Booster Seat

Lillie Mae began sitting in her booster seat during supper this week. Speaking of eating, Lillian is currently eating Earth's Best bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, and peas (yuck). In fact, she even tried Cheerios yesterday and loved them.

We're off to Marion this weekend to visit my family. We should have lots of beautiful photos from Hungry Mother State Park.

Sleep Apnea Surgery

I recently underwent surgery to treat my obstructive sleep apnea. The procedures which included a UPPP (removal of the uvula and soft pallette) and a tonsillectomy were performed by Dr. Eric Furst at Fairfax Hospital.

The goal of the surgery was to open up my airway thereby lowering the severity of my sleep apnea and reduce the level of snoring. I'm happy to report it's been over three weeks since the surgery and I feel great. Most importantly, I'm snore-free (almost unbelievable!) and I wake-up refreshed.

I will admit the first 10 days were painful, and at times, it was a difficult recovery. Not surprisingly, swallowing was initially very difficult so I subsisted on Boost, Jell-O, popsicles, and Gatorade for over a week. I eventually transitioned to soup, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. Needless to say, I've been making up for lost calories over the past week.

Many thanks goes to my family for their support during the whole affair. Only one final test remains...the post-operative sleep study. If my sleep apnea levels have diminished from the "severe" to the "minor" range, then I'm home-free for the rest of my life (hopefully)!

Father's Day

The Richardson family had a great Father's Day weekend which was highlighted by a number of events including Lillian's first keg party, a trip to the pool, and a cookout on Sunday. Our visitors on Sunday included Pam and C.W. (Liz's parents), our comrades (Christian, Amy, Conrad, Finn), and Trent's buddy and his girlfriend (Quentin and Tara). We hope to see more of our friends and family this summer.

We haven't heard from people in awhile so let's get those comments flowing. As always, you can check out the photos.

Rainforest Jumperoo

Needless to say, Lillian loves her Rainforest Jumperoo! However, I wake up in the middle of the night with that song in my head. Speaking of restless sleep...Lillian has just recovered from her first head cold. In reality, she was quite the trooper, but thank goodness for infant nose drops and Children's Tylenol.

We've posted a number of photos from Memorial Day weekend and a Kincheloe family visit. Lillian will be making her first trip to Marion to see Trent's family in the coming weeks.

Solid Foods

Lillian has started her transition to solid foods based on the recommendation of our pediatrician. We first fed her rice cereal last week and she took to it like a professional. This week we added sweet potatoes to the mix. She now protests when her bowl is empty.

Lillian has shown quite an interest in food during our meals over the past several weeks. Her primary source of nourishment is still Liz, but we're pleased to see her eat so well.

Four Month Checkup

Lillian went to her four month checkup this Monday. She weighs 14 1/4 lbs, measures 24 1/2", and has a 16" head (all 50 percentiles). She may be average in stature, but advanced in intelligence. The nurse practitioner said Lillian demonstrated the development of a 6 month old. As you can imagine, we're very proud and happy parents.

We've added many pictures to the photo album. You can see some photos of Lillian from this past weekend (swinging at the playground, visiting Burke Lake, and hanging out). You can also travel over to my pictures from Louisiana (technical tour and festivities).

We hope you have an enjoyable Memorial Day.

Goin' Swinging

Cute, but make sure to take your dramamine.

Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Thursday, 5/17. The festivities were forced to wait until I returned from New Orleans. Some day I'll have the wedding available to view online.

New Orleans

I'm in New Orleans this week attending the CS '07 conference. I presented my research on Tuesday afternoon. I received several compliments afterwards. More importantly, my paper generated feedback from many prominent coastal scientists and engineers. On Thursday I'll be on a technical tour of the Louisiana coastal zone--Fourchon and the Timbalier Islands.

A few random observations, the cuisine is fantastic, the people are wonderful (but watch your back), the city is still very much recovering from Katrina, the French Quarter is wild, and I could eat bread pudding all day. This has been a long trip away from Lillian and Liz...looking forward to returning home.

Jeff and Lynn Visit

Trent's parents (Jeff and Lynn) visited Lillian this weekend. They arrived on Saturday for a short, but eventful weekend. Saturday included grilling out and bath time, while Sunday consisted of brunch and yard work. I know what you're thinking...wild and crazy!! Seriously though, they enjoyed spending time with Lillian and were amazed about how much she has developed over the past weeks and months. Needless to say, she is not lacking in personality.

It's been awhile since we posted new photos, so check 'em out.