Dog Days of Summer

First of all- this picture was taken while we were trying various hand-me-downs on that Anja was given. After trying this on (assuming we put it on correctly) we believed, even as novice parents, that these strings must be posing some type of hazard. Just so folks are not concerned, we are retiring this outfit. I just thought the colors in the picture were nice.

Now to the point of this entry. This is a quick post to respond to all those well wishers who told us that May/June was the best time to have a baby. While I agreed with them at the time, I realized that they must not have been from the Washington, DC area. While I was looking forward to long walks during the day with Anja and Pip through the neighborhood and in the parks, I find myself thwarted by Code Orange days and various other air quality alerts. Trying to keep Pip and Anja entertained in the house all day has been a bit more of a challenge.

Anja models some new stylish outfits

Pip contemplates the costs and benefits of getting one lick of Anja's foot.



June 22nd marked Anja's 1-month birthday. Looking back her parents have learned quite a bit in these first couple of weeks. (1) A good day typically leads to a very long night. A restful night's sleep typically leads to a long day (2) Sleep is precious- we actually get more sleep now than before, however, not all at once. Some continuity would be good. (3) Boys are not the only ones who are dangerous with their diapers off- girl's have good aim too (4) It is fun to shop for girls. Anja was wearing nothing but onesies until we received the yellow dress above as a gift. We couldn't resist- we went out and bought more dresses. (5) Those baby nail clippers can be dangerous- Mark was the first one to scar our daughter (it was just a temporary flesh wound).

Finally, Anja was happy to spend the day on Sunday with her 6-week old friend down the street, Sophia, watching the U.S. defeat Mexico 2-1 in the Gold Cup!

Father's Day

We apologize for the delay in pictures- we have received some gentle reminders to update the blog.

Mark enjoyed his first Father's Day, while Anja enjoyed her first Maryland crab feast and Pip finally got his feet wet (see below). Well, she didn't eat crabs...directly. We ventured to Baltimore with Anja and Pip. The first thing that became clear was that we need a bigger car. (Mark's brother, John, offered to take Pip in the bed of his truck. However, we thought that offer was disingenuous and payback for the two socks and a baseball cap that Pip stole from him). We thought the safter option was to put Pip in the front seat (in his canine seat belt) with Lisa and Anja in the back. What a circus!

Mark's first father's day started off with a 5am diaper change and then a gift from Anja. She gave him a mother goose CD- she was obviously getting frustrated that the only song that her dad knew was the itsy bitsy spider. Father's Day was quite special in that it was actually one of Anja's original due dates (we heard June 15th, 17th and 19th). We think she arrived early just so she could celebrate the day with her Dad.

Goal!

Anja got into the spirit of the Gold Cup, cheering the U.S. mens soccer team onto victories against Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago. There was no pressure from her parents to watch the game...honestly.

Actually, our interest in Anja watching the game was not so much to expose her to the "beautiful game" but to keep her awake for an extended period of time. Over the past week she has been increasingly experimenting with her vocal cords and expanding her lung capacity; typically between 12:30am and 3:30am. For such a small body, she has a pretty mighty scream.

Anja also felt that her first real bath this week was an excellent opportunity to exercise her lungs. In retrospect, her discomfort with the bath was partially our fault. We kept debating how warm to make the water, and we think we erred a bit too much on the cool side. We had visions of bubbles and sunshine but the first-bath experience left us all frazzled -- there is nothing like a slippery, screaming baby to humble your parental skills.



Pip was clear in his reactions to Anja's first bath -- he hid under the curtains. He still is confused by the changes in the house, but his actions to Anja's arrival clearly have been protective in nature.

Week Two

Well, Anja is now almost two weeks old, but this was the first week that we were alone with her. No parents to help around the house, cook meals, watch Pip.... We are making it, but it sure is a good thing that she is not (yet) a crier. Getting up every three hours to feed her is leaving us both a little worn. It appears to be taking a toll on Pip too. At first he was curious and wanted to be with us during the middle of the night feedings. Now he huffs, rolls over and refuses to budge.

Our goal this week was to take a picture of Anja with her eyes open. It doesn't sound like a difficult task, but you would be surprised what it takes to get her eyes open. Typically a little cool water in the diaper works. This is a pediatrician approved method to wake her up enough to eat. Mark is worried that she is going to be scarred for life from his "methods".