Courchene Family: August 2005

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Her 'nunu' keeps us sane these days

Just chillin' with daddy.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Anna soils herself

Well it was bound to happen eventually... Nearly seeped out of her 3 layers of clothing...

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Anna has had pretty good command of her head since the beginning. We are still optimistic that she may have avoided the melonhead gene. Even the nurses in the hospital were surprised by the strength of her back and neck (the back strength, she did not inherit from me or my father.)

It seems like Anna's eyes are beginning to focus on people and things. She looks at us when we speak to her (which might simply mean that she hears our voices), and this morning she was fixated on the penguin that Oma Christa placed on the changing table. With a little help, she was able to grab the scarf and pull the penguin on top of her (which scared Anna a bit). It is clear that she will be grabbin' Grammy's earings soon, like her cousins in Colorado always did.

Big BLUE eyes...

Anna slept a lot this weekend and, as you can tell from her cheeks, has recently put on a few grams. Just like daddy, she gains weight in her face. We were worried last night when she slept from roughly 6pm until 11pm. We thought we had a LONG night ahead of us. Anna surprised us by sleeping from almost 1am until nearly 6am. Her eyes have been WIDE OPEN today (see right photo), although she had a few yawns while daddy held her (see left photo).

Anna's eyes are still blue and we are still not seeing any signs that they might change.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Anna has found her thumb !

Anna slept throught the night relatively well during week 2, but this has changed duing week 3. After the roughest night yet, we are somewhat pleased that Anna found her thumb today. We are hopeful that she considers the thumb to be an alternative to waking us up every couple hours. Our fingers are crossed.

PS. The Kodras should notice that this post is PRIOR TO 10pm, unlike most of the other posts. Greetings from Munich from the three of us!

Monday, August 22, 2005

New Outfit

Anna's new (super warm) outfit with the cute bunny feet was gift from Steffi's godmother (Tanta Ingrid).

Sunday, August 21, 2005

2 Weeks Old Today

...so we pulled out a toy, that Grammy bought Anna long ago. I am not sure whether the colors registered in Anna's young brain, but it provided a break from crying, eating, pooping, and sleeping (her four favorite hobbies).

Saturday, August 20, 2005

A ride in the car...

We went for a ride in the car today to try to buy some things that we need. In typical German fashion, the store was closed. It was 1:30pm on a Saturday afternoon. It is hard to imagine that stores are able to sell anything, seeing as they are closed during the days and hours when normal people have off of work.

The cute duck outfit (jacket, hat, shoes, etc.) was provided by Karen and Trang from Milliman.

A wonderful invention

THE BABY BJÖRN !

Monday, August 15, 2005

Anna likes to be in our bed...

...whether Daddy is awake or asleep...

Anna's bed

Anna is not a big fan of her bed, although we were able to get a few nice photos and post them today.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Anna's first day outside

Anna didn't appreciate the fresh air and sunshine as much as we did.

Grandma's finger

Unlike the US Commander in Chief (http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/finger/poll.shtml) Grandma Winckler (Christa) accidentally let her finger slip in front of the camera on Anna's first day outside of the house.

The White House response was that it was a "thumbs up" sign. Like so many times before, we are asked not to believe our own eyes.

First Bath

One of the benefits of the German 'public' health insurance is that we have our own midwife who comes everyday for an hour (if we so desire) to check on everything and to give advice. Yesterday Anna lost her umbilical cord, so today she gets her first bath. I might add some video footage to our normal website (www.courchene.net)

BTW, Happy Birthday Uncle Michael !

Oma Christa visits

Steffi's mom, Christa, is visiting us in Munich for several days. We are so lucky to have family somewhat nearby (5-6 hours by car), especially since Jeff is still trying to work at least halfdays.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

The Scary Last Stop

After much personal attention from the doctor, for most of which Anna was awake yet amazingly calm, we were allowed to go home. A bit scary, we were told about a few irregularities that will likely develop into regularities, and we received a follow up appointment for late September (in 6 weeks). Time to go home.

BTW, I haven't seen this many electrodes hooked up to a human being since the Abu Gharib or Guantanamo Bay photos/videos were released. [Please do not read the next sentence if you are a deaf/dumb/blind Bush-apologist.] I think it is horrible that the US military "order followers" are being tried and convicted of crimes, while the CIA operatives, sub contractors, and the entire Dept or Defense on up have not even received a single reprimand.

So far so good...

...so we are leaving the hospital a day early. We had the option to stay another night, but we've opted for home-sweet-home. Just one stop , which is for an EKG so doctors at the 'Kinderklinik' will take a closer look/listen at/to Anna's heart. Supposed to be somewhat normal, for newborns under 3kg.