2008 Holiday Season and Year Recap

Happy New Year, everyone.

Well, I failed to actually post before the end of 2008. C'est la vie. (That's for you, Jacob. Look it up.) Since we have so many pix and videos since the last post, I figured I would break up this post into 3 mini-posts. This is a really long post, so I apologize in advance. Each section has its own set of pix and videos. If you want to see them all, have at them. The 3 general categories are:

• Health, Development, & General Stuff
• Thanksgiving 2008
• Christmas in Florida - 2008

A note on viewing the pix. For the time being, I am simply putting slide shows in the post. You can view the albums at your pace at any time by going to Dave's Picasa Albums.

Health, Development, & General Stuff from Nov & Dec 2008

Been a while since we last posted so I figure starting with some of her recent developments is a good place to start.

• Sophia had her 6 month checkup in early December.


• 18 pounds and 6 oz - ~70 percentile
• 25 3/4 inches tall - ~70 percentile


• Of course this was technically a week late. Sophia had her first sickness. When all the Lennons got together for Thanksgiving (more on that later) Daddy Dave got sick. Sure enough, Sophia got sick a little later. And lastly Mommy Michele got sick last. We all ended up taking antibiotics to clear things up. It was Daddy Dave and Sophia's first time ever taking antibiotics. The only scary time was when Sophia's temperature got up to 102 F. The after hours nurse told us to give her a cold bath and not to really worry until she got to 105. Frankly, I don't think that's very good advice, but I'm sure she stayed a Holiday Inn Express the night before. I have to admit that I now know what it feels like to feel completely powerless. We wanted nothing more than for Sophia to get better, or at least feel good. But we could only soothe her as best our biological instincts (and many google searches) allowed. When Sophia was young (hah! I guess a couple of months old) she didn't mind the aspirator. At 6 months, she minded. And now she is mobile, strong, and independent enough to avoid our efforts to help her breathe. As many parents before us know, that is most fun at 03:17am.
  
• Getting around. Sophia has made some good progress in this arena. She can scoot around the room pretty easily now. (See videos below.) She's also able to roll over from her back to her belly consistently. The other way still requires some effort. (Or is it dumb luck?)
• Along these same lines, in the last few weeks, Sophia has started being able to remain sitting up straight unassisted. Well, for up to a minute or so at which point - "Timber."
  
  

  From Casa Lennon Pics for December 2008

  
  
• Our friends, the Turners, gave us a Johnny Jump Up. (See Video below.) Holy guacamole. She loves that thing. All newer-than-us parents or parents-to-be must invest in one, especially all our extended volleyball family. What's funny is that ever since she started using that, all she wants to do is bounce, hop, jump, etc. The sad part is that she now has mo' mad ups than Daddy Dave.
  

Here are some pix from the last month
(Remember - Xmas and Tgiving photos are further down the page)


December 2008 Videos
1 of 4 -Many people seem quite intrigued by how Sophia gets around while she is lying on her back. I figured I would try to capture it. It isn't until about 25 seconds in that she actually starts moving. Anyway, you'll see why she has a bald spot on the back of her head.


2 of 4 - Sophia can only move forward on her back, so, of course, she can only move backwards on her belly.


3 of 4 - This is a video of Michele and Sophia playing one night. I love Sophia's giggling. I also like the face Sophia gives the camera at the end of the video.


4 of 4 - Our good friends, the Turner family, passed their Johnny Jump Up to us. We are eternally grateful because Sophia absolutely loves it. She is just getting used to it in this video, but she can't get enough of it now.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had the good fortune of celebrating Thanksgiving twice this year. Once with friends when the Dois hosted a Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before, then our family get together on Turkey day. Dinner with the Dois was great and Sophia definitely enjoyed playing with people her own size.
Turkey Day was especially sweet this year because the Lennon Clan descended on North Carolina. It definitely made "traveling" easier for us since we only had to drive to Chapel Hill for a phenomenal Thanksgiving meal prepared by my cousin Travis and Michelle. YUMMY! The meal deserves its own blog post.
Of course, the truly important part of Thanksgiving was to get together with the ones we love and we are extremely fortunate that we were able to do that. (For those who couldn't make it, we love y'all, too.) We had a total of 12 people in our home. That may be a new record for us. It was snug and was very special for me because it reminded me of holidays at Grandma Lennon's house in Edgewater Park where we seemed to fit people everywhere. (Whenever Dave wonders if we'll have enough space for something, I just think of 49c Edgewater Park.)
The day after Thanksgiving, we joined every other Triangle family with young children at the NC Museum of Life and Science. (I must admit that I was disappointed the lemurs were not out.) We had a nice picnic and birthday celebration for Peter, Catalina, Renee, Gary and Cousin Michelle before going in. The cake sure was crowded.

Here are some pix from our Thanksgiving celebrations

Christmas and Florida Family Visit

Christmas was in Florida this year. (Central Florida, north of Orlando.) We debated for a while whether or not to fly or drive. The drive would have been about 3-4 days of travel - cuz we would have wanted to stop in Savannah, Charleston, and/or Saint Augustine. Then Southwest offered non-stop flights for less than $90 each way. SOLD! So Sophia had her first ever flight. We (and all of our co-passengers) are very happy to report that it went very well. Sophia slept on the original take off and other than that she was unfazed. Thankfully, RDU to Orlando is a relatively short flight.
When we got to Florida we opted to upgrade at a big discount from 3 door Hyundai Accent to a Toyota Avalon. Money well spent. We stayed in one of Michele's father's homes. (Making him sound like a McCain. ;) ) Thankfully felt comfortable there and was able to sleep comfortably. What made the experience even more fantastic was the kindness of Shane and Jamie. (Mommy Michele's brother.) They have a beautiful baby girl, Kielynn, who is just a few months older than Sophia. Shane and Jaime let us borrow a pack-and-play and several toys for Sophia. Made life (and packing) much easier.
In Florida, Sophia got to meet a lot of her Hane family. She had met her maternal grandmother, Mimi, a few months ago. But on this trip she met her cousins, aunts and uncles, grandfather, and many others. For the most part, Sophia did pretty well with being handed to a bunch of "strangers". Sophia has started to develop a bit of stranger anxiety, but she did pretty well. She seemed really intrigued by her grandpa Marv and cousin Jacob. Who knew?
Daddy Dave thought it was really cool that Sophia got to meet her great-great-aunt Lois and great-great-uncle Francis. (Lois is Michele's paternal grandfather's big sister.) That just seems so cool.
We shared a Christmas Eve dinner with Mimi, Shane, Jaime, and Aunt Helen. It was quite delish, and it made quite a dish. (That's for you, Straffin. For anyone who is curious, here is the source.) We finished the night with some board games with Shannon (Michele's sister), Ben, Chloe, and Jacob. Everyone had a great time. We also had several big family gatherings that made seeing more people while we were down much easier.
Christmas day finished very nicely because our friends Maryjo and Scots were kind enough to come over and cook Christmas dinner for us. They knew we were flying back that morning and had no food. We are very grateful to them for their kindness. They even brought presents for Sophia.

Sophia opened her first present while we were in Florida. Michele's cousin, Cindy, sent Sophia a wonderful book. See the video below. Many others were very generous and helped stock up on age-appropriate toys and books for Sophia. We are very grateful for all of the generosity of friends and family.

Here are some pix from our Christmas celebrations & time in Florida


And a few videos
1 of 5 - This is Sophia officially unwrapping her first wrapped Christmas present. (Thank you, Cousin Cindy). Of course, she didn't do much of the unwrapping, but she loves the taste of the present.


2 of 5 - Sophia met a lot of new people in Florida. For example, she got to meet her great-great uncle Francis and great-great Aunt Lois. How cool is that. (Lois is Sophia's maternal great grandfather's sister.) This video also has some more of the extended Hane clan who were in Florida for Christmas.


3 of 5 -Went to Florida and Sophia just would not stay calm for 3 seconds with her Aunt Shannon. Shannon made the most of it by having fun with Sophia.


4 of 5 - Sophia had a great time in Florida meeting her maternal extended family. She really enjoyed playing with her cousins. Just take a look.


5 of 5 - A holiday family tradition is to play some board games and have a blast. Christmas Eve we played Jacob's Christmas present, Cranium. Jacob is supposed to hum or whistle the tune and Ben and Dave are to try to guess. If you can't figure out, don't worry, we didn't either. (My favorite part may be Jacob's excuse caught at the very end of the video.)




UP NEXT TIME ...
Daddy Dave goes back to work January 12th and little Sophia starts daycare at Primrose Schools. The daycare is just a mile from the house and a mile from Mommy Michele's work, so Mommy Michele plans to see her during lunch at least once a week. We are very confident that things will go well. We've heard only great things and we have friends who have sent their kids there for years. We got on the waiting list January of 2008 and were confirmed for a spot in November.

Best Wishes in the New Year!
Love,
The Lennons!

Just past 5 months and kicking along

Sophia is just over 5 months old and she seems to be developing so quickly. I don't know if it's because I am home with her now and I see it more readily, or if she's just growing up so dern fast. :) Some of the new developments since our last post:

• Sophia has decided to try quite a few different foods. We introduced rice cereal last month at the recommendation of our pediatrician. Of course, many sites and books tell you that the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends no solids til month 6, but oh well. (Actually, looks like 4-6 months.) Foods she has had since:
  
  

  Avocado - She absolutely loved it. She finished all of what we gave her.
  Banana - This was not as popular. The banana may not have been ripe enough. But she did not inhale it (literally and figuratively) like she did the avocado.
  Butternut squash - She has had quite a bit of this. We bought one to make some risotto and blended the rest for her. we mix it up with her rice cereal and she goes to town.

• Sophia has decided that while lying on her back, she can actually scoot around the room. On the one hand, we love it because it is a sin of progress and development. On the other, it is not so great, cuz now I can't just leave her in the middle of the room and walk away. She will find the hardest object in the room and head (pun intended) straight for it. It got bad enough that we broke down and bought bumpers for her bed. Daddy Dave thought she'd get used to it, but when she rams her head at 3:00am, she doesn't just "deal with it." :)
• We have started referring to Sophia as our little Baby raptor. (As in a baby velociraptor.) Quite often, she will start to cry/screech in what can only be described as the wail of a baby velociraptor. (No idea what I am talking about, see some other random baby making the noise.)
• Sophia had her first Skype call earlier this week. Abuela Lennon called, and it was feeding time. So I went ahead and turned on Skype with video chat and Sophia's paternal grandparents were able to watch. sound didn't work, for some reason, but who cares, that's not the important part.
• Earlier this week we also tried to introduce Sophia to the sippy cup. Though we know we'll be there some day, it did not go so well today. It was very much a foreign concept to her. (To Daddy Dave, too, to be honest. Took me a minute to figure out that the rubber part inside needed to be "split".
• Sophia also got a new stroller thanks to Abuela Lennon. This new stroller (pictured in the slideshow below) is much lighter than our original one. We still use them both, but there is definitely a difference between a "jogging" stroller (original) and an "umbrella" stroller (new one). As long as Sophia is comfortable in either, we're happy.
  

The Usual Dose of Pictures
Here are the latest round of pix. Only 23 this time, so I won't waste your whole day. :)



The Usual Dose of Videos
This video has Daddy Dave's annoying voice trying to describe Sophia's new found interest in moving around on her back. Daddy Dave was in a good mood cuz she had a great nap. :)


This is Sophia having a "conversation" with her daddy. She likes to just sit there some times and half giggle half talk.


This video is more amusing for Mommy Michele's efforts to get Sophia to do something of interest. I especially like her singing.

Almost 5 months old - Finally getting around to posting

You'd think with Daddy Dave beginning his 12 weeks of parental leave, he'd have time to make a few blog post entries. You and he would both be wrong. After much delay, I am finally posting the pix that Mommy Michele promised last time. Apologies for the delay.

There were a couple of quick anecdotes I wanted to share.
Sophia's First Word
After deciding she has finally mastered Klingon - I verified her annunciation with the Klingon Language Institute, Sophia decided to try on something new. I am proud to announce Sophia's first word: "Galarraga". Who knew she was a fan of the former Braves first baseman.
(In case you are still wondering, yes that's a joke. But say that name with your best baby voice out loud - come on, you know you want to. See, easy to hear how I think she said it.)

Daddy Dave Begins Parental Leave
So it's true, I have started my official leave. Those of you following me on facebook and twitter already knew that, I suppose. Today is the first day of my second week. The 3 of us had all last week off together. It was great. We relaxed and had a nice stacation.
Michele is now back to work. As much as she doesn't like being away from Sophia, she is also happy to be back at work. She likes her work and enjoys the people she works with. Being only a 1 1/2 minute drive (sorry, Larry) from home also means she can come home quickly if she wants.

Peter and Abuela (maternal grandmother) came down
Daddy Dave's brother Peter made the trip to Morrisville to ostensibly run in the Morrisville 5K. That didn't happen. Instead, they attended a photography class. Dave needs to learn to use his sweet Canon EOS Rebel Xsi that Mommy Michele got him for his birthday. (Most of the pix on this post were taken with that camera.)
To make us feel better, we did some trail riding the next day at Lake Crabtree park. I was surprised that Peter had never been "mountain" trail riding. Lake Crabtree is not much of a mountain, though Loop 6 can kick my... sorry, family blog.

Sophia kinda starts on solid foods
Sophia was given the clear by her pediatrician to start rice cereal. Our pediatrician should have told Sophia that. As you'll see in one of the videos below, Sophia wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to (a) start eating non-liquids and (b) eat from this new fangled thing called a spoon. She likes the nipple just fine, thank you very much. (Again, family blog, so keepin' the entendres to a minimum.)

First ever visit to her day care
Today, Sophia took her first ever visit to her daycare. She will be going to Primrose Schools. We can't wait for her to start because you see, one mortgage is not enough. :( Seriously though, we are very happy with our choice and know she'll be happy there. Ironically, we met a nice lady named Sylvia who is from Spain. She was very excited to meet me because she said that she had yet to meet anyone in this area from Spain. I guess I'll just have to do.

We know we are lucky, but when we heard that one of Sophia's future classmates comes in from Pittsboro every day? D*&M!! For you non-locals. (Sorry again, Larry.)

Pictures (94 of them)
(If you want to see the photos individually and not in a Flash slideshow, here's the album.) You may want to go there also if you want more control of the slideshow. If you want to start the slide show below again, you'll need to refresh this page and scroll down to see the sldes again.


Videos

Mommy Michele making Sophia Laugh (45 seconds) Note that Mommy Michele was the one holding the camera, so not only is it artistic, it is impressive.


Solid Foods. Kinda. (2:39 in length)


Mommy Michele Making Sophia chuckle some more (1:01 in length)
(if you listen, you can here abuela, cousin michele, and cousin travis in the background.)

4 months

This morning was Sophia's 4-month-check-up. She is now 15 lbs 9 oz (90%) and 24.5 inches long (75%). Considering she was in the 50 percentile for her 1 month visit and 75 percentile for her 2 month visit, we no longer have any worries about her eating. She is in her 9 months clothing, but I'm guessing she won't stay there very long.

The doctor recommended we start her on rice cereal and move into solids. Moms and Dads out there, let us know your experience and how you did it. What brand did you buy? How did it go?

Since the last post, Dave got a new camera for his birthday. It is a Canon digital SLR. I signed him up for some camera classes. He will be getting a tripod at some point so that he too can be documented in the family events. I'm going to leave it him to post the pictures, so you'll have to check back later for those updates.

Miss Sophia has progressed well with her sleeping also. She sleeps between 11 and 13 hours a night. She started waking up at night when it got cold at night here. I bought her some heavier sleepers and a little space heater and she is now sleeping like a champ again. On Sunday, she took 6 hours of naps and was only awake 4 hours total that day. She usually only naps twice during the day and for only 1 hour at a time plus a quick nap in her stroller in the late afternoon when we go for a walk.

A quick round up of other developments:
-She is sitting up with assistance in her exersaucer, on our laps, and in her bumbo (video in next post)
-She rolled over 4 times about a month ago and hasn't done it again since. The Dr. said most babies don't roll over until 5 months, so we don't know what that was about. There's video there that I think Dave already posted.
-She went to the babysitter WHILE awake for the first time. Thanks to Marcela, Nikki & Ivan, and the grandparents.
-Dave's parents came for a week and had a blast with Miss Sophia. They helped entertain Miss Sophia while I got the house a little cleaner.
-I went to work for three days and left her w/ Dave and his parents. The first morning was a little hard. The second day, I stayed late to go to a reception after the conference. She was in good hands.
-She is babbling.
-She is ticklish, especially under her right arm.

Things are going to be changing in October. Wednesday is Dave's last day at Duke until January 12th. I go back to work October 20th. I'm very proud of Dave for taking his FMLA time to spend with Sophia and get to know our daughter even better. I'll only be 3 minutes away, so I can always come visit during lunch, which makes the transition easier for me.

Miss Sophia is waking up from her nap now. Best wishes.

Michele

Two weeks before and three months after ...

Sophia joined Mom and Dad for her first photo shoot about two weeks before she was born.
Here's her latest picture at three months. Enjoy.

3 months old already?

I can't believe we've reached the end of the fourth trimester. :)

Figured since Sophia was 3 months old today, I should finally get around to posting something again. I can't believe it's been 3 months! Well, as you might imagine, a few things have happened, so let's cut to the chase. New developments:

• Sophia sleeps through the night

Woo Hoo!! That's worth re-writing. Sophia sleeps through the night. It felt just as good to type it the second time as it did the first time. Truth be told, she doesn't sleep through every night, but so what! She tends to go down fairly consistently at 8:00 pm. (+/- 30 minutes) I think the first night that she slept through, neither Mommy Michele nor I did cuz we were concerned. "Why isn't she crying yet?" "Do you think she is OK?" You parents out there know what I am talking about.

• Sophia actually rolled over on her own
  

This was a little bit of a surprise. We were just chillin' upstairs getting her some tummy time. She deals with that OK. But I guess she'd had her fill and she decided to roll over on her back. I think what amazed me more than anything was how genuinely excited I got.

• Facing out in the Baby Carrier
  

Sophia has always liked the baby carrier. However, in recent weeks, she started facing out (sample picture), rather than staring at our chests all the time. This may sound small, but she likes it even more. Which translates into us being able to take longer walks together. Now, whether we actually do take those walks together is a whole 'nother matter.

Pictures from the last few weeks
(As usual, you can see the pix direct, rather than with flash.)




A Handful of videos
Mimi enjoying some time with Sophia



Waking up in the morning with a few smiles



Video trying to catch Sophia rolling over on her own. (No video evidence yet.)



A Video only a parent (or grandparent) could love (Just trying to capture the roll on video)

Sophia's first DC trip (and more)

Sorry for taking so long to post something new. Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. For example:

• Sophia had her first travel adventure (trip to DC)
• Sophia met her tia (aunt) Elizabeth, tio Diego, and 3 Spanish Cousins
• Sophia had her first babysitting experience (Grandpa)
  
• Sophia turned 2 months old (August 5)
• Sophia is cooing and giggling
• Sophia met her maternal grandmother (aka, Meme)

Hopefully the pix and video may make it worthwhile. To pique your interest, I'll start with a picture that I think may be my fave so far.

"Highlights" from Sophia's first trip to DC
Let me just start by saying that we knew the car trip would be longer than the ~5 hours we were used to. (Stop to feed, change diapers, etc.) We did not expect that it would take us 9 hours of total travel time to get to New Market, MD. Mind you, that's because we got to Tyson's Corner at around 6:00 pm Friday afternoon. Middle of DC rush hour. No thanks. We stopped and ate dinner. (2 hours at Tysons.)

Sophia Met the rest of Dave's immediate family
Sophia got to meet her Aunt Elizabeth (Dave's sister), her husband Diego, and 3 kids - Diego, Pablo, & Cristina. She also got to meet her uncle Paul (another of Dave's brothers), his wife Renee, and 2 of their 3 kids - Catalina and Mariana. (Isabela wasn't able to make it, but Sophia can't wait to meet her cousin.) It's always great to see the family, but, for obvious reasons, this time was special. It is so wonderful to see everyone, especially the kids, get so genuinely excited about meeting Sophia. Makes you really appreciate family.

Probably one of the more memorable events was going to Buca di Beppo. It is a very loud restaurant. Baby Sophia hadn't napped much that day. She spent just about the entire time zonked out on uncle Paul's shoulder. It was pretty amazing that she stayed put. (Pictures in the slide show.) There are also some adorable pix of Sophia's cousin Cristina holding Sophia. Cristina really wanted to hold her new cousin but was really nervous about what to do if she cried. Well, it lasted about 10 seconds.

2 month check up
Sophia had her 2 month check up on 8/5. She got 4 vaccinations and was not necessarily her cheerful self for the next couple of days. That was to be expected. We were pleased with her physical progress.

Weight: ll lbs 8.5oz. (70th percentile)
Height: 23 1/4" (75th percentile)
Head Circum: 15 1/2" (70th percentile)

Considering that she was at 50th, 50th, and 60th, respectively, one month before, we are very happy.

Sophia met the first of her maternal relatives
Mommy Michele's momma (aka, Meme) came up from Florida and spent an extended weekend with us. Sophia really enjoyed this time as the two of them got to spend some quality time together. In fact, some of that time was so that Mom and Dad could go out on a date.
(THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! )
We went out to the movies. Our choices were "Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia!". We both selected "Mamma Mia!". Despite my friend John Straffin's protestations, I will relinquish neither my geek card nor my man card. (I'm still singing ABBA songs a week later. :) )

Most Recent Pix
(Gotta admit, there are a quite a few, so I didn't name and / or describe them all. Sorry.)
(For those of you who don't like Flash or just want to see the photos directly on Flickr, click here.)




A Collection of Videos
Here are a couple of recent videos of Sophia smiling and laughing.
Mommy Michele giving Sophia some kisses one morning



Sophia enjoying playing with Mommy

Quick Update since Daddy Dave's been slackin'

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Sophia since we have not posted much in a while.

Here are 4 quick pix. 2 of Sophia smiling and 2 of our friends visiting from Kentucky. More to come soon. (Daddy Dave promises.)

Sophia picked up a toy

This is my 1st post ... it is being done w/ 1 hand so please forgive.

I went into the kitchen and she had picked up the toy & was shaking it. She was still doing it after I ran upstairs & got the camera.

Sophia loves kisses ... she smiles & giggles when we give her kisses.

Last nite, she was getting upset b/c she kept grabbing her own hair & pulling it. We would pull her hand off & she'd do it again. It was sad and funny at the same time. She did it twice.

One month in and we are still sane

Sophia celebrated one month on Saturday. (Time flies) I am happy to report that Daddy Dave, Mommy Michele, and Sophia are all doing well. (Couldn't really think of anything alliterative to go with Sophia.)

First month highlights and learnins :) -

• Friends and family are very generous and supportive
• Babies can sleep through almost anything. But only during the day.
• Mommy Michele is amazing. (Stamina, instincts, sacrifice.)
• Flex Spending is one of the best things we ever did.
• It's amazing how much time and effort we had to spend working with our respective HR groups to get time off, benefits changes, etc. Not a small amount of time.
  
• Truly fascinating how "everything else" just doesn't seem that important anymore.

Anyway, on to what may be of actual interest. Sophia is doing well. Today we took her to the doctor. She is 9lbs 2.5oz. That's in the 50% range. Considering that just 11 days ago she was at 7lbs 11.5oz (still below birth weight) we are very happy with recent progress. She's in the same ranges for head size and length. (I feel like I am describing a swordfish catch.) Well, we are happy with 18.6% increase. Hopefully she can keep that up.

And as is my custom, I'll finish this post with some pix and a video.

Pictures of Sophia
(Note: for those of you on non-Flash supporting devices, you can view the pics here)


Video of Sophia
A silly video of Sophia moving around. I had some requests for "action footage" so here ya go.

Meet the Abuelos

Been a while since I posted. Believe it or not, we've been busy. ;) The biggest thing to happen of late was a visit from the paternal grandparents. We were also pleasantly surprised by the unexpected visit from two of Sophia's uncles: tio Michael and tio Peter.

Some Pictures
Some pix from the last couple of weeks. I was looking for pictures of Sophia with her uncles Michael or Peter, but I think that I took all those pix experimenting with Uncle Peter's camera. (oops)

A Video
I thought this was a pretty funny clip. Sophia holding on to her own bottle. Swear I didn't set this up.

Sophia's first week home

We have been home from the hospital almost a week. Life is a little different than before. We couldn't be happier. Everyone told me beforehand, "kiss sleep good-bye". I think we were both prepared for that. We are tired (at times exhausted), but it's not as bad as I thought.

I was chatting with my friend Mike about this and we think that it's not the lack of sleep, necessarily, it's the loss of down time. There is no such thing anymore. We are now "on" all the time. Down time is for showers (sometimes), eating (thanks, everyone!), and staring at Sophia in her crib. With that segue, here are some pix from Sophia's first week home.

Remaining Images from Hospital Stay

Sophia is sleeping and I am sneaking some time to share the latest.

• We are tired.
• We love her more daily.
• We think with all the manuals out there, someone would have prepped us. :)
• Dave is utterly humbled by his wife's endurance, strength of will, and devotion to our child.
• We are both immensely grateful for the generosity of our friends and family. This process would be infinitely more challenging without all of you. Thank you.
  

Now, on to what you actually care about. ;)

Latest Pix



Funny Video of Sophia with the hiccups

(Belated) Birth Announcement of Sophia Elizabeth Lennon

Holding fast to time tested and honored Lennon family communication patterns, I am not posting anything about the birth of our first child until 3 days after her birth. We are incredibly happy to announce that Sophia Elizabeth Lennon was born on June 5, 2008 at 13:28. More details:

8 pounds 4 oz
20 inches long
Born at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC


Michele and I are happy beyond my mere words about the arrival of such an amazing presence into our lives. She is more than I could have imagined. We are also very grateful to all of the people who have called/visited/emailed/set flowers. We are overwhelmed (in a a good way) with the support and affection everyone has shown us.

Now, after much delay, here are some of our favorite pictures from Day 1 of Miss Sophia's first day with us.



And a video showing mom and daughter bonding early on.


More pix/vids/stories as time permits. :)

Nursery Pictures (Before Arrival)

Welcome to the inaugural Casa Lennon blog posting. We hope to use this blog to share regular updates about life in the home of the North Carolina Lennons, especially with the forthcoming arrival of our first little one. By now, many of you know she is scheduled to be delivered Thursday June 5th at 1:00pm. We are very excited!

To get things started, here are some pictures of her "crib".
Night time view of the nursery


Day Time View of the Nursery

And in case you are really bored, check out a sample video of what she'll see when she's lying in the crib



We expect to post pictures of the star attraction herself soon enough. Stay tuned.