First Overnight and Road Trip

Bruce took his first Road Trip and Overnight Trip last weekend. We went to Macungie, Pennsylvania to visit Bruce's Uncle Kevin (Robb's brother), Aunt Rhonda, and cousins Lena and Brett. We packed up the car (pack-n-play, travel swing, and of course lots of diapers and bottles) and left about 8AM while Bruce was sleeping. Bruce did pretty well in the car. It was about a 4 hour trip. We had to stop just once to get him out of the car seat to finish his feeding and burp him.

We spent the visit relaxing with the Macungie Heiers, reading books, making silly faces at Bruce, and coloring. We even caught Bruce on Lena's video camera saying "Hola!". Bruce also got to meet neighborhood friends Maggie Bova and Stacey Slaski. We had such a nice time and were happy to survive this milestone.

Thanks Kevin, Rhonda, Lena, Brett and Boo for being such great hosts. We love you guys!

On our way, get excited ;)

Lena and Bruce in PA

Brett and Bruce--Double Trouble!

Deanna and Brett

Bruce's New Toy

Bruce has gotten a lot more interactive in the last couple weeks and we found that he likes to "jump" when he is held standing straight up on our lap. So we took a trip to Babies 'R Us to see what jumping toys were out there and we put Bruce in one on display and his face lit up. It was really funny. So, of course, we had to buy it. It's a cross between an exersaucer and a jumper and has lots of fun farm noises and songs. It also teaches the words tomato (Pop Pop's favorite food) and corn (taking him back to his Nebraska roots). Here are some photos of Bruce enjoying his new toy!

Jump, Jump!

Mmmm, corn!

Bruce & Nate

Bruce and his buddy Nate Beck went for a nice walk last Thursday on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail with their mommies (see post-walk photo below). Nate is the son of Kate and Neil Beck, friends from our church. Bruce and Nate are 6 weeks apart and will soon be ruling the nursery in their matching car seats and strollers (a funny coincidence)! Bruce and Deanna have had a really nice time getting to know Nate and Kate and are looking forward to lots of fun playdates together, particularly during football season. Nate (and his Dad) is a Big Michigan Fan and it is still to be determined if Bruce will be a Husker or a Hurricanes fan..by judge of his number of outfits, he's a Husker so far, we'll see!

Bruce (on left) and his buddy Nate (on right)

Bruce & Noah

Last Tuesday Bruce had his first playdate with Noah Boekhoudt. They were so cute :) Noah is 7 months old and is the son of Trisha and Gunther Boekhoudt. Trisha is Deanna's friend, roommate, and coworker from Emory, and Gunther is a good friend of ours from grad school. Noah is starting to eat solid food, sits up and is trying to crawl; so much he can teach Bruce. Looking forward to hanging out with you guys more over the summer!

Bruce Goes to Work & Maryland!

Last Tuesday Bruce got to visit Robb at work! We got to meet lots of Dada's coworkers and it was also Bruce's first time in Maryland.




While in Rockville we made a stop at our favorite Cuban restaurant, Cuban Corner. The restaurant has a mural dedicated to the Pedro Pan program, which is an important part of our family's history. Deanna's uncle came to the US from Cuba via the program. The program placed her uncle in a boy's home in Delaware and Deanna's mom and grandparents met him there soon after. This is why Deanna's mom grew up in Delaware and how she met Deanna's Dad who is from Delaware.

Easter Videos

We finally got the video uploads to work again (thanks to our switch to Verizon Fios, bye bye Cox internet). Lots of cuteness to come!

Enjoy these belated Easter videos for starters:

The Greatest Sound in the World

The sound of a baby snoring...



...because you KNOW he's asleep.

Bruce Update-Week of 5/4/09

Last week Bruce turned 9 weeks old. We already posted some updates from the week, but thought we'd share some other milestones and fun events from the week.

An update on the Nanny search. Happy to report that we have hired nanny care for Bruce. A nice woman from Bolivia named Maria will be taking care of Bruce for the next 3 months during workhours. She is starting on May 18th. We're looking forward to entering this new stage as Deanna returns to work June 1st. Erratum: We no longer have a nanny lined up. She could not produce the proper documents to show that she can work in the US...on to other options, stay tuned.

Bruce started sleeping in his crib! He's sleeping pretty well in his room, going about 3-6 hrs in between feedings. He also really likes the new mobile we got. It doesn't really help him fall asleep but is fun to watch and keeps him happy when he is up and alert in the morning.



Bruce is become a lot more interactive. Smiling and giggling and playing with his gym and toys. His new favorite toy is Freddie the Firefly. He is learning to grab and kick things, making playtime all the more fun. He is discovering his hands and we fear will soon be sucking his thumb. The pediatrician suggested using the pacifier for now to avoid the start of thumb sucking since it is easier to take away a pacifier than it is to cut off his thumb. I'd have to agree!



On Friday, Pop Pop arrived to spend Mother's Day weekend with us!



On Saturday we walked in the 5K Race/Walk to “Break the Silence” On Ovarian Cancer in Reston. We walked with Uncle Rich, Aunt Lisa, Channing, Pop Pop, Deanna, Robb, Duke and Bruce. Bruce "walked" in his stroller for most of the way, though Robb did have to carry him during his feeding for a few blocks. Duke and Channing did great with their first 5Ks (marking their way all along the course; Duke even marked one of the cones, sorry race volunteers on pick up duty!). It was a beautiful day and a great way to get some much needed exercise.








On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day by going to Church at Redeemer and then going to a Brunch hosted by Aunt Lisa and Uncle Rich. It was such a nice time. Aunt Lisa made lots of super yummy quiches, sausage, bacon, and drinks (ooh sangria!) and Uncle Rich was a great host, getting the house ready for the brunch. It was another beautiful day so we took the chance to take some nice photos outside in Rich and Lisa's newly renovated backyard.

Bath Time!

Now that he has better head/neck control, Bruce's bath time moved from sponge bath to bathtub a couple weeks ago. He likes it much better! We think, in part, because he can be kept warmer during the whole process. Some naked baby pictures below. Robb has banned any photos of his son's privates ;)

Wellness Update-5/6/09

Today Bruce had his 2 month pediatrician visit. The doctor said he was doing great, no more jaundice and he was impressed by Bruce's neck/head control. Bruce is hitting all his development milestones. Smiling has moved from "spontaneous" to "social", he is making vowel sounds (eh and ah), making eye contact and tracking objects, and is starting to grab/hold things. He is now weighing 11 lbs 13.6 oz and is 21.75 in long.

Bruce received his first series of immunizations today and took it like a real trooper. He received 3 shots in the thigh and 1 oral vaccination, to prevent Hepatitis B, Polio, Pneumococcal Disease, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Rotavirus, and Hib (influenza type b). He's fighting through the pain today, taking Tylenol as needed. The camouflage colored bandaids make it all better.

Next visit will be at Month 4 (early july).

2 Month Birthday!

Bruce is 2 months old today!

What happened to our little baby?!?

Bruce Update-Week of 4/27/09

Bruce turned 8 weeks last week and will be 2 months old tomorrow!
Bruce sends a very Happy Birthday wish to his cousins Corey and Cassie!!

I am pleased to report that we turned a corner on sleep last week! Thanks to some great advice from Mom's friend Maria, we tried a new strategy of full bottles (4 oz) every 3 hrs and then as much as he'll take right before bedtime. Also kept him active after feedings instead of allowing him to doze off into a milk-drunken stupor. The result (drum roll please!): 4-7 hrs at nighttime (up from 1-4). FANTASTIC! Hoping things continue in this direction this week. Our plan is to transition Bruce into his crib this week too. (He's been sleeping in a bassinet in our room)

Other fun milestones. Bruce is similing and giggling a lot more, particularly if you touch his nose. He's also starting to mimic sounds, like if you say HI, he'll coo right after as if he's responding. Really cute. It was warmer in DC this week and so Bruce moved from long sleeve sleepers to his vast collection of onesies. We are also entering the final stages of the Nanny search with interviews set up for this coming week.

The Giggle Monster!

Chillin in my onesie

Fun moments during the week. Deanna and Bruce went to a New Moms group at our Church on Monday. It was really nice to meet and chat with other new moms. The group will meet weekly on Mondays which will be a nice chance to get out of the house until I start back at work (planned for June 1st). On Wednesday, friends Becky and Kyle King came over to babysit Bruce while Robb and Deanna went to purchase a new family car (Car seat in back = we need more room!). We traded in our backup car (Chevy Prizm) for a Ford Escape Hybrid. Becky and Kyle took great care of Bruce and need to teach us their ways as Bruce slept 7.5 hrs that night, thanks guys!

Bruce in his new car

On Wednesday, Deanna also got to visit with Kate and Neil Beck and met Baby Beck (Nate!). Nate and Bruce will soon be friends, sharing fun times in the Redeemer nursery no doubt ;) On Thursday, Deanna's friend and fellow Food Drive Coordinator Ellen Kennedy came by to visit and brought yummy stuffed shells, salad, bread and cookies. It was such a nice treat to share a full meal together at home just the 3 of us.

The weekend came and we randomly found out that it was Free Comic Book Day on Saturday. So we took Bruce for his first trip to a comic book store. His first comic is Wolverine: Origin of an X-Man (Deanna's favorite comic book character) and he also got a Disney's Cars comic book (Bruce's cousin Brett's favorite!). There was no Batman in the free section, but I'm sure he'll get into that series eventually as his namesake ;)

Comic Book Geek in Training (just like Daddy)

That night Daddy read Bruce one of his favorite Dr Seuss books "Horton hatches the Egg". So sweet!

On Sunday, we celebrated our friend Nhan's birthday at Maggiano's while Uncle Rich and Aunt Lisa babysat Bruce. They did just great, managing not only Bruce but also 2 pups: Channing and Dukie, thanks guys! Bruce looked so sweet in Aunt Lisa's arms. He slept really well that night too, going 6 hrs between feedings, whohoo.

Bruce with Aunt Lisa and Uncle Rich