Fall News

Along with the start of a new season, there are some changes afoot around here - some big, some small. To start with the big, happy news, Papa & Gigi made it official and were married in California on September 12th.


Here at home, we can't quite believe how the small, daily changes add up over the course of weeks and months. Looking through our videos of Luca's life thus far, we're struck by how much the smidge has changed.

Luca at 1 week:


Luca last week:


And to file under "inconsequential and hopefully temporary," as a reward for the successful completion of his summer internship I bought T a Wii. Truth be told, I didn't think it would get that much attention in our house since we get so much entertainment from Luca. Shows what I know...most nights you'll find us parked in front of two screens: the video baby monitor and Wii tennis. This is a phase that I'm sure will pass, but for now we're a Wii family.

Chickie Love

We hate to break the hearts of all the baby girls we know, but Luca has already found his first love. Her name is "Miss Chickie" and she lives in his car seat. Luca smiles at and talks to her, and if she falls off to the side he starts to fuss. The other hanger-on is Turtle, who inexplicably does not seem to elicit the same kind of attention. Luca's love is reserved for Chickie.

Luca at 2 months

Luca reached the two-month marker this week, so we took a trip to the doctor's office for immunizations and a check-up. LT was as brave as an eight week old can be about the shots, and was also very impressive in the weight gain department. At 14 lbs, he's in the 95th percentile for weight. To round out his stats, he is 23.5 inches long and his head is 15.5 inches. I'm relieved to report that his head is only 50th-percentile-big, and that he didn't inherit a gravity-defying Allen melon.

In addition to his clearly good taste in music, Luca is developing an excellent sense of humor. He thinks we're hilarious. He's very talkative, especially in the morning after a good sleep, a diaper change, and some breakfast. Speaking of sleep, he gave us a preview (we hope) of a more sane future when he slept for 9 consecutive hours on a few nights last week.


We've been so surprised by Luca and by how much you can love 14 pounds of boy. A few of our favorite observations at two months:

- He's managed to uncurl his hands and can get them to his mouth
- When tired, he pulls on his ears and rubs his eyes and face
- He loves his dad's whistling, and seems to enjoy music and voices above all else
- Luca usually wakes up smiling, but occasionally wakes with a silent, contorted-face cry that would be sad if it weren't so funny
- He does the best wake-up stretch
- His hair is lightening to a strawberry blond and is starting to fall out just in time for hat season

Back in Time

We spent last weekend in Lanesboro, Minnesota, a tiny town in the southeastern corner of the state. For some reason, we thought it was a great idea to take a two-month-old baby on a three hour car ride to stay in a quaint, old inn...and luckily it turned out that we were right. Luca slept the whole way both going and coming, and our inn neighbors didn't have a single midnight peep or scream to complain about.

For our part, we enjoyed the getaway and the break from laundry & dishes. Lanesboro is, in a word, picturesque. The main attractions are bike paths, Fall colors, and Amish tours. This is the kind of place that's so curiously charming, it just might have inspired a Stephen King story.

While in town we mostly strolled and ate. We also stopped into the Lanesboro museum which is stocked with all manner of memorabilia, from Uncle Ernie's hockey jersey to antique grain milling equipment. Karen, the woman in charge of the museum, actually watched Luca for a few minutes so that T & I could check out all three floors. Only in Lanesboro...

But the main entertainment was Luca, followed by watching the DNC. Luca is getting more smiley and social every day, and he made his first friend, elephant #1 on his pack'n'play mobile. He spent a lot of time exchanging smiles and single-syllable sounds with us.

Now we're back at home, with the RNC raging (or whimpering) along in St. Paul. Watching Palin last night made me wish we were back in Lanesboro watching the Obamas, Clintons, and Bidens again. Although I did get a kick out of the unbelievably inappropriate "Hoosiers for the Hot Chick" button sported by one vet during Palin's speech...