Emma Kate Artz is here! 4:03 PM, 20 inches, and 7lbs 4oz. Healthy, pink, and 9/9 on the Apgar scores. Check out her Flickr page for the pictures. Claire is trying to figure things out, but she seems to be doing well.
Emma Kate Artz
December 6th, 2010Claire at 4 Months
February 9th, 2009Well, its been quite a while since I last wrote, and quite a bit has happened since then. I have great intentions to write, but I can usually find other things that always need to get done instead. Time seems to get away from me much easier these days.
First of all, Claire took her first airplane trip to Colorado for Christmas. She was great for most of the flight, and just got a little fussy at the end. At that point, we were all a little fussy thanks to our non-reclining seats in the last row. We were very happy to finally land, and also very happy to see the rest of Mike’s family.
We spent a great week with the Artz Grandparents, uncles, and extended family. Everyone got together for (extended) family Christmas and Claire Welcoming, complete with tons of food and cake.
Christmas proper was spent as it normally is at the Artz household: in pajamas. Claire definitely received the most presents of anyone in the family, and was responsible for most of the hoarding, as she wasn’t actually able to open her own gifts. We enjoyed our traditional Christmas meal (Night Before French Toast and Egg Casserole), and settled in for a long day of napping, playing, and nothing. It was wonderful.
Before we left, we had some professional family pictures taken, which I will scan and upload in the near future. Stay tuned.
The flight back from Colorado was uneventful, and Claire was perfect the whole way. We spent the next day (Sunday) unpacking and generally preparing for the week to come, as Susan returned to work that Monday. Grandma Mitchell had agreed to babysit until we could work out permanent babysitting, which was a huge comfort when Susan left for work on Monday morning.
The following weekend (just after New Year’s), we took a short weekend trip to New York to visit several of Mike’s friends, one of whom had just returned from China. We managed to hit a few excellent places to eat while we were there, as well as checking out the dinosaur fossils in the Natural History Museum, a favorite of both Mike and Susan. Claire was well behaved the entire trip, and even Mike’s friends agreed that she was “one of the cuter babies” around.
After we returned from New York, we analyzed our finances and took stock of our priorities, and decided that we would both prefer Susan to stay home and be Claire’s full-time mom. She put in her two week’s notice, finished up her existing projects, and is now enjoying Claire during the day. Susan thought that she would have more time than she does (Claire seems to eat it, along with everything else), but we both feel so blessed that we had this option and were able to give Claire a full-time parent.
The most recent major event of the past two months occurred on January 17, when we dedicated Claire to the Lord at McLean Bible Church. Pastor Lon Solomon presided over the dedication, shown in the brief movie below.
Claire continues to grow, and had her 4 month doctor’s appointment last week. She weighed 12 lbs 3 oz (25%), was 23.75 inches tall (50%) and had a noggin circumference of 16.25 inches (50-75%). At the doctor’s office, Claire was the happiest little (naked) angel until they stuck her with her immunizations, at which point she became the unhappiest little (naked) angel. The doctor apologized, but said that she was otherwise perfect, and very cute to boot. She also said that we could think about starting Claire on solid foods, but I think that we might wait till 6 months for that.
The holidays are over, Claire is growing into life as a baby, and we are all settling into a family rhythm. We’re trying to savor every minute, as we can see how fast time is moving. Pretty soon Claire will be mobile, and then the real fun begins.
99% Nice, 1% Naughty
December 18th, 2008We are preparing to leave to visit the Artz grandparents tomorrow, and both Claire and Susan are asleep, so this is one of the rare moments that I have completely to myself.
This past week we “had Christmas” with the Mitchell side of the family. We all went over to the Mitchell grandparents for an afternoon of good food, good company, and gifts for all.
Just before we arrived, however, we managed to sneak in a quick visit to Santa, where Claire mentioned that she had been extra good this year.
Claire also made another friend last week, when Susan’s friend Anna brought her 8 month old daughter Marisha over for a play date. There isn’t much playing at Claire’s age, so she just drooled on everything, which is about par for the course.
And now we are finishing up preparations to spend another Christmas in Colorado. Its amazing how much stuff is required to transport a baby, but luckily the Artz grandparents were able to obtain a lot of the larger baby items (car seat, pack-n-play, etc), which thankfully alleviates the need for us to carry them on the plane. We’re excited to see the grandparents again, as well as show off Claire to all the other relatives in Colorado.
Claire Turns 2 (Months)
December 8th, 2008Claire had her two month doctor’s visit this past Friday. She weighed in at a positively portly 9 lbs, 8 oz, which puts her in the top 25%. This means she is still a little light for her height (21 3/4 inches, 50%), but the doctor said that she was perfectly healthy. She also received 4 shots in her little legs, which made her cry quite a bit and caused her to be lethargic for the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been keeping up with our picture taking during the week, but have a bunch of movie clips just waiting to be uploaded. So stay tuned!
Claire Playing on Her Changing Table
December 2nd, 2008Here are a couple of clips of Claire playing (and talking) on her favorite place, her changing table. Its a video that only family could be interested in.
Thanksgiving 2008
November 30th, 2008Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I realized that we hadn’t posted an update in a while. We’ve been quite busy, not only with being new parents, but also travelling to Ohio for a pre-Thanksgiving gathering. In the weekend before Thanksgiving, we saw almost everyone from both sides of Susan’s family. Unfortunately, we didn’t take as many pictures as we intended, however we did manage to get some pictures of Claire’s first hamburger, a Klein family tradition (they own K’s, the local hamburger shop in Troy, Ohio).
Claire was a trooper for 8-hour car rides, and only complained once during the trip. She managed to sleep most of the time, and only woke up a couple of times to eat.
For the “real” Thanksgiving, we went to Susan’s brother’s house in Frederick, where his wife Terra made an enourmous, 30 pound turkey and lots of other tasty side dishes. Claire slept for most of the visit, but did manage to wake up long enough to enjoy her own version of Thanksgiving dinner.
As Thanksgiving is a time to remember what we are thankful for, I’d be remiss if I did not mention how blessed we feel to be where we are today, surrounded by all of our loving family. Claire is only the latest gift in lives full of countless blessings, and we thank all of you who are part of our lives and our hearts.
In other news, Claire continues to grow like a weed. I weighed her today (fully clothed) at 9 lbs 11 oz. She is definitely sporting double chins, and has some nice baby chub to her little legs. Unfortunately, her hairline still resembles that of a (mostly) bald man, with no signs of filling in on top. Perhaps the sides and back will soon be long enough for a decent comb-over.
We are also adjusting to her schedules, and have found that she really needs to take at least one good nap during the day to avoid getting cranky. On good days, she’ll go to sleep for the night around 8:30, wake up once around 1:00 to eat, and then sleep again till about 7:00. During the day, she loves to play just after she has her diaper changed (but before she is dressed) and has started to smile and make various gurgling sounds when happy.
We’ve started planning for our trip to Colorado for Chirstmas, and are wondering whether Claire will enjoy the flight. If you have any tips on flying with an infant, please let us know.
Claire, Weeks 4-5
November 9th, 2008Claire is doing quite well, and weighed in (last week) at 8 lbs 3 oz. Its amazing how fast she is growing, and I think that she gets a little bigger every time she stretches. I’m afraid to blink and miss something important. She just started to outgrow her “newborn” sizes and fits comfortably in 0-3 months. She still isn’t smiling reliably, however, so we have to content ourselves with the “sleep grins” that pop out when she is tired.
Claire has had several baths at this point, and seems to like them all, as long as she stays warm. We cover her with a warm wet washcloth, and she seems to enjoy the feel of the water.
We have it on good authority that weeks 4-6 are the most fussy, and Claire seems to be no exception. When she isn’t crying or sleeping, she tends to fuss, but its nothing that a good jiggling session won’t cure … for about 2 minutes. She tends to be hungriest in the morning and likes to “cluster feed” from awakening to about noon, which is tough on Susan.
We attended our child dedication class at McLean Bible Church, and they estimated that it would not be till February or March that the dedication would actually happen. Once we get an actual date, we will let everyone know so that they can plan to come (or not).
Artz Grandparents Visit Claire
October 30th, 2008Both Grandma and Grandpa Artz visited Claire last week. They were fighting over who would hold her, and even wanted to wake up in the middle of the night to give us a chance to sleep. There was also tons of baby advice to go around, most of it good. It was a great visit, and we’ve already been told that they are having a bit of Claire withdrawal.
Uncle Andy made the trip down from New York for the weekend while the G-Parents were in town:
Claire also had her 3 week doctor’s appointment on Wednesday (10/29), and weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz (10-25%), 20 1/4 inches tall (50%), and 14 inches around her head (25%). The doctor was a bit suprised at the weight gain (12 ounces in 9 days), but said that she had a bit of catching up to do, so it was just fine.
Claire Turns Two (Weeks)
October 20th, 2008Claire had her official two-week doctor’s visit today. She weighed in a 6 lbs 12 oz, which puts her just 3 ounces shy of her birth weight but only in the 5th percentile of infants, so she is still pretty tiny. Her other important stats were her height (19.25 inches, 25th percentile) and head size (13.5 inches, 10th percentile). She also received a heel prick to draw blood for a metabolic screen, which she was not happy about at all.
I (Mike) started work again today. It was especially difficult to leave both Susan and Claire after two weeks spent together, but I managed to concentrate enough to do a respectable days work. I’m not sure that it will get any easier as the days go by, especially as Claire starts to develop her personality. We think she might have smiled once or twice, but that might have been gas.
Claire Elizabeth Artz
October 17th, 2008On October 4, 2008, we welcomed Claire Elizabeth Artz into the world. At 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long, she was “long and lean” as the nurse described her. She was also anxious to come out, and actually had to be caught by the nurse as the doctor had not yet put on his gloves. Claire has been enriching our lives (and our nights) since we brought her home, and now we can’t remember what life was like BC (before Claire).
Check out our pictures on Flickr:
Or a couple of hastily put together clips of her first moments:
Welcome home, Claire! We love you!
via RSS/Atom
via Email