Palace of the Legion of Honor

Mamie Linda joined us on a trip to the Palace of the Legion of honor (word to the wise, show up after 4:30 on Sunday afternoon and you'll get in for free!) where we looked at an exhibit/installation of Jewelry. I didn't enjoy it very much. Nathan slept. Alex and Linda seemed to enjoy themselves...

"Please stop the paparazzi!"

Move your feet... lose your seat!

"Hey, pops -- can you be a dear and run to the kitchen to get me a bottle or something?"


"Ha ha daddy! I stole your seat!!!"

Jim and Elizabeth come to visit!

Nathan received some visitors today, our friends Jim and Elizabeth. They enjoyed catching up with Sam and Alex, but mostly they seemed happy to just chill out with Nathan.

Lunch with Paula and Mikatrin

Spring is here! Mom and I met Paula and Mikatrin in Burlingame for lunch and none of us could stay outside to eat, the sun was so hot... Nathan slept almost the whole time to Mikatrin's disappoinment as she really wanted to play.

Ok, ok - stop all these photos and let's go out!

Fort Cronkhite

Nathan, Linda and Alex visited Lois at her office and had lunch by the beach. It was beautiful!

5 hours, 5 hours

Last night Nathan slept 5 hours, woke up to eat, and then slept another 5 hours.

Mommy and Daddy are thrilled at his new habits.

Valentine's Day!

Mamie Linda volunteered to babysit if Sam wanted to take Alexandra out for "night on the town." So, off we went to Chouchou for a romantic "pre-valentines day dinner" (we both hate going out on Valentine's day because it's a total rip off).

We had a great time. We did, however, decide against ordering desert and "rushed" home with a cheesecake to share with Mamie. And to see little Nathan.

8 hours!

Last night Nathan slept for 8 hours straight, from 8P until 4A.

Alexandra and I both woke up at 2A wondering what was going on. We couldn't fall back to sleep even though we had checked on him and he was sleeping soundly.

Getting the US passport, or "fonctionnaires part deux"

So, as you have read we finally have a valid, signed copy of Nathan's birth certificate and now we need to go and get him a passport.

It turns out that when they say that the hours for applying for a passport is between 9 and 3:30, what they meant to say is that you can show up between 9 and 12, or 1 and 3.

When we showed up at the post office, we "took a number" (21, to be exact) and they were just calling number 8 to the counter.

"8... 21 - this shouldn't be too bad," I reassured Alex and Linda (and Nathan).

However, because the majority of the people who were in line in front of us had a very limited command of the English language, it was taking about 30 minutes per person to process.

Mamie Linda, used to dealing with des fonctionnaires in their native environment (France has excellent examples) was quick to find a way to accelerate our place in line.

"Number 9" shouted the single passport-processor at the counter.

So, Linda befriended a Spanish-speaking lady who happened to sneak into the passport aisle via the "normal post office line." This lady had been there for a while, and was holding a MUCH better number than ours (11). Linda asked her "if you are able to do what you need to do for your passport without requiring your ticket, can you give it to me so that we can use it?"

Sure enough we received the ticket and 1 hour later were standing in front of the processor getting Nathan's passport situation all worked out (photo, included).

As we were leaving, Linda ran into a middle aged man with his wife and two sub-5 year old sons who also showed up to get passports, but who were told that "no more numbers/tickets were being distributed today." He was despondent. His wife (with two screaming kids in tow) was a little manic.

Mamie Linda offered him our original ticket, #21 and made their day!

Golden Gate

The weather has been pretty awful lately, but we finally caught a break on Sunday and the sun came out.

Nathan, Alex, Linda and I took a nice stroll across the Golden Gate bridge (affectionately known amongst us as "le pont rouge.")



Even though the noise from the cars was horrendous, Nathan slept through the whole thing.

Passport pictures

In the process of taking pictures for Nathan's passport, here are some shots that Sam was able to steal.

Infant Massage

Alex signed us up for an Infant Massage class at Day One and so off we went.

Nathan seemed to enjoy the class, however he pee'd all over us and himself three times. "It's sterile" insisted Susan, the lady teaching the class.

We took Nathan home and tried it ourselves the next day (with the proper protection -- a towel -- at the ready).

Nathan really seemed to enjoy it. And since we've started giving him massages he's been sleeping MUCH better.

10 lbs, 2 oz

Nathan went in for his regularly scheduled checkup. Alex had a long laundry list of questions to ask Dr. Sollod which he answered to her satisfaction.

His spectacular growth continues unabated. Apparently Alexandra's milk is of the French triple-cream variety.

Vive le lait!

Des fonctionnaires

Because Nathan was born down in Palo Alto, in order to pick up a copy of his birth certificates Linda and Alex needed to drive all the way down to San Jose.

Three addresses and a short stop by the Governor's local office later, they had the paperwork they thought they needed.

Back to San Francisco they drove, happy in the completion of their task. And on to the local San Francisco city hall to get a stamp which would allow Nathan to get himself recognized as a baby by the French consulate in San Francisco.

It turns out that the "fonctionnaires" down in San Jose neglected to sign the papers that they gave to Alex and Linda. SOOOOO they jumped BACK in the car and drove to San Jose to fetch the signature.

Lots of driving made Linda and Alexandra none too happy. Nathan went through periods of discontent as well.

Nathan the California Kid

Tummy time

Bye bye Mini, hello Audi

After trying bravely for a month to cram all the stuff she had to take with her (including Nathan) into her beloved little Mini, Alex finally admitted that, perhaps, a larger car might be advisable.

Sam found a lovely used Audi A3 on the internet and invited Alex to come down "just to see it."

Yada yada yada Alex now has a "new to her" Audi A3!

9 lbs, 0 oz

So Nathan has been a little... er... gassy lately. And he's having trouble getting to sleep because of cramps. Alex, obviously, is nervous that he's not getting enough to eat because of his condition so she made an appointment to see Dr. Sollod.

It seems that Nathan suffers from "sloppy suck." And Alex unwittingly exacerbates the problem with "over-active let down." Sort of like when you're drinking a glass of icewater with all the ice stuck to the bottom of the glass, and then all of a sudden the ice breaks free and pushes a bunch of water towards your face.

Needless to say the combination of these two conditions are making Nathan a bit uncomfortable, but look at his weight! Apparently it isn't affecting his growth.

Go Team Fell!

Nathan hits the town in high-style...

...and sleeps right through it! We went to Muir Woods to walk around (thanks to Karyn and Dave for the unlimited year-long membership!) and tired the little guy out, then headed to Mill Valley (thanks Lois for the introduction) for a little lunch.

Nathan was happy to get out of the house, and slept like a baby for most of the time.

What? I suppose your hair is perfect when you wake up?

Nathan's Bath

Nathan had his first "post-brit milah" bath today. At first he seemed a little annoyed at the whole "wet" thing, and held on to Mamie Linda's hand extremely strongly in order to keep himself from drowning (we were being careful not to let that happen, too).

Ultimately though he seemed to enjoy himself...

Post-Brit Milah Festivities

Alex's mom and dad, and Sam's mom, sister, niece, and aunt/uncle stayed in town for a few days to soak up the sun in San Francisco (and to spend a little time with Nathan, for sure).

Alex and Sam spent a lot of time sleeping and taking care of Nathan (in between eating a lot and hanging out with family.)

Nathan's Brit Milah

8 days after Nathan was born we held a Brit Milah ceremony at our house with our closest family and friends attending. Rabbi Chanan Feld joined us to officiate.

Robert was feeling a little "under the weather" so to protect Nathan from any cross-infection, he put on a surgical mask.

It was great to have an occasion to have all the local (and some remote) family gather in order to celebrate. Alex and Linda spent the better part of three weeks prior cooking and preparing for a very lovely event.

Nathan made it through the ceremony with aplomb... then he retired to his room for 6 hours to sleep off all the wine!

6 lbs, 9 oz

Our first pediatrician visit (Dr. Sollod) came and went with little fanfare (except the humongous poop that Nathan made in his diaper just before the doctor came in... the diaper which then inexplicably made it into the garbage can written "No Diapers, Please.")

Dr. Sollod, your new patients the Fells have arrived!