For the past month or so, Connor and I have been going swimming on Saturday mornings.  Here we are at our first outing.  (As you might be able to tell, he was a little distraught.  See, what we didn’t realize at the time was that he probably had a slight fever, and so going into the cold water was maybe not the best idea ever; he spent the next week or so with the worst cold imaginable).

He likes it okay, though it’s not his favorite thing in the world.  He endures it with only a little fussing. He’s only just figured out how to reach for things when he’s dry; trying to reach for a toy in the water that keeps getting farther and farther away is just so frustrating.  My favorite part is the dunking.  I blow really hard into his face so he squeezes his eyes shut, and then dunk him under for a split second.  He always comes up with this adorably alarmed look on his face, as if he’s saying, “hey!  What’d you just do!  That was weird!  Stop that!”

The picture above was from about a month ago.  This picture, on the other hand, is me with my dad, around 30 years ago.

We took Connor up to Three Cedars farm (the same place we went for our pumpkin in October) to meet Santa. He was kind of ambivalent about the Clauses (“Oh. More strangers to hold me. Okay then.”), but he really enjoyed looking at all the lights. There are a few more pictures at the flickr site.

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Originally uploaded by cnitchie

Connor says, Happy Thanksgiving! We went over to Aunt and Uncle Awesome’s (Mike and Michelle’s) for lots of food and football, and had a really nice time. More photos from the event can be seen here.

Shannon’s sister Kelly gave birth to Brendan James Cox this past Thursday at 8:45 P.M. in Louisville, KY. We missed the big event by around two hours, unfortunately, but we spent the long weekend helping Kelly and her husband Pat get settled, along with Shannon’s parents. It really brought home how much our little guy has grown and changed. He doesn’t seem quite so babyish anymore.

More pictures at the usual place.

Last weekend, we went to nearby three cedars farm to enjoy the fall festivities and pick out our pumpkin. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a fun time taking the hayride, wandering the corn maze, and choosing our pumpkin.

This was the first major test of the Baby Bjorn, and I can’t quite get over what a fantastic invention it is. We were there for 2+ hours, and he spent the whole time riding around kangaroo-style with nary a complaint.

When it was over we hit the donut hut for donuts and cider. There’s nothing quite like homemade donuts on a crisp fall day. All around a gorgeous day. The full set of pictures is here.

A while ago, I promised a family photo from my mom’s side of the family. Here ’tis:

From left to right:

Seth and Meredith. Mer is my mom’s brother’s daughter.

Tom and Ryna Moss. Tom is the aforementioned brother.

Jon Eddy, hovering over Ryna. Jon’s my mom’s sister’s son.

The usual suspects: my brother Mike, his wife Michelle, Shannon holding Connor, me trying very unsuccessfully not to block my mother (who is completely hidden behind me), and my dad in the back. Then my brother Matt.

Linda Eddy, my mom’s sister and Jon’s mom, followed by her husband Tim and their daughter Catherine.

As you might expect, we’ve been listening to a fair amount of childrens’ music lately. Most if it is perfectly fine (and the Disney stuff is just wonderful), but every once in a while I’ll hear something that makes me wonder who this music is for, anyway.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a deep-seated, but vague, affection for the Peter, Paul and Mary album Peter, Paul and Mommy. I’m told I just loved this record when I was a kid, and I can’t help but get the warm fuzzies when I see the cover. My parents gave it to us on CD when Connor was born, and I was excited to have it again, excited to revisit these songs.

When was the last time you actually listened to this music, though? Yes, much of it is fine, great even, but every few tracks I’m struck by… well, you’ll see. Let’s hit the highlights. Links go to lyrics.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to find energy to do much of anything when you have a new baby. That’s a pretty lame excuse for not posting for almost two months, I know, but I’ve honestly been too exhausted to do much of anything lately. When I’m at work, I’m, well, at work. And when I’m home, I’m either taking care of Connor, or sleeping, or sneaking in some TV or a book while Shannon (who is a saint, and who does much more than I do, so I shouldn’t complain, but I’m not going to let that stop me) takes him for a bit.

Anyway. Sorry. I’ll try and be better now.

And today seems like as good a day as any to sort-of re-initiate the blog: he’s 3 months old today, and it feels like we’re finally starting to come out the other side of the baby-rearing slog. He’s starting to sleep longer and longer each night, sometimes going as long as 5 or even 6 hours. He still requires to be held at all times during the day, which is kind of a drag, but over just the past few days, he’s started to smile and react to things, which completely makes up for it.

Here’s a rundown of the last couple of weeks, shamefully under-documented on this site. Incidentally, even though I haven’t been blogging, I have been uploading photos to the flickr page, so when in doubt, it’s always worth a look.

On his two-month birthday, I took a bunch of fun pictures with him.

For his two month birthday, he got some fancy new toys. He got this playset, which is sort of fine, but what he really enjoys is the bizarre toy we’ve come to call the Doggerpillar. It’s got the body of a caterpillar, but the head of a dog, and when you squeeze it, it plays ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ at a pitch that drives dogs to distraction. It was the first thing he ever paid any obvious attention to. Any time the music starts, he would instantly start trying to seek out the sound, as though it were the greatest sound he’d ever heard. I have real concerns bout this kid’s taste in music.

In late September, he took his first long car trip, driving to Louisville for his aunt Kelly’s baby shower, and he got to meet his great-grandmother. We call her GG for short. Lessons learned: long car trips take around 30% more time than they used to. Also, there’s nothing quite like changing a baby’s diaper in the handicapped stall of the men’s room of a rest stop in northern Ohio.

Last week, we bought a Baby Bjorn. This is the Best Invention Ever. I can now hold him and still have two free hands. It can be killer on the back, though.

Our good friend Tracy made him a cute little hat with bunny ears, and a little stuffed bunny to go with it. Hand-made stuff is awesome, as is Tracy.

And that’s about all the news that’s fit to print at the moment. Here’s the obligatory three-month movie.

(Postscript: this quick little return to blogging took about 3 hours, including throwing together the movie. Note to self: blog faster.)

Sorry it’s been a bit slow lately. My brother got married over the weekend, I was the best man, and between that and the baby things have been nuts, I’ve been exhausted, and haven’t had the energy to post.

I’ll write more about the weekend soon. I just had to write about this picture, because it’s too cool:

Genealogists from Connor’s generation and later, rejoice: you’ve just hit the mother-load. From left to right, roughly back to front:

– Popper (Francis), the patriarch.
– Me
– Shannon, my wife.
– Connor, our son, all of five weeks old.
– Mary Smith, my dad’s older sister.
– Behind Mary, Andrew Nitchie, my dad’s younger brother’s oldest son.
– In front of Mary, Wendy Smith, Mary’s granddaughter.
– Michael, my brother, with his arm around
– Michelle, his brand-new wife, who’s in front of
– Matt, the crazy one, Mike’s and my middle brother.
– Carl, our dad.
– Heidi, our mom.
– Douglas Campbell, our cousin, son of my dad’s younger sister, who we’ll get to in a second.
– Bill Nitchie, in profile; son of my dad’s oldest brother.
– Beth Campbell, my dad’s younger sister.
– Tamara Campbell, Beth’s daughter.
– Tamara’s fiancee, whose name escapes me. I am ashamed. Seemed like a good guy. (UPDATE: his name is Pat.)
– Behind Tamara’s fiancee, you can see the top of Ken Nitchie, my dad’s youngest sibling.
– In shadow, Kendra Smith, husband of Daryl, daughter-in-law of Mary and…
– Don Smith, whose head you can barely see behind…
– Donna Nitchie, wife of Ken
– Doug Campbell’s girlfriend. It was a busy weekend. Again, I forget the name. Still ashamed. Nice girl, though. (UPDATE: Kristin)

The folks closer to the ground, starting in front of Wendy, kneeling on the ground in the front left:
– Cindy, girlfriend of
– John Nitchie, my dad’s oldest brother
– Danny Smith, youngest son of
– Daryl Smith, my oldest cousin, son of Mary and Don.
– Scott Nitchie, middle son of Ken and Donna
– Alina Nitchie, youngest of Ken and Donna’s kids.
– A drain. Not related to anybody else, so far as I know.

Phew. Hope I got that mostly right.

Not pictured:
– Carol McGee, daughter of John
– Matt McGee, Carol’s husband
– John McGee, their son
– KCatherine McGee, their daughter; the McGees were driving from Michigan to Massachusetts at the time; work on Monday and whatnot.
– Alan Campbell, Beth’s husband, Tamara and Douglas’ dad. Not sure what he was up to out in Maine.
– Jane Nitchie, John’s late wife, mother to Bill and Carol. Much missed, well remembered.
– Nanna (Mary), Popper’s late wife, my grandmother, there in spirit, and in the faces of her children.

There’s a corresponding, and somewhat more manageable, picture from my mom’s side of the family that I don’t seem to have a copy of yet (this was taken by Shannon’s mom, I think). There are also lots more pictures at my Flickr page.

The word of the day is “snip.” That is all.