The Hurwitzes visit from Ohio; Alpharetta with the Swensons...

First of all, you should note that there are photo gallery links now posted on the right side of the blog. I will be updating them from time to time along with the date they are posted so that you can find new photos. They're on Ofoto (which is Kodak) so you may need to sign up for a free account to view them.

And now the latest.......

Dick and Jan Hurwitz have been visiting with us over the past few days. They are great with Oskar. "Papa" seems to have the magic calming touch with him. "Me-Me" is a super playmate and reader. A lot of our time with them has been spent eating (out and in) and talking. I smoked a salmon and 20 lbs. of pork shoulder while Dick is in town. He and I have a kindred passion for good BBQ. Our bellies are filled and the freezer is now stocked!!

Sunday afternoon we took our first extended visit trip to Alpharetta to see the Swensons; Eric, Therese, John and Emma. They just got a new dog named 'Domino'. Domino is very sweet and smart and in the midst of puppy development and learning. Domino was very interested in Oskar and kept trying to jump into the Bugaboo for a closer look.

I told John about "loud" shooshing to calm a crying baby. He marched around the house shooshing as loud as he could while curling his body into a tight ball and spitting on the floor. It was very funny to watch. I did my impression of Oskar crying for John and Emma and they both laughed.


Therese made an outstanding dinner, complete with a Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin cheesecake (my favorite). It was a nice visit and a good test for our ability to travel lightly without forsaking any baby essentials. John and Emma both loved meeting Oskar. Emma was fascinated by the idea of breastfeeding and after her initial 'gross out' subsided she though it was pretty neat. They both wanted to hold Oskar so badly but could only touch his feet since he hasn't gotten his second round of booster shots and they are both in public school now.

Emma drew me a picture of a blue ghost with a red ghost dog and a red jack-o-lantern using her markers. She is very artistic and likes to draw castles too.

That night and the following day I had a recording session for a local blues/jazz/R&B musician so I spent a lot of time away from Lauren and Oskar. It was a great session and a music filled time. I missed my family. We have spent so much time together over the past weeks and all I wanted to do was hold my son and sit with my wife.

By Wednesday night we were trying to get Oskar on a regular night time schedule so that he will recognize his days and nights. So far he has been pretty consistent with naps during the daytime. Nighttime is a different story. We haven't quite gotten the hang of it, yet. But it will come eventually.

One thing that we have learned from our friends the Waterhouses and VonSees is to make bath time a consistent night time activity. It's not easy though since Oz can't stand being naked (or cold) one bit and he gets really worked up. We've tried heating the bathroom to 90 degrees. It helps a lot but afterwards Lauren and I feel like we could use a bath. Drying time and dressing is the best. Oz loves to gnaw on his terry cloth frog towel.

He really likes the taste of cotton. Weird little monkey. He definitely gets that from the Hurwitz side of the family. :)



I will be posting more videos soon and will be adding another photo gallery in the next day or so.

Thanks to everyone for all of the cards and kind regards.

-M