James and the 6-hour car ride

This past weekend, Patric and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided to take our not-yet-six-week-old son on a trip to IL that required a six hour car ride each way.  We even decided to extend the trip by several hours both ways to make stops to see friends in DeWitt and Cedar Rapids, IA.  Random, but both stops included wing places (pizza & wings in DeWitt and BBQ in Cedar Rapids).  Luckily, James was pleasant for the majority of the car ride, and we only experienced one crying fit during the last 30 minutes to Rock Falls, IL on the way down (he was basically a perfect angel on the way back, and I'm sure this pleasant experience and my sharing of this pleasant experience will come back to haunt me soon enough!).  Below are some pictures of our friends in DeWitt.  

DeWitt friend S with daughter A (13 mo) and James

DeWitt friend A with daughter A (13 mo) and Patric and James

Our final destination was Rock Falls, IL, where most of Patric's family lives.  We stayed with Patric's parents, who hosted a picnic for the rest of the family to meet James.

The Leuschke Family spread.  What you don't know is that this is only about 1/3 of the counters covered in food! 

James is the sixth great-great-grandchild of Patric's Dad's Mom's Mom, so ofcourse a picture was in order!  Great-Grandpa Ron took the picture.  Below is a pic of the 5 of them getting organized.

Great-Grandma Pat, James, Great-Great-Grandma Darlene, Grandpa Brad and Patric

There were a few highlights from the weekend.  Patric and I did our first night out without James (Grandma Andy and Grandpa Brad babysat).  We did Mexican (surprise, surprise) and board games with some friends around Rock Falls (J&A, J&L, and J).  James also did 3 straight nights in his new Winnie the Pooh Pack'n'Play without major issue, and went without his swing for 3 days.  It's nice to know that he's adaptable and travel-friendly :).

And here are some more pics of the family picnic.  

J, Uncle M and M

Great Aunt R, Great Grandma Lola, and M

The other G-G-Grandchildren (B, E, S & C) and Great Uncle G

J and James

Grandpa Brad taking a trip out on the boat

James at 6 weeks

He just keeps growing!  At 6 weeks, James is 23.5 inches long, although that is approximate as it's quite a battle to measure him.  He is also 11.6 pounds, with a diaper because there is no way Patric or I will attempt the no diaper weighing process.  He has outgrown the majority of his 3 month footie pajamas and some 3 month onesies; his torso is long and some of the brands assume a shorter, fatter torso.  The onesies from those brands are basically square and he is definitely not square.

Another post to follow shortly on his trip to Grandma and Grandpa Leuschke's last weekend.

Horizontal Stripes

Do horizontal stripes really make a person appear wider?  Because I've started using horizontal stripes on James in an attempt to make him look a little more rolly-poley.  He's not too skinny yet, but he's just so long and narrow.  He is just over one month, over 22 inches long and just under 11 lbs, which is completely normal for a one month old.  However, most of the clothing brands make these really short and wide outfits, and the only brand that is fitting him really well is Precious Firsts by Carters (the brown and white stripe is one), otherwise he's wearing 6 month+ outfits to get the length and then swimming in them because the outfit is too wide.  Here are some pictures using the horizontal stripes!

James - One Month Birthday!

"I'm one month old today!"

We celebrated James One-Month Birthday this past Thursday, with James' Grandpa James and Grandma Theresa.  James also had his first visit from Aunt Lauren earlier in the week (Sunday-Wednesday).

The night before his birthday, James said good-bye to Patric for the night.  He has been working overnight flights out of Minneapolis so he can be home during the day.  He typically leaves around 8:30p and is home by 9:00a the next morning.

Dad in uniform saying good-bye to James before work

Because of this interesting schedule, Patric and James have also learned how to nap together.  This gives me some time to shower and get ready for the day in the morning.

Nap time!

James' birthday dinner was at Brit's Pub in downtown Minneapolis (unfortunately, he didn't get to try the British fare, but the rest of us enjoyed it!).  James has been an impressive baby diner thus far - he tends to sleep through every restaurant outing we've been on.

James & Dad on the patio at Brit's Pub

Dad and Grandpa sharing the load, carrying James in downtown Minneapolis; Mom is ahead carrying the diaper bag

James ended the week with a whole day of Dad & James time.  I had a bachelorette party, which left the boys to fend for themselves for the day.  Patric and James (and Jackson and Sam) were all alive when I got back, so the day must have gone somewhat smoothly.  Admittedly, I called at least five times while I was gone.  (It was a LONG time to be away from them - I went from several short 2-3 hour trips to 12+ hours!)

James - Week 3.5 - "My First Drug Bust"

Yeah, catchy title, right?

Today, we took James to his first Chipotle experience.

It was a nice day, we were with friends (MK was in town) and I tried the Chicken Salad for the first time (as opposed to my regular Chicken Tacos).  We had just sat down outside when all of a sudden we saw flashing lights and a sheriff with a gun was yelling "HANDS UP, GET OUT OF THE CAR" at a guy in a gray minivan.  I definitely freaked out a little when I saw the gun, but luckily it appeared the sheriff was the only person with a firearm.  A few officers threw the guy out of the van and tackled him to the ground, and grabbed what I can only assume was a lot of drugs off him (plastic baggies, appearing white in color?).  This wasn't a first I was prepared to catch on camera, but since I had the camera with me:

James' First Drug Bust:

James - Week 3

On Monday, August 8, James turned 3 weeks old!  James also spent quite a bit of time out of the house to celebrate.  Or rather Mom and Dad decided they had a ton of errands to run and James was going to tag along.  James went with Mom to the Mall of America and hit Old Navy, Macy's, Starbucks, and Motherhood Maternity (yes, Mom is no longer pregnant, but she does need nursing bras, which can be found at Motherhood Maternity).  Then James took a trip to the Post Office to get stamps for his announcements.  Mom brought him back home and Dad took him to the grocery store, the airplane/helicopter hobby store, and then the hardware store.  Quite a day!

James also took some pics today to share:

James and Sam playing 

Post Tummy Time - "Mom, I'm tired!"

"Ooo, camera"

(Yeah, I don't have a caption for this one)

James - Week 2.5 - "Look mom, I can roll over!"

James hit a big milestone today.  I was just getting ready to go outside to mow the backyard (yes, I actually chose to mow the backyard over some other indoor chores), and I heard this surprised gasp from Patric.  "Omigosh, I think he just rolled over!"  So we pulled out the camera, and caught his second roll over - take a look.

Ofcourse catching this on video and then editing it in iMovie took most of the afternoon, but I learned how.  It was originally over 2 minutes because he was more interested in sucking on his fist than rolling over again.  James is also quite the techie.  Here are a few pics of James skyping...

And just some other pics...

James Week 2 Appointment

James had his two-week appointment today and he's growing like a weed!  He gained a bit on his height (up to 21 inches) and a ton on his weight (+14 oz from one week ago, to 8 pounds, 10 ounces!).  Needless to say, this put to rest my fears that he wasn't getting enough to eat.  I've heard this is a common issue with breastfeeding moms, because it's so hard to tell how much they really are eating, but an average of 2 oz per day over the last week and PLENTY of dirty diapers makes me confident he's getting enough.

This also meant the first round of outfit retiring - take a look at what we no longer fit into :).

Two Week Retired Outfits.  All N (Newborn) size except the white w/ animal onesie (size 1m)

And we spent some time in our play gym this week, and wore our froggy sleep and play outfit.