby tomorrow. Then the next day CootieMom comes home.

In the meantime, we want CootieGirl to have a new pal. Angie, do something to get that baby out. And when the doctor tells you to push for another hour or two and the baby doesn’t feel like it’s moving, tell her you’re suing if she doesn’t give you the c-section you demand. In fact, make her sign something to that effect before you go into labor — again. I think you’ve been having contractions for the past six weeks, right?

I feel more human today. I was able to get out of the bed and spent 4-5 hours walking around and getting myself cleaned up. (Editor’s note: I don’t believe CootieMom means she spent four or five hours actually walking around, just that she was up and about for a four-hour stretch.) Had lots o’ visitors — family as well as Mary and Sully. I also got all the meds out of my system and that helped.

I want to thank everyone for the numerous well wishes. CootieDad has been faithfully printing and bringing me all your kind words!!

Now let’s send our happy thoughts to Fluid Pudding, who I believe is in labor with a whopping 10-lb. baby! Good luck, Ang!

More sleep (for me), just as cute (CootieGirl). Wait! Actually, I think she’s cuter. Can she get any cuter? You betcha.

CootieMom is resting and recuperating from her surgery. You probably read her post above this one.

CootieMom’s dad is coming up for a visit tomorrow. CootieMom’s co-worker, Mary, and her boyfriend, Sully, came up for a visit tonight. Great to see her. She has an Achilles strain and was limping slightly. Hope she gets better real soon. She looks great and looks even better holding a baby as you’ll see in the pics. Sully took a big pass on holding the baby and I understand. Someone told him it was like holding a football. They don’t call it fumbling for nothing.

CootieGirlmostly sleeps. For that she takes after CootieMom. The looks might come from me. Let’s see as she gets older. She’s got red/strawberry blonde hair. Very cute. Hope you can see it in some of these pics. We think she may have gotten the color from each of our grandfathers. CootieMom said the hair a baby is born with falls out and new hair comes in. Not sure if that’s true, but I hope the new hair is the same color. Very pretty.

When we arrived home from the hospital last night, my mother-in-law walked in the house with a box wrapped in gift paper. I didn’t even see it in front of the house. I assumed one of our neighbors dropped it off. I brought it into the hospital for CootieMom to open up and it turns out the box was filled with baby stuff — including the bear in these pics — from the great folks at my office. Thanks guys!

The rainbow hat on CootieGirl’s head in the first pic was knitted by my mom.

CootieMom’s being released from the hospital on Monday. I’m not sure I mentioned that already. That’s when the real fun beings and we become parents who can’t expect the women in the nursery to change and feed her when she cries at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Now let’s get to the good stuff — the pics! Enjoy.