Catch-up, photo style

I think the easiest way to tell you all what's been going on is in picture form.

Markus is now sitting up by himself:

He's also showing an interest in drinking out of a cup:


Loves being outdoors during BBQs:


Loves his books:


Loves his grandparents!:


Really enjoys visits from Jenelle, Meres and Jess (though sadly not all at once!):

Markus loves his aunts!

And a little-seen treat, Markus and his Mama:

Mother's Day BBQ - from the Mother's POV

So much goes into a barbecue. You never really think about it. Seems like the burgers and hot dogs just cook themselves. The buns magically appear. The ice-cold drinks are plentiful by coincidence, not design. If there is potato salad, it must have been prepared by elves.

Or...a mom did it. She made a list. She purchased and/or supervised the purchase of all the aforementioned materials, as well as other random things such as disposable plates, napkins, and eating utensils. She washed, peeled, sliced, boiled and dressed those potatoes!

And to thank her for that, we have Mother's Day.

Just a couple of pictures from the day to share.

Natural Gas Grill

As I mentioned before, Sandra and I wanted to host a Mother's Day BBQ. The house came with an old POS natural gas grill that is CEMENTED to the ground:



We wanted to simply remove that grill and replace it with a new one. We researched various grills and ended up purchasing a Weber Genesis S320 (top rated on Consumer Reports).



We received the grill on Tuesday the 5th, and I spent the next two days assembling the grill. At first, I thought I would be able to simply disconnect the old grill or cut it off, and attach the new grill to the existing gas line. Then I figured it would be safer to hire a plumber...you know, the whole fear of blowing myself up. We got a plumber to come out on that Saturday the 9th and I was excited because everything was coming together.

Then, the plumber told me that the old grill had a 1/4" gas line and the new one needs a 3/4" gas line (blah blah blah). Not an easy fix, considering the pipe is buried underground, and he couldn't do it the same day.


So there were were, with a fully assembled grill sitting in our shag carpet room, and the old POS outside. As a fix, we purchased a little 18.5" charcoal grill (Weber), as the show must go on!

We also set up a barbecue for the following weekend with some friends. The grill worked fine, but it was still frustrating not having our nice new grill all hooked up. Oh well. Things you learn when owning a house that was built over 50 years ago! So we have a plumber coming over on Thursday to finally remove the old grill and hook up the new one. It's going to cost us a little more cash, but at least we'll have a nice grill to use outside for a long time! Grilling outside is one of the best parts of owning a home, so we're glad to finally get this done. And I will take this as a learning experience. I know a little more about natural gas plumbing than I knew before. Although...I'm still hiring a plumber in the future...you know, the whole fear of blowing myself up. =)

Markus' 6 Month Checkup

So, on Mother's Day weekend, Markus turned 6 months! We took him to his appointment on Saturday the 9th and he now weighs 24.5 pounds and he is 28 3/8 inches long. Here is a chart of his height and weight progress (official doctor results) thus far (Red Bars are height in inches, Blue line is weight in pounds):

He also received his 6 month shots. He cried for a minute, but was okay after that. It really wasn't so bad. He was also very good at the doctor's office. Last time, he was unusually fussy and cranky.

We were concerned about Markus' head formation as there is still some flattening on one side of his head in the back. It's getting better, but we were concerned this would affect him. The doctor told us that it is purely cosmetic and wouldn't affect his brain development or anything like that. If we wanted, we could contact the company that makes the baby helmets and see what the recommend. As a caveat, they almost always recommend that the baby gets a helmet, as this is their source of revenue. Also, Markus sleeps on his tummy now (he seems to like it) and the doctor wasn't concerned about that either. So all in all, a clean bill of health for the little guy.

The next day we hosted a barbecue for Mother's Day (Sandra's first). We invited both of our families to our house and had a wonderful time. We spent the prior week buying a new grill (which we couldn't use -- another post on this story coming soon), buying patio furniture, food, cleaning, etc. We also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! The traditional gift for the 4th year is flowers, so we decided to get ourselves a nice bottle of wine (which has a "bouquet" -- winespeak for smell/odor) -- a Domaine de Chevalier 2005 Bordeux -- and I also gave Sandra a single rose. The wine was great!


Sorry for the ramblings...it's been some time and we've been busy!

More Markus Updates

*** Note: This was supposed to be posted on 5/4, but was sitting in draft form. Sorry.***


Today Sandra noticed that Markus had a little tooth! Of course, we were very excited. Four days ago Markus had two bad nights trying to fall asleep. He was crying and crying, and I tried my best to get him to sleep. I'm now thinking that he might have been upset at some tooth pain. These last two nights Markus has fallen asleep normally (bath, bottle, bed).

Also, last weekend Markus finally ate some solid foods and has been eating them daily ever since! We bought some peas, sweet potatoes, etc. and the first thing he tried was sweet potatoes. I put some on the spoon and did the airplane thing, but at first Markus looked at me like I was crazy. Then he started eating. He's been eating a solid food ever since.

Here is a video of him eating solid foods:

First Non-Scheduled Dr. Visit

Last Wednesday Sandra and I noticed that Markus had some bumps on one side of his tummy. Sandra called me up at work and was concerned about it, so I left work and we went to the pediatrician. We saw a nurse and she said it was nothing...maybe due to sweat or some reaction to a product. She suggested we monitor it for the next few days just to be sure, but not to worry.

It's been a week or so since that day and it's all gone. I wonder if it was due to my beard stubble when I'm giving Markus kisses on his stomach. Anyway, when we got home, I had to continue to work, so I set up my laptop in the kitchen. This is what was next to me the whole time:

Part 1



Part 2



=)