Family outing

This past weekend, we went to our friend's 35th "cereal, swim, and clever t-shirt" party. Just like it sounds, everyone brought a box of cereal to share, wore a clever t-shirt and hung out in and by the pool. We had such a fun time dressing up and hanging out with our friends, together, as a family.

Kyle's t-shirt says, "I eat at Mom's."

So much love!!!!!

Me and my boy.

I can't stop staring at my son. He is beyond adorable and I can't stare, squeeze or kiss him enough! This morning, he was all curled up on my chest, monkey style (fetal position), and I just wanted the clock to stop so I could somehow keep him that way for much, much longer. Most of our friends have babies that are between 3 and 6 months old and whenever I see them, I get so sad thinking that someday very soon, Kyle will be just as big and he won't be my little newborn anymore. As you can tell, I'm already having issues... :)

Kyle's not sure what to think about mommy's constant kisses.

We were in two restaurants this weekend and he did very well in both places. During the first, he was passed around between my friends and didn't seem to mind all the extra attention. Later that evening, he let Rudy and I enjoy our meal by sleeping the entire time. Little by little, going out is losing its stressful edge as long as it doesn't involve shopping. He's not a shopper, to his mommy's dismay and his daddy's delight! What a boy! :)

My push present!

When I heard about push presents from a friend years ago, I thought she was making it up. I thought she was just milking the whole labor thing for all it was worth. I've since realized that such a thing does in fact exist and, having "pushed" myself, is a necessary reward, too! ;)

What's funny is that I never even mentioned a push present, but someone at Rudy's work told him that I'd know about it and that if he was a "good husband" he'd get one for me. After looking a bit online, Rudy picked out a handmade, silver necklace with Kyle's name and birthdate engraved on it from Hawaii. It came this weekend and I love it! Unfortunately, wearing it worries me too much because Kyle's hands have already been all over it and have just about ripped it off!

KYLE

7.22.09

Done with summer school!

Yay Dad!!

Now what are we gonna do?

Rudy is taking his last final for his neuroanatomy class today. We are all excited to say good-bye to summer school and the late study nights. I've been proud to watch how seriously Rudy has taken his studies and how much effort he has continued to put into doing well. He's been at this for a long time now and the classes have only gotten more and more intense.

On Monday, August 31st, Rudy will officially begin the professional program. So far, he has been working on "year zero" of the program which consists of a whole year's worth of pre-requisites added on to the two year's worth of classes he already took at various community colleges to even be able to apply to the program. He's glad to now focus on courses that directly apply to the profession. He's enrolled in the following 7 classes: Musculoskeletal Biomechanical Principles, Research Methods for Physical Therapy, PT Human Development (Nice timing with Shmu here!), Professional Practice Issues, Patient Management and Functional Training, Exercise Physiology, and Health Care Issues I.

We have this weekend as our last without any stress or pressure to study until Christmas break. We're excited to do something fun with the baby. Now we've just got to come up with an activity that is Shmu friendly. We're in the middle of a horrid heat wave and it is about 100 degrees outside, so our options are pretty much limited to the indoors... and with air conditioning. We're both really looking forward to a great weekend!

Blog update

Many of you have asked whether or not you could forward this blog on for others to read. While the answer is yes, I thought I'd take a minute to explain the purpose of this blog.

At first, I was hesitant to share such personal facts and pictures about my family on the internet. But, after finding out we were having a baby, I was overwhelmed with the desire to share this experience with our family members near and far and should they want to, enable them to feel as close to our baby and our family as possible. That is why you'll see lots of pictures and tid bits of information that quite possibly only close family would ever really want to know.

Most of my local friends don't yet know about the blog, but basically anyone who wouldn't see us on a regular basis now has access to it and I'm glad for some way to share our lives with you all. Just know that it is written for family and it is technically a "family blog" although it may look like a "baby blog" for now!! :)

Thanks for reading and for being a part of our lives!

Kyle's world just got bigger.

On his one month "birthday" Kyle turned a few corners in his development and it has been so fun to watch this new world of his opening up before our very eyes. Grandma Gina was here to witness the change and took every opportunity to stimulate his new interests and abilities. Thanks GG, for how creative you were with all his face friends, the fan, the blinds, pictures of the family, books and his giraffe. Kyle has discovered all the many things around him and enjoys staring at anything and especially things with contrasting colors. If he's awake, he's looking around and learning to recognize his home. We noticed that he especially likes his room. There are lots of contrasting colors there, and he likes looking at the letters on the wall that spell out his name.

Another new thing is that he has just started reaching for things that catch his interest. One of his favorites is his giraffe friend.

Another change for Kyle has been an increased appetite and what seems to be a stronger digestive system. He no longer has terrible bouts of gas-induced screaming and fusses just a little when needing to expel something. He has been a "good baby" for 4 days now! Yes, we are counting!! :)

Thanks, Gina, for coming and for all your help around the house and with Kyle. It was really helpful to have her, not to mention great for Kyle and her to get to know each other. I finally got to use a gift certificate Rudy gave me for Valentine's day to go get a massage! It felt heavenly! Then, I finally got to get my hair cut. I'd been making appointments and having to cancel them due to last minute doctor's appointments for Shmu and then actually being in the hospital after delivering him. Gina also got some cleaning done for me and that makes me so happy! :) Best of all, there was always an extra set of arms to help out. Rudy enjoyed getting out to surf and do a nice, long bike ride. I enjoyed showering in peace and actually getting to blog/email with two hands! :)

We'll miss you, Gina, and look forward to the more frequent visits from you! Thanks for all you did!

And he rolled over...

...TWICE!!!! Grandma Gina was there to witness it and promises that Kyle rolled from front to back unassisted by her or any pillow. After he did it once, she put him back on his tummy and he did it again!!! I'm telling you, I knew he was a mover in the womb and so far, he's about a month ahead of himself! :)

Go Shmu!!

Grandma time :)

Here's some latest pictures from our day yesterday with Grandma Gina. I think Kyle likes having his grandma here to play with him because he's been GREAT these past three days. He's slept every night between feedings and hasn't really cried at all. Of course, we're all working hard to keep it that way and have tried a million things. Now, if we could just pin point what it is that is helping. Of course, I think the minute we did find "the trick," it would change. I think I'm catching on to the fact that I can never "catch on" to anything with this whole baby thing! :)

Happy 1 month little Shmu!

Yesterday, August 22nd, we celebrated Kyle's 1st month! We started the day sleeping in quite late, and then getting dressed and ready for our visit from my friend Tiffany, or "Tia" to Kyle. Tiff had driven up from San Diego the day he was born and it was fun to have her here one month later. Thanks, Tia, for coming!

We then got a surprise call from Grandma Gina saying she was going to be flying to Orange County on the end of a work shift and could stop in a day earlier than planned. She'll be here until Wednesday and we're already enjoying the bonding time and extra help! :)

Later in the evening, Ru and I got to go out for a "date" to our friends' house for dinner and games and leave Kyle with GG. This was a first and I wasn't sure how I'd feel leaving the little guy. It was nice to get away, be with adults, have adult conversations and drive in Rudy's two-seater truck. It was also nice to not worry at all if Kyle would be okay. I knew he would. I just felt like a huge piece of me was missing the whole night and I was overwhelmed with how much I missed him. It's like we got a few hours of time to experience life without him... and I hated it! :) It was super sweet to come home and squeeze him, knowing that he is real and ours!

This first month of growth can be seen in the following ways:

1. Kyle's newborn diapers are fitting snuggly and don't have to be folded anymore.

2. We had to move the shoulder straps up a notch in his carseat and removed the little blanky bumper we had down at the bottom of his seat.

3. Kyle is feeding longer.

4. When placed on his tummy, Kyle likes to show how strong he is by lifting his head and kicking so hard that it looks like he's anxious to roll over.

5. In addition to his face friend and vacuum friend, he now enjoys his swing and being very observant of his surroundings.

1st trip to Grandpa and Grammie's house!

Welcome to 19431 , baby Kyle!

Kyle and I went on our longest car ride yet, to visit his grandparents and Auntie Michelle and then head over to the school I used to work at to introduce the little man to my former colleagues. I had also told my former students I'd be there and we were met by so many kids that love the "Shmu" and couldn't wait to meet him. It was so fun to see everyone again. People commented on how tiny Kyle is and that I need to enjoy every moment of this, because he will grow so fast. I know this is true because I'm already seeing signs of growth and they are exciting and sad all at the same time!

It was fun to drive up to my old house and see my family come out to meet Kyle and introduce him to his "second home." Grandpa even came home from work to witness the special event! We were excited to introduce my cat, Psoi, to Kyle and it was a riot to see how curious Psoi was about the whole thing. Kyle was oblivious, but Psoi definitely knew there was something or someone different in the house that was causing quite a stir and kept staring at him.

My baby meeting my other little "baby" for the first time.

Then, following Thune tradition, we had to take a picture of the family by the fireplace. Only then was Kyle officially introduced to the place! :) In a larger version of the picture, you can see Kyle just staring at his grandpa in fascination.

Aw! Look, Kyle, they love you so much!