Tailgate Anyone?

Kjell is ready for football season. He donned his Panther gear for the pre-season game this evening with Mom and Dad. He consistently amazes us with how big he is getting. He's the size of some of the smaller members of the Panthers already. His good friends "Uncle" Gray and "Aunt" Heather think he is starting to look a little more like his mom.

This week Kjell has learned that spoons coming out of the dishwasher magically become great instruments when Mommy is unloading the dishes. She is also one whale of a good musician and can use an empty bottle to make quite a nice little song. His hands, when clapped together (with help from Daddy), make him smile wide as well. He also has decided that it is easier to feel objects with an open hand than with a fist. To top off a big couple of weeks, he also is getting pretty good at blowing spit bubbles and shaking his toys.

Just Like His Daddy

Kjell is very much his daddy's boy. He is already getting geared up for football and basketball season. And, as you can see from the first photo, he has the same fervor for his teams that Dad does. However, unlike many sports fans, it took absolutely no beer to cause the expression. That's just the natural goofball gene inherited straight from Jamie. Apparently the calm and dignified genes passed to him from his mommy are recessive in nature. The outfit is a treat from his buddy Benjamin Goguen, a fellow Charlotte Bobcats fan.

A Different Perspective

These pictures are from recent visits from Auntie Anna and "Auntie Ang" who both loved Kjell almost as much as we do! Kjell is growing very big as you can see. There is also a disclaimer for the most recent family photo. Our darling little fellow does not have googley eyes as it may appear in the picture. It's a bad angle, but the only way to get the family in together was to take a self portrait. Moose would have loved to take it for us, but lacks the opposable thumbs of course. The picture of Kjell hanging out solo includes some of his favorite things---the background is his hand-knit blanket from Gramma Sara. In the foreground are his little blue bear buddy and also a security blanket from his friends the Goguens which will help Kjell learn to spell his name in the future.

Long time... No Post

We apologize for the long delay between postings. We've got plenty of excuses and most of them are centered around how much work it is to raise a boy up right. The other problem is that the 'blogger' tool has been spotty at best over the last month. Every time we tried to post, it would time out. Oh well, enough complaining and on to the updates!

As of yesterday, August 10th, Kjell is 10 weeks old. We can hardly believe that it's already been 10 weeks. He's getting much more social as each day passes. He's been smiling for almost a month and in the last week he has added a number of "coooos" and "goooos" and happy squeals to his vocabulary. He and Maija have almost 20 minute "conversations". It's all very cute.

Last Thursday, Kjell had his two month "well visit" with his pediatrician. Everything checked out great. Kjell is "thriving" according to the doc. He was 13 lbs. 3 oz. and 24 1/2" long. His weight puts him in the 75-90th percentile for all babies and his length comes in at 95th percentile... So, he's on his way to being a big boy.

I (Jamie) had to end my paternity leave and go back to work on July 27th. It was tough to leave Kjell, but knowing that he and Maija are waiting at home, just gives me something to look forward to on my nightly commute home.

In sad news, Poppa P (Jamie's Dad - Kim) passed away on June 25th. Although he'd been sick, and battling prostate cancer, his passing was a surprise. Although we miss Dad terribly, we take solace in many things. Poppa P had an amazing last week. He learned the gender (boy) and name (Cade) of Cory and Leslie's baby (due Oct 31st). He came to our house and visited and played with Kjell. And, he and Penny had a wonderful week of planning an upgrade to the kitchen, discussing their plans for a trip to Hawai'i and preparing for Mel and Vickie's 50th wedding anniversary. Poppa P was as happy that week as we've ever seen him. We also take solace in the fact that his passing was brief and painless and that he was able to avoid the really tough days of battling cancer ahead of him. We're all doing as well as we can and doing our best to watch out for one another. We are eternally grateful to the love and support of all of our family and friends. Your caring continues to help us. Thank you.

If you are interested, you can view Dad's obituary on-line here.