It's almost December?!?!

Well time is certainly flying by. Between fixing up the house, dealing with a flood of bailout news at work and, of course, raising a beautiful baby boy, a month has passed without an update.

How far he has come!

His first picture in the womb
February 15, 2008



His first picture in the world
August 18, 2008



His first Thanksgiving (sitting in Grandpa Ron's chair)
November 27, 2008



His first bedroom
November 30, 2008



Zander has recently developed the ability to play by himself which is quite adorable. He will lay there and bat at his toys while either talking to them or singing to himself.

Zander meets his cousins

In non-Zander related news, we bought a house! It is very exciting and lots and lots of work. We spent the weekend cleaning and painting, with the generous help of Jason's family.

It was a big day for Zander.

He's not used to this much excitement.

He ended the day by falling asleep in Grandma's arms.

...and he giggles in his sleep....

Zander likes to sit upright, but he's not really able to do that just yet, so we prop him up with blankets to slow the sideways topple.

He doesn't like it when I use the flash on the camera.

Maybe it's not so bad.

But when I don't, it looks like he moves at lighting speed!

Whoooooaaaaaahhhh!

That was exhausting.

Time for Fall Clothes

Look what showed up on our doorstep

Zander has arrived. Let the party begin.




Little Zander is really starting to engage with us, and his playful personality is coming out. Here is our beautiful baby boy smiling at his dad.

Fiji Toes!

Zander has Fiji toes! Is this a new development? Have I simply overlooked it until now? Who cares! He has Fiji toes!



My boy, you can look forward to a lifetime of picking things up with your feet. Hooray!

One Month Already

Believe it or not, Li'l Z is already a month old. Time is flying by, and he is already changing so much.

He has already outgrown:

- the small setting for the straps on his car seat

- he is almost too big for his Beastly Bumz newborn diapers

- the baby straight-jacket (aka swaddling). If we try to swaddle his arms, he will lay there and punch until he gets his hands free

- he can drink out of a bottle (which, I have to admit, made me a tiny bit sad)

- sponge baths (now that he has a proper belly button, he can have regular baths). On the upside, he LOVES taking baths.





Here he is "sun bathing."





On advice from some of our friends, I went to "Grow with Me," a shop for gently-used baby stuff. It is a great store, and I found an infant stroller for $25! We are getting tons of use out of it, and Zander seems to enjoy our walks.



One of Zander's favorite places is him faux-lambskin rug. By a wacky coincidence, we received two identical rugs as gifts. Perfect! Now he can spit up on one and use the other while it is being washed.


"Baby on the lam"

Goodbye Umbilical Cord, Hello Belly Button

Zander lost his umbilical stump today!



Here is his new little belly button.



Zander seems to prefer not wearing clothes, but his hands and feet get chilly. This is our compromise.

Zander wears his first hoodie

Babies for Change

Our dear friends Melissa and Fred gave us this adorable little onesie for Zander, helping him to make his first political statement.

Welcome to the World

On 8/18/08 at 8:48 pm Zander Micah joined us in the world, making Jason and I proud new parents.

Our Family Photo

The labor went really well, roughly 10 hours which is good for a first timer like me. That said, I had been experiencing the poorly named and very frustrating "false labor" for over a week. It must have done something, though, since we were all shocked to discover that I was already 8 cm dilated when we got to the hospital. The nurses whisked me up to labor and delivery, and a short 4 hours later Zander was in my arms.

Jason and I are loving parenthood, and Zander is an amazingly happy and adorable baby. We had a week-long babymoon where the three of us cocooned and grew into our new family roles. I'm very glad we had that private time. I highly recommend it.

Now we are ready to share him with the rest of the world. We've had several visitors and I'm gradually easing up on my over-protectiveness. Everyone has been so welcoming and excited to meet little Zander, it is heartwarming.