KEENAN IS 3 MONTHS OLD

Hello, all. So much is going on and also, so little. Mostly, I feel I have my backside glued to the recliner, rocking, rocking, nursing, nursing, our wee son, Keenanikins (rhymes with Shenanigans, with irony, since he's a perfect angel). Days and nights blur together, however, as I do my triple shifts in an effort to let Daddio sleep through the night so at least one of us is sane by day. We were trying to think when the last time I had 4 hours of sleep in a row was. We think it was summer 2005, when I was first pregnant.

Both kidlets have been some kind of sick for oh, two months. All illness is low-grade, so I'm not bringing them to the pediatrician. Also, I don't get out so much because baby Keenan *loathes* the car seat and anything to do with the car. It is highly stressful taking big sister Vanessa to her preschool three times per week, since that means six trips in the car per week for Keenan, screaming, choking, and yes, vomiting. I think he might get motion sickness on top of whatever is ailing him.

But other than that, I was telling someone yesterday that Keenan is a much easier baby than Vanessa, partly because she was our first child, but also quite definitely because he is not as grouchy, vocal, and hungry as Vanessa. She nursed every hour on the hour and Keenan is more of a normal eater, going 3 and even 4 hours between feedings. I guess that's the difference between our 95th percentile daughter and our 5th percentile son, in terms of growing.

Keenan just wants to be held, as Grandma Patty says, and he's happy as a lark. Well, he mostly wants to be held by me in the evenings, but others can hold him other times of the day. Daddio gets lots of good times with his son, and Keenan has started cranking his neck around and smiling at the manliest member of our family when he walks by. Yep, Daddio sure is a head-turner.

Granny Ernestine graced our home this month, and Keenan was delighted to spend time with her. Keenan's birthmom's mother, Grandma Debbie, also came to visit with her boyfriend, Doc, who was a Viet Nam Army medic. Vanessa loves them, too.

I was telling someone else this week that the transition from only child to big sister has gone relatively well for VanNannerkins. Swimmingly well, really. The experts all warned she would likely regress in many areas, but no, not our frozen tot. In the past three months, she has fully potty trained except for a diaper during the night, she has moved from our bed to her own big bed in her own room (although I have to lie down with her to get her to sleep), and she has weaned except for about 10 minutes of nursing per week, down from 5 times per day. We think she looks at Keenan and thinks, "Now that's a real baby - I'm big." Her preschool teacher, Miss Carmen, also reports a bit of a transformation to more responsibility.

Vanny is not jealous, rather she gets frustrated when she cannot hold her new baby brother. For a little girl who loves her dolls and thinks she's a mommy, a live baby doll in the house is mighty interesting. But, especially when she's sick (and he's sick) she does need some old, familiar lap time with Mama, which is hardly available. My gosh, Van used to have full access to my lap and my hugs, and now I can scarcely give her any affection. We have to be more intentional about our affection and attention, with designated Girl Time, no boys allowed, of course. Usually that means we take a bubble bath together. So far, so good.

When we're not having Girl Time, Nanners entertains herself or hangs out with Daddio.

At three months old, Keenan is smiling, cooing, sitting up, standing if we hold his underarms a little, and he even crawled four inches. He also rolled over from his belly to his back, but that was at one month and I haven't had the nerve to let him practice any more. We mark the calendar every time he has a poop, since it happens about once every 5-8 days. He's almost ready to move from Newborn sized clothes to the 0-3 months size.

On the rare occasions I do get Keenan out in public, he is absolutely mobbed by admirers. Most think he is a newborn, because he weighs approximately 9 lbs., but all agree he is gorgeous. We had to take him to the E.R. when his temperature was elevated (the E.R. doctor diagnosed him with influenza and said, "The CDC advises us to treat all influenza as the swine flu," but the next day our ped said it wasn't) and the nurses freaked out about Keenan, declaring him to be the most gorgeous baby they had ever seen. We didn't argue.

In other news, our cousins Pete and Becky welcomed their new baby into the world, Veronica Jennings. We can't wait to meet her!

Sadly, we have lost two great prayer warriors and devoted Vanessa advocates. Sophie Bandur, who was housebound and prayed her socks off for unborn Vanessa and for me - every day for years - passed away after 2 years of illness. And, soon after Sophie, we lost Grandma Liz - Elizabeth Jordan - Granny Ernestine's best friend for forty years. Anyone who has ever known Grandma Liz has been struck by her radiant love and amazing smile. She, too, has been ill for two years. Both grandmothers were older than 85 and married. We pray for their husbands and their whole families now, and thank God for Sophie and Elizabeth in our lives.

We continue to wait to hear about Jack's job. He has gone through two sets of interviews by phone and awaits the final round of interviews, in person, at Cal Poly next week. He also got a call from the University of Oregon coach, who needs to hire a crackerjack multi-event coach. That lead is cold, but, all leads have been felt by the family, as we wait and wonder where we will be this time next year.

There are three video clips from the news that I wanted to post. First, "Auntie" Nell went to Japan for a month to star in Tokyo's video bid for the Olympics. See her, on youtube.com if you search "Tokyo bid for Olympics."

Next, the October 18th 60-Minutes broadcast covered troops in Afghanistan. I wanted to post a link to the news piece that shows our nephew, Andy, in a close-up (right after a Viagra commercial). But I can't access it any more. Andy's reports from the war are surprisingly upbeat. His mom, Auntie Anne, says Andy has been so hot that he's woken up in an inch of sweat. None of is USMC platoon have been lost - Andy is one of 4 Navy medics. He is due home mid-November. Thank you for your prayers.

And here is the video clip from Lifetime Adoption. It's 9 minutes long and features our beloved birthmom, Nicole, and a few clips and quotes from us, too. You can go to youtube.com and search Lifetime Adoption. Select the video called "One World" with Jack's face on it, uploaded in the past month.

http://www.youtube.com/watcht?v=T6JzE4hAQK0

I'll leave you with the following quotes by Vanessa, in no particular order:

"Daddio? Can you turn my little brother into a Zombie now?"

"Mama, tell me a story about two princesses named Mama and Vanessa." (every single night)

"God takes old people and sick people." Where does he take them? "Around the world."

"Does God die?"

"I have on my birthday suit. It's pink."

"So if I took off all my skin, my muscles would fall out and no one would be able to fix me forever." (after I explain what's under our skin.)

"I think I'm a baby house-wife. Like you, Mama." I like that you are like me, honey, and I'm glad you are like your dad, too. "I am like Daddy: I'm cute and friendly." That's like your mom (Jack says). "Oh. Well I'm cute and smart - just like Daddy."