Mostly the Monkey and the Momma

Tummy time with The Momma!

Momma and Monkey make A visit to Stewart park. 

Hanging out at Bob, Jenn, and Zhora's!

Look at Z go!

Dude's favorite spot in the whole world. 

I headed to Pat's to play with the destructo set. Jonas was there to supervise. He's still taking his job seriously after all these years.  

Hiking, biking, bathing, and screaming

Yup. Doctors; no bueno.  Turns out Dude has some sense.  As Sarah says, "He's obviously highly intelligent."

We've been to the doctor a few times now.  The monkey man lost a little weight at first, but kept on growing.  Between our first and second visit he grew 1 3/4"!

Sarah's response to the growth.

By some miracle, the garden continues to do well.  It's nice to see all of our hard work paying off.  Duder seems to enjoy being in the Bjorn and outside, so that's been nice.  We have been harvesting kale, lettuce, spinach, and sweet peas.  The potatoes look great!  Sarah just sauteed up some summer squash and onions, and as you can see below, I pulled all the garlic.

That's about half of it.  The heads look really good this year!

Rode the new bike to Brookton's Market and back one day (9 miles round trip) and to work another day (23 miles round trip).  Sometimes even with my hands on the bars.  My initial assessment is that the fork is incredible and I didn't know what I was missing.  120 mm of travel is cool.  Handlebar lockout is a real luxury.  I'll reserve judgement on the 29" wheels until I get some trail time.  They are definitely better on the road!

Only took getting peed on once to figure out that having all the gear at the ready is the best plan.

El Duderino gets his first bath.  He was totally chill about it.

He smells better, too.

Eager to go.

This morning the man and I got up and went for a walk in the woods.  It was a little chilly so we got bundled up.  We grabbed Jonas and headed into the woods.

We got a second walk in with Jonas and the Mama this afternoon.  This time we used the jogging stroller that Uncle Zach and aunt Kristin gave us.  It was a lovely way to wrap up the day as a family.

Catching up still.

After Gangie headed back to Ohio, she tagged Grammy and Pop H in.  They brought Leanna with them for a quick visit the second half of this past week.  We had a lovely time chatting, shopping, walking, and holding Emmett.  The dogs gave us no end of smiles, too.

I'm not sure Grammy filled her grandkid tank, but she got some fuel in it.  Hopefully enough to get her to Greece.

Maggie cleaned the house for us, even the hard to reach places like behind the dishwasher and under the counters!  I seriously thought she was going to get stuck a couple of times.  The dogs were great.  They got along and were nice to the kid and seemed to have a pretty good time even though they weren't the center of attention.

We didn't do much eating out this time, but we did get to Ithaca Brewing Company one afternoon.  Dude's first brewery!  He didn't imbibe though.  Just hung out and enjoyed the camaraderie and the ambiance.  We ran into our friends Summer and Brian and their young one, and then Zach's family showed up!  "Figures." was all Zach had to say.  

Margaret delivered, and Erik welcomed, Wilhelmina into the world on July 12!  So cool.  Brooktondale grows.  We kept in touch by texting until Friday, when we went over to meet the new Frank.  She's about 7 lbs and looks so tiny compared to the Dude.  But look at that hair!!

On Saturday, we organized the family and headed up to Geneva at the North end of Seneca Lake to meet a guy about a bike.  It was a lovely drive and we were really intrigued by the city of Geneva.  It was very historic looking.  I assume it was a mill town and trade center when the lakes were used for transporting goods.  There are some incredible looking old mansions there and beautiful parks.  We definitely want to go back and do some exploring. 

 We decided to take advantage of being there and drove down the West side of the lake to hit FLX Wienery for lunch.  Dude's first trip to the hot dog stand! 

Dad and Dude.

Just gorgeous.

We got home later than we expected, but still managed to get some gardening done, trued the wheels on the new bike, and did a lot of feeding and changing the kid.  All in all, a nice few days.  Back to work tomorrow.

So much for that idea!

I talked to grandma Cressman for a little bit last night, and she was quick to point out that I have not been keeping up with my blogging. To be fair, I have not been keeping up with my sleeping, my jogging, biking, or my eating breakfast. That said, we've had a dramatic increase in cuddle time, exploring, learning, house guests, and family time. Here are some pictures for Great Grandma Nancy (and everyone else)

More to come soon!

Skyping with Greece!

We managed to connect with Ian and Elefteria and Artemis and Emily yesterday. Through necessity, we also figured out a hands free method!  It was great to chat with and see everyone. It'll be great to get together for a play date someday!

All the best! Lots of love from our side of the pond to yours!

Monkey Toes, the art critic

Marjie gifted Emmett a set of Wee Gallery Art Cards.  He LOVES them!  No kidding.  Well, I don't know if he loves them... that concept is probably beyond him at this point, but he is definitely interested in them.  Before anyone goes and buys him a his first palette and easel, I should say that he also finds the fan mesmerizing and stares long and hard at the big black rectangle of chalkboard paint on the wall in what one day may very well be a finished nursery (possibly in time for our next kid).  Sarah says he's in his modern art phase.

Just kidding.  No more kids.  But seriously, the nursery might get finished some day.  Note the advanced swaddle technique, here.  One arm out so that he can point and do his Dr. Strangelove thing.  

Morning cuddle time!

Here, the Dude demonstrates the benefits of monkey toes.  I look forward to many years of sharing in the moments of great pride that come with picking things up and even throwing them with one's feet.  Also, should I ever get into painting, he'll make a great easel.

the Dude visits the quack

Yesterday, we took our first trip to the doctor.  Everything went well.  Good reflexes, good size, good weight, etc.  We were very please with his attitude and the way he carried himself.  We go back tomorrow to see that he gained some weight

Deep in thought about the book shelf.  It's one of his favorite things to look at, along with the fan.  He's obviously very clever.

First trip to the barn: Meeting Aunt Pat

First, an update on the life and function of the blog.  In the past, I have used this as a journal, an outlet for my photography, and as a vehicle for communicating with family and friends.  Hence forth, it looks as though the blog will primarily become my journal of events and activities in our lives.  My hope is to do a little something every day, even if it's just one photo with a caption.  My hope is that we will have something to look back on further down the trail.

I feel like the form and feel may change a little bit with the function.  This may or may not matter to anyone, but I thought I'd put it out there.  Now, on with the show.

Eva and Bindi have been having a nice visit... even sharing a bed together.

Eva and Jonas and I took a little trip around the lake.  On our way, Eva found a turtle quite interesting.

On Monday, the dogs really came around.  They had moped for a couple days, maybe because we'd been gone for three days, but coming home with the Chopper didn't seem to set them at ease.  Monday morning, while Em C and I were chilling on the couch, both Eva and Jonas came up, sniffed his feet, and settled down beside us.  Now, they are more likely to follow anyone who is carrying Emmett than go anywhere else.  Pretty cute.

I can't say we really have a routine yet, but if we did, cuddling on the couch late at night and early in the morning would be it.  This shot, staged, but accurate; early in the morning.

Our first trip away from home was to Pat's.  We saw dogs and trees and horses.  We touched some leaves and enjoyed  a nice long car ride.

Sarah took this shot... It's an early favorite.

My beautiful family.  Could I be any richer?

Home

Normally, the stay in the hospital is 48 hours, or two nights, after the baby is born.  We felt (and by we, I mean mostly Sarah) like we'd already put in our time.  After a parade of professionals poked and prodded and listened and lectured and etc., we were cleared to leave a day early.  Despite all my fears and paranoia, Emmett is complete and happy, and doesn't have the worst personality, so far.  He knows all the fundamentals of babydom, including feeding, sleeping, crying, and pooping.

Before we could go, the Dude got a little bath... It was not his favorite thing ever.  He looked at Sarah like, what the heck was that all about.  Love this shot.

He forgave us pretty quickly.  He's also really into being swaddled, which is cool.  He slept on the couch with me for awhile on night one, and then swaddled and in a bassinet for the rest of the morning.

Thanks to Grammy and Pop H, Chopper had a dapper little outfit to go home in.  He tried to help out, but isn't that handy with knots yet.  Also, I'm not sure he knows that the hands belong to him.  It's kind of like watching a small, less fascist Doctor Strangelove.



All set!  Let's go home!

A beautiful and thoughtful homecoming prepared by Gangie!

It was a bright and beautiful Fingerlakes summer day.  The neighbors came over to congratulate us and wish us all well.  They've been keeping an eye on our comings and goings for the last few weeks and admit that every time we're gone for more than a couple hours they wonder if this is it.  Well, it finally was.

We got home in time to watch the Germans send the Italians home.  Emmett slept through the game.  That's alright, I'm counting on him being a swimmer.

It was a long night.  Emmett wants to eat, or at least pacify, pretty much all the time, and announces this desire with abandon.  He also did not like the bassinet we had for him.  The upshot is that he slept between us for most of the night.  After a couple feedings, Sarah got up to take a bath and finished out the morning on the couch.  I slept for 5 minutes at a time, constantly waking up to make sure I hadn't rolled over on him and that he hadn't rolled onto his stomach.  It was oddly magical, and I got up more rested and energized than seems possible.  It's sappy, but I'll say it anyway; I spent most of the night looking at him and falling in love.

Good morning Dad.  Now what about Mama and my breakfast?