pictures!!

Here is a sequence that could be called "mommy's eye view":









Kyla's head is about the same size as Sheldon Sheep's head!






Tummy time is very frustrating, but she's doing a good job holding her head up:







A quick visit and hello to Nan!
(If you know Nan, ask her about the pink tissue paper, like that next to her in this picture....)

pretty eyes!

Kyla's eyes are starting to turn color and they look really cool right now as they are still blue around the edges and the brown/green color is coming in from the center. They will probably end up brown (which is fine with me because one of the things that attracted me to Dan was his kind, brown eyes...:) but there are quite a few green eyes in C's family so green (like me!) might also be an option. From what I hear it will be a few months until we see the final color!

We like to gaze into those big eyes regardless of color. Kyla is being so much more responsive now. She smiles like crazy and makes cooing noises. We should probably keep our blinds closed so that our neighbors don't think we are crazy as we babble and waggle our tongues at her! The other day I was telling her the vowel sounds in French and she was cooing back at me. (the French pronounciation is so much more fun than English)
We also tried throwing in a little Hebrew and, at least that one day (things change on a moments notice...), Kyla really liked the sound of "l'chaim". Maybe it was the throaty sound. Luckily she is not critical of pronouciation and was accepting of my attempts as well as Dan's!

I'll leave you with a cute baby hoodie outfit:

Rock or Love or both...

If you looked closely at the picture of Kyla in the "I'm with the band" onesie (thanks Jen!) you'll see a hand gesture that Dan happily interpreted as "rock on!".

Turns out (as pointed out by C when we sent her the same picture!) this is sign language for "I love you"!!

Lucky us. :)

Of course, she makes lots of other hand gestures that probably mean things like: "what in the world am I wearing" or "why hasn't he been impeached yet" or "excuse me miss, I'll be needing another bottle/diaper/nap/pacifier/parent".

5 Weeks 1 Day 15 hours and 47 minutes

All three of us must apologize for the paucity of text in our recent postings. Pictures are peachy and only two of us can type with any speed or accuracy. That’s why I am dictating.

This is a long post so I will tell you now that there are 3 parts so you can skip to the parts you like.

1. Adoption related stuff

2. Parenting stuff – the trials and tribulations of a fresh parent

3. Pictures – gift outfits and general cuteness galore

1. Adoption related stuff

Birthfather rights termination-

First off let me say that as far as the adoption is going legally, we are basically in the clear. Last week we were able to terminate the birthfather’s rights by filing for the adoption in Indiana after a 30 day period had elapsed. That 30 days is the time a bf has to show up and claim custody of the child. However, laws in IN are geared very much in favor of the adoptive parents; in IN all there is a bf registry that has information on new babies and who they were born to. The bf must know this exists (very unlikely), know where to find it (not likely give point 1 is unlikely) and be willing to parent. Regardless, even if he did come forward and had all these other things mastered, the fact that he hadn’t been around at all during C’s pregnancy wouldn’t win him any points with a judge ruling on a custody issue with us. Luckily, we got it all cleared. We emailed C and told her this and got a wonderful response that was also a little interesting. She was very very excited for us and seemingly a little relieved. I don’t know if she expected the bf to do something rash like try and parent, but based on his past behavior of being 100% uninvolved that would be a big surprise to us.

2. Parenting.

It’s true, KG is getting older and bigger and is a different baby every single day. Whatever it is we think we know one week becomes obsolete and we are dumb all over again, but we are dumb in a wise way, kind of like Forrest Gump.

It has been quite a trip indeed. Unlike your typical pregnancy situation, adoptive parents don’t have the luxury of planning out their lives 8 months ahead of time. We had a couple of months, but Rachel was already slotted to teach several courses, the first one for the duration of July. So we have had to juggle KG...luckily she only weights 8 lbs 14 ozs and is very durable. She is actually quite rubbery, but I digress. Rachel teaches M-Thurs from about 11-5 depending on the particular lab day, so on those days I try to get in early and return in time for Rach to get ready. Then I stay home with KG. On days when Rach is off I am in the lab, but of course thinking about lab work and about the molecular mechanisms that contribute to engulfment in a sporulating microorganism just don’t seem as important. Smiling babies are a hell of a lot more fun than fluorescence microscopy.

However, this pattern of juggling KG will all mellow out in August when Rachel’s folks will be here for most of the month, though not all at one time. This will help immensely...thank god for parents! My mom has already put in some time watching the munchkin. And then we can’t overlook the wonderful contributions of Corinne! (of course, we’ll repay the favor when she has her own baby at home!!) But on days when I am not home, I really prioritize my workload. I be sure to get all my emailing done first thing!

So in the meantime when we are not working we relax at home with our smiling infant child who coos constantly. Oh wait, that was our neighbor’s child...sorry got confused. Kyla waits for Rachel to return and then initiates her “I love you mommy but I am going to cry inconsolably for a good while before I fall asleep in someone’s arms and only in someone’s arms. Then I will cry again if I am transferred to a crib except for rare instances when I will sleep peacefully for long long spells unattended, deceitfully lulling my parents into a ‘hey, maybe this is a turning point in her routine’ mode of thought. After that I cry a lot and writhe, often times flexing my entire body like a tetanus victim.”

We wouldn’t trade any of it.

Actually, she is not that unhappy and is now showing a huge amount of developmental progress. If I learned something as big as she does everyday Donald Trump would be shining my shoes with a toothbrush and I would own the planet Mars. She has begun to:

1. Smile in response to people (I have co-workers who are still at odds with this skill).

2. Focus on objects within 2 feet and remain focused on them.

3. Coo/make noise when happy.

4. Give some warning when not happy, a few squeaks and light cries.

It’s pretty miraculous seeing it happen so fast. It’s weird because at this rate she’ll actually be able to like WALK AROUND and stuff at least before she is 5. I know I’m in surfing in wonderland again, but dare to dream.

3. The pics!

We have decided to include a few more pics in some key outfits that were given as gifts. One was a very predictable gift from Tina K. – guess which one??
Enjoy!

One month old today!!

Hi!
Can you believe that Kyla is one month old?? Time goes by so quickly, and it's only going to speed up from here.

Kyla met another grandpa and grandma last weekend (Dan's dad and stepmom):
...do you think they look happy to meet their first granddaughter?? :)








And since we can never get enough cute pictures of the munchkin, here are a few more:

growing baby

Kyla had a check-up today and we learned that she has gained one whole pound since her birth day. Now she weighs 8 lbs 14 oz.

If you are interested in scale, it's about the same size as a mandolin:

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a fun picnic with our friends today. Here's a great shot of the kids. Kyla is a little small to play yet, but she'll be big enough soon!

learning how to smile!

happy baby!




and now I'm tired...