A growing boy needs his own car

Calvin is a growing boy.  He's gotten so big that we thought we'd better get him used to sleeping in the crib because we don't know how much longer he can stay in the bassinet in our room.  We made that decision even before our suspicions about his growth had been confirmed as they were during an impromptu visit to the doctor this afternoon.  Though he wasn't supposed to see the doctor again until mid August we were a little concerned about a rash on his neck and wanted it checked out.  The positive sides to the visit were the weigh in and measuring - 10lbs 4oz, 22.75inches - and the affirmation that the rash was nothing.  The negative side to the visit was having to see a different doctor who decided that we should be concerned about Calvin's level of jaundice, even though our usual pediatrician had already decided it was just a normal case of breastfeeding juandice and nothing to worry about.  The ensuing heel prick and blood letting for the bilirubin test was more upsetting to Cortney than to Calvin, but was stressful all around. 

Which is why we decided to treat ourselves to a nice evening out.  Since a rainstorm swept through just as Calvin was finishing at the doctor the air cooled down sufficiently for all of us to enjoy a stroll through the Ann Arbor Rolling Sculptures Car Show downtown.  We figured that this was an especially good choice for the evening since Calvin will soon be needing his own car.  Unfortunately they didn't have any Power Wheels for us to look at, but Jon was considering either the Chrysler Imperial or the Corvette.  Calvin thought both sounded good and was full of smiles when we got home - we were even able to catch one on camera!

Milk from another source

Friday marked the fourth anniversary of Calvin's arrival.  Mostly the day came and went without much notice, but somewhere in the back of our minds we registered it as a milestone of sorts.  The back of our minds is really the only place where we have time to register such milestones anymore.  Calvin has entered a new stage of being now that includes far more awake time during the day and, thus, far more "fussy" time (we say this in quotations because Calvin is still a good baby but has been "fussy" for him lately).  Another side to that has been the uprooting of our routine - for two nights in a row now he has awakened us twice and has been difficult to put back to sleep.  Thus has ended our four weeks of restful nights.  He's still worth it.  The weekend also brought Aunt Lonnie for a wonderful visit - a visit to Calvin, that is. We fully accept our own insignificance at this point, but at least we enjoyed ice cream, good meals and good company out of the deal.

But there were some noteworthy milestones this weekend. On Saturday, Calvin had his first trip downtown. But today (Sunday) was a much bigger milestone day. Today, Calvin turned one month old, had his one-month portraits taken, and, even more significantly, had his first milk from dad. No, this wasn't some bizarre bio-mutation, but thanks to the marvels of  the breast milk pump, Jon was able to enjoy the feeding experience. This went exceedingly well. We were prepared for difficulties; Cortney watched through the window from outside on the deck, as it was recommended that she not be within Calvin's 20-foot "smellability" radius, so that he would be willing to accept this alternate milk source. But as it turns out, Calvin is a champion eater - no surprise there when you consider his super-baby growth - and Cortney was able to reenter the house and take pictures.

Happy birthday to the US

And to Cortney's dad, but don't tell anyone.  We started our celebration last night by going to the fireworks display in Manchester.  It was, of course, Calvin's first evening of fireworks and he dutifully slept through the entire thing, but that's okay because we enjoyed his first fireworks outing for him.  Tonight we celebrated birthdays with Cortney's dad's fantastic and famous smoked ribs.  Yum.  Calvin also slept through this experience, but that's okay, too, because he will get to enjoy them via the indirect route.  In other news... we got our first real smile on Sunday!  It has only happened one other time since then, but we are sure the frequency will increase with time.  Of course no one ever has a camera ready fast enough when these things happen...  But we did get a chance this evening to put Calvin's super baby growth into perspective... he has a long way to go yet.

 

Celebrating two weeks!

Well, we are now two weeks old!!!  Calvin really started celebrating this milestone overnight by sleeping for nearly six hours straight - yay!  It was the first night that we did not set the alarm in order to wake the sleeping baby and force him to eat.  Since he's been gaining well we decided to let him dictate the night time schedule, especially since Cortney is now dictating the daytime schedule.  So far so good... Then during the day today Calvin celebrated his two week old status by visitng the church office, where they had been awaiting his appearance just as eagerly as we had been awaiting the chance to introduce him.  Though he slept through the whole visit a good time was had by all.  Following that stop he was treated to a nice French Quarter style lunch in Ann Arbor by Cortney's parents.  Of course, all he got out of the lunch was a flower and a nap, but we didn't hear him complaining.  After lunch he showed how mature he was by spending nearly an hour in a very alert state, taking in the sights of the world around him, especially the back side (that being the hypnotizing black and white side) of Baby Whoozit.  Who knewzit that toy could be so entertaining!!!  The day of celebration was capped off with a wonderful visit by his Aunt Ann, who was kind enough to take him out for a walk in his sling and hold him on her lap all evening, even when he decided to be a little ornery towards the end of the day.  Of course, ornery is what his parents are looking for at 11pm in hopes of another long sleep overnight.  Here's to keeping our fingers crossed...

Happy first father's day!

Father's Day took on a whole new meaning in our house today.  Though we have each received father's and mother's day cards from our dogs in the past, being the father of a human child gave Jon a little more leverage this year.  Jon's main request was a special breakfast of pancakes...no, waffles...with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on top.  He also stopped on his way home from the early church service to pick up a special coffee drink - yummm.  And, though a household with a new baby is not afforded too many shopping luxuries, Cortney already had a few things on hand - just in case.  So Jon got to celebrate his first father's day with waffles (which he was nice enough to make himself so Cortney could quick grab a shower between feedings), strawberries, whipped cream, two cards, and a son, all dressed up in I love daddy clothing.

But the day of firsts did not stop there - this evening Calvin took his first trip to his grandparents' house!  Though Jon's parents were unavailable, we continued the father's day celebration with Cortney's parents and other family members through a wonderful dinner and a rousing game of "pass the baby."  Though Calvin slept through a majority of the evening, he woke up enough after dinner to demonstrate to everyone his profound baby strength.  So today was another day of firsts - for a grandfather, a father, and a baby boy.