Claire is seven weeks old today. Wow. It feels as though it’s been a year.
Today is the end of my first work-week as Mom-In-Charge, and it’s gone much better than I expected. Part of this is because a friend has come over every day to hang out with Pixie and give me a chance to run errands. The other part is that I think the change in formula is working. I hope the Zantac is too, but that takes longer, and we just started it Wednesday night. But all week, Claire has had days of eating, sleeping, a little play time, and just a little fussing. No hours-long arias of woe. (Well, Monday and Tuesday evening she cried for an hour, but that’s far different from three or more!)
I’ve taken to tracking her waking and sleeping times, with notes on what she was doing during the wake time — feeding, playing, crying, other (i.e., outing, bath). Over the past nine days she averages about 14.5 hours of sleep daily, with her worst day being 10.5 hours –the day of most misery as we dealt with the consequences of Nestle Good Start — and her longest sleep being 18 — her first day on Alimentum. I’ve really been attentive to her cues, but even when she’s not been much stimulated and she’s obviously sleepy, she fights it sometimes. She drowses, but doesn’t completely let go.
Oh, but she’s so much more social! We play a game where I stick out my tongue, wiggle it, and make funny noises, and she turns her head to the side while looking at me and smiles hugely. It’s very coy and adorable. She then mimics me by sticking out her tongue. I praise this, which makes her grin hugely. She’s also become more expressive, vocalizing different coos and aahs. I echo them, and she kicks her legs in delight. When she’s crying, there are times it really sounds as though she’s trying to say something — the “yah yah yah” or “owowow” mean something. I’m just not always sure what. She’s also discovered she can put her fingers in her mouth and that they’re fun and handy (pun! ha!) to chew on.
And I need advice. My digital camera just isn’t fast enough to capture an active baby. There’s a pause between the time I press the button and the shutter click. Husband and I are thinking of investing in a new camera. What would you recommend as a good investment? My current camera is a Nikon Coolpix E2100 (2 megapixel, 3X optical zoom, 4X digital zoom). We originally bought it for about $200. I’m not sure how high we’re willing to go; let’s say nothing over $600. So tell me what you use!
the only thing that I can say is that this is a reason that many parents go for digital SLR cameras, where they focus in advance and then have no delay. but I’m sure many people can say much more than that! (and I’ll be watching for the anwers!)
Hey Kathryn,
Belated congrats on becoming a mommy. I try to be up-to-date with your blog, though I don’t leave any comments.
But this one made me as I would love to suggest Canon S3 to you. I have a DSLR but that falls out of your budget.
Look for an image-stabilized zoom. Only pitfall is a good 4 AA batteries!!! Hope this helps.
Have a lovely time 🙂
For quick response it has to be a dSLR. Below are in your price range.
I like Nikon but you would not go wrong with anyone of them. I have the D80 but came close to buying the D40.
Good luck and congrats on your new baby.
Nikon D40 with kit lens.
http://tinyurl.com/36gpym
See what Ken Rockwell has to say about it:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2007-05-what-camera.htm
Pentax K100D
http://tinyurl.com/2rmghl
Canon Digital Rebel XT
http://tinyurl.com/2wdduf
I adore our camera. It’s the popular Kodak z470 (runs $300-$400, on the low end of that). It even has an “action” setting.
You know I take dozens of photos every day and we’ve had it since H was a newborn. And it takes videos as well 😉 I recommend it to everyone.
Whatever you decide it needs to take lots of photos for you to share with us 😉
So glad to hear that Claire is feeling better. Congrats to you and husband on parenthood.
As said above, the only thing that will truly have no lag time is a DSLR, but I would go to a camera store and try it out before you spend a lot of money on a DSLR.
I have long been involved in photography…for a point and shoot I have had good luck with the Fujifilm F10 (I think they are up to the F40 now). The nice thing about it is that it probably takes the best quality low light pictures of about any point and shoot out there. It also takes pretty decent videos.
I have also liked my Panasonic FZ-30. Some folks feel it is the same price as the low end DSLRs, the reason I think it is worth it is that the lens is really, really good (12x telephoto, made by one of the top 2 lens manufacturers and to buy something comparable for a DSLR would be the same price as the camera if not more). Some people feel that the quality in low light is not so good, but I have gotten some pretty good results.
Both have image stablization, I totally agree, get image stablization if at all possible, especially for kids.
In terms of lag time and focus time — there still is a lag with the two recommendations above, but it is short enough I can pretty well compensate and I have gotten some good baby shots with both.
Happy camera hunting!
I feel the need to correct an impression about
Image Stabilization and moving objects.
IS or, in the Nikon lenses VR, does not help with moving objects. What it does do is keep the camera steady when the shooter is moving i.e. hand shake, which is inevitable at slower shutter speeds. IS/VR makes hand holding slow shutter speeds relative to lens focal length much easier but slow shutter speeds do not stop subject movement. For photo knowledgeable folks it can add up to 4 f/stops in hand holding. It does not help stop action though. That is purely a function of shutter speed. Auto ISO up to 1600 or higher will help there. One other advantage of the dSLR is a really quick start up time from power on which is very useful for that “grab shot” when baby is doing something that is absolutely irresistable. Waiting for a Point & Shoot to power on, extend the lens and then dealing with shutter release lag then can be very frustrating.
I agree with Heather – try it out at a camera store.
Sorry if that was too techie.
Once again, good luck and enjoy whatever you do.
I’m oldskool. The best cameras for shutter delay use film.
Sounds like you’re settling into motherhood quickly and comfortably.
You already have enough camera advice to confuse you, and from folks more knowledgeable than me. But I’ll throw this in to confuse you more. We recently bought a new camera, a small one, since the old Kodak (still making great pictures) was large and clumsy. I asked a friend, semi-pro photographer, and followed his advice to buy the Canon PowerShot A570is. It is 7.1 megapixels, 4X zoom, large view screen, many bells and whistles, no noticeable shutter delay, and has the aforementioned Image Stabilization (that’s the “is” on the end of the model name).
I can carry it in shirt pocket, but mostly used by Roomie who just keeps it in her purse.She is quite happy with it. Cost was about $225. Then you need to buy a higher capacity memory card for another $25 to $50 depending on capacity.
Thanks to all for the camera advice!