Father's Day

Yesterday was my first father's day.  I have to say that being a father has been truly amazing so far.  Of course, that has a lot to do with having a great son and an incredible wife.

We spent the day just relaxing and getting some chores done.  We did take Oscar out in his new ride, a 2008 Chariot stroller.  You will see more of that in the years to come as we can take it anywhere we can walk, run, bike and ski!  But, the best part of Father's day was just hanging out together as a family.

Grandma Jo

While Oscar is waiting for daycare to begin, JoEllyn has come up to take care of Oscar for part of June.  Its been wonderful knowing Oscar has his Grandma to care for him.  JoEllyn has been doing a great job and we also have had some time on the weekends to explore Seattle with her.  Last weekend we went to the Seattle Art Museum and saw a great exhibit by Nick Cave.  Here are some photos of her visit so far.

https://picasaweb.google.com/jazzman70/GrandmaJo

Oscar works the room

Oscar saying hello to a new friend.

JoEllyn has been a fantastic caregiver for Oscar these past couple of weeks and will continue through next week.  We are so happy that he is having this time to bond with his Grandma.  We are also grateful that we have care for our little bug. 

On Monday when we registered Oscar for daycare they mentioned that Jo and Oscar could join the daycare on their weekly trip to the Park West Senior Care Center, which is just up the street from our house. 

Today Jo packed up Oscar and met up with the babies, tots and a few of the caretakers from the daycare for a visit.  Jo reported that Oscar was the star of the day and was loved by all. We are so proud of our little Oscar! 

Thanks Jo!

Back at work and lots of baby growing and development

Evan and I are both back at work now.  While this is great for the cash flow it is heavy on the heart.  It puts us at ease that he has been in good hands with our friend Tricia and now his Grandma Jo.  The next step is daycare or a nanny.  We have a daycare, but we are waiting for another little one to transition to the toddler room.  She has taken a few steps and once she is walking, Oscar will take her spot in the baby room.  The daycare is super close to our house and we know a few people who have used this daycare so that eases our minds.

We are also exploring the option of hiring a nanny to care for Oscar, while it is a bit more expensive, it is way more flexible and convenient.  We really like the idea that Oscar will have more attention with a nanny. 

Being back at work has its roses and thorns.  It is good to have adult time and feel like you are contributing to the world, but it also takes us away from Oscar.  We are fearful of missing things in his life or that he won't be as connected us. We also just miss him and his little snuggles and smiles. 

Oscar has really developed in the last couple of weeks.  We are thrilled and awed by his ability to learn new things.  He found his fingers and has learned to grab things, which immediately go into his mouth, very slimy.  He also has learned to vocalize more than vowels, he can pronounce hard g's. Working on rolling over is also on the agenda, he has mastered the bridge pose in yoga and any day now he is going to roll over.  He practices this in his sleep which startles him to a point of waking up - this means very little sleep for me. Oscar is smiling a lot, which isn't new but we just can't help but talk about it and eat it up, he is a very happy baby.  I learned that if you sing to him and play with his legs you can actually get him to laugh.  What a joy that first giggle was for us.  We are trying to capture all this on video, but each time the camera goes up Oscar puts on an Oscar face (fish lips and gaze to the ground).  He might be a little camera shy or just not ready to share with the world. 

Finally, this post would not be complete without pictures, so enjoy the little series of pictures below.