Sing-a-long

Since we began dating Andrew has tried to get me to sing with him. He is a wonderful singer and guitar player and likes to do it often, but unfortunately for him, I am not confident in my singing abilities and only do it when I am sufficiently drowned out (in other words, in my car, with the music up very loud, by myself).

Now, finally, he has someone to sing with! Since Katie has found her voice she will coo along with him as he plays and sings. It is the sweetest sound! We tried to get it on video but we're having trouble loading it on here (sorry to everyone who tried to play our previous post but couldn't) so pictures will have to do. I'm also posting some other recent shots of our darling little girl.

Back to Virginia

Nine years ago, when Andrew entered a doctoral program at the University of Virginia, only God knew that his work would one day lead our family just over the Blue Ridge Mountains to a job at my alma mater, James Madison University. Yesterday he accepted an offer from JMU to begin work this Fall as a professor of U.S. history. We're grateful to have found such a good job in such a bad job market and thrilled to be moving closer to our friends in central Virginia. As you can see, even Katie is happy about the move. She's already started wearing JMU apparel and palling around with JMU's mascot, the Duke Dog.

Go Dukes!

These Days

Our little Katie is growing up fast! She turned 10 weeks old on Tuesday and we just took her for her 2 month appointment this week. She now weighs about 12 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long, putting her in the 75th percentile for height and weight. She continues to be a great nurser, but unfortunately not a great sleeper. I am still waking up at least 2 times every night but apparently this is normal for breastfed babies; her little tummy is still too small to hold enough to tide her over for the whole night. She is able to lift up her head for longer periods of time and is incredibly alert; she's always gazing intently around the room. Her eyes are a beautiful deep shade of blue and her smile still melts my heart. One thing that makes her smile and squeal in delight is when Andrew moves her arms and legs while making silly sounds, almost like rapping. She loves her daddy!

Katie really is a good-natured baby, not too fussy and very flexible. We feel so blessed that she is our little girl!

Change of Plans

It looks like I was a bit premature in announcing Katie's plans for a career in music the other day.  President Obama called yesterday and asked her to come to Washington to help push his health care plan through Congress.  She agreed.  The two have been friendly since Katie worked as an advisor on children's issues for the President's 2008 campaign.  Below is a photograph of an appearance they made together at a graduation ceremony in May 2009.  The President used the occasion to make a major speech on education.  Katie basically wrote the speech for him.  Don't ask me how this is possible, since at the time she was a fetus.  Suffice it to say that our daughter is a truly remarkable little girl. 

If The Flute Doesn't Work Out

A Career in Music

After listening to Katie complain every day about being bored and not having enough to do, Maureen and I decided to get her started early with a musical instrument.  You can see from the photograph below that she was thrilled when we gave her Maureen's old flute and told her that we'd signed her up for lessons with the principal flutist of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.  Her progress over the past two weeks has been astonishing.  We're proud, of course, but also a bit sad to see our little girl growing up so quickly.  Next month she will attend music festivals in Germany and Switzerland, and the following month she will assume her new duties as Second Flute of the New York Philharmonic, commuting between Philadelphia and New York as her performance schedule demands.  It seems like only ten weeks ago that we were welcoming this talented little girl into our family.  Now we sigh as we watch her spread her wings and fly away.

Visit to Virginia

The three of us returned last night from a wonderful visit with friends in Charlottesville.  Maureen and I marveled as we drove home at how good God has been to bring so many amazing people into our lives.  Katie probably met more people over the past four days than in the previous two months of her life, and she was a champ.  We hope to return soon to introduce her to more of our friends.

One very special visit was with the Lupica family, who drove up from Richmond to meet Katie for the first time. Maureen and I have known Bella and Isaac, the two youngest Lupicas, since they were infants, and I've known Johanna and Noah (who had a basketball game and couldn't come) since they were Katie's age.  I remember holding them and singing to them and playing with them when they were too small to crawl!  We love all four children like they're family, so you can imagine how special it was to see Johanna and Bella holding our daughter.

 

Katie Smiling

This has become one of our favorite sights in the whole world.  We'll call each other and come running to see it, dropping whatever we happen to be doing.  It's hard to explain exactly what's so heart-warming about a baby's smile, but here's the evidence.

What Katie Dreams About

A Great Visit!

We just said goodbye to Tim, Amy, and Malachi, who drove all the way from northern Maine to visit us and other family members who live in the area (speaking of which, thanks for a fantastic get-together on Saturday evening, Aunt Pearl and Uncle Mel).

This was Katie's first meeting with her uncle, aunt, and cousin, and we loved every minute of it.  As you can tell from the photos below, Malachi has a big smile and a winning personality.  I have a feeling he's going to lead Katie on a lot of four-wheeling, snowmobiling, playing-in-the-woods adventures when they're a little older and we drive up to visit Tim and Amy in Maine.

One of the clearest signs I've had recently that Maureen and I have entered a new stage of life is that Tim and Amy brought us a box of diapers as a hospitality gift.  Perhaps an even clearer sign is that I was thrilled to receive it!

Rub-a-dub-dub

One of Katie's favorite events is bath time.  She screams as we carry her from the changing table to the tub, but as she soon as she hits the water she quiets down.  She kicks her legs and flails her arms around, enjoying the warm water, the attention, the absence of clothes, and her friend the Fisher-Price whale tub (a gift from Maureen's former colleagues at WCAV).  

In the interests of modesty, we improvised some swimwear for these shots.  Katie didn't seem to mind, and we thought her grandmothers would approve.