Well don't we feel like bad parents now...

Connor's first tooth has arrived.

We'd love to tell you exactly when it sprouted, but the little guy didn't really give us the warning (read: inconsolable screaming) that we were expecting based on what we've heard about teething from most people. Granted he's been touchy from time to time, but we figured there'd be more drama as the tooth actually emerged.

So imagine our surprise when we went into the Doctor's office this past Wednesday and as she's checking his gums and asking us if he's gotten any teeth yet and we're answering her "no, not yet", we hear her say, "Oh, there's one!"...

Well, crap.

Naturally, we're thrilled that another milestone has been reached and there were the phone calls to family that accompany such things. But darn if we didn't feel bad that we had to have someone point out to us that our son has started popping out teeth.

At least it'll be easier to tell when he starts crawling...

Go west young man.

We just got back from Los Angeles and a faster-than-it-should-have-been tour of family and friends. In hindsight, we wish we'd had a few extra days to spend, but given that this was our first trip out of Charlotte since Connor was born, we wanted to be as non-disruptive as possible to his routine.

We flew out on Thursday and Connor was great on the flight. He had a few moments, but his ears didn't seem to bother him and he slept for most of the flight (props to my wife for holding him both times and allowing all the blood to drain from her arms so he wouldn't wake up.) At one point a woman suggested that we let him run around the cabin a bit to calm him down during one of his little fits. Yeah... lady... he ain't even crawling yet... Must be all that hair.

We landed in LA, rented a car, swung through Carl's Jr. for a Western Bacon Cheeseburger (Hardee's doesn't sell them out here despite being Carl's Jr. in alsmost every other conceivable way), drove to San Diego, checked into our hotel and had dinner with some friends at a Mongolian place we used to frequent. Yup, we're crazy, but it was fun and it proved to be better than trying to go to dinner with them on Friday night.

Friday we swung past our respective previous offices. We started the day at my wife's company's San Diego office where she had been working before we moved and she said hello to all the people still there and got to meet several new employees who only know her as a voice on the phone. In the afternoon we dropped in at Sharp HealthCare to visit my ex-teammates at Central Materiel Management. (Yes, "materiel" is spelled correctly, look it up.) A lot has changed there, but a lot has stayed the same. All in all a rather surreal event. We closed the day with dinner at Souplantation (which our friend Don astutely dubbed "Everything but the meal") because the nearest Souplantation in NC is almost 3 hours away (and fresh corn on your salad is not worth the price of gas to get it.)

Funny story, we actually looked into setting up a Souplantation franchise here in Charlotte with the equity from our place in San Diego, but all of their restaurants are owned and operated by the company so all we could do was send them e-mail begging them to consider opening one locally.

Saturday we drove up to visit Misha's Grandma and Uncle in Burbank. It was great to see them, especially since we weren't able to fly out to attend her 90th birthday party. Afterwards we went to her mom's house where her mom had hired a professional photographer to take pictures of Connor in a 150 year old Christening gown that Misha had been photographed in as a baby. They even used the same chair (though it has been reupholstered since Misha's photos.) The pic was one that Larrian's been eager to get since before we got pregnant, so we couldn't refuse her. Other poses were taken with Connor in his diaper and a cute outfit. The final pictures came out great, though the photographer's a bit on the pricey side so we're not sure how many we'll end up purchasing.

Sunday we drove up to my parent's house but stopped by Eden Memorial Park to visit the graves of my Aunt Bernice and Uncle George. Aunt Bernice passed away last April, right after we arrived in Charlotte and we weren't able to fly home for the funeral. She was an amazing lady, full of more life than most people I know, and with more energy than the average 25 year old. It was a great loss and since we were back in town and had the opportunity to visit her grave, I didn't want to pass it up.

Later that morning, we got to my parents house which was in the final stages of preparation for Connor's naming ceremony. A Jewish boy is usually given his Hebrew name at his Bris, but since we had him circumcised at the hospital and didn't have a formal bris, we wanted to have a get-together at my parents to give him his name and introduce him to friends and family who hadn't had a chance to meet him yet.

We gave Connor the Hebrew name "Chaim Zohar". "Chaim" means "Life" and "Zohar" means "Light" or "Brilliance". We felt this was a fitting name as he is the brilliant light in our lives. "Chaim" is also the masculine form of "Chaya" which was my grandmother Irene's Hebrew name and whom Connor's middle name "Raine" memorializes. The ceremony was very nice (albeit a bit sweaty since it was outside during a heatwave) and was conducted by Rabbi Don Singer who also married us back in 2006 so it was nice to have him also conduct this ceremony. A real Circle of Life moment. It was also great to see family and friends, though the afternoon went quickly and I would have liked to have been able to spend more time with everyone.

Then, Monday, we packed it all in and flew home. Another rather uneventful flight (except during taxiing to the runway when the turned off the air and Connor went nuts) and we got home late thanks to a delay in LA, but it was good to be home. A mixed feeling somewhat because it would have been good to spend more time at each our destinations. We were so rushed at times that I'm getting tired again just writing about this trip, but we managed to get it all in and then some, so all-in-all a smashing success.

Connor's Picture Galleries

For months now, my diligent wife has been dutifully placing photos of Connor online using Kodak photo gallery and adding her own cute captions as she goes.

I've been forwarding on most of these galleries to friends and family, but it occurred to me that I'm not sending to everyone every time and some of you haven't seen them at all. For this, I am truly sorry.

To help rectify this situation, I'm listing the complete Connor Kodak Collection below. We've settled into a once-a-month routine now, so be sure to check back for future updates... and I'll try to remember to e-mail everyone as well. :)

(First... For those who missed our pics of his Birth and First Few Weeks)

3 Months

3.5 Months

4 Months

4.5 Months

5 months

6 months

Connor Sits Up

Yes, that's "sits" not "spits" (though there's been the occasional bit of that as well.)

Connor's moving from Infant 1 to Infant 2 at his day care, so to get him ready, they've been working with him on sitting up. Apparently this is one of the "milestone" abilities that helps him earn his golden ticket to the next room.

Granted, he's been sitting for a while now, but mostly with support and never in a very stable manner, but now that they've been doing whatever it is they've been doing at daycare, he's actually able to sit up without support for extended periods.

There's still the tendency to lean and fall over sideways, but front-to-back he's solid. It's pretty cool. He's now able to play with some of the toys we have that you need to be sitting up to play with.

Next step: Crawling.

AARP 4 Me?

So, yeah...

My membership application for the AARP arrived the other day, complete with temporary ID Card.

C'mon people, I haven't even hit 40 yet. Heck, I haven't even hit 35 for that matter.

The Whatever Channel

Why don't they just say "Heck if we know?..."

Connor's First Playdate

Connor had his first playdate today. Yeah, I know he's too young to actually play with another child, but it was a nice opportunity to spend some time with a couple we met in our childbirth class with whom we've become friendly.

Funny story about that... we actually ended the class without getting their contact info and regretted not asking them for it because they seemed like "our kind of people". (Ok, so they were the only other Jewish couple in the class... but it wasn't just for that reason.) We figured we'd probably see them at Babies R Us at some point as we'd run into other classmates there and were already spending a lot of time there before Connor was even born. What we didn't figure on was the wife going into labor 5 weeks early and them ending up in the room next to us for most of the time we were in the maternity ward. And just think, if we hadn't complained so much about our first two rooms, we might never have bumped into them at all.

So back to the playdate...

We all met for lunch at a local Macaroni Grill since it's an equidistant point between our respective homes and then afterwards we all went back to our place. Our family room is littered with a jumper, an exersaucer, 2 gyms, a swing and countless toys, so there was plenty to keep a small platoon of infants happy for at least 30 minutes.

Connor and their daughter got along well (when we placed them near one another). There were some pretty funny moments like when we put them side by side and Connor grabbed her pacifier, pulled it from her mouth, looked at it and then tossed it away. That's my boy, already impressing the ladies with his smooth moves... Um, yeah.

So it was fun to see the kids interact in their own toddler way and fun to spend time with friends who've been mostly phone friends until now due to all our hectic schedules. It'll be cool to start hanging out with them more often as we discover more of the things we have in common (aside from the obvious on the parenthood front). For instance, Jeff's a big Star Wars fan and is actually spending Father's Day at Disney World for their Star Wars weekend. Maybe I'll be able to tag along next year...

Connor's Antipoday

Connor's now traveled halfway around the calendar and is a whopping 6 month old now. Where does the time go?

I couldn't find a word for "6-month birthday", so I made one up (Antipoday). It's not just a typical "unbirthday" (Thank you Lewis Caroll) so I felt a special word was needed. Antipode's a fun word that semi-applies so I figured I'd have some fun with that. You like?

Misha's trying to get some time to post a batch of new photos, but until then, here are some recent shots:

I was on the phone but still had to make sure he didn't fall over. Here, he's sucking on my arm. Taste good little man?

Must've tasted good.

Connor's started exploring the world with his feet. It can be quite amusing at times.

More to follow...