Kjerstin and Company sent us a CD today with a bunch of the pictures that they took while here visiting…including several events that you have already seen, but also a lot of stuff that you haven’t. Included are photos from a trip to the fire station where Johnathan, Isaac, and Nora got to try on my gear and climb through the truck. There are also pictures of the moment that we arrived home with Ezra as well as the cake that they had for him. They are all out of order (since that is how WordPress uploads them…or at least I can’t figure out how to do it differently) so please look around and enjoy. Thanks Kjerstin!

Now, we aren’t gamblers (full disclosure: I have gone twice and actually had some fun) but we feel like we hit blackjack at the Vegas tables on a $100K bet….Ezra turned 21 days old this morning at 3:13 and we celebrated the exact time with some snoring. The last three weeks have gone by at lightspeed and at a snail’s pace, all at the same time. 

Yesterday was a little tougher for us since it appears that Ezra might be hitting a growth spurt: wanting to be fed every 1-2 hours and awake a lot. All of that awakeness led to a decent night for us, with two separate 3-4 hour stretches of sleep. The teacher that is going to be the long-term sub for Ahna this fall stopped by for a meeting of the minds and I think it was a little weird for Ahna to even think about school at this point; but it was good for the two of them to get on the same page. Later in the evening, we started out on a walk to help Ezra fall asleep and ended up driving for ice cream for us (remember the list from the other day?)….a good thunderstorm with lots of lightning cut our walk short. 

This morning we headed out to the library and Ahna and Ezra attended a La Leche League meeting while I read up on some photography. We were also treated to a wonderful lunch by my grandparents, who I think are going to leave in a couple of days. As I write this, we are watching the Euro 2008 semifinal between Russia and Spain (Spain leads 1-0 in the 64th minute) and planning on another errand this evening. The Social Security Administration treated Ezra to a 3-week gift by sending him is very first piece of mail!…his social security card. It is still strange to see his name in print or to write it down on a form. Here is a little picture dump at three weeks.

So there are no new pictures of Ezra. No new pictures of deer, oh wait. Nothing much to report from yesterday (it was fairly relaxed, did include a visit from our Hypnobirthing coach Nancy, and did include a good night’s sleep)…so in lieu of making up something just for the sake of a new post, I will make up something just for the sake of a new post. And because we really like these blankets. 

When Abby, Teva, and Micah gave us a package of three blankets for our baby shower – exclaiming that these are the best things ever – we were excited, but a little confused as to how blankets could somehow top ice cream as the best thing ever. Fast forward several months and I am here to tell you that these blankets have made their way up the ‘best thing ever’ rankings to just behind ice cream (don’t know if anything will ever eclipse a good cookies-n-cream double scoop). They are technically soothing blankets designed for swaddling, but we use them for nearly everything: car seat cover for walks, an emergency spit-up wiper, a swaddler, and a blanket. If you are telling yourself “that doesn’t sound like everything,” you have forgotten what it is like to live with a newborn. 

Back to the review: these make a great gift, especially for a summertime blanket/cover. You can order many different styles on-line and shipping actually doesn’t take all that long when it comes via ground. Simple enough. Here’s the link: Luna Lullaby Soothing Blankets

We decided to take yesterday morning and introduce our son to the wonderful world of consumerism. Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but we did go to the mall. I had given Ahna a gift card to a sporting goods store for her birthday so that she could get some new running shoes. After a morning nursing, we headed out for a nice long and hot walk, then trekked up to Park Meadows to try to find Ahna some new kicks. We estimated that we would be pushing the sleeping/feeding limits, so we brought a bottle of pumped milk to tide Ezra over until we got home. All of our predictions came true (including feeding him in the middle of Ahna trying on shoes), but we failed to think that the bottle wouldn’t fill him up. So, we headed out to the car and Ahna nursed him as we sat listening to music. It was our first ‘on the road’ experience with nursing, and I think both of us where comfortably surprised with the results. 

In the afternoon, we had a quick nap (see Ahna’s picture below), then had some family over for a visit. Last evening found us enjoying a wonderful meal with Jay and Karen. They brought over dinner and made it for us in the kitchen – a great recipe for bean burrito and homemade guacamole….oh, and a beer or three. 

The sleep issues continue: last evening, he only slept for one hour between 3pm and 10pm. He just seems to fight going to sleep and will use any stimulation (people holding him, lights, but not bothered by noise) to avoid closing his eyes. It did work to our benefit as he slept better during the night than in the past couple.

A follow-up on the Fuzzi Bunz: things went pretty well yesterday. We did have one diaper that almost leaked (it was very loose when we changed him), but that was due to us not fastening it correctly. Then at two this morning, we did have another diaper that actually leaked…not yet sure why that happened. The laundry is in process, and voila! the poop is gone. 

After waiting for the umbilical cord to fall off, and his circumcision to heel; we have started using the cloth diapers! We decided on a brand named Fuzzi Bunz since we have some good friends that used them for their son just this last year…local expert advice. They are really easy to use: when you remove them, separate the liner from the diaper, toss in the pail, wash in the washer, put them back together, put them on Ezra. The breastfed stool doesn’t need to be washed or rinsed off of the diaper before washing them since it will dissolve in the wash, but when we encounter solid stool we will need to scrap it into the toilet before washing the diapers.

We purchased a ‘starter kit’ with 18 diapers (plus several extras) that included our choices of colors. The small size will last until he is 18 pounds then we will have to order more. Even though the disposables have been really simple (and we will continue to use them as needed, ie: travel, when we forget to do laundry, etc), it certainly has reminded us about how filling they are to the landfills. The primary reason that we chose to use cloth diapers was in the hopes of minimizing Ezra’s environmental footprint, so we are very excited about starting to use them. Today is the first full day of use, so hopefully we will have nothing but good stories to report tomorrow!

That title of the post is supposed to sound like the intro to the old Tonight Show intro with Johnny Carson…so go back and re-read it to yourself channeling the best Ed McMahon that you can (whose house is available if you want it). Nothing genius, clever, or transcendent today – since I know that is exactly the writing style that you have gotten used to – just the two week pictures that I promised a couple of days ago. By the way, the blanket that you see pictured was made by Mary Jo over the last couple of months for Ezra. 

Well, it’s actually 15 days from today, but this post was due last night so we will pretend. Yesterday turned out to be a lot busier than I originally thought since we had a doctor’s appointment in the late morning, then some chores to do (long overdue cleaning of the garage), then a ceremony to go to last night (that I had forgotten about until I checked my calendar). All of that means that I didn’t get some of the good two-week pictures that I promised in the last post, so I will work on those today. 

We headed back to Parker Hospital – where our OB’s office is located – for a follow up visit for Ahna. They were running a little behind, so we ended up sitting in the room for nearly a hour for a simple 5 minute deal. Everything checked out great, and Ahna was subsequently given permission to return to driving and to lift Ezra and the car seat, but still no lifting anything heavier than him or anything above her head for 4 more weeks. There is a pretty good sense of freedom radiating from her now that she doesn’t have to rely on anyone else to do anything.

Last night we headed to a badge ceremony at the fire department. There were two promotions and one reclassification (where I fit in) that were given new badges in the ceremony. Since October of 2001 when the department created an Engineer assignment (and when I was promoted to that spot); they had classified it as a stipend position…basically meaning that I was a Firefighter that was assigned to drive, not promoted. After a lot of work during my time on the union E-Board then continued work by all of the assigned drivers, we finally got the Engineer spot turned into an official promoted position within the town. Our own pay grade, our own leadership and responsibility driven job description, and our own new badge. It’s about time. It was great that all of this family turned out to be in town so they could come along and be there for the events. 

I was able to snap a couple of pictures between paragraphs as we changed and bathed him…so hopefully those will suffice for now. As I was adding the pictures, Tim Tonge (our department photographer who’s main job is weather forecasting) sent along a few pictures of me from last night, so I included them as well (the group taking the swearing-in, and the front shot of the Chief shaking my hand). Thanks Tim!

This afternoon we headed back to the doctor’s office (is it me, or does it seem like the only other place that we have been for the last 6 months are doctors offices?) for Ezra’s two week check-up. For those whose calculators are working right, today is in fact day 13. Don’t worry, it’s close enough. The visit went well, it was a normal check of weight, height, head circumference; but there was also the heal prick blood tests required by the state. I don’t know if every state has these, but there are two of them: one at birth, and one at two weeks. They need to get a sample of blood for five different tests, and it’s a decent amount of it. As expected, he wasn’t thrilled by the sample-getting, but he eventually settled back down. He still hasn’t lost his umbilical cord, but the doctor thinks that should happen very soon. The doctor also gave the ‘all clear’ on the healing of his circumcision. Numbers today: Weight: 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Height: 22 inches. Head: 14.75 inches.

Thanks to the Smith’s for the flowers!