Happy Halloween!

Sunday Lunch Out

Last Sunday after church, we dined with our friends Greg and Amanda, and their new baby, Jesse. We walked a few blocks from church to a deep-dish pizzaria. It wasn't the same as our beloved Philly pizza, but it was pretty good. Mostly we just enjoyed being out with other new parents. It was empowering to make a spontaneous plans with two newborns in the mix.


Adam is a little less than two weeks older than Jesse, so they are bound to become friends as they grow up. We had fun laying them side by side so they could interact. I'm not sure how aware they were of each other, but it made for a fun picture!

Sleep in heavenly peace

Look closely at Adam's onesie in the picture above. It reads "I pulled an all-nighter." There is great significance in his wearing of this outfit today. However, I don't think the manufacturer of the onesie meant for it to have the meaning that it does to us. Last night, Adam slept through the night for the first time!

We put him down at 10pm, a little later than usual, because we were out at Bible Study through his bedtime. I didn't hear a squeak out of him until 5am (which would have been impressive in its own right!) But when I hobbled into his room to feed him, I found that he was not actually awake, but having a period of light sleep or dreaming. He was squirming and squeaking, but had his eyes tightly shut. I credit his continual sleep to the miracle blanket, which arrived in yesterday's mail. The blanket, with its special folds and pockets, kept his arms completely swaddled all night. Without it, I'm sure his movements would have awakened him. This blanket is worth its weight in gold!

When he finally woke up at 6:30am, I couldn't stop cooing and telling him what a good boy he was. I even got a smile back. After feeding him and playing with him, I put him back down for his first "nap" of the day. When he woke up from at 8:30am, I brought him into our room (with Daddy still sleeping) to feed him, then we all took a nap until 11:30.

And we thought that our lazy Saturdays were gone.

Our Little Butterball

Yesterday, I spent the morning with my friend and neighbor Nicole. She and I had the same due date, but her little girl was born about 2 weeks before Adam. When I mentioned to Nicole that Adam hasn't been weighed in a few weeks, she offered to let me use the baby scale she rented to keep track of her baby's weight gain.

Adam weighed in at a whopping 10lbs, 8oz! And that is not including his diaper and clothes!

No wonder I've been having some backaches! In 5 weeks he gained 3lbs and 4 oz. Karl pointed out to me that his weight gain is the equivalent of someone my size gaining 60 lbs in the same amount of time. Yikes!

He seems so big. It's hard for me to believe that women birth babies this big and even bigger!

Happy 1 Month, Adam!

Thursday marked Adam's 1-month birthday. To celebrate, Adam got to meet some of the MacDonald branch of his family, who were passing through the area on their way to North Carolina for the weekend. Adam met "Gramps," "LiLi," Mrs. LaBold, Aunt Stephanie, Aunt Lauren "LuLu," and Aunt Brooke (who wants to join in to the nicknames and be called "LaLa"...the jury is still out on whether that will stick.) After a brief time at our home, we were treated to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Yum! When I get the pictures emailed to me, I'll post them on the blog.

One month. It is hard to believe how time is flying. Tonight we put our favorite little newborn sleeper on him but found that he has already outgrown it. We couldn't fasten all of the snaps. Karl and I were both a little sad about that. Adam is growing up too fast! Despite the open snaps, we left him dressed in it for the night because it was just too cute.

This sleeper is very special to Karl and I, being the first baby item that we ever bought for ourselves. We purchased it over a year and a half ago while shopping for gifts for the expected Erwin baby. We were hoping for a baby, but not expecting yet. The little enclosed feet and froggie design were so sweet that we couldn't resist buying it for ourselves. We hung it in our guest room closet in the hopes that we would be able to use it someday. During my pregnancy, we would look at it from time to time with excitement. Once we found out we were having a boy, we started to imagine little feet filling out the outfit. This was the first outfit of our own we dressed him in at the hospital. He was even cuter than we imagined him to be!

After tonight, it will be packed away in the hopes of future Russo boys wearing it again.

One-day-old Adam , wearing his sleeper for the first time.

R.I.P. Female Red Platy

We knew that she was not right when we left for Philadelphia. We hoped for the best anyway.

When we returned on Monday evening, her lifeless frame was sitting on the gravel. Strange. I thought they usually floated? I'll spare you the pictures, dear reader.

Now we are left to decide if we should replace her with another red platy or a pair of guppies.

A Visit to Philly

The homesickness bug bit, so we packed our bags and headed to Philadelphia for the long Columbus Day weekend. Having been unable to travel in my final weeks of pregnancy, this was my first overnight trip since our move in the beginning of July. Our good friend Kim Dengler was kind enough to host us for our three night stay.

We had an uneventful drive down late Friday night. There was some traffic, but overall it was a pleasant journey. We stopped at a McDonald's in Delaware along the way so both Adam and his parents could eat. Karl ordered a cherry pie, which they were out of. So he ordered an apple pie. None of those. As he switched his order to a sundae, the ice cream machine broke. The manager generously offered Karl anything on the menu he wanted, free of charge. So he ordered an orange juice (the only other sweet thing available) and got a very large one for free!

On Saturday, we spent some time in our favorite Philly haunts. We went to the Italian Market in both the morning and afternoon. First, we had $3 bacon, egg, hash brown, and toast breakfasts at a little hole-n-the-wall eatery. Then we went to the famous kitchen store, Fante's and picked up some odds and ends. Next, we went to the Spice Corner, which carries every dry item you would ever need for your pantry. Planning a pasta making session for the near future, I purchased some semolina flour along with beet and spinach powder for tri-color pasta.

We had lunch at the famous Lorenzo's Pizza at the corner of 9th & Christian. We've found that they just don't make anything close to that in DC! (We also bought some of their dough to bring home and freeze.)

In the evening, we met up with Gus, Retna, and Kristen. We had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant in South Philly, then retired to Gus & Retna's home to watch the Philly's game.

On Sunday, we attended the services at Tenth Presbyterian. This was like coming home for us. This is the place we met, the place we were married, and the place where many of our dearest friends worship. Adam got to meet many new people, including his Aunt Karen. Adam did very well despite all of the overstimulation of strangers touching his toes and rubbing his head all day. His eyes were wide open as we left in the evening, but he slept well at night! After evening service, we joined some friends for dinner at Applebee's.

On Columbus Day, we headed to the Independence Mall area. We visited my old workplace, where all of my former teacher colleagues ooh'd and ahh'd over Adam's blonde hair and blue eyes. While in the area, we picked up some delicious buttercreams and caramels from our favorite chocolatier, Lore's. Then we joined our friends Luke and Debra, and their children Thomas and Nathaniel, for lunch at their home. Debra prepared a delicious and authentic Norwegian meal, which included Sweedish meatballs, Ligonberry jelly, Fiskeboller, potatoes, and an apple salad. For dessert we had stoopwaffels, which I would describe as a pizelle with a thickened maple syrup-like filling. Delicious!

We left for DC in the mid-afternoon. We were sorry to leave our beloved city again, but glad to be back to our home routine. We remarked along the way about how much we would love to live in Philadelphia again, yet how much we know that God has us where he wants us right now.

Adam and his daddy in front of Daddy's favorite Rittenhouse Square statue

First time in Rittenhouse Square: He seems to sleep through all of his firsts!

Adam in his Fuzzi Bunz

"Oh no, she's got the camera out again!"

"How about you take pictures of that stuff over there, instead?"

"OK, you can have one shot of my cute little face..."

"I said, 'one shot.'"

Wow!!!

It's time for some out-and-out bragging now!

Tonight we put Adam face down on his blanket for some "tummy time."

It's a good thing that the blanket was on the floor.

Adam decided that he didn't really want to be on his tummy. With a grunt and a push, he rolled himself over onto his back. Karl and I were shocked. He fussed a little bit more, so we put him back on his tummy. It must be a fluke, we thought.

He rolled over again.

We consulted some websites. Apparently this is a two-month milestone.

We are very proud that after just 20 days, he is already ahead of himself!

Grandma and Grandpa Russo Visit

Adam meets Grandma and Grandpa Russo

Grandpa Russo gets Adam to fall asleep in his arms