Time Does Fly!

Hello all! Again, apologies for how long it takes me to update this blog. It's been busy at the Zwickl house! I'm still learning time management - which, let me tell you, is difficult, since Connor seems to think that all of the time is his. :) I imagine one day this will all be easier, however, I'm not sure that it's going to be any time soon. Right now, we just take one day at a time!

To start off with, we've missed a couple holidays. So let's back up and go through everything that's happened in the last couple months. :)

October
Connor's first Halloween was a nice, slow introduction to what I'm sure will become one of his favorite holidays. Connor and I went to lunch with Andrew, so we got to use the stroller for one of the first times (and let me tell you, we love the stroller! It's such a smooth ride!). Andrew was dressed as a Zombie, but I didn't dress up this year. We spent the evening before Halloween looking for a costume for our little guy, though! And let me tell you - there's very little in the costume department for three week old babies. :) But we did manage to find one costume that we figured worked better than anything else (okay, when you see the picture, you can tell that it was still way too big for him!).

Connor, in his primary outfit for the day!

On a walk with Daddy and Mommy

Andrew, the Zombie

Nana & Connor the policeman!

The night of Halloween, Andrew, Connor and I went over with Shannon, Elizabeth, Jim & Marie to Brittany and Peter's to watch them give out candy. We had fun eating pizza and watching the little kids in costume ("I'm a pterodactyl!" and "I got the white web in my white hair!" were the two best comments from some of our kids, and nearly caused Shannon and Elizabeth to wet their pants) . I'm sure next Halloween will be very different! (And hopefully, it will be easier to find Connor a costume!).

November
Andrew and I had our first "date" since Connor's birth - and it was the first time that I'd been away from Connor. The original plan was to go to dinner and a movie, but it was slightly adjusted. My cousin Jenn from NJ was out, and she and Shannon watched Connor while Andrew and I went to see Role Models (which was hilarious, by the way!). While they were watching him, they got one of our favorite pictures.

Baby Connor

Andrew and I ended up coming straight home after the movie, picking up Connor, Shannon and Jenn, and then going to dinner. We missed him too much!

Jenn, Heather, Shannon, Connor, & Maria

Connor had a milestone on his one month birthday - he rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time - and the second. :) Dad, Shannon and I put him down and were playing with him on the carpet, and he started to make the motions like he was thinking about turning over. So we encouraged him, and to our surprise (and his!), he rolled over.

One Month Old Connor James

On the way to rolling over

Getting frustrated

Just after the rolling!

November also ushered in my first large stretch of time from Connor - New Kids on the Block came to town on the 14th. Because there was no way we were going to miss it, Shannon, Maria, Brittany, Elizabeth and I all had to see those Boston boys. We went to dinner and then enjoyed the show. It was an awesome concert - I really had fun, and only missed Connor a little bit... Okay - about half way through the show I was ready to go home, just because I was ready to go to sleep! I did my share of being the 30-ish mom standing and screaming, but the clock seriously hit like 9:30 and I started leaning in the seat... and then sitting... but the concert was still pretty great. The only "thing" missing was Venessa, Jenn and Whitney - but we thought of them and made a pretty sign (but, of course, I don't have any of those pictures! You'll have to go to Brittany's page for some).

Thanksgiving gave us two big meals, as we had our annual dual-Thanksgiving. This year, however, will be the last time we do that, since Andrew's parents are officially retired (at least his Dad is), and they've moved to Arizona. We had "first dinner" in Louisville about noon, watched some football, and then headed back down to Parker for "second dinner" (sometimes I feel like we're hobbits!).

Our First Thanksgiving

December
Connor definitely started smiling - and not the fleeting ones while he was sleeping. I tried several times to get those sleepy smiles, but to no avail. It's so nice to get those little "I know you!" smiles first thing in the morning when he wakes up. And he's a lot more "awake" now - we call him alert baby. Andrew is so good at getting those smiles from Connor, our happy baby. He's even laughing a little here and there, which is too cute!

My attempt to get the sleepy smile... I failed.

Andrew's company had a children's Christmas party on December 2nd, so we took Connor for his first trip to Santa, which I'm happy to say, he handled as a pro. There were no tears from this little guy. To him, it was just another person holding him. :) He's used to being passed around, and as long as he's held, he doesn't care.

Daddy & Connor at the party

Maria had her 28th birthday on December 8th, and we had a nice dinner at my parents (yum - spaghetti!) and celebrated the fact that Maria's getting old. :)

For Connor's two-month birthday, he managed to roll over, again! Two more times, and again, he surprised himself. :)

Two Month Old Connor

Sucking on his fist during tummy time - he loves it!

That next weekend was the "adult" Christmas party, and Connor had his first overnight trip to Nana and Jiaji's, since Andrew and I were staying the night. It was at the Sheraton downtown, and a really nice night. Andrew was busy most of the night, doing his presidential duties, and of course, he's not 100% happy with the way the whole evening turned out, but I think he did well. We also won as a door prize a free night at the hotel, so we're looking forward to another adult night. :) And in the morning, we were definitely ready to go get our little guy, since we missed him! The following Tuesday, we took him along to my Christmas party at Fitness Together, and he was a big hit - every one wanted to play with and hold him. And he was a good baby, and slept in his car seat in some of the weirdest positions.

He also had his first attempt at sleeping through the night on the 13th. It surprised me when I didn't wake up until a little after 6am. It was nice, but he hasn't done it again, since! Close, but not quite. :)

Venessa had her baby on December 23rd, a little boy named Isadore Asher Leffler (Izzy), so Connor will have yet another baby to play and grow up with. His little circle of friends is getting so big!! We haven't got the chance yet to meet the new little Leffler, but hopefully soon!

We had Christmas at my parents (Andrew, Connor, and I slept in my old bedroom), and watched the traditional Muppets Christmas Carol so we could say there was only one more sleep 'til Christmas... day. Christmas morning was fun - although Connor didn't really care about the presents. I held him on my lap and tried to have him "help" open his, but after about the third present, he was done. I'm sure next year will be more fun for him!

Connor in one of his giant Christmas bibs

Connor with all the presents

Shannon's birthday managed to fall on the same day that the Av's were playing the Red Wings, so we got tickets to the game. Shannon, her friends Wendy and Carl, Elizabeth, Mom and Dad, Maria and Jeremy, and Andrew and I all sat in the lower level - and came within inches of getting a puck that went over the glass. Dad did also "win" a t-shirt that came down in a parachute (Shannon got the t-shirt, but Dad is excited about the parachute). Connor stayed with Auntie Brittany and Uncle Peter, since we figured he was still a little too young for his first hockey game.

On the 29th, Andrew and I took Connor on his first plane trip, and we went down to Arizona to visit Andrew's parents, and the other family he has that lives down there. We used the Baby Bjorn in the airport, and it was so much nicer than lugging a car seat or pushing a stroller. And Connor does very well in the carrier - he slept almost the whole time. Andrew did a good job "rocking" him to sleep. :)

Andrew and Connor - in the airport

Sleeping on Daddy

Posing

Connor did well for his first flight - we feed him during take off, and then he slept for most of the flight and the landing. Connor was pretty much held the entire time down there, and loved sleeping on Grandpa Ron and Grandma Judy.

Connor and Grandma

Connor and Grandpa

Arizona was having beautiful December weather while we were there - it was in the 70's pretty much the whole time we were there - and only while we were there! You could tell we were the tourists, since we wore shorts. :) And went swimming on New Year's day. We also managed to finally get the picture of the elusive smile.

The Happy Baby Connor

Andrew and I did catch a cold in Arizona - Andrew got the cough, I got the sneezes. And little Connor got a little of both, but he only a tiny fever one night, and then nothing, so he did fine. Mommy's immune system must be doing him a good job. We came home on the 2nd, and the flight, however, did not go as smoothly (and I never want to have to change him in those tiny bathrooms again! Germ-a-phobe mom had some issues with it!).

January
Not too much has happened so far. Andrew is currently on his way to Vegas for the weekend, and Shannon is hanging out with Connor and me, since I think I'd go crazy without some adult conversation while he's gone. :) Next weekend, we will be having Connor's christening, but that's pretty much the extent of our January plans.

Big news for us, I guess, is that I am not going back to Fitness Together. It definitely wasn't the plan - I was hoping to start back part time next week, but it looks like things are moving slowly in the franchise world, and they apparently cannot justify adding "back" my position (they'll call me if something changes, but I don't see it happening soon). So now I'm spending as much time as I can looking for a job. The part that's a little frustrating was that I was really certain I was going back, and Andrew and I had interviewed a woman who does day care from her home. So, hopefully some things will work out and I'll have a new job soon.

The good part is that I get to still spend each day with Connor, and enjoy his smiles (I wasn't really looking forward to being away from him all day!). I also don't have to worry yet about how I'm going to continue to breast feed him - something that we've been doing pretty well the whole time (well, aside from those first two weeks, that just sucked!). The next challenge that we've got to work on is getting Connor to go to sleep in his crib - so far, he sleeps with us (and it's partly my own selfish desire to be able to nurse him while we're both half asleep), but poor Andrew gets a little sliver of the bed, and I'm sure he'd like a little more space. :)

Okay - I guess that's it for now. :) Talk to you all soon!