Chunk of Love

At his recent medical check-up, Landon was in the 25th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. He's our little chunk of love. He's been eating good and I almost hate to admit this but he's been sleep quite well. Mallory feeds him around 11 PM each night and he usually goes all night and eats again around 7 AM. I know! We are very lucky!

The girls like to smother him with love and attention. They are quick to ask to see him or hold him. I hope he can survive (or we can survive) all these women in the family.

Both the girls are quick to offer hugs whether he wants one or not, but they are quite cute with him. Lexi asked the other day if Landon could play dolls with her. I'm sure its just a matter of time before they have him dressed up in a Cinderella or Snow White costume.

You know you're getting old when...

You know you're getting old when your eldest child is now in kindergarten. My little Sydney started kindergarten this year and she attends a brand new elementary school. The kindergarten students have their own sink, bathroom, and playground, which is quite comforting for us anxious parents. Things so far have been going well. A few of the neighborhood kids are also in her class and so that has been fun for her too.

It's hard to believe I have a child in school now. This is just the beginning of many school adventures I'm sure. I had to laugh though. The other day I was home early because of an appointment I had and so I had the pleasure of picking up Sydney and our neighbor kids from school. Mallory is the designated pick up driver, and our neighbor is the designated drop-off driver. Well I couldn't help but think of the movie, "Mr. Mom" with Michael Keaton as I was pulling in to pick up. We were all parked in a line of cars, waiting for the kids to come out of the school. As some drivers entered, I could see how confusing the whole pick-up/drop-off process could be for someone that was new to this whole process and had to laugh at the thought of Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom trying to stay cool through the whole thing. I am proud to say that I was calm and collected, and despite what my wife thinks, I did not have any road rage in the least. I'm just glad I don't have to do that everyday.

Boston, MA

I'm currently in Boston for a graduate recruiting fair which was held on Monday evening at Boston University. This was my first trip to Boston. I love the city and the history of the buildings, etc. Here is a view of the river from my hotel.


We also went on a tour of the city and walked all over the Harvard campus today. Interestingly, the city still uses the old gas lamps and they keep them lit all day. They found it cheaper to keep them lit all day than to hire people to turn them off and on.


I think my favorite part of the trip was the history of some of the buildings. We briefly went by the Henry Longfellow house (now a state park). It was officially closed but the curator gave us a brief tour. Longfellow had associations with Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, Emerson, and others. Washington used the home as his headquarters in 1775 - 76. Today, the home is a National State Park.

The Gardens at the Longfellow House

The original Massachusetts State house (1713) and the new State House with the gold dome (both featured below):

Old State House

New State House

The Green Stomach

So my siblings and I have always suffered from time to time from what we affectionately call the "Green Stomach" because we inherited heartburn and other stomach ailments from our dad. Well, our little Landon has been diagnosed with Acid Reflux and has inherited the Green Stomach as well. We currently have him on Prevacid. He is slowly improving but Mallory ends up holding him for several hours during the day. The doctor wants us to try it for 2 weeks and see if we notice a marked improvement. We've been doing some reading and have found that many newborns that used to suffer from colic are now being diagnosed with what they call GERD --gastroesophogeal reflux.

I don't think he has colic. Lexi definitely had colic and was a completely different temperament when it came to eating and fussing. Let's hope this passes soon.

11 Years of Marriage

We 'celebrated' 11 years of marriage on Friday (July 19th). We actually didn't do anything too special but my mom did help me out by bringing us Applebee's to go and we tried to make homemade ice cream. In years past, I've always had a great deal of success in making homemade ice cream but for some reason, this batch just would not freeze.

Mallory is still recovering from the surgery and sees the doctor again on Wednesday for a follow up. In addition to our anniversary, I also received some good news on Friday too. I had a bone marrow biopsy last Tuesday to check for myeloma (cancer) due to some symptoms I've had related to my arthritis. Well, long story short, the bone marrow came back fine and I don't have cancer. We are now just trying to figure out what else is going on but I am very thankful that it is not cancer.

After 11 years of marriage, 2 children (and now a third), living in 3 different states, and having pursued 3 different degrees, life is good. I couldn't ask for a more supportive and kind wife. She is very encouraging of me and my goals and she is an outstanding mother to our children. It will be interesting to see what the next 11 years brings to our family and marriage.

Parenting and Gender

Many parents have commented on how different it is to parent a boy versus a girl. I'm not sure that I've noticed these differences yet but I can say that the whole diaper changing experience has been a unique one. Landon has managed to pee all over his changing table and all over our bed several times already. If this is one of those gender differences, then I am definitely in for some big changes.

Here are few more pictures of our little Landon. The family picture is our family at Sydney's dance recital in June, two weeks before Landon was born.

Happy Birthday Landon

Landon made his arrival on Thursday via C-section. He weighed in at 8 lbs and was 18 1/2 inches long. He had a little bit of a rough road at first. He was in the level 2 nursery for about 4 hours while they were trying to get his temperature and blood pressure stable. He was also having some breathing problems because his lungs were moist. They gave him some oxygen (c-pap) and monitored his blood pressure. By 2 PM, he was in his mother's arms and was doing great. They had to give him some IV fluids and the IV was in his head and so he wore his little cap for a while until they removed that.

Mallory is doing well. She's sore but is in good health. The girls love their new little brother. Sydney has that big sister look and is quite curious about the whole breastfeeding thing. Lexi didn't even want to hold him nor touch him for the last few days but then asked to hold him last night. Her dethronement process is a little bit painful for her right now.

Here are few pictures to enjoy. More are on the way.