One Month Old!

Nicholas turned one month old on Saturday. We can't believe how quickly the first month has gone by--it seems like we just came home from the hospital last week. He had his 4 week check up on Thursday and weighed in at 9 pounds 14 oz, up 11 oz from our previous visit 10 days prior. This was a big check up too because the doctor will fill out the report for the State Department saying that Nicholas is healthy and clear to travel, the first step towards adding him to our orders to go to Port of Spain. We also got Nicholas passport photos and today he took his first trip to the State Department-- to the passport office to apply for his first diplomatic passport.

Nicholas wouldn't wake up to get his passport picture taken at CVS, so we took it at home and brought it in to print.

sleeping angel

Grandma and Grandpa Machak came to visit and we went to see the Capitol and the National Mall.

Nicholas' first carousel ride.

The big event on the Mall was the Solar Decathalon, so we decided to check it out-- Ohio State and a Germany university were both participants.

We put together the play yard that is part of the portable crib- Nicholas enjoyed looking at the hanging stuffed animals.

the weather has turned cooler so we pulled out the hoodie

We went to the Oktoberfest in Reston -- not quite the same as Munich but we had a good time. We also enjoyed catching up with our friends Joe and Eileen.

Our little Buckeye on Game Day

cooking up a few big plays, I'm sure

Tummy Time! Nicholas is not a huge fan, although he is strong.

Tummy time on Daddy's chest is much more fun.

all wrapped up in my matching ducky jammies, blanket, and hat

first bath in the tub-- the aftermath

first bath

We realized we've taken about 200 pictures of Nicholas already in the first month--we're pretty enamored with our little boy.

Little Nicholas goes to Washington... and the pumpkin patch

Baby Nicholas has had lots of visitors... first Grandma Machak and then GG and Grandpa Rhodes, as well as Great Aunt Joyce and Great Uncle Gene. He is growing and changing every day. At two weeks his umbilical cord stump fell off, so we can see his cute little belly button now. At 2 1/2 weeks we went in for a check up and found out he has gained a pound over his birthweight-- he now weighs 9 pounds 2 ounces and is wearing size 1 diapers instead of newborn size. He is also starting to follow things with his eyes a little bit. We took him to see the monuments and we also took a trip to the pumpkin patch.



at the Lincoln, where David proposed to Christy 3 years ago last summer

the view of the Mall from the Lincoln

Grandma Machak

WWII Memorial-- Baby Nicholas will soon learn about his Ohio roots

Grandma Machak hanging out with Nicholas

and baby makes four...

Christy got beautiful flowers for her birthday from Casey

a true Buckeye fan already

speaking of pooping..... did we mention Nicholas can projectile-poop 3 feet? Pretty good at 2 weeks old. He also likes to double poop-- as soon as we put on a fresh diaper.

When the Rhodes and Roots came to visit, we went to the Jefferson Memorial

he likes his car seat-- and wasn't really ready to get out

but Mom and Dad wanted a photo shoot

with the Rhodes and the Roots on the steps of the Jefferson

looking out over the Tidal Basin

GG and Grandpa Rhodes

Baby Nicholas gives the pumpkin patch a thumbs up

which pumpkin's not like the others?

happy family

there were a lot of cool kids' activities at the pumpkin patch, including this slide. we'll have to come back when Nicholas is a little bit older and can enjoy them

Nicholas will probably have outgrown his "Baby's first Halloween" newborn outfit by the time Halloween rolls around, so we wore it to the pumpkin patch instead. That's ok because he's got another outfit that Grandma Machak got him lined up for Halloween already.

we made it through the night in our Buckeye jammies this time-- Saturday night they only lasted about an hour before a spit-up incident made it necessary to change outfits

That's about it for now... we can't believe Nicholas will be four weeks old next week!