Sports Fan

Well, the prudent thing to do this weekend would have been to spend time cleaning the VERY messy house, write the few remaining thank-you cards, and for dad to grade lots of papers and do his grad school work.

But after a long, busy week for dad, and a busy week for mom who was feeling a little cooped up in the house, it was time to get out and enjoy the great end-of-summer / beginning-of-fall weather.

On Friday (9/19) Tristan went to his first high school football game as Harrisonburg High School ran away with a second half win. Tristan slept most of the time in the stands.



Then on Saturday evening we wandered over to EMU to see the soccer game. Perhaps his over-zealous parents bundled him up a little too much...but it was a good opportunity to wear one of Grandma T's hats.


Again, he slept through most of the game. Actually we only saw the second half of either one...it takes a little while to get out of the house.


In the midst of a sports-filled weekend we also had a baby shower for his future Herin-Wheeler buddy who is yet to enter the world. He did get to nap next to Lewis Yoder.


Also we had visits from Kathi, Rachel, Aunt Karen & Cousin Rachel.


A trip to visit Ann - our wonderful midwife from Shenandoah Womens Health Care. She was responsible for the delivery. She had much to say about his cuteness... :-)



Bath time during the day with mom.


Hanging out with dad.



Mom and Dad are having fun with the dress-up each day with all of his cute clothes. Sometimes the photo shoots are a little bit floppy though.

Creative Grandmothers (or carrots and pockets)

The Grandmas continue to collaborate for their new grandson. Carrots from the Trotter garden were cooked, mashed and frozen by Grandma N. They each continue to go above-and-beyond for Tristan. Below are some pictures of their contributions to the changing table. The diaper holder on the wall was created by Grandma N (a more ambitious project than she bargained for--it was her own design). The Winnie-the-Pooh animals were a Grandma T contribution, and the pockets at the end of the table were made by her as well. It is so nice to have such wonderful grandparents on both sides of the family!

5 Weeks Old

Tristan is now 5 weeks, and as big as ever. He is mostly wearing 3 month clothing. Today he wore an outfit from 1977 to church--one his dad wore and given to Tristan by Grandma N. Family pictures are below--at least two of us were agreeable...

In other "news":

• Tristan's cold is lingering, but we are making it through. (Hopefully this week it will end!)
  
• Auntie Lisa White came to visit from Lancaster, PA.
• Trina and Tristan had a visit to mom's old work at the health department
• Grandma N left us to fend for ourselves.
  
• and mom and son are figuring out the routine of a regular week (the occasional visitors were helpful)

A few photos from the week are below, but there are more in the slideshow to the right. (Trina's personal favorite is the one with Brian, Tristan, and the cats all asleep on the bed.)

First Cold

Tristan has his first cold. In the middle of the night Friday night/Saturday morning (8/29) he woke up gagging and coughing. His worried parents took him to the Dr. on Saturday morning, but it thankfully turned out to be nothing more than a head cold.

He has really been quite good this entire week, but he is definitely frustrated at times with his difficulty in breathing (and kinda like that kid in school who refused to blow his nose and just sniffled).

As a treatment we do a little routine where we squeeze some saline drops up his nose and he then spits and sputters until we use the suction bulb to squeeze it all out. This is basic baby care stuff, that all parents deal with, but it is new to us and it is tough to be the one who does this to your child.

In better news we are starting to see more definite smiles and more consistent eye contact, and hear more cooing, which is really cute. In spite of his cold he still has moments each day when he is alert, happy, and trying to interact with his world. The only drawback is that dad is finding it difficult to get anything done from work, grad school and his master's research project since it is much more fun to make faces with his son.

Great Grandma Z

This week we came to terms with the fact that Tristan will never meet his Great Grandma Mabel Ziegler. She passed away on Friday (9/5/08). It was a blessing because now she is not suffering, but that doesn't make the reality of it any easier. When Grandma T took a picture of Tristan to her about a week ago, we are told that she responded to that more than to anything else in the past month or so--maybe she understood. Below are some pictures from the past. (Look at Mom's big hair Tristan!)



Tristan,
It's hard to think about life changing and moving on (and ending), but your parents were so glad to have known her, and proud that you have a few of her genes. She was an incredibly generous and kind human being, and was the best Grandma she could be. Your mom is lucky she got to grow up in the same town as her Grandma, and see her as often as she did. She is comforted somewhat by the notion that Great-Grandma Z is keeping the rest of the grandparents company in Heaven, and that we will all meet again one day.

But she will still be missed.

We are blessed to have your new life continue as an extension of all who came before you.

Four weeks already!

We have passed the four week mark already - hard to believe. Tristan and his mom have been taking a "new moms" class every Thursday and it's been nice to be with other screaming children, not just Tristan...

We continue to look for identifiable indicators as to which of his parents Tristan looks more like--time will tell. Here is another picture of Trina and her mom (who has changed quite a bit from 1973, although we think she should bring back the braids...) next to a picture of Tristan. :-)


Here are a few fairly content pictures. The blue outfit is one that Daddy wore! Welcome back 1977!


In the corner of the above picture you can see the changing table monkey. (Thanks Rachel Whitmer!) It has not been named yet, but I'm sure that will come soon. So far it has only been peed on once...and it wasn't that bad.



A close up while he was enjoying his swing.



It's not always so cheerful, (on either side), but there is good mommy-baby bonding time that happens each day.





You know that he is the son of a teacher since he has already learned how to raise his hand before he speaks. :)

Grandma N is still here for a few more days, but it is clear that she will be missing him before she even gets on the plane.