about a boy

With Sylvia's first holiday season and the new year (and new decade!), my mind has been abuzz with many thoughts and reflections. Foremost in my mind today are thoughts of my sweet boy Kurt, who is turning two years old!

Of course, he's not exactly my sweet boy, but I think his parents will forgive me referring to him as such. He's been such a big part of our lives! We were so excited when we found out that Jeff & Jayne were going to be parents! We were there waiting with his grandparents when he was born...

...we were among the first to meet him...

...we watched eagerly as the nurses tended to him, and we were the 5th & 6th people (besides medical professionals) to hold him!

We visited almost every day that he was in the hospital, and we visited with him on his first night home. We babysat for him all the time, and we even got to watch him overnight! We didn't see him every day, but usually at least a few times a week. The several times that his family or ours were on vacations that lasted more than a few days, we missed him terribly.

His sweet smile and gleeful laugh can turn a lousy day right around! He's a busy little boy, so he doesn't always have time to stop for a snuggle, but it's wonderful when he does!

Kurt was so much a part of our daily lives that we had a car seat base in our car and a pack-n-play in our house just for him! We even baby-proofed our apartment!

One year ago today, we were very sad that he was too sick to celebrate his first birthday. But he felt well enough the next day!

One of the difficult things for me about being pregnant was that I didn't always have the energy to play with him, but we still managed to have quality time.

Kurt defied hospital rules to visit me when I was having Sylvia. He had a little bit of a hard time with her at first - specifically, sharing his fan club with her. But he was ultimately welcoming, and I dare say even fond, of her...

A little over a month ago, Kurt and his parents moved... to Canada! Before they left, I asked them what we were going to do about joint custody, but I think they thought I was joking. (Ok, I was joking, but only because I knew they wouldn't go for it!) In the 2 years of Kurt's life, this is the longest we've gone without seeing him. We miss him very much, and we wish we could be there to celebrate his birthday with him!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Kurt:

If you haven't seen enough, I highly recommend you look for some of my previous posts about him! There are some darned cute videos if you click on the "friends' babies" label at the end of this post and scroll down.

Anyway...

Happy Birthday, Kurt!

We love and miss you!!

Holidays & misc pictures

We totally failed to get any classic around-the-table Thanksgiving pictures, but here she is providing some entertaining at my uncle's house for Thanksgiving lunch...

...and planning meals with her Bubbie for day-after-Thanksgiving dinner.

We were back in San Diego only a few weeks later for Sylvia's first Hanukah at her Auntie Robyn's house.

While we were there, we finally introduced Sylvia to our friends Mike & Amanda and their kids Andrew & Megan...

And then we were in Orange County a few weeks after that for Christmas Eve.

It's been a whirlwind month or so!

We take pictures of little Sylvia everyday, but we're fortunate enough to know some VERY talented photographers. We've had a few opportunities to get some exceptional photos.

These are by Max's uncle Shimon & cousin Jake.

And these are by our good friend Heidi.

That's all for now!

Sylvia is 5 months old!

Sylvia Rose is 5 months old today!

She is absolutely a delight! Of course she has her cranky days and fussy times, but who doesn't? She spends most of her waking time reaching for her feet, gnawing on her hands, playing with her toys, and smiling at her parents.

At about 14 pounds, 2 ounces she is very close to doubling her birth weight.

She's mysteriously stopped rolling over from her tummy, but she sometimes seems to be considering taking it up again. She has started occasionally rolling from her back to her side, but then she thinks better of it. A few times when she's been laying on her back, she has wiggled in such a way that she ends up rotating herself in circles, like the hands of a clock.

No teeth have emerged, but we suspect that they're working their way through.

She's started eating "solid" food in the last few weeks -- first bananas, and now apples. In both cases, it's actually the fruit blended with milk. She seems to have taken an eager interest in eating from a spoon:

We're in the midst of Sylvia's first holiday season...

I'll try to give a more in-depth treatment soon! Stay tuned!

4-month progress report

Sylvia had her 4-month check-up today, and it went very well. She weighed in at 13 pounds, 2 ounces, which is the 45th percentile! I guess she's a little chubby, cuz her height was still closer to 25th percentile. She apparently also has a big head - 75th percentile!

After her 2-month appointment, I posted a picture the cluster on her back shoulder which the doctor told us was an hemangioma. Here it is today:

It looks about the same; maybe a little more disperse. The doctor says it'll probably stay as it is - possibly get a little bigger - and disappear in a few years.

The doctor had nothing but good things to say. She called Sylvia "beautiful" and "advanced"!

She had her second round of vaccinations - one shot in each thigh. She got VERY upset about a second after the first shot, and the intensity practically doubled immediately once the second shot went in, but she calmed down very quickly when it was done. She's fast asleep on my lap right now after an epic fit, so I do think she's having a bit of a reaction to the vaccinations. Last time she had a fever overnight, so we'll see what the next 24 hours have in store for us!

Here she is with her sad little bandaids again:

She's a cutie, isn't she?! Want additional evidence of her adorable-ness? For your viewing and listening pleasure, here are a few videos taken with our new iPhone 3GS's:

Sylvia is 4 months old!

Sylvia is 4 months old today! I'm not gonna lie... she just keeps getting cuter! She squeals and squeaks and kicks and chews on her fingers, and it's all extremely delightful!

When we last weighed her, she was about 12.5 pounds, though it's been a little while, so she might be pushing 13 by now. We'll get an official number in about a week and a half when we go in for her 4-month checkup.

Yesterday & today were her first Thanksgiving celebrations, so we're away from home. When we get back, we'll try to give some more updates & pictures.

Sylvia's first (4) Halloween (costumes)!

You can only have one first Halloween, but that doesn't mean you have to have only one first Halloween costume!

Officially, Sylvia was a monkey! (Yes, that is a tiny banana!)

But she was also a ladybug...

...a pumpkin...

...and a princess!

Plus she had a bonus Halloween outfit:

And she was adorable!!!

(Also, she's 11 pounds, 6 ounces today, which means she finally surpassed her mom's birth weight! Yay! -- Does anyone else think my mom deserves some kind of medal?!)

Sylvia is 3 months old!

Sylvia Rose is 3 months old today!

She weighs a little over 11 pounds. She's still predominately wearing her 0-3 month clothes, but we've gone through another cycle of retiring stuff that's a bit small and pulling out a few things in the next size up. We already feel like she's growing too fast!

Max & I feel very lucky. She doesn't sleep through the night, but she usually falls asleep very easily. And when she's awake, she's often smiling, laughing and singing / chatting / cooing to us, or else scoping out the world with apparently intense curiosity.

Her daddy is definitely the person who she smiles for the most, but even more than daddy she smiles for her toy owl that hangs on her carseat.

She'll giggle and smile and chat at him for ages. Car rides are much easier now that she has Mr. Owly!

Well, we'll try to post again soon with some more pictures (and maybe videos!) from this past month. We'll definitely post some Halloween pictures soon!