smile!

Our first smile captured on film. Although this was likely non-intentional, we're glad to share this guy's beautiful smile. We're currently on the San Juan Islands -- which is the furthest Alden has been from home; this took an impressive amount of breastfeeding and pumping coordination and a station wagon full of gear - but we're glad we're here. For Alden, the island represents a whole new set of lights and windows to look at. We will post more later this weekend . . .

Alden Turns One! ...month

Alden celebrated his one month birthday by getting cleaned up, trying on some new mittens (still too big), and then partying it up with dad over a brew. We are hoping he gets really wiped out from all the festivities and has the urge to sleep it off.

changing table

Mr. Alden has a strong affinity for his changing table -- we have begun calling it the Cheapest Babysitter. He will spend up to an hour awake - especially if we leave him naked to kick around. Slave to his needs, we've found ourselves occasionally dining in his room -- quiet awake moments are rare opportunities for dinner for two.

sunbeam

milk, inc.

The milk factory has opened. Dad got to feed Alden for the first time - pumped breastmilk. Both men enjoyed the experience. In other firsts, dad returns to work tomorrow (saturday night) for an over-nighter while mom hits the trenches solo. More on this after the weekend. . .

man enough for pink

Alden is kind of a dude's dude. In fact, he'e man enough that he wears pink openly; seen here happily in a pink-themed onesy and blanket. However, in the close-up, you do catch a smirk . . .

uncle kent's turn

Some of many greats from Uncle Kent; the pictures speak for themselves. . .

guest gramma bloggin

A couple shots from gramma's camera. Shes got skills . . .

family swoops in

We had a couple days to brave the trenches by ourselves, before a tsunami of Koschmann relatives blew in -- kicking out classic Koschmann comfort meals (A-team ma and jen), doing laundry (mostly Kelli, a little Nate), installing window installation (pops), staging professional photo shoots (kent), playing ding dong, watching fishies and diggers (max) -- all the while letting us nap and take walks. Alden and mom are currently napping -- reeling from the good memories, thanks to all . ..

head flip

monkey

Some of Alden's most willful movements involve holding his monkey burp cloth tighter. In other blogging news, little guy has become a feeding machine -- picking up a couple more feeds a day (inversly knocking down our sleep, as it turns out). Fortunately, we have grandparents, uncle kent/aunt jen as un-hired help -- cranking out meatloafs and facilitating our naps.

Photo Shoot

Uncle Kent is here visiting, and generously offered up his professional photography services to capture Alden's first portrait. I'm not sure who is the bigger star here -- Kent and his artistic talent or Alden and his pure sweetness. Either way, we think this photo is absolutely beautiful and and wanted to share it. Thank you, Kent!

hiccups at 4 am

At 4 am, Alden tends to get fed, and then he and I roam the house in the dark -- telling stories, looking at the fish tank, watching old episodes of Saturday Night Live. Sometimes, he gets the hiccups, and stares at me, a little confused about the whole ordeal.

grandparents koschmann

Arrived today -- fresh off a drive to oklahoma for a full weekend Muskoka meeting, a sleepless night, and an early morning flight to seattle - they still mustered some serious enthusiasm for the little guy, who recently hasn't let go of his monkey burp cloth. Made it to the market for beet quesaidllas. Everyone napping now . . .

tough day at the office

Alden brought us back from the stratosphere of easy sleep-filled nights to let us know what the newborn trenches are all about yesterday and last night. Lots of fussi-ness. Dad found that short laps in the stroller from the kitcken to living room and back provided respite. Alden, himself, showed some dismay at his parent's inability to pick up on his cues. Today is a day for napping . . .

Bath With Dad

Alden had his second bath today, and it went over much more smoothly than the first one. This time he got a first class seat in dad's lap, so he stayed a bit warmer; plus he got to hold on tightly to two giant thumbs the whole time, which is always comforting. The boys are now off for a walk together and this mama is headed for a nap.

pumpkin hip-hop

Alden opted for this pumpking outfit (curtosy of uncle nate and aunt kelli) for his most recent fall outing -- he then opted to drop some fat rhymes over some hip hop beats while in the Saab.

head, fingers, knees and toes

.. . are all in danger of being eaten by Alden's mother if they remain this cute.

Moby

Dad learned how to put Alden in a Moby -- which for those of you who arent young urban professionals, is an ergonomic, organic, grass-fed, full body wrap. After 12 minutes, the wrap fit like a glove -- and we took our first family walk on the beach. Incidentally, captured here is dad's need for a nap.

visitors

As promised, this photo was blog-worthy. Elizabeth's (photogenic) co-workers Kate and April came to share their baby love, and put him right back to sleep . ..

neck exercises

Alden surprised us all by doing some head lifting and rotating from left to right while on Elizabeth yesterday. After about 4 sets, he was wiped. As an update - first pediatric visit went well -- hes gained weight -- for his age he is at the 65th percentile for height, 35the percentile for weight. Alden will soon find out that he is genetically destined to have skinny legs.