More from the Birthday Party

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Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

I love this picture. Kueffer and Michelle. He's so cute. He's very into his hands these days.

MU Tiger Cub, part II

MU Tiger Cub
Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

I just wanted to repost this picture. Doesn't he look like he should be holding a cigar and a martini, trading jokes with Dean Martin?

Picture Time!

Ironically, this post contains no pictures. We took Kueffer for a family photo shoot yesterday to Judy William's photography. She takes pictures out of her house (it's a nice setup.)

Much to our dismay, Kueffer absolutely HATES the flash of a camera. We had him naked for the shoot, and, well, we were playing with live ammo. By virtue of him being a boy, he's got a hose hooked to a seemingly never-ending tank of urine. Fantastic.

So, after 2 hours of screaming, spit-up, and of course a few episodes of being peed on, we emerge into the light of day, and we aren't sure that she got even 1 good shot of him smiling. Judy was very, VERY patient with us. She did a great job in somewhat undesirable circumstances.

On the plus side, he was so over-stimulated from the experience that when we got him home, he laid down and quietly played by himself for a couple of hours, then we bathed him, and I fed him for about 2 minutes until he crashed...hard. He went to sleep at 10 and woke up 9 and a half hours later.

So, every cloud DOES have a silver lining!

Gurgle gurgle gurgle

Perhaps not the most attractive of his qualities, but still quite cute. He has learned to gurgle and also to stick out his tongue. He still remains quite elusive to being photographed...it requires a team of at least 2; 3 if you can arrange it.

Tiger Cub

MU Tiger Cub
Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

Kueffer was full of 'Tiger Spirit' today as he watched the MU Tigers cream Nevada. (Okay, he did fall asleep at halftime...) He was sporting the 'Black and Gold' thanks to Grandma Karen. Go Tigers!

Daddy said he was only smiling so big because he was in a Jayhawk Blue Bumbo seat...whatever! and hey, didn't they lose last night? :)

Are you smarter than a 2 month old?

Well, apparently I am not! I have spent the last 2 days trying to get video footage of our very talkative and happy baby. Every time he sees the camera, he stops and just stares at it. He has been so chatty, I wanted to share. Obviously, I am being outsmarted by Kueffer.

To be continued...

Social Butterfly

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Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

Whew...what a weekend! Kueffer is quite the social baby! Well, let's start with Friday...Kueffer went for his first round of immunization shots (eek!). Mommy was so worried and chatted with Daddy and Grandma Mary Ann for reassurance the entire way to the Dr.'s office. He was such a Super Star during his appointment- chatting and smiling - completely charming the Dr. and nurses! :) then...'Nurse Needles' came in...Kueffer was just smiling and talking when she went for it AND his huge smile completely disappeared and was replaced with the most upset, red face followed by sobs. It was awful. He calmed and then fell asleep on the way home. He was so happy to get to spend his afternoon with Grandma Karen. That night, back in 'Kueffer ' form and charming as ever at Uncle Tom and Aunt Michelle's house!

Saturday we traveled back to California to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 45th anniversary. He was the center of attention at a party that night- sorry for stealing the spotlight Grandma and Grandpa! :) It was so much fun!

Sunday, back home. What a busy weekend and he was perfect, shots and all. AND he slept at least 9 hours every night!!! Until last night. Hey, nothing lasts forever.

This is Kueffer Monday morning...What a weekend!

Look familiar?

Okay, I love this photo of Kueffer.

Does it remind you of something?

GLOWORM!!!

Rock Star Baby

Hello!...9 1/2 hours later...yes, Kueffer slept for 9 1/2 hours last night!
...baby is a ROCK STAR!

Duh...

He got his first round of shots today. :( Evidently he was happy as could be until the mean nurse gave him 3 shots in quick succession, then he screamed and turned red. Poor little guy.

I think he got over it pretty quickly, though, and tonight, thanks to a party at my sister and her husband's house, he didn't really go to sleep until 10 PM tonight. So, it would be GREAT if he would sleep through most of the night tonight!

He smiles with his whole face!

big smile
Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

You can see it building and then...the big smile! When Kueffer smiles, it covers his entire face- from the top of his head to his dimpled, little chin. So adorable!

A bit chatty...

All day today Kueffer was talking to himself. Loudly. He was having a ball. Sometimes we would look at him to make sure he wasn't about to cry, but normally he was just struggling to let out a particularly loud or extended string of baby talk.

All day.

Seriously.

He hasn't ever really made much noise in that way before, so when he just exploded with it today it reminded us of how quickly he is changing.

Another thing that we noticed yesterday and today, too, is that he is quite interested in his hands. They just seem...fascinating to him. He is also better able to use his hands to grab our fingers (he really likes that.) We used to have to contort our hands a bit to allow him to grab on, but he's getting more controlled in his movements.

I'm sure all of these things point to him being a star quarterback genius rocket scientist, of course. Then again, I could be a bit biased...

Restaraunts

Last night we drove up to Topeka to meet Michelle's parents, her sister Bobbi and Bobbi's husband Clark. So, 6 adults and 1 "sling" as they called it. The sling is basically 4 sticks and some canvas straps. But it was VERY low to the ground, so when Kueffer was in his car seat he was almost invisible. I went to the car and brought out our skeleton stroller or whatever it is called, and that brought him close to table height.

He was very good. Michelle and I played that "no, you eat, I'll hold him" game for a while. I think we need to develop a better system.

We got home around 10:30, and we had Kueffer asleep by probably 11. Fast forward to 5 AM when he woke up! Six hours is great. Then I fed him from 5 to 5:30, then I guess Michelle got up with him around 7:30 or so, and after that, he slept until 11. I think he was quite tired.

Right now he's sleeping next to me on the couch, after having an exciting 3 or so hours awake, I guess.

Ah, the life of a baby!

Well, it was fun while it lasted...

A couple more interruptions, but he still slept quite well. Thanks, Kueffer!

Two nights in a row!!!

Kueffer did it again last night and slept almost 7 hours straight! We are hoping that this is not some cruel joke he is playing on his mommy and daddy. Let's go for 3 tonight...

Sleeping...

Last night Kueffer was somewhat challenging. He was spitting up, generally grumpy, and we could tell he was just so tired! Michelle was putting him to bed, and he fell asleep on her, then she gently stood up, and her ankle cracked. Just a pop. But that was enough to wake him up. Ugh!

We alternated rocking him to sleep, and changing him, etc. Finally I got him to fall asleep on me, so I gently took him to the crib...where he promptly woke up and started squirming. I thought, "well, I'll just lay him down and pop in the pacifier and see what happens." So, I did that, and put both of my hands down where he can grab them. He still squirmed a lot, but wasn't angy or anything, so I stood like that for probably 10 minutes. He eventually quieted down and fell asleep again.

My first thought was that there's no way this will stick, but I was going to go downstairs and get some work done until he wakes up. He stayed asleep, starting at 11:30 PM.

Michelle and I both woke up to him crying through the monitor around 6 AM. SIX AM!!!

Michelle and I both needed that "full" night of sleep, and evidently Kueffer did, too.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

This is Kueffer laughing. This is how he wakes up almost every morning...with lots of smiles. He is such a happy baby!

Getting bigger...

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Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

We were driving in the car tonight on an exciting Friday night outing to Target and as I looked at Kueffer I realized just how much he has grown. 7 weeks ago today, we were in the hospital waiting for him to make his arrival. It was the 4th of July and we were watching the fireworks from our hospital room window.
Kueffer is such a strong little guy. He lifts his head up- did this in the hospital- and has rolled over twice! He loves his nightly 'exercises' with Daddy. We can't believe just how much he has changed...feeling a little reflective tonight, I guess...

My boys

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Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

Just because I love this photo...ahhh!

EDIT BY MATT: Okay, notice the matching receding hairlines at the temples. Good news for him is that his will come back in...mine, not so much.

Other Animals

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Originally uploaded by zeusdawdy

Mom's dog Crissy is doing ok with Kueffer, if a little annoyed at being pushed out further onto mom's legs...

I'm sorry, Kueffer...

Someday I will help you get your dignity back...

Cats

So, we've got 2 cats. Owen, a grumpy old man who throws up and hisses and is generally not happy to see anyone in the world except me, and Lucy, a sweet fat little cat who hides when people come over but then comes out to be petted by anyone with a free hand, fingernails are a plus. So, we thought that Owen would absolutely FREAK when we brought Kueffer home, and Lucy would end up snuggling with him in his bouncy chair.

We could not have been more wrong.

Owen, from the day Kueffer came home to today, has been somewhat close to a model cat. He's not bothered by the crying or laughing or anything. He slept on the bed with Kueffer (not snuggling) and would merely look over at Kueffer when Kueffer would cry or fuss.

Lucy, on the other hand, has decided to start binge-eating to sublimate her rage and hurt feelings over Kueffer's arrival. She used to sleep with us, but she stayed away from us for probably 3-4 weeks, long after Kueffer was in his own crib. Lucy gets completely spazzed out when Kueffer cries and runs away to hide somewhere. She wants to have absolutely nothing to do with him. The picture shows you the only good part for her about Kueffer's arrival.

Owen partly agrees with Lucy -- baby toys rock.

6 weeks and a day

Right now, he's sleeping right in front of me -- he's in his car seat. Michelle just got home from running an errand with him and, well, he was just so peaceful, we didn't want to disturb him.

I got him to sleep last night around 6 or so. He was SOOO tired so I thought we'd let him have a nap before my mom came over for dinner. Well, he slept until 8, woke up, ate, went back to sleep. At about 11 I started to get a sinking feeling...I mean, he has been asleep for about 5 hours. There was no way he would sleep through the night.

Well, he ended up waking up several times, but he wasn't too terrible to get back to sleep.

What is he doing these days? When he wakes he smiles REALLY big! It's quite cute.

He is almost starting to giggle when he laughs, too.

He's a pretty happy baby. There are very few times when he cries and we can't figure out a reason why.

All in all, I don't think we'd change a thing.

Fun at the fair!

Last week, Kueffer made his California, MO debut at the county fair! Matt, Kueffer and I drove home on Tuesday and he was such a good traveler. (He is a really good baby. Have we mentioned that?!) Kueffer was able to take in all of the sights, sounds, and smells of the fair! As you can see from his photo, he was extremely excited. We had such a great time, that we went back on Friday for the weekend with Aunt Bobbi. Kueffer loves his Aunt Bobbi! We were able to see so many family members and spend time at home. It was so much fun we can't wait until next year!

On Saturday afternoon, we went to visit my Grandmother. Kueffer loved meeting his 96 year old Great Grandmother Opal and they had such a good time getting to know one another. Sunday, we were able to take some time with the family and Kueffer just 'talked and talked' with his cousins Brock and Quinten and Grandpa Bob. We can't wait to see them again soon!