Sara's Birthday Party & Markus is 1 Month Old

Sara blowing out the candles.

... from another angle.

I didn't take any pictures at my party, luckily Erica picked up my camera and took this picture of me blowing out the candles.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of Erica or many of the other guests at my party. Somehow the cameras were only focused on the cake and the babies.

Liesl and Moira

Liesl and her husband Derrick live in our neighborhood. Their daughter Moira was also born on the 31st of Dec, in the same hospital. Moira weighed even more than Markus!

Moira in the bouncy chair

Sopan, Rivka and Keren

Believe it or not, Sopan & Keren had a new baby girl the very morning after this photo was taken.

Sara & Markus - Before he got cranky.

... and after he got cranky

... from another angle

Markus is tired out from the party

Passport Photos for Markus

Markus was not very cooperative when we went to get his passport photos taken.

Although I was careful to let him have his morning nap, and started driving to AAA after he was awake, he fell asleep again. I spent 30 minutes waiting and gently trying to wake him up. Finally I had to take him to the bathroom, strip off all his clothes, and wipe him with a cold washcloth to wake him up.

Once he was awake, he wouldn't stay still. They put him in a car-seat type thing, but it didn't have any seatbelt, and he kept wiggling to the sides of the picture. Finally the photographer managed to take this one with his head more or less centered and his eyes open (required).

Tummy Time

Markus is starting to like "tummy time".

Now that babies are supposed to sleep on their backs (to help prevent SIDS), the doctors advise giving them "tummy time" to help strengthen their arm and neck muscles. Usually Markus gets upset after only a minute or two, but today he seemed to be enjoying himself.

He already has strong neck muscles. He can hold it up when he wants to.

Changing Table Fun

Finally, I have a good use for the dangly-legged animals!

My mom liked their legs and put them in our Christmas stockings a few years ago. I found them recently and thought they could be fun in the baby's room. It seems I was right. They caught Markus' attention as soon as I laid him down on the changing table.

This was actually the first time I've changed him on his changing table. I've been a bit slow in getting stuff done in the nursery. Today was the first day that Markus was calm enough to allow me to work on his room.... I've been moving the rest of my stuff out (it used to be my office/guest room) and working on getting all of his stuff organized.

We already had a small desk in the room and I didn't see any reason to get rid of it. Also, changing tables can be expensive.

So I bought a changing pad and put it on the desk. It is securely attached to the desk with straps that go around the back and snap on.

Markus looks the other direction

The Magic of the Baby Swing

Our New (to us) Baby Swing

Markus has been a very fussy baby for the past couple weeks. We heard from several people (and read in The Happiest Baby on the Block) that swings are very good at keeping babies calm.

After checking prices at Target and Wal-Mart, I discovered that new swings are 50-100$. I decided we could probably get a used swing from Craigslist for much cheaper. On Sunday, I saw this one being sold for 25$ and decided that sounded like a reasonable price.

I arranged to go pick the swing up at 4:30 PM. Sami and Markus went with me. When we got there, noone was home. A few minutes later a girl drove up, except she wasn't the one that lived there. She said she was also supposed to come at 4:30 to meet her friend. She made a phone call and said her friend was running late and would be there in 10 minutes.

Tanja, the girl selling the swing, felt bad about being late and making us wait. She told us the swing had been given to her by a friend anyway, and that we could have it for free. She was moving back to Germany and I think she was mainly just stressed out about trying to pack up and get rid of everything.

Markus likes the swing.

When we got home, I started to put batteries in the swing and discovered that the battery terminals were rusty. Probably the swing had been in a garage or storage closet and gotten damp in the humid Oregon winter.

Sami sanded the rust off and got it working again so now everyone is much happier.

PS - I know it's an out of focus picture, but he's sooo happy!

First Bottle

Sami feeds Markus his first bottle.

It's breastmilk, not formula, but Markus didn't seem too excited by it. He only ate an ounce. Maybe we didn't get it warm enough, or maybe it just takes him time to get used to drinking from a bottle. In any case, I'm looking forward to the time when Sami can do the midnight feeding (I usually go to bed before that and he is usually still awake at that time).

Polo Shirts and Cloth Diapers

Perhaps people with very short fat necks should not wear polo shirts...

... but it was just so cute!

Another picture - before he fell asleep

We also started using cloth diapers from Tidee Didee diaper service (recommended to us by Andy). They pick up and drop off right at our door on Thursdays.

The cloth diapers are the same old fashioned kind, but now instead of using pins, they are held in place by the diaper cover. This one with frogs and dragonflies is my favorite.

Thanks to Marris, Kathy and Kathleen at the PCC library for giving me the gift certificate to buy these wraps from Mother Nature's in Portland.

Cuddly Little Bear

Markus is adorably warm in his fuzzy bear outfit.

Nothing is blooming in our neighborhood, so I took Markus for a walk at Tualatin Hills Nature Park. Surprisingly he stayed awake and seemed to enjoy the walk, but unfortunately we didn't see anything good to take pictures of.

Me and Markus

Another pic of Markus

Yawn!

Getting sleepy...

Why do you keep taking pictures of me?

Grumpy after a Bath

Sami thought Markus would like sitting by the fireplace after his bath. Maybe... but still grumpy.

Chillin' on the Couch

Markus seems to like this new perspective on things.

Looking Up

First Hike in the Forest

Our route - approx. 2.3 miles

First Trip to the Library

Leaving the Beaverton City Library

(Yes, I know this picture is almost exactly the same as yesterday)

Again, Markus slept through the entire trip. We walked about 3.2 mi. roundtrip.

Baby's Second Bath

Markus' second bath goes a little better than his first.

I didn't take a picture of his first bath because he started screaming as soon as he touched the water. This time he was OK being in the water, but started hollering as soon as I started actually washing him.

Mmm... Steak

Sami cooked us a great steak dinner.

Actually, he's been cooking a lot lately... lasagna, chicken with rice and mushrooms, and all kinds of good stuff.

First Ride in the Stroller

Sami Likes to Drive

Sami took off from work this week to stay home with Markus and I. Normally he does not like to go on walks, but this was sort of a special occasion.

We walked to the drugstore and the bank, a little over 2 miles.

Markus slept through the whole trip.

Daddy & Baby

Sami & Markus having fun on the floor

New Bouncy Seat

Markus in his new bouncy seat.

Markus and I only slept about 3 hours last night... so I decided to stop by Wal-Mart on my way home from the airport to see if there was anything there that might soothe him when he's fussy.

I found this bouncy seat that will vibrate or play music. We'll see if it works. Anyway, even if it doesn't, it makes a nice chair for him.

Bouncing baby (without toys)

No batteries yet.

I forgot them and had to ask Sami to pick some up on his way home from work.

Another close-up

Grandma goes Home

My mom left to go back to NC today. She is going to miss little Markus.

I should have taken more pictures while she was here. Fortunately Sami thought to take this one before we left for the airport.

Good Morning Markus

Sami says goodbye before leaving for work.

Markus was happy and playful this morning even though he stayed up half the night.

We also gave him his first bath this morning, but I didn't take any photos because he was screaming mad about it and I didn't want to make the bath any longer than necessary.

Rocking with Grandma

My mom (Nancy) flew in from Charlotte, NC on Jan 2nd. She had started to get quite worried that the baby would not be born before she had to leave Portland. Luckily he was born with perfect timing.

She's rocking him now so I can finally catch up on the blog posts that I know everyone has been waiting for.

Sleeping Baby

Markus has his days and nights reversed. He likes to sleep more during the day and eat and play more during the night.

Happy New Year! - Checking out of the Hospital

We didn't get much rest in the hospital. Doctors and Nurses coming in to check on me and the baby, taking lots of blood samples, blood pressure checks, all kinds of newborn tests...

Since I had already spent a good portion of Monday in the hospital for testing, plus the labor on Tues and Wednesday, I was ready to get out of there!

We checked out as soon as we could after all the required tests were done (24 hours).