Jungle Dancin'

Lawson has figured out how to play with his new jungle mat.  There is a setting that if you kick it or shake it, the music turns on.  This morning, he figured out that if you kick it or move your body wildly, it plays the music again for him.  So smart.  :-)

Happy Christmas!

Exercise in hand-to-mouth excellence

Working on that hand coordination!

11 Weeks.

Lawson has been alive for 11 weeks today.  Beth and I have been "looking back" at old pictures and it's amazing how much he's grown.  At his last check up he was 13 lbs!  Big Boy!

Our little man is officially laughing, smiling, talking and being a goofball.   He loves getting his diaper changed and has started to hate baths - something that he used to love.  He loves to look at anything that is bright.  The sky, lights and unfortunately television.  I think that it's time for us to stop our TV watching.  Or, maybe, I'm being a paranoid daddy.

My favorite is when Lawson starts to talk, but in his teeny tiny voice and you can barely hear it.  It's so adorable.    Here are a few pics!

5 1/2 Weeks!

It's been 5 1/2 weeks since Lawson was born.  Last weekend, Uncle Brian came to VT to visit and we celebrated Thanksgiving a few week's early with the Roberts/Arey/Valyou clan.  

Naturally, we had a huge photo shoot wtih Lawson and his cousin Wes.  

Lawson tired after too many photos.

Hangin' with Uncle Bri

We also have started to establish a bed time routine.  Lawson takes a bath every other night, but we only use soap every other bath.  He hated baths at first, but with lots of practice and patience he's starting to come around a be giggly and loving his bath time.   

Success and ultra cuteness!

Almost 1 month!

Sleepyface.

Brothers & Sons

 Wesley & Lawson

Brother & Son / Brother & Son

3 weeks

Lawson turned three weeks old yesterday and it definitely shows. He's been feeding like crazy and chubbing up like crazy.

Three weeks is also important this week because Lawson's cousin, Wesley Arlo Valyou, was born three weeks and 8 hours after him. Here's a pic!

 

Back to work.

I went back to work last week.  I was totally excited to go back because I'm not a fan of being stuck inside. It was great be back even though I miss Beth and Lawson.  My students were all really excited to welcome me back and were asking about Lawson and wanting to see lots of pictures. A lot of students made cards and even some clothes from one family.

While I was out, the school put up a picture of Lawson on the TV in the lobby announcing his birth and when  I returned they put up a big, "Welcome back Mr. V!!!"  It's very nice to feel like a family and part of a community here in Essex - my co-workers are great and the families of the students I teach are wonderful.  

Then today I logged into Facebook during my prep and saw this picture of Beth and Lawson, with the caption, "Oh hey, wanna come hang out wif us?".

Now I want to go home and not be at school any more.  I guess I'm getting attached to the little guy. :-)  Luckily I spaced out my paternity leave and will be taking an extra week at Thanksgiving to spend with my family.  (It still feels weird to say family...good weird)

...so where were we?

Ok. So it's been a crazy week.  I just read the last post and we were in the hospital watching movies trying to get Beth some rest for the next day of labor.  I remember having some crazy dreams that night, mostly focusing on trying to visualize what the rest of labor would be like.  I remember dreaming of Beth birthing a shaggy dog and me thinking...that's not how this is supposed to work.  I had the hardest time trying to wrap my head around how he would be born.  I'm usually like that...trying to picture events in my head before they happen, but this was a completely foreign experience for me and impossible to prepare for.   

Around 10am, Dr. Wade came in and asked Beth if she was ready.  It was time to start pushing.  Beth did a fantastic job, but by the third hour we had to get some help.  I don't think Beth's body was ready because we had to induce labor.  She did a fantastic job, but Lawson just wasn't going to come out.  Dr. Wade talked to us about the vacuum and how that would help get him out...she talked about the risks and what to expect to get Beth and I ready.  The next few minutes were a total blur.  All that I remember was watching the two doctors help deliver Lawson and then my hands started to tingle, my legs got a bit wobbly and my tear ducts must have ruptured.  Lawson was here, and super cute.  They immediately put him right on Beth's chest.  She and I couldn't stop looking at him, each other nor stop crying.  He was finally here.

While the doctors worked on birthing the placenta and stitching Beth back up, we spent a good long time, staring into Lawson's eyes and caressing his back and holding his hands.   Beth's mother was the first one to meet him with my mother following her.  Everyone agreed - what a cutie!

We spent the next 48 hours in the Mother and Baby ward.  We had a few less than desirable experiences with a less than desirable roommate, but Lawson didn't   Lawson had all of his baby tests done and passed them with flying colors.  He met his pediatrician and the nurses taught Mommy and Daddy how to give him a bath.  We left the hospital and made our way home to start our life as a new family.  How exciting, how scary, how incredible.  

the Waiting Game

Beth is upstairs sleeping...finally.  Let me explain.  Last night we went in to the hospital to start inducing labor.  Beth has mild Preeclampsia, so the docs told us it's time.  We went in around 6:30, got some gel to soften her cervix and laid in bed for 2 hours and then sent us home.  We went straight to Wings over Burlington.

* [As I was writing this, the phone rang and off to the hospital we went. I'm typing with Beth next to me and we are watching Batman on VHS]

After our late night wings run, we went back home, scarfed and watched a few episodes of Frasier.  (Boo-yaka-shaw!)  The tired was starting to set in, no labor pains or contractions worth talking about, so we went to sleep...sort of.  It's kind of like sleeping on christmas eve.  Beth slept for maybe two and a half hours.  I slept for six.

Once we got up, ate some breakfast, drank coffee and watched another episode of Fraiser (we're on a kick), Beth called the doc to see when we would have to go in.  Unfortunately, we'd have to wait and it might be as late at 1pm.  Bummer.  Beth took a nap, I watched some Netflix and then started writing this. Then the phone rang. [see above *]

Everything went well getting set up here.  We had an awesome nurse, Alison.  Amy is our doc on call (boo-yaka-shaw again).  They gave Beth a cervical balloon to try to manually dilate her as well as put her on pitocin.  She was still only a centimeter dilated so we played the waiting game.  Then we played the labor game and it wasn't fun.  Then we played the epidural game.  Now we are playing the peace of mind/body and Batman on VHS game.  Beth is four centimeters dilated now, 80% effaced and her water broke on it's own around 8pm.  She is happily drinking chicken broth and quietly amused by a crime fighting Michael Keaton.  Hopefully Lawson will come sometime tomorrow.  I think tonight is out of the question.

(What happens when you let me pick out our movies for the night)

Getting Close

Here's Beth right before Yoga.  38 Weeks down!  He's comin soon!

Protecting that Belly

Lunch at Sneakers, making sure nothing gets on Lawson's head.

Strut yer stuff

 Art hop is pretty fun..usually we just goto wherever the best music is playing.  But last year, Beth was a model for the STRUT fashion show.  Our friend, Amy Wild, takes part in the fashion show presenting her line of clothes - Where.

With Beth knowing she would be 9 months pregnant for the Fashion show this year, she graciously volunteered me to be part of it.  I of course, not thinking about it, agreed.   A few months passed by and then I remembered that the fashion show was coming up and I had volunteered.  I went in for a fitting and all the fun stuff, but I was quite nervous. Like, more nervous than directing my first band concert, or my senior recital in college, or for playing for 750+ people at Higher Ground.

 It was a pretty fun day of lounging around a parking lot, watching the weather change from fine, to not so fine, back to fine again and then to beautiful.  (Beth had gone home with the camera to get off her feet for a bit, so I don't have any good pictures of the awesome pink and blue clouds.)

Here's a (short) clip of Diedre and myself walking down the runway.  Nothing like a blinding light in your face and a skinny cat walk to give you the wobbles.

Also, some "Professional Photos" if you want to buy a picture of my beautiful face..or, more realistically, another beautiful face!

Labor Day

We occasionally brew a few batches of beer each year.  Last spring we did quite a few:

Ginger Lavender Pale Ale

Citra Black IPA

Nut Brown Ale

Pale Ale with Summit and Cascades

A Double Citra IPA

and a Chocolate Mint Stout.

This labor day we did two new batches for the winter.  A Smoked Peat Porter and a Belgian Saison.

 For the Porter, we used the fresh Willamete hops I picked up at Aunt Lynn & Uncle Geoff's house.   

We brewed the batch as the recipe called for, but we dropped all of the fresh hops into the primary, then transfered the beer into the primary onto the fresh hops.

A few more pics from Labor day:  

Beth & Lawson at 36 weeks and Natty enjoying a crisp Bud Light Margarita.  Yum.

Up in a Balloon

One of the many things I inherited from my Pops was a love for hot air balloons.  I can remember spotting them in the air and my Dad trying to chase them down in our old periwinkle mini-van and seeing if we could find where they landed.

When Beth and I driving around, I always point them out, but never chase.  However, I do have a balloon tattoo.  (It inflates when I flex...sorta)

My old band, Pretty & Nice, had a tune called Up in a Balloon.  (Maybe they'll play it if you beg...or not)


This is what we saw coming back home last night.

I naturally sped home, jumped out of the car and took this video as it went right over our house.  It was so low, we could talk yell to them.  

We had to get going to our friends house for dinner so we couldn't chase.  I think it landed in the field across the street from St. Mike's college right next to Lime Kiln Rd.  Pretty awesome and made my night.

Hops!

I love getting out of the house early and doing something productive.  Yesterday morning, I took a nice drive through some detoured roads in Colchester up to Fairfax and picked some hops from Lynn & Geoff's house!

We believe they are Willamette hops, but I'm not 100% certain.

Even after watching videos of hop harvesting, I didn't realize that they were a tad sticky and after two, 1-gallon freezer bags, my fingers were quite sticky.

Nate, Sam, Tor and I will be doing two batches on Labor Day.  Hopefully we'll be able to put them to good use.