Socks

I finally got him to smile for the camera and he's wearing his socks that his Oma knitted (I have a matching pair). Here is also a photo of him this morning in his PJ's.

Tomorrow we fly to Long Beach so I'm signing off to pack and get ready for our flight.

David and Rocco - the movie, well the 48 second preview

So here they are in all their baby glory. I'm always trying to get Rocco to talk in these videos because I swear, he is always talking and cooing and making a ton of noises. As soon as I turn on the camera he falls silent. One day I'll catch him - I just have to keep trying.

David turns 9 weeks tomorrow and Rocco turns 10 weeks this Thursday.

David and Rocco

Amy and Setor came over to visit and we had so much fun taking photos of Rocco and David. David is SO big and cute. I think that from the nose up it's all Amy. He's changed so much in the last 2 weeks since I saw him. The babies hung out and we had a chance to catch up. It was really cool to see Amy and Set - it seems we never have enough time to hang out. Amy fed David a nice marathon meal before cutting him off due to his lack of seriousness in the eating department. He started to just hang out so she said "no more." And it was a good call because clearly David ate more than he could handle. Afterwards David was burping and spitting up the liquid gold so we used Rocco's little silk burp rag to clean him up. Amy and Set were making fun of it but in the end I think they liked the swank. They left saying that they should get one for David. I have to say that I didn't go out and buy a silk rag - it was a gift and to clarify it is not all silk. Either way, it's muy fancy and probably not supposed to be used as a burp rag but oh well - it's soft and shiny. I say everybody deserves a silk burp rag to clean up snot, vomit and excess milk or any other liquid of choice. Up until a year ago, I would have LOVED a silk rag as part of my Saturday night ritual, or Sunday morning recovery.... Oh those days are long gone....

Hello to Opa & Hannelore

Hello!
So this is part II of our hello to Germany series. Rocco is wearing his little pumpkin hat as it is the Fall season (even if it is a California season). And he is wearing another outfit that I love so much but he is growing out of it. I think this will be the last time he wears it....

The holiday reason

Today I broke down and bought Rocco a little Santa's suit. Daniel is going to HATE it but it is so cute I had to have it. I also bought him a little Halloween jumper. It was on clearance for $2.50. I couldn't resist. Daniel calls this Monicanomics = save money by buying crap on clearance.

Today Kevin returned to finish up the kitchen project. The outside wall still needs siding and some details need to be finished in the kitchen. Daniel has made a lot of progress recently by installing the under and over cabinet lights (see photos). All he needs to do to finish up is to add the pendant lights. I painted this weekend with Super Daniel and well, we made (cough cough Daniel) made lots of progress. We only have one more door to paint then the painting part is done - thank god!

Yesterday we had a family photo session with Pete Thompson. He's a really great photographer who just next week will be shooting photos of Sean Penn at his home in Marin. Once our photos come in, we'll be sharing! A photo session with him was provided as a gift from our real estate agent Astrid.

And on the Rocco front - well he has been very well behaved and very sweet. He's been sleeping regularly at 8PM for a 7 hour stretch. After that he wakes up every 2-3 hours. And in the morning he sleeps next to me and I feed him in bed. We definitely have a working schedule down and I'm very happy that he is such a good sleeper. He and I spend the entire day together so I definitely know more or less what he wants throughout the day which isn't too hard really. It's either I've shit in my pants = clean me or I want to shit in my pants = feed me.

Rocco channels inner Don King

We receive a lot of complements about Rocco's hair. After he baths, this is what his hair looks like. No, my baby was not electrocuted and he's not the spawn of Don King.

It is what it is - his faux hawk. I always know it's time to bath him when his hair doesn't stand up. As it gets dirty his hair flattens. I think he looks great with his Don King look. He pulls it off well.

Speaking of channeling his inner Don King, we'll be in San Diego for Andy and Jen's wedding reception and my mom bought him a purple suit for the event. I'll definitely have photos posted soon thereafter.

My favorite jumper suit

Sarita and Gwyn gave Rocco the best jumper ever!!! I love it but unfortunately he is slowly growing out of it. It may only get a couple more weeks of use if I'm lucky. He's close to 24 inches long now.

Shout out to Deutchland

Here's a video clip of Daniel and Rocco saying hello to family in Frankfurt. Today Rocco turned 2 months old. We can't believe how much he grows and changes before our eyes. It's all pretty damn amazing and this parenting thing is humbling, insane and totally cool. We often talk about how difficult it must be to have more than one, which always brings us around to talking about our parents and how much we really really really appreciate them now (more than ever). They could have easily thrown us in the river, but they loved us so much that they kept us around. Thank god for good parents!!

We also always talk about my cousin Phillip and Sherry in Oregon. They have triplets, now all 19 and we have NO IDEA how they did it. They have great kids including the oldest who I think is probably 23 now. Yikes. Anyway when we are being peed or pooped on and are exhausted at 4AM we remember them and just remind ourselves that "we can do it!" I did say this is cool right? That's the strange thing - even after the exhaustion and the flying poop we are still diggin' this kitty cat.

Doctors visit

As of today, Rocco is 9 pounds 9 ounces and 23 inches long.

The doctor said his weight is average - she said that as long as he continues to gain weight he's fine. In terms of length, he's in the 90% percentile. Daniel is very proud that Rocco is so tall and thin. We'd rather he stay that way then take after his parents who are tall and chunky.

Tonight is the debate so Rocco is in his Obama gear. Only 4 hours and 45 minutes to go until the debate begins. It should be interesting television....

A happy Rocco

This is Rocco at exactly 6.5 weeks. He's grown quite a bit. It was a hot day so I left him in his diaper for a good part of the afternoon. He is smiling now and can *almost* hold his head up. He's moving a lot and cooing and grunting throughout the day. He's getting cuter and cuter each day (in my unbiased opinion).

Rocco has a new friend

Rocco finally met Lucas last week. Daniel and I had birthing class with his parents Lena and David. This is a birthing class we took in Berkeley back in June to prepare us for labor and birth. One thing we did weekly was watch short DVD's of women having their babies. Daniel was so happy when the class was over because he was tired of seeing women dialated at 10cm and placentas and blood and moaning or screaming each and every week. In all fairness, the class was good but the DVD's were a bit overwhelming.

OK, but back to Lucas. He's a cutie and a new friend for Rocco. Luckily, Lena David and Lucas only live only a few blocks away so we hope to see them all soon.