Zoo Crew...

This past week marked Andrew's first trip to the zoo. Andrew, mom, aunt Sara, Peter, Ryan, and Grandma all went down to the Como Zoo. They met up with some of aunt Sara's and mom's college friends and their kids. Andrew didn't understand what all the excitement was about, and slept through a great deal of the festivities. So to make up for his lack of enthusiasm, cousins Ryan and Peter tried everything out for him.

It was a warm day, so hanging out in the shade made good sense. Everyone seemed to enjoy the park, the picnic and the company. If this continues to be a family tradition, we might have to conjure up some ways to keep Andrew more entertained. However, much like his cousins, I get the feeling that Andrew may find ways to entertain himself at the zoo.



The next day it was off to hang out with great-grandpa Cicha. Peter and Ryan came over and were excited to play with all of great-grandpa's stuff. Andrew assumed the normal pose of sleeping when meeting somebody new. Great-grandpa was very happy to meet and hold Andrew.

Andrew also received a visit from mom's cousins Katie and Lena. This was their first time getting to meet Andrew.



One of Andrew's favorite pasttimes is reading with mom and dad. He doesn't comment on the goofy voices I make up for the characters, but instead he stares at the pictures. Andrew seems to have about a three book limit right now. At that point it seems like we are asking him to stay quiet for too long, and he lets us know about it. He doesn't have a favorite book as of yet. I know my favorites to read are the Dr. Seuss books. His eyes tend to roam about when I make the noises associated with the reading.

Friends, Family and Mice

Hey all,

The past week has been yet another blur of activity for Andrew and family. Tuesday we received a visit from Mrs. Robinson and Caleb. They stopped over to meet Andrew and hang out for a few minutes. It was great to have them over and share a few stories. Andrew said to be sure and stop back sometime.

That night we all went over to Peter & Ryan's house. Andrew got the chance to hang out with his cousins while we grilled-out. Everyone had a good time playing with the new swing set, and enjoying the great weather.

Later it was story time. Ryan took the iniative to choose the book that he and Andrew were going to read. Auntie Sara was more than happy to read stories to anyone that would listen. Thanks again for having us over.

Thursday we took another road trip. Andrew, mom and I went up to see grandma and grandpa Fasching. We hung out at the lake and soaked up some rays (okay, mom and I did, not so much Andrew). Grandma made sure that Andrew was well taken care of while the rest of us went for a quick boat ride.

Today Andrew got to meet some new friends while hanging out with the crew. Ryan, Peter and Andrew all got their first chance at meeting Micky and Minnie Mouse. Andrew didn't seem all too impressed with them, but Minny for sure was enamored with Andrew. After meeting the children's icons, we walked around and enjoyed the festivities. Andrew passed on sliding down the zip-line like Peter and Ryan, but seemed to enjoy himself nonetheless.

What does this weekend hold for us? Nobody knows, but rest assured it will definitely be another adventure.

Meeting and Greeting...

Andrew had the opportunity this week to visit both mom and dad's schools. Everyone was more than excited to meet him. He enjoyed the visits to the best of our knowledge, however, I am pretty sure he slept through the majority of each visit.

Grandma and grandpa Fasching stopped up this week to hang out with Andrew and watch a Twins game while I was at class. A good time was had by all. This game mom the chance to get a couple of things done around the house as well just relax while Andrew soaked up all the attention he could handle.

Friday night we went over to grandma and grandpa Oldenburg's place for some pizza and a visit. Grandma and mom went over some paperwork while grandpa and dad had a good time explaining the finer points of baseball to Andrew.

This week the whole family got to go to the doctor's office...again. Dr. Keiss had good news for us this time. Andrew's weight was up (7 lb. 9 oz.) and his color was much improved over the last couple of check-ups. This was cause for celebration, so after arriving home Andrew had a drink, and we all took a nap...yes this is a celebration in our household.

Much to mom and dad's delight, Andrew's sleep pattern seems to be progressing toward consistent. We can pretty much predict the major events of the day, you know, eating, changing , and sleeping. I am sure that being we have a rhythm now, something is sure to change. Ah well, what cha' gonna do?

Andrew also got the chance to go to Bryon Adams' birthday party this weekend. He was able to hang out with his friends Jamison and Gavin. The food and the company was great. Happy birthday Bryon.

Hope to talk to you all soon.

Weekend Away

Road Trip! Andrew got to spend his first night away from home in quite a while this weekend. We all went for a relaxing stay at grandma and grandpa Baron's house. This was his, moms and dads chance to roam around and venture out a bit.

We began by attending his friend Brianna's first birthday celebration. There Andrew was passed around like the proverbial football. He was very happy to reacquaint himself with some "old" friends. Alexis, Abby, Brianna and Andrew go way back (all two weeks). There was cake and signing (yes, even dad sang along to Happy Birthday). Andrew passed on the cake but took in some refreshments when the occasion arose.

From there, we headed back to grandma and grandpa's place. Andrew was able to spend some quality time with three of his cousins, grandma, grandpa, and even his aunts and uncles. I am sure Andrew is learning quite a bit from his older cousins. It was nice for everyone to sit back, relax and spend some time together again. Dad took the opportunity to go fishing and even sneak in some golfing with grandpa. We are just counting the days until Andrew and his cousins are able to go along with us to the golf course. FYI, if you see the eight or nine of us coming to a golf course near you, try and get the tee-time ahead of us.

From there it was home again, home again. Lo and behold we drove through yet another set of Sunday rain showers. Make it three in a row for my guy. The good news, no tornadoes reported this time.

Today Andrew got to visit with mom's second graders. I am also somewhat sure that he got to meet a number of her fellow staff members. Mom and Andrew informed me that everyone was very excited to meet Andrew. I am also somewhat sure that the students enjoyed meeting him and talking to their teacher about the past two weeks. I would have posted some cool class picture of the event, but for those of you not in the education world I have two words...media release.

All in all it was an exciting, fun-filled, and tiring four days for all three of us. We look forward to repeating our performance as soon as possible.

Talk to you all soon...

Just Hangin' Out

It was time to introduce Andrew to Twins baseball. I know this will shock most of you, but he slept through most of the game on Wednesday, but well, so did the Twins. Only after our father/son cheering section awoke, did the Twins pull out their come from behind victory.

Disclaimer: We take no fault for the Tuesday and Thursday losses as we were not watching.

Mom and I also received permission from the doctor to begin placing Andrew on his stomach. He definitely didn't know what to think of this at first, but eventually figured out that he could move his head from side to side. This was big, as he figured out that looking at mom was much better than staring at me.

Tonight brought with it more "severe" weather. As you can tell from the picture here, Andrew almost seems phased. Mom is already convinced because of his history (however brief it may be) with weather, that he has a future as a meteorologist.

We are all doing fine and appreciate the calls of concern. Andrew is bulking up, and his color is constantly improving. We are enjoying both our visits from family and friends, as well as, our time alone as a family. Andrew's social schedule seems to keep him quite busy, but still continues to invite anyone wanting to visit, to drop on by.

The Andrew Update...

Sorry for not posting for a while. We have had a relatively busy week. The whole family has been to the doctor a number of times since leaving the hospital. The doctor had a couple of concerns. Andrew had dropped a few ounces and his bilirubin numbers climbed to a level that our pediatrician wanted to watch. That being said, we went back to the doctor repeatedly last week and even on Saturday. However, as the new week got underway, we found out that his weight is back to his birth weight (a good thing), and his color was good.

We received visits from all of Andrew's grandparents. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jerry stayed with us Saturday night (again, more tornado warnings), and helped out a lot around the house. He was very happy to sit and stare with both of them.

Grandma and Grandpa Oldenburg also stopped over and got the chance to talk with and hold him.

Grandma and Grandpa Fasching also stopped by and helped out a lot on Monday. The garden and house look great. Andrew, mom and I all want to say thank you for all you do!

Aunt Julie and cousin Logan also stopped over and dropped off some cute (okay, studly) outfits for Andrew.

Aunt Sara and cousins Peter and Ryan also came over and made sure all of Andrew's toys were play tested. This is a very important job as we don't want Andrew playing with any faulty toys.

This last weekend was about making new friends as well. He was able to spend some quality time with his friends Abby and Brianna.





Andrew also took another shot at getting to know Murphy. Both parties are still curious and not completely sure what the other one does.

We hope to post again soon. Maybe even this time it will be faster than five days so Mr. Adams doesn't have to keep asking, "When's the next post?!?"

Talk to you all soon,

Andrew and Family.