Baby's First Earthquake

Well, Anthony experienced his first earthquake last night. Rated at 5.6 on the Richter Scale, it wasn't that big of a quake. Generally that size is enough to make people remember that we live in earthquake country and consider putting together an earthquake preparedness kit. (We are a bit lax in that regard, I'm afraid.)

While the epicenter wasn't too far away, we didn't get too much of a shake out of it. It was like "Hey, we're having an earthquake", not "OMG, I want to get under a table". (I grew up in California and have definitely had stronger, scarier shakes.) Our chandelier swung a bit. I read in this morning's paper that most of the shaking was south of the epicenter and we are west.

Oh yeah, Anthony slept though it.

I enjoyed my bath!!!

Truly shocking moment this evening. He actually seemed to enjoy his tub-bath. (His sponge baths and first tub bath were pretty traumatic.) He did fuss when get got OUT of the tub into the cold air. Next time we'll warm his towel in the dryer first.

We love his little hooded towels. This one was a present from Bob's cousin Mimi and her two girls. (Its decorated with Winnie-the-Pooh, but you can't really see it in the picture.)

Daddy Loves Me!

The Girl Scouts gave me a cool swing as a present. (Even though I'm not going to be a Girl Scout!!!) It came in a whole bunch of parts. Daddy got to work right away reading the instructions and figuring out how to put the thing together.Here I am going for my first ride in the swing. Its pretty cool and makes me feel a little less fussy sometimes. It does screw up my favorite hobby of fussing during dinner, though.

Visitors!

This weekend we had our first family visit since Anthony arrived. Grandma and Aunt Andrea (my mother and sister) came out for the weekend. They thought Anthony was pretty much the cutest thing ever. (Well, Auntie Andrea might prefer Kurt, but that's her bias since she is his mommy.)

They both thought he was incredibly well behaved. He actual was on his best behavior, very little fussing. Grandma was annoyed. I was a difficult baby and had colic. I think she was hoping for some payback.

We had a nice weekend. They arrived Saturday morning and we visited for awhile before lunch. Then after lunch we loaded Anthony up in his Baby Bjorn and went for a walk. First, though, Grandma made sure that Anthony was wearing his socks and hat. We had a nice walk in the neighborhood and visited an open house. (They were asking 1.2 million for a newer 4-bedroom-2 1/2-bath house with a postage-stamp yard.)

Besides visiting with Anthony, the weekend was all about food. I did a grocery store run on Saturday when I was hungry, BIG mistake. In addition to a freezer-full of ice cream (which we didn't eat), I bought two kinds of cake. Mom also made sticky-buns for breakfast Sunday morning. Sunday we also went to the farmer's market and I came home with strawberries that didn't get eaten. (I'll have no problem eating those.) Sunday we also had dim-sum with Alex before the shower. And, there was ice-cream cake at the shower. We put Auntie Andrea and Grandma on the airplane Sunday night. None of us needed dinner after the weekend's gluttony. Gosh, I feel like this could be straight out of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ about open adoption.

Q. What is open adoption?

A. In open adoption, the birthparents choose the adoptive parents they would like to parent their baby. The birthparents and adoptive parents meet and get to know one another, and usually have some type of ongoing contact through the years. This can include pictures and letters, phone calls, and visits.**

Q. Why did you choose open adoption?

A. We don't want to keep secrets from our boy. We know that as time passes he will want to know where he came from and have normal questions about his birth family. Maintaining an open relationship will give him the opportunity to have those questions answered. In addition, we want Victoria to know that Anthony is growing up in a loving home.

Q. Won't he be confused about who is "real" Mom and Dad are?

A. No, he will always know that we are his mommy and daddy. But, he will also know whose tummy he grew in and that Victoria asked us to be his parents because she loves him.

Q. Will you have on-going contact over the years?

A. Absolutely! Victoria and her family live about an hour away. We anticipate annual visits. In fact, we're eagerly looking forward to going Trick-or-Treating with them at Halloween.

Q. Can you change your mind about having contact?

A. Nope, here in California it is legally binding on our part. Besides, we are very happy with our growing relationship with Victoria.

**cribbed directly from our agency's website

Stopped Traffic Today!

(Sorry, no picture)

We were just out for a walk. Anthony was happily riding in his Baby Bjorn. Pretty much all you can see of him is a leg and the top of his head. A woman stopped her car to comment on what beautiful hair he has!!!

(My mom thinks that its thinner than in earlier photographs. We'll see!)

Clothes

Anthony mostly spends his days in his little one-piece "sleep and play" suits. Today I took him to work for lunch, so I dressed him up in actual clothes. These overalls are a little big for him, but I think they're precious.

For those who are keeping track, clothes that are sized 0-3 months fit him pretty well. Size 3 months (like this one) are definitely a little big. He can pull off the oversized look pretty well, though.

Nothing as Sweet as a Sleeping Baby

Is there nothing as sweet as a sleeping baby??

My mom got us a wonderful CD of lullabies--Golden Slumbers. We are really enjoying it.

We also listen to Baby Mozart. I learned something the first time we listened to it, I hadn't realized that "Twinkle twinkle little star" was Mozart. I guess you learn something new every day.

Of course, his bedtime music isn't just confined to "baby music". Today he went down for his nap listening to Rent. (I'm not convinced its entirely appropriate, but I enjoyed it.)

Lunch with Daddy

We went to Bob's work today so that Anthony could have lunch with Daddy. Anthony even got his own visitor's badge. You can't read it, but on the bottom it says that he requires an escort at all times.

It was a beautiful day so we had lunch in the sun. Anthony pretty much slept through lunch, so we got to eat in peace. :-)

We met a few of Bob's co-workers who all thought he was the cutest little thing. Everyone comments on his beautiful head of hair!

Daddy Went Back to Work Today

Boy did we miss him!

Mommy had a good day with me, including a coffee date with her friend Elly. We think it will be a regular Monday occurrence until she goes back to work in January.

Daddy brought some See's lollipops with "It's a Boy" stickers on them to share with everyone at work. He also showed off one of my photographs--everyone is impressed at what a big boy I am.

Daddy gave me a big kiss when he got home. (He kissed me even before he kissed Mommy!)

Stretch!

People keep asking how we are doing sleep-wise. Truth is, so far, so good. (Of course the sheer act of recording this will make things deteriorate immediately.) He can go as much as 4 hours at a stretch at night. Generally, though, he wakes for meals every 3 hours. Our real problem is that we have a hard time getting him calmed down after his snack. He'll have a nice 4 ounce bottle, get all snoozy and then poop. Of course we have to change his diaper which gets him all riled up. (He calms down but then is usually awake and rarin' to go.)

Last night's schedule went something like this (an approximation, who keeps track in the middle of the night):
8:00 bottle
9:00 finally asleep
12:30 bottle (Bob gave this one)
12:45 asleep
3:15 bottle (Karin knows this one because its right when Morning Edition started)
4:00 asleep
7:00 awake and ready to start the day (Yeah for Daddy the early bird)

Unfortunately, I haven't mastered easily falling back asleep yet. I'm sure that is a skill I'll aquire soon.

Bottle feeding is a pretty big advantage for us. It means that we really can trade off in the middle of the night.

Another Party Photo

Here's the group photo from the Halloween party. Aren't the kids cute in their costumes??

Halloween Party

Anthony went to his first Halloween party today. (It was actually his first party ever!) It was sponsored by the neighborhood mothers group "Bagels and Babies". Needless to say, he was the youngest one there. Most of the other kids were 8 months to a year. Everyone thought he was absolutely adorable, of course. He pretty much slept through the party, but mommy had a nice time meeting other neighborhood moms.

As for the other costumes, there was one other pumpkin, three Tiggers and two Yodas. (It is the 20th anniversary of Star Wars.) Mommy bought the Halloween get-up even before Anthony was born. Auntie Jessica sent the cool hat and socks. (There are matching mittens but it was too warm for those. Maybe we'll wear them when we go Trick-or-Treating.)

Thanks Aunt Jessica!!Oh yeah, there was a big group photo taken. I'll post that when I get a copy.

Nap Time

Nothing like a nice snooze on Daddy's chest!

College Tours

Well, we went and visited Stanford today. As you can see, Anthony was less than impressed. Maybe he'd prefer to go to Carleton or Rensselaer.

Just kidding, we are not actually looking at colleges yet. Bob wanted to buy some software at the bookstore and since it was such a nice day we went for a walk on campus. This picture was taken on the main quad. The Memorial Chapel is directly behind us and through the arches you can see Palm Drive, the main entrance into campus. Stanford really does have a beautiful campus.

Going for a Ride

Grandma Kay got us a Baby Bjorn for Mr. Anthony. I'm very happy that we got the one with additional lumbar support as he's going to be a big guy. It took us a few tries to get him successfully snuggled in, but I think we're going to like it.

(I found it easier to use than the sling. However, the sling is easier to eat with, you can just drape a napkin over the baby.)

Thanks Grandma Kay!

Snuggling with Daddy

Check it out, a picture taken with Daddy. He's encouraging Munchkin to settle down for bed. (Unfortunately Munchkin is looking pretty alert, doesn't he??)

How Big is Anthony?

SO BIG!

We had our 2 week pediatrician appointment today, and Anthony is a healthy little boy. He weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and is now 21 1/4 inches long. That puts him at 75 percentile for both height and weight and 90 percentile for head circumference. In two weeks he's gained just over a pound and almost two inches.* Good to know that all that formula we're putting into him is going somewhere!

*I take length measurements with a grain of salt. How easy is it to measure a wriggling baby who doesn't like to stretch out??

Quiet Day Today

Nothing much to say today. Its a sweet little picture of Munchkin, though. (At least I think so, isn't he alert?!) I need to hold the camera more so we can get some pictures of Anthony and his Daddy.

They really do spend a lot of time together. Daddy is becoming a pro at diaper changing, a stark contrast from day 3 when I found that his diaper was only half-way on.

Today I finally finished most of the paperwork for work. I did the family leave paperwork, the FMLA paperwork, and of course, added him to my insurance. Not very exciting, but necessary.

Anthony's two week pediatrician check-up is tomorrow. We're curious to see how big he's gotten. He certainly looks bigger, he's got huge cheeks and the beginnings of a little belly.

Party time!!!

Little guy is increasingly alert. Unfortunately, last night it was party time all night long!!! He woke up for a bottle at 1:30 and didn't feel the need to fall back asleep for hours. Bob finally got up with him at 3 so I could go back to sleep. He says little guy was awake until almost 5, when get got another bottle.

He wasn't really fussy, just not sleepy either. (And he certainly didn't want to lie in his crib, he wanted to have fun!!!)

Belly Button

Check it out, he's going to have a little belly button soon. His little umbilical cord fell off a few days ago. (I wanted to post this a few days ago, but usually he's pretty cranky when he doesn't have his clothes on.)

Visiting with friends

We had a great day yesterday. We went up to Redwood city and Anthony met his friend Jack. They're going to be camping buddies someday.

We took advantage of Jack's older brothers as babysitters and enjoyed a nice lunch out. Anthony came with us, of course. He slept in his little babybucket through the whole meal. It was a beautiful sunny day so we ate outside. (Don't worry, Anthony was comfy in the shade.)

Then after lunch we all went for a walk and took Jack to the park to play. We borrowed Jack's old sling and it was nice carrying Anthony around like a little peanut. We had a nice afternoon, visited a local open house and visited with friends.

We ended up crashing Lee and Karyn's date. (They had babysitter for Jack.) We went out to a nice dinner at Gator's Neo Soul Cafe. Anthony was great for his first dinner at a nice restaurant. He slept nicely in his carseat for awhile, and then I ended up holding him in his sling through the rest of dinner. Hardly a peep out of him, maybe he liked the live music. Other couples in the restaurant commented that we should enjoy eating out while he is so young and portable. And, of course, I got a lot of comments on how good I look to have such a young baby. (I just smile and say thank you.)

A Whole Week Old

Wow! Its only been a week and already he is changing.

Most noticeable:
1. His appetite. When we brought him home from the hospital, a good meal was 1 oz of formula. Tonight he downed almost 4 ounces. (I had planned to give him 3, but he was NOT satisfied with that.)
2. He is up to 8 pounds, 7 ounces. (Up 6 ounces in 7 days) See point 1.
3. His color. He's got real baby color in his face.


Bob's comment about today's photo. He may be grabbing my finger, but he's got us wrapped around his little pinky.

(By the way, he still has all his hair. And it is SO soft. Can't say the same for Bob.)

Like I'm a Fancy Park Avenue Baby!

Check out the bouquet of diapers Aunt Julie sent!

Its almost like the one that Charlotte gave Miranda in "Sex and the City". Pretty cute!

Daddy Dressed Me Funny

So last night was our first adoption group with a baby. But first, I picked out a sweet little outfit for Anthony to wear. Its a little Winnie the Pooh outfit, with Pooh playing with a toy biplane on the pants and jacket. Bob got the little guy dressed and brought him out and his onesie was on backwards. He put the buttons (and label) in the front and the little Pooh logo in the back. Silly daddy.

Group was great! There was another family there with their new girl. She was three weeks older than Anthony and MUCH smaller. We talked about the hospital experience, settling in at home, etc.

This counts as one of our monthly post-placement visits. I believe we go every month until we finalize. (We may get a reprieve the month that we have our in-home visit, though.)

We're friends with another couple who are expecting a baby any day now. We're looking forward to meeting him next month!