Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Another week has flown by and Miles is now a month old!! After his one-month check-up, we now know that Miles gained two pounds and two inches - he's 9 pounds 3 ounces (50th percentile) and 22 1/2 inches long (75th percentile).

Miles celebrated his first Fourth of July by wearing this shirt from Jen. We were super-ambitious and caught three different fireworks displays - on TV! We thought about driving someplace to watch the Indy fireworks from the car, but the shows in Boston, D.C., and New York might have just been slightly more interesting. After all, we would have missed mediocre performances from several former American Idol contestants and over-the-hill has-beens if we had chosen to go to the Indy fireworks!



We also attempted to put on a pair of new pants we bought for Miles. Guess he has a bit of growing still to do - either that, or he's aspiring to be Steve Urkel or Ed Grimley. Can't you hear him saying, "Did I do that?!?"



On Saturday, we took Miles to his first church service. Unfortunately, we didn't think about the fact that our church's Saturday evening service is really quiet with not many kids. Luckily, Miles' 2-month-old friend Jack was also there, which meant Miles wasn't the only one making funny baby noises. Jason spent a lot of time quieting Miles in the narthex, but Miles did manage to make it through the entire sermon! Here's a pic of him in his (again, too big) church clothes, worn out from the excitement of old ladies oohing and ah-ing over him.



Miles celebrated his one-month birthday on Monday by going to the Indianapolis Indians baseball game. He was a very good boy! Contrary to my worst first-time mom fears, a foul ball did not come and land right in his car seat. ;-) Miles was awake most of the time and only fell asleep towards the very end...admit it - don't we all want to take a nap after about a few innings of baseball anyway? We were convinced we would not be able to stay long, but we managed to stay until the top of the ninth inning. Unfortunately, we left too soon. We missed when the Indians scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Columbus Clippers 3-2.

Pullin' An All-Nighter

Yep, we finally had a night where at least one of us was up all night long. Remember when I was complaining in previous posts about Miles waking up every hour to eat? Those were the good old days. Mr. Miles now has decided that he only wants to sleep if someone is holding him. Considering we're not one of those hippy couples that puts our kid to sleep in bed with us, that leaves limited options. So, Jason went to bed last night while I stayed up with Miles until about midnight. Then, except for a few feedings, Jason was up with Miles from midnight until 5AM. I then pulled the 5AM to 9AM shift before Nana D woke up and let both of us finally sleep. It's gonna be a long couple of weeks, especially now that Nana has gone back home again. :-(


In other news, we had more visits from Nana, Papa, Aunt Kari, and Uncle Davy. Miles had a big day out on Saturday and was a good boy in Kohl's and Target with the exception of one major poop explosion. You should have seen me, Nana, and Aunt KK triple-teaming the poopster in the back of my car! We even went out to eat for the first time. He was generally pretty good, but it definitely helps to choose a loud restaurant where his screams aren't quite as noticeable.



Miles had a few more firsts this week. He got his first bottle on Sunday in preparation for his alone time with Nana on Monday. Our seventh wedding anniversary was Monday, June 30th. Both of us actually totally forgot about it until my mom volunteered to come stay to babysit that day if we wanted to go out. Our first outing without Miles was actually a romantic sojourn to the dentist's office, and WOW was it just as bad as it sounds. We spent an hour in the waiting room before seeing this new guy. I use the word "new" lightly...we calculated he really is 77 years old or so. The dentist actually had bad breath - not exactly the best role model. The day did improve though - we had a delicious meal on the rooftop at Dunaway's with a nice view of downtown Indy and the weather was great.


The notorious umbilical cord stump finally fell off this week too, so Miles had his first "real" bath in the baby bath tub. He screamed just as loud as he did for the sponge baths, so we'll probably be experimenting with the best way to do this more.


I'm realizing that "Booty" was a whole lot more clever in his posts than I am. I guess sense of humor is the first thing to go when you're getting no sleep. Here's one more pic, minus the snarky comment for now. I'm still on the elusive hunt for a smile, but this half-smirk will have to do for now.

Miles Goes Out on the Town

Miles is so smart already that he can already tell you how old he is...2 weeks old! We're actually at the end of his second week - tomorrow he will be three weeks old and is changing so quickly every day.


The trend continues - everybody wants to see Miles! We've had lots of visitors to prove it. Miles' Great-Grandma Bernie and Great-Grandpa Jeff traveled all the way from Myrtle Beach last weekend to spend some time with him. Miles attended his first cookout at his Great Uncle Sheldon and Great Aunt Kim's house and was generally pretty good. Uncle Shelly has white carpet throughout his entire house, so we were a bit concerned Miles would leave a special permanent "surprise" for them to remember him by. Thankfully he kept his messes to a minimum!


Aunt Ashley also came from Kentucky to stay for a few days. She initially helped to change Miles' diapers but got a bit put off once he peed all over the place. She thought it was pretty funny (yet gross) when he managed to spray himself in the face a couple of times. She also helped give him a bath and giggled again when Miles peed on the bathroom mirror. Here she is with him in a drier locale, helping him with his tummy time.


Jason and I also took Miles out twice on a couple of his first shopping trips - once to Babies R Us and again to Meijer. We definitely looked like struggling new parents in the BRU parking lot trying to put the carrier into the stroller for the first time. We finally figured it out and didn't hear a peep from Miles the entire time. He didn't even complain when I was pushing the stroller around for a good 10 minutes with the parking brake on. D'oh!

Finally, here are just couple more pictures. I've taken about a thousand already, trying to get Miles while "smiling". Even though they're just accidental or gas smiles or whatever, it's too cute when they appear for a split second. They've alluded the camera thus far, but I'm sure the real ones will be appearing soon.

An Eye-Opening Week

Another week has almost gone by, and Miles is now opening his eyes more. Sadly, we parents have also had our eyes open a lot...in the middle of the night! Miles' first night home was easy - a three hour stretch of sleep and a couple of two hours. Since then, we count those two-hour periods as blessings. He must be going through a growth spurt because sometimes he wants to eat every hour!

Here's Miles...saying Hello.



We had some visitors this weekend who got to meet Miles for the first time - Grandpa and Granny Kahl and Aunt Ashley.




Miles had his first trip to the park on Monday. No - his feet aren't really this big, but I thought it was a funny shot since everyone keeps commenting on his large appendages (get your mind out of the gutter).


This week was also my 30th birthday. No wild parties - I even had to hold off on my birthday Guinness wish because of the marvelous drugs I'm taking. The big excitement was getting out with my mama to get a pedicure. We were only gone from Miles for less than 2 hours, but it sure seemed a lot longer than that! Jason made me breakfast in bed and a nice cake. He also made sure Miles was wearing this onesie (although a bit too big) for the occasion. Miles wore it for approximately 2 hours before puking on it.

Miles' First Firsts

Greetings from the new mom! That last post was actually written by the new dad - sorry to burst the bubble for those of you that thought that I could actually have my wits about me after birth to post pictures of Miles.

Without further ado, highlights from Miles' first week:

The last few minutes in the hospital - Miles hates getting into his car seat, but he turns into a completely mellow dude once he's strapped in.



Finally home! Miles didn't make a peep the entire car ride home...even when we were stuck in evening rush hour traffic!


The first time Miles met his dog Keno after Grandma Misty brought him back from his doggie vacation at her house. Keno has been so good with Miles - he acts very concerned whenever Miles cries and is very gentle. Nana has also been soaking up all the Miles time she can get. Miles can sleep for hours at a time if Nana is holding him. Makes me wonder if we should return the swing, bouncer, and all the other fancy calming contraptions and just keep Nana here 24/7 for that job.


Miles also got his first bath yesterday, which he didn't like too much. What he did like was hanging out in his new bath robe, Hugh Hefner style.



And finally, a family picture...Daddy, Baby, Doggie.

Only 30 more to catch Daddy

I will save the clever stuff for when we have more sleep... Right now, it is announcement time!

Miles Joseph Kahl was born June 7, 2008 at 3:19pm. He weighed 7lbs, 3 oz, measured 20 1/2 inches, and was delivered through C-section. Not that Mommy didn't try, but after 2+ hours of pushing, not much was happening, so off we went to the OR.

Anyway, pics... enjoy!

Final Letter From the Apostle Kahl

To my family, friends, blog stalkers, and super fans,

There have been a few questions about what will happen on this blog once I'm born. I have some bad news - I think I'll be too busy learning how to eat, hold my head up, and sleep through the night to write any longer. Maybe once I learn to read, apply proper grammar, type, and use clever pop culture references and witty allusions, I'll write again some day. No worries though - I've already recruited Mommy to take over the blog to keep you up to date on my antics. She'll even post pictures and videos of all the stuff I'll be doing. By then, you'll know my real name, so I guess you can start calling me that instead of Booty. Mom better start thinking of a clever new title for the blog now - if you have any suggestions, post them in the comments section!

Today was my last visit with the doctor before my birthday. Mom wasn't nervous up until this point. But, when she realized her next visit with the doc would be in the hospital, she started to sweat a little bit more about what this weekend will be like. Daddy's still cool as a cucumber, but he'll definitely cave within the next 48 hours or so. The doctor checked Mommy and said she is 1 1/2 centimeters dilated and 25% effaced. For those of you that don't know (or want to know) how lady parts work at this stage, that just means that she already has a tiny bit of work done before they start the drugs on Friday. I haven't "dropped" yet, so hopefully that'll happen soon. Mom asked the doctor what she needed to do to move that along. The doctor said some people recommend walking but that she doesn't really think that works. Mommy was much relieved to hear that - walking around the neighborhood would really cut into her plans the next few days of laying on the couch and watching movies.

I had the hiccups again today during my non-stress test! The parents were just happy that I was moving around and the test went well today...unlike Friday's test. It started when the lady who hooked me up seemed to not really know what she was doing. She found my heart beat but didn't really adjust the straps very well. Once she left the room, the machine kept losing the heartbeat. This didn't worry Mom too much, since she'd had it happen before, but the fact that I decided to take my afternoon nap through the entire thing didn't help. Mommy kept moving the monitor around a bit to find the heartbeat, since the lady wasn't coming back to check on her. Finally, the machine started going crazy - flashing lights and a beeping alarm...not the most reassuring sound for a first time mom. Because it was almost 5:30 at this point, the doctor sent Mommy to the hospital Labor and Delivery ward to be monitored some more. The nurse said it might be an hour or two, so Mommy called Daddy at home to come up to sit with her. Well, once we got into the hospital, my monitoring went perfectly! I perked up and starting moving - guess I just needed a change of scenery. They actually let Mommy go just as Daddy was getting there from home. I knew what I was doing all along - just wanted to make Daddy do a trial run for the real thing! ;-)

Speaking of the real thing, I would guess that the next time there's a post on the blog, I'll be out in that big, bad world. Please be patient with Mommy if she's a bit slow in posting - I'll try to be a good boy, but she might still have her hands full with me! Thanks to all of you who have been reading my silly musings for the last 7 months. It's been so fun to hear from all of you!

Signing off,
Bootiford J. Kahl