At the pool...

Finally, we were able to hang out with our friend Marisol, who has been in town for training the last few months from Malawi before she and her family head out to Ghana. She and Nick played phone tag for a few weeks before finally being able to schedule a get-together. And it happened on probably the busiest weekend we've had as new parents thus far.
On Saturday, we had a bbq and invited various new parents we know, and some we have just met, from the neighborhood. Daniel and Lillian came with Elsa, their 18 month old. Leon and Gena came with Leo, their 16 month old. Bridget and Jason came with Abby, their 3 month old. (Kate met Bridget on the Brookland listserve and they've been out walking together. So they're new friends.) Eben and Erin came with Julian, a 3 month old. They live right up the street and we just met them while out for a walk. And Matt and Melissa came with Cameron, their 7 week old. We met them in our birthing class and they live nearby, too.
Mari and Marnie came by, too, and they are expecting twins, so all in all, it was a lively and lovely evening and folks didn't finish leaving until 9:30 or so.
Then, today, Sunday, Kate's PACE group had a family meeting to which the fathers were invited. It was hosted in NW DC at a beautiful house and everyone was, of course, very nice. It was unnerving to be in a room with 11 newborns; Nick had never been around so many at one time! Maceo got lots of love from the other dads and there were lots of cute kids to go around.
We left there and proceeded over to Marisol's apartment building in Alexandria, VA. She is there with her husband Yousouff and two of their three kids, Malik and Mady. Malik is two and a half (That's him in the background on the left in the photo above) and Mady is about 13 months. We all went down to the community pool and, as you can see, reveled in the cuteness.

Maceo's starting to turn on the charm

Napping

Someone's getting a little bit better at napping on his own.














But it helps to have Anyang nearby.

Sing along!

Pat.
Cat.
Sat.
With Maceo!

Dinner at the Loewens'

Kate, Maceo, and I went over to my dad and Susan's house last night for a celebratory dinner. The celebration? My cousin Giovanna's birthday. She and her fiance Silvio and their friends Pristina and Noble came, as well as Giovanna's mother, my Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary lives in Montana, so it's always a joy to see her, as it's a rarer occasion than when she lived in Massachusetts. Susan cooked a splendid chicken dinner, and there was a rather decadent display of desserts ranging from cheesecake to napoleons to tarts to flower pots of chocolate mousse and other delicacies. Maceo behaved quite well and people enjoyed meeting him, until about 8:45 when he began to melt down a little. Kate and I became a little anxious to get him home and calm him own, so we skedaddled out. We got him home and fed him, but he was a bit riled up and kept us up until about 11.

Home Alone

Yesterday was the return to work for me. Kate and I were worried, as it would be a long day; I had classes and then a softball game, so I would be gone for about 12 hours. If Maceo were to fuss, it would be a trying time for Kate. Luckily, my mom came over to help support Kate and to play with Maceo. And also luckily, Maceo was just an eating and sleeping machine for the day. By the time I got home, dinner was ready, Maceo was asleep, Mom and Kate were in great moods, and I was steamed because we had gotten stomped in our softball game.

Maceo and JB--Brother Rapp