Baby brigade

Yesterday, Isaac made it out to Alki Beach with his new West Seattle posse.
We meet up weekly for coffee, walks and Moms Night out (read: baby and Dad get to bond at home while Mom gets a break!) :-)

Later in the week, we went to Linclon park for another walk. It's been great to get out while the weather is still nice!

Sunday dinner at Grandma Theresa's

Isaac went to Grandma Theresa's house for Sunday dinner and lots of snuggling. Both were happy campers!

Isaac couldn't wait to call Grandma Tamara and tell her all about his exciting visit!

He is eagerly awaiting his big road trip to Portland next month to visit Grandpa Tom and Grandma Mary..and hopefully meet Great Grandma Lorraine. How many lucky boys have 2 Grandpas, 3 Grandmas and 3 Great Grandmas!

funny faces

Isaac has many different "looks" depending on his mood and sleep state. Peaceful, squishy and smooshy....

...curious, suprised, indifferent, hungry....

..but most of all, cute as can be :-)

Brunch, Bathtime and Belly Button!

Ok, I finally have a couple minutes while Isaac sleeps to update the blog and post some more pix. I know I *really* should sleep when he sleeps, but the family needs their weekly fix so I am sacrificing a few moments of shut eye just for you.

Two weekends ago when the family was in town, we went out for a nice brunch. Isaac slept the entire time, so it was a rare occasion that we got to eat and drink coffee at a leisurely pace... and with two hands! (We're getting very nimble at doing daily tasks one-handed while holding Isaac in the other...)

Later that day, we gave Issac a sponge bath in his new bathtub. We were told not to give him a full immersion bath until his belly button stump falls off. Oddly enough, Jesse discovered that it was "gone" when he went to change him (and to my dismay we still have not "found" it....ugh)

Anyway, it was still healing so we were careful as we cleaned him up. Here, Isaac is looking very calm and peaceful...almost doll-like:

Kaley wanted to help "clean" the baby too.

Isaac was happy when we were finally done and wrapped him up in a warm, dry towel.

..and so was Jesse!

We are hoping he learns to love bathtime instead of screaming bloody murder the entire time!

Watch the video of bathtime here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-gMiuE83Rs

**Warning** Video contains screaming and crying baby .

Isaac's Busy Social Life

Starting at the ripe age of 5 days old, Isaac started going out about town and seeing the sites of Seattle. Actually... on Doctors orders, I was instructed to try and get out and walk as soon as possible to help expedite the healing process. And Grandma Tamara was in town to help us expand his horizons!

Here we are at Alki Beach on a beautiful sunny day. I was still moving very, very slowly and feeling the pain from the surgery, but it felt nice to get out and get some fresh air:

Both Isaac and Kaley were tired after the first outing:

At 7 days old, Isaac made his first trip to the sushi bar after some retail therapy at University Village:

And at 8-days old, we went to the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park.

We took a couple days "off" to catch up on sleep and figure out how to deal without Grandma Tamara in town :-( Then by Friday, we had Grandpa Tom, Grandma Mary and Auntie Renee come into town for a fun week-end visit. We made a trip up to the Prime outlet stores for some more shopping and walking.

..and finally to cap off the exciting week, we headed to a Mariners Game on Friday night with the family. Grandude, aka Grandpa Tom, was very pleased (to say the least) that his grandson made it to a game at the ripe age of 11 days old. With the Mariners win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Isaac has a lifetime 1-0 record. Off to a good start!

Kissy Boy

Isaac loves his Auntie Renee!!

Isaac's Hospital Stay and Homecoming

Week one has been filled with lots and lots of rest, recovery and relatives! We spent the first 3 days in the post-partum unit at Swedish Medical Center. Isaac taught us the new meaning of "Labor Day", with 19-20 hours of labor on Monday and a last-minute delivery by c-section. We survived the first night after surgery and no sleep for 44 hours! Isaac woke up a couple times to be changed and fed, but let the new mom and dad get some rest. The visits from the nurses and doctors kept us up more than he did!

Here's a pic from Day 2, holding hands with Grandma Tamara:

Day 3 in the hospital. One more day until we can go home! Isaac had visits from all the grandparents, and friends Sayuri and Emily. Once alone, Jesse had some nice bonding moments with his new son.

They say to sleep when the baby sleeps. Grandpa Leon took that advice while visiting us in the hospital:

Day 4. After both Isaac and I passed our final tests, we were discharged from the hospital.

Luckily, Jesse read the instructions for the car seat beforehand and was able to strap Isaac in properly for our grand departure.

And formal introductions were in order when he arrived at home. Kaley, our 8-year old Shih-Tzu, has been intrigued by Isaac ever since their initial meeting.

Once home, we all settled in and enjoyed the newest addition to our household.

Welcome Isaac Henry Knappenberger!

We're proud to announce that Isaac Henry Knappenberger was born September 3rd at 10pm! He's a healthy baby boy weighing 6lbs 12ounces and measuring about 17in long.

We went to the hospital at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning after Greta had been having contractions since 1am and her water broke at about 2:30 or so. We hung out and walked around as Greta coped with contractions that became more intense and more frequent. At 9:30 a.m. we got into a room and Greta got some awesome drugs (sadly, none for dad). The middle of the day was not too exciting as the nurse and doc monitored her progress.

Greta started pushing at about 6:30 p.m. and made great progress, however after three hours of that fun, a specialist determined that Isaac's head was not going to fit through the space between Greta's tailbone and pubic bone. (Ahh, all those times Greta fell on her tailbone while snowboarding....Must've put things out of whack!) So, without wasting much time we all went into an operating room and Isaac was delivered by cesarean section soon after.

We're very excited that the little guy is finally here, and that everyone is healthy and happy. Stay tuned for more as we will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow and getting settled in with Isaac.

Oh, and Happy Labor day!!