We all headed into South Bend in early August to meet up with some family. James’ Aunt Carol, her husband Andy, and his son, Adam, had all come up from Charlotte for a visit. This was the first time they met Mathias, and the first time James’ Uncle John was able to as well. There was plenty of fun, water basketball and baby holding.
Click the photo to see a full slideshow.
Uncle John gets his hands on Mathias!
Lori and I watched cousin Eamonn last month while his parents caught Chicago-cover band extraordinaire Tributosaurus channel Johnny Cash. As you can see, both of the boys were pretty well behaved (although it’s been a long time since we could contain Mathias in a swaddle).
Lori picked up a little car for Mathias a while back to give him something new to play with (i.e., something to keep him occupied for a few minutes at a time). He likes it, although he’s pulling his usual “deer in headlights” response to the camera here.
He’s shirtless because this was taken in the heat of summer; we also think it’s important to keep him in touch with his Indiana heritage.
Lori picked up a bag of googly eyes at the craft store a while back and decided to use them to expand Mathias’ consciousness.
Adding a third eye doesn't seem to faze him.
Four more don't make for much of a reaction...
But the extra ojos did seem to make him hungry.
Here’s a little workout on his activity mat. He’s starting to get pretty good at grabbing things, and he’s getting more and more weight to throw around.
We’re lucky enough to have family in the city who are in the same baby-boat. James’ cousin Sue and her husband Kevin have a little boy who’s just a couple weeks older than Mathias, which has made for some fun bouts of drinking and commiserating (especially for the moms).
Here are some pics from a dinner we shared at the beginning of the month. (Click on either of the pictures to see a full slideshow.)
And the fathers rejoice!
While the babies sort of slump on a blanket, mostly ignoring one another. They'll be friends down the road.
Edit: Here’s a video of the fun.
Here are a couple of cute ones of Mathias with his “activity pad” and a big plush mouse.
At first the dude seems skeptical of his surroundings…
But he quickly flashes a big smile (this is one of mom’s favorites).
Our little guy has come a long way from the “Mr. Serious” that marked his first month. Now he offers plenty of chatter and laughs and giggles, which are very gratifying.
As you can see, both of those bodily states are pretty well constant. (We’re grateful for the former. The latter? Well…not so much. But what can you do?)
Lori is pretty much the one who gets up to feed the little guy at night, and so it’s important they both grab whatever naps they can during the day.
Sleeping with a smile
I try to help out when I can, and I’ve my fair amount of feeding and burping as well. Of course, experience doesn’t help much when a baby turns his head at the last minute to spit up down your shirt.
Finally, Mathias has started to chatter quick a bit, offering up all kinds of high, happy squeals as he lies on his blanket. It’s been tough to film – he seems camera shy – but we do get a little bit of joy at the end of the clip here.
Toward the end of July my dad and Gail held their annual summer party, inviting half of South Bend to slam down sausage and shish kabobs and corn on the cob.
Things got delayed by a day thanks to a big storm that knocked out power at their place, but the rescheduled shindig was tons of fun. It gave Mathias a chance to meet – and puke on – plenty of family. Click the photo to see the slideshow.
We’ve been trying to head some pretty often this summer so Mathias can get some snuggle time with his family. Here’s a slideshow from a trip in late July – grandma held him, Summer (the dog) sniffed and we all enjoyed some sweet corn and blueberry crumble. Click the photo to see the slideshow.
In grandma's arms...
Just some photos goofing around at home.
Here’s Mathias stretched out on his blanket. He doesn’t like to sleep in his crib very much during the day, so we’ll put him on his blankie to nap. As you can see, he’s pretty long. His two-month check-up put him at the 97th percentile for height and weight!
Here’s dad holding two of the things he loves most in this world.
And here’s a somewhat askew family self-portrait–good times!
