R.I.P. Byron Joseph Preston. Born Nov. 12, 1969, Died Sept. 4, 2006. Drinker of beers, teller of stories, reader and student of history, wearer of fezzes and hunter of ghosts and oldest of friends since 1991. You will be missed by your 'brother.'

Though it was for a sad occasion, the boy and M and I took our first trip together to Ulster County, NY to visit his Uncle Byron and Aunt Kathy and cousin Nora.
















We also got to see many other Aunts and Uncles, including Uncle Geoff and Aunt Seana, his surrogate grandfather Wolf and Uncle Peter who looks all too natural with a baby in his arms.

and perhaps his favorite (at least ours...), prunes.

first carrots...
both before...


and after...

first peas...

Walter has had many firsts in the last few months...
first cereals... both rice and oatmeal.

It has been a busy past month since I last updated this blog...

The boy has experimented with his turban phase... it was just a phase.

The boy and I also had a busy schedule watching the World Cup.




Here we are cheering on France in their semifinal vs. Portugal. I'm wearing a German national jersey and the boy is wearing a new outfit as well.







It was also Walter's third month birthday. He'll soon be bigger than his teddy bear.




And the boy has started Basic Training.

It was the boy's two month birthday this past Sunday and while we didn't get a cake or really celebrate, it feels as if we passed some sort of milestone. Walter is getting so much larger than from when we first brought him home. He is growing like the proverbial weed. He had his first pediatrician's visit outside of the hospital yesterday where he was weighed, measured, poked and prodded and given 4 shots which he did not like at all.

The fruits of my labors. Last week, I finished a mandatory one week aging of the Pale Ale that I brewed two weeks prior. Not bad... I may have either not added enough priming sugar or the beer may not have had a long enough time to carbonate. In any case, the first beer that I tried was a little flat. The next ones after have been better and more mellow in taste. They were primed in the tub in the spare bathroom and may not have had enough warmth for the yeast to fully carbonate the beer.... or it may have been the caps.... but its still beer!

The boy has gotten to the ripe old age of five weeks as of last week and has had his first real bathtub bath. No more sponge baths for him now that his umbilical cord stump has fallen off.









All is well in Walter's world.
He finds plenty to both laugh and cry about, but his new Soccer Champ jersey put him in a good mood.









His grandmoms have come to visit and even his great uncle or "Gruncle" Jim and Kathy too.
Everything seems a little too large for him. He isn't small in the least and even now after just 5 weeks seems to have been growing like the proverbial weed.

April 4, 2006 Walter Dylan Burke was born by Caesarian section. He was 7 lbs. 11 oz.- a good healthy weight. Walter, the former "Peanut," now has to be named "Walnut." It has taken forever and many sleepless nights to get this blog updated. Its still really hard after nearly 4 weeks to believe that he is here at last.

M and I had another sonogram this past Wednesday. Everything and everyone is doing well. The baby is growing fast. The baby's estimated weight is at 2 lbs. and 13 oz. Almost three pounds and still 11 weeks to go! The pics are starting to show more and more detail. We can now see the baby's face and chubby cheeks better and hands and feet with toes and fingers. Our first little Mainer!

More sonogram pics. The baby is growing fast- 13 oz., up from 9 oz. a few weeks ago. Heartrate 144 bpm and still kicking up a storm.

Our first Thanksgiving in Maine and M and I spent the day together. A quiet rainy/snowy one. The baby's first Thanksgiving, though he/she doesn't quite know about it. The tryptophan has probably caught up with baby as it has me.

The turkey after.
The mincemeat pie after. A good time was had by all five of us...

...though maybe the boys had too much to drink...

We even had some snow yesterday afternoon. The snow continued into this early afternoon, but by now (4.30pm), its mainly rain and the snow has been washed away.