We are being treated to more awake and alert time for Christian, which is always a joy. Grandma and Grandpa Kincade are getting to enjoy him a lot, as you see above. Also, he has taken his first ferry ride, with no trouble at all. We went over to Vashon yesterday and had dinner at Casa Bonita. If you make it over there, I highly recommend it. Don't ask me what to order though. It's Mexican, and it's good.
Christian also had his first church experience today, at St. James Cathedral in downtown Seattle. He was quiet through the whole thing. I was tempted to do my own impromptu baptism in their baptismal font, which looked really cool. If you're going to baptize, I think a full on dunking is in order. But I refrained from temptation. Would've made for a cold ride home for little Christian.
Total off the subject thing: Laura and I met (well, talked to) Scott Jurek, the 2 time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley. He was buying fresh fruit at the Capitol Hill Farmer's Market, and for having won a 135 mile footrace, through the desert, which takes 24 hours, only two days prior, he looked pretty good. He seemed disappointed in his performance, even though he won. He was shooting for 24 hours and did it in 25. I would be ashamed too. (Huge amount of sarcasm here, for those who don't know me.)
We've got lots of friends having babies. Check out these blogs too: www.deremerblog.blogspot.com and www.sandholmranch.blogspot.com and www.olieland.blogspot.com. I believe we are in the midst of a new baby boom.
Grandma and Grandpa Kincade have paid us a visit, as you can see, as well as Aunt Janice. Laura's mother and father just left, and here comes a new set of grandparents. Christian is winning them all over, by being just cuddly and cute and overall baby-ish.
The heat has subsided a little but it is still nice. Christian weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces a week ago, and I believe is still getting bigger. He eats like nobody's business. He has started looking at toys and people, and responding to some voices. Still no grabbing at things or looking at things far away. During his tummy time today, he "crawled" about a foot. But scooting across the rug is a more accurate description.
Since both my sister and I are here, Dad likes to embarrass us with stories of when we were kids. However, even better, is the story of his dad throwing a lit firecracker under his bed in order to wake him up. Dad should not have given me that idea. Christian, your mom is now hoping that you are a light sleeper.
A few nights ago we got ice cream with Laura's folks and headed out on top of the Mediterranean inn. Here is a pic of the view you see from up there. A couple photos down is Christian worshipping some sort of unseen baby idol. We will never know which one.
Here also is Laura enjoying the company of her new baby. Don't tell her I said this but she looks pretty damn good for a new mom. Okay, who am I kidding. Do tell her I said that.
Lastly, a couple days ago, I was helping Frank build a playhouse (the word "helping" really should be in quotes. If drinking pop and trying to make sure my tan stayed even counts as helping, then I was helping). Anyways, a bald eagle flew over. After making sure Christian wouldn't become lunch for a hungry bird, I caught this photo. It really isn't that great of a picture but I was lucky to get it at all.
This is Christian enjoying his new bouncy bed, which swaddles him tight and jiggles like jello. It also has white noise and gentle music. Here he is also enjoying a little tummy time on dad's lap. He never looks quite as comfy in the pictures as he does in real life.
Lately he has been eating like mother's milk is going out of style. We also supplement with formula from time to time. In my opinion, he is growing like a weed, which will hopefully be verified next time he goes to see the pediatrician.
He will look at things every now and then, but mostly he still is in "feed me, burp me, swaddle me" world. This is OK by us. Because all too soon it will be "Dad, I got in trouble at school again" just like his old man.
Christian is now eating like a champ. We now call him the voracious beast. I don't know how big he is now but I would hazard over 6 pounds.
The heat around here has been unbearable. For those of you not in Seattle, the temperature really isn't that hot but when you don't have AC, it is awful. We made it to the Cheesecake Factory today and enjoyed their AC for a while. Everyone remarks at how small he is.
He is starting to be awake more, as you see here. This was right after his bath, which he hates. But he doesn't mind afterwards when he is all clean and warm.
Christian is now 5 lbs and 12 ounces, which is really good considering how small he used to be. Based on his food input versus his diaper output, this size increase is a little surprising, however, pleasantly so. Here is a brand new picture of him today just after his bath and just before peeing on me. All in a day's work.
At first I thought this was me sitting on the couch drinking a beer(on the right), which, pre-kid, was one of my favorite pasttimes. But as you can see by the burp rag and little munchkin in my right hand, it is me enjoying a moment with my son. The pic above on the left is Christian next to Mike and Sarah's baby, Claire. She is 3 months old but looks like a giant next to Christian.
We've now been to a barbecue and yet another restaurant dinner. So far so good with all of our outings. We are really enjoying being new parents. The nights are sometimes tough, and we are tired around 8:00 p.m. every night but it is worth every minute.
