Sam Potpourri

Here are some miscellaneous photos of Sam: Sam Potpourri
My good friend Joy is coming to visit this week. She is a professional photographer, so expect some really good pictures of Sam soon.

Our Apartment

Check out photos of our new place: Our Apartment
I apologize for the image quality. Lighting was difficult.

Sam's First Trip To Manhattan

See more photos here.

We traveled into Manhattan on Sunday to take a stroll through Central Park and to practice navigating the subway with Sam and his stroller. Overall, it was successful, but having the stroller was a little difficult. Not all of the subway stops we use have elevators, so getting underground requires going down stairs. Needless to say, I don't plan at this point to take Sam on the subway alone with the stroller...

Although Sam slept for most of the trip, it was a beautiful day.

We are settling in to our new apartment and getting to know the neighborhood. We've already found some good diners, a decent Indian restaurant and several spots to have falafel.

Our apartment is smaller than our New Haven place, but I think we are maximizing our space well. I finally got curtains on all the windows, which makes the apartment feel more cozy. Although the brownstone was built in 1905, it does have new windows, hopefully making for a draft-free winter.

Sam is now 10-weeks-old and wanting to put everything in his mouth. He hasn't quite gotten down the grasping of objects, but if he does get a hold of something, he is sure to suck on it.

He also is more and more vocal each day, and I am proud to say that we are down to one feeding at night. After we put him in his crib, he will sleep for about six or seven hours. We then feed him, and he sleeps for another four or five hours. We are quite lucky to be at his point!

I'm adjusting to the stay-at-home-mom role. I've joined an online parents group from the neighborhood, and I hope to get together with some of these moms. Sam and I also make trips to the library, which is just a few block away.

Dave is getting a hang of his commute. Getting home has proved to be more difficult because of the reduced number of trains running when he gets out of work, but regardless, he is home so much earlier. And he is getting more sleep.

I hope to post photos of our new apartment and the neighborhood soon. I also hope to get a video up soon of us reading a book to Sam. He usually babbles and coos every time we read to him. So cute!

Love this photo!

Sam meets Rhys, and yes, we now live in Brooklyn!

Here are some photos of Sam when he met Rhys Prindle, son of my former Courant colleague Michelle. Rhys was born May 16.

And here are some random photos of Sam: Sam is just so darn cute!

We don't have any photos of the move. It was a long day, but we survived -- after all, we are becoming experts at moving. This time, however, we did hire people to load and unload the truck we rented. Sam did beautifully, sleeping all the way to Brooklyn with the cats meowing on either side of him in the car.

We hope to post again soon about the apartment and the neighborhood. We've done some exploring -- went to a street fair, found a good diner, checked out a church, found some grocery stores and found a place for ice cream!

We also survived three hours at the Brooklyn DMV.

Today was Dave's first day back at work after a week off. It was wonderful having him home for another 90 minutes before his commute, which is now via the subway. Plus, he will get home about 90 minutes earlier tonight!!

So much to tell you all....

First, Sam went to the pediatrician today for his first round of vaccinations. We've never heard him cry that loud! But he calmed down quickly and is now napping. Hopefully, he will not get a fever.

He now weighs 13 lbs 4 oz and is 24 inches long. That means he is in the 85th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height.

Now, to last week.....

My Aunt Sue traveled east to visit for a week. It was a great time -- good conversations and it was nice to have someone home with me while Dave as at work.
My parents also dropped by for a short visit. They hauled some stuff back to Wisconsin for us, including our canoe. It was a good excuse to come see Sam.

Here are photos and three videos my Dad took while they were here: The Great Canoe Trip

And for those of you who don't know yet, WE ARE MOVING AGAIN!!!! On Oct. 1, we are packing up a truck and moving to Brooklyn.

I am leaving my job at the Hartford Courant to be a stay-at-home mom. And Dave's commute will go from 2 1/2 hours to about 50 minutes!

Our apartment is the top floor of a brownstone in southern Brooklyn in a neighborhood called Bay Ridge.

The next several days will be spent packing, and Dave is taking next week off.

Also, we traveled on Sunday to Wethersfield near Hartford to visit my co-worker Jim, his wife Chris and their 3-week-old son Reid. My co-worker Leeanne, who is getting married Saturday, also was there. It was great to see everyone and to trade baby stories with Jim and Chris. Photos: Sam Meets Reid