Kozsuch Family Blog

Annabelle Potty Trained

2011-12-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

Hooray for our little Annabelle! She's potty trained. A couple weeks ago on a weekend Christine decided that enough was enough and that it was finally time to push Annabelle in the right direction. To make a long story short, despite a few accidents, she has done great. We are proud of you, Sweetie!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Crazy Halloween this year. Had 6 inches of snow on the 29th. Christine took the kids out sledding while I visited with my good friend Mike and his wife Brenda who came up from Annapolis. We had a neighborhood Halloween parade on Sunday that Christine organized. Then I took the kids out trick treating on Monday while Christine stayed in to hand out candy. Leo and Annabelle really did great. Annabelle was a real trooper and hung on for the whole thing. We figured she'd crash after getting through our cul-de-sac but she went every bit as far as Leo. The neigborhood was really buzzing with kids and parents and it was very festive. More great pics here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157627915797367/

Big Girl Bed for Annabelle

2011-09-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last night we got Annabelle's new twin bed set up. She was so excited. She was such a good girl and slept clear through the night. And of course Leo was excited too and Annabelle had to defend her territory...

Summer Staycation 2011

2011-07-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a week off around the fourth of July and do some day trips with the kids, work around the house, and visit friends and family. The week was really nice including the kids first ride on a small boat at Marsh Creek State Park, a trip to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, and a visit to the aquarium in Camden.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

2011-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

The kids got to hunt for Easter Eggs in the Annual Ryerss Hunt Easter Egg Hunt. Good time was had by all.

More Pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157626549767140/

Happy Snowy April 1st

2011-04-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

Leo's 4th Birthday!

2011-03-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we held a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's for Leo and a bunch of his friends. I think the kids had a great time and the parents all dealt with it. The pizza was fine, the entertainment was kid friendly, and I'm sure most kids napped on their rides home. Ours did.

Tomorrow is Leo's 4th birthday. Christine and I couldn't be more proud of our not-so-little-anymore guy. We met with his pre-school teacher recently for a little parent-teacher conference. Out of about 50 categories that they use to check the kids' progress Leo scored a perfect "G" for "good" in all the categroies (versus "W" for "working on"). He is speaking exteremely well, seems to be as sharp as a tack in terms of his memory of places we've been and things we've seen and done. He loves to play with his toys and seems to especially love any time he gets to spend with Dad. He is still rough with Annabelle, often showing jealousy and rough physical treatment of her, but he has also shown that he really loves her by saying so and giving her big hugs.

The challenges Leo presents seem to be pretty normal for his age, from what I have gathered. He wants to sleep in our room becuase he is scared of things like monsters, noises, and shadows. As I mentioned he can be too rough with Annabelle sometimes. And of course he pushes our limits of discipline and how much he listening to our instructions. He does seem to respond fairly well to things like "time out" in his room.

Leo really loves to be outside. He seems to be "boy" through and through in terms of his physicality, his love of trucks, cars, rockets, and "things that go." He also really loves his books, especially when it's bed time.

Disney and More

2011-03-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

We spent a great week in Florida in January visiting family and friends, seeing Mickey and Minnie, and attending the Outback Bowl. We left on New Years Eve from Philly on a direct flight to Tampa. The kids were as good as could be expected considering we didn't fly out until 8:40pm and arrived at my dad's house around 12:45am on January 1st. Christine and I went to the Outback Bowl the next day and had a great time despite Penn State's loss.

Over the next couple of days the kids had a great visit with their cousins, Devon and Skylynn. We got to meet Ali's boyfriend Dustin who is a really nice guy and Dan's new wife Christina who seems really great.

We went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World on Tuesday as a treat from my dad and Lee. Ali, Dustin, Devon, and Skylynn joined us and the kids really loved it. The next day we drove to Christine's Aunt Nancy's house. She and Uncle John were great hosts, treating us to dinner at Rain Forest Cafe and to a Character breakfast at the Polynesian. Thursday we went back to the Magic Kingdom. Annabelle got to meet the Disney princesses and Leo got to ride the Thunder Mountain Railroad. We did a bunch of other rides and attractions and the kids really had a blast.

Thursday night we met my high school buddy, Brooke Britton, at a great Irish Pub in Downtown Disney. Brooke and I had a great time catching up on the last 20 years.

Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157626087907462.

The trip home was pretty uneventful, as much as it could be with the kids in tow.

Sledding 2011

2011-02-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

Snow 2011

2011-01-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

From about 6am on the 26th to sometime late last night or this morning we got about 20+ inches of snow in two batches, mixed with a little rain and sleet during the late day. Thank goodness for the snowblower! Leo and Annabelle got to play with some neighbor kids and had fun sledding and building a snowman yesterday during the break in the snowfall.

Annabelle Used the Potty!

2011-01-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

Finally motivated to post an update. Annabelle went poopy on the potty last night and today she went pee AND poopy on the potty. What a big girl (28 months). We are so proud of her and she is proud of herself!

Winter 2010

2010-02-06T19:20:00.001-08:00

We had a big snow storm earlier today and last night that dumped about 18 inches of snow on us here. Luckily we didn't have to go anywhere and were able to enjoy the scenery from inside. The kids were up through the night, though. Leo vomitted three times for some strange reason. He doesn't really seem that sick and hadn't thrown up on a while. And Annabelle was up for a couple hours in the middle of it all. We got outside to clear off the cars in the late afternoon.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

We have much to be thankful for this year. We closed on a beautiful house in West Chester, PA on 12/15. We will be moving most likely sometime in March. We still need to sell the house we are in.

This month has been pretty tough with all four of us having substantial colds and flues. That aside we are very blessed that Santa came to visit and we all received some nice gifts today. Leo got a new tool bench, a train table, a couple of trucks, and DVDs. Annabelle got a new Elmo ball pit, a little baby stroller, and an Elmo doll. Unfortunately she has a temperature of 104 degrees this morning. This is the third or fourth day in a row she's been like this and the docs say it should be subsiding by now. If it weren't Christmas day we'd be taking her into the doctor's. We'll probably have to go tomorrow.

My family came to visit for Christas Eve and we were so thankful that they brought a great dinner for us and we had a very nice peaceful Christmas Eve visit. We are planning on going to see them today for dinner.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

We went to Mechanicsburg for Thanksgiving this year. Sam and Dina were kind enough to host us all. Dina made an excellent turkey and the food and cheeer were a plenty. See pictures at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157622773536997/

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T04:21:00.000-08:00

Our good friends, the MacRaes, came over with their two year old daughter, Keira, to celebrate Halloween. Christine made some good home made chili and we watched the Penn State game. We went around Grant Court and stopped at about ten houses for trick-or-treating.

God Bless Leo

2009-10-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Listen to this fantastic rendition of God Bless America. Not bad for two and a half years old!

Leo The Zebra Fireman

2009-10-27T17:29:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went to Chick-Fil-A for Halloween family night. They had fire trucks and a police car and goodies for the kids. Leo got to sit in a fire truck for the first time as well as be scared by the big cow walking around!

Annabelle's Walkin'

2009-10-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our little 'Belle is really walking much more consistently now. Instead of crawling she often will try to walk and gets pretty far now. She's also saying "mama" and "dada" when asked to and seems to even say her own name "Anna."

Annabelle had an endoscopy a couple weeks ago that did not reveal any problems with her GI system and this week she had an appointment with a "feeding team" at CHOP. She did well there also so we are still trying to figure out why her weight gain is not up to par. Overall she is happy and looks and acts quite healthy. She is really such a little sweetheart. Her personality is certain different than Leo's. She's a little more reserved and kind of goes with the flow better than he.

Leo is doing great too. His vocabulary seems to double every week, he is doing well at Daycare (doesn't scream when dropped off and is starting to take some naps), and LOVES to sing sing sing. He knows many many songs (God Bless America, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I've Been Workin' On the Railroad, Old MacDonald, No More Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed, etc, etc) He knows his ABCs and counts to about 20 while only missing a few of the teens. He's been pretty healthy and happy except maybe for a sinus infection recently.

Leo Gets a Big Boy Bed!

2009-09-24T18:44:00.001-07:00

No more crib for Leo. He moved into his new twin "big boy" bed on Sunday. So far so good. He has been sleeping very well and this morning he just got up and came out of his room instead of the routine "Daddy, come in!" We're very proud of him but of course Daddy is a little sad...

Annabelle's First Birthday, etc.

2009-09-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Anna’s first birthday was September 3, 2009. Our little doll turned one on a Thursday and we had a nice party on Saturday the 5th. Christine did all the planning and prep work for a great picnic we had at the Eagleville Park pavilion. The weather was perfect and we were blessed to have almost all of our family attend. A special trip was made by my dad and Lee from Florida. They hadn’t met Annabelle yet so it was a perfect opportunity for them to come celebrate with us and we were thrilled they made it. They came in on Friday and left on Monday and we had a really great visit with them.

Annabelle is the sweetest little baby. Her blue eyes and perfect smile just light up her face. She is getting livelier, more vocal, and developing more of a personality now. She claps to music and son and bounces around when she hears music. She loves to do whatever Leo is doing and, of course, that drives him nuts. She worships him and he can’t stand it when she gets into the things he’s doing. We are trying to teach him to share and he is slowly learning. It’s not easy. Annabelle stands on her own and has taken several tiny steps on her own at this point. I wouldn’t officially call it walking but she has clearly taken steps. She’s getting very close.

We still have trouble getting her to eat well, but the doctors do not seem to be concerned because her weight is still on the charts at the 10th percentile, even though it has dropped from above the 15th. She sleeps pretty well now and thankfully Leo does too. They still get up rather frequently but nearly as often as they used to. We are much more rested than the past winter, but we certainly always feel like we could use more sleep.

We are still struggling with preventing Leo from hitting, pushing, and sitting on Annabelle, and I suspect will we be for many years… Especially in the evenings when he gets tired he particularly nasty. They cannot be left alone for five seconds before one or both of them is crying (usually Annabelle). Annabelle is more mild mannered than Leo. She’ll sit in her stroller for walks and seems to go with the flow more easily than Leo ever did.

We had another follow up appointment with Annabelle’s eye doctor and he said she has great vision in both eyes. So the hemangioma on her right eyelid is not causing vision problems, which is certainly great news. Her three hemangiomas in general are much less pronounced then at their peaks. The one on her eye is less purple and a little less obvious. We’re just not sure if she well ever need plastic surgery to correct what could become a droopy eyelid. Doc says we’ll keep watching it.

Leo is just an amazing little guy. His speech has really taken off. He speaks in short sentences now like, “I did it!” or “Is this yours?” and “I want some more!” I think he is generally a daddy’s boy but he has really warmed back up to Mommy compared to those early months after Annabelle was born. He goes to daycare twice a week while Christine works. He doesn’t like to be dropped off but I think he has fun there and I really believe its good for him to get some different instruction from “professionals” and get time to interact with other children.

Annabelle stays with Peggy on those work days and seems to do pretty well with Peggy. She’s always in a good mood when I get home (Annabelle that is, well, really both of them). So I think that’s a good sign.

Leo is of course still singing his ABC’s and a whole host of other songs that he knows the melodies to and many of the words like I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad, God Bless America, Baby Bumblebee, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, This Old Man (or Barney’s Theme), etc. He also is a really entertaining dancer for a two and a half year old. He cracks me up. Leo loves to play outside and run around and he really seems to enjoy his trips to the park. I’ve been teaching him to throw and catch a ball. It’s hard to think he’s not going to be a lefty at this point. He really favors his left hand when he throws and plays hockey as well as when he picks up his ukulele that Grandmom got him. He also favors his left foot I think when he kicks a ball (or Annabelle).

Another recent development with Annabelle is that she has actually lost weight since her last check up a month ago. Obviously a one year old should not be losing weight over the period of a month. Christine had her at the gastro doctor today and he was actually concerned!! I say “actually” because Christine has been convinced for months that something is wrong with Annabelle because eats and drinks so little but the doctors never seem to think much of it. Annabelle is going to have an endoscopy next week. We’d hate to think anything is really wrong with her, but we’d also love them to say, “yes, she has problem X. We will treat it with Y and she will be much better” instead of the constant feeling of helplessness.

Annabelle's First Hair Cut

2009-08-30T04:32:00.001-07:00

Just like with Leo, we got Annabelle's hair cut just before her first birthday. We went to Snip-Its in Exton, a great place for kids hair cuts. Anna did pretty well, no crying or major melt downs. She just didn't sit very still, which was of course not a big surprise. The 'stylist' mainly just trimmed her bangs and evened out the rest. We also got Leo's hair cut. He was a prince. He didn't squirm, cry, or fuss at all. Before we left the house, Leo gave Annabelle a little massage to loosen her up before the big event...

Lancaster Air Show 2009

2009-08-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Christine and I left the kids with their Nana and Papaw on Sunday and we went to the Lancaster Air Show in Lancaster, PA. We met MY Nana and Papaw there and enjoyed a nice afternoon. Not a big show by air show standards, but I was more interested in seeing the B-24 (flown by my Papa K in WWII) and B-17 flown in by the Collings Foundation (http://www.collingsfoundation.org/). These guys do an amazing job of maintaining the world's only remaining operable B-24 as well as several other WWII planes, including the ever popular B-17.

B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft"

More pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157622011471407/

Ocean City, NJ 2009

2009-08-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

We had a somewhat last minute opportunity to go to Ocean City with Christine's family, so we took advantage of it. We spent two nights there (the 15th and 16th) in a great house off of 55th and Haven, about three blocks from the beach. We ate at Sack O' Subs the first day - excellent Italian Hoagie - and got to spend some time on the beach both days. Overall it was a really nice trip for being so short. One big item to note: Leo took his first nap in a "big boy" bed (a twin bed) on the first day we were there. He did a great job and he can't wait to get his new bed at home.

Annabelle and Marco

More pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157622097937004/

Leo Broken Foot?

2009-08-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago Leo was walking on his favorite wall in our development (with me watching him closely) and he decided to step off on the grassy side, which is totally safe. However, he misjudged the depth of the grass and landed on his foot or ankle funny and couldn't walk on it for about 24 hours. Poor guy. He was his brave, strong, silent self and didn't really complain much but we did have to carry him around a little. Chrisitine took him for an X-ray today to confirm the diagnosis and it is not broken! We didn't really think it was but it's nice to rule it out. He's hobbling around and into his normal mischief. Hopefully he's 100% soon.

Leo Sings His ABCs

2009-07-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

At 28 months of age Leo's been doing great with his ABCs. This version is a little quick and not quite as clear as some, but you'll get the idea. And yes, he's "drumming" on Annabelle as he sings along. Plus, he can count to ten now!

Anna Crawled Up the Steps

2009-07-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

Yet another milestone for our little 'Belle. With Christine in the role as safety net, Annabelle crawled all the way up to the second floor today on her own. Way to go 'Belle! We love you.

Anna's standing

2009-07-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

Annabelle, at ten and a half months, has just begun to stand on her own - meaning she can stand up onto two feet without actually holding on to anything. She has been crawling for a little while now and has been pulling up to stand for maybe a few weeks. But now she goes from a crouching position to up on her feet, and then plops down after about 4 seconds. She really seems proud of herself and it's so cute to see.

Marco's Birthday Party
This past weekend we went to Marco's first birthday party at Rob and Paula's house in New Cumberland. The had a great party with fun and games for the kids. Leo says, "Happy Birthday, Marco!" Pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157621754560154/

A couple weeks ago we went to the Please Touch Museuem in Philly with our friends the MacRaes. It's really a great place for kids. Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157621754472804/

And I got to do some flying on July 12th. I picked up Mom in Palmyra, we flew to Lancaster to have breakfast at the on field restaurant and stopped at their great pilot shop. Then we flew back to Pottstown. It was a great day for flying. A few pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157621754631184/

Cape May 2009, etc.

2009-06-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday June 21st, 2009, Christine and I loaded up the kids, and whole bunch of 'stuff', and went to Cape May, New Jersey for a short week of vacation. My mom and step dad, plus my Nana and Papaw Tacosik, met us there at 1045 Maryland Avenue, the house owned by our good friends, Bart and Tricia Ruff.

Overall we had a great week. The kids got to bond with their grandparents and great grandparents and vice-versa. The weather was fair at best with cloudy gray overcast and highs in the mid 70s. Monday we got settled in and were able to watch the finish of the US Open (more on the US Open later). We went to the beach for two hours on Tuesday morning with Leo while Annabelle napped. While we did not swim in the ocean, I walked in up to my knees while holding Leo. He was timid but eventually began chuckling at the waves coming by.

That afternoon Chuck and played golf and I shot perhaps my worst round I can remember. But of course I parred two of the last three holes to make me think I can still play the game.

Wednesday I took Leo for his first bike ride on a child's seat and we went to a local park with his Nana and Papaw. That afternoon Christine and I were able to break away and go the raw bar at the perennially popular Lobster House. We got fresh clams and oysters on the half shell, hot and spciy shrimp, crab soup, corn on the cob, and a beer for me and wine for her. We finally had a little bit of sun and were able to sit on the deck next to the fishing boats and enjoyed the fresh air. That night after the kids went to bed Christine and I snuck out to the Ugly Mug and had some wings and bay fries and a beer while listening to karaoke.

Thursday the weather finally was summer-like by the early afternoon. We all got on the beach by about 10:30am and stayed until about 1:00 when we took the kids back for a nap. Christine and I got back on the beach in the late afternoon and were able to enjoy some quiet time while the grandparents watched the kids back at the house.

Friday we packed up and got out of the house at 10am and went to the Mad Batter for breakfast. It was delicious. Annabelle ate practically an entire pancake and Leo ate pancakes, eggs, toast, drank o.j. and milk. We got home by 2:00 and began unpacking.

Oh yeah, one other note, Leo didn't sleep practically the whole week...

See pictures of the Cape May trip at this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157620749542444/

Other Notes Since Our Last Posting in January

The kids are doing well. Annabelle still does sleep through the night and is still not a great eater, but she seems to be eating a little better and overall seems healthy. She really is such a sweet well-bahaved little girl and has the cutest sweetest smile. She has been crawling since her nine month birthday (June 3rd). She wears a patch for two hours a day on her left eye in order to strengthen her right eye which has the hemagioma on it. She has gone through several courses of antibiotics for ear infections and quite frankly, I can't remember all the other doctor's appointments she has had, but there have been seemingly dozens over the last few months for various reasons. Annabelle is babbling a little and occasionally saying, "da da da da". She's also clapping now and even waving.

Leonardo is also doing very well. He too was at the doctors literally almost every other week since January fighting various maladies, ear infections, pinworms (we think, although never verified), RSV, etc, etc. It was a very difficult winter and spring for us given the kids' issues. We finally feel like we are somewhat out of the woods here at the end of June but in some ways it seems like "it's always something." I guess we just need to get used to it!

Leo's speech, as expected, has really taken off. It seems he can say just about anything, although not always real clearly. He's putting words together to make short sentences. He's still rather tall for his age and really loves playing with toys, climbing on everything, playing outside, watching Elmo, and eating cookies.

Christine has been working three days a week (two at the office and one from home). Leo goes to Kindercare those two days and all through the winter and spring Annabelle went to the office with her with an onsite babysitter who watched Annabelle and another baby. That schedule is over now and Annabelle is watched by Peggy one day a week and right now I'm not sure what the plan is for the other day.

US OPEN at BETHPAGE BLACK

Chuck and I went with our cousins, Bruce and Andy Poe, to Long Island to see the Saturday round of the 2009 US Open. We saw mainly the finish of the second round since the previous two days had ben plagued with rain. The weather cooperated much more than we anticipated with spradic sprinkles that were very tolerable. After a three hour break in play in the afternoon, we saw the first several groups who started on their third round on the back nine. We sat at the par three #14 green and saw some great tee shots by Jim Furyk, Graeme MacDowell, Anthony Kim, Rory McIlroy, and a few others. We didn't get to see Phil that day but we did get to see Tiger make birdie on #1. It was a long day but we had a great time.

Meeting a Maestro

Back in the winter Christine and I were able to catch a concert at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall. We saw the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by the famous maestro Zubin Mehta. Through Christine's former contacts at the Kimmel Center we were able to secure his autograph. Her friend let us backstage after the concert to go to her office to grab the autograph when we happened to come across Maestro Mehta and his wife, along with Christine's former colleaugue Mervon Mehta (Zubin's son who worked for the Kimmel Center) and his wife. The Maestro could not have been more gracious after Mervon introduced us as their friends. He stuck out his hand and said hello as did his lovely wife. It was a brief thrill for a classical music hack like me.

Thomas the Tank Engine

On June 14th my good friend Rob Mignemi brought his son, Peter, down from New Jersey and we went to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the Strasburg Railroad in Strasburg, PA. It was a beautiful day and we had a great visit and a fun ride on Thomas. Leo was very interested in eveything going on but was perhaps a tad too young to really understand what was going on.

Anniversary Dinner

Christine and I went out for our Anniversary to a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Philly called Xochitl (so-cheet). They made fresh qucamole right at the tableside. They had, as expected, great margaritas, and excellent ceviche. Our entrees of beef and squid were also first rate. We highly recommend this place.

It's All About The Kids

2009-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since our last posting, just before Christmas. Hard to believe a month has gone by already. What have we been up to?

Christmas was very special this year as it was our first with Annabelle. We spent it in Mechanicsburg having arrived Christmas Eve Day. We stayed two nights at Grandmom and Pop Pop’s. Tony made two excellent meals Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Christine and I were able to get to Church Christmas Eve at St. Joe’s, and we had a relaxing Christmas Day exchanging gifts. The day after Christmas we went to Lebanon via new Cumberland to see Christine’s High School friends. We had a great afternoon visit in Lebanon with my family (Mom, Chuck, Nana, and Papaw). Since then – hell (sort of).

Annabelle will not take a bottle and just when we thought she would start sleeping through the night she is getting up at least twice each night for the last three-plus weeks. Her not taking a bottle has its obvious ramifications for Christine to be able to work and that has not made things less stressful. Of course, Annabelle sees fit to have her worst nights on the eve of Christine’s work days. Add to that the fact that Leo developed another nasty cough and runny nose about two weeks ago and is not sleeping well at all himself, including getting up and needing attention at least once per night. Add to THAT, a stomach virus Leo acquired last Sunday which has caused vomiting, diarrhea, etc. This last week has been the worst to date for us as parents. Although, we are certainly going to be fine and Christine and I are even able to laugh about it on occasion. It appears now that Annabelle has caught Leo’s cough, but it seems (knock on wood) that she is fighting it off better than Leo.

(Since it has taken me a few days to get this posted Christine had the kids at the doctor’s since the above passage was written. It turns out that both Leo and Annabelle have a respiratory virus (RSV) and we need to aggressively treat them with a nebulizer treatment. It was also discovered that Leo had a very bad ear infection. Now he is on an antibiotic and is doing markedly better. We think we are seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but we are still uncertain how Annabelle will handle her RSV. She is generally happy on average but has a pretty nasty, even scary, cough. We are keeping a close eye on her.)

In other news, Leo started daycare (“school”) two days a week a few weeks ago. So far he likes it and we have not had any major meltdowns on either side (us or him) when dropping him off. In the “it never ends” department, Leo chipped his front tooth at “school” last week when he fell while apparently hugging another kid. It’s noticeable but not terrible. I guess it makes him look that much tougher.

Developmentally the kids are doing well. Annabelle is really cooing and flirting. She catches your eye, smiles, and makes a shy turning of her shoulder while she keeps looking at you. It’s completely irresistible. She has been reaching and grabbing things for a few weeks now and really has the ability to hold some things. She is also getting closer to rolling over on her own but it hasn’t happened yet. At her four month appointment (she turned four months old on January 3rd), she weighed 13lb. 7oz. and got a clean bill of health. She has three small hemangiomas (click here for definition). A small one on her right eyelid, one on her right shoulder blade, and one larger one on the back of her neck at the base of her skull. They all appear to be getting larger and will apparently do so up until the age of about twelve months. The one on her eyelid is more noticeable now and sort makes her look like she is winking at you. Doc says they are benign and should simply go away in time – could take several years for them to completely disappear. As mentioned previously, Annabelle does not take a bottle, so Christine is really struggling with how to work and still feed Annabelle. Needless to say it has not been easy. Plus it makes it very difficult (impossible really) for us to get out of the house for any length of time alone. The good news is that we know this challenge will not last forever. Annabelle has been spending time in the “exersaucer” and is doing well with it. She also sits very well in her little “Bebe Pod” seat.

Leo is a fountain of activity (when not infected with stomach, chest, or ear maladies). He constantly smiles and moves around the house. He loves climbing on anything he can get onto. He plays very well with his little kitchen that Santa brought and he has advanced tremendously with doing shape puzzles. He’s also very good at matching colors to objects and he seems to know almost anything you ask him to point to. We sometimes wonder how he knows what certain things are called. Obviously he’s very observant and a good listener. He loves to play in the bathtub by pouring cups of water into each other and dumping them out. Leo also likes to close bedroom doors when you are in there and subsequently knock on the door to play a little peak-a-boo game. He loves rolling around on our bed and turning my nightstand light on and off. He is doing well at eating on his own, now being able to eat tortellini with a fork, oatmeal with a spoon, and can drink out of a normal cup like a big person (although we don’t let him do it much because he predictably throws it or drops it spilling the contents).

Leo’s language skills are improving as he has added several “words” to his vocabulary that really only we would know. Words like: gagoo (cookie), boo (book), mao (moore), aana (apple, airplane), bbbuu (blue), buurbul (purple), aawoo (yellow, hello), ma! (milk). His most perfect word might be “Anna”, his sister. He really says it clearly. The other fun thing he is saying is, “yesss”. Instead of “yeaahh…” he now has added the ‘s’ and it kind of trails off – very very cute.

Leo has really warmed up to Annabelle. He tries to even lift her out of her swing or seat sometimes. He’s also becoming a help to Mommy by being able to fetch things that she needs like a rag. He loves putting coins in his piggy banks and reading books before bed and often right after he wakes up in the mornings. Leo also loves playing outside. Even in the cold weather we get bundled up and spend a few minutes running down the sidewalk and even going into the basin out back. He loves exploring.

Our kids are the lights of our lives. When people saw Christine pregnant while toting around a very young Leo we got the obligatory “you are going to have your hands full!” Well, they were right. But we wouldn’t trade it for anything (I think). :)

More pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157612390420929/

Another Big Step for Leo

2008-12-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

NEWS FLASH – this just in! Leo peed on the potty! Tonight before bed he and I were going through his “100 First Words” book. He saw the picture of the potty then pointed to the door and held himself. I asked him if he wanted to go and he said, “yeaaahh…” So we went into the bathroom, I took his sleeper and diaper off, and set him on his little potty. Sure enough, he consciously tried to go and he did! We cheered for him and he was so happy.

Longwood Gardens 2008

2008-12-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Christine and I took the kids to Longwood Gardens today in Kennett Square. They always have a fantastic Christmas display. Our friends, the MacRaes, invited us so I took a half day off and we went in the late afternoon. It was good to get the kids out and Leo, of course, had a ball.

More pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157611504918629/

Leo Opening Doors!

2008-12-15T18:55:00.001-08:00

Leo is officially able to open some doors on his own now. His first successes have come upstairs in the house. I was in our bathroom shaving one day with the bedroom door shut when lo and behold Leo came running in with a huge smile on his face pointing back to the door! I asked him, “did you open the door?” and he said, “yeaaahh!!”. He was so proud of himself. I told him, “great job!” and how proud I was of him. Then he let himself out of his bedroom a couple nights ago and of course once he got it he didn’t want to stop. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open… He’s getting bigger every day!

What's New?

2008-12-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

On November 28th Leonardo Walter turned 20 months old! And on December 3rd Annabelle Rose turned three months old, a significant milestone for an infant. What are they up to? Let’s start with Annabelle. She weighs just over 12 pounds, has perfect color, and loads of black hair that loves to stick straight up. She is eating well, although not too great from a bottle – but is getting better. She has had since birth a sort of barking kind of cry when she gets uncomfortable. Instead of just crying she always prefaces it with many bursts of “ack!...ack!” Most enjoyably, though, she really smiles now when making eye contact from close up and makes very clear and extremely cute “ghooo” and “cooo” sounds. She also is making eye contact from several feet away and sometimes gives a very flirtatious gaze that is irresistible. She has strong neck muscles and is holding her head up quite well, especially when laying on her stomach propped up on the boppy pillow. Annabelle has been a noticeably easier baby than Leo. She sleeps in her car seat/stroller when out and about which makes it much more reasonable to deal with Leo (more on that below) and let’s Mom and Dad get a few things done on occasion. Rosie, as Mom sometimes calls her, is getting closer to sleeping through the night (say from 10pm to 7am) and has actually done so on a couple of occasions now.

Annabelle Rose

So how about Leo? Leo is still our shining, adorable, cute, smart, FUN, lovable, irresistible little boy. But, man, has he gotten active. If it requires sitting still, forget it. Pictures? Nope. Cuddling with Mom? No way. Eating dinner? Good luck. He loves to climb on anything he possibly can, jumps on the couch, and of course just loves to be outside. The great thing is that he usually has a grin from ear to ear as he carouses around the house and always has big grin when he’s outside. I took him outside when it was 30 degrees and windy the other day when we were all bundled up and he had a blast in the fresh winter air.

Leo in Early November

Right before Thanksgiving there was a little snow on the ground. I took him outside to get the newspapers and it was the first time he really got to touch snow. At first he was a little puzzled but he quickly began to grin and started flailing his hands all through the snow as if he just won the lottery. He loved it. I think he is simply an adventurous little boy who loves anything new.

He still loves reading books with Dad and Mom, especially right before bed and when he first gets up. He has about eight pretty clear words, like Mama, Dada, Nana, Ball, Bobo, Yeah, and a few others. He now says “googooo” for cookie, can say and find the letter “O” when asked as well as finding the letter “L.” He can identify basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange. He can partially pronounce “blue (booo)” and “yellow (awo).” He’s extremely good, we think, at understanding things when asked to do them or to answer a yes/no question. If asked to, “bring mommy a tissue, or pick up the red towel, or push the stool to the window, or get your milk,” etc. etc. He gets it right 90% of the time. Or if asked if he wants a certain thing he can say “yeaaahhh…” or shake his head no – both answers are sometimes vigorous and sometimes soft and sweet.

He weighs in at about 25 pounds and is pretty tall for his age. He’s had a couple of colds this fall which has kept us busy at night in addition to Christine’s feedings of Annabelle. Leo still gets help with his speech from his “teacher” once per week and may start soon actually seeing a speech therapist. His pediatrician thinks he is doing ok but should have some help. We know of several boys his age or older who don’t have as many words as Leo. But apparently he is slightly behind average. We think he’s just perfect (!) and aren’t overly concerned about it yet.

We had a very special Thanksgiving, as Nana and Papaw T hosted dinner in their brand new home in Lebanon. It still hasn’t sunk in that they live so close after 30+ years of living a thousand miles away.

Oh yeah… Christine and I are doing fine too. :) She is heading back to work this week. Wish her luck!

Many More New PICTURES Here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157610979903330/

Marco's Baptism

2008-11-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

On Sunday November 9th, 2008 we had the pleasure of attending the baptism of Marcos Franics Santos Barbush, the son of Christine's younger brother Rob and his wife Paula. It was held at St. Joseph's in Mechanicsburg, the same church where Christine and I got married and had Leo baptised. Father Chester Snyder presided over the ceremony as he did for our wedding and Leo's ceremony. We had a great, albeit somewhat short, visit with family and friends and Rob and Paula were gracious hosts at their new house in New Cumberland.

More pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157608912317142/

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T11:12:00.003-07:00

On October 28th Leo turned 19 months old! He has learned to communicate a little more since last month by indicating “all done!” when he wants out of his high chair. He also has begun to say the ‘n’ sound is close to saying “Nana.” He also pronounces the letter ‘P’, saying, “puh puh puh” when he sees pictures of Papaw, Papaw T, and Pop Pop. He now can crawl on Daddy and ride like a horse, or maybe an elephant is a better description. He smiles ear to ear when doing so.

Leo recently started attending “school” – a playgroup that Christine takes him to that is connected to the local county health department. It is once a week for two hours and it gets Leo some exposure to playing with other kids and spending some time away from Mommy. The teacher says he is doing great.

Annabelle is our little princess. She’s a very good baby and fusses only a little, mostly in the evenings. Leo still loves to torment her when he gets the chance. Christine cannot leave the two of them in the same room together for fear that he will hit her on the head, which he still likes to do on occasion. He does, however, seem to be getting better with being gentle with her and will frequently give her a kiss when we ask him to.

Annabelle is eating well and growing. Christine has her two month appointment this week. Annabelle turns two months old on 11/3, Monday! These two months have gone much quicker than the first two months with Leo. Christine thinks Annabelle is gonna weigh in somewhere over eleven pounds. She seems very healthy and is just starting to show some signs of smiling.

Leo completed his first neighborhood trick-or-treat Friday night. He was dressed as Elmo from Sesame Street and, of course, we think he was really cute. He really enjoyed going to all the houses and taking candy from people and being outside. The weather was perfect, about 58-60 degrees and clear. We stopped and saw our friends Sarina, Sean, and Brady. Brady was dressed as a candy corn, which was very cute.

Family Update

2008-10-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

On September 28th Leo turned 18 months old! He’s quite the active, physical little guy. We find it difficult to get him to sit in one spot for more than a minute to learn a puzzle or a new toy. He really likes to keep moving. He loves climbing on chairs and anything he can stand on. He loves to bang on his drum, hit things with his new padded Steelers golf clubs (Daddy loves these!), play with a bowl of water on the deck, walk around the neighborhood, and play with balls in the basin out back.

Leo also loves to find and look at the moon and says, “mu. mu. mu…” for moon. He recently learned to use sign language for “more.” So when he wants more food or drink he pounds his little fist together with the great exuberance and to indicate his desire for more! It’s very very cute and fun. He also loves to go to the playground. He can now climb up and go down the small sliding boards, during which he laughs out loud.

And finally, he is learning to say, “We are!… Penn State!” and “touchdowwwn!.” It’s not crystal clear by any means, but we can tell by the inflection in his voice that he is saying it. We have a “We Are Penn State” book that he has really been enjoying lately before bed. He loves pointing at the people eating ice cream at the Creamery and says, “mmm! mmm!...”

Annabelle is doing fantastic also. Other than her slightly fussy periods in the evenings, she has been such a perfect little doll – very well behaved, eating well, and a real cutie. She has also been sleeping well in between feedings through the night. Yesterday she turned six weeks old already! At her one month appointment she was 10 lbs 2oz and doing perfectly according to her doctor. She has a little baby acne, which we’re told is very common, and boy does she have a ton of hair!. She really is getting big already, especially when we think about how tiny Leo was having been born 2 lbs lighter.

Last week Paula brought Marco to visit for the day. I think the kids, at least Leo, had fun and the Moms had a good chance to spend some time together. And then Pop Pop came for the day on Saturday to help out and visit.

Mom is doing great too. She has dinner on the table almost every night and keeps the kids happy. I don’t know how she does it.

More New Pics of the Kids at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157608093241566/

Dad got to do some much needed flying recently. (See Flying Pics at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157608104744775/) Yesterday he went to Lebanon and buzzed Mom and Chuck’s house. This weekend is Penn State Homecoming. Hopefully the Nittany Lions will finally beat Michigan after nine consecutive unsuccessful attempts.

Family Life

2008-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Our little princess, Annabelle Rose, arrived into our lives on Wednesday September 3, 2008 at 7:31pm at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA. Christine got checked into the hospital on Monday September 1st (Labor Day) around 7:00pm and, just like with Leo, it was a solid 48 hours until she was born. Christine was a real champ and I was extremely proud of her, as always. Her strength and ability to not complain always impress me. She had to push longer this time than with Leo as Annabelle was 8lb 2oz versus Leo’s 6lbs even. Fortunately both Mom and baby were fine and we came home on Friday September 5th around noon.

Leo has been getting used to having a little sister and not as much of Mommy’s time. He and I have really been bonding, which has been a special experience.

Annabelle had some issues being Jaundice in her first week but nothing major. She was a bit sluggish and did nothing but sleep, which was really ok by me. Although we were a little concerned that she wasn’t eating enough. All in all she is doing fantastic and has recently started to perk up a little more and show us those beautiful blue eyes. She has a ton of black hair which we are hoping she keeps.

Two weekends ago we got to see the Nanas and Papaws in Lebanon and Papaw T got to meet Annabelle for the first time. We had a short but sweet visit and we plan on going out to see them again today.

Leo has been generally very good. We battled a high fever he had last week for several days, so we got very little sleep between Annabelle feedings and Leo’s late night baths to cool him down. As of today things seem to be back to normal and we are all feeling pretty good.

Leo just started free county-offered speech therapy on Friday. It’s nothing that we are overly concerned about but after an evaluation he recently had we felt that it couldn’t hurt to have a professional help us get him talking a little more. He is saying some words like Dada, ball, Mama, and several other words that don’t quite sound correct, but we can tell he is trying to say it. He really likes to climb on furniture, go for walks around the neighborhood, take baths, and hug his little Bobo.

I added some more photos to this set. Click the link to see. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157607168994318/

Annabelle Rose Kozsuch

2008-09-07T19:39:00.001-07:00

On September 3rd, 2008 we welcomed our beautiful new addition to our family, Annabelle Rose Kozsuch. She was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long born at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA. Mom and baby are doing well. They came home on Friday the 5th.

Annabelle Rose
See More Pics At: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157607168994318/

17 Months for Leo

2008-08-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

A few days ago (8/28) Leo turned 17 months old. His latest antics include hiding behind the love seat, climbing onto the kitchen table, and putting mommy’s underwear on his head. He is getting more consistent with a few words now saying “Bobo” for his little stuffed monkey of that name, “Baw” for ball, “Aaa-baa” for airplane, “Da da” for daddy, and he just tonight said something like “ba ba” while trying to say “ma ma” for mommy. Most of the time he points to things and says, “aaa daa” until we acknowledge him or give him the thing he wants. He still says, “ooo-ooh!” and points to some things like airplanes.

Leo loves to play peak-a-boo from behind furniture and whatever else he can "hide" behind. He also loves having Mommy or Daddy chase him up the stairs, especially when it's time for bed.

He is really moving around the house quite adroitly with his quick-step gait that is getting very close to a run. He loves climbing on whatever he can – chairs, sofas, toys. He also recently started to give kisses – mostly to pictures of little bumble bees and such in his books – but he also has given Daddy a couple of “kisses” (he doesn’t really pucker up, but simply places his mouth onto your cheek) as well as one or two to Mommy.

He eats very well, although his molars are coming in and he sometimes just doesn’t want to eat too much. His favorite foods seem to be Mrs. T’s Pierogies, pizza, strawberries, mandarin oranges, yogurt, cheese, home made mac and cheese, and ice cream (just like mom and dad). He loves drinking his milk out of a sippy cup on his own now and takes his “snack trap” with him places to eat “goldfish” crackers, and animal crackers, plus pretzels.

With Leo’s molars coming in he has consistently gotten up at night the last few weeks about every other night, on average. It has certainly been enough to wear on us but really not that bad. Usually a drink of water, some Motrin, and reading a book will do it and he’s ready to go to sleep.

In general we love Leo to death and think he’s a really great little boy. Sometimes we think he is more active than average. He doesn’t ever seem to play with the same toy or sit in the same spot for more than 30-60 seconds. That could be a little exaggerated, but I don’t think much! We feel this might have kept us from doing a better job of teaching him to talk or do other tasks like finishing puzzles.

We had the Montgomery County Health Dept Childhood Early Intervention people to the house a couple weeks ago and they loved Leo. They said he was very social, ate well, and had good recognition and listening skills (e.g. to identify body parts of animals (eyes, ears, hands, etc.) and was able to follow directions like, “pick up the baby doll, and feed it this bottle.”) His one primary area of lacking skill is with speaking. They are going to send someone to work with Leo once a week (after we have the baby). But just since they were here we have learned to encourage and praise him better with his speaking and he has made noticeable progress in the last two weeks.

And finally, Christine has been told that if she does not go into labor before Monday afternoon (Labor Day) she is to report to the hospital to be induced to deliver our little girl. We don’t think Leo has any idea what’s about to happen and both of us have felt a little melancholy recently knowing that our only child, whom we have loved and adored, will now have to deal with a little less attention. But we are excited to meet our little girl!

On another note, we just got word this evening that Papaw is in the Hershey Med Center with a blood clot in his leg. We are praying for you Papaw!

General Leo Washington

2008-08-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Leo and Dad got to spend the day together since Dad's office was closed for a move to another office location. So Grandmom got the day off and Dad spent the day with Leo. He was really a prefect little angel today. We had a lot fun. After his nice, long two hour and forty minute nap I took him over to Valley Forge Park and let him run around a little. He's the best.

Leo at 16 Months (and other adventures)

2008-07-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Leo turns 16 months old! He’s as active as ever. He loves playing around the house and roaming around the neighborhood. He also loves his little pool that we fill up out back when it’s hot outside. He is such the “Curious George”, always opening cabinets (that are unlocked) reaching for anything he can on the kitchen table, and pointing to things he’s interested in and saying, “oooooh!” just as he has been for several months now. He is not officially talking but we can tell he’s moving that direction. When he sees an airplane and we ask him what it is he now says, “aa-ba” or something like that. One time I thought I heard him say “ba” for ball as he was reaching for it, but it was hard to tell.

Leo loves to make his diaper changes a challenge sometimes by squirming, rolling over, sitting, standing… whatever it takes to make it difficult. He also really loves his books. I read several to him every night as he picks them off the shelf and comes to sit on my lap. At bed time (between 7:30 and 8:00) he is generally quite tired and will often point to his crib indicating he’s ready. Sometimes we’ll put a book in with him that he will flip through and within 30 seconds he’s sucking his thumb and laid up against his crib bumper. He mostly sleeps clear through the night until about 7:00-7:30am.

He certainly doesn’t understand that his little sister is on the way and that she will be here soon, but Christine has been teaching him to be “gentle, gentle” when he touches some things.

A few weekends ago we went to see our friends Sharon and Todd and their twin girls, Sophia and Chloe. Below are some pictures.

Then last week we went to see Leo’s new cousin Marco, a beautiful little boy! Christine’s brother, Rob, and his wife, Paula, just had their first child. They seem to be doing well and we are very happy for them! Congratulations!

After visiting them we went to Christine’s brother Sammy’s house and took Leo in the pool and had a great family visit with a great dinner prepared by Christine’s mom.

More pictures at the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157606404312029/

Leo at 15 Months

2008-07-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today Leo had his 15 month doctor appointment. He weighed in at 23 pounds 11 ounces (25th percentile) and 32 inches long (75th percentile). So our little dude is a little on the skinny side, but I don't think anyone would look at him and say, "that kid needs to gain some weight." His bloodwork was good and he took two shots that really made him cry, according to Mom. Since Leo is not officially saying any distinct words yet they want him to be seen by "early childhood intervention" to be certain there is nothing physically holding him back from speaking. The doc was impressed with Leo's ability to point to different things Mommy named like her eyes and ears and mouth. Overall Doc said he looks great and is doing excellent.

Our Little Gardener

2008-06-26T18:46:00.001-07:00

Leo is walking around quite well, although certainly with some instability. He sometimes gets his sights set on something across the room and forgets to look for the toy or chair leg that's in front of him and down he goes, but usually with out much harm as he has learned to catch himself pretty well. He also now clearly understands different things we say, like "turn on your night light" or "bring Mommy the towel." We don't feel he has officially said any words like pointing to Christine and saying, "mama." But he does seem to say "dada" and I can't help but feel that he does purposely say it in reference to me when I'm near him.. He seems to be very close to saying "airplane" because in the last couple days when he points to the airplane he verbalized something that sounded like it was on its way to being "airplane." Of course, maybe I'm just fantasizing that Leo's first words will be "Da-da" and "airplane"...

Leo has finally begun to really imitate things that we do. We thought it was so cute when a couple weeks ago he started picking up the watering can and imitating Daddy and Mommy watering plants and flowers. Here is outside a couple days ago.

Cape May June 2008

2008-06-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

We took a little family trip to Cape May, New Jersey. We left midday Monday the 2nd and drove to 1045 Maryland Avenue, the house owned by our good friends Bart and Tricia Ruff. He rents it over the summer but it was available this week so he let us have it for free - very nice of Bart and Trish! The trip went well. Leo didn't sleep one wink, I think, but he was pretty well behaved.

We got settled in and went for a walk along the 'boardwalk' area. It was a beautiful day and great to be outside in the fresh sea air. Leo walked around a little, ooh-ing and ah-ing at flags, bikes, birds, and people.

We cooked burgers and corn on the grill and watched what would be one of the most exciting Hockey games I've ever watched on TV. The Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings to avoid Stanley Cup Finals elimination in game 5 of the series in Detroit. The mighty Pens scored with 34 seconds left to tie the game at three goals each after being dominated by the Red Wings. Then in the 3rd OT period at about 1:00AM, the Penguins' Petr Sykora scored after telling one of the sports announcers he was going to score when the OT started. He called his shot, and did it. It was awesome. It was so nice to see the Pens make the series at least a little interesting after being blanked 7 goals to none in the first two games of the series.

Tuesday we went for another walk and eventually got onto the beach in the late afternoon. Leo had blast in the sand. He tasted it, crawled in it, tossed it, and generally really had fun. At one point he took off on a little sojourn and it seemed like he would crawl to Wildwood if we let him. He eventually pulled up next to some ladies who were enjoying the sun. Of course, they really liked Leo and loved having a little visitor. That evening we went to the center of town and had dinner at an Italian restaurant that was of average quality. It filled our bellies and Leo was fairly well behaved. We were the only people in the small place. The waitress said it had been a very slow season so far. We noticed the quietness around town. Many shops were not open yet as it seemed the economy was taking a little toll on tourism.

Wednesday morning we got up and the weather forecast was not so great. We went over to rent a four-wheeled bike in town and the three of us went on a little adventure for an hour. Christine and I pedaled as we toured the streets and stopped to do a little shopping. The weather ended up being ok and even a little warm as I we worked at pedaling the bike. Leo seemed to really enjoy the ride too.

That afternoon we decided to go to the beach despite a coming storm. It seemed the rain and storm was at least an hour away. So we gathered up Leo and his busket and shovel and let him play on the beach for about 40 minutes. It was overcast, windy, and cool. I dug a little hole for Leo to crawl down into and built a wind wall. He again had a blast sitting and playing in the sand. That night we garlic marinated some shrimp and veggies and broiled them in the oven instead of the using the grill due to the storm and tornado warning. Then we saw the mighty Pens put up a respectable fight to the Red Wings in game 6, but in the end Detroit was clearly the better team and deserved the legendary Stanley Cup.

Thursday it was rain and clouds so we decided to start packing and cleaning up. We left around 3:30 and got home around 6:30 after sitting in Philly rush hour traffic - stupid mistake not leaving earlier.

Overall had we had a really nice trip and it was great to get away for our "Babymoon 2."

See more pictures from the trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157605481497300/

A Great Family Visit

2008-05-31T06:27:00.000-07:00

Paula's Dad, Jose, came to Pennsylvania all the way from Brazil for her graduation from Penn State a couple weeks ago. On Thursday, the 29th, Paula, Jose, Rob, and Christine's Dad came to visit. Christine's Dad babysat Leo while they all went to see Philadelphia. They had a great day in the city visiting Independence Mall, South Street, the Italian Market, and the "Rocky Steps" at the Museum of Art. We then had a nice dinner on the deck - grilled salmon and filet mignon. It was really great having them visit.

Leo at 14 Months

2008-05-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

Three days ago on May 28th Leo turned 14 months old. He is not talking yet but seems to be saying DaDa on occasion. He recognizes certain people, words, and objects and can point to different things if you ask him where they are – like Mommy, Daddy, etc. He continues to take a few more steps each day but is still primarily crawling. He likes to lift Mommy’s shirt and look at her belly where his little sister is. He will also suck his thumb and lay his head on her belly – it’s so cute. He also likes to stick his finger in her belly button.

He likes to crawl around in the grass outside now and likes to stand in his ‘Bob’ jogging stroller when we don’t strap him in. He points to airplanes in the sky when he hears them coming and he loves to watch other little kids when he sees them walking by. He also likes to push the buttons on the kitchen radio to change the station. His hair is growing like a weed and we think it’s about time to get it cut again. Leo also sleeps very well, thank goodness. He typically is very ready for bed before 8:00 and after receiving some milk in a bottle and being read a couple of books he will point to his crib. He sleeps from about 8:00pm to 7:30-8:00am!

Leo has had some trouble with taking baths. He has been very afraid of it over the last week or so and we have no idea why. He screams and tries to climb out. Last night we tried something different where Daddy got in the big tub with him and he had fun and actually did ok. Overall he is really doing great and we love him to death. This week we are going to Cape May, NJ for a few days to get away before Leo’s little sister arrives in late August or September. Leo will get to spend his first time playing on the beach.

Let's Go Pens!

Leo and Mommy's Belly

Leo Sleeping With His Favorite Animal, Bobo, In the Corner

Leo Getting a Sister

2008-05-31T06:04:00.000-07:00

So I thought we should officially announce, via the Blog, that Christine is pregnant and we are expecting a little girl in September! Most of our family and friends are aware of this but I thought I should officially put a post on the blog. We are excited that Leo will have a little playmate and that 'she' will give us a "rich man's family" as we have been told. Christine has been feeling well, albeit with the obliogatory occassional tiredness and lately some difficulty sleeping.

The first ultrasound revealed a potential genetic and/or heart defect but all testing has come back negative and we have been told that there is no more chance of a problem now than anyone else. The last ultrasound at the 20 week point went well and we are confident that our Little Girl K will be delivered without a hitch!

One thing making it exciting is that Christine's brother and sister-in-law, Rob and Paula, are also expecting (their first). She is about six weeks ahead of Christine, due in July. They were visiting recently and I snapped the picture below.

Let's Go Pens!

2008-05-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, the 18th, I attended game 5 of the Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers Eastern Conference Finals at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. The tickets were a graduation gift from my mom and Chuck and Nana and Papaw. My cousin, Andy Poe, met me at Station Square and we took the train into the city, which was very convenient. We had a great time as the Penguins crushed the Flyers 6-0 and clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings. It was really great catching such an exciting game at home in Pittsburgh. Below are some pictures.

I was also able to catch game three of the series in Philly thanks to my friend Bob. He had awesome seats four rows behind the penalty box. It was really great to see the action from so close. The Pens won 4-1 and of course I had a good time. See pics below.

Leo the Walking Lion

2008-05-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

Leo is now walking, although the most he has taken is about five steps. He very frequently will take one to three steps upon letting go of something, but then drops to his knees and crawls. He has, on several occasions in the past week, taken four to five steps into the waiting arms of Christine or me. He seems to be very proud of himself and always has a big smile. At this point it seems he needs to build some confidence and he will continue improving.

He is also fully capable of ascending and descending the stairs. Last week at Grandmom and Pop Pop’s I taught him how to turnaround and come down a single step between the kitchen and the living room. He now does it with pretty good confidence to come all the way down from the second floor to the first.

Leo Walking?...soon

2008-05-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

Leo is officially trying to walk on his own. This evening he took very clear steps on his own toward Christine and I while we were sitting on the floor next to him while he held onto a chair. He let go of the chair, got a big smile on his face, and took at least one to two full steps before lunging forward into our arms. He’s getting more daring and seems ready to walk once he simply gets the hang of it!

Leo Update

2008-05-07T18:39:00.001-07:00

Leo turned 13 months old April 28th. He develops more personality and capabilities every day. Right now he recognizes words and can point to things like the flag, airplanes, birds, etc. He’s not walking yet but seems very close. He cruises along between chairs, the coffee table, our legs, the wall, etc. and seems quite adept and comfortable at doing so. Whenever he sees something he likes or wants he points and says, “ooohhh!” He eats very well and feeds himself with finger food and is getting closer at putting food on a spoon to eat it. He LOVES his mandarin orange slices and can’t get them into his mouth fast enough. He still will not hold up his sippy cups and drink from them himself, but like everything else he seems very close to do doing that as well. With the warmer weather we tried putting him in grass to crawl on but he was scared of the strange feel on his hands and feet, but seems to be warming up to it.

He crawls up the stairs to the second floor very well and likes being chased by Dad while doing so. Leo loves music and will turn on his toys to hear the music then goes about his business playing. When the music stops 15 seconds later he’ll go back and turn it on and get back to what he was doing. He does this several times in a row. He claps his hands and smiles when certain songs come on. He also has developed a real love for his “BoBo” – a little blue monkey beanie baby that he loves to snuggle with and suck his thumb with especially when he is tired or just waking up.

A few weeks ago we went to a one year birthday party for Brady, our neighbors’ son. They had a great party and Leo had a blast. He caught the eye of a couple of young ladies who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off of him! See the pics below.

See more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157604942851423/

1-year check-up

2008-04-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today was Leo’s official 1-year check-up. I had to reschedule it so that the doctor could check his lungs following his nebulizer treatments, hence, the appointment was a little over a week after his 1st birthday.

Leo is doing great. Our little guy is growing bigger and bigger. He is an even 22 pounds (in the 25% - 50%), 31 inches (in the 75% - 90%) and has a 46 ½ cm. head (50%-75%). Doc is waiting for him to say some words (as are we!) and start walking, so we have some work to do with him over the next 3 months! But she was pleased to see how social and affable he is. She said many children his age are scared to death and won’t let the doctor even touch them. Leo just smiles and flirts with all the doctors and nurses, and it takes a lot to get him really upset (though he’s not liking having his diaper changed much these days…he hates to be tied down!) He also got his first Chicken Pox shot and handled it very well.

Leo Turns One!

2008-04-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our little guy turned one year old on Friday, March 28th. Dad and Mom both had off work that day and we spent the morning opening gifts and playing with some of Leo’s new toys. Mom made buttermilk pancakes shaped like dinosaurs for breakfast and Dad installed the swing that Leo got for his birthday. The rest of the day was spent prepping for Leo’s big birthday bash on Saturday.

21 Adults, 7 babies and 5 kids showed up to celebrate Leo’s birthday from 4 – 6pm on Saturday. It was mostly family and a few of our friends with kids around Leo’s age. The quarters were a little tight, but overall it worked out just fine. The babies had a “play date” complete with Wee Sing songs playing in the background, while the adults hung out and watched. We served Bertucci’s pizza, a Zwahlen’s ice cream Sundae bar, and of course, cake! Leo had his own birthday cake to dig into, but was a little shy when it came time for the big event. He made it through “Happy Birthday” without crying, but was a little reserved with the cake. He definitely ate some, but seemed to not want to get his clothes and hands too dirty. He got some wonderful gifts and played with his toys until it was time for bed.

Leo's first haircut!

2008-04-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

The day before Leo’s birthday we took Leo to Snip-Its in Exton for a haircut. He was badly in need of one, even though we were all a little reluctant to see our little baby boy looking all grown up. Leo took it like a pro. He smiled through the whole event and barely moved in the chair – honestly, I think he was happy to have the hair out of his eyes! Mom and Dad were very proud of him and I think the hairdresser had a crush on him. He got a little toy reward for having "magic hair" and we took home a lock of his hair as a souvenir.

First Visit to Mickey-D's!

2008-04-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

The day after Easter, I took Leo to the doctor’s because he had been suffering from a cold and a nasty cough for about 3 weeks. As it turns out, our poor little guy had a case of bronchiolitis that had to be treated with an antibiotic and a drug administered through a nebulizer. Of course, I felt terribly guilty for not taking him to get checked out sooner. After the appointment we went to Walmart to fill his prescriptions, but their computer system was down. I decided to try Rite Aid instead, with a quick stop for lunch since both Leo and I were starving. Leo’s first (and not last, I’m sure) trip to McDonald’s was a huge success. He sat up in his high chair like a big boy, played with his happy meal toy, and had fun watching all the other kids. He tried his darndest to eat the Chicken McNuggets and French fries that I purchased for him, but in the 45 minutes that we were there, I think he managed to eat one McNugget and a few small bites of the French fries. Oh well! Practice makes perfect.

Leo’s illness cleared up quite nicely as soon as we began treatments and he was a real pro with the nebulizer (as you can see in the photos.)

Leo's Second Easter

2008-04-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Leo (and his parents) spent Easter Day with Nana and Papaw and Nana and Papaw T. in Lebanon, PA. We arrived around 10am and Leo promptly took a nap. He slept on Papaw’s watch while the rest of us went to church and was still sleeping when we returned home around noon! The Easter Bunny came to 2602 Grant Court to deliver an Easter Basket (Nana T’s antique bunny wagon) filled with plastic eggs and toddler treats. Easter Bunny also stopped in Lebanon and Leo had treats waiting for him there. He got to bang on the piano and play with some of the toys at Nana and Papaw’s house. Mom and Dad got to eat a great dinner, including Easter borscht! Overall, it was a good day for everyone!

Jack Yurick's 2nd Birthday

2008-03-08T08:22:00.001-08:00

On Sunday we went to the 2nd birthday party of Jack Yurick, the son of one of my coworkers, John and his wife Kate. They live in a beautiful house in Chester Springs and we had a great time hanging out with fellow coworkers and their kids. We love getting Leo out to play with other kids and he had blast. Leo was especially fascinated with the Dalmation walking around. He loved trying to crawl after it.

SEE MORE PICTURES HERE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157604073293659/

March: In Like a Lion

2008-03-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went to the little park down the road and put Leo on the swing. Christine has taken him there a few times recently and we decided to head over to get us all some fresh air. Leo loves the swing and laughs out loud.

On Sunday we went to the birthday party of Jack Yurick, the two year old son of one of my co-workers, John. (see blog post here http://kozsuch.blogspot.com/2008/03/jack-yuricks-2nd-birthday.html) After that we dove to Mechanicsburg for an impromptu visit with Christine's family. It has been a little while since we were out there. We had a great visit and home cooked meal with her Mom, Dad, brothers, nieces and nephews.

Click here for more pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157604068851324/

Leo At Eleven Months!

2008-02-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

February 28, 2008

Leo is eleven months old today! Wow. We can’t believe he’s almost a year old. He is still our smiling little guy, but certainly has more personality than ever. He really crawls around the house with ease now and pulls himself up to stand using chairs, the coffee table, pant legs, bath tubs, toilets… anything he can reach. He makes his way around the coffee table with relative ease and I think made three laps around it while we ate dinner this evening.

He “talks”, “sings”, and screeches more than ever, as well as makes this throaty inhaling noise kind of like he’s lost his breath. He seems to do it when he’s excited about something or just wants to make a little noise.

He now often crawls to the front door and looks out the little side window when I leave the house for work. From the outside all I see is this little face in the small window next to the ground and it breaks my heart.

About three or four days ago he pulled himself up a step for the first time towards the second floor. We were cleaning up after dinner when I went to check on him and saw that he was standing on the first step instead of on the floor. Daddy’s really gotta get that gate up, now!

Leo eats very well but often gives Mommy fits during the day when he can be a little fussy about what he wants. He LOVES cheese, and devours grilled cheese sandwiches like there’s no tomorrow. He eats his Cheerios, bananas, crackers, toast, and many finger foods on his own. It’s so cute watching his deliberate movements with his hand to get the food from his tray into his mouth, but he does very well.

Up to this point he has been very good at taking his toys apart (rings from the ring stacker, puzzles, cups from a stack, etc.) but not really able to out them back, until just this week he seems to be getting the concept of taking the puzzle piece out and then placing it back where it was. He just did this yesterday for me for the first time I have seen. Yesterday he also began flipping the On/Off switch on his little play house to both positions for the first time that I witnessed. He used to get just one direction, but he was clearly moving it up and down, on and off.

We think he likes getting outside for walks, but the funny thing is that he acts extremely calm and contemplative while riding around the neighborhood in his stroller. He just looks around slowly taking it all in. He doesn’t fuss but doesn’t outwardly show excitement. It’s really kind of funny.

His two top teeth are pretty prominent now. His smile really shows them off, including the little David Letterman-like gap between them. We’re not sure when to expect the next ones.

Christine has been busy planning his birthday party. We still can’t believe it’s almost been a year already!

Leo's Many Expressions

2008-02-18T19:33:00.001-08:00

Click below for more fun pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157603940068627/

A Visit from the Twins

2008-02-13T19:19:00.001-08:00

Leo's girlfriends came calling on Sunday. Our good friends Todd and Sharon brought their twin girls, Chloe and Sophia, over for brunch and, as you can imagine, it was quite a rousing occasion. We had a great visit and are so glad we got to see them. The girls are about 15 months old and really seem to be doing great. We had the honor of witnessing Sophia's first steps on her own. She took about four steps completely on her own and Sharon said that was the first time she had done that! Congratulations, Sophia!

Sophia's First Steps!

Sharon with Leo and Sophia

Chloe

Click the link here to see more pics from the visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157603907801775/

Leo update

2008-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Leo had his first significant cold a couple weeks ago, the week before Christine’s birthday. The first day he vomited several times and was such a pathetic little guy that it really broke our hearts. He developed a minor ear infection and a very stuffy and runny nose. This made him pretty miserable because he couldn’t breathe through his nose while he sucked his thumb, which he does for comfort when he gets tired.

Needless to say none of us got much sleep that week, but he eventually got better after about eight days. Christine and I had to fight off colds as well. Both of us were quite exhausted and pretty run down for a few days.

Leo is growing and seems to learn something new every week. He is now fully capable of pulling himself up to stand at the coffee table, a chair, or Mom or Dad’s leg. He has two clearly visible teeth on the top and bottom. He crawls like a maniac now and really gets around the house.

The latest issue we have is that he absolutely loathes taking a bath. He used to love his little tub but since he developed a diaper rash a couple weeks ago we think the pain is a fresh memory that hasn’t faded from his memory. So it takes two of us to give him a quick standing wipe down and shampoo. He screams and fights it but we eventually get through it. Within minutes he’s usually smiling again.

He also can be quite difficult to get dressed for bed. He squirms, rolls around, and complains on the changing table, often requiring the two of us to get him settled. But as with the bath, he eventually calms down and we get him into his routine, which mainly consists of Mom taking over – reading a couple books, feeding him a bottle, and telling him how much we love him before she lays him down. He generally goes right to sleep around 8:00, but sometimes fights it.

Leo and Mom before bed

Christine's Birthday Celebration

2008-02-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Needless to say I don't want to make too big of a deal about Christine's 40th birthday, but I have to say she seems to be handling it just fine!

Saturday the 2nd, her actual birthday, we had a great day in Philadelphia thanks to my mom and Chuck watching Leo. We left home around 11am so we could make dual hair appointments at East End Salon, Christine's old favorite place to get her hair done, at 2nd and Arch in the city. She saw her favorite colorist, Caitlyn, and saw Terri, who has cut my hair a few times over the last couple of years, including right before our wedding. I was done in a flash and spent some time in the salon studying for school while I waited for Christine. By 2:00 we were out of there and walked over to the Continental at 2nd and Market for lunch.

We had a good, filling, relaxing lunch and decided to head out to the Ritz-Carlton over in Center City next to City Hall where I had made a reservation for the night. We pulled up, took advantage of the valet parking, checked in, and dumped our stuff in the room so we could run out and spend a little time shopping before we had to get ready for dinner.

Christine bought a couple of shirts at Ann Taylor and were back at the hotel in time for a badly needed nap prior to dinner. Leo had been sick all week and we were exhausted. So we took advatage of the opportunity.

At 7:00 we took a cab over to the Cira Centre next to 30th street station, and met her family and friends for a surprise birthday dinner at Rae, a newer restaurant that has received great reviews.

We walked in to the private dining room where everyone was poised to yell "surprise!" Christine suspected something thanks to a foolish comment I made earlier in the day but I think she was still pleasantly surprised at how many people were there. Her mom, dad, and all three brothers were there as well as two of her three sisters-in-law, plus nine of her closest Philly friends. Overall it was a wonderful evening. The food and service were great and I think everyone really had a good time.

See many more pictures of the evening here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157603851730391/

Leo Crawling

2008-01-27T10:00:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pics of Leo playing and crawling around the house taken with our new Nikon D40 SLR camera (a great Christmas gift from my Mom and Chuck).

Dinner at Friends

2008-01-27T09:50:00.001-08:00

Last night we spent time up the street at our friends' Sarina and Sean's. They have a nine month old boy named Brady, born just about a month after Leo. We had a very enjoyable evening trying to get the kids to interact, enjoying a delicious dinner (prime rib, homemade scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and salad), and having good conversation.

Leo Update - crawling and all

2008-01-21T20:14:00.001-08:00

Well, after thinking in October, then November, then December, that Leo would be crawling soon, he finally is! About four days after getting back from Florida I witnessed him move from a sitting position to hands and knees so he could pursue a little toy. He went about three "steps"forward and got it! It wasn't much, but it was official. He can now crawl. By the weekend he was really moving forward at will. It's pretty fun to watch as he seems to really get a thrill out of it.

Of course this meant that we had to spend a fair amount of time baby-proofing the house over the weekend, which went pretty well.

Leo also had his nine month doctor appointment last week. He's 20 pounds and apparently grew three and a half inches in length. Christine thinks the new nurse made an incorrect measurement and I agree. Doc said he's doing great. He's got one tooth coming in the top front along with a second one right next to it about to pop through.

Florida Trip 2008

2008-01-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the 6th of January Christine, Leo, and I left for Tampa on a US Airways flight out of Philly. We packed up for a week away, including plenty of items for Leo - food, toys, diapers, clothes, stroller... Fortunately the trip was noneventful. The flight was on time, Leo was well behaved, the rental car (a Buick Lucerne - very nice!) was easily picked up, and by 8:30pm we were at my Dad's house in Brandon.

This was the first time my dad's family was going to meet Leo so there was a lot of excitement. We got settled in Saturday night at their house. They had a great set up for us. Leo had a pack 'n' play to sleep in and they gave us the master bedroom for the three of us. We spent some time in the living room visiting and letting Leo meet everyone. Devon, my sister Ali's three year old son, was really into Leo and was very excited to meet him. Leo always seems to enjoy being around kids and this evening was no exception. He seemed energized by Devon and both were having fun entertaining us all. This was also the first time we got to meet Ali's fiance Steve, who seems like a very nice guy. They made some homemade pizza that was fresh and yummy and we watched the Steelers game, which was unfortunately lost by the Steelers, and we eventually went to bed.

Devon and Leo

Sunday we had a nice relaxing day. The weather was perfect, sunny and low 80s, which would prove to be the case all week. Dan came over to spend the day and it was nice getting to spend some time with him. We watched Buccaneers/Giants game, and unfortunately the Buccaneers lost, leaving us at 0-2 for our two pro football teams we were rooting for. Christine, Leo, and I went for a walk, which felt great. That evening we opened Christmas gifts and really had fun with the Devon, Skylynn (Ali's two year old daughter), and Leo. Leo made out, as expected, but so did Christine and I. They got us some really great gifts - nice clothes and toys for Leo; a nice Coach bag, clothes, and coffee maker for Christine; and for Matt an unforgettable ride in a T-6 Texan WWII trainer airplane (scheduled for Tuesday morning in Kissimmee), plus clothes, CDs, and more! They were very generous and we really appreciated everythingn they got us.

Dan and Leo

Ali and Skylynn

Monday was another beautiful relaxing day. Christine and I went for a nice long, brisk walk when Leo took a nap. Later in the afternoon Christine, my dad, Lee, Leo, and I took a walk to the local park. It was a beautiful park with huge trees acting as a shade canopy over the entire park. Leo enjoyed watching the other kids but he particularly loved riding in the swing. We took a ride over to see Ali and Steve's house that they bought a couple months ago. It's going to be a great place for them and the kids. They have done an amazing amount of work in the last several weeks to get the house ready for moving in - painting, new floors, bathroom upgrades, etc. It has a great big yard that will also be fun for them. We wish them the best of luck. Then Lee and Dad made a delicious dinner of grilled salmon and butterflied shrimp, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad. The salmon had a delicious glaze and the marinated grilled shrimp was also delicious and fresh.

Leo with Dad in back yard

Leo in swing at the park
Skylynn and Leo

Lee and Leo

Tuesday we got up a little early, packed up, and left for Kissimmee for Warbird Adventures so I could take the T-6 ride my dad got me for Christmas. My dad and Ali lead us there in a separate car for the hour+ drive. We got there right on time at 10:00 and the pilot, Chuck, took me out to the plane, got me in the front seat and strapped in, and we began to taxi the tail dragger for takeoff. This was one of the most memorable things I've ever done.

Matt in the T-6, Texan

The flight was awesome. The weather was perfect - clear and about 75 degrees. At 600 horse power the T-6 jumped right off the runway and we quickly made our way up to 6,500 feet so we could safely do some aerobatics. Chuck let me take the controls to do some turns to get a feel for the controls, which were very sensitive compared to the Cessnas I'm used to. After a few turns, including some steep turns that provided more G force then I'm used to, he said, "ready to have some fun?"

The first maneuver we did was a barrel roll ("a large corkscrew in the sky") - back hard on the stick, then left stick and a little left rudder, till we were completely upside down and back over heading straight in the same direction. It was awesome. Just like you might expect, except for the Gs (about 2 according to Chuck) that noticeably push you into your seat.

Next was a lazy eight - back hard on the stick again until almost vertical then a left turn to let the nose drop while the plane is on it's side. Very cool - and fun. After that Chuck let me take the stick and fly both maneuvers. It was just like when you were a kid and see those war movies and pretend you are fighting the Germans - I couldn't believe I was flying these moves in a WWII era plane. It was so cool.

We also did a couple of loops, which he let me fly after a demo, as well as a couple of cuban eights (3/4 of a loop then a half roll - done twice - from the side it looks like a sideways figure eight). These maneuvers pushed 3 Gs according to Chuck and I believe him. He told me to crunch my stomach to help keep it stable. Good thing. It was after these moves that I started feeling just a little nauseous. We made our way back to the airport for my first landing experienced in a tail dragging airplane - Chuck performed the landing - which was really pretty similar to a tricycle geared plane like the Cessnas.

When I got out of the plane I was just speechless. Seeing Leo, Christine, my dad, and Ali waiting for me with big smiles on their faces was really special. It was an experience I will ever forget. Thanks, Dad and Lee!

After the flight Christine, Leo, and I drove over to Christine's Aunt Nancy and Uncle John's house in Orlando to have an overnight visit. We had a great visit with them. They made us feel right at home. We got settled in and Leo took his nap while Christine and I relaxed and read on their back patio. Their house overlooks a lake to the west and offers a beautiful sunset. Uncle John took me out for nine holes of golf in the afternoon on their community course. It felt so great to be out in the sunny fresh air playing golf on a January day. Then all of us went to Downtown Disney for the evening. I got to take Leo on his first official Disney ride, a tiny little train. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and had fun.

Uncle John, Christine, Aunt Nancy, and Leo

Back at the house Uncle John showed us a DVD collection from an old British music show called the Old Grey Whistle Test that featured rock artists from the day who were jut getting started - The Police, Blondie, Lynyrd Skynard, The New York Dolls, and the list went on and on. It was really entertaining. We left the next day, Wednesday, and drove all the way to Fort Myers to Nana and Papaw T's.

We had a good four hour + drive to Fort Myers. We took some back roads, mainly due to a huge car pile up on I-4, apparently the worst one the state has ever seen. The slower pace of the back roads made for a pretty relaxing drive. Leo slept a little at the beginning and towards the end of the drive.

We arrived in Fort Myers in time for dinner - Nana's homemade perogies, green beans, and apple pie! Yum! I would have driven all the way from Philly and back in one day for that meal!

We quickly got settled into the guest bedroom which had yet another pack 'n' play for Leo. Nana and Papaw T rented it from a local children's shop. Consistent with the entire trip, Leo slept perfectly through the night without a peep.

The next day we slept in a little, had a classic Papaw T omelet for breakfast, and took Leo for a nice walk around the neighborhood with Nana. We spent time inside playing with Leo and letting his great grandparents visit with him. They couldn't believe how much bigger he was since his baptism in September.

That night we had more homemade delicious food - cabbage rolls! They were excellent. After Leo went to sleep, Christine and I went out to see a movie - Juno. We both thought it was good, but maybe not quite as good as all the hype suggested. Nonetheless it was great to get out and see a movie.

The weather all week was just perfect - sunny and Low 80s everyday. Friday, the last full day of our trip was beautiful so when Leo took is first nap, Christine and I went to the pool. Unfortunately, or maybe not, the sun hid behind some clouds for about 20 minutes. Luckily this did spare me from some significant sun burn as I was pretty pink that evening, but not too bad.

Later in the afternoon we took another walk with Leo and Nana. Dinner was marinated sea scallops and tuna on the grill prepared by Papaw. Another delicious meal. Then Nana's cousin Ben Shepherd and his wife, Carol, came over to visit for about an hour or so. It was great to see them. Leo was in bed at his normal time and Christine and I snuck out to see another movie. This time it was Charlie Wilson's War. We liked this one better than Juno. Again, it was great to get out and see a movie.

Leo with his Nana and Papaw T

Saturday we packed and focused on Leo and his naps. We got to the airport around 3:00 and easily made our 4:30 flight to Philly. Once again Leo was the "best one on the plane" according to the stewardess (aka "flight attendant"). (Why can't the call the females stewardesses and the men stewards?) We were home safe and sound by about 8:00pm.

Notes on Leonardo:

He really was such a great kid the whole trip. We were worried that he might not sleep well in strange places, especially as much as we had planned to hop around to three locations in week. But he took all of his naps with no problem and slept clear through every night. Maybe he was exhausted from all the activity.

He really began to move his feet on this trip when anyone would lift him as if to let him walk. At my dad's house it just seemed to click one day. Someone picked him up and boom, his feet started stepping like he was in a marching band.

He also did great in the planes and during all the car rides we took. We feel blessed to have such a great little boy.

Off to Florida We Go

2008-01-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

Today we leave on a 3:55 USAirways flight to Tampa to see my dad and family. We are really looking forward to getting down to the warm weather. We are a little apprehensive about what Leo will be like staying in strange places, but we are optimistic since he is such a good boy. After a few days in Tampa we will head to Orlando to see Christine's Aunt Nancy and Uncle John. Then we're off to Fort Myers for a few days with Nana and Papaw T. We'll be home on the 12th. More about the trip to follow!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-27T17:43:00.001-08:00

Leo turns nine months old tomorrow! He has two teeth in full view on the bottom gums and Christine just discovered today that he has third tooth coming in on the top gums. He scoots, rolls, and crawls backwards, but not yet forwards. He is a very happy, healthy, well behaved baby.

The three of us had an excellent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We started Christmas Eve day with a visit from Christine’s good friend Darcy and her dad. Darcy lives in California so they don’t get to see each other often. Then Nana and Papaw showed up from Lebanon around 1pm. Christine and Nana made an excellent dinner. Christine’s beef tenderloin was the best piece of beef I’ve ever eaten. We had a good bottle of wine, Rex Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon, twice baked potatoes and a great salad. Leo napped through the whole thing. Then we got ready for Church and went to the 6pm service at Lower Providence Presbyterian Church. Leo was perfectly well behaved and we were home shortly after 7pm.

Christmas morning we made fresh buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and mimosas. Yum! We opened Leo’s gifts and had fun watching him play with the paper and boxes and even the new toys. Clearly it will be a couple years until he fully gets the concept but we think he had fun.

In the afternoon we loaded up the car and went to Christine’s Brother Sam’s place in Mechanicsburg. As always they were gracious hosts having prepared a turkey, ham, lasagna, and all the trimmings. The kids were all happy to see Leo as was he to see them. We were back home by about 10:30 safe and sound.

More Photos from November and December at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157603560247832/

Leo meets Santa

2007-12-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the picture, Leo was a little suspicious of the man in the red suit with the long white beard. I guess this is a good thing since, at any other time of year, I would WANT him to be suspicious of someone who dresses that way! It was a pretty quick visit with old St. Nick – they usher you through the line pretty quickly and Santa was ready for his 2pm smoke break. Leo didn’t have time to warm up to the guy before they snapped the picture. But he didn’t cry. Just looked at him with such curiosity that even Santa had to give a little chuckle (and he shook like a bowl-full of jelly.)

Leo and Santa - 2007

2007-12-08T11:56:00.001-08:00

Leo Weighs In!

2007-12-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

Leo is 8 months and one week old today, and I took him to the breast feeding support group that we used to attend regularly. It’s been six weeks since I’ve been there and the last time I was there for a Halloween party. It felt strange (and good) to be back. I recognized no one in attendance today. Even the lactation consultant was different. I’m sure most of the Moms I used to belong with have already weaned their babies, or, like me, don’t go anymore. Leo actually seemed to recognize the place and had a good time looking at all the other babies.

I went today to have Leo weighed. I haven’t really monitored his weight gain since he started eating a significant amount of solid foods and I wanted to see how he’s doing. In the six weeks since he’s been weighed, Leo gained 17.5 ounces, or about 3 ounces per week. This is excellent for a baby Leo’s age. He is now 19 pounds, 2 ounces, and has more than tripled his birth weight (something Doctors like to see in a year’s time.)

What was most comforting about going today, however, was the feeling that Leo and I are now veterans. There were many worried moms there with little tiny babies, and I suspect that, at birth, Leo was probably even smaller than most of them. Now he looks huge next to those babies and has certainly developed a personality as well as a host of other skills.

My wish for the Moms in the group today is that they feel as confident as I do about the growth and health of their babies 8 months from now.

Eight Months and Counting

2007-11-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

Leo is eight months old today! In the past month he has learned to sit up very well on his own and can actually stand on is own quite well at the coffee table or any table of that approximate height (he can’t pull himself up to stand, but once we stand him up he does well) . We thought he would be crawling by now based on his progress this time last month, but he is not quite there. What he IS capable of is rolling across the entire room to get where he wants to. He can prop himself up on his arms and turn himself around on his belly to position himself in the direction he wants to roll. It’s quite entertaining to watch.

The other thing he continuously seems to do is pound his hands on whatever surface he's near, very much like he's playing the drums! He really seems to have an internal rhythm going.

Leo almost always seems to be in a good mood and has such a pleasant demeanor. We always say that he’s such a good baby. As Christine says, “We got he best one. Out of all the little babies, how did we end up with the best one!?” He is growing bigger, of course, and generally sleeps through the night. We think he’s somewhere close to twenty pounds.

We spent a great Thanksgiving weekend visiting Nana, Papaw, and Nana Reese at the house in Lebanon on Wednesday and made our way to Mechanicsburg that evening. Grandmom made an excellent Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and we had a great time singing Christmas carols after dinner with Grandmom on the piano. Leo slept clear through dinner.

Seven Month Leo

2007-11-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

Leo turned seven months old on 10/28. Christine and I completely adore him and can’t seem to love him enough. He has brought more joy into our lives than we could have imagined. We think he is just the greatest and can’t imagine a better little boy.

He is sitting up very well with only the occasional tip over. While sitting he plays with his little cups and plastic donut rings. He also grabs books and bangs on his first drum that Daddy bought him.

Leo is also getting very close to crawling. We expect him to be off and moving within the next two or three weeks. He is able to roll over at will and scoots himself side to side with his arms while holding his head up. His jumparoo is also a big hit. Leo jumps and jumps and jumps and has a lot of fun doing it. It cracks me up.

Leo is eating three meals a day of solid baby foods, including homemade pears, apples, sweet potatoes, and other delicacies Mom makes fresh for him. He also eats prunes, peas, and various grain cereals. Leo seems to enjoy it.

He is sleeping through the night, typically from about 8:00 or 8:30pm to 7:00am! No complaints about that!

Finally, of course, our little Leo was a Lion for Halloween. The cutest lion we'd ever seen.

An Adventurous Weekend

2007-10-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

We had a quite an active weekend that entailed traveling, leaving Leo for the first time overnight, attending a wedding in Central City, PA, (not Center City Philly), watching Penn State overwhelm Wisconsin in a shockingly lopsided victory, seeing the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, and returning home safely with the family in tact and happy.

Saturday morning, October 13th, 2007 we left the house around 10:45am and drove to Mechanicsburg and dropped Leo off with Grandmom so she and Pop pop could watch him while we attending my good friend Marcy's wedding at Indian Lake resort in rural southwest PA. We were a little worried about leaving Leo but we knew he was in good hands.

Christine and I made the two hour plus trip to Indian Lake Resort, about 30 minutes west of Bedford, PA on Route 30. We had a great time at Marcy and Erich's wedding. We were able to really get out and enjoy ourselves. There were several other friends of ours there and we all had fun dancing and socializing.

The next morning we went to Shanksville, about ten minutes from the resort, and saw the memorial to United Flight 93 from 9-11. I just wanted to make a quick stop since we were so close and didn't anticipate being so moved by it. But once we got there, around 9am, the silent reverence one experiences there was a solemn reminder of what happened over six years ago. The current memorial is a make shift temporary one, but a full National Park Service project to create a permanent memorial is in the works. (http://www.flight93memorialproject.org/)

We got on the road and made our way back to Mechanicsburg and eventually back home. Leo seemed to really be happy to be home, as we all were.

Saint Leo?

2007-10-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

Even though Mom has lately thought that Leo deserves to be canonized, we thought we might first start with baptizing him before we begin the beatification process.

On Saturday, September 29th, Leo was baptized at St. Joseph’s Church in Mechanicsburg. This is the church where Matt and I were married. Father Chester Snyder presided and the baptism event was preceded by a Marriage Blessing for Rob and Paula, who celebrated their third wedding anniversary on October 1st. Because they were married by a Justice of the Peace, they wanted to take the step to have their marriage blessed by the Catholic Church. After the blessing, we began the baptism ceremony and Rob and Paula became Leo’s godparents.

The whole thing was lovely and was followed by a beautiful celebration at Sam and Dina’s house, complete with food, cake, some pool time and overall fun. Leo loves being around his cousins and seems to really enjoy big parties and lots of people. Good thing since we seem to keep a pretty active social calendar!

More photos of the weekend at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch/sets/72157602251862646/

Leo's first tooth!

2007-10-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

On Monday, October 1st, just three days after Leo's 6-month birthday, Mom noticed that the Kozsuch household had an extra tooth in it! On Saturday night and Sunday our poor little guy had several unexplained outbursts. We guessed it might be due to teething (or gas!) but we didn't expect to see a tooth so quickly. But there it was Monday morning. I had to fight my way into the little guy's mouth and under his tongue to rub my finger along the serrated edge of the brand new "toofer." It's just a little stub of a thing right now, but I imagine it will quickly grow (just like the rest of him.) They say teeth come in pairs, so we are expecting to see another one sometime in the near future. Yea! Time for steak and potatoes (or at least some mashed sweet potatoes!)

2007-09-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, it sure has been a while since we have posted anything. Now that Fall is here a lot is going on. Mom is back to work on a three day schedule, Matt is back in school one night a week, Penn State has played three home games (3-0), two of which Matt has attended, and Leo is our constant pride and joy (and a little work too)! And of course the Steelers have a winning record (1-0) and the Eagles, well, they got off to a rough start last week (0-1).

What’s new with Leo?? He is eating solid food now (rice cereal and oatmeal cereal). He started this just after Labor day and has taken right to it. He usually gets two feedings a day of cereal and the rest from Mom, who is still the nursing Champ. She continues to impress with her dedication to our little miracle. It has been a couple weeks since he has been weighed but we estimate he is around 17 lbs.

Leo is more and more active each week. He plays very well in his exer-saucer - banging, grabbing, smiling, and squealing – and also enjoys his jumparoo. He is really rolling over quite a bit and we have moved to the next stage that does not really allow us to just set him down on the bed without fear of him falling off. He often rolls over onto his tummy in the middle of the night, but then does not seem to be able to get back onto his back, at which time he begins crying.

Nana and Papaw came from Hershey Friday night to visit. Leo was a little tough to get to bed since Mom had to be at work for a show opening, but he did go down and Dad was able to get out to meet Mom for the after party. Then Chuck helped Matt install a new toilet Saturday morning - not a very glamorous proposition - but a necessary one.

Yesterday Dad took him to the Fox and Hound restaurant to watch the second half of the Penn State game with Dad’s friends while Mom made a quick stop at the mall. Leo really did well as many of our friends got to meet him for the first time. Penn State won, so the partisan crowd was happy.

He’s still our little “Smiles Davis,” as Mom says, grinning and cooing every day.

Leo's first time at a playground

2007-08-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today we met our friends Bart and Tricia Ruff and their son Clayton at the Elmwood Park Zoo, just up the road in Norristown. We put Leo into a playground swing and some fun with it. As usual, he did great. He's such an easygoing kid - so far.

Leo plays Rip Van Winkle (written by Mom)

2007-08-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it was the fact that Leo was rudely awakened from his first nap yesterday morning due to our little smoke detector “snafu.” Perhaps it was the excitement of Leo’s first “1st birthday party”, this one for his buddy, Tanner. Or perhaps it was that all totaled, Leo only napped about 2 hours yesterday.

Whatever it was, Leo felt the need to sleep. And sleep. And sleep some more. Just two days shy of his 5-month birthday, our little son actually slept through the night.

We arrived home from the birthday party and Leo was tuckered out. I put him down for what I thought would be an hour long catnap before bedtime (which has been getting later and later.) That was about 6:30pm. And then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But Leo never got up.

At 11pm I picked him up and fed him. The boy was hungry. He ate for a long time. But he never woke up. At 5am I heard him making some noise, but by the time I went and checked on him, his thumb was firmly tucked in his mouth, and though he was sucking, he was still sound asleep. Same thing happened at 6am. At 7am I finally picked the kid up and fed him – more for my own comfort than for Leo’s. Before I knew it I heard snoring coming from the smallish creature on my lap. What could I do but put him back in his crib? Finally, at 8:30am, Leo decided to greet the morning, having slept for 14 hours.

If it ever happens again, perhaps the next time, Mom will actually enjoy getting more than four hours of uninterrupted, blissful sleep (something that really hasn’t happened since Leo was born.)

Leo In the Highchair

2007-08-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Partially inspired by Tanner's birthday party (http://kozsuch.blogspot.com/2007/08/tanner-williamss-birthday-party.html), and partially by our recent thoughts of getting the thing out, we put Leo into is highchair this morning for the first time to see how he would do. He did fine for a few minutes but had other intentions - like eating some more and taking a nap. Even though we feel he's getting big, it was pretty funny to see the little guy in this "big" chair.

Tanner Williams's Birthday Party

2007-08-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the three of us went to the first birthday party of Tanner Williams, our friends' Chris and Jamie's son. They had a great get together with family and friends. Tanner got to dive into the cake and have some fun. It was also the first time we go to see their new house in Chester Springs. It's a beautiful new home in a new development. Leo was very well behaved and we had a good time.

Tanner, Jamie, and Chris

Tanner having fun

21 Weeks and Still Growing

2007-08-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

It has been three weeks since Leo was last weighed. Christine took him today to the support group where she is now the veteran. He gained 19 oz over the last three weeks, bringing him up to 15lbs 8oz. The little guy is really doing great. He is really beginning to “chat” much more. He regularly makes uhh uhh noises with his throat and really seems like he wants to say something. The most fun thing is that he is really starting to laugh more. Mom had him laughing up a storm the other night and it was so amazing to see. He also is able to sooth himself by sucking his thumb much more regularly. Last night we spent a rare night out to eat and just when it seemed like he was going to be fussy, he fell asleep in Mom’s arms while sucking his thumb.

New Floor Installed in Kozsuch Household

2007-08-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Christine and I have slowly been trying to turn our house into less of a bachelor pad and more of a home. This past weekend we put in hardwood flooring in the bedroom. Our good friend Bob came over, lugged all the tools we needed from his brother's place, and lead the charge for our latest remodeling effort. Bob was a Saint. He new what to do and by Sunday evening we had a new floor in! It wasn't easy, but it went pretty well and we love the difference it makes. This, of course, after we had recently painted (thanks Mom and Chuck for the help!) and put in a new ceiling fan.

New bedroom! (must have a dirty camera lens with those spots)

Reunion Weekend

2007-08-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, on the 11th of August, we made our annual trek to eastern Ohio for the Tacosik family and friends reunion. We stayed in Mechanicsburg at Grandmom’s house on Friday night and drove the remainder of the way on Saturday. Bruce Poe and the gang had the famous Tacosik chicken cooked and ready to eat right as we pulled in to John and Jody’s place. Leo was great for the whole trip. He slept most of the way and the two stops we had to make were relatively quick. Overall having Leo only added about 45-60 minutes to the trip. We had a great visit with family that day with most of 62 people in attendance meeting Leo for the very first time.

Dad and Leo

Walter with Leonardo Walter

Leo and Nana T

That night we stayed at my cousin Andy’s place with his lovely wife Kelli and beautiful four year old daughter Emma. They have a beautiful new home on almost two acres. They were gracious hosts and we were very comfortable with Leo in the guest bedroom. It was great to visit with them having grown up with Andy when we now barely see each other once a year or so.

The next day Leo got to meet his great grandmother, Nana Reese, for the first time. He was well behaved and we had a great visit with Nana. I think she was thrilled to meet him!

Nana Reese with Leo
We got on the road around lunch time and stopped by at Sam and Dina’s in Mechanicsburg to take a break and visit. Grandmom had a great meal ready for us all while we watched the PGA championship and had a couple of beers. We made it home safely that evening with Leo requiring a little Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star serenading from Mom and Dad. It was a great weekend.

Leo with his cousin Bella

Leo packs 'em on

2007-08-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Leo is now a whopping 14 lbs, 5oz. His last weigh-in two weeks ago was exactly one pound less. So when we found out that he gained a full pound we felt that was good news and an indicator that our little guy is moving, slowly but surely, toward not-so-little-guy status.

Leo just before bed time tonight.

Four Months for Leo

2007-07-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Leo turned four months old yesterday! He is doing just great. He seems to have found his thumb for sucking on, but not consistently. He’s still smiling and beginning to laugh a little at some of the things Mommy does.

Leo at Four Months

Quinquagenarian Rock Concerts

2007-07-22T20:03:00.001-07:00

Who would have thought that rock bands with members in their mid to late 50s would have so much energy, sound so great, and even look so good? Such is the case with two of my all time favorite bands - RUSH and The POLICE!

I saw RUSH on 7-6-07 in Camden New Jersey (hell hole that it is) with my buddy Steve MacRae another long time fan. It was hard for me to believe that my first RUSH concert was 20 years ago! in Pittsburgh when I was in high school. I still have the ticket stub for that show and it was $14 to see them - $90 now - unreal. RUSH was on their Snakes and Arrows (new album) tour. As usual, the trio from Ontario Canada did not disappoint. In fact this was probably one of my top three concerts for them. - mainly bcause they played several songs that I had never heard live- songs like Witch Hunt, Entre Nous, Circumstances, and Digital Man were really great.

They had their usual well choreographed light and video show that really adds to the live experience. And of course they sounded excellent. There is no substitute for 30-plus years of playing together and RUSH is as tight as any band can be, which is especially impressive given the level of musicianship required to play their stuff.

RUSH in Camden, NJ

By comparison, The POLICE, another trio from a foreign country (England) put on a damn good show on Friday (7-20-07). Being just twelve years old when they broke up, I had only come to appreciate their music primarily in the early '90s when I was in college. Like most fans, I never really thought I'd see them live, given the nature of their break up and Sting's solo success over the last 20 years. Nevertheless, here they were, in Hershey, PA!

I knew a few people who saw their previous night's show in Philly - "unbelievable, best concert I have ever seen, incredible, amazing, best live sound system I have heard" were a few of the comments I got. I was psyched to see them.

I told Christine a couple days before the concert that probably half, or maybe more, of the reason I like the POLICE so much is because of their magician... er... I mean drummer, Stewart Copeland. He is well known as one of the best, and I couldn't believe I was going to have a chance to see him live playing those songs I loved all these years.

We made it into the stadium right on time and had pretty good seats about 40 yards out right in the middle. The band came out and started with Message in a Bottle, a great opener. The sound system was indeed the best I have heard for a show this size. Being in an outdoor open air stadium poses enough challenges and their system was engineered to perfection.

They went right into Synchronicity II, another great song, one of my favorites. Sting's voice sounded as clear as a bell and was right on. Stewart was pounding out the driving rhythm and did not miss a beat, as expected. I have to say that in all my years of seeing live rock concerts, watching Stewart hammer away with that old traditional grip was simply one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Yeah, he's older, but he kicked ass on that kit. Being such a large production, one could not hear the nuances in his playing that are so prevalant in the studio recordings, but you could tell they were there by watching closely. Although, I have to say he seemed to repeat some of his fills a little and a lot of those famous drum parts that are so a part of my brain's physical make up were not there and I thought they should have been - because they are so damn good. One thing that was not missing was the sound of Stewart's snare drum - tight as hell and perfectly tuned and mic'd. Just hearing that live made it worth the $95. They had a few large screens set up showing each guy playing up close, including a couple shots of Stewart's bass drum pedal - very cool.

Andy summers, the senior member of the club, really played well and made every note count. The lack of chemistry between the three is evident as they really didn't interact much - no smiles or real looks at each other as if to acknowledge that they were enjoying their time up there. Sting did have a pleasant enough demeanor and really was great to watch and listen to. Andy was pretty stone faced the whole time and Stewart was pretty much in his own little world. But the result was more than good. They sounded great and played almost all the songs you would want to hear.

Not the greatest concert I have ever seen, but perhaps the most memorable, given the lack of supply of POLICE concerts in the last 23 years.

Big Weekend for Leo

2007-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Leo had a great weekend. He spent his first night at Nana and Papaw’s house in Hershey while Mom and Dad went to see The Police in concert at Hershey Park stadium (more on that later). He did great, having slept until we got home from the concert around 12:30am. He also got to take his first “dip” into a pool when we went to see my fraternity brother Kevin at his girlfriend Christine’s house near Hershey. Mom dipped his little feet and ankles in but he hardly reacted at first. He did ultimately splash his right leg a little in the water. Then Leo got to go to his first country club Sunday brunch when went to see Christine’s friend Ann Halkedis (although we were 24 hours late for the party to which we were invited. We had a little calendar mix up…). Leo loved the view of the golf course and was very well behaved while Mom and Dad ate omelets, cheese blintzes, bacon, waffles, home fries, sliced turkey, chicken picatta, sausage and peppers, tortellini, shrimp marinara ,and chocolate cake! – plus coffee and mimosas!

Another significant thing to note - Leo is not only beginning to reach for things and hold them, but he is starting to put them towards and in his mouth. It’s pretty fun to watch after months of his seemingly random flailing of arms and legs.

Leo's Reaching and Holding

2007-07-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Leo was weighed today at the support group where Christine takes him. He gained another 5.5 ounces which brings him up to 13 lbs 5.5 oz. We noticed that he is just beginning to reach for things he sees. Christine’s mom said she noticed him reach for something the other day when she was here watching him. Christine noticed it yesterday with the LaMaze clutch cube we have. Then I saw it happen this evening while showing him a teddy bear. He reached out with an open hand and was able to hold on to it for several seconds. It’s exciting, but I know it also means trouble!

Leo's Growing and Mom Is Back To Work

2007-07-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

As of two days ago Leo was at 13 pounds even - still gaining weight and doing well. He continues to develop. He is able to hold is head up a little better as each week passes and can really see far now. We notice him following movement and voice from well across the room. Christine got him into the Jumparoo recently and he does well for several minutes. He’s not really grabbing for things yet but we feel like he’s getting close to that stage. Leo smiles a lot now and is beginning to coo much more. When I came from being away one night for work he really “talked” to me like I had never heard – which was really cool.

Christine officially went back to work on Friday and her mom (Grandmom) and Aunt Nancy (all the way from Orlando!!) came to baby sit, which we really appreciated. It’s going to take Leo (and mom) some getting used to, but they all did great.

Another Friend for Leo

2007-07-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today we had a great visit from Chris, Jamie, and Tanner Williams. They came over for a late afternoon dinner. We cooked on the grill but stayed inside to eat on this 90+ degree day. Tanner, who is going on eleven months old, was crawling around and pulling himself up to stand. He was really fun to watch, and again, we got a little taste of what to possibly expect from Leo in the future.

Tanner, Leo, and Mom

Tanner and Leo Having Fun

Independence Day!

2007-07-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great July 4th, as my fraternity brother Rob Mignemi came to visit from New Jersey with his wife Caryn, and their 21 month old son, Peter. We had a really great visit despite the unseasonably cool, rainy weather. Peter is a very cute, well behaved kid and he gave us a sense of what to expect with Leo. Rob and Karen looked great and it seems like life is good in their corner of the world.

Rob, Caryn, Peter, and Leo

Matt better learn how to hold a 21 month old a little better.

Leo was well behaved also, mainly because he took a three hour nap in the middle of their visit!

Mom and our Little Patriot

Flight to Williamsport

2007-06-30T20:20:00.001-07:00

Christine and I took a flight to Williamsport, PA this morning with my friend Dan Corey and his wife Tammie. The weather was excellent and we had a nice lunch at the Sky View restaurant on the field. It's about an hour flight each way.

Leo Sits

2007-06-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I put Leo into the Bebe Pod seat for the first time. He certainly was not perfectly steady and had a little trouble keeping his head still, but I think he did great and is showing significant signs of development.

Our First Dinner Out With Leo

2007-06-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were actually able to get out of the house with Leo for our first dinner at a restaurant as a family! We have been out to lunch and Christine had him out to dinner in Myrtle Beach, but tonight we went up the street to the Valley Forge Beef and Ale and had a nice dinner on their deck. Christine had a burger and I had the sandwich sampler (three small pulled pork, ham, and roast beef sandwiches). We both had a beer and Leo was very well behaved. The miracles never cease.

Our twelve-and-a-half pounder! 3 months old!

2007-06-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today Leo is three months old! He weighed in today, tipping the scales at almost twelve-and-a-half pounds! Mommy has started him on the piano kicker and he played Rach 2 right off the bat! Ok - maybe not quite, but we are hopeful that one day he will be tickling the ivories in Carnegie Hall.

Van Cliburn?

Leo also met Charlie this week. He’s the six month old son of Christine’s friend Michele, who lives in New York.

Charlie and Michele

More pictures always available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kozsuch

Leo at Valley Forge

2007-06-23T14:40:00.001-07:00

It has been such a perfect early summer day - 78 degrees, sunny, and dry - that we just had to spend some time at the park. So we packed up the stroller and went over to try a walk. Leo fussed a little at first, and Mom did a great job, as usual, calming him so we could get a little exercise. Before long we were off and rolling and Leo was sleeping. We walked about two miles and came home for his next feeding.

The Family Comes Home from Myrtle Beach

2007-06-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday I picked up Christine and Leo at the airport. According to Christine they had a great trip. Leo was well behaved the entire time, including for all the plane rides (one down, two back). They had a good visit with Christine's family while staying at her brother Tony's condo. It was really great to have them home. It was pretty quiet around here, as one can imagine. Our little guy seemed a smidge bigger, but not too much so, and completely happy. Seeing as how he did so well on the plane, I can't help but feel like he'll be our next family pilot!

"Born to Fly"

I Like the Flight Attendants!

Home at Last

Oakmont 2007

2007-06-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

Chuck and I left the house around 6am and started driving west along the good old Turnpike. After stopping a couple of times along the way, parking at the offsite parking location, taking the shuttle, and stopping for a few souvenirs, we were on the historical course around 12:30pm.

Matt and Chuck Holding a Replica of the Trophy

We entered the course near number three fairway and saw Ernie Els and Fred Funk hit their appoach shots. We walked around and saw probably 90% of the course by the time we left. We watched Jerry Kelly and Vijay Singh tee off at number 1. We sat in the number 17 grandstand for about 45 minutes and watched several players go by including Ernie and Fred again, Michael Campbell, Boo Weekly, Geoff Ogilvy, JJ Henry, and the young Spaniard, Pablo Martin. A group of three girls yelled for Pablo as he walked by, and you could tell he loved it by the big sheepish grin he flashed as he looked their way.

We slowly made our way backwards along the course and saw Lee Janzen, Tim Clarke, and others. The course is an absolute monster - and in absolute pristine condition. TV and pictures, no matter how much they try, simply do not do it justice.

We were able to squeeze into the grandstand at number ten green and saw the last five pairings come through, including Angel Cabrera, the eventual champion, Stuart Appleby, Steve Ames, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, Aaron Baddely and Tiger. Tiger did not disappoint as he hit the best approach shot of all the players we saw, but he did miss the birdie putt...

We got outta there after Tiger and Aaron went through. It was a long drive to Hershey, but we were there by 10:00.