Crib peeker

Beyond the physical stats of length and weight, perhaps there's no better image of how big he's getting than seeing him hold himself up on his belly, craning his neck up to see what's on the other side of the crib.

Ticklish Kole

We discovered a soft spot on the little critter. Right on his bare belly - when bathing him or changing a diaper - we've now found that he is ticklish!

Play Date

Kathy made two good friends during her pregnancy, as she took classes through Arlington Memorial Hospital for birthing, breastfeeding and infant care. Among a handful of others, two young mothers named Beverly and Ellie were who Kathy kept in contact with through pregnancy, emailing and phone calling, sharing misery, asking advice, etc. Both other girls ended up giving birth on June 16 - Beverly had a little girl (Sara) and Ellie had a boy (Noah). In fact, Beverly was still in the hospital recovering on the 17th when Kathy and I went in for our big, long, marathon day of labor. So anyway - they've kept in touch and Kathy has seen each individually since the births, but they all three got together today with their kids. It was just the second time we've seen Kole around a baby near his same age. We had the one meeting with our next door neighbor who was born in April and Kole was obviously bigger than already.
Kole was a lot bigger than the little girl, Sara. But, he was just longer than Noah by an inch or two. But, they were about the same size. Like Kathy, Ellie (who is from England and has only been in the US for less than 5 years and still has a thick, wonderful British accent) gave up breastfeeding soon after birth and her baby has been on the bottle as well. So, maybe that's contributed to their early growth spurt.
Anyway, I'm attaching a photo of Kole's first day with his first little friends.

Speak Up

Since I never technically gave a three-month update, I'll go ahead and do that and see what else I can add that I didn't at 12 weeks. For one, I'll add this video so you can see what sort of conversations we have around the house. It's still very much a toss-up as to which of us Kole will look like, or resemble in one personality facet or another. Even people at our church where Kathy grew up and dozens upon dozens of people have known her all her life insist that he looks like me. The only thing I can really figure is that people keep saying he has really long eyelashes, which is one of my stronger traits. If he can get the rest of his looks from his mother, he's in great shape.
Today we had a little boys day out. Since Friday I went out and played golf, then Saturday had a working assignment at the Texas A&M-Miami football game, I gave Kathy the day off today. Kole and I went to Costco and to Home Depot and he was a model child. Of course, we left right after a feeding, so he was good and groggy the whole time, but never really knocked out asleep.
Check the video out. I purposely left my own goo-goo commentary out of it and just let him do his thing. Obviously unprovoked verbally, but I'm holding the camera with my right hand while doing funny faces off to the left (his right).

12 Weeks

It's weird what to think and count - is he still a week away from being three months? But, as of today he's 12 weeks. Well, actually it's a week from tomorrow that it will actually be September 18, but 12 weeks is the official count right now.
No - it doesn't just seem like yesterday that we brought him home. But, I can't remember counting down 12 weeks quite the same as this. It's everyone's nature to say the time flies by - especially in a retrospective look back. But, being in the moment, 12 weeks has seemed like 12 weeks with Kole. There are so many milestones you can't wait for him to achieve, in order to maintain your sanity, but there are times when it seems like it just flies by in an instant.
I am elated that he spends more time smiling than crying, coming from a stage where crying is all he knew how to do and poop. Now he smiles and laughs and goes Ooooooohh all day and all night. This morning I sort of woke him up from a dead sleep at 6am. He was already kicking a little, shifting, but I rubbed him then turned him on his back. It's our little routine to get him worked up and want to eat. We're now keeping him on a fairly regular eat/sleep schedule. So I roll him over, he has the bewildered look anyone should have when they've just snapped out of a dead sleep, but within seconds he notices me and smiles his big cheeky, toothless smile - kicking his feet and flopping his arms around. It's a great daddy moment.
I'm attaching a photo of the clothes he has now left behind - 31 onesies or outfits since we brought him home. One has a tag left on it, plus there are two others he never wore. Even when we brought him home there were a handful of outfits we struggled getting his head through. He outgrew many, quickly. Really, it's his length that is outgrowing things the quickest. The quickest way for us to tell he's outgrowing something is when we have to struggle to button up his pants from the bottom, between his legs. From his shoulders to his crotch they just get more and more stretched - eventually barely hanging of his shoulders and arcing underneath his neck, plus being tight around his diaper.
Kathy has always dodged the topic of having a second baby - especially since Kole's birth and her ... well ... recovery. Another childbirth just wasn't on the radar. But, she has made the initial vow to hang on to these onesies and such "just in case" an oopsie comes along anytime soon. Of course, she admits, keeping boy clothes would almost guarantee a girl if another should come.
As the Just the Facts notes on the left, we weighed him at 15-and-1/2 pounds today. I measured him at 25-and-1/2 inches. He's a growing boy and he's adjusting great to his schedule. He gets to sleep around 10:00-10:30, and for the last few nights [knocking on wood] he has slept until 5:30-6:00am. As noted just above, today he was barely stirring at 6:00, and if I hadn't stirred him up and turned him over he could have easily gone another half hour.
We'll get a better idea of how he is measuring comparatively with babies his age when Kathy catches up with her buddies from childbirth class next week. Both of their babies were born a day or two before Kole.
I'll put one one more picture - with me reading (actually showing) Kole his new book Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. A very clever and astute find by my friend Sara in Iowa. It's about a little baby fox named Fletcher who gets freaked by falling leaves when Fall comes - he thinks the tree is hurt and he tries to put the leaves back on. Eventually, after the plot drags through nearly 10 more pages, an ice storm creates a pretty display of icicles hanging off the tree and it makes Fletcher happy. Unwittingly, he's a perfect Fletcher - innocent and a little dimwitted. Eventually, very entertained by nature.

Into September

Kole is approaching his third month. He is growing and probably around 14 pounds, though we haven't weighed him in a while. He is nearly sleeping 6 hours a stretch at night, and at this point that would be considered an average. He has gone longer, but also shorter. He is up more in the day and plays with things in his hands - a rattle, even a little cloth football that has a little handle on it. He coos loudly and sometimes appears to be attempting to sing. We've caught him more than once staring at his hands as they fidget and wave wildly in front of himself. We have a little Bumbo seat, which helps young kids sit up a little better. Just over a week ago he would sit up for about 10-15 seconds before his head would get to heavy and he would slowly sink his chin into his chest. Now, his head and neck are strong enough to endure several minutes in the Bumbo. When laying down, he can prop himself up on his hand and hold his head up for inspection like a lizard. And with his tongue hanging out at least 20 hours of the day, he may not be far from being a lizard.
It's definitely a transition, parenting wise. He's become more than just a eat-sleep-poop machine, spending all remainder time in a swing to keep him happy. He now needs stimulation in the daytime, and also shows his enjoyment for it more.
Good times in the Iota Nu Beta house (some people haven't got that title. It's to be pronounced: I oughtta knew bettah). College football season is upon us and Kole is beginning to digest the finer points of the no-huddle spread offense, as I try to explain it slowly and use stuffed animals as defense guys.

Finding a Schedule

It's been an interesting week here at the Fletcher house. We think Kole is old enough to where we kind of went into a second gear finally. He's getting bigger and a little personality full of sounds and kicks and reaching is starting to evolve like a chick pecking its way out of a shell. Plus, all the books have said that between 2-4 months, we'll want to get a couple of things accomplished: get him on a nap/sleep and feeding schedule, and get him sleeping in his own crib.
The sleep thing, thankfully (and knocking on wood) he's been real good about. Two nights ago we put him down around 9:30 after a feeding and he went solid until 5:15am. We were both like ... damn! Last night he went down closer to 10pm and woke up hungry around 4am. So, the schedule is coming. KOLE-TV is alive and well in our room now. Our baby monitor has a little A/V plug and I run a cable from that to our TV so we get his little spy cam on our big 38-inch bedroom TV. So long, David Letterman, hello Kole - every kick and squirm live and in war-like night-vision video. He took to his crib real easily. We had been putting him there for a while, letting him lay on his back watching his mobile while stretching and kicking. Now he sleeps like a lazy dog.
We also made a formula change, which all the doctors and books preach against. But, Nestle Good Start with Natural Cultures goes for about $29.49 for a 24-oz. can at our Tom Thumb when it's not on sale. It's the most expensive formula on the entire formula shelf, simply put. But, formula is formula, we're learning. The FDA has such strict standards of what has to be in baby formula, and what cannot be in it, that the back labels of the name brands and the generics are a mirror image. Target sells its brand of denatured whey cultures with DHA & ARA and all the stuff Good Start has, and sells it for $17.29. It takes Kole about 5 days to suck down a can of formula. Do the math. The one thing the Target brand doesn't have is a reuterin additive, which produces antimicrobials. Good Start had it, and it's found naturally in breast milk - simply put, it helps digestion. So, we found a good reuterin additive from the Vitamin Shoppe, we give him a 1/2-teaspoon a day. When we made the formula switch, he at first was grumpy and occasionally screaming in pain, grunting in pain, and he'd have poops that were hard as a rock. The poor kid was constipated and gassy. But, with the reuterin additive he's back making green and yellow chili in his diaper, ooh-ing and smiling more.
I've done a bad job of updating the 'Milestones', but he's now kind-of reaching for toys when he's on one of those play mat things with little toys dangling around. Either that, or he's wildly throwing his arms around and hitting them over and over again.
[PHOTO: Maggie still hasn't warmed up to Kole one bit, but we're still trying.]

KOLE TV

As a further sign that things are getting back to normal, or pretty close to it - we were able to sit out in our hot tub tonight. Kathy needs it for therapy, and I need it to watch the sun set. We took Kole's digital video baby monitor, set up the camera fixed on him in his swing while he watched the Olympics, then took the receiver out to the hot tub. Not a bad system!

**Update: there is not a US television station with the call letters KOLE, but there is a radio station in Port Arthur, Texas - KOLE-AM, it's a Fox radio affiliate that does news talk and carries Rush Limbaugh. Let me know if anyone has access to a t-shirt or bumper sticker to this station.

** Helpful parent tip #1: I haven't offered too many of these because frankly I feel we're steeped too far in the learning process to pass off to many ideas we didn't learn from others first. However, we found an impromptu form of audio baby monitoring using phones. We recently got new digital cordless phones from Panasonic. They're real nice with phone books, caller ID, speaker-phone, just like cell phones. They also can intercom one another. Kathy can take a phone with her to a bath (Bedroom Phone 3) and intercom me in the office (Phone 4) if she needs something, instead of trying to scream at the top of her lungs. Now when we need to monitor Kole and don't want to re-set the camera, we'll just put a phone right next to him, intercom that phone to another wherever we are (Kitchen Phone 1, for example), then put our phone on speaker. Boom. Instant baby monitor.

2 Months in the Books

Calendar says August 18, which is two months from June 18, but time is so weird right now. At times it seems hard remembering life with out the little guy in our life. Other times, Kathy and I look at each other and say - 'Can you believe he didn't even exist this time a year ago?'
His existence was to begin shortly after we got back from our anniversary trip to Vegas last year. But, it ended up taking a little more time. It's a good thing. This way we didn't feel compelled to give him the middle name of Caesar or something (stayed at Caesar's Palace last year).
Did the weigh-in thing while burping him during the early-AM feed - weigh the both of us, minus the weight of me without him. In the past Kathy has done it too, then we see how close we are to his weight difference. She's still asleep, so I went solo and came out with 13 pounds, 1 or 2 ounces. He easily stretches the tape 24 inches. Yesterday we finally got some sort of apples-to-apples comparison to how big he's got. Our next-door neighbors recently had a little boy (named him Cameron Cole, oddly enough) and we finally were both lolly-gagging around our garages yesterday to go fetch our kids and show each other. It was weird walking up and seeing how they're already identically sized. I asked how old he was, she said "he'll be four months in about a week". Okay, he's nearly 4 months, Kole's a day away from 2 months. "How big is he?" I ask ... she then explained where at his doctor's visit earlier in the week he was 12 pounds, 8 ounces. HOLY CRAP!!! So, Kole may have topped 13 pounds in 2 months before our neighbor's kid hits 13 pounds in 4 months. Kathy and I then spent 2 hours convincing oursleves that we are are not doing anything out of the ordinary - feeding him when he's screaming, 3-5 hours between feedings, stopping when he stops. At the pediatrician's visit last week, he went on and on how great Kole looks, everything is normal, normal, normal, he's healthy and great, etc. Yes, he's above average on size right now, but every kid will hit his own growth spurt at a different point in life, then when his voice starts yodeling and his boy parts become man parts, yet another growth spurt may emerge. Still, this kid Cameron was nearly a mirror image of Kole's size, but he could keep his head still, he was blowing spit bubbles, hands neatly propped on his mom's shoulder, all the things 4-month-old kids do; while Kole has nearly the exact body and head, but he's got the tongue stuck out, head bobbing around and hands flailing like an Irishman on St.Patty's Day.
The summer is winding down. It was a blast. Couldn't have picked a better time to have a kid. It's my down-time of the year with the show, and there were some weeks where I only went in for a day or two. I still never technically took a single day off this entire summer, as I continued to play catch-up with my off days from the year (at some points I'd work 25-35 straight days with travel all over the place, all without a single day off). Then the Olympics came along and provided some outstanding 2:00am-6:00am TV watching during feedings. Not to be all name-droppy, but I know probably about 50 athletes in the Olympics - covering their exploits in college, interviewing them, being chummy with them before and after events, meeting their parents, etc. Among my interviewees are gold-medal swimmers Garrett Weber-Gale, Aaron Peirsol, Ian Crocker and Brendan Hansen - all swimmers at the U. of Texas. I'm also buddies with Ben Askren, freestyle wrestler at 74 kilos (from U. of Missouri), Priscilla Lopes, hurdler from Canada (and U. of Nebraska), and distance runners Jorge Torres and Jenny Barringer (both from U. of Colorado). Still, I've caught myself watching badminton matches between a Spaniard and Mongolian at 4AM and been reasonably entertained. So, the timing of having a kid couldn't have been any better - and it all comes to a crashing halt next week. College football beckons.

The Swing Comparison

Today we finally removed the second head rest from the swing for Kole. The "second head rest" you ask? Well ... do you remember the photo from the "We're Home" post on June 20, when we came back from the hospital. With him in that seat as a "before" photo, here he is today also, just before closing out his 7th full week on this earth.
So, the before/after age difference is: 3 days ... 7 weeks.

Photos from Riley/Reagan visit

Be sure to check with the post below of the video of Kole with Riley and Reagan. I'll add these photos, as Kole first met his only two blood 1st-cousins, who he'll hopefully grow old with and treat like sisters, God willing.
First is a photo with he and I, showing what a big boy he is and how he now holds up his head with no help (I know my left hand is missing, but it's not like I'm grabbing the back of his hair and holding his head up - it's all on his own, I swear! Big t-shirt love to the Valero Alamo Bowl folks out there!).
Then comes photos with Kole and Reagan, then Riley.

Kole video

This is an experiment, if nothing else, at uploading video to this site. Since the video speaks for itself and needs little introduction, I'll address some name-ties to those who don't know my family, or to those out there who apparently have latched onto this blog out of the middle of the nowhere of cyberspace and made a point to tune into my personal life, for whatever reason. My sister, Kelley, has two daughters - my nieces Riley and Reagan - who have been on the road throughout the summer with their daddy (bro-in-law Kelly) since just before Kole was born. Kelly is a pro golfer on the Nationwide Tour, and they have a nice RV they've been touring the country in since about early June. So, when Kole was born, they were hopelessly on the road. Kelley made a return last week before her 40th birthday trip to Mexico, and met Kole then, while Kelly (Don) and the girls just met Kole earlier today. It was the first meeting of Kole with the cousins he'll grow old with, and though my face never showed it, it was an emotional day in my brain.
I thought it was the perfect opportunity to catch on video what Kole has been doing the past week - cooing out loud, nearly on command. Little Reagan got her first chance to hold him and he responded immediately with his own little greeting.

Doctor's visit 2

Today was not a fun day at the pediatrician's office. Shots were the order of business for this visit. Four in all - the 'DTP', Polio, this-that-and-the-other. Kole took it like a boy - screaming his head off at the first poke, but quickly calmed and was cool as a cracker by the time he got in his car seat and was ready to leave the place.

He measured, officially, 12 pounds 13 ounces, 23-and-1/3 inches long, and a head circumference of 16 inches. Doctor says he looks great, is growing well, and is probably on the above-average scale of growth. The slap in the face from that is - it means his body is growing faster than his brain. Doc says smaller babies develop more motor skills (turning over in the crib, etc.) quicker than those who grow out a little faster.

The only thing that made Kathy and I wait till the doctor to leave to giggle about was that he said that we may go ahead and allow more tummy time now, that we need to watch how much time he spends on his back. Truth is - even if he's dead tired, putting him flat on his back is a recipe to have him go ape. On his tummy, he sleeps like a rock. Yes, we know, we know, we know - it's not recommended. But, in the big picture, I think sleep is recommended over no sleep. He likes being on his tummy, so that's that.

The Five Faces of Feeding

Face #1 - This is the early stage, when hunger is imminent. He does not suck his thumb, but will suck a hand or wrist. Getting the sucking muscles warmed up.

Face #2 - This comes 5 to 10 minutes after Face 1. Sucking is accompanied by grunting and kicking. Still very pleasant to be around and fun to watch.


Face #3 - Showing signs of defined unhappiness and distress. If you're not mixing the bottle by now, you're about to have problems.


Face #4 - PUT DOWN THE CAMERA, CUT THE CRAP, AND GET THE DAMN BOTTLE!!!


Face #5 - Resolution. We are beginning to call this the "Victory Stretch", or "5-ounce Touchdown". After he is done, quite instinctively, he goes into a full-body stretch - stretching the biggest stretch he can stretch ... then halts mid-stretch in a full catatonic freeze.


Face #5b - Exhibit B of Victory Stretch. It's so hilarious - he stops sucking, you put the bottle down then get ready to position him to burp, then comes the stretch and the freeze.

First-time visits

I'm not sure if Kole had an eventful week, or if others had more of the eventful week involving him. Anyway - lots of people got their first gander at the little nipper. First was Wednesday, when we went to Graford, TX for a funeral of Kathy's aunt Linda - a great lady who was an old GP High alum and knew many members of my family. If you don't know your Texas geography, Graford is just west of Whitt - so we actually had the opportunity to drop Kole off at my mom and Gedy's house (just 15 minutes away) first for a few hours while Kat and I went to the funeral. We then picked him up, skipped the graveside burial service, then met back up with Kathy's family at her uncle Doug's house in Millsap. This time we brought Kole with us, and he started getting fussy and cranky right about the time we passed through the town of Cool, TX. It brought some needed comic relief to the car ("Cool! This is really Cool around here! I mean ... Dallas is cool, but this place is really, really Cool!!!" Pointing at nothing on the side of the road "Hey - COOL!!") It took 60 seconds for the joke to get old, but it was nice while we had it. Eventually we had a bottle in Kole's mouth when we drove up to the uncle's house. He lives on a hill on about 10 acres and his next door neighbor is Alice Walton, who Forbes currently has at #9 on their list of richest Americans - sitting on a cool 15.5 billion. She's Sam's youngest daughter. Kathy's uncle Doug is a state trooper and provides some security for Alice on the side, so he's the only neighbor she hasn't bought off (she apparently owns most all of the land along the I-20 corridor between Weatherford and Mineral Wells, raising and ranching horses) and they stay in very good graces. ANYWAY - long way to say that all of Kathy's mother's side of the family (the Wood family) got a chance to meet Kole and there was barely a moment when he wasn't being held and loved on.
Then earlier today, Kelley arrived from Omaha so she can turn right around tomorrow and leave for Mexico with my mom and a couple of her friends to go have her 40th birthday bash. I picked her up from the airport and brought her by the house and she got a nose-full of Kole for a couple of hours herself. So, lots of good times had in recent days - even in light of the unfortunate passing of Kathy's aunt.
Through Kathy's pregnancy she couldn't sit in our hot tub - since water that hot raises her body temperature, and thus of the baby, and gets dangerous. So, the hot tub has been idle since last October. Last weekend, I emptied it, cleaned it out, filled it up and balanced the water. With Kathy still in recovery and not quite ready to hop in a 104-degree tub, I just left it at its temperature straight out of the hose, about 88 degrees. Instead of putting on the normal lid - I put a tarp over the hot tub. The normal insulated lid has a hole in it, and disgusting rain water gets through it and into the hot tub. So, I just got a $20 tarp from Wal-Mart (have another dollar, Alice) and put it on top. Today, I mowed the lawn with it 104 degrees outside. My gift to myself was a little dip in my cool-water hot tub. I pulled the tarp off and confirmed that the heater had not been turned on. It hadn't. It was still set on 88. But the water temperature?? 106 degrees!! On the settings, I can only set it as high as 104! The tarp must have acted like a magnifying glass for the sun, then trapped the heat. It was damn-near boiling! So much for that idea. So, I dropped a few choice 4-letter words, came inside popped open a Michelob Light. Take THAT, hot tub!
(PHOTO 1: Kathy's cousin Laura with Kole at their Uncle Doug's in Millsap. PHOTO 2: Kole gives Aunt Kelley the smile she's only read about for the last few weeks.)

Kat at Home

We've been asked if Kathy is going to return to work, and we purposely left our options open. She didn't feel strongly enough before the birth that she definitely wanted to stay home and be a mom, or definitely go back to work. Our finances will be fine for a while, we saved pretty good heading into the birth, but gas and everything going through the roof and the stock market down, etc., I said just after the birth that if she wanted to stay home that would be fine ... until maybe the new year. After the holidays we could use the cash and Kathy by that point may be more ready to have some time away for a few hours a day. Well, her maternity leave time was coming up at her work, and Kathy wanted to give them plenty of notice to leave - so that's what she did, letting Arlington Orthopedic know that she will not return to work. As it turned out, the decision had less to do with finances or her motherly nerves, and more to do with her recovery. There's no real red-flag concern, but also not something I'm privy to discuss in an open forum, but let's just say that she still needs some time to recover. Child-birth related woman stuff. So, she'll be around the house a little more in the coming months.

All the books told us that we'll start to know our baby's cries. We'll eventually interpret cries and what each mean. Right now we know his cry when he's hungry. After that, I interpret every other cry as him crying "Mommy!", while Kathy - coincidentally enough - interprets the same cries as him saying "Daddy!" We have interesting debates about this on a nightly basis and it often brings humor to a non-humorous event.

Dining Out

There probably isn't a more white-knuckle experience for a new parent than to go out to dinner for the first time toting the little one. We spend 75% of our lives rolling our eyes at the table with the screaming kid, and now we tempt having the cross-hairs of loathing fixed squarely on ourselves.
It wasn't even my idea. The middle of Saturday, Kathy came up and decided she was having a craving for the blue cheese crumble wedge salad at BJ's Brewhouse by the Parks Mall. Pregnancy had cut her off from blue cheese and now she was ready to OD. We actually took about 20 seconds to review whether Kathy's mom would be up to seeing her beautiful grandson for an hour or two, as we greedily plotted to throw in a trip to Costco or Target into the mix. But ... with sly grins, we both knew it was time to get initiated into bringing him along. The only other trip we'd gone on with him was to Brent & Courtney's house for Parker's second birthday party - not only a controlled family environment, but a kid-friendly home with family expected to be tolerant of a screaming baby. But, a date with John Q. Public was a new one.
Kole was about an hour away from his next feeding, and we sprinted into action around the house to head it off like we'd just got some red-alert that the President was popping in for a visit. I showered and changed ... Kathy got the diaper bag ready ... I eventually made some adjustments to his car seat carriage that I had been putting off before ... it was a mad scramble all around the house. Finally Kathy began feeding him and the house hit a lull. As soon as he was done and groggy - into the car he would go, hopefully fall asleep from the car ride, then everything would go peacefully at the restaurant. We even did a diaper change at the burp intermission, just to be sure.
After he was done Kathy announced "I think he's getting drowsy", and it was on. I put him in his car seat then into the car and got it running with the air blowing. We got on our way and he never really fell asleep. He was alert and seems to enjoy car rides. At BJ's, we took the big entrance - everyone taking a peak in the car seat, pointing and goo-gooing at Kole. At the table we got the sling basket to put him car-seat-and-all into. Kathy and I eventually giggled at ourselves, nervously watching him out of the corners of our eyes instead of just relaxing and talking about whatever. Waiting for him to erupt. But, he slept at first. Our waitress made a point to say that we were "lucky" he was sleeping, and was otherwise disinterested with the presence of a newborn baby at the table. When she left I told Kathy I'll wait to feel lucky when we're heading out the doors. We had the first booth next to the bathrooms, so Kole got lots of rubbernecking traffic - including one near collision between a distracted, admiring woman heading for the loo and a rushing waiter crossing in her path.
Eventually the food came, we got a few bites in, then the feet started kicking underneath his blanket. Eyes open. No crying yet, but we're familiar with the routine. Soon enough, some squawks and grunts. We scarfed down what we could then asked for to-go containers. We took turns holding him when light groans and whines came along. It wasn't full-blown "I'm hungry", and was still far from a pissed off tirade from a 3-year-old who wants more cherries in his Coke. The stares we got from neighboring tables were actually accompanied with smiles, as everyone saw how tiny and new Kole was and how innocent the crying was. By the time he was back in his car seat and we were leaving he was back quiet again. In the car, he was unimpressed by the ride. He let loose and made an ear-shattering disagreement to be dragged along into a Target. So, we headed straight home then I made the store runs afterwards.
Overall - nothing tragic, no big scene made, no big poops that needed addressing. We barely tasted the food and were still throwing high-5s back at the house.

Beer Songs

It was weird coming home last night - seeing my little son for the first time after three nights on the road. I guess I was waiting for him to meet me with hungry eyes and a big giggle. Instead he stuck his tongue out, leaned his head back and farted. Good to see you too, Junior.
Kathy had solo duty with him for the first time while I was gone, then cheated and had her mom over another night. He treated her very well, as he continues to sleep well at night.
We each are finding our own tune to hum or sing while we hold him and calm him down, before or after a feeding when he's a little cranky. Kathy began humming a tune before I left for KC that had a quick, snappy, and repetitive chorus. I quickly identified the tune as "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". She says it repeats itself easy enough and doesn't have to get into any tricky musical pitch bridges.
For more than a week, I began humming a tune over and over again that initially I could only identify loosely as an old television commercial jingle, from at least the 80s and possibly even the 70s. I couldn't remember all the words or the product. But, over time I began piecing more and more bits of the tune together. What I've arrived at, and the tune that I hum to my son during prime DWI hours of 2:00-5:00am, is the following ...
Here's to good friends
Tonight is kind of special
The beer will pour
Must say something more somehoowwww....
So tonight ... toniiiiiggghht ....
Let it be Lowenbrau.
I've found that it too does not have any big peaks in pitch and allows me to stay in a bass that I think is soothing to Kole as he feels the vibrations off my chest.

Incidentally, in an update of the previous post, we got our bill from the anaesthesiologist, and his total charges were $3630, of which we are stuck with paying $469. The previous charge I noted below had something to do with anaesthesiology that had something to do with the hospital. So, anyway, put that final price tag at $20,703 to bring a healthy baby into the world without a single complication whatsoever. Real nice, huh?

1-Month State of the Family

Kole is a month old today. But then, he was 4-weeks old this past Wednesday ... so, whichever calculator you’re using, he’s growing up fast. Many of you have met him, many others have not. Here’s what I can say about him and his life today and what we’ve figured out about him over the past four weeks.
He likes bottles of formula; his mom’s boobs; getting a diaper taken off and letting his twig and berries air out; swinging; having his head rubbed; laying against his mom or dad’s chest while they hum or talk so he can feel the vibrations of their voice.
He does not like having his clothes changed (garments pulled over his head either way); sitting in a wet diaper or taking a bath. And he does not, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, care to be left laying in a bassinet or swing when he is HUNGRY! That’s a recipe for shit to hit the fan. And when the shit in this scenario is green, soupy, and smells of a possum carcass - LOOK OUT!
Speaking of which ... we are desperately trying to close out his Newborn diapers while they can still tape up. He is so ready for the next stage (8-14 lb.) of diapers it’s not funny.
In a recent inventory of clothing, we realized that there were actually three little onesies that we deemed were to small for him in the first place and he never wore. The size on the tag said “newborn” but it was obvious that they would squeeze him like a body suit.
The BabyCenter.com site has a Milestone chart of things babies should be doing, what some are doing, and what advanced babies may be doing at different stages.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_milestone-chart-1-to-6-months_1496585.bc

Kole is vocalizing and cooing, but I don’t know if I’d categorize them as “oohs and aahs”. He smiles briefly, but has not laughed. He can hold his head at a 45-degree angle. He’s already doing things it says 2-months old do, as he follows objects across his field of vision and he notices his hands; and if you’re laying him on your chest - like burping him - he will hold his head up for short periods. So - he’s ahead of the bell curve on some things, maybe behind on others. Take that for what it’s worth.
For the parents-to-be whom I know, and I know are reading this, we have been able to do some final math on what having a child cost us, the medical bills alone. When Kathy was confirmed pregnant by her ObGyn last October we got packets and packets of information, a gift basket, and essentially a 9-month payment plan which would cover all of their expenses for her prenatal care all the way through delivery and recovery, less deductibles, out-of-pocket, etc., lock-stock-and-barrel. The idea being to have all of their bills paid before the baby comes. Then came the recent hospital bill. Then came the pediatrician’s bill. After taking nearly an hour to sift through papers and add it all up ... (catch my breath) ... it cost about $17,870 to bring a perfect, healthy child into this world without ever paying for the first diaper or bottle or can of blue paint for his room. After insurance stepped in and did what they’re supposed to, as United Healthcare is the Fox Entertainment Group’s provider of choice, our out-of-pocket final tally was $2972. The biggest chunk of that came from Arlington Memorial for “Room & Board; IH Misc. Services” which was $11,999; not including the services of the anaesthesiologist which was $797. Those two things alone accounted for $1953 of our out-of-pocket expense.
God bless the USA and our current state of health care.

A 4th Generation

Kole today met his only living great-grandparent. Kathy's grandmother (her mother's mother) is 89-year-old Ora Jane Wood. Kole is her 11th great grandchild, and she even has a great-great grandchild. With all that expertise, her reaction of Kole is that he is "beautiful - just beautiful!" Ora lives in the Indian Hills neighborhood of Grand Prairie, and has for eons, on Bennie Lane, probably about 7 doors down from where my grandma and grandpa Landers lived all of my life. Kathy and I were probably yards away from one another years ago and never knew it.
Kathy and her mom took Kole to see her, while I actually did some volunteer work that was not court ordered. FSN Southwest has teamed with the Texas Rangers and Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a family in need and I signed up for a shift today, spent on the west side of Dallas helping repair the roof, installing windows and insulation. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding, but I feel like the way you do after 10 hours of non-stop skiing for the first time in a long time.