Curtis Clan - Summer 2003

Summer Solstice to Autumnal Equinox 2003

July

Jane at 11 months - eating Cheerios with Maddie close by

Bethany nibbling on the feet of a happy, upside down Jane

Aunt Rhonda reading to Jane with Bubba and Shannon nearby

Curtis Birthdays - 23 July, 5 & 16 August

Our birthdays are all clustered along a few weeks in mid summer. First up was Randy celebrating 4 decades. Bethany planned a Surprise Poetry Reading and Ice Cream Social at her parent's home inviting friends and family. It was a fun evening of with guests reading poems that ran the gamut from odes to roast-ish limericks. We didn't take any digital pictures of the occasion, so there's no documentation that Randy got choked up on occasion.

Jane on her first Birthday

Next came the anniversary of Jane's 1-st natal day. We narrowed the invite list down to only family, having hit up everyone else up 2 weeks earlier to show up for Randy's party. Among other reasons to celebrate this milestone was that it marked the turning point from formula & baby food to drinking whole milk & eating almost* anything we eat (*except peanuts and certain kinds of fish & shell fish and things that require teeth). So among other presents she received, Jane got her first taste of cake and chocolate (she got ice cream on Randy's birthday as one of his present from Bethany).

Jane eating her Birthday cake with Maddie watching hopefully

With Aunts Lisa, Rosemary, Rhonda than Jane and Bethany

The next day Jane had her 1-year check-up which included shots and measurements: Height 29˝ inches (50%tile); Weight 24lb,1Ľoz (90%tile) and Head circum. 17 ľ inches (50%tile). As typical, the pediatrician stated that "She's perfect", which never fails to earn valuable suck-up points with Bethany.

Jane - Looking ahead (finally) from her car seat with her pal Elmo

Another turning point at the 1 year mark was turning Jane's car seat forward, just in time for a road trip: a BIG one...

Trip to New York City

In between Jane and Bethany's natal days we made a road tip to NYC with Randy for work. WHAT? You drove 1,000 miles each way with a 1 year old in Honda Civic packed to the gills? Are you NUTS? Perhaps, but not because of the road trip. We actually found it very relaxing, especially getting away from the house project, which has turned a bit sour with the dog days of summer. It helped that we broke it up with visits to the J Sages in Indianapolis and Aunt Katie and Uncle Don in Pittsburgh (both places on both the way out and back). We also reunited with much of the dinner group in Bethlehem, PA for a Wall Party and a tour of Lehigh University's new zebra fish lab.

Jane and Randy with their bottles at the Wall Party

Jane and Randy with thier bottles at the Wall Party

On Monday morning, we got into New York, staying at the Marriott in Times Square. Bethany had no trouble with driving in Manhattan (is anyone surprised?). While Randy was doing research at the archives, Bethany and Jane explored the Big Apple visiting the Central Park Zoo, Tiffany's, Rockefeller Center, and the Today Show.

On Times Square a couple days before it went dark...

We left NYC on Friday afternoon and we missed the Blackout by that much (fingers held together very closely). We had just crossed the New Jersey into Pennsylvania when the power grid went out, so we were blithely unaware until late into the evening. On the what ifs:

-If it happened an hour or two earlier, we wouldn't have gotten gas (i.e. no power to pump it or run the cash registers) and we would have been stranded in the wilds of New Jersey.

-If it happened 2 days earlier, Randy would have been stranded on the subway heading to mid-town back from New York archives. Bethany and Jane would have been stranded on the 32nd floor our hotel with a mountain of gear (packing lightly with Jane is a skill we haven't acquired yet). The Today show had a number of stories of people Marriott we had stayed at not allowing guests back into the hotel (even if you wanted to take the stairs, the key cards weren't working), so everyone was sleeping on the streets of Times Square to beat the heat.

As it turns out we were even gladder we drove and brought the family, even if we got rather tired of listening to Raffi and Elmo, as on the whole Jane isn't overly fond of many of our music choices and prefers hers.

We celebrated Bethany's Birthday on the way home from New York by having pizza in 3 states over 3 nights with 3 sets of family members. In fact, over 6 nights we had pizza 5 times. Though it didn't seem possible, Bethany would go a couple weeks before requesting it again.

Another Curtis Birthday ?

While on the subject of birthdays, we’re expecting to celebrate another one around April 12th of 2004...

Yep, that’s right, we’re expecting again. Bethany told Randy she thought she was pregnant on his birthday (at about the 2 1/2 week point -- she’s very in tune with her body). She scheduled a blood test but that came back inconclusive/negative because it was still too early. So we waited another week and did the home pregnancy test on Jane’s birthday and it came back positive. Jane was the first person we told, stressing that it was a secret and not to tell, which she did exceptionally well. We let our families know in August but didn’t want to make a general announcement until Bethany had her first OB appointment and heard the baby's heartbeat. That was September 10th, and it was fast and strong. The next week was the first ultrasound. Things are going well, except that Bethany was generally nauseous for the first trimester and many foods no longer appeal to her (e.g. pasta is BAD, again).

September

September began rather inauspiciously, when Randy’s mother Nancy fell breaking both of her elbows. Although having both arms in casts for a couple months is a major annoyance (to put it lightly), her spirits are good and has too many future travel plans to let it get her down. She moved in with Rhonda for the duration, which has worked out fairly well (all things considered). It’s a toss up who will be more relieved to regain their independence when Nancy returns home but it’s clear we’re all taken solace that it wasn’t worse.

The first weekend of the month, the Indy Sages (Justin, Jenny, Katie and Lloyd) came into town to visit at the Sage residence, which nearly exploded with toys.

Jane with her Indy cousins, Katie and Lloyd

We marked the end of summer with a family photo shoot just before our 2-year anniversary. With a few dozen pictures, you’d think that there be one where a good one where all of us were smiling and looking at the camera but not then again maybe not with a baby and a dog in the mix.

Curtis Family 20 September 2003

Below are the best of Jane with each of us.

Jane and Bethany

Jane and Randy

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