Race, Dedication, Cider, and Sleep!

It hasn't been that long since I last posted, but a lot has happened (as you can see from the random title)! We've had a jam packed couple of weeks here in Kansas.

Brandon got to meet his Cioci (aunt) Kalina and Wujek (uncle) Stefan for the first time, and he got to spend some quality time with his Babcia and Dzadza. Babcia and Dzadza babysat Brandon twice so we could go out, and I think they are now realizing how much better it is to be a Grandparent than a parent. They get to give the fussy baby back at the end of the evening! Krzysztof and I aren't convinced that Brandon was really fussy for them, though. Whenever we left and returned, he was very content. They tell us he was fussy and occasionally quite difficult. Not this little angel. :-)

One of the most exciting things that happened is the Zaryczny family race! Krzysztof, his brother Stefan, and his dad ran the half marathon in Kansas City and his sister Kalina ran the full marathon. They all ran the half marathon last year in Chicago. This was Kalina's first full marathon. Krzysztof came in 8th for his age bracket. It must be the shoes. He used to tell his parents when he was little that he wanted to get some fast shoes so he could run faster.

Here we are after KZ got back while we waited for the others. Brandon was very proud of his daddy. Here are all the runners, somehow managing to remain upright and smile. Kalina got an aluminum blanket because she ran the whole marathon. KZ's dad tried to get one after his run (it was pretty cold out) and he was rejected. I guess they don't care if you are cold if you only ran 13 miles. We had planned to have a little mini Oktoberfest at home that day after the run. I don't know what we were thinking. KZ's mom and I were the only ones in a festive mood. The only time the other 4 left the couch was to go to the table for dinner, and I'm pretty sure they would have preferred TV trays. Dinner was good, though. We had fresh kielbasa that Stefan brought from the Polish market in Detroit, sauerkraut with onions and mushrooms, and German potato salad.

Last Sunday we had Brandon's baby dedication at our church. This is our pastor Nathan who did the dedication.
And here is the Zaryczny clan.

Stefan and his girlfriend gave Brandon this onsie. It says, "I'm a little pierogi," which is one of our more unique nicknames for him. His other Polish nicknames are "Brandopolski" coined by his Dzadza and "Brandonek" courtesy of his Cioci.

Now that it's getting colder out, it takes a lot longer to get ready to go places! I can't even imagine what it will be like when we go out in January. This is Brandon all cozy in his BundleMe before a walk. I remember thinking it was inconvenient having to grab my own coat, hat, etc. before leaving the house in past years.

Why do some of the best pictures of Brandon's smile come out grainy and dark? You get the idea of how cute he is, though, right?

We love it when he makes this face. He often says "ooo" (he says it quick, like he's saying the word "who). He is definitely getting more vocal. We are not going to be able to keep him in church with us much longer, not because he cries, but because he talks through the whole thing!

We went to the Cider Mill on Saturday! It was always a fall tradition for us to go to the cider mill in Michigan each fall, so we were excited to find that they have them here in Kansas. We opted to go to Dunn's Cider Mill, which is smaller and closer than the more popular place. They cider there was great, and the doughnuts were pretty darn good too! It was a perfect fall day.

The apples of my eye. :-)

While at the cider mill Brandon got hungry, so we decided to use the opportunity for another installment in his bottle training, which he has been undergoing for the past week and a half. Brandon decided a few weeks ago that he will no longer tolerate bottles and wants the real thing all the time (even though the milk is the same). That just wasn't going to do for our lifestyle as we want to be able to give him a bottle when we are on the go, and we want someone else to be able to feed him every once in a while! (Note to new or expectant parents: give your baby their first bottle within the first 4 weeks of life, and continue to give one at least every other day so he or she comes to realize early on that bottles are a necessary part of life.) Last week we started giving him a bottle once everyday. The first 3 days were pretty rough with him fighting the bottle for hours, refusing to eat. Each day since then has been easier and easier, and now he takes one most of the time from me and KZ without complaint. He did complain for his Babcia and Dzadza, though. We'll keep working on it...

This picture could have turned out better, but at least you can see his face.

Brandon loves to be held up in the air and thrown up and down. That is when we get some of the biggest smiles.

So, what about sleep you ask? Well we've all 3 been getting a lot of it lately! This past week Brandon has been sleeping anywhere from 10-12.5 hours straight without waking to eat! He's been eating very frequently during his waking hours, so I think he might be in a growth spurt. I hope the long sleeping will continue, though! We feel very fortunate to have a good sleeper (for the time being anyway).

The First Laughing Day

Brandon had his first laughs today! We were able to catch some of it on video. Here it is!

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? He has also found his tongue as you can also see in the video. He has enjoyed sticking it out at us often today. We now are in Princeton, IN again. We just got back from our caving weekend in Kentucky. We had a fun time with our friends, but it was very different having a baby there this year. You can't exactly do everything you want to do when you want to do it anymore. Life has changed! Krzysztof and I did get to do a short trip through the caves while our gracious friends took care of Brandon. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Brandon's "mountain boy" outfit!

This is at the campsite where we usually camp. This year we got a cabin instead, and we were so glad we did as there were a couple of heavy downpours and tornado watches.

This was the first time Brandon has experienced cooler weather! He stayed warm and cozy in his little sweatshirt jacket.

The Earthquake game

We are in Indiana! This is Brandon's 4th state (KS, MO, OK, IN). We are here for Krzysztof's work, and we're headed to Kentucky tomorrow! (state #5 - not too shabby for a 12 week old).

Here is a video of one of Brandon's favorite things to do! For some reason, we only do this when in a hotel room. Let's call it the Earthquake Game. You can really see some cute smiles!

Here are some other cute pictures:

Put up your dukes!

Happy boy!

The "What the heck are you doing, mom?" look.

Don't you want to give me a kiss?

Oklahoma! Oh! What a Beautiful Mornin'

Here are pictures from Brandon's first little vacation (along with some other random photos of things we've been doing in the past few weeks). Krzysztof had a the opportunity to be a beer judge for a competition in Tulsa, OK in mid September, so we decided to make a vacation out of it in order to check Oklahoma off our list of states to visit (living in Kansas is really going to help knock out all those square states in the middle). Brandon did pretty well during the 4 hour drive...only one or two screaming episodes. :-) Poor baby just doesn't understand why we can't pick him up and hold him since he usually gets that reaction when screaming at home.

All snug in his bed away from home. This folds up to fit in a suitcase.

We got in Friday night and BB (Before Brandon) we usually would have gone out for a late dinner, but we decided to order pizza instead. We aren't usually "take out" or "delivery" kinds of eaters, but I see a lot more of that in our future...

Snuggling with Daddy.

Hanging out with Mommy in the hotel while Daddy did his judging. It was great being in a hotel because we could really spend some quality time together without feeling like something needed to be cleaned or cooked.

We stayed in downtown Tulsa, which doesn't really have too much going on most of the time. This is the view from our room. There was a Rib festival within walking distance of the hotel, so we checked that out after Krzysztof got back and found that we'd rather have ribs in Kansas. Our hotel had a pool and hot tub, which we were able enjoy once Brandon fell asleep. We just put him in the stroller and parked it right by us!

On Sunday we went to the Tulsa zoo. It was a pretty good zoo, but not the best by any means. Brandon really enjoyed it as you can see.

Being this close to the rhinos was definitely one of the coolest parts of the zoo.

Holding on to his cute burp cloth in his stroller.

I don't even know what to label this picture. All I know is that it makes me laugh every time I see it!

That's a little more like it! Almost a good picture of a smile. He looks like such a little boy in his jeans!

Krzysztof's mom's cousin (does that make it his 2nd cousin?) Fred and his girlfriend Gail from Victoria, BC came over for dinner during their visit to KC. Unfortunately they didn't get to see Brandon awake! We had a great dinner, though. I should have taken a picture. We had baked pecan chicken with creamy mushroom artichoke sauce. It is a Southern Living recipe I've made a few times, and we love it! It is great for company. Here are the links for the chicken and the sauce if you need a good recipe.

This is at the Art Fair at the Plaza in KC.

Yes it was this crowded! And so hot too! We saw some cool art and had some great food, but didn't stay too long.

And here is a random picture for the finale. This is Krzysztof's homemade mash paddle! He made it from a piece of wood with a jig saw and some other kinds of saws (I know nothing about power tools). I'm proud of him for making it rather than buying an expensive one that wouldn't be nearly as cool, so I thought I'd post it! He got to use it while brewing a Baltic Porter last weekend. Mmmmm! We keep telling Brandon he better be good or he'll get the Mash paddle! (just kidding of course)

Babies Don't Keep

I recently recollected a poem from deep in my memory that has been there since I was little. There was a framed poem on the wall in my friend Cori Bray's room in her family's old house. I must have spent quite a lot of time in there because I remembered most of it. I was able to find the missing pieces on the internet. Here it is:

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, so I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

I have a problem called "multitasking." Today I found myself feeding Brandon, eating lunch, and checking my email all at the same time, and not doing any of them very efficiently! Even when playing with Brandon I am usually thinking about what needs to be cleaned, what I need at the store, and what I want to cook, and the rest of the time I am doing those things! I am realizing that I need to be fully present when I am spending time with my son - giving him my full attention and enjoying every second because I will never get to savor him as an 11 week old again after this week is over. So what if the floors don't get cleaned for another day...I'm enjoying my baby and babies don't keep!

2 Months!

Hi everyone! Brandon here. I have been 2 months old for over a week now! We've been very busy and haven't had time to finish this blog posting since then.

I am such a big boy! At my 2 month check up last week we found out I am 11 lbs 6 oz (50th%) and 24.25 inches long (75th%)!

Here's what I've been up to in the last few weeks...

I practice my smiles a lot! I smile without even being smiled at now, which just delights my mom and dad!

I love to be sung to! It almost always makes me smile. You should hear my parents sing, though. Sometimes I'm smiling at them and not with them...

Here I am (sleeping) in St. Joseph, MO with mommy's friend from High School Megan and her son William. Megan and William live just 2.5 hours from us in Nebraska, so we met up half way between for lunch and shopping. I don't remember much from that day as I stayed in this position for most of it.

Another smile! It is pretty hard to capture on camera as the camera flash makes me look confused... or angry. Don't I look like a tough guy?

My Mimi and Papa came to visit! This was the 2nd time I've seen my Mimi but the first time I met my Papa. Here we are by one of the many fountains at Country Club Plaza in KC.

This is the first time my Papa held me.
I think this is my Mimi and Papa's favorite fountain because the statue is holding grapes. They said something about the goddess of wine...

We took a few walks in my neighborhood while Mimi and Papa were here. I love going for walks in my stroller! The bumpier the ride, the better!

Another fountain in Country Club Plaza.

This is at the Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, MO. We learned about Lewis and Clark as well as the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.

This is at the dinner table. Maybe it was the garlic bread...

Happy on the deck with Mimi! Here's my fist! I love to wave it around, look at it, and suck on it!

I love bath time! Actually, I love anytime I can be naked. Getting my diaper changed is a highlight of my day. I always start smiling when the clothes come off. This makes my parents worried about the future for some reason.

I have so many expressions!

This is one of my favorite things to do! I hold on to someone's fingers and pull myself up to stand!

Looking pensive in my bouncer. Mommy and Daddy don't know what they would do without my bouncer. I get to sit in it at dinnertime and they bounce me with their feet while they eat! I stay happy most of the time...

See you again soon!

Exercising and my cool hat

Here I am doing tummy time on the ball! Yes, my mom is an OT.

My neck and arms are getting so strong!

The ball also comes in handy when I am fussy. I don't like the rocking chair...that's boring. But I love to be held while Mommy bounces on the ball! We actually have another ball that is kept in my room. One night she said she bounced on it for about 45 minutes total throughout the night! That was a couple weeks ago when I was really fussy. I'm much happier now. Actually, I've had a few really great nights! Last night I slept for 8 hours, just getting up once for 15 minutes to eat. Mommy says that makes her very happy. Maybe that's why I was so fussy before...I've heard it said that if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

On another note, I am not balding (although it looks like I have a comb over in these pictures). I have very light blond hair coming in under my dark hair. You just can't see it in the pictures!

How do you like this outfit? Do you like my matching hat? Daddy thought I looked too cute (and maybe a little funny), so he took tons of pictures of me!

I could be a chef!

or a painter!

showing off my smile!

Ok, Daddy, I've had just about enough of this photo shoot.

I mean it! No more pictures!