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

Hairy Little Monkey

Last Friday, Mommy went into the doctor's office for her normal non-stress test. As usual, I was kicking and moving all over the place. However, they noticed a slight deceleration in my heartbeat for a quick second, so they wanted to run an extra test called a Biophysical Profile (BPP). During the BPP, they watched me on the ultrasound to measure my heartbeat, movements, and amniotic fluid levels. I had to stay on the ultrasound for the full 30 minutes - I was such a sleepy boy, all worn out from the non-stress test, that I just wasn't cooperating with the technician. She kept pushing me all around Mommy's belly to wake me up and made Mommy change positions several times...not exactly the easiest thing to do for a lady with such a big belly and so little energy!

I ended up doing well on everything except for "breathing movements", but the doctor seemed to think that was still ok. To be extra-safe, I had to go the next day for another non-stress test at the hospital, just because the doctor's office was closed on Saturday. All was well, but it still made for a couple of nerve-wracking days for Mommy!

The bright side of everything was that the ultrasound revealed a couple more things about me that no one knew yet. This ultrasound showed 3-D images, but I was still hiding most of the time, so the lady didn't get a picture of my face. They did find out that I have a full head of hair! Daddy was a baldy when he was a baby, but Mommy looked like a cute baby Sasquatch when she was born...score another point for Mommy in the Battle of the DNA!

Another fun tidbit is that I have crazy long toes! The ultrasound technician kept calling them monkey toes - said I'd be able to hang upside down from trees with them. Not sure whether those came from Daddy or if they're deeply hidden Mommy genes. They sure look a lot like the green bean toes that Mommy used to make fun of Aunt KK for having!

So now we're down to a week and a half at the most before I get here. My room and all of my gear is ready for me to arrive, and the hospital bags are 95% packed. Mommy and Daddy just need me to make it through Saturday - Daddy will be done with graduation then, and Mommy will be done with work and the wedding where she's singing with her choir group. After that, I'm free to arrive any time! Mommy's been having mild contractions a couple of times a day, so maybe that's a good sign of things to come!

6, 7, 8...

Yesterday was picture day! I had another ultrasound, so here are the pictures from it. They didn't turn out great - I had my hand in front of my face most of the time - but Mom and Dad were still excited to see my face.

Here's a profile shot - it's looking like I may have inherited the Woodling schnoz!

And here's one of my face...I kinda look like a ghost baby, but look how cute my chubby cheeks are!

At the ultrasound, they measured my head, belly, leg, and other parts to estimate my weight - 6 pounds, 6 ounces so far. The doctor said I'm at the 49th percentile - beautifully average! The ultrasound technician pointed out that I have loooooong legs. Those definitely didn't come from Mommy - guess I get her nose and daddy's legs. The ultrasound technician also noted that I definitely am a boy! No need to repaint the nursery any time soon. I also had one of my twice-weekly non-stress tests. I had the hiccups this time! It was really funny for Mom and Dad to hear on the monitor.

And the news that all of you gamblers have been waiting for...my birthday will most likely be June 7! The doctor's office scheduled Mommy to go into the hospital at 7PM on June 6th to be induced. It was a bit of a shock to the parents to realize they'd have a week less time to prepare for my arrival, but they're excited to have a target date. Mom is now scrambling to wrap things up at work, and Dad will only get a few short days to fit in his final pre-parental rounds of golf. Looks like both Mommy and Daddy will still be 29 when I'm born...at least for a few days. As Daddy calls it, "Babies having babies...those darn kids in their 20s." Dad gets to look forward to spending his 30th birthday either in the hospital with me and Mom or bringing me home for the first time. Mom is just looking forward to a pint of Guinness to celebrate her birthday.