Five months strong

Another month in and Sam is still laughing and giggling his days away. We have no updates on his height and weight but all indications are that he continues to top the charts. Most of his clothes are in the 6-9 month range now.

He hasn't conquered it yet, but soon he will be able to sit up on his own. He can manage 5-10 seconds now before he tips over; it's just a matter of time before he figures out the balancing part. He can also get himself into a crawling position and hold it, but as of yet he hasn't decided to move forward. And for that we are thankful that we don't have to chase him around the house just yet. Other newly acquired hobbies are blowing raspberries, picking up his pacifier and placing it in his mouth, and lots of babytalk. He has also had his first taste of rice cereal, and enjoys eating from a spoon. Finally, Sam has taken a keen liking to Canoe the cat, and likes to pet the kitten and watch him play. We can already see that Canoe and Sam will be good friends.

Miscellaneous notes: For Halloween Sam dressed as a banana, which is a family tradition for his Mom. We are looking forward to Sam's first Thanksgiving next week. And, unfortunately, a certain aunt's streak of mentions in the blog will come to an end this month. So sad.

Photos from the month (including the trip to California) can be found here!

Sam at four (and a half) months

I'm a little late this month, but for good reason. Just after Sam turned four months we all went to California for my 15th college reunion and to visit family. Sam saw Grandma and Grampa McGee, Great-Grandma Gray, lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and a bunch of my college friends and their kids. That made for a lot of introductions! Sam's first flights went very well -- he slept most of the way and rarely made much noise. The people sitting around us were grateful, if they even knew he was there. And then, once we got home, Elise returned to work and full time daycare duties turned to me. So Sam-blogging had to wait.

Photos from that trip aren't uploaded yet, but there are photos from the other fun times from last month. We made a trip to Michigan for Elise's 16th high school reunion, and visited Aunt Amanda, Uncle Brad, cousins Evalyn, Charlotte, and Bennett, and even had breakfast with Grandma Jackie and Fred. (This is Aunt Amanda's fourth consecutive mention in the Sam Blog, a feat no one else can match. Keep it up, Aunt Amanda.) We then continued east to visit Niagara Falls, which was really cool. Sam wasn't quite as good in the car -- long car rides stuck in a car seat are not really his thing. Much better to be held on an airplane. When we got back to Chicago we were able to visit Wrigley Field for a neighborhood appreciation day. That might have been more fun for me than for Sam, but someday he'll think it's cool that he took a nap in center field and then tried to eat the ivy.

At his four-month checkup Sam weighed 16 pounds and was 27 inches long. He is a little under the 75th percentile in weight, and a little above the 98th percentile in height (the doctor estimated it as the 100th percentile, so let's go with that). He is barely squeezing into [late edit: 6-9] 3-6 month clothing. He continues to develop his hand-eye coordination, and now he likes to take his pacifier out of his mouth far enough to see it, then put it back in his mouth. He is working on getting into a crawling position, which makes his mom and dad worry that he will try crawling sooner rather than later. We would like him to stay sedentary for just a little while longer. He is still a big barfer, so that hasn't changed. Funny, at our two-month checkup the doctor told us that months 3 and 4 were the peak of puking, but then at the four-month checkup the doctor said months 5 and 6 are the height of hurling. So, yay for shifting expectations. After Grampa babysat Sam while Elise and I were at the homecoming football game, he reported with newfound appreciation: "He really IS a puker." Yup.

His month of photos can be found here!

Three Months!

A big month for Sam. He took his first trip to Michigan, where he was baptized in the presence of friends and family, particularly new godparents Aunt Claire, Aunt Amanda, and Uncle Brad. He also spent a few days at Grandma Jackie's house on Harsen's Island, and attended his first Labor Day Candy Parade. He took a boat trip and went swimming for the first time. He may not have enjoyed the swimming at first, but he came around.

He continues to grow, as he is well into some of his 3-6 month clothes. (There was no official measurement this month, but he looks to be continuing his tall trend.) His new favorite activity is rolling over. He has mastered both directions -- front to back and back to front. If we place him on his playmat, odds are he will roll onto his tummy within a few seconds. And then barf.

He is a talkative fellow, with lots of baby thoughts on his mind that he needs to express in baby babble. He is improving his fine motor skills, as he is more likely to grab and touch things in front of him, including toys, fingers, and eyeglasses.

He has lots more activities planned for his next month. It should be another great adventure. Pictures from this month can be found here.

Two-month update

Sam is two months old, and is doing very well. At his most recent checkup he weighed in at 13 pounds 1 oz (75th percentile), and 24 5/8 inches (98th percentile). He's long. He is already too long for many of his 0-3 month outfits, and has moved on to some of the smaller 3-6 month clothes.

He started social smiling around 6 weeks, which is a nice treat for his sleep-deprived parents. He is developing some predictable sleep patterns, although he does stray from those patterns from time to time. He's a champ with his tummy time, and started rolling over (front to back) at 7 weeks. He's starting to reach and grab for things that he sees in front of him. My glasses are safe on my face for only a few more weeks, I think. He barfs a lot. I mean, a lot.

Elise and I are doing well, although we still find it hard to do more than one project per day that is not focused on the baby. For example, Elise got out of the house today so she could go to the dentist. Hooray for her! My project today is writing this blog entry. Hooray for me. Tomorrow, mayhaps I can have a haircut.

Sam has now met all four grandparents, and has received a visit from Uncle Brad, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Claire, and cousins Evie, Charlotte, and Bennett. Pictures from month two are here. More adventures ahead!

Introduction of Sam McGee

One of the many things I overestimated about the first few weeks of caring for a newborn was my time and stamina to maintain a blog. It's not news to any parents out there, but when the baby does finally go to sleep there's only so much time you have to do things for yourself, like eat and sleep and bathe, etc. Updating the blog does not crack the list must-dos. But I'll try to update as often as Sam permits.

Sam was born June 14, 2013, at 12:38 a.m., at 8 lbs 0 oz and 20 inches. (Elise went into labor immediately after I published my post from June 13, below.) He spent his first 10 days in the NICU fighting an infection, and finally came home with us on June 23. He is already growing like a weed. His favorite activity is eating, least favorite is, apparently, sleeping.

My personal moment when I realized I was a dad was when I intentionally put my hand into an active stream of urine to prevent Sam from peeing on his own face. It's moments like that when you wonder what you put your own parents through.

Pictures of Sam from the first three weeks are here, with more on the way to be sure.

The waiting game

Our due date has come and gone and we're still here, counting flowers on the wall. The little peanut just wants to stay where s/he is for now. So there are no updates in babyland.

We're filling our time with other stuff. I ran my first 10k race a week ago, finishing in 52:50, or an 8:31/mile pace. It's right about where I was expecting to finish, so I'm happy with it. Got a t-shirt out of it, so that's nice.

Canoe happily remains the center of attention, unaware that that's about to change. So, good for him, he gets a few more days as ruler of the roost.

Anyway, tick tick tick... the waiting continues.

The Return?

I think I'm going to jumpstart this blog again, after a very lengthy hiatus. I don't know how anyone will find it again, after anyone who read it before has surely given up by now. But if your curiosity brings you back, or if your RSS reader still keeps an eye on Me Gusta, hopefully there will be something here to welcome you back.

The big reason to restart the blog is the arrival of Baby McGee, due June 12, and the parental hijinx that will surely follow. I have zero experience with newborns, so everyday should be a learning experience for both me and Baby McGee. Send your sympathies to Elise.

We don't know if it's a boy or girl, so there's still time to get your bets in. The majority of guessers so far believe that it's a boy, based mostly on hunches and a the application of old wives' tales. We will see.

We are at 37 weeks now, but here's a quick video of a waving baby from the 20-week ultrasound. Hello world.

More news on this front as it develops, to be sure.

I should also mention the other member of our family, who has been with us since our wedding. 

This is Canoe, our cat. We like him. More pics of him here.

Hopefully a lot more to come.