Vacation!

It might come as a shock to some of you but having a kid requires a lot of preparation before hitting the road. Gone are the days of impulse trips. Here are the days of loading up a diaper bag, cooler full of milk, baby bed, stroller, etc...

Last weekend we made our first overnight trip since March! We hit the road and drove to the Detroit Lakes area to visit Ericka's brother and his family. Mathias traveled very well. We did the 4 hour trip with merely one pit stop in each direction at the terrific Jitters Java Cafe in Sauk Centre for milk and ice cream. Mathias slept most of the way and was generally a content traveler. While at the lake Mathias wasn't hurting for attention as he was being doted on almost around the clock by loving aunts, uncles, and cousins.















It was a sweltering weekend at the lake and while Mathias stayed in the air conditioned environment the rest of us took turns hitting the waters. It was a blast! Ericka got introduced to the fine art of tubing and I attempted water skiing.













I'm sure it is a matter a few short years before Mathias will be following in his father's footsteps.













Aaaahhhh Summer!!

Ps. Comment box is re-activated. Just don't leave any spam : )

Junk

I think I got all the junk cleaned out.
If you see a link to a different site inside a comment field DON'T click on it. I haven't checked but I'm guessing there's spyware at the other end... Rat bastards!
Do let me know if you see any that I missed!

Three Amigos

We had an appointment at the clinic yesterday. Mathias received a clean bill of health! He also got a cocktail of vaccines delivered in two shots. After that he had a rough afternoon and evening... Poor guy!

On a more terrific note... For the first time he tipped the scale to 10 pounds (4500g)! He is now right at par with Rudi.

Ever since he came home we have been instructed to boost the calorie content of his milk to speed up his weight gain. Apparently we have received the desired level of chunkiness... The new marching orders are to rein in the calorie boost.

Note

Hey folks!
It appears that an automated comment entry program has sprayed this site with hundreds of entries with a link to who-knows-where... While I clean that up I have turned off the comment function. Sorry!

More deliberations

Just as some thought the jury had reached a verdict: a Perry-Masonesque turn of events.

In a stunning maneuver, the defense pulls out new evidence - 4-month pictures of Aunt A and Grandma R:
Aunt A:














M:













Grandma R:




Maybe there's something to the theory that babies resemble who we want them to resemble...

Nine pounds (4100g)!

More fun than a barrel of monkeys!

M and his folks at 4 months

The jury is still out on who he looks like.

Happy four-month birthday!

That's a third of a year!


It's amazing that it has been that long - yet such a short amount of time to have such an impact on Ericka and me.



After all, what's 120 days on earth?


-Long enough to walk the Appalachian Trail? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_trail

-Brief enough for an elected official to break most of his campaign promises?

-Enough to gain seven pounds?


Enjoy your weekend! The Twin Cities will be pushing 100 degrees F (40 C)!

A month at home!

The memories of all those days spent at Children's are rapidly fading! We decided relive the olden days by stopping in to say hello to some of our regulars on Saturday. As luck would have it, both our primary nurses in the ICU and ICC were working that day (maybe not so lucky for them since it was a gorgeous day in the Twin Cities). It was very nice to stop in but we decided we prefer it at home.

Right next to Children's is the Swedish American Institute where the afternoon story time revolved around the adventures of the Mumin Trolls. Mathias did not stay awake for it. But we enjoyed it.

While in south Minneapolis we made a visit to the delightful Wild Rumpus book store - it is absolutely worth a stop. Well... Mathias spent the whole visit sleeping in his car seat.

To round off the afternoon, Sebastian Joe's ice cream happens to be right next door - that's a destination worthy of its own trip!

In all, we had a terrific mini-vacation. It seems like we could get ready to board a plane soon!

http://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/

Thursday morning weigh-in

The scale stops at eight pounds (3600g). Two more and he'll surpass Rudi (in the background) .

He keeps putting away food like it's going out of style. Not getting much taller though - only wider!

Visitors - Part III

Grandpa Charlie stopped by to visit grandkid XII (we can only presume his favorite!).

While Grandpa has visited several times before, this is the first visit outside the incubator walls.

They make quite the pair - even sporting matching hats and shorts!

The monitor

Has been quiet for a couple of weeks.

Well... not counting the numerous alarms related to the sensors being dislodged in the middle of the night...

We've been instructed to discontinue the morning caffeine dose. If things continue to go well for another couple of weeks we'll ship that clunker back to Children's! It won't be missed.

Happy Independence Day!

We celebrated July 4th by taking Mathias on his first restaurant visit. We trekked back to his former stomping grounds near Children's Hospital and had lunch at Stella's (their lobster sandwich is magnificent!) .
Then we walked around Lake Calhoun. It was a beautiful sunny day with lots of people out and about.


Mathias slept through the whole afternoon...

Progress

If placed on his stomach, Mathias is starting to master the art of turning his head (if there is something interesting to look at on the other side). A small step for man-kind but a giant leap for this particular guy!



He is also developing a rather voracious appetite. At this pace, the 8 lb marker won't be far away!




Lengthwise, we're now up to 19 inches (48 cm) - hey, that's almost like a regular baby!


In the past week Mathias has been branching out in the world. He has visited his first coffee shop, been shopping and even entertained visitors!