Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend.  We made our first furniture purchases (a bed and family room couch), though the house will likely be quite empty for awhile after we move in.

On Sunday both our parents got to see the house and afterwards we stopped in Edison for a short time to visit with Gong Gong and Puo Puo:

Reyna is slowly warming up to Cal.  She will now come over, sniff him and lie down nearby.  She still craves attenion and wants to snuggle all the time, but baby steps!

House Update: Windows and Siding

Finally - a break in the rain.  With the recent (pretty) good weather, most of the windows have gone in and a lot of the siding has been put on.  What a difference it makes!

Here is the front:

Before

Now

Closeup

The shutters aren't back on yet, and the trim and door still need to be painted, but it already looks like a completely different house.  We decided to go with a natural cedar look, though the color may be a bit different after it's stained and sealed.

Here is the side:
 

Before



Now

  And here's the back view:

Obviously the siding is not up in the back yet, but the windows in the basement, family room and most of the second floor are in.

Next week, HVAC, electrical and rough plumbing should be finished, as will the rest of the siding.  Things are really moving along now.

Happy Birthday Tim!

This past Saturday was Tim's big 3-0.  We celebrated with a small barbeque in Ridgewood with family and friends.   The rain held off for most of the day, but we did eventually have to move the festivities inside.

 

Yikes, 30 is a big number



One of Tim’s gifts was a 30-themed tub:



30 bottles of beer



And once the tub was empty, someone else took up residence:

Thanks to everyone for helping Tim ring in his third decade.  An added bonus for the night - Uncle Josh held a baby for the first time!

Cal's Afternoon Activities

Since Cal doesn’t like to sleep, you may wonder what exactly he does all day.  Well for one thing, he has learned to read!

Okay, maybe that’s a little advanced for him, but he has started to show an interest in handling books – probably in imitation of what he sees us do.

He has also started exploring the different stations of the Exersaucer.  Right now his favorite seems to be the sand pail (the Exersaucer has a beach theme).  He pretty much spends all his time trying to pry it off and get it into his mouth.

GPS: A Love/Hate Relationship

Have you ever seen that episode of The Office when Michael blindly follows the GPS into a lake?  Sometimes I wonder how I would get anywhere without it.  Then there are times like this past weekend.

Tim and I were furniture shopping, and attempted to make one last stop at a Pottery Barn.  We already had a long day, and Cal was nearing his limit, so we wanted to just get there to check out a table and get home.  It was only about 15 minutes away in a giant mall.  No problem right?  Except when suddenly the nice GPS lady stoped talking and all we got was this:


GPS: FAIL!



Closeup: What are you supposed to do with this?


My only explanation is that there must be little elves in our GPS that like to mess around with us for laughs.  They're probably the same ones that steal socks from the dryer...

House Update: Framing Complete

What a difference a week makes.  The demo is completely finished, as is all the framing and the roof.  You can really see the house coming together now.

Outside

This is the current rear view.

The bottom left (where there are 4 tall windows) is the new family room, and on the right (with the skinny tall windows) is the renovated sunroom.  In between will be the entrance to the backyard and above it all is the master suite.

Here is the side view.  The difference between the old and new house are pretty obvious right now.

This will be the new side entrance, which will have a porch that leads into the mudroom.  On top of the mudroom (where there are 4 small windows) is our study.

First Floor

This is a view from the old kitchen, which was gutted and is now open to the breakfast area and the family room (where there are the 4 tall windows).

To the right is the mudroom leading to the side entrance, and to the left is the sunroom:

Second Floor

They punched through the wall from the old house, and there will be a step to the new part:

The hallway leads into the new laundry room and master suite, which includes the study, master closet and master bath.  Here is the new master bedroom, which looks onto the backyard:

And the master bath, also with a view of the backyard.

Next week, plumbing and electrical is done, plus all the new windows will be in!

Random Pics: 5/12/11

Cal heard summer was coming and said he wanted to start getting in shape (Thank you, Conways!):

Don't look at my belly



Doing some mat exercises

Cal and Reyna are getting to know each other a little better:





Horsey ride



On Wednesday, Cal had a lot of visitors.  First, it was Grandma Wu during the day:

Quality time with Puo Puo

Then Uncle Ryan came by (all the way from North Carolina).  The boys:



White T not optional



4 Month Checkup

Ding Ding Ding!

In one corner we have Newborn Cal, weighing in at 6 lb, 9 oz., length 19 inches, head circumference 13.5 inches.  25th percentile all around.

In the other corner, we have 4-month old Cal, now officially weighing in at 15 lb, 12 oz., length 25.5 inches, head circumference 16.7 inches.  That puts his head in the 50th percentile and height and weight in the 75th percentile!

He certainly has come a long way since those early days when we were so worried about his weight.  I guess it helps when you eat like a maniac every 2 hours.  Way to go Cal!

The pediatrician said that Cal was now old enough to start using his Exersaucer.  He took to it right away:

What Cal doesn't know yet is that the doctor also gave us the okay to start sleep training him.  The countdown to Ferberization begins...

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mothers and mothers-to-be out there. Too bad Cal didn't seem to get the memo, as he decided to welcome our first Mother's Day by getting up at 4am and not only refusing to go back to sleep, but angrily protesting anything but being walked and rocked. Sometimes I feel like I'm being hazed into the Mommy Club.

It was otherwise a wonderful, relaxing weekend, with beautiful weather.  On Saturday, we visited Grandma and Grandpa Wu in Edison.  Now that we're spending more time outdoors, Cal will be wearing a hat a lot more:

with Gong Gong



with Pwo Pwo

 On Sunday, we were in Ridgewood with Nana, Poppy and GG (Great Grandma Bridget).

with GG

with Nana

Four generations

And, of course, with his Mommy:

But the best Mother's Day gift was at the end of the night.  Cal had his first laugh!   He has consistently been squealing, cooing and babbling, but hearing him laugh was a real delight.  Hopefully I can capture it on video soon!

P.S. We didn't forget that Reyna was a mother.  She got a slider for dinner :)

House Update: 10 Steps Forward, 9 Steps Back

So the good news is that the builder has been very quick with the framing.  Last Saturday, (see post on May 1) they had completely framed the first floor and built the deck for the second floor.  By Tuesday, they had the second floor and the roof framed. 


The bad news is, they are now tearing everything down.


One of the key changes that we made when planning the new part of the house was to raise the ceiling in the family room from 8 feet to 9 feet - a big deal for the open floor plan we wanted and for people who are 6'3".  Unfortunately, then we learned that when they framed the family room, this one little detail was missed.  The ceilings were framed at 8' tall and the second floor had already been built on top of it... OOPS!

So it's all now getting redone.  It doesn't cost us anything monetarily, but does set us back another week or so in the overall schedule.  Also, our neighbors probably think we're nuts.

Happy 4 Month Birthday!

Today Cal is 4 months old.  It seems like just yesterday that we were staring in wonderment at the arrival of this little 6 lb 9 oz bundle of joy.  He was just a tiny little thing (especially after losing weight in the first week down to 5 lb 13 oz), so scrawny that Tim had to run out and buy newborn sized clothes because he was swimming in 0-3 month sizes.  Plus he had a bad case of jaundice, giving him that fake bake, oompa loompa color.

But my how things have changed in such a short time.  We'll have official stats on Thursday at his 4-month checkup, but (besides his refusal to sleep) he's now healthy and clocking in at about 15 1/2 pounds. 

He was so tiny when he was born!

But what really amazes me is when I compare pictures from his first month to now:

When we brought him home from the hospital in the carseat, we tightened everything all the way and it still seemed big on him:




Since then, we've removed the Bundle Me, lengthened the straps to their max, and taken off the shoulder pads:

Here he is in the swing at 1 month old and now:




1 month old



4 months old

Cal is not only getting bigger, he is learning and discovering new things every day - using his hands to grab things (which immediately go into his mouth), sucking on his finger, cooing and babbling, pushing himself up on his tummy, sitting when propped up... We can't wait to see what he does next!