10 Weeks

Kaleb: Day 70

Its hard to believe that ten weeks have passed since Kaleb was born. He has changed so much especially in the area of his chubbiness. We gave him a bath tonight and I can barely get my fingers around his thighs because they are so big. He surely is a little monster. Today Jennifer left the two of us for a few hours and while we got off to a good start when he got hungry I tried to give him a bottle of formula and he wasn't having it. So we struggled for about an hour of him being hungry and me trying to feed him from the bottle. I think it is time to get him trained on how to eat from the bottle again, the only thing is that I am not sure if it is the bottle he doesn't like or the old breast milk.

Tomorrow we are driving up to Amesbury to look at some more houses. Hopefully we will find something good, because it would be good to put the house search behind us. We will then rush home afterwards so we can go to Mes' birthday party at Border Cafe. It will be a busy day that will certainly find me working for as much of it as possible. We have another big demo coming up, that will require some more new functionality.

One thing to note about today was the rain storm we had in Somerville. It was the first really April shower and was so refreshing. Smelling the fresh air from a heavy shower is one of those top smells a nose gets to experience.

Keeg

Kaleb's First Day Of School

Kaleb: Day 70

Jennifer brought Kaleb to West El today for a visit to her classroom. Apparently he slept the entire time despite the loud and excited kids. So far he gets an A for conduct, not a bad start.

I am testing out a new photo delivery system for everybody, so please let me know how you like it.

Keeg

Killer Tan, Dude

Kaleb: Day 67



Just two quick notes I want to get out before starting dinner and because I just had to get these new photos out to the public. First, Kaleb got his first Red Sox cap yesterday and it almost fits him. It is actually a batting helmet, but looks just great on him. It was a gift from my mom AKA Grandmother who has not been named, she was lucky enough to drop it off in person last night and got to hold the little man.

Now for the second item, today Kaleb had his second play date with Jamison and while I wasn't there I heard they had a wonderful time. They both dined on warm breast milk and enjoyed a long walk together. After returning to the house they also had a very candid and heartwarming photo shoot. You can see how upset Kaleb was and how Jamison kindly offered her hand out to comfort him, what a sweetheart. In return he was a little fresh boy and reached out to grab her buns. Having him sit side by side with her points out just how he has such dark skin. It looks like he has been tanning in preparation for the prom, so very metro-sexual of him.

Bye for now,
Keeg

Kaleb's First Beach Day

Just a quick entry to put up a link with photos from Kaleb's first trip to the beach yesterday. We went up to Rockport and spent a few hours out on the rocks and then went to the downtown area for a little lunch. He seemed to enjoy it although he didn't really seem to notice the difference.

Also last night I went to the Red Sox game with my mom. It was an alright game, my score keeping was a bit rusty, and it didn't help that there were a bunch of substitutions late in the game. Either way I really like to keep score and can't wait for my next game.

Here Comes The Sun

Sunny Weekend

The sun and warm weather has finally arrived in Boston and we are trying to make the most of it, because we know it won't last. On Saturday, I started the morning inside playing video games, while Jennifer slept in with Kaleb. Super Paper Mario really has me stumped right now, but I know if I practice I will be able to pass the 100 trials. I suppose that is not of much interest, moving on... The weather was just amazing with the temperature well into the fifties by ten in the morning so we put Kaleb into the stroller and walked down to the store to pick up food for Sir's birthday lunch. Once we returned home in true Keegan fashion I opened up all of the windows and let the fresh air flow through the house. I then found myself a bit bored and decided to clean the radiators since they appeared to have about five years worth of dust piled up inside them. It took a bit of learning, but eventually I really cleaned them up and hopefully it will help with our dusty house.

Early in the afternoon the Riebe's arrived and they also had Robbie, who has been staying with them for the past week. Robbie and I played the Wii for while lunch was being prepared. We had some wonderful chicken fajitas and finished the meal with a yummy Carvel ice cream cake. After lunch we hung out for a bit, before Pete and Melissa left for the BoSox game. Nonna, Robbie, Jennifer, Kaleb and I set out for a long walk down to a science fair in Central Square. It took quite a while to get down there, but once we were there we were able to sit around for about an hour and rest. After Nonna and Robbie had explored the entire science fair we walked back toward Harvard Square and then veered down towards the Charles River. We hung out there for a while and then walked up to Harvard Square, where we picked up some sushi for dinner. Jennifer and I went ahead because Kaleb was getting hungry and I grabbed some Thai food for my dinner. We watched the end of the BoSox game and waited for Pete and Melissa to return.

The weather this morning was even better than Saturday, and while we wanted to just stay in bed and sleep, we had a very complete day planned and it was all starting at 9:30. We played pass the baby back and forth so we could get ready for the day. The Riebe's came over and we then made our way up to a house showing in Merrimac. The house was very old and looked it inside. We knew it would require a lot of interior work, but there were some other things that just weren't right about it. It was good to go look at houses and I definitely learned a few things from the home inspector. It was interesting how I noticed details that would have gone unnoticed by me just six months ago. Needless to say we will not be putting an offer in on the house. After the showing we had a few hours before the first open house, so we went over to my mom's house to look up the addresses of them and also to visit with the family. When the time came we drove over to Chester street to look at a newer house and it was really great although a bit out of our range. We are finding that most houses we would really be interested are just a bit outside our price range. The older houses plus improvements total about to about the same as the newer houses. It seems like a common problem of wanting something just more than you can afford or it could just be a bad coincidence. We are going to keep are eyes open though and hope these houses stay on the market for a couple more months so we can pitch them a lower offer.

After the open houses we went downtown and picked up some sandwiches and then drove across the Merrimack to Maudsley for a picnic lunch in the grass. The sea breeze started to kick in so there was a bit of a chill in the air and Kaleb was a bit fussy (which was understandable given the busy day he had). So after lunch we parted ways with the Riebe's and we all went back towards our respective homes. Once we returned home the three of us hopped into bed for a nice afternoon nap. Once we woke up and recharged, we popped Kaleb into the Moby and set out on another outdoor adventure, this time only out in Somerville. After about an hour we stopped in to Shaw's bought some ice cream and returned home. It was a busy and crazy weekend, but I think that is how I like it especially when the weather is so wonderful when most of it is spent outside. Fortunately, the weekend will continue for me tomorrow since I have taken the day off. The plan right now is to drive out to Rockport and spend some of the day at Halibut Point State Park and then to go to downtown Rockport for lunch. It should be a great day with lots of sun and a high up in the 80's.

I want to close this entry by talking about Kaleb. Over the past week or so he has been changing so much and is getting really close to the magical moment when he stops begins interacting with us. It all started last week when he began to noticeably focus on our faces, followed by the ability to follow some moving objects and today for the first time he seemed to recognize Jennifer's voice and turned his head toward her when she said his name. I don't always point out these little events because they all seem so subtle and improved gradually over the course of a few days, but I am going to try my best to record them when I notice them. It is even harder to notice physical changes because we see him everyday, but over the past week we have noticed that for us he has transitioned from looking like a super small baby and we are beginning to see little boy qualities in his looks and faces. We really noticed this when looking at photos of him from the end of last week. It is just amazing how quickly he learns and is slowly creating his own little personality. Our doctor said sometime in the next two weeks he will probably begin to smile in reaction to us instead of just as a reaction to his own gas or bowl movements.

That's all for now.
Keeg

Two Times The Baby

Kaleb: Day 63

Today was Kaleb's first doctor's appointment in over two weeks and he now weighs 7lbs 6oz, twice his birth weight. That's right he is now twice the baby he was less than nine weeks ago. He continues to grow at over an ounce a day, which is just fantastic. He also got his first shots today, four in all. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it because I got held up to work. Apparently he screamed at the top of his lungs and even held his breath for a few seconds because he was so upset. The doctor said he will probably sleep a lot over the next day or so and will be very sensitive on his legs where he got the shots. Since I have been home he has been sound asleep, but he will get a shower shortly.

We are looking forward to a visit from Nonna and Sir this weekend. Also on Sunday we will be going to look at houses in Amesbury. Its a long weekend for me, so I get to spend a ton of time with my favorite short person (19 1/2 inches as of today).

Keeg

Plaster Disaster

Kaleb: Day 59
Since Kaleb has been growing so much over the last few days, we thought it was a good time to try and get a plaster casting of his hand print. So we used the smaller of the two hand print plaster kits we received and started mixing. All seemed to go well until we actually got his hand into the plaster. It didn't go in very straight and was a disaster, we decided to smooth it out and try the other hand. It lined up much better this time, but then he clenched his fist and made a mess, all the while we were focused on the hand making the print the other hand was going for his ear. The result of this was that we had a completely screwed up plaster hand print mold, and a baby with plaster all over his hands and face. We tried to halt the progress of the quick drying plaster, but ended up with a bigger mess.

We then decided Kaleb needed to clean up using more than just a face cloth and figured it was a good time to try and put him in the shower. Since Jennifer was planning on taking a shower everything worked out fine. We were unsure about how well he would take it given his hot and cold response to baths (no pun intended). So Jennifer hopped in the shower and I stripped him down, he cried as expected once he was undressed, but settled down once in the bathroom. I handed him to Jennifer and he was as quiet as a mouse and seemed to enjoy the shower. After going out to get the camera and some warm towels I saw that he was loving the shower and didn't even care about the water running over his face. It was a great relief and he peacefully finished the shower before I took him into the dining room for changing.

Oh yeah here are some of Kaleb's nicknames for record keeping purposes: Dog-Bear, Sugar Buns, Sweet Pea, Melon Head, Little Butt, Mister Mister, Little Man, Little Nut Brown Hare, Fussy Gus, Frankie, Cashew, Frog Prince, Little Monster and Love Bug. We are slowly narrowing the list down, hopefully we will have only a couple by his first birthday.

8 Weeks

Kaleb: Day 57

Yep, Kaleb is now eight weeks old, its hard to believe he has been home almost twice as long as he was in the hospital, time surely does fly. Things continue to go well in the Sands household, luckily it was a bit warmer today, so we were able to go for a really long walk this afternoon and then again in the evening. Unfortunately the forecast doesn't look so good for the next few days, so its going to be another week of staying put in the house for us. Its been really hard to have this cold and damp weather, because I think if Jennifer has to spend another week confined to the inside of our apartment she might just go crazy. I am lucky enough to work so I can go somewhere, but she is stuck here. Kaleb doesn't seem to mind either way since he mostly just sleeps when we go out anyway. Tonight after coming back from a nice dinner of crepes with Hannah and Jane, we gave Kaleb a bath and it was a success. He barely cried and pretty much just acted chill throughout the entire ordeal. I am convinced that the crying before was caused by the water being too hot. Its really hard to get the water temperature just right, because you are accustomed to one temperature, but the baby needs it much cooler, but if it is too cool that isn't good either. We have a rubber ducky that has a temperature thing on the bottom and if it is too hot the word hot appears, I have used this religiously lately to gauge the ideal temperature.

Last night we moved Kaleb's co-sleeper from our bed to the bassinet and slept just fine. It is really nice to have the entire bed for just the two of us again, don't get me wrong it was nice to have him close, but the bed just wasn't meant for three people. We are still far from having him stay in his crib, because it is just too far away from our bedroom. What else, oh yeah, his eyesight seems to be improving and he can now follow an object that is moved from one side to the other. He has also been focusing (well at least it seems so) on one of his mobiles. It is so cool to see him grow up and slowly learn new things, I am sure this will only ramp up in the future as he becomes more aware of the world around him and can better react to other humans. We'll see, I'm sure.

We don't have much planned for the next few days, although I have set aside time tomorrow for the following: editing of home movies, Super Paper Mario playing, a little work, and possibly a new podcast episode. I have learned a lot about the mac, but haven't really had a chance to sit down with the iMovie or Garage Band applications to do some really fun things. I can't wait to get completely lost in my own creativity, it should be great.

Until next time, try to stay dry.
Keeg

More Snow On The Way

Kaleb: Day 54

I know I haven't been updating and I apologize for that, but I have been busy with work stuff and finally have a couple minutes to upload photos and write up a little update. Everything has been going very well with Kaleb, I haven't provided a weight update because he hasn't been to the doctor's so we have no idea what it is right now. We are thinking it is up above six and a half pounds, probably closer to seven pounds. He is definitely getting bigger by the day and is acting a little more grown up (more crying and less sleeping). He is still amazing us everyday with his humorous behavior, just the smallest things crack us up, from all his squeaking to the random facial expressions.

Over the weekend we went up to Amesbury for Easter. It was Kaleb's second trip up there in as many weeks and it went very well. He was very good most of the time and everybody was so excited to see him. They were all surprised about how big he has gotten over the last few weeks. He really seems to enjoy riding in the car, which is super important if you are going to be my son.

Finally with regards to his sleeping, he has done very well over the past couple weeks. However, I think part of this is due to the fact that we are used to him and his noises so we don't get up and check on him as often. Jennifer has been a champ and has been doing a great job with him at night and letting me get my sleep, I can't say how grateful I am for her late night feedings and trips to the living room when he is crying.

I guess thats it for now. Its time to prepare for more snow tomorrow.

Oh boy!!!
Keeg

49 Days

Here are a couple of albums from the past few days.
Kaleb: Day 46
Kaleb: Day 48
Today Kaleb is seven weeks old and has been home for four weeks. Its hard to believe that we have known him for forty nine days or that he has been home for so long. Kaleb has been doing great and has been doing a much better job of sleeping at night. The last few nights he has slept for three hours at a stretch, which has been a nice change.

Today we were visited by the Noonans, for the first time since Kaleb was born. It was so great to see them. It was so weird seeing a full sized baby, Jamison was so much bigger than Kaleb. It's hard to believe that someday he is going that big and even bigger, and only in a few months time. I am sure it is going to fly by, just as the last 49 days.

We did get out today, when we went over to Cara and Jeff's for dinner. I got to play the PS3 again and did a little better on F1 Racing, although I struggled once I started competing against other cars.

Now we are home and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we make our way back up to Amesbury for Easter dinner at my dad's house. We can't pass up the opportunity to meet my brother's new lady friend. It is very exciting that it is Kaleb's first Easter. We didn't get him anything this year, but I am sure he will get plenty of goodies, that I will have to eat.

Happy Easter!!!
Keeg

Another Milestone: 6lbs 2oz

We brought Kaleb in today for another weight check and we were surprised to find out that he now weighs 6lbs 2oz. So what this means is he gained 11oz in the last eight days, which is an amazing growth rate. He also moved up to newborn sized clothes today, they are a bit big, but that is how the preemie clothes started. Since he is doing so well we don't have to go back to the doctor's office for two more weeks. It is amazing how much he has changed over the last few days, you can definitely tell he is heavier and he is certainly more aware. I think we are both beginning to realize that he is going to grow so quickly and before we know it he will being doing baby signs back to us. One more thing worth mentioning, I was holding him on the couch tonight and he flung himself up about eight inches off of my chest and landed way on the other side of my body. I know his neck, arms and legs are strong, but I didn't think he could do something like that at this stage.

Okay that's it for tonight.
Keeg

Keegan or Kaleb

While up in Amesbury yesterday I spent a little time going through some old photos and came across a bunch of me as a baby. It was weird to see how much Kaleb looks like I did. So in an effort to steal some of his spotlight here are some photos of me as a young one.

Keegan: Year 0-5

Nice!!!
Keeg

Amesbury

Kaleb: Day 42

I think the title says it all. Today was Kaleb's first trip to Amesbury, which also included a couple other firsts including first trip on the highway, first trip out of state, we were in New Hampshire for about three minutes, first trip to both Amesbury grandparents house, etc, etc... We were planning on going up since the middle of last week and then my dad invited us over for dinner. I have to say I am a bit jealous of all the attention my boy gets from his Pepe. So we hopped in the car in the early afternoon and drove up to my mom's, we are still working out a name for her, today I came up with "Grandmother who has not been named." We also threw around the name UNG, Unnamed Grandmother. I guess we will leave it up to the little man.

Since I am tired I am going to truncate this entry. The trip up north was fantastic, it was great to see everybody and everything was pretty much the same except for a little bit of passing around of Kaleb. I am sure this will all change once he gets bigger, but for now everything seems just like normal. As for Kaleb he behaved wonderfully today and barely made a peep. He slept most of the time, did have a bit of awake time and fed without much trouble. However, once we got home he was fussy and had his worst bath so far. We set up a video conference with Nonna and Sir, so they could watch the bath and they witnessed quite a show. He screamed through most of the bath and only settled down once he was in a nice warm towel. We are determined to figure out the bath thing.

Okay I am falling asleep at the keyboard, I was up with Kaleb from 2 until 5 this morning, not because he was crying, but because I didn't want to do anything to disturb his sleep after a bit of fussiness. I am definitely paying for it now.

Hope you all had a good weekend.
Keeg