First full night in a crib

Xander spent all of last night in his own crib, in his own room!

No more sleeping in the bassinet in our room!

Next step... sleeping through the night?

Xander's first blog

Hello! Mom and Dad are too busy right now to write, so they suggested that I write my first blog.

My name is Xander, or Baby, or Milk monster, Stinkybutt, Monkey, X-man, or Shhhhhh. I think my parents are having a hard time remembering that they put Alexander Jackson Lewis on my birth certificate.

This past week I turned 6 weeks old (I'm 7 now) and we celebrated by going to Moab, Utah. It was really far away. Mom was a little nervous about it but I don't see why; Dad bought us a rockin' ride, the bouncy-mobile, and to be honest, the rough roads kinda put me to sleep.

Sometimes, on the steep parts, Mom insisted that I hold her hand while she kept her eyes closed, and other times she and I walked a few sections that she thought were too rough. She promised that when I'm as old as my cousin Nathan that I could ride in the truck the whole way with Dad, and someday we'll all go on bicycles.

I got to go camping! Camping is like being at home, only there are fewer baths, more dirt, the ceiling is more interesting and you get to sleep with Mom and Dad in sleeping bags!

I wanted to bring a friend but Leah and Alex and cousin McKenzie were all busy, and cousin Morgan an Jackson were too little, so I brought Monkey pillow because he makes me laugh.

I did meet lots of other great new friends too.

George and Pat, Sherri, Russ, Kate and Keith, Justin and Kristie, Suzy, David, Liz, Mom and Dad and Me. Everyone helped with camp chores, and helped take care of me too. Thanks everyone!!

Moab has a lot of really huge rocks. I'm not sure who put them all there, but he's a lot bigger and stronger than Dad, that's for sure.

Dad liked the rocks best because he could climb them on his bike and in the bouncy-mobile.

I climbed a few myself to enjoy the sun. Look Ma- no hands! [Just kidding...Dad's hiding behind me :) ]

Mom liked the flowers more I think- Moab had lots of flowers and Mom got really excited and made us look at them all, but no touching- these are prickly flowers! When I had to eat, Dad took photos of them for her.

We had a great time!

promises promises

We are back safely from Moab (late last night) and I promised there would be a post tonight, so here it is. The trip was successful, scary, wonderful, hot and sunny, beautiful, educational, adventurous, full of friends, and worth it. We're going to wait on the full trip update until tomorrow because we all three are absolutely bushed after trying really hard but accomplishing nothing on the "baseboards and putting the house together project". It's a long story, the floors look great, the stairs need a few details fixed, but we're pretty frustrated because the place still isn't "livable" and "comfortable" until the rest of the work we have to do ourselves is done. So. More tomorrow but for tonight, I wish you all a very good night's sleep and for us the same.

Erin

Friends

Xander Lewis and Jackson "Long man" Fossum

Xander Lewis and Leah "Pumkin Pie" Brown

The Daddy-mobile

It became apparent to me recently that the 350z had a significant limitation. It isn't the cargo space, Erin and I took the Z to the Tetons and Yellowstone this past fall and fit all of our stuff in it for a week and a half of backpacking and touring. It isn't the winter driving, I've driven the Z in 2 feet of snow, plowing snow over the hood to get home from work a few winters ago. That was fun :). No, the fundamental limitation of the Z is simply this - no back seat. The Z is a two seat car, great for a family of ... 2. Now, we of course have the Audi, a very capable station wagon, that has been very good to us. The Audi has been our mountain workhorse. We take it skiing and mountain biking all the time. The problem is, if one of us is skiing or mountain biking we don't have a kid compatible car. Hmm, what to do. Certainly we can't get rid of the Z, don't worry, she's staying around for a long time to come. But we needed to do something.

So, the wheels start spinning (pardon the pun) and I start wondering what the ideal 3rd (gasp!) car would be for us. Something practical would be good, something with good fuel economy, not too expensive, reliable, safe. Yea those would be good things... But... The thing is, we aren't going to be doing as much mountain biking and skiing and those sorts of things as a family for a while. Don't worry, we'll still do lots of that, but it is going to have to be separately for awhile. So, what car would allow us to get into the mountains to the places we love as a family? Well how about a Jeep. So, not safe, not reliable, not practical, terrible fuel economy... Oh well, it will be fun, right!

But to find the right Jeep. Not a Wrangler, they are fantastic, but I'd like something with a little more space, something with a hard top to be quieter and more comfortable for the little boy. How about a Cherokee. So I started shopping. I looked around for a week, driving all over Denver. Lots of junk. Finally, as I was starting to get discouraged, the perfect Cherokee shows up on up on craigs list. Good condition 4.5" lift, nice tires. Done. Well done's a relative term. It needed a few things. How about ball joints, I can do that myself. New control arms. No sweat. New rear main seal, I think I'll pay for that, I'm not into pulling the oil pan. Now that we have the mechanical issues out of the way, how about a few aesthetic and off road items... New bumpers, some fenders, a roof rack, fix the intermittent stereo speakers. Sounds easy, I can do all that myself.

Nothing is easy. Ball joints, oh my god what a nightmare, I couldn't have gotten anywhere with out Levi and David. Bumpers require grinding into the frame to install. Fenders, no sweat, except that you have to cut away acres of sheet metal to get them on (thanks Koby). Roof rack, that wasn't too bad, just heavy (thanks Russ). Fortunately I have great friends who helped out. I could not have done all this myself. Even my Mom and Kathy helped. I think the finished product looks pretty good.

A family of 3.

An early mother's day gift from Xander

Last night Xander gave me 2 Mother's Day gifts: 3+ hour long naps in between feedings! And Jake took care of one of those feedings, so I mostly slept through that one (ok, not at all, but I at least stayed in bed pretending to sleep).

Between that and a nap yesterday while Sarah and Jeanie took care of Xander, I woke up this morning feeling like a rock star!

-Erin

In process pics of the new hardwood floors!

We've been a little busy....

Since last we wrote we've been very busy! Gran Jen left and we had a whole 2 days to ourselves before Grandma Kathy showed up to meet her new Grandson. Because we had contractors coming in starting on the 5th of May to install hardwood floors, we put her to work! Kathy did a tremendous amount to help us out- everything from diaper changes and feedings, to babysitting while we went to the opera (our first real date-night), pulling baseboards, folding laundry, organizing a linen closet, painting a hallway and a bedroom, cooking, and oh yes, metal working on the new Jeep!

Xander Helping out with the laundry!

Jake proving that sleep deprivation happens for Dads, too.... and sometimes we forget a step in the process. Jake has been working incredibly hard on the Jeep. Kathy and Erin helped a little, as have the many friends Jake convinved to come over... but it looks great! Finished product photos coming soon.

Erin and Kathy hard at work painting

The boys, taking a break

3 Generations: Kathy, Erin, and Xander

A poor photo, but proof that the child does have eyes, and that sometimes they even stay open for photos

Over 10 and a half pounds, give or take a pound

Our good friends, the Fossum family, have a new little boy, and they've named him Jackson! The new baby is adorably cute, and was born 8lbs 1 oz and 22 " long and healthy with a ton of hair.... but looks SO small compared to our little Xander, only one month older... which meant Xander got weighed yesterday. I'd said he was over 10 and a half pounds.... the little chunk is actually 11.4 lbs now! If this keeps up we won't have a runner or a biker in the family, we'll have a sumo wrestler!

One Month Later....

Xander is 1 month old already! How incredible.

In a month he has learned an accomplished a lot!

He is eating with gusto and weighs over 10 and a half pounds
He has filled over 300 diapers, and created 7 loads of laundry
He is starting to track with his eyes and his head
He is getting really strong, holding his head up really well, kicking out his legs, and pushing up on his elbows for short periods of time for a better view
He's practicing his voice, and using it to entertain himself, not just to alert us to a need
He is sleeping for up to 4.5 hours at a stretch, but not consistently

Happy Birhtday Xander!