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



=)

MS Walk

On Sunday, Sandra and I participated in the MS walk in New York as we have the past two years. This time we took along Markus. We also had a great team as Sandra's mom (who I suspect came for Markus =)), Brenda, Natalie, Natalie's friends Reyna and Juliana, Jack & Jess, their friend Debbie, and Evelyn, Priscilla, and Noelle joined our Frydam Trekkers team! Our team raised $1,360 for the MS Society! The walk raised over $1.7 million!

We did the 3-mile walk as this was the stroller-friendly route. At about 0.01 miles into the walk, Markus started crying. He had been up early and all the excitement of the actions and people kept him awake. He was tired, and he likes to cry when he's tired. We already fed him, so we knew he wasn't hungry. We continued to walk and in 5 or 10 minutes (looooong minutes) he fell asleep. This is what we expected would happen and he pretty much stayed asleep until the end of the walk.

A bunch of us went to eat lunch afterwards and this is where I was getting nervous as I don't think we've ever eaten at a restaurant with the little guy. I still get nervous doing new things with Markus. We had to change him, but there weren't any baby friendly places. Sandra and her mom managed to change him upstairs in the bathroom. Markus later started crying and I quickly ate my food (rather at my "normal" fast pace) and I took him to an upstairs level that was empty to feed and rock him. He calmed down and eventually so did I. =)

We're always proud of ourselves for doing these little adventures as they are great learning experiences. I mean, parents DO this stuff, so we try as much as we can to do normal things with Markus as well. Both of our parents are always saying how they did all of these thing with no problems. Sandra and I assume that both of our parents conveniently forgot any nerves or worries they had. I mean, in 10 years or so when we look back we will also say how we took Markus out all the time to the MS walk and whatever with no problems because we just remember the fun parts.

Well, if it weren't for this BLOG to remind us.

=)

Markus Flips!

This morning Markus reached a new milestone -- he turned himself over to his belly! I saw Markus in the morning laying in his crib and I gave him a few kisses and went to get ready for work. After I got dressed, I walked back into the room and there he was laying on his belly! Amazing! Sandra and I were so very excited. We've tried to capture it on video, but Markus gets so distracted when he sees the camera. In other news, Easter was a nice extended holiday for us. We spent it at Sandra's parents place and we all went to church in the morning. Markus was okay for about 10 minutes and then started getting fussy. We took him to "crying room" they have at St. Paul's in Congers, and stayed there with some other parents and kids. He also got a new jumperoo, which he enjoyed initially, but not too much these days. Anyway, here is a video of him in the jumperoo.

Atlanta Trip

Last weekend (Thursday Mar 26 - Monday Mar 30) Sandra and I took a trip to Atlanta, GA to attend Jenelle's wedding. We decided to leave Markus with his grandma and this was the first time we would be away from Markus for an extended period of time. We were very emotional during the days leading up to the trip as we felt guilty and sad that we were leaving him. Everyone said that it would be okay, and we knew he would be safe, and his grandma LOVES him, etc., but it was hard to shake the feelings.

We dropped Markus off Wednesday night. He was sleeping, but woke up around 11:00 as we transported him to his crib. He had some trouble falling back asleep, but grandma (abuela) reassured us that he was okay and she would take care of him. We went home and it was sad being home without him there. We had to NOT go into his room.

The next day we woke up and flew to Atlanta with no problem. We had a lot of things to occupy our minds and it wasn't as bad as we though it would be. We also felt comforted knowing that we could Skype and see him when we wanted. The first day we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and then later met up with our friends Jack and Jess for dinner. We ate at a local microbrew called Max Lager. (YMCA at the Hard Rock)
So far so good! We went to the Aquarium the next day, which was a lot of fun as well. We saw so many little kids that it was hard not to think of Markus. We didn't get sad, but were excited thinking about the day we we would take him to the aquarium and he would get excited. (Raph, Sandra, and Jess at the Aquarium)

We wanted to Skype with Markus that night, but we had technical difficulties. That was hard for us because we wanted to see him, and were prepared to see him, but it wasn't happening. That was probably the hardest part of the trip. Friday night was the Bachelorette party, so I got to hang out with Jack and Joe, aka "the husbands", at a local Hooters and watch the NCAA tournament. We started pounding down pitchers of various beers and barely watched the games because they were all blowouts. Joe retired early as he flew in that same evening. Jack and I continued to drink and ended up at a local Irish pub. The girls were at an entertainment club and we all came back to the hotel around 3:00ish.

Saturday Sandra, me, Jack, Jess and Joe went to the Coca-Cola Factory/Museum/Brainwashing Asylum in the afternoon. (COKE!)
It was fun and we got to try all the different coke brands from around the world. Later that night we got to go the rehearsal dinner at a family members house and we capped the night with a few cocktails at the hotel lounge. We actually did that every night except Friday! I found that I actually like Gin and Tonic (thanks Jack!) and jazz lounge music is addicting. It just puts you in a great mood. (Us, Jack and Jess enjoying some drinks and jazz at the Ritz Carlton...nightly). The wedding was Sunday afternoon and it was lovely.
at the wedding). Jenelle looked absolutely stunning and we were so very happy to see her get married. It was an afternoon wedding, so we met up with Jack, Jess, Meredith, Joe and Jack's brother Chip and his girlfriend to eat at a Mexican restaurant (Jalepeno Charlie's or something) and finished off the night, where else?, the LOUNGE at the Ritz Carlton! =)

There was so much stuff happening that we weren't completely focused on Markus all the time. We left Monday morning and were so excited to see and hold and kiss the little guy. Which is exactly what we did.

Final thoughts on Atlanta that I forgot to mention earlier:

• We were in downtown Atlanta, and I was surprised that the area was so shady. However, I've never seen TWO gold teeth shops on the same street before, and now I have. So that was cool.
• No pharmacies in the middle of downtown Atlanta. You have to traverse through said shady areas to obtain contact solution.
  
• The Lakers were staying at our hotel and we go to see Pau Gasol. Sandra actually left her seat to follow him in the elevator, but the rest of us were too "relaxed" on Gin and Tonic to say anything.
• More pictures! (Markus x2, girls with the bride, Sandra and bride, Jess Jack Meredith Joe Sandra Me)
  

And I tried to keep it short....