In the Year 2000 (and Ten)

Miles seems to be adjusting well to the idea of being a big brother. Although he changes his mind occasionally, he seems to think he'll be getting a baby brother. He'll sometimes spout out of nowhere, "My baby brother is coming to my house!" He's great at giving him/her kisses in Mommy's belly, and he even asks to say prayers for the baby at night. Once the baby arrives, I'm sure there will be some challenges, but Miles is taking the idea of sharing with his baby like a champ!

He's also been helpful at giving advice about baby names. We started by asking him about what he thought his baby cousin would be named. He wouldn't answer for a while, until recently, when he definitively determined that baby boy cousin shall be named "Boy". I guess he must have wanted to put in a lot of thought before making his determination. He's taken a slightly more creative bent with his own sibling - he says the baby should be named "Butter" if it's a girl and "Conan" if it's a boy. Yes, he and his friend Butter hang out every morning with her buddy Toast, but I have no idea where he got the idea for Conan. Jason and I are casual fans of Conan O'Brien, but I can't recall a time that we've ever uttered that name in front of Miles. Maybe I watched too many episodes of Late Night while Miles was in utero.

Miles has also been spending some time going to marching band contests this fall. We're so proud of Daddy for his great season this year! He still has one more contest at BOA in a couple of weeks, but we're going to start enjoying a little more time with him starting soon. Miles loves going to marching band contests and pretending to be one of Daddy's big kids. At home, he likes to play color guard with the race flag he got from Grandpa and Granny. Very graceful young man! He also likes to use Daddy's trumpet mute and march around the living room like a good little junior bando. A duet:



And solo!

And serving as the band mascot, with this year's Seniors. Why yes, that is the head of a 40 yard long dragon behind them.

Big Brother

Because it's never official until it hits the internet...Miles is going to be a big brother!

Baby Kahl, the Sequel, is due April 10. We are so pleased (and terrified) to welcome a new member to the family! And now updates on:

The Babe - Baby is doing so well! We've seen his/her picture twice already, once at 8 weeks and again at 11 weeks. He/she was wiggling all over the place already - it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the little bean can become a little person. Heartbeat has been great - in the 150s and 160s. We opted for the earlier first trimester "quadmarker" screening, and the baby did fabulously. Here's my favorite pic from the last ultrasound:





The Mom - Things are much better lately. Just like I experienced with Miles, I never barfed...just felt like I wanted to about 16 hours a day for 3-4 weeks. Luckily, that has mostly passed, and I'm feeling a renewed sense of energy. I passed my 8-week gestational diabetes test, so I've been savoring sweets in moderation until I take another test at 28 weeks. Other than the usual pains here and there, I've been able to sleep relatively well. With Miles, I had strange bits of insomnia, but there's been nothing like that with this baby so far. Does that just mean I'm more exhausted as the parent of a 2-year old, or is there hope that this baby will let me sleep better at night once he/she arrives?

The Dad - Daddy is cool, calm, and collected about taking on the challenge of another little person, but is nevertheless excited about the new arrival. While I tend to freak out a bit about how difficult things are going to be, he's great at reminding me that less-prepared people have managed to raise throngs of children throughout history. He had to take a little bit of the pregnancy pains for the team recently by getting his blood drawn. (Boo hoo.) No, the blood test was not to determine paternity! ;-) The genetic science of the whole thing really put a strain on my mental capacities to understand, but here's the quick lowdown. Jason probably has the "M" antigen in his genetic code (what the test is seeking to find), which I do not have. Miles probably inherited the M from Jason. My blood and Miles' blood likely mixed during childbirth, and my body saw that "M" as a foreign body, so I started making antibodies against it. If the new baby has the "M" (50/50 chance), my antibody may work against it, which could cause some complications. This is all very rare - only a 1 in 15,000 chance that the antibody would be activated in the first place (compared to a 1 in 30 or so chance of getting gestational diabetes, for example). From what little I can find, it's also very rare that complications will develop. In any case, the docs will be keeping a close eye on me and the baby, which means extra ultrasounds (hurray!) and blood tests (boo!).

The Big Brother - Miles acts so proud that he's going to be a big brother! Of course, he doesn't understand most of it yet, but we see glimpses of recognition every once in a while. The other day, he said out of the blue, "My baby brother is coming to my house!" His answer changes, but he seems to be leaning more toward baby brother vs. baby sister lately. We'll be finding that out again, either November 8 or November 22. We're hoping to bring Miles with us to see the baby on the big screen. Occasionally, he'll ask to see my belly. He had some fun tickling the baby the other day. It'll be really fun to see how he reacts as my belly gets bigger!

And now, here are some long overdue pictures of the big brother:

When the helicopter came to visit his school:








Little monkeys jumpin' on the bed with friend Janelle:

So happy to be a Big Brother!