Babies are hard to photograph

Seems like for every decent picture...

You get about a dozen pictures like this:

What an adorable fuzzy dot we have.

Silly Baby!

We had a visit from Nicole, my college house-mate, this weekend.  She brought Parker a special gift:

 We're also learning that at just one month, our little guy already knows what he wants.  He refused to pose for this picture until after we'd swapped out the Nuk (that it came with) with his favorite Dr. Brown's binky.  I think he's going to be a very opinionated little boy.

Day trip

We took a day trip with Grandpa & Grandma Hamilton to Granite Falls.

There's not much to see there, but it got us out of the house for a few hours.

Of course, Parker mostly saw the inside of his car seat.

Week in review

And on to what you're really here for, more pictures of Parker!

 On Wednesday we loaded up into the car & took a walk through the Boeing something-or-other Park, just down the street from us.  It's actually a park built around a giant detention pond (totally Keith's sort of place), but they also had quite a few trails.  Not totally stroller-friendly, next time I might try the Moby Wrap for this, but we both enjoyed getting out of the house.

Thursday, we went downtown and hung out in Daddy's office while Mommy got her teeth cleaned.  Parker even got to visit the Nordstrom offices and do a little shopping (but he was asleep the whole time, so I think he missed it).

 Today. we went to visit Grandma & Grandpa Hamilton for a while.

One Year.

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm one of those people who tends to make a holiday of all special dates.  For instance, Keith needs to remember my birthday every 17th of the month, yesterday was our 4-year and 3-month wedding Anniversary, etc.  And even I will admit that I stretch things sometimes (three years ago today we were...whatever).

But, today, September 24th is one of those dates that I really don't think I'll ever forget.  Of all the days in my life, I think that September 24, 2009 will go down in history as the most bittersweet.  On the sweet side, we had finally sold our house in Ballard and this was the day we were moving into our dream home.  On the bitter side, this is the day we lost our baby.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to remember this house without associating the two.

But great things have happened in the intervening year.  We've made this new house our home, we've travelled, and best of all, we've brought little Parker Scott into the world.  I still grieve the loss of our little one, and think of her when her birthday would have come around in May (I was convinced she was a girl), but I wouldn't trade our little guy for a million "if onlys".

So, on THIS September 24th, I raise a glass to the memory of what we've lost, and the multitude we've gained.

And yes, maybe, we might actually break into that bottle of champagne that we were given last year to celebrate our move!

Milk Cookies

Sharla told me about a new cookie that's out that's supposed to help increase your milk supply.  Milkmakers cookies are "specially designed" to increase a nursing mother's milk supply.  Although we're doing MUCH better, I wouldn't mind having a little more to go around, so I thought I'd give it a try.  ...except that these cookies are $1.50 EACH!  I'm not ready to spend that kind of money on something that "couldn't hurt", so I found the recipe online instead.

I had all the ingredients at home, with the exception of Brewer's Yeast, which is supposed to be the "secret ingredient" to making these MILK cookies.  So off I went to the beer supply store down the street (very handy location).  When I got there, I walked up to the twenty-something Beer Guy behind the counter, our conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi, do you have Brewer's Yeast?
Beer Guy: Sure, what kind do you want?
Me: *blink* *blink*, ummm...  Is there a generic kind?
Beer Guy: Not really, what are you making?
Me: Ummm...  Cookies?

What followed was an extremely awkward conversation between me and two salespeople.  Both were trying very hard to decide which kind of yeast would be best for my cookies, while I was trying equally hard to not really tell them what I wanted it for.  But they were so determined to get me just the right kind, I finally had to tell them my real purpose ("it's for the baby, brewer's yeast is supposed to increase milk production"), at which point I'm pretty sure they wished they hadn't asked.  Don't ever let it be said they were lacking in customer service.

Of course, it was only after I got home (with my packet of yeast) that I discovered that they sell Brewers Yeast at the health food store as a nutritional supplement.  I don't know if these cookies are working or not, but next time I'm going to Super Supplements.

Melissa & Rob's Wedding

Parker attended his first wedding on Saturday.  He decided to eat before we left, rather than once we go there (as previously discussed), so we were late & missed half the wedding.  But we got there in-time for the vows (and before the Shultzes) and Parker slept through the whole thing.


It was nice to have a chance to get dressed up, even if it took me two hours to get ready.

As is often the case at events like this, eventually the tables split to one side girls, one side boys.  But in this case, somehow the boys ended up with the babies!

Evening chats with Daddy

In this picture Keith was explaining the Three Laws of Engineering to Parker.  I'm not certain he was paying attention.

Success!

With the exception of one traumatic morning feeding (note to self: just because the baby WILL sleep for 5 hours, doesn't mean he SHOULD), Parker was completely breastfed yesterday!  We even had one afternoon feeding with no crying.  Hopefully this is a sign that things are improving.

Clothes

We're slowly starting to incorporate clothes into Parker's wardrobe.  Up to this point he's mostly been wearing diapers & receiving blankets.

I suppose, technically, these are probably jammies, but one-piece outfits are easier, and I don't have to try & keep his socks on.

Do the Puyallup!

Usually, Keith & I like to take a day off during the week to go to the Puyallup Fair.  But, seeing how Keith already took almost two weeks off when Parker was born, we didn't try to push our luck.  So, Parker & I went down with my Parents & Jared.

We saw cows & horses, pigs & dogs, and all the arts, crafts, & hobby hall.  Parker slept through the whole thing, so I don't think he'll remember much.

Happy Birthday Dwayne!

Historically, we have celebrated birthdays with Denise & Dwayne by getting all dressed up and going out to a fancy restaurant.  But, we're learning to live on a budget, so Denise & Dwayne have to suffer with us.  So, we took steaks over to the Needs for dinner to celebrate Dwayne's birthday.  It was very nice to get out of the house, even if I had to take the pump with us.

Since Keith was home, I decided to make chocolate eclairs for dessert.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product, but I have one from the process:

They took all day, but they really were pretty easy, and it was nice to do something that I actually know!  Hopefully Parker will soon be on a more consistent schedule & I can start baking again.

"Camping" Trip

The Kruger-family-camping-trip was this past weekend.  Since I made it clear some time ago that there would be NO camping for this branch of the Kruger tree this year, we made a day trip down to Lake Sylvia to see the family.  Since I'm still firmly attached to the pumping machine, I was nervous about spending all day away from home (especially since most of it was spent in the car). 

But Parker was a trooper and did really well.  He slept through the whole car ride, and most of the day, even though he was passed from person-to-person the whole afternoon.

It was Parker's first introduction to Janet, Cheryl, and his Uncle Brian (plus Sandi).

We also took the time to celebrate Kyla's 4th Birthday.  Of course, although we actually managed to BUY Kyla a gift, we forgot to bring it.  But, as long as we brought the baby, that's all that really mattered, right?  Maybe next time we can just send the baby and we can stay home?

Two weeks old!

I can't believe it's only been two weeks since he was born.  In many ways I feel like it's been months already.  I keep hoping for more progress, like feeding without the assistance of a machine, or fitting back into my old pants.  But looking back, we have progressed a lot so far.  Parker is growing steadily, and he's already sleeping longer at night.  He hates getting dressed, loves being snuggled, and I can fit into my pants, I just can't zip them.

We/ve survived Keith's first few days back at work.  I'm working on learning to accept that I will get to the end of the day and have nothing productive to show for it except a still-hungry and still-dirty baby.  Today's big accomplishment, I folded the laundry, but didn't get around to bringing it back upstairs.  Maybe tomorrow I'll try to empty the dishwasher.

Date Night

Monday evening my Aunt Rosemary brought us dinner and very graciously offered to watch Parker for a few hours so we could go out for dinner.  We took our 2-for-1 dining card and had dinner at Ray's Boathouse in Ballard.  It was so nice to have a few hours where we could talk about something other than "can you feed him? did you change him?"  Of course, we're new parents, so we did talk about Parker, but it was nice to talk about grown-up things too.

Tuesday, Keith went back to work.  I was extremely nervous about being left home alone with the baby, but it turns out that Tuesday was so busy I barely had time to notice that I was alone (and I wasn't really home).  Parker had his second Dr's appointment, he's growing fine and is now 7oz over his birth weight, right on schedule.  He really is a good natured baby, and if it weren't for his breastfeeding drama, this whole parenting thing wouldn't be too bad.

Parker's first bath

We've been meaning to give Parker a bath for the past few days, but so far it just hasn't happened.  But today we finally fit one in.  He didn't really love it, but he didn't really hate it, and at least now he's not completely covered in milk.