Month 5 = 1 + 4 and Whole Lot More

Basil has made it to 5 months of age.  I have cropped his chair portraits a bit for better comparison and added a couple of outtakes from this time around.

As you can see, his stomach muscles are developing, and he is nearly sitting up by his own strength.

Birthday

Going back in time, on the day following my birthday, Nov 21^st, Basil spent his second evening with babysitters.  These were the Selkings, and I believe there are photos of his first kiss (from Evangeline), but that will have to come later after we’ve seen and potentially censored it.

Sort of at the last moment I chose a Puerto Rican restaurant that I thought we’d been to before.  It was called La Palma, but it’s now clear I was thinking of Las Palmas, a fancy Mexican restaurant.

When we drove by I was not impressed

but the people were super friendly, and the food was much, much better than the Ukrainian food we had tried the night before.

Lizzy kept the E-phone handy in case there were any major E’s (besides me, that is).  And this time I think she really enjoyed herself – she wasn’t just pretending or she became really good at pretending.

Thanksgiving

In excitement to meet his Aunt Katina and her family at Thanksgiving, Basil donned a cute hooded bath towel she made him before he had a name.

LC = Little Cap

Once in Minneapolis, Basil wasted little time in making his acquaintance with cousin Stella!

They were really bosom buddies from the start.

Basil met lots of new friends:

Proyiayia Stella

Propapou Mike

Great Aunt Katina

Uncle Jeff

Great Aunt Jude

His future cross-country coach, Zhao

Our friend Betty

Great Uncle Bill

Proyiayia Stella and Papou Chris made a great Thanksgiving dinner that satisfied me until the next morning, though the Boosalis clan somehow saved room for more pasta at suppertime that I passed up.

While I was in Minneapolis, I noticed a really cool fashion trend and decided it was time to jump on the bandwagon.  Supposedly it helps keep your neck warm.  I present to you my new hair-do:

Whatever you want to call this haircut, it is definitely “Achy Breaky.”

Really, that became this

It was just time for my 1.5 year cut, but with my newfound freedom I’ve been wearing hats like crazy, which is a plus in cold winter weather.

When we got back to Chicago, we were thrilled to spend some time with our friends, John, Lila, Claire, and Mark.  We had dinner, and Lila gave Basil a very fun book.  He’s already reading it on his own.

One last piece of news: the rheumatologists at UIC have informed me that I do not have lupus but do still have lupus anticoagulant.  So I’ll be a rat poison man for life.  It’s better than failing organs!

~Eric

Videos…

Howdy there fellow travelers,

Basil just settled in for his afternoon nap after a marathon eating session.  Since our last posting Basil has learned to take naps and to keep his mama up all night.  This results in a semi-productive, zombie-like state, which is not conducive to blog writing, but things have been happening.  Some of Basil’s lack of sleep seems to be from his overabundance of boogers.  Eric picked up a humidifier today, and hopefully that will help liquefy the contents of his nostrils.

At the beginning of the month we received a Minnesotan visitor when Bridget met Basil.  Both Basil and I are rooting for her job search to end in Chicago.

On the 10^th Basil got vaccinated for the second time.  It was far less traumatic.  The wails were as strong but subsided far more quickly.  Dr. Osta confirmed that Basil remains wonderfully average.  He weighed in at 15lbs 5oz, and was 25in long.  Apparently his head is proportionate to these measures.

Basil and I have been attending a Hyde Park playgroup.  There are two boys very close in age to Basil (one born on July 2!) and both of them are much, much bigger than Basil.  It’s been a lot of fun to meet their mamas and to watch them grow.  Hopefully there will be photos soon.

On the 20^th Eric turned old.  We attempted to celebrate with a family date to Sak’s restaurant and lounge in Ukrainian Village.  Unfortunately, we were thwarted by a group of Jamaicans, who were in the process of opening a new restaurant were Sak’s used to be.  After consulting our trusty Magellan®  navigation device, we walked to another restaurant, called Old Lviv.  The restaurant appears to be the front room to a catering business, serving a buffet.  The three of us were the only customers aside from one man who came in to pick up some varenyky (?).  The hostess and cook spent the entire time staring at a Ukrainian (or Russian?) soap opera and then the Ukrainian Jerry Springer while we enjoyed our dinner in the opposite corner.  The food was sub par, but the borscht, which began the meal, was quite tasty.

Tonight two-thirds of the family will reprise date night at a different locale (we hope!).  Basil will be joining his friend Evangeline for the evening.  Don’t worry, they will be chaperoned.  This will be Basil’s second time without a parent for more than what it takes to get a bath in the hospital nursery.  He seems unconcerned and perhaps excited for the event, especially since he’s learning to get along with all sorts of characters and expanding his world.

Eric is also excited for the event.  And his recently trimmed facial hair has him looking quite sharp for date night.

I, on the other hand, am not sure what I’ll do if I can’t catch spit up.  Hopefully, there will be a projectile vomiting baby at the next table who I can catch for and I won’t feel too out of sorts.

On Wednesday, the Stiffs are flying into our fair city.  Basil and I will have a few moments with them before we all meet Eric at school, greet his class, and go our separate ways – Saathoffs to Minneapolis and Stiffs back to Hyde Park to keep the home fire burning.  We can’t wait to meet Stella in Minnesota.

And for those of you unlucky people who will not be spying Basil in the immediate future, here’s a collection of recent pictures of extreme cuteness.

Be sure to scroll down to catch LIVE ACTION BASIL (sorry, not Ukrainian television).

~Elizabeth

4 Months

Month four is upon us. With apologies for the altered background blanket, we present to you Basil at 4 months (approximately 17.5 weeks). He appears his happiest yet, though it’s actually a smile squeezed between moans and other unhappy noises.

He’s been learning to read with his mama.

And brings things to his mouth little by little.

He enjoys tummy time a little more,

but the jury’s still out on bath time.

He’s good at turning from his back to his front and has actually started sleeping on his tummy (we haven’t told his pediatrician yet!).

And his neck control is good enough to start enjoying the world in a forward facing position in the carriers.

Thanks so much to Tara for letting us borrow her Bjaby Born – he’s enjoying it very much.

(Special note to any Facebook users – we have very limited access and aren’t able to respond to messages. It’s best to comment on the blog, send email, real mail or call like in the old days!)

Happy to hear from any of you whether you use Facebook or not.

~Eric

Update

What’s been happening?  We’ve been slow on putting things up – mostly because we’ve repeatedly forgotten to add photos to the computer!

Earlier this month, Evan, Tara, and Madison came to meet Basil.  Basil is Madison’s only cousin, and she is the first (of two) that he’s met.  We really enjoyed seeing them together and hanging out with Evan and Tara again.  Thank you so much for taking the trip up to Chicago.

We look forward to seeing them in Mom and Dad’s new house at Christmas.

On the 20^th was Elizabeth’s birthday.  I had tried arranging some babysitting, but she wasn’t yet comfortable with that, so we ended up taking Basil with us to Nuevo Leon in Pilsen.  Later in the week we had Claire and Mark over for dinner and practiced leaving Basil with someone just long enough to get some dessert at the Florian Café.  Elizabeth had a vanilla milkshake and mine was Moose Tracks.  I had lots of fun, and Elizabeth pretended to, as well!  When we returned, Basil was indeed still intact, as was the house, and our dear friends had not only cared for our son but washed the dishes, too!  Thanks, friends.

In Basil News, he has begun training for a new Guinness Record – hand eating / mouth stuffing.

He has also been increasing standing time and tummy time along with expected cuteness increases.

(<– posed)  

He’s also greatly increased his vocalizing and we think he has begun giggling occasionally with his frequent smiles.  Unfortunately, you’ll just have to imagine the sound with these pictures.

Over and out!

~Eric

Month three

Here’s Basil’s photo at three months.  It is closer in position to the first month photo.  Pay special attention to the changes in his face; also note that he is mid-smile and finally facing the camera.  He is much more perceptive than he used to be, and the personality is growing as he continues to vocalize.

(month 1 and 2)

(month 3)

~Eric

More Minnesotans!

This past weekend we were happy to receive Kath and Richard into our house to meet little Basil.  During the visit we enjoyed local food from the Med, Swedish food from Ann Sather, butter pizza from Lou Malnati’s, and Irish breakfasts at Macnamara’s.  Now we’re starting a diet and exercise routine!

Kath brought along her camera and took some fantastic shots of Basil, so I won’t keep you waiting.

Indianan Apple Adventure

On Saturday afternoon we made a somewhat spur of the moment decision to leave the city and pick some apples in Hobart, IN.  Two years ago, we ventured to County Line Orchard.  That is where we returned.  The orchard extravaganza had changed significantly in two years.  The gigantic parking lot had been paved over, the kiddie farm was greatly expanded, and they had built a new barn to be used for events with seating for 1,200 people.  The tractor rides remained the same, and the apples are still delicious.

When we arrived, Basil enjoyed a tasty, milky meal, and we ran into our neighbors.

They made their way to the petting zoo, and we hopped a tractor

and found ourselves deep within the orchard.

The solid food eaters in our trio tasted Honey-Crisp, McIntosh, Gala, Jonagold, Jonathon, and Golden Delicious.  Some of the apples were decidedly not ready yet, but the Gala were absolutely delicious and singly populated our returning harvest.

After picking, we enjoyed apple donuts and Basil had one more milky meal before we left.  He spit all of it out on the way home, but we’re pretty sure he still liked the apple orchard.

~Elizabeth

White Guys

Things have been happening at the Saathoff household, and you haven’t been informed!

Let’s go back.  A few weeks ago, Basil made his first out-of-womb visit to US Steel Yard in Gary, IN, to see our cherished Gary Southshore Railcats.  We left while ahead in the 8^th inning, but unfortunately the Fargo Redhawks came from behind in the 9^th to win the game after we left.  The Railcats finished the season with the best record, but the Redhawks beat them again to win the playoff championship.

Lizzy found a more secluded spot for breastfeeding.  The game was NOT this sparsely attended.

Basil also visited the pediatrician, our dear Dr. Osta.  There, she informed us that our then-10 week old weighed 12lbs 10oz and had achieved something between the 50^th and 75^th percentile (for weight).  We will do everything to push him to 100^th!  Lizzy says, instead, we will do everything we can to keep him average.  I guess a normal baby has an easier time than a super jumbo or a skinny minny.  Average ho!

He also loves getting visits from Claire, who is newly chrismated.

Yesterday I made my first visit to my new doctor at UIC, Dr. Potter.  I am already impressed and pleased to have made the switch from Dr. Grant in Oak Park.  He was very knowledgeable about things from the top of his head without typing things up on his iphone in front of me (as Dr. Grant had done).  As far as the Lupus Anticoagulant, he said he would find someone with more knowledge in the university to help us think about how long I should be on the blood thinner Warfarin.  It appears that my condition is a bit rarer and more confusing to doctors than I knew.  Lizzy’s previous doctor told her one never wants to be “medically interesting” to a doctor, but I think I fit that bill with Dr. Potter.

In another aspect of the visit, I discussed with him some white patches I discovered on my hands during our trip to Washington, D.C.

(this last picture is my elbow)

I’ve been asking people lately if they’ve been wondering – “what else does Eric have in common with Michael Jackson?”

Well, I didn’t have to suggest anything with Dr. Potter.  He was the one who said it looked like vitiligo.  After my flu shot, he did a little biopsy on the white spot on my elbow so they can check the skin for melanin.  I’m turning white!  Oh wait…

It turns out that the affected skin looks about the same color as my shirtless top.  Oh well.  It’s really hard on guys like this.

Here’s another white guy striking some poses:

~Eric

Two month’s growth

Here are two pictures for your viewing pleasure.  One is of Basil at right around one month, and the second was taken yesterday at two months.  A month is such an imprecise measurement of time…

Look closely at his legs, his chin, and his chest.  He has definitely grown!  In about a week we’ll find out how much he weighs.

~Eric

Great Big Grins

Recently Basil has learned to smile (not just for digestive purposes).

But what is he smiling about?

Cousin time!

Congratulations to Katina and Jeff!  Healthy little Stella Jean was born 8/26/09.  Since she arrived two weeks early, she and Basil are only 8 weeks apart and will probably be in the same grade.

Now that is some news to smile about!

~Elizabeth