Life is getting a bit busier (that’s a sarcastic understatement if you didn’t guess!) as I’ve been getting back to work shooting a few events and a wedding along with family visiting this week for Samuel’s baptism on Easter Sunday. My dad and his wife, Pina, are visiting from Mexico this week along with my sister, some uncles and Rebecca’s parents. Here are the latest photos up to today.

P.S. I discovered recently a friend from college just had twins a few months before SJ was born and Rebecca and I have gotten a kick out of reading her blog, And Baby Makes Four (how does she find time to blog, I do not know).

Since the last update at the end of the first week, Samuel has woken up! The sleepiness newborns go through the first two weeks has worn off, giving us a glimpse into his developing personality.  Samuel’s also been packing on the ounces. Up from 7lbs. 7oz. at his lowest point, he’s now at 9lbs. 12oz. and not showing signs of any slowing down (he’s gaining about 2 oz. a day!). He’ll be one month old on Monday, which is hard to believe, although life feels like it’s finally developing some sort of routine. His feedings are pretty regularly three hours apart and we’ve somewhat figured out how to console him when he cries for reasons beyond hunger. Thanks to lots of friendly feedback from my facebook profile, we had quite a few tricks in the hat to try out, as well some interesting ones, like CSPAN?!  As of now, SJ calms down best to bouncing with us on the exercise ball and to the dustbuster on high! We also use the radio in between stations. He doesn’t like the pacifier, though, which is fine with us but makes soothing him harder.

As SJ has come alive, we’ve observed a few things about him that endear us to love him even more! We feel our hearts ever-growing with love for this tiny bundle of blessing and extreme cuteness. I mean, he makes even explosive diarrhea cute! So here’s a few observations and a couple statistics that you might find interesting:

• SJ Likes: bath time, being swaddled (in his Kiddopotamus), chest time with Dad (this is Dad’s absolute favorite too!), worship songs from the Powerhouse sung by Mom and/or Dad, rides in the stroller around the neighborhood, rides in the car.
• SJ Does Not Like: waiting for milk, pacifiers, nap time during the day.
• Number of Diapers Used Since Birth: about 200.  At almost $0.25 a piece, that adds up quick!  We’re planning on switching to cloth diapers around 3-4 months (Bec found a good deal on Craigslist).
• SJ Noises: As he squirms and kicks (he throws a mean jab) he makes little grunts that sound a lot like a billygoat.

Finally, Pippy and Champ have adjusted pretty well to having some major competition around the house.  Pippy likes to loiter around outside the nursery, but took a good two weeks before venturing in to officially check out the scene. Champ sniffs curiously at Samuel, but feels free to roam about the nursery, usually perching on the back of the nursing chair.  He’s been kicked out a few times for being annoying – no big surprise there.  Check out some photos of the cats first meeting SJ as well as others taken since the last update.

A photo a day of Bec’s pregnant belly.

This first week of parenthood has been awesome. It’s hard to believe that a week ago Samuel still lived inside Rebecca. Here are just a few of the highlights and things for which we are very grateful:

• We had a wonderful experience with natural birth. If you’re wondering what does “natural birth” mean practically, for us it means swimming against the usual current a hospital puts you on that often involves various forms of often unnecessary intervention. We followed the Bradley Method, or husband-coached child birth, which is a 12-week class. Our instructor, Cherri White, was also our doula. Bec’s prenatal care was with the Duke midwives. The combination of all of that, and being well-informed about all the possibilities, really made our whole birth experience amazing. They say this never happens, but everything we listed on the “birth wishes” list we gave the doctors and nurses when we arrived came to pass. In fact, most of the time Bec was laboring, we were left to ourselves in the room, jammin’ to the mix of Radiohead, U2, Coldplay and other bands Bec loves. When it came to Stage 2, or pushing time, we switched to the Saint-Saëns, Organ Symphony, which was awesome! We are so grateful for the medical team at Duke that allowed us a peaceful birth without intervention.  We got to see Bec’s body do what it was designed to do!
• Courtney Potter, a good friend and fellow multimedia storyteller and UNC alum, was with us the whole labor and documented it. We’re going to work together to produce a short video on our birth experience. We are extremely grateful for Courtney using her gifts and talents to serve us in this way and for the sincere excitement and sensitivity she brought with her.
• Our good friends Bobby and Lois Suruki, whose due date was just a few days apart from ours, gave birth to their son, Marcus Benjamin Suruki, just a few hours after Samuel was born! While technically on two different days, we were so excited to share the experience at the same time. We are grateful that their birth was without complication and that Marcus is healthy. We look forward to Samuel and Marcus growing up together and becoming friends, and to sharing the joys and challenges of parenthood with such good friends.
• As Rebecca and I took a walk around our neighborhood a few days after being back home, we reflected on how blessed we are to know four pediatricians as friends. All of them have offered to be on call for us for questions any time, day or night. After living a year in South Africa, we realize what a privilege it is to have access to folks with such high levels of expertise.
• Jenny Jones, our housemate, not only cooks up a plethora of good eats (and shares them on her blog), but is also a huge help around the house and watches SJ as needed so Rebecca and I can grab a moment alone together. I have a feeling the help she’s given so far is the small tip of a ginormous iceburg.

You may notice in one of the photos below a neon glow coming from SJ’s back. This is called a “Bili Blanket” and helps his body break down bilirubin, which at high levels causes jaundice in lots of newborn babies. I won’t get into the medical details, as I barely understand it myself, but we’re happy that SJ’s levels are now in a low-risk zone and he’s doing great! The Bili Blanket made SJ look like he was hooked up to the Matrix and also would have made some sweet nighttime photos, if I hadn’t been way too tired to grab the camera.

For those wondering, Pippy and Champ, our two cats, have been adjusting well. I’ve got a gallery I’m building of photos of them interacting.

That’s all for now. It’s time to catch some ZZZs before SJ wakes up for another feeding!

We had a wonderful birth at Duke Hospital. Samuel John Clendenin was born a healthy 8 lbs. 6oz. on Monday night, February 22 at 11:43pm. Here are some photos from his first days at the hospital. More photos coming soon!

It was great having friend Jason Harrod back in town for a concert at the newly re-opened Six String Cafe.  Nate Osborne joined him on trumpet, along with Bill Graham on bass. The music was great, the company of friends a joy, and my Guinness was quite tasty.  I’ll let this video (one of my favorite songs, “Day and Night”) and the photos speak for themselves.  If you’re not familiar with him, be sure to check out Jason Harrod’s awesome website, follow him on Twitter, or fan him on Facebook.

Jason Harrod performs “Day and Night” at the Six String Music Cafe in Raleigh, NC, on 2/5/10.

I love food photography. Naturally Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when I get plenty of opportunities to shoot food (and eat it). Our meal this year was cooked by my wife’s family and we enjoyed smoked turkey (a la Green Egg), dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, broccolini, cranberry sauce (canned and homemade varieties), rolls and some great wine my brother-in-law picked out. It was a grand time, finished off by a nap on the couch with more relatives stopping by and football in the background. After our South African Thanksgiving experience last year, such a traditional rendition of Turkey Day was warmly welcomed.

Thanksgiving Feast

And speaking of food photography, I’ve been enjoying shooting and eating the cooking of our friend and housemate Jenny who just started a food blog called Eating Our Hearts Out. Check it out!