New Year's Eve

A year ago tonight, Carl and I celebrated New Year's Eve in Springfield, Illinois at Bobby Noll's house, and had the happy pleasure of ringing in the new year in front of a giant fireplace, surrounded by family and great friends. As midnight approached, we all began writing down our resolutions and Carl and I decided we would each write one resolution for the other person. When midnight struck, Carl smiled and handed me a tiny slip of paper that read, "Have a big baby boy Koschmann." Despite the fact that one of my own resolutions had been to correct Carl less often, I immediately made him cross out both "big" and "boy" (which he admitted he had added largely because history had shown that the Koschmann men generally produce babies fitting this description), but once those adjectives were taken out, we agreed that having a baby was a wonderful resolution. With a clink of our champagne glasses, we committed ourselves to the idea and tossed the slip of paper into the glowing fire. Little did we know that at that very moment, Alden was already on his way to us -- I was 3 weeks pregnant. Now here we are, one year later to the day, and our rapidly-growing, wondrous baby boy Koschmann is, as I type this, in the midst of one of his first long naps, surely getting ready to keep us up until midnight tonight to celebrate his arrival.

spit up

holy smokes -- this is a remarkable action shot by mom -- alden excels at this particular action.

big dog

Sorry for the delay in posts -- we have been with Jen and Kent in Eugene. Alden has been a good sport there -- quietly taking in the new surroundings, and providing some smiles to Jen and her support crew. Of note, big man rolled over -- twice! -- one morning, front to back, but so far hasnt repeated the feat. It was quite a show -- lots of cheers from mom and dad, who were both watching, miraculously. Here, he is pictured with one of his christmas presents on dad's lap.

Happy holidays during this quiet season, as Jen puts it. Family seems particularly important, this year . . .

3 shots of bear

Saturday afternoon report -- dad half-napping from an overnight. Mom reports she has been gift-wrapping "for an eternity." Alden cooing at all of us, pulling most things to his mouth. Grandma Lois is pretty sure we dont change his diaper enough, so she is going to do that now. . .

christmas tree

After inadvertently stealing this christmas tree (a noble fir) from a family tree farm -- don't worry, we paid later -- lois and I promptly decorated it with our 6 ornaments. Lois found our menorah, and Alden heard his first Hanukkah prayer, followed by a roasted chicken and potato pancakes from Lois. Something still didn't feel holiday-ee enough, until uncle Nate sent his Christmas mix, and the house was filled with christmas tunes - mostly great stuff, but Paul McCartney's "A Wonderful Christmas Time" made Bob Dickson want to throw up. Happy Holidays everyone.

winter walk on beach

Seattle is (tolerating) some cold weather, but along with it some rare winter sun. We bundled the dude up and took him to the beach -- somehow, when we all got in all of our multiple layers of rain jackets, the group of us looked fairly homeless - but no one else was out, so we didnt care. Alden enjoyed the fresh salty sea air, and some rare natural vitamin D. - mostly zonked out (below). Attempted the Bob Revolution (gratuitously nice stroller) -- did pad the shocks for Alden, but required mom and Grandma to carry the apparatus over 100 yards of driftwood. Good times all around . . .

staring contest

talking bear

The cooing is out of control . . .

new toy

Grandma Lois felt Alden needed a place to lounge (other than the changing table, where he would hang out always, if we would let him.) So, she found this brighlty colored apparatus - with a sleeping bag / pad for the bottom, and all sorts of hanging things. The Bear has taken to it -- a big leap for this family, allowing us to have some dinners at the same time as each other while he coos, drools, and bats at things. Not bad, Grandma Lois . . .

leisure suit

On sundays, Alden takes it down a notch -- in the afternoons, maybe a little glass of scotch and watching a little 60 minutes - you know winding down before the work week. But on Sunday mornings, the dude likes to relax on mom's lap in his leisure suit, hands in the pockets, and just max and relax.

sunbeam, part 2

taking in the sun

Alden - witnessing maybe his 5th day ever of Seattle sun, seemed to respond well, the sunbeams seemed to make him giggle.

thanksgiving haikus

Thanksgiving Turkey
Wild Turkey Bourbon, that is.
Better in the morn'.

Mother and daughter-
Bumping their kitchen elbows.
Dad reaps the bounty.

Happy Alden Bear:
Waking four times in a night
-- along with his folks.

Thanksgiving dinner.
Food with Lois and Dicksons --
Warm and happy home.

happy thanksgiving from 501

Had a fruitful (but insane) skype session with Springfield crew. Among other things, the following stuff happened. Happy thanksgiving to all . . .

bath dance

fall weekend

Alden had a great weekend -- or at least his parents and Lois did. The whole family got out for a hike in the Cascades - drizzly but beautiful; mom took her first post-baby run; multiple walks around the neighborhood with Grandma Lois; lots of naps all around - including a deep sleep on Dad's chest Sunday morning allowing for a full un-interrupted half of football watching, and newspaper reading. Sunday night culminated in chicken parmesan (again, Lois). Mr. Alden presided over the dinner in his bouncy chair - cooing and barking. Then, it was bath time -- were he has learned the trick of swimming (floating) around the bathtub (a serious bravery! video to follow sometime in the future), followed by some naked lounging on the toilet, and bed by 10 pm! (he had been falling asleep at 11:30+ in recent evenings). The toilet shot puts to scale how long this kid has become. Monday morning - back to work for dad, but everyone well rested with lots of good weekend memories.

post-bath

All good on the home front. Dad has the whole darn weekend off! No huge plans for the weekend - mom is going to try to attempt a short run. Dad to catch up on sleep, maybe cook some bacon. Lois to take a walk around Green Lake. Alden plans to breastfeed, nap, and stare at people. Not bad.

This video, taken post-bath, is an easy winner. Enjoy . . .

rain day

Raining in seattle (for like 3 straight weeks), so a little more couped up time inside for Alden. Here -- hanging out in the car seat on the dining room table. As an update, Grandma Lois successfully braved 3 hours on her own today -- letting the parents nap and talk to each other. A small step for this household -- a giant leap for these parents. Alden is still wide-eyed and cute, in case you were wondering.

tae kwon do

Sunday evening. Parents a bit more sleepy - what with dad back at work. Fortunately, weve gained a set of hands with Grandma Lois, she is very enamored with the dude. These photos - taken on mom's lap - show him quiet awake, but be aware of his quick hands, skilled in the ancient arts of tae kwon do.

Father's Day

Mama Koschmann writing here, as Alden and I make our way through Carl's first official (30 hour) day back at work. It's obviously not the calendar Father's Day, but I wanted to take a brief moment to acknowledge just how wonderfully Carl has stepped right into the role of a father here during the past 6 weeks. He is all the great things a father could be, and he and our little bug have become fast friends. We'll miss him around the house during the hours he's away taking care of other kids, but we're very glad to know he's the one that comes home to us at the end of his shifts, however long they may be. And here's to you, Carl, for heading back to work without a single complaint today, as we made our way through the early morning traffic in the rain.

back to work

Tomorrow, I return to work -- a whole ton of it. For example, my first shift starts Friday at 7:30 am, and goes until Saturday at noon, and my understanding is I will likely get no sleep the entire time. In the context of the bliss of the last 7 weeks, this will be a nasty jolt to the system - I would (perhaps not surprisingly) prefer to stay at home.

Walking around the block this morning (on a rare respite from november drizzle), wearing sweatpants, no shirt, a fleece sling with the Bear drooling on my belly, an oversized flannel, and drinking a cold cup of coffee -- I felt an overwhelming sense of joy. The last 7 weeks have been probably the best of my life -- suddenly having a cozy little family - all of us healthy and attached to each other. Even if I spend 85% of the next two months in an over-crowded children's hospital, we've got years and years of this stuff to go, and Im a lucky dude.

Obviously feeling a little nostalgic this morning, I pieced back to this video of Alden at 2 days of life just home from the hospital filling out a very small section of his basinet. Enjoy . . .

wide eyes

The Bear has always had big eyes, but recently they seem even bigger -- along with being able to follow faces, he now seems to be soaking in EVERYTHING - eyes wider, very rare blinks. This is fun to watch, but along with it, he appears less interested in sleeping, since it is, you know, so boring. We've created a cave-like room for naps - which has kept the balance for now. Below, friend Amber visits with a mobile from her recent visit to Tanzania -- Alden enjoyed resting on her growing pregnant belly and being 200% awake.