Our First Date

As I mentioned earlier, Steph's birthday was earlier this month, but at the time we didn't do anything too special to celebrate. That's partly because we don't tend to do a whole lot for our birthdays, and partly because I got tickets to see Crowded House at the Mountain Winery later in the month. Well, tonight was the night, and quite a beautiful night it was -- perfect weather for an outdoor evening concert. This was our first date since Evan was born, and we had a very nice time.

Of course, part of going on a date is finding a babysitter, and this was our first time leaving Evan with anyone besides a grandparent for any appreciable amount of time. This was no normal babysitter, though. Our friend (and realtor) Leslie and her partner-in-crime at Keller Williams, Kelly, offered to help us out. Leslie has considered going pro as an auntie (she even has a stage name already, Auntie Essie, which she uses to refer to herself in the third person sometimes), but I don't think it pays as well as the real estate biz. Kelly, as you'll see below, is in a family way (she and her husband are expecting their first in November), so she was using this evening as a dry run. Not that anything stays dry around a baby for very long.

Here are our two lovely babysitters at the beginning of the evening:

Also, here's a shot of Steph and I just before we left thrown in for good measure:

I didn't get a picture of the babysitters at the end of the evening, but they seemed no worse for wear. I think they even had a pretty good time with the little guy.

We used to pay a lot of attention to when Evan ate, and slept, and was fussy, and was alert. Steph even kept track of his state in her Palm (it also helped her to remember which side to feed from next, back when it wasn't so obvious). We were hoping to discern some pattern or schedule so we could predict when he'd need what, and we (particularly Steph) could plan when we could do non-baby things, like have lunch with a friend, or shop for groceries, or shower. Unfortunately Evan had other ideas. Or maybe he had a total and utter lack of ideas. Whatever he had, after a few weeks of paying attention to his "schedule" the only thing that became clear was that he had no schedule. One of the "benefits" of having two parents (one of whom produces enough milk to feed a preschool class) and only one baby is that you can get away with not being very regimented and stay sane -- ask anyone you know who's had twins, or is a single parent, and I think you'll get a different take on this matter. Anyway, we've given up tracking Evan's goings on in such detail, and we're now focusing our efforts on imposing a routine to get him to go to bed around the same time each night.

Why do I bring this up, you ask? Well, evidently Leslie and Kelly have not had these same journaling instincts eroded yet. Maybe they were just trying to be conscientious babysitters. Maybe Steph and I are subconsciously still paying more attention to this stuff than we realize and when we relate our evening routine we enrich our descriptions with enough detail that we scare people and they think they have to behave in kind. I'm not really sure why they did it, but they kept a detailed log of what Evan did when. So here's what a fairly typical evening with Evan looks like:

• 6:45 - 7:15 Fine
• 7:15 - 7:40 Nap
• 8:00 Hungry (ate 1 oz?)
• 9:00 Fussy, changed diaper, fed again (1/2 oz?)
• 9:45 - 10:15 Nap
• 10:30 Hungry (1 oz?), changed diaper
• 10:55 Put to bed
• 11:00 Asleep
  

Why should you care about this? Well, you probably don't, but since Leslie and Kelly took the time to write it all down I wanted to share it anyway.

Mannies and Peddies

Both our Moms have taken to getting Steph gift certificates to the spa down the street from us for massages, manicures, and pedicures recently. These gifts are very much appreciated, but they do pose a bit of a challenge -- it's almost impossible to predict when she'll have a 2-hour window free during the week (the windows exist, but you can't be sure you're in one until it's over), and it's hard to schedule appointments on the weekends. Holding an ever-growing baby who knows how many hours of the day was starting to catch up with her, though, so the desire to take advantage of one of these gifts was getting closer and closer to a need.

Fortunately, we're a two-parent household, and being back to work full-time doesn't mean I have to work all the time. Steph was able to get a Saturday appointment, and she took off for a few hours of pampering today, leaving me alone with the boy for the afternoon. We had an uneventful day (literally -- I got absolutely nothing done), but we did meet our primary objective -- to make Steph's hands and feet shiny and pretty. She says it was unplanned, but when she got home she noticed the nail polish color she chose is remarkably close to the color of Evan's little lips:

It was also almost identical to the color of Evan's evil red eyes, but I used Photoshop to fix that so you're none the wiser... pretend you didn't read that last line.

Here's another picture showing their lip-fingernail chroma synchronicity where Evan is also sporting one of his cute-and-goofy smiles:

That's My Boy

When we got home from the dog walk Saturday morning I noticed that TiVo was recording something for us. That seemed a bit odd at first -- Saturday morning isn't exactly what you'd call prime-time TV, although TiVo is good at finding interesting stuff at all hours of the day. It then occurred to me that the English Premier League started up again last weekend, so there was a pretty good chance there would be at least one new soccer game for me to watch. Furthermore, I remembered that Everton (my favorite team in the EPL) were playing Blackburn this weekend, so I flipped on the TV to see if that was the game that was on (as luck would have it, it was).

Now, Evan and I watch a lot of soccer together -- it's a great way to pass the time during those mornings when Evan is unwilling to sleep by himself and I'm too tired to do something productive while carrying him around but not tired enough to motivate myself to build a nest where I can lie down with him and actually fall asleep. Usually I'm doing most of the watching, while Evan does most of the sleeping. Today was different, though. As soon as the TV came on he was fixated by the action before us. I've never been so proud:

Watching the World Go By

Since Evan has been doing such a good job holding his head up recently Steph thought it was time to try walking him around in the BabyBjörn facing out yesterday! This is a very big step in a young man's life, when he finally gets to move about in the world (or at least be transported about in the world) and observe his environment (or at least his environment within a radius of a few feet). OK, so maybe it isn't that big of a step, but it is a step, and one which Evan took with aplomb. He and Steph walked the dog around the neighborhood for half and hour or so, and he was awake and looking around the whole time. He also managed to slobber all over the edge of the BabyBjörn, which wasn't a shock in and of itself (we've seen friends' babies do the same thing), but was illustrative of the surprising amount of saliva one baby can produce in a relatively short amount of time.

Anyway, when we went on the family dog walk this morning Evan got to look out at the world again, but this time we got a picture (it's easier to take pictures when there are two adults around):

Also, partly because he's turned around and partly because his head is growing along with the rest of his body, Evan's walking hat finally fits him as more than an awning! Plus, with the head-support flap of the BabyBjörn folded over you can really appreciate how color-coordinated his hat and carrier are.

Family Portrait

Do you believe that we haven't taken a reasonable picture of the three of us since the day we left the hospital? Well, it's true. I don't know how many times we've said "When so-and-so is here we should have them take a picture of us" or something like that, but we haven't seemed to be able to remember that sentiment when so-and-so is actually here.

My parents were staying with us again this weekend, and after four days they had almost earned their way onto the list of near misses. Fortunately I remembered to request they bring our camera with them to dinner, and we had enough time between finishing eating and taking them to the airport to remember our need for a family portrait. So, here it is:

The setting isn't exactly your classic Olan Mills snowy lane backdrop, but what can you do?

We also took a photo of my parents holding the boy for good measure:

Sitting Up... With Help

We put Evan in his Bumbo chair for the first time today. Or rather, Steph put Evan in his Bumbo chair for the first time. I had to go back to work full-time today -- I have been working half-time for the last month or so. I guess this is just the first of many "Guess what Evan did today" conversations we'll have in the coming years. At least through the magic of digital photography I can see pictures (and sometimes videos) of these things as soon as I get home. And for that matter, so can you!

As I was saying, Steph put Evan in his Bumbo chair for the first time today, and he definitely seemed to like it:

The seat forces him to slouch a bit, so he always looks very relaxed when he's sitting in it. If he could hold his bottle by himself the image would be just about perfect, but he's not there yet so you'll have to imagine it for yourself.

Steph also took a video of him sitting there, but I'm not going to bother posting it. Just stare at the picture for 10 seconds or so -- that's about the same as the video.

Dancing Baby

Steph's sister Melissa danced her way through her youth, and was a cheerleader at UCLA. A cheerleader's main job is to demonstrate infectious enthusiasm (and to do acrobatics in minimal clothing, but we'll ignore that aspect of the job for the time being), and according to Evan Lissie has still got it:

Grandma

Somebody took about 17 pictures of Sheilagh holding Evan during dinner Friday night, and a couple of them turned out pretty well! Here's one of them:

Adorable

I don't know what, if anything, was going on in this picture, but I think it's adorable:

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

We put Evan in his first pants-and-shirt outfit today -- before this he's only worn onesies, sometimes with pants over them, or just a shirt with his diaper. Once he was all suited up we realized that he was sporting a muffin top! You can't see it super-well here, although it's a little more evident if you click on the picture to see the full-size version:

I'll think you'll agree that Evan's ongoing expansion plans are progressing quite nicely.

Here's another picture of him in the same outfit, but zoomed in a bit so you can't see his muffin-topness. He does have a very interesting look on his face, though:

Moms Wear the BabyBjörn Too

Up until now most of the BabyBjörn wearing has been done by me, mostly because Steph's back got sore really fast whenever she carried Evan around in it. She's recently figured out how to adjust it to fit her better, though, so now she can use it too. Here she is getting ready for the morning dog walk with the boy:

Since I have to go back to work full time in a week the mobility the baby carrier affords her is going to become very important!

Steph's Birthday

This Friday is Steph's birthday (parents have birthdays too!), and partly for that reason her Mom came to visit us for the week. Additionally Jim was in town for a few days on business, so Tuesday night we all went out to dinner at The Drying Shed, a prime rib restaurant just down the street from us. We've wanted to go there ever since we moved last summer, particularly after we learned that it's not a strip club (if you've ever seen the outside you know what I mean). I've since read a bunch of horrible reviews online, but we had a pretty good time, and our food was excellent.

One of the main advantages of going out to dinner with grandparents is that when the baby starts to look at all fussy they rush in to comfort him, leaving you with two free hands with which you can eat. Using both hands at the same time for a single task is a highly under appreciated pleasure. I'm typing with two hands right now, and let me tell you, it's dramatically more efficient than typing with one hand!

That's neither here nor there, though. Here are a few pictures of Jim and Sheilagh keeping Evan entertained while Steph and I eat our dinners at an almost-normal pace:

Joe Cool

Our friends Penny and Loren came by to bring us lunch this weekend, and they also brought Evan some cool swim gear. Fortunately the pants are sized for 6-month old babies, which means they'll still fit (Evan is already too long for lots of 3-month old clothes). They also got him a pair of sunglasses which actually fit him now:

All the other pairs of sunglasses we have for him, while being comically tiny, are still too big for a 2-month old, so the fact that these ones fit now is impressive. They don't work for everyone, though. Here's Steph trying out the baby's glasses:

Although she has a tiny face (as suggested by snorkeling gear vendors across the Hawaiian islands) it's still a little too big for these specs.

Burnin' Rubber

As a general rule of thumb we're not big fans of the concept of a theme for decorating the baby's room. People assume that since Steph is an artist and I have an impeccable sense of style and decor we must have come up with something truly unique and wonderful for his room. We think that we did, but there's no theme -- it just looks nice. They always ask us, "Ooh, what's your theme for Evan's room?", to which we reply, "Baby."

That's all about to change, though. We got some junk mail today (what am I saying, "junk" mail, this thing is gold!) that is going to alter the course of Evan's young life. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Burnin' Rubber:

Pretty awesome, huh?! I love the attention to detail, including the shadowy castle off in the distance. I know, you probably didn't even notice that at first, seeing as how you were so fixated on the imagery of a dragon riding a motorcycle. When you stare at the postcard longingly for hours on end you start to pay attention to and appreciate these things, though. And here's a quote from the marketing text on the back:

Fueled with dragon power

Emerging from his lair deep within the earth, the mighty dragon harnesses the power of the highway in fiendish glory, the road erupting in a firestorm.

You may not believe me, but this is not taken from Napoleon Dynamite, you can actually buy this thing! Isn't it obvious that we have to use this as Evan's theme? I'm thinking we paint the room red, blue, and black with a mural on one wall, and we include snippets of text like the quote above along the border around the top of the room. We'll also have to overhaul his toy selection and wardrobe. No more outfits with cute little puppies, or duckies, or giraffes, or monkeys. From now on Evan is all bikers, dragons, and especially biker dragons, all the time. I'm so excited. If anyone knows where we can get biker dragon clothes and toys please let us know.

Bear Hug

Evan is trying to grow up as fast as he possibly can, presumably so he can give a full bear hug. He's already pretty close, though:

The Sound of One Hand Sucking

During his tummy time today Evan didn't seem that interested in trying to hold his head up or roll over. No, today he chose to continue his on again, off again infatuation with his hand. He doesn't exactly bring his hand to his mouth with the intent to suck on it. In fact, I don't think he knows that it's his hand, or that it's accessible to him any time he wants it, or even what a hand is. He certainly does know that when a hand of that size happens to loiter around his mouth he might as well suck on it... and loudly. You'll see (and hear!) what I'm talking about in this video:

Ceiling Fan

As many of you know, babies seem to have a thing for ceiling fans, and Evan is no exception. Fortunately for us, almost every room in our house has a ceiling fan (I wouldn't say it was the main reason we bought this house, but it didn't go unnoticed), and the one in our bedroom has nice dark blades that contrast very well with the nice light ceiling. We took this video of him lying on our bed, watching the fan above him:

I thought that he was twitchy when he met his play pen bears, but it turns out that was a calm, measured response. According to Evan new friends are great and all, but ceiling fans are where it's at!

Evan's New Friends

Evan made some new friends today... his play pen bears. Usually when you put him down on his back Evan becomes very interested in the ceiling. Actually, usually whenever his eyes are open Evan is interested in the ceiling. I'll give you that our house's ceiling is marginally more interesting than the typical ceiling with its open beams and ripply insulation tiles, but it's all painted a glossy white -- there's almost no contrast there, and babies are supposed to love contrast. I'm sure he's got his reasons, though (maybe the backs of his eyeballs are heavier than the fronts so his eyes tend to rotate up -- it's not like Steph or I have particularly robust eye genes to pass on to him).

Since he's becoming more interactive the last few weeks that's been changing, though. When I put him down in his play pen for a few minutes today he was instantly transfixed by the bears that hang over it:

He was extremely excited with his new discovery. You could tell because he lost all voluntary control of his arms and legs (not that he had much to lose). This image conveys some of what I'm talking about:

These bears look to be a close relative of the bearanha, although at this point they appear very benign. I'm no expert on stuffed bear taxonomy - that's more Steph's area - but we hope that if they become aggressive they at least wait until Evan's better equipped to deal with them.