Hanging With A One Month'er

Cooper was one month old yesterday, and we can hardly believe it!  He had an appointment with Dr. Berwald this morning for a physical and to monitor his progress.  All good!  Cooper is now a whopping 7lbs 14oz and 20 3/4 inches, and we are happy his growth continues to be very consistent.  His length is in the 24th percentile and his weight is only in the 10% - but Dr. Berwald assures us that he would be in the 50s if he went to term.  Discussed vaccinations with the doctor at length, and we decided we will go ahead with an adjusted immunization schedule that we will develop as we go along.  

Grandma brought this toy from Arkansas, and Cooper just loves to stare at it and take in the colors.

Hung out a bit on a blanket on the floor, but our timing was off - couldn't manage a picture of Cooper lifting and holding his head up. 

We were at the Jersey Shore to celebrate the 58th wedding anniversary of Cooper's great-grandparents on Sunday.  Cooper definitely felt like a VIP with the entire family wanting their chance to hold him, and next time we may have to try a more systematic approach to turn-taking. Maybe hand out numbers like one would have to do when ordering a half a pound of pastrami at the deli counter in Zabars? :-) One thing is for sure, it is a "given" that Great Grandma will be first in this line.

Speaking of "hanging out".....

Stubbornness?  Faith?  Persistence?  Call it what you will!  Mel and Suzanne gave us a beautiful orchid over a year ago, but unfortunately the blooms started going AWOL after only a couple of months.  Lori misted and watered this companionless stem with relentless determination, and lo and behold - the little bugger bore fruit! (she is going to be impossible to live with after this achievement) 

INAUGURATION

YES WE CAN! We were just like everyone else today - glued to the TV and watched history being made.  It is not only that the first African-American was sworn in as president, but more so that the type of man who is now leading this country has our belief and hope that he will serve us all justly.  We have faith Obama will make decisions based with honesty and morality..... Qualities that have been lacking for so many years. 

We all know how Obama has motivated young people.......

It seems Cooper is a prime example of this fact!

The crowds themselves were absolutely historic.  We wish we were able to brave the cold and head down to DC to be a part of the day, but having Cooper made us reconsider this plan.  

YES WE CAN!

Festivities!!!

Today is the day!  It is over!  DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD!

Keith Olbermann, who will be receiving this year's 'Ally For Equality' award at Lori's HRC dinner gala, did a great job of touching upon the unfortunate highlights of George W. Bush's reign in 'Eight Years of Bush in Eight Minutes':

On January 18th, HBO sponsored 'We Are One' - an inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial that truly set the tone for Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration. Amazing performances and speakers. Crowds in the millions.  You have got to try and catch it on HBO. Great show!
Last night Debra and Grover had a 'Bash Bush' bash to celebrate the last night we had to deal with this guy.  What a great idea for a party, right? One of the first books we bought when we found out we were pregnant was 'Good Night Bush' - which is a play on the classic 'Good Night Moon'.  One of the first we bought, but definitely the first one we read to Cooper!  And we think the kid loved it! 

Three Weeks Old

The past three weeks seemed to have gone by so quickly!  Cooper continues to make amazing progress with his weight and keeping on a schedule and such.  He has been extending his 'awake time' over the last week, and it is so cute to observe him looking around, turning his head, taking everything in, and intently watching us. 

  

Of course, there is always way more time spent sleeping than interacting.

Sleep is most definitely an 'equal opportunity' endeavor......

L Word Premiere Party

Last night the Human Rights Campaign sponsored a premiere party for the L Word's final season. 2009 has proven to be a very good year with over 2,700+ women attending this huge event at Pacha in Manhattan. All had a fab time!

DJ Susan Levine was spinning all night on the main dance floor.
Lori has been organizing, coordinating, and hosting this event for the last 4 years, and truly throws an amazing party. She has even won two awards for her efforts!
And you know she just LOVES being the center of attention!

Lori and Bryan are co-chairs for the Greater NY Dinner Gala on Feb 7th. Hope to see you there!

Weekend Plans

Busy weekend ahead of us!

FRIDAY NIGHT:

Debbie, Lou, and Toni are coming over!  It has been so long since we hung out, and we missed the last Happy Hour due to Maria being so sick.  Thai food, some introductions to Cooper, and wine/vodka are all on the agenda.

SATURDAY:

Maria has cheering practice with her kids all day, and Lori will take Cooper out for a couple of things - repairs on the Jeep, a stop at Babies R Us, and a few other projects.

SATURDAY NIGHT:

Out to dinner!  Yay!  Haven't been out on this kind of trek for a while, and what better restaurant to enjoy a great dinner than Arlene and Suzanne's place?  Looking forward to a meal at Maroon's with Van, and it is a given that Maria will order the ribs! 

SUNDAY:

Michael and Christina are coming over to watch Cooper. Knowing how much Christina likes to cook, I hope they take advantage of our kitchen while they are here.  Yes, we will DVR football for you!

SUNDAY NIGHT:

L Word premiere party!  Lori is the host yet again, and thus far have 2,500+ who RSVP'd.  What a great response!   

See?  We told everyone that Cooper wouldn't slow us down!  

Real World

Maria had the greatest time out and about yesterday!  Her existence seems to have mainly been limited to Cooper (NOT complaining), coaching at Lexington, grocery shopping at Pathmark, and hanging at home.  Even though it was quite cold, she had on her long underwear (TMI?) and Cooper was absolutely content in the stroller under the weather shield - so they were off and on their way!

The pediatrician's office is located across the street from the American Museum of Natural History, so Maria did errands and they shopped their way all around the Upper Westside.  Again, it has been tough for Maria to be grounded and needing to stay so close to home, so she was out and walking for HOURS.  It was so fab to finally get some exercise! She made her way from Lincoln Center, jumped from B'way to Amsterdam to Columbus, and decided to walk all the way home to 145th Street!  She and Cooper probably did 5 miles all in all. Can we say again how happy Maria was to be able to do this?  So thankfully she had the opportunity before the cold, wind, and frigid temperatures set in! 

Some of their stops:

Today was yet another adventure.  

It was the first day that we had Clara come to babysit Cooper. She is so wonderful, and her and her family have been close friends of Maria's for over 15 years now.  Clara's two boys are really all grown up now, but she naturally falls into synch with infants and children.  We are so lucky to be able to have her take care of Cooper when Maria goes back to work!  

That being said..... 

Maria went to Lexington to coach today, and with every step away from the apartment she became more and more heartbroken that she left her little boy!   Clara is so good with Cooper, but Maria wanted to be the one spending time with him! LoL  Maria even called her mother to complain she wasn't a 'trust fund kid' so she and Lori could afford to stay home with Cooper all the time and not worry about anything! LoL Maybe the lottery is an option?  You have to be 'in it to win it', right? There is always that dream of selling everything and the three of us opening a scuba diving shop in Belize - lounging on the beach is looking pretty good right about now!

Mucho Familia!

Lots o' family visits this past week.  At one point we seemed to need an appointment book to just make sure we could fit everyone in!  Thankfully, we did manage to spend some time with Julie/Andrea as well as Noreen in between the family invasions! 

Maria's parents came to NYC for an overnight visit.

(and her dad cried while eating maria's homemade meatballs....)

So happy that Lori's mom hung out with Cooper for four days.

(although cooper's grandpa should have come too!)

Maria's grandparents finally got to see the baby. 

(grandma's cold kept them away the first week.) 

Grandma Micioni came up one night during the week for dinner.

(but we think liza and judy tried to monopolize all of cooper's time!)

Karen and Kayla saw Cooper AND the apartment for the first time. 

(although cooper is going to get a puppy way before kayla does.)

-PICTURE-

Some late-breaking medical news:

1.  Cooper can hear! LoL His hearing test rescreening came out fine, but we really weren't that worried about it.  Funny thing?  Maria ran into her friend (and fellow sign language interpreter) Rachel with her newborn son at the hearing and speech clinic at St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital.  Turns out both boys "failed" their first time around!  

2.  We also had great news at his pediatrician's appointment this morning.  Remember that Cooper was born at 6lbs 2oz, and then in a week lost a full half pound.  Such a peanut!  We truly paid close attention to his eating schedule, and made sure he was fed every 3 hours.  Cooper recently "graduated" to taking 3oz of formula at a time, and our diligence paid off!  This kid gained 13oz this past week!  You have to understand that this is HUGE.  Since he is doing so well we don't have to go for a follow-up next week, so our next appointment is set at the one month old mark.  One thing is for certain.... Cooper takes after his moms in the food department! 

Week Two

So life with Cooper continues, and we have no complaints - he is eating so well, sleeps great, doesn't cry, and is having longer spurts of being awake/aware and taking in the world around him.  We just want to hold him all the time, but are resisting those urges so he gets accustomed to sleeping on his own. (but it is difficult!) 

Cooper's favorite sleeping position. Touchdown!

Speaking of touchdowns, all decked out for the game.

We so TRIED to send good vibes to the Giants, but alas....

Have to head out now for two doctor appointments.  One is the regular weekly check-up with the pediatrician to monitor his progress.  We truly believe he has gained quite a bit of weight this week, and that would be a great thing.  The other appointment?  He did not pass his hearing test at the hospital, so Maria has to take him in for a rescreening.  Now, Lori was quite alarmed when she heard these results, but Maria and the audiologist both assured her that that it is NORMAL for newborns (and especially preemies) to "fail" this test.  And anyway, it would be way too ironic if Maria gave birth to a child with a hearing loss, wouldn't ya say? :-) No worries.  All will be fine! 

Had lots of family visit this week, and will post those pictures later! 

First Week Photos

Had lots and lots of visitors on Cooper's birthday! Maria's mom, dad, sister came in to the city. It was so great to see Michele, Liz, Van, Sarah, and Georgie! They came bearing gifts and doughnuts. :-) And we were so lucky that Mel happened to be in town - it meant a lot to Lori (and Maria too) that she was able to see Cooper at the absolute start of his life.  We could accommodate all these people only because Lori was very sweet and booked a private room for Maria - we earned and deserved the comfort, right?

Cooper's grandmother was a tad emotional.

The godmother in action!

A little bonding time.

We swear, his eyes were open and looking at the TV!  

Missouri Tigers won!
We requested an early discharge from the hospital, so we were able to head home late Tuesday afternoon after Cooper and Maria were medically cleared.  Of course, this was also after Lori and Mel finally figured out the inner workings of the carseat!

Two heads are better than one. 

Cooper's favorite place.

Three days old.

Ready to brave the weather and head to our doctor appointment.

His one-week appointment went well.  Doctor was impressed on how alert and active he is, but Cooper did lose a little weight - normal, but now he is even more of a peanut since he now weighs in at 5lbs 11oz!  We have to start making sure he eats every 3 hrs instead of every 4 hours, and even if it means waking him up to do so.  The doctor had to take blood from his heel to test his jaundice levels..... And for a kid that hasn't discovered the "joys" of crying yet - he certainly screamed his head off!  Test results came back in the 'normal' range. Whew!  Will have weekly appointments for the next 6 weeks or so to monitor his progress.

Maria and Cooper ventured out today!  Big adventures: bank, drug store, and grocery store.  Never were errands so great!  Maria is used to walking at least a couple of miles a day around the city, and has been laying low this past week.  The best part about her time on the outside? 

Coffee!  Real live coffee!  Dunkin donuts coffee rules! Maria had the whole cup. Hot, a little milk, no sugar, and no guilt about drinking caffeine - perfection! She even had a doughnut with it.  Damn it, she deserves it! 

Gingerbread Competition '08

Which house do you think won The Great Gingerbread House Competition of '08?

LORI and The Hart Boys

-- OR --

MARIA and The Lee Boys

So?  Close competition, huh?  You be the judge!