first road trip

We took a trip to IN to visit Grandpa and Grandma. Clara slept the entire way there and all but 20 minutes of the way back (she was hungry).

As an added bonus, great-aunts, -uncles, and -grandma drove down from MI to see the baby. The baby did not disappoint. Mom and dad didn't have much baby holding time this weekend, except for the late, late shift.Great-aunt Jo has some good skills -- we learned bobbling from her, a bouncy-patting-making baby happy shuffle.
Big great-uncles still remember baby handling skills.
4 generations together. Great-grandma -> 2nd daughter -> 1st daughter -> 1st daughter. Good heritage!
Grandpa remains fond of the baby. Also note the Illini jersey! Cousins are coming from MI this weekend to watch the IL-MI football match on Halloween. The team with the most orange should win!
Despite the seemingly unending rain this month, we've had a number of beautiful days, as suggested by this photo. The falls colors brighten the many grey days.
Grandpa and grandma's church put on an open house to welcome the baby. She drew a lot of attention.
Good ole friends stopped by to say hello.

Many of the people we saw over the weekend had been asking God to send us a kid for a very long time. Suddenly, we have Clara, and we are overjoyed to introduce her. It's a faith becomes sight moment.

P.S. Apologies to those whose photo does not appear in this post. If you complain enough, we'll put you in a later post.

eatin' and sleepin'

The fun continued this week with Clara.

Most of the time, she's a happy baby. Not always though! 'Where's my milk?!'
Typical Saturday fun of walking to the farmers' market and eating lunch out.
She's still mostly small enough to sleep on couch pillows.
Dad and Clara get a nice nap before Bible study on Sun afternoon.

some milestones

As requested by grandma S, here's the baby and Raggedy Ann comparison. First, from week 1.

Now from tonight (just over 1 month). She wouldn't leave her legs stretched out, so you'll have to use your imagination about her height. Also, she's wearing lots of clothes because it is quite cold today.
Saturday was a big day for Clara. First, she smiled at us. The smiles were brief and glorious. Second, she copied our arm motions (raise arms, bring back to chest).

Perhaps because those actions were so strenuous, she has done nothing but eat and sleep today. Or perhaps she's gearing up to grow by another leap or bound.

1 month!

Clara is now a month old! She celebrated by getting checked out by Dr. B. She comes in at 8lb, 2oz, and 21" long, the 25th percentile of both measures. She is doing quite well. Jill, on the other hand, just got mastitis, so she's not feeling so well.

Clara continues to be among your less difficult babies, but there are moments. Recently, she has become terribly upset and cried quite loudly for about an hour a day. Typically, this happened between 11p and 12a, but once it was between 3:30a and 4:30a. So I've been using my non-Jedi mind tricks to convince her to (a) feel decent all the time or (b) become upset during normal wakeful hours. For the last 2 days, this has been a success.

I'm trying to not go too far with the mind tricks, but I confess that I did one other thing. Before the training, Clara was going #2 about once a day (no small amount) and waited until I was home from work to do so. I have convinced her to do this activity while I'm at work. Jill is not fully pleased about this.
Numerous church friends have been bringing dinner. Even though we have an 'easy' baby, these meals have been greatly appreciated.
Most recently, the above friends had a great plan and brought themselves over along with the dinner.

pre-baby life crisis leads to.... new bike

This news isn't hot off the presses, but as newspapers are learning, timeliness is less important than contentiness.

There I was, 33 years old, still a kid at heart, with my first child coming any time. What did this 33 year old like to do? Ride his bike(s). His bikes were made of steel (one classic, one modern) and aluminum. What was missing that he had never tried? Carbon fiber. He knew that happiness would not depend on trying one, but he really wanted to try one.

Wait, those bikes are expensive, you say. Indeed. So I scoured the used market. There it was, but ooof, it was ugly! I bought it. Buying used from out of town is an interesting experience. I never met the guy I bought it from, but we corresponded quite a bit (he went to Northsouthwesterly (or somesuch directionality) U, in Chicago and now lives in San Diego. His kids are grown. He bought a custom steel bike to replace this one). Then one has to wait and wait for the brown truck to arrive. Clara arrived before the red bike did.

I took the parts of the aluminum bike to put this together, so it's a little strange (MTB rear derailer, MTB pedals, ugly chainring). Here's your brief review from a slightly out of shape, slightly haggard papa. Handling is quick! It feels maybe as stiff while pedaling as the classic steel and less than the modern steel, so I'd call it lively. I've ridden in the rain 3 times and gotten wet. It's less ugly in person than in photos. I like it!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now the more popular news. Clara is beautiful and sweet. She's sleeping on her new bouncy chair right now.
I like Saturdays now more than ever.