Happy 1 Month Birthday to Me!

Hi Everyone,

Thursday was my 1 month birthday. Wow, where has the time gone?!?!? I thought I'd share a few of the things I've accomplished in my 31 days of life on the outside:

• I can sleep up to 5 hours through the night (not consistently--but my mom and dad appreciate it when I do!)


• I can eat out of a bottle, a syringe and feeding tube, a cup and have had some success at the breast


• I can squirm off of a pillow (see photos below)


• I can smile albeit selectively at this point--people think I'm really cute when I do!


• I can fill my diaper pretty regularly!


• I can look around as though discovering the world around me for the first time


• I can enjoy a good book (when it's read to me--my dad is great at doing that)


• I can now fill out my Newborn sized outfits--finally!!


• Nap, snooze and sleep!


• Cuddle!

Well, that's at least a few of the things I'm doing these days. My days are indeed full!

For my 1 month birthday, my mom made a cake--yellow cake with milk chocolate icing and sprinkles too. I got to taste it 24 hours after my mom and dad had their piece (through the milk that is). Pretty tasty! You can see a photo of the happy family with the cake.

Daddy's piece of B-day cake


I started here . . .


Look how far I got--all by myself


How mommy and daddy feed me with the syringe


Snoozing/cuddling with mommy

Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009

Happy Inauguration day 2009!

I'm not sure yet if I'm Republican or Democrat, but I was very excited today to watch my first inauguration. I saw history in the making. My mom made me watch it and I'm glad she did. Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the photos of President Obama and me! Oh and a few other photos from the inauguration and other recent photos.

I'm still growing! I nearly fill out my newborn outfits--probably have a few more weeks in them.

Well, enjoy the photos.

The Obama's and me!

Yo-Yo and me!

Recognize this violinist??

I'm proud to be an American!

Getting ready to head out! Check out these snazzy booties!

The Kurtz family cradle

My mom's college roommate knitted these for me--they fit perfectly and don't fall off!!

Ahhhh!

My First "official" letter--my SS Card!

Meet My Daddy

Jamee asked me to say a few words on his baby blog. He is the youngest Internet savvy person I have ever met and not even three weeks old!

The most memorable moment of my life was seeing Jamee enter this world. He arrived with a full head of hair. A beautiful baby boy! I had the honor of cutting his umbilical cord.

He had quite the impact from the moment he was born. While he was being moved from the birthing bed to the bassinet, he fired a stream of urine that nearly reached the ceiling before landing on the computer keyboard! I am waiting to see if a new keyboard will appear on the hospital bill!

I could not imagine how much pleasure there is in feeding him with Linda's pumped breast milk or changing his diapers. To see this little guy's unhappy face light up in contentment in a flash of a second is one of the most satisfying feelings to me.

Linda and I are so blessed! I now have a wallet full of pictures that I gladly show to anyone who asks and sometimes even a few who don't.

Jamee and I have spent our time together in a number of activities with sharing books at the top of the list. We have read many books including Where The Wild Things Are, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Going To Bed Book, Who Is Coming To Our House, Come Back Cat, and Good Night Moon to name a few. Jamee has been easily distracted since everything is new to his eyes. He does focus for a few moments at a time on the pictures as I read. It will seem like such a short time until he is reading himself...working his way through picture books, chapter books, through YA classics and through Salinger, Tolkien, Doyle, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. We have also watched the Giants' football games on TV. Unfortunately Jamee will have to wait until next season to see the Giants actually win a game!

I look forward to each milestone in his life.

Appointments and Mimi's Meditation

Good afternoon everyone,

This has been a week of appointments! I had my two-week doctor's visit on Tuesday and then Mommy and I had an appointment with the lactation consultant yesterday--wow, that was tough work. Everyone seemed very pleased with the progress that I made during both appointments. I'm well on my way to one of my New Year's resolution--conquering breastfeeding! Also on Tuesday, I went to Roberts Wesleyan College--where my mommy works. I met so many people who all seemed very excited to meet me. Some people were not in their office, so I think I'll be going back to meet them soon. Tomorrow, Mommy and I are hoping to visit Daddy at his work place--Liftbridge Bookshop. That should be fun.

We also got a letter in the mail this week from Mimi. It was a copy of a sermon/meditation that she recently gave at a church and a nursing home about the advent season and how special it was to be anticipating the arrival of a new grandchild--me! Mommy read the sermon to Daddy and me late last night right before we all went to bed (for a few hours of sleep anyway). Daddy was feeding me, Mommy was pumping and reading the sermon (she's a multitasker). Mommy, Daddy and I really appreciated hearing the sermon, it meant a lot to hear how Mimi and PaPa prayed for a long time for me and greatly anticipated my coming into this new world. The copy of the meditation will certainly go into my baby book so I can read it myself when I'm older.

I'm so looking forward to meeting my Mimi and PaPa!

New photos--I'm now two weeks old!

My Oma and Opa!



My dad and freshly bathed me!



Later Gater!



My mom's favorite photo of me!



My dad thinks I'm pretty cool!

Today's my due date!!

Well today was the day that I was due to be born. So glad I did not have to spend 10 extra days in the womb! It's so cramped in there. There is so much more space out here in the world. It's pretty strange though, my arms and legs are still adjusting to the extra space. They still tend to want to curl up next to my body. My mom can get pretty frustrated with me at feeding time because my little hands keep crossing over my chest or up in front of my face and get in the way of feeding. I hear that this will end in time.

While it might have been fun to be the New Year's baby 2009 I have no regrets of arriving on December 22, 2008. I got to be with my family for Christmas and with my parents and Oma and Opa for New Year's Eve. I even got to see Dick Clark and Ryan Secrest watch the big crystal ball drop in Time Square.

Well happy New Year everyone. Can't wait to see what 2009 holds for me! My personal goals are to conquer breastfeeding, broaden my vocabulary, learn to crawl, learn to walk and make my mommy and daddy proud of me.