Goodbye Abby

Mommy is sad today because Abby (the family dog) has died. Abby joined mommy's family back in 1992 on Martha's 10th birthday. She lived a good life with a big backyard to play in and was very well loved. We will miss her.

Lots of Smiles and Funny Faces

Definite smiles for Daddy! Daddy pulled lots of silly faces and made lots of silly noises...et viola we have BIG smiles back and copying Daddy's faces. EXTREMELY COOL! Just what the doctor ordered!

Mommy & Ewan Go to Stroller Strides

Mommy and Ewan were off to Stroller Strides this morning. This was the first time mommy had exercised in...well, let's just say a long time. The group of mommies and babies made a circuit of Caltech's campus stopping for various exercises. Ewan got to see his friends Dylan and Adal. Mommy loved the exercise and Ewan loved riding (sleeping) in the stroller although he was much less enthralled (asleep) when the stroller stopped so Mommy could exercise. Dylan's mom Briana, also the instructor, was very helpful in rocking the stroller so mommy could finish the exercises. While mommy would love for Stroller Strides to be a regular occurance by the time everyone was cleaned up, fed and Ewan had gone to day care it was nearly noon before mommy got to work. Oh well, mommy will have to find another exercise plan for now.

Fun with Friends in The Pool

Ewan just had his first dip in the pool. We invited our friends Ryan, Briana & Dylan over to join us in the pool this afternoon for a splashin' good time.

Ewan wore his new swimming shorts (a gift from Brad & Stephanie) we all took the plunge. He was not sure about the water at first so we went in in stages; first up to the legs, then over the tummy and finaly up to his shoulders, but once he got used to the temperature he got so comfortable that he went to sleep in Mommy's arms.

<-chillin' by the pool before a swim









Just the legs in so far .......-->



<--Almost asleep with Mom



Yes I know he looks asleep but he really was taking notice at this point! ------>











Meanwhile Dylan had great fun in his float and even took a few dunks. I'm sure there will be more to read about it in Dylans Blog .


There are going to be a few more trips to the pool this summer!

Growth Spurts and Silly Cats

Ewan is obviously going through another growth spurt. He's been all about eating and sleeping the last couple of days.

We have set new records for longest sleep without a wake up of any kind. Friday night-Saturday morning he went 7 hours, and last night he went almost 8 hours before he woke up needing a feed and a change. Very nice for Mum!

Today he also had a web cam chat with Grandma Colleen and Grandad Colin in England which was fun. Then he has just woken up from another long nap at 2:30 this afternoon, which was great because Mom & Dad had work to get done. He was so fast asleep he was not even disturbed by the vacuum cleaner running right by his bouncy chair in which he was sleeping.

After waking up and a feed, Mommy and Ewan have just been playing copycats. Mommy smiled and stuck her tongue out and Ewan copied just after. We thought it was a fluke the first couple of times, but 10-11 times later we knew he was really copying her.


Of course he would not perform when we got the camera out! We promise he was copying Mommy though. Honest!

Not to be outdone for attention, Atlanta, one of our cats decided she needed to luxuriate by Daddy and get some quality parent time of her own (see photo). This was quite surprising given she had just suffered the ignominy of getting her claws clipped.















We're off to the pool in a bit.....more postings later

Ewan's First Day at Daycare

To say we were a little nervous or anxious was probably an understatement, although we both knew there was nothing really to worry about.

Ewan woke up at 6:30 this morning and we got him washed, fed, dressed and ready to go with all his bottles, diapers, extra clothes and anything else he is going to need to set him up at the daycare center.

When we got there we met his "teachers", the other children in his group and got him settled in for the day.

It was just a part day today, and Jen picked him up all happy mid-afternoon. He'd had 3 feeds and 2 naps while there , and apparently was recognizing which direction sounds were coming from.

Now we just need to spend the week getting used to our new routine with work and daycare.

Ewan & Dad off to daycare for the first time.

Another Party in the Park

This morning we went to Garfield Park in South Pasadena to attend Dylan's 1st Birthday party.

It was a lovely morning in the park before the record setting heat of the afternoon arrived and we met lots of other lovely young families.

Ewan of course was still the youngest but it's nice to get out and about with him. We're sure we should be savouring this time before he can crawl, or run off and get into mischief!

The Birthday Boy - Dylan




Mommy and Ewan on the picnic blanket. - >

Can you see the difference?

Ewan is growing SO fast!

<-On the left at 2 days old On the right, almost 6 weeks old->

Ewan is 6 weeks old today.















And for a another "Spot the Difference" , Jen and Martha noticed another similarity today.....

Which one is Ewan? Which one is the GloWorm?

Aunty Martha Visits & Peek-a-boo smiles

Today Jen's sister, Martha arrived to stay for a few days to visit Ewan. Martha is the first of his Aunts that he's met and we think he approves. Naturaly he was lavished with yet more natty outfits as gifts and Martha got to have plenty of cuddles.

On an exciting development front, Ewan was having his diaper changed by Daddy this evening and Fraser thought he migh try a bit a peek-a-boo with his swaddling blanket after he was changed and before we put him down for a nap. We're pretty convinced we got some smiles in direct response to popping his head back and forth from under his blanket! He has done a few giggles while in his bouncy chair this last week, but we don't believe they were in direct response to anything, so this smiling is probably the first, and if not, certainly the strongest direct interactive feedback Ewan has given us so far and it's pretty exciting!

Another little bit if news is that he's now over 10lb and is growing at the rate of about 1/2lb a week.

1 Month Old Today!

Wow. Today a month has passed since Ewan was born. Time really has flown and so much has happened. That's why we're trying to chronicle everything here, more for ourselves than anything so that we can remember how everything happened.

We actually spent the best part of the day celebrating the 1st Birthday of Adal, the son of Fraser's colleague Cagdas, who began work in the Lester Lab about 1 month ago. It was a lovely day in the park up in Sierra Madre, just north of Pasadena, with pizza, pop, balloon and cake. Several other colleagues and some more of Cagdas' friends brought along their children too. Most of them have just had, or are about to have their 1st birthdays, so Ewan is somewhat behind at this stage, but it was great fun playing with them all and spending time with families with similar backgrounds to ourselves.

Like complete wallies we forgot our camera, so todays entry just has a couple of pictures we obtained from friends who were also there.


The afternoons are getting really oppressive here right now, so we retreated to the safety of our air-conditioned apartment for he rest of the day, until we took a nice long evening walk around the local neighborhood once the sun had set and it had cooled down. It was nice to walk and reflect on the last month while Ewan slept in the Baby Bjorn, but we've never walked through so many spiders web's in our lives before. Clearly we were out at prime web weaving time. Ewan was oblivious to it all of course!

Doh! Not a day for the English.

We all went to Brit's Pub in Pasadena to watch the England v Portugal World cup quater final with fellow English folk and friends. A nice atmosphere and an English breakfast while we watched the game.

England actually played pretty well for a change, but as per normal in these situations, fate conspired against us and 1 red card and yet another penalty shoot out loss to Portugal later it was all over.

Not quite sure what I'm more dissapointed about yet. The fact that England lost to Portugal yet again in a major tournament, or that we missed the opportunity to play the French in the semi-final. Arrgh. I give up!

To get over the dissapointment Ewan and Daddy had some good tummy time!