Yay for more grandmas! Jill came out to pinch hit for Rich while he was in Boston for the International SeaFood Show. We had a great time and Jill was a laundry, cleaning, cooking and bouncing machine. We even managed to spend some time at the beach.

Axel under cover at the beach. We didn't want the paprazzi to know we were there.

Who Says You Can't Get Work Done With a Baby?

I Think I'll Go for a Walk Outside...

Summertime is calling my name, I hear you now...

It was "walk on the beach" day for the Boots, and we walked. We took advantage of a negative low tide and a really beautiful day and cruised along Summerland beach for a few hours (for all you non-Santa Barbara county folks, there really is a town called Summerland, it isn't just a really bad network TV show staring Lori Laughlin of Full House fame that was canceled but gave rise to Zac Efron of High School Musical fame - Bill Clinton looked at a house there when he was in office - there is a nice polo field and a bunch of antique stores).

At one point we came across a couple sitting on the beach with a very familiar look about them. She was quite prego and he looked a little out of his element. They happened to be a few days past their due date and were in that waiting phase where you are just ready to get going and have a baby - the nerves have built up as much as they can, the house is ready but you are just forced to sit there and wait. We had a nice chat with them as we walked along the beach.

And we walked...
Then we went over the carefully calculated time between meals for Axel so he got his first beach feeding. I think he liked it, he mentioned that the saltiness of the air was overshadowed nicely by the soothing sounds of the waves breaking.

What does eating do? Well... it produces energy and waste. So a few hundred yards (meters for you Europeans) later Axel got his first beach changing. I think he liked it, but I would guess the sand was not overshadowed by the sounds of the crashing waves (me thinks sand in the diaper would not a happy baby make).

All in all we decided there were few better places on the planet to feed a baby or change a diaper especially in early March. As the adventure that we call Axel continues, we are enjoying it quite a bit. I am even starting to enjoy the fact that I go to bed at 9:15 and wake up at 5:15 (with a few interruptions between the two).

I hope all you readers are doing well.

Guess Who's Naked?

That's right... it's Axel. Mom and son had some tummy time on Axel's favorite blanket.


Now I guess the truth is... if you call your son Axel and lay him out on a blanket like that, there is very little room for ill feelings when someone asks if you are a Guns N' Roses fan. Of course the same blanket with a son called Jerry would conjure up a few comments about the other end of the musical spectrum. Did I just hear that Axl Rose is going to be the front man for the Grateful Dead? You heard it here first.

Axel is doing very well - so are his parents. We go to the doc today to see if things are officially going well.

I Just Felt Like Running.

Great Success...

Axel and I went for our first run this morning. We covered about four miles and we both thoroughly enjoyed it - translation: Rich thoroughly enjoyed it and Axel slept the whole time.

Axel in his "BOB" Thanks to Linda and Bob for the running stroller

As with most outings I learned a couple valuable lessons on this mornings run:
1 - People are nicer to you when you have a stroller; cars stop, people smile, women coo
2 - There is an unwritten rule that all guys with strollers give each other a comforting and confirming "look" which translates into "I know man... right on for getting out... welcome to the club"

Axel's point of view in the stroller

We are looking forward to the next adventure.

Boot Family Challenge

To all of those who know Axel, I have a little challenge for you. Come up with the best response for:

"Oh Axel is so cute, you must be fans of Guns and Roses."

Please comment to this post with ideas. The best comeback gets Carl Castle's voice on their home answering machine (NPR humor).

The Morning is a wonderful thing.

Today Axel ate from a bottle for the first time. This means a few things:
1 - It means that dad can feed Axel.
2 - It creates a stronger bond between father and son as now dad is not just the vehicle for rocking-changing-carrying
3 - It means that mom can SLEEP FOR MORE THAN ONE AND HALF HOURS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE AND A HALF WEEKS!!!


After Axel and I (Rich) chowed down some tasty treats created by mom (at least one of us got to eat) we went for a cruise. First we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast value meal #1. Sometimes a sausage McMuffin is the perfect thing, especially when you have to wait for them to open.

Then we watched the surf at Rincon for a while. After a good set came through I decided to paddle out for a few waves as there was a safe place on the rocks for the car seat where I could easily see Axel from the line up. The surf was small but i think Axel enjoyed watching, right... Then we came back to Santa Barbara and sat on the beach for two hours. Axel slept and I just watched the world go by. As you can see by the pictures, there are not many places that are better to watch the world go by at 7 am in February.

After our nice beach time we headed home... but Claudia was still asleep (monumental happening). So straight from the car to the stroller and we walked over to Jason and Susan's house for a cup of tea. It was then that the realities of parenthood really started to kick in as they ever so casually tried to decide if they should hop down to Sayulita, Mexico on Tuesday for some surf and beach time for a couple of days - I was trying to decide when I would get a nap today.

We got back home at 10:00 to find that Claudia had just woken up. It was a good morning.