Expressions

Calvin is now nearly 13 weeks old. He has already discovered so many different facial expressions. We caught these in one sitting this week.

This is one of his most common expressions. Drool.

United States Geography Whiz

Andrew got a challenge from me and Julia to learn all of the 50 states. I offered him a father-son outing if he could correctly identify 12 states in 45 seconds on an electronic game that he enjoys playing. He accomplished this goal in 2 days. I took him bowling today, his choice, and we had a great time. If you want to see him in action click below. His high score is 16.

Armed and dangerous

I thought I knew what it was like to have a baby spit up on my shoulder. After all, when David was a baby, my shirt was often spotted with white and I was frequently surprised by juicy splats on the floor as I carried him around. However, Calvin has redefined the experience for me. The amount of stuff that comes out of this baby after a meal is unreal. Sometimes I think I burping him on a bath towel would be more effective and sanitary. I have opted not to post any pictures of these impressive pools of yuck, mostly because I have not taken any, but also because I would not want to offend some of your tender eyes and stomachs.

At first, Calvin was what some might call a "happy spitter." But in recent weeks, our poor baby has become more and more unhappy (and dangerous) after meals. We knew his reflux was bothering him, but we thought we'd wait it out. I figured I could at least wait until his 2 month appointment, and if he was still struggling, I would talk to his doctor. Alas, we could not make it. I took him in to the doc last week, and I tell you what-- she gave me a new baby. It didn't happen over night. It was closer to three nights, but this child is cured!




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I know, he's adorable!

Trick or Treat!

This is our fourth Halloween in Syracuse (can you believe it?) and each year we've lived here, no matter what the weather of the preceeding weeks, Halloween has never failed to be a gorgeous day. This year was not an exception. On Tuesday we got our first measureable snow, Wednesday I had to scrape snow off my windshield, Thursday it melted and today the sun is shining and it's in the 50's.

Here's a preview of tonight's costumes:

Andrew, the knight in shining armor. . .

. . . David, the (One) Muskateer. . .

. . . and our itsy bitsy spider, Calvin

I must add that Calvin and I were co-winners of the "most creative" category at the church costume contest. Thank you, thank you.

Yes, I know, Calvin's sweet little face is not showing in this picture. More pictures are coming, but I plan to do that in a separate post, because two posts are better than one and it makes me look like I'm a better blogger than I am.

Baby Calvin pictures

We did it!!

We would like to announce the arrival of our darling Darley, born September 10, 2008. Calvin Raphael was born weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21 inches long. He has kissably chubby cheeks and the sweetest little "happy hands" you ever saw!

Thanks everyone for your support!

The bun is almost done!

Well, I have yet to discover the addictive nature of blogging that so many of you have warned me about, but I've been feeling guilty for starting this and never getting past one entry.

I am now two and a half days away from being a mother to three boys. I'm scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and the baby should be born by around 9:00. It's a bit strange knowing all of this ahead of time, but admittedly it has made planning and arranging the details of our lives much easier.

We're all giddy about having a new baby in our house. Sometimes Andrew makes these excited little squeaky noises as he anticipates entering big brotherhood for the first time. It's been disconcerting to him that several little two-year-olds he knows have already beaten him into this club. He says he can't wait to hold the baby and give him a bottle of milk. When I explained where the milk is going to be coming from, he was utterly confused (sorry, couldn't resist that pun), so I just decided to pull out the old pump and make sure he gets to feed his baby brother a bottle of milk soon after we bring him home. David has volunteered to change wet diapers for me, but has informed me that he will not be touching any poopy diapers.

So I think we're all ready. I've got the nursery all set up, the baby clothes washed, the bag packed and the house cleaned. Somehow it still feels kind of dreamlike to me. I don't know that I'll believe I'm actually having this baby until I'm holding him in my arms. It won't be long now!

Frog Blog

If you nag me enough, sooner or later I'll listen. People keep telling us we need a blog. To illustrate this claim, we recently received a thank you letter from some family members (who will remain nameless) that ended something like, "Thanks for coming to our wedding. Get a blog or we'll never talk to you again! Love, J*r*my and L*z."


SO without further ado, we now present the Darley Frog-Blog. Tada! It seems like our first post should contain mostly biographical background information, and later (if we ever post again) we can fill you in on the exciting details of our daily lives.


We are a fine-looking family of four that enjoys hiking, biking, camping, and just hanging out together. Spencer is currently a fourth year ENT resident, enjoying the good life of no more in-house call (meaning, when he's on call, he only needs to carry a pager and be available, he doesn't need to stay at the hospital all night). He's not only handsome, but has become rather handy lately. Some of his most recent home repairs include rebuilding our garage door and replacing the motor coupler in our broken washing machine.


Julia (that's me) is thrilled to be expecting Darley Boy #3 in exactly 7 weeks and 3 days. Yes, we scheduled a c-section. My perspective has changed a bit over the last couple of years and while c-sections are a drag, I really don't care how this baby comes, as long as he does! I'm homeschooling the boys, which has turned out to be not only easier than I thought, but great fun, so we're looking forward to continuing in the fall.

David will be 7 in three weeks and is looking forward to getting a reptile, preferably a leopard gecko, for his birthday. Tomorrow will be a big day for David: he's having his four top front baby teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes and he's getting two little braces on his front bottom teeth to help pull them back before the new teeth on top grow in. He's really bummed about not being able to eat corn on the cob once he gets his braces, so you can guess what he requested for his "last meal." (It was a hot night, please excuse his nakedness.)



Andrew will be 5 in about two weeks. He's very sweet, but very mischievous, always sneaking around.... He likes to build things, play in the backyard with his brother, and wrestle with the dog. He's a great little reader, and his favorite books are the ones that teach him how to make fancy paper airplanes or do science experiments with household items. In fact, we often find "experiments" around the house that we had no idea he was making.


So there you go. Our first blog entry. Perhaps there will be more, but I'm not committing to anything. Is there a spell checker on this thing?