Willow Tea Room

I believe that these photos were taken at the Willow Tea Room. We had visited a Rennie Macintosh exhibit at the Kelvingrove earlier. My better half was struck by how Macintosh seemed to serve as a precursor to Frank Lloyd Wright. She's awesome. She is also obviously technically more sophisticated when it comes to posting photos on this website.

Duncan and Flora's Golden Anniversary

Per an earlier post, please find attached hereto a photo of Aunt Flora and Uncle Duncan and two family photos on the occasion of their golden anniversary. We had the extreme honor of attending the event in Dunoon. Their two wonderful children, John MacKillop and Wee Flora (a.k.a, Flora Drummond) organized an astonishing array of events for their parents and relatives from three continents. The photo is of two of the most wonderful people you could ever hope to meet - despite their being ferociously pro-Labour with a slight SNP twinge.

Big Wee Boy

Nickolas is really beginning to sit up well. He can remain upright for several minutes and even reach for toys and books until he rolls over onto his side. I think he's enjoying this new position -- perhaps its time to make the purchase of a highchair. We currently plop him up in his Bumbo chair on the dining table when he eats cereal, which I imagine helps with his sitting posture, but not so great for our tablecloths.

The pictures in today's post are of him this morning sitting up nicely after we read a book and an older one of him in his Bumbo chair, which, I must admit, is a great invention (from South Africa).

Even better news - Nickolas' daddy comes home tomorrow. We can't wait.

Eventful day for Nick

Today was Nickolas' 6-month Pediatrician appointment. He received 3 shots and I, I mean, we cried. Usually Dan stays with him for the shots, but I had to today. It had to have hurt with how red he turned followed by a delayed cry. However, after a three-hour nap, I think he got over it. He weighs in at a whopping 14 pounds 13 ounces, which puts him in the 10th percentile in weight. He truly is a wee one. Otherwise, his height it at the 25th percentile and his head measures in at the 60th percentile! I believe large noggins run on his daddy's side, but I could be wrong. Next up are fruits and veggies for Nickolas to add with his rice cereal. The cereal is going well for the most part, but I think he's ready for some variety and flavor.

Here's a picture as we prepared for his big appointment last night and him opening wide trying to pack those ounces on.

Rollover

This is a somewhat dyslexic blog as we catch up on Nick's first six months; however, we hate to miss anything as almost everyday is something new and exciting for us. These pictures commemorate Nickolas' first rollover - from stomach to back - when he was just shy of five months old. The best part was that Grandma Julie and I just happened to be watching him as he woke up from a nap in his pack'n'play. Even better, was his reaction when he, all of the sudden, had a new perspective of where he was. In order are:

Looking back at

Our wedding day last year.

Dan left on a work trip today - for the next 6 days - to Seattle, so Nickolas and I are reminiscing of 'daddy'. I was on my own today taking Nickolas to mass and he did quite well. We sat next to a five month old girl, so perhaps Nickolas was showing off. I think Nickolas enjoyed the music and all of the smiling faces he saw today as well as his blessing from the priest.

We were blessed with a beautiful day on our wedding day -- luckily, since it was held outside. We got married near Warrenton, Virginia at a little place called Poplar Springs. It was originally an estate that dates from the 20s and is now used as a restaurant. An Inn also lies on the more than 200 acres as well as a spa. After we celebrated with our favorite friends and immediate family Dan and retreated to lovely room with a fireplace for the rest of the crisp autumn night. The following day, the boys went to the 'Skins game and the ladies had tea at the Ritz. It couldn't have been a more perfect weekend. And, I finally gained a sister (and 2 funny nephews and a lovely niece)!

Happy 6-Month Birthday

Six months ago the Wee One joined us in this world. Today he burst out laughing, not his usual gasp of excitement nor his twinkling little smile, but a hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha burst that went on for some time. My better half brilliantly captured a portion of it on our video camera, so as soon as we have figured out how to link to video, you'll get to see this personal highlight. Today was a good day. We went to Old Town Alexandria and purchased the Chitlin a couple of outfits and a little puzzle train. We walked for quite a bit and enjoyed the gentle summer sun. I could go on and on, but I can truly say that I am a lucky guy. Quality time with the wife and child - who could ask for more?

Choo-Choo

We put together a very simple train set in the sun room while in Kentucky, primarily for the older children. Infatuated with the moving pieces, Nickolas pulled himself upright and closely tracked the train's progress. The other children enjoyed the train, but seeing Nickolas so excited was one of the trip's many highlights for us. The outfit he is wearing in this photo was a gift from Aunt Margaret. She is a perfect angel. As I posted last night, our aunts rule! Aimee and I were blown away when we received Aunt Margaret's gift. The clothes were just the right size and Aimee said that they were in styles we couldn't find here. Everyone compliments the Wee One when he is dressed in his Scottish duds. He doesn't have quite the sartorial flair of his grandfathers, but he far exceeds his dad.

Myrow File: Chapter 1

Who is this man and why is he holding the Chitlin? Best wishes to Steve and Jessica as they prepare for their Pennsylvania sojourn.

Happy Birthday to the World's Greatest Aunt

My Aunt Flora is a genuinely wonderful person and today is her birthday. Aunt Flora is my mother's kid sister and she made our most recent trip to Scotland utterly fantastic. It was our honeymoon as well as Aimee's first trip abroad and we've probably never had a better time.

Aunt Flora and her loving husband, Uncle Duncan, took care of us in every conceivable way. We spent a lot of time in Dunoon and then they took care of getting us to the Isle of Mull where we stayed in Tobermory. Aunt Flora, Uncle Duncan, and my mother were born on Mull.

We've sent them many photos of Nickolas, but one reason we started this website was that we kept crashing our relatives' e-mail systems with large photo files.

So Aunt Flora, thank you again for a phenomenal time in Scotland and Aimee and I look forward to reciprocating the next time that you're stateside.

I'm having difficulty uploading a photo from the Scotland trip, so please accept the one above of Aunt Flora's older sister holding the Little Pup as temporary substitute.

In honor of the '82 Milwaukee Brewers

In honor of Nickolas' favorite baseball team, he wore the shirt from Uncle Brian to take part from the DC area in the festivities that took place last night at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Since we got a late start creating this blog now that Nickolas is 6 months old and now that I've probably crashed several inboxes with ginormous attachments of photos, I thought I'd post a couple of pix from his first dozen weeks of life, or so.

Today's Post

Nickolas had a good day. He enjoyed both breast milk and later in the day a small bit of formula. Aimee is awesome. She worked all day and then came home and took care of the Chitlin while her husband didn't get home till 8:00 p.m. The Wee One went to sleep on schedule, but he just woke up screaming a few minutes ago. I held him for a bit, but Aimee is nursing him right now. He seems to wake from deep sleep in a semi-hysterical state. Aimee thinks it might be because he's now so much more mobile than he was in the past and is finding himself in all sorts of new positions on a regular basis. For your viewing pleasure, we've attached this photo from our recent trip back down to the hills of eastern Kentucky.

Blog Post Alpha

This is our first blog post. This blog will be devoted to our wee one (aka, the "chitlin"). He was born at 5:05 p.m. on February 18, 2007, after 18 hours of labor and a C-Section and weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces. More to come as we figure out this technology. For your viewing pleasure, here are some shots of Nickolas from his first week in this wonderful world.