July 2011

The last day of July is tomorrow and things are moving and changing again! Deb went back to work on July 21st and that has caused us to be more organized and figure out our new routines. Allison has adapted better than we probably have to daycare, but we are managing! So far, I have been taking Allison each morning, mostly because I am ready earlier than Deb and it allows for her to get herself ready for work after we leave. It also has to do with the fact that Deb may not be quite ready to drop off Allison at daycare! I can imagine it is a lot more fun to pick her up than drop her off…and Deb has been picking her up on her way home from work. All joking aside, the first day was a little rough, but things have settled down for all 3 of us. Allison is pretty tired in the evenings, as she hasn’t been sleeping much at daycare with the noise and lights. Without siblings, she gets a quiet condo and a dark room whenever she sleeps! She has been falling asleep between 8 & 9 each evening and sleeping until 6, which we are very grateful for! We know the inevitable cold/flu or teething will not have that lasting forever, and we are going to be in for a rude awakening when that happens! We also have come to really enjoy her care-giver at the daycare, Ms. Bradshaw. She is a very nice woman from Cuba and just simply treats Allison like a princess. She teases us about not showing up too early, because she isn’t ready to give her up for the day. Early in the month, several family members from my mom’s side were in town for the 4th of July weekend. We celebrated my mom’s birthday, along with going up to Dewart Lake. I rode up with Laura on the 2nd and then rode back with Beth that same evening. It was a very hot day and we enjoyed our time in the lake, good food and company. Deb spent the day inside due to the heat and then went over to Tom & Tracy’s for a cookout. Tom fed Allison and she crashed and was asleep most of the night. We made our first road trip and went to West Virginia. We left on a Thursday at around noon and it took about the same amount of time to get there as Allison slept most of the way. Anna had organized a party on Friday evening for anyone and everyone to come see Allison, and she did great being passed around to all the visitors and even put out some smiles for the crowd. We went kayaking on Saturday morning, which was the longest time up to that point that Deb had been away from Allison. Anna & Marty watched Allison and she was just fine when we got home, which we all knew she would be. On Saturday, we went over to Julie’s for dinner and had a wonderful evening on her back deck, which she had redecorated this spring. Allison did very well on this trip, sleeping well each evening and during the drives to and from Charleston.
We enjoyed a quiet day celebrating Deb’s birthday this year. We got up early and went to church and then grabbed breakfast at a quick place near us. Deb was able to head to the gym and took a nap. It wasn’t my birthday, but I may have taken 2 naps that day! Allison and I got her some new sunglasses for her birthday, and it seems like we did a good job picking them out! We got some sushi for dinner and then went to an ice cream place for desert with Beth, Mom, Claire and Grace.

A few more items from this month:
**We went to a cookout at the Foulke’s and had the opportunity to see the Purdue group. It was a great day, and it was fun to see everyone with the kids running around.

**I went down to Brown County with Jeremy and Tom to do some mounting biking in early July. Even though it is just southern Indiana, it felt like we were back in WV with most of us running into trees and walking up some hills after seeing the climb was just too long!

**Allison is still attending PT as that is scheduled through the end of September. Her neck control has improved and she is looking both ways pretty easily. She smiles too many times to count each day and her laugh sounds like a dinosaur.

Friday nights have definitely changed for us....

June 2011

This month seems to have flown by, but as I read the previous “May 2011” posting it feels like forever ago. Each day is a new adventure, but we have gotten some consistency with Allison and are beginning to understand her needs a little more. She has gotten into a decent routine where she will eat between 9 and 10 at night and sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. She will usually sleep after that until 6:30AM and that appears to be what we will need later in July when Deb goes back to work. She has been doing so well at night (knock on wood!) that Deb has been able to not nap much during the day and although her energy for a full work day will take time to re-adjust, it appears we have been very lucky with a pretty easy baby (again, knock on wood!).
As mentioned in a previous post, Allison was baptized this month. We had a great weekend with some of Deb’s family coming in from WV (Randy, Anna, Julie, Barbs, Taylor) along with some of our family in Indy (Mom, Vandervaarts, Wahmans, Mark, Caslers). Fr. Bonke performed the baptism and it was a small ceremony on a Saturday. It was followed by a small brunch at a hotel in town. That evening, we attended mass and went back to the hotel for a cookout. We had Fr. Bonke over for dinner later in the month to say “thanks” for doing the baptism.

Father’s day was bittersweet this year, as it being my first as a dad and the first without my dad. Deb got a picture of Allison and I “fist-bumping” developed along with a picture from her baptism with Allison’s footprints. I’m sure as the years go by, Father’s Day will be a much happier day, but it was tough this year. Deb also made waffles for breakfast “McGonagle” style, which is a waffle with an egg on top of it, along with syrup and butter. Needless to say, I had breakfast this way for a few days since there was extra waffle batter! Allison had her 2 month appointment. She is growing and gained 2 more pounds and grew another inch, so she is 10 lbs 7ozs and is 23 inches long. Everything appears to be going well, except for something called torticollis. The simple way to describe it is that Allison just looks to her right too much, so that can cause her neck muscles to be tight and also have a flat head on her right side. Anyway, we had a physical therapy appointment today and it sounds like we just need to do some exercises each day and it should take care of itself. No one appears to be too concerned about it, except for Deb and I, who are probably just dealing with our first “big worry” being first time parents and probably just need to get used to this feeling and do our best to relax. A few more items from this month:
**Pete and Laura were able to take their new son home in early June and seem to be doing well. I’m sure by the time you are on your third kid, you either have enough confidence to not worry about the small things or just don’t have the time!
**Beth moved back from Tennessee this month! She is living about a mile away from us in Broad Ripple and has a very nice apartment. She is excited to be back and is enjoying her time before she starts working full-time.
**My mom moved out of our house on Rowin Road and we enjoyed a final lunch. We all had fun, shared some stories/memories and walked out together. Her new condo is great. It is on the water, has very little maintenance and offers her (and all of us) the fresh start we need. Although it was tough to leave the house, this is a better situation for the long-term.
**We attended the Carroll Summer Reunion this month. It was great to see our extended family and the weather cooperated enough for everyone to enjoy the food, conversation and company.
**Deb and I have ventured out to dinner a few times. We went with Allison to the Monon Food Company and Fire restaurants here in Broad Ripple. We also were able to go to Sullivan’s Steakhouse for a belated anniversary dinner (mom babysat for us).