Easter and other events

Since it has been a little while since we last blogged, we have a good amount of pictures and videos to share. Sharon and Caleb had a great visit in Atlanta with her family, and we were also excited to have my parents come up for Easter weekend. We were so glad that Sharon and Caleb were able to make it down to Atlanta for the week before Easter, and I hope that they didn't mind having Caleb around all week. We were also excited that we got Caleb's passport picture taken, and we just sent in his passport application as well. Since we will be going to Canada in June, we wanted to make sure he had just in case he decided he didn't want to stay home by himself.

I'm sure everybody was wondering, but Sharon once again humiliated her husband (for the third year in a row) on her NCAA bracket projections. As a prize, I had to make her chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't mind too much since I ate one or two (or maybe twenty) myself. Caleb was really bummed that Davidson lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight, and has had some trouble sleeping ever since, but I think he'll snap out of soon. He is starting to get into a pretty good routine of going to bed around 8:00 PM, which we really appreciate since it gives us time to ourselves. We're starting to get Caleb into more of a routine, but I think that we'll probably wait until four months until we start a more regular schedule with him. He has definitely become much more entertaining and interactive recently, so that has made our time with him even more fun. However, he is still quite the cuddler, which we also enjoy - although we wonder how much longer that will last.

Caleb "discovering his hands"

What scares uncle John more? The tears or the other "end"

Caleb with his Grandma and Grandpa

Caleb just LOVED getting his passport picture

Quality time with Grandma

Back to Bachelorhood

Sharon is off with her family this week in Atlanta to show off Caleb, so I'm back to the lonely life of a bachelor until Saturday. It is so strange how quiet this house is without Sharon and (especially) Caleb. Fortunately, Sharon picked a great time to leave me by myself - as March Madness starts this week and she spared me from the many guilty feelings I would experience concerning becoming completely immersed in College Basketball for two days. I do feel a little bad that Caleb will not get to experience it with me as much this year, but by next year, we'll have him filling out his own bracket. I think Sharon has beaten me in our bracket competition the last two years, but I'm hoping that her "baby brain" will give me the edge that I need to restore my supremacy.

As far as Sharon and Caleb, we were pleasantly surprised that Caleb did very well on his flight down to Atlanta on Sunday night. No screaming at all - which would have been somewhat difficult to do since he pretty much nursed the entire time. Caleb's been having a great time with his grandparents and uncle and aunt - and he is even starting to adjust to the pack and play that he's been sleeping in. Sharon will give you updates about the trip and maybe post some of the thousands of pictures of Caleb that have undoubtedly been taken this week. I'm sure that most of you reading this already know, but Sharon and I are so excited to have another niece, Norah Grace Koerber that was born to my sister-in-law Chrissie and brother Matt on March 11. Norah came just in time to restore the balance of genders for my parents grandkids as there will be three little granddaughters and three little grandsons at the beach this summer. If you are interested in seeing pictures (as well as reading my brother's creative account of the whole experience) you can check out their blog at http://mattchrissie.blogspot.com/. Below are a few pictures of Caleb that we took before he left.

Could that be a smile coming on - you be the judge

Caleb "playing" with his cars (the red one was given to him by Sharon's uncle and the unpainted one was given to Sharon by him when she was born many moons ago)

Caleb's not so sure what he's supposed to be doing.

Working on his GQ pose for his future modeling days.

The Many Adventures of Caleb and Mommy:)

I know that you all have been waiting for me to make a blog entry. Since Mike has been so busy with JTM, school, and his own exciting things these past two weeks (going snowboarding and to a Penguins game) I figure I should share with you all about the many adventures of Caleb and me. This past week Caleb experienced more "firsts". On Thursday he attended his first woman's Bible Study with mommy and did pretty well until the end when we started to pray. I think he was a little nervous at first being the only guy, but soon realized that the odds worked in his favor:) Last Friday night I attempted to bake my first patch of cookies with Caleb...never to young to start baking together! Caleb hated it; I had him in the Bjorn, which he usually likes, but not this time. I was even just attempting cookie bars (Thanks Megan for the special recipe). Needless to say, I got as far as mixing the dry ingredients and then we had to call it an evening. I finished them after Caleb went to bed and they were super yummy! On Saturday daddy was gone all day snowboarding and we just hung around the house. We had a fun photo shoot...see pictures below and later had take out, games, and a movie with Auntie Dawn. All in all it was a pretty productive day; I even got a shower, Caleb got a bath, and we did a load of laundry. (It is the little things in life!) Sunday was fairly uneventful, but we very much enjoyed having daddy around.

Monday was a big day and Caleb went in for his 2 month check up. I knew he was going to be receiving a shot or two and I was a bit nervous, you see we have lots of experience with needles thanks to all the blood work from being so jaundice for so long. I was greeted by the nurse explaining that Caleb would be getting 5 vaccinations (in 3 shots) and the promise of baby Tylenol...I wanted drugs too! As soon as I would calm him down the nurse would be ready with the next injection; poor Caleb. The good news is that we also found out that his jaundice is now gone, he grew another 2 inches since his last visit (I guess he wants to take after the Smith side of the family) and he was up to 12 1/2 pounds. That's my boy! So he has now grown out of all his 0-3 month outfits and half of his 3 month clothes due to his length. We also learned that Caleb does not get fussy from vaccinations, but just sleeps A LOT. This led to a great surprise on Tuesday. Caleb learned that he can go three to four hours without eating and still live. So he is now eating more at one time and eating less frequent...PRAISE THE LORD! He has also figured out that he can go a little longer at night, but we are still up at least two times a night to eat and usually three. This is fine by me we are making baby steps; no pun intended.

On Wednesday I went back on antibiotics for my infection, but with this one I can still nurse. Please pray that it works this time to get rid of all the bacteria!!! Thursday was a bit of a blurr, but we enjoyed having friends over and I felt more like a real person being able to be mommy and still clean up and make dinner. We also had nice weather and took Caleb for a walk to pay rent and go to the Give and Take. He very much enjoyed it and you can see him below all bundled up and strapped in...he looks a little like he is in a straight jacket:) Well, that concludes the week; hope you enjoyed the update!

P.S. Daddy has been very busy these past weeks, but he is still very helpful and we love him much!!!

Pennsylvania Visit

It's been a few weeks since we last updated you, and a lot has changed in that time. Caleb did a great job adjusting to the bottle that was necessary as Sharon was taking medication to fight off her Staph infection. Fortunately, Caleb also switched right back to breastfeeding a few days ago when Sharon's medicine was finished. We figured that he really doesn't care what form the food comes in - just as long as he gets it somehow. Throwing caution to the wind, we also decided to take Caleb on his first extended road trip, a week long visit to my family in Pennsylvania. Overall, Caleb did a great job in the car and with all the transition of sleeping in different places. He even tempted us with a six-hour stretch of sleep one night while we were away, but he has yet to repeat that much-desired feat.

Over the past week, Caleb has also become a lot more smiley and interactive with people. Although he has yet to grace us with a true smile when we try to take his picture, they're much more common in other situations, especially after he is fed. Caleb also had a lot of fun meeting his four cousins, and it seemed like the youngest two (Theo and Catherine) were the most intrigued with him. Catherine was especially distraught when my sister and brother-in-law left for church without Caleb - as she repeatedly and tearfully inquired: "Baby, where's baby?" Theo also got a kick out of just watching Caleb while he was in the swing, while also occasionally lovingly patting his head. All in all, it was a good trip, but we're glad to be settled back in at home once again.


Megan and Catherine with Caleb


Caleb isn't so sure what to think about this show of affection...


...but he seems to like this attention


Lots of love from his cousins Catherine and Ella


My mom with her two "baby boys" and their baby boys


Almost a smile...but not quite


Caleb enjoying some quality time with his papap


That's our beautiful boy

Sharon's Staph Infection

With a title like that, who wouldn't want to read this thrilling blog entry. The promised blog entry by Sharon has not materialized (although she does contribute the caption to one of the pictures below) because the staph infection on her arm she got in December has taken a turn for the worse. She went to the doctor today for the second time this week and he was debating whether or not to admit her to the hospital before finally deciding to drain it himself. It was quite an unpleasant, gory procedure that I'll spare you all the details on - but she did say that the pain was more intense than any labor pains she had (although thankfully much shorter). The one positive is that we found out that Sharon's extreme tiredness over the last week was more than just "baby fatigue" and was really the infection attacking her body. Hopefully this means that she can expect to have a little more energy when she gets over the infection.

The bad news about the infection is that it is a rare form of staph that is resistant to normal antibiotics. The doctor who checked it out gave the official diagnosis of "this is really scary stuff!" - which of course is a very reassuring thing to here. The new medicine she is on has forced her to stop breastfeeding, so Caleb is now on a temporary formula diet for the next 10-14 days. The good thing for me is that I finally have the option of being involved in the feeding process - something that is exciting now but may get a little bit old at 4:00 in the morning. We're hoping he is able to sleep longer with the formula in his stomach - but I guess we'll know for sure in the next few days. That's all for now and we'll keep you updated as we learn more.

In a completely unrelated note - I can't tell how you wonderful it was to be a Steelers fan in Boston when the Patriots missed their chance at "perfection." It seemed like the general mood of people before the game up here was that the Super Bowl was a mere formality to showcase the greatest team in the history of sports (yes, I heard that argued). I actually have to admit that the Patriots losing was even more invigorating to me than when my Steelers won the Super Bowl two years ago. I guess I couldn't imagine having to put up with all the "perfection" talk if they won - which made the defeat oh so much sweeter. Although he missed much of the game, Caleb did come in to share in the celebration with me. At the time he didn't seem to appreciate being ripped away from his feeding to "watch" the last minute of the game, but I know he'll thank me someday.

Here is my first realization that before I know it, Caleb will be grown and driving. Well, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I was very sad to have Caleb outgrow his newborn size diapers and need to be in size 1 - even though I think they look way too big for my little baby. - Sharon

Daddy's first feeding (yes, that is a pink pillow I'm using and yes I'm really wearing shorts)

Caleb's One Month Checkup

All right I admit it - I'm a bona fide blogging failure. Despite my best intentions to weekly update my blog, here I am thirteen days later, finally getting around to it. So much has happened in those past thirteen days that I don't quite know where to begin. On a positive note, we were able to move back into our apartment and we were so glad that my mom was here to help clean and reorganize our kitchen, bathroom, and living room while I was at classes. The timing of her visit was perfect, as I don't know what we would have done without her help.

As we were dropping my mom off at the airport, we then picked up Sharon's brother Brian for his visit last weekend. Brian had a great time here, and we even were brave enough to venture out to the JFK museum for Caleb's first museum visit. As you can tell by the picture below, he was obviously thrilled by the experience and is pondering registering to vote Democrat. Brian also included some more pictures of Caleb on his blog, so if you want to see them you can go to http://bmsmith.wordpress.com/. Last Sunday was also a day of firsts for Caleb, as he made his first trip to church with us that morning. Then in the afternoon, he made his first trip outside of Massachusetts when we drove Brian back to the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. That day was a bit of a stretch for him, but I really think it helped build some important character for him (or that's how we rationalize his obvious dislike of the long car trip).

Just as we were starting to marvel over Caleb's regular sleeping patterns, he decided in the middle of the week that he no longer liked sleeping in his bassinet. Fortunately, I also got my hands on the book On Becoming Babywise that proved to be a big help. Although we don't agree with everything in the book, we were reassured by its recommendation to let Caleb cry himself to sleep in the bassinet - something we've found is a lot harder to do with our own child. Thankfully, he's once again readjusted to sleeping in his bassinet and has been doing much better at night sleeping by himself. We also got some encouraging news from his one month checkup - in that his jaundice (which still is quite noticeable at times) isn't anything to worry about. We also were impressed to hear that our little porker gained a pound in the past week - so our self-dubbed milk cow (her words - don't shoot the messenger) must be doing a great job beefing up that boy. To make up for my tardiness in posting, I also included the first videos of Caleb - hope you enjoy it. That's all for now, stay tuned for the first entry from the new mommy in the near future.

Caleb all dressed up (thanks for the fun outfit, Lois) for his first stroll around the campus (which lasted all of 3 minutes due to the cold)


Caleb checking out his uncle Brian


Caleb expressing his excitement over the JFK museum


Caleb waving to the camera (anybody spot a resemblance to one of his cousins?)


Caleb just chilling after his one month checkup


Caleb when he's happy and awake (a somewhat rare occurence)

Caleb sleeping on my chest (if you listen close, you can hear him "purring")

Update on Caleb

This past week has been a good chance for Sharon and I to settle in to our lives as new parents. After Sharon's parents left last Sunday, it was sort of weird to have Caleb entirely to ourselves. We had a few days to prove that we can do it on our own - but we were very excited when my parents came up this past weekend. My mom will be staying with us until Thursday, which is an especially great blessing since I have six hours of classes three days this week. Although we're now fairly confident taking care of Caleb on our own, we're definitely not going to complain whenever we have extra help. As far as Caleb's jaundice, he's still a little yellow, but the doctors aren't too worried about it for now even though they want to keep monitoring it. It's especially interesting when we put Caleb in yellow clothing, as you can't tell where his clothing ends and his skin begins. Either way, we're glad he looks good in yellow because it may be his color for the next few weeks.

On non-Caleb new, we had some sad and happy news this past week. On Thursday, we found out that my family dog Pokey was put down at the age of 15 after rapidly declining in health over the past year. For those of you who are interested and haven't read it yet, my sister wrote a touching eulogy for Pokey on her blog (www.mmdemontaigne.blogspot.com) that highlights the character of our beloved pet. On a much happier note, we found out on Friday that Sharon's brother Mark and his wife Adriene had their baby boy (Mark William Maynard) who weighed in at just under 8 pounds. The arrival of baby Mark means that Sharon's parents now have three grandchildren - all of which have the middle name William. Also, we're excited about the possibility that we may be moving back into our apartment this week as the final work on it is scheduled to be completed on Monday. Although we've been so thankful for the apartment we've been able to sublet in the interim, we're quite ready to finally settle into our own place.

Caleb deciding whether or not he really wants to take a nap


Sharon having some snuggle time with her baby (note her stylish new glasses)


Caleb's not so sure what he thinks about this situation


My grandma (Nama) with her newest grandbaby (for now)

A Day at the Beach for Caleb

It's hard to believe, but Caleb turned one week old yesterday. He's had a very eventful first week, but thankfully he was oblivious to most of the drama that his parents had to deal with. This past Tuesday morning, we returned to our Pediatrician for a check-up and he had us get Caleb's jaundice level tested again. Unfortunately the results of the test required us to go back to the hospital for 24-48 hours of phototherapy. As much as we didn't want to take him back to the hospital so soon after we left it, we were glad to just get the jaundice taken care of so we didn't have to worry about it. Although we were a little worried about how Caleb would do under the lights, but he really loved his time there. We were hoping we could photoshop a palm tree and a beach umbrella into the picture and it would look like he was just out working on his tan. Thankfully after just over 24 hours under the lights, he was discharged and allowed to go home with us once again.

When we say home, we don't technically mean home because we are still flooded out of our apartment. We're hoping to be able to move back into our apartment next weekend, but until then we've made ourselves comfortable in a nearby apartment we've subletted from another student who will be returning on Jan. 24. Since having Caleb home, I've begun to experience some of the paranoia and fear of being a parent that I swore I would never let myself succumb to. Yes, I am one of those parents who has to look at my son in the middle of the night to make sure he's breathing and starting to worry about all the possible bad things that could happen. I've also begun to rejoice over three hour sleeping segments for Caleb and am already starting to forget what 8 hours of continuous sleep feels like. I can't even imagine how much more of a difficult transition it must be for Sharon, but I'm so impressed by her stamina and patience as a 24 hour buffet for our child. Her feeding definitely is paying off as he reattained his birth weight twice as fast as is expected. At this rate, it looks like he'll be full grown by the time he's in fifth grade.

It has been an incredible blessing this past week to have Sharon's parents up to help us out, and we're already beginning to dread the moment they leave. Thankfully we'll only have five days on our own before my parents come up and are with us for a few days while we move back into our apartment. The whole fatherhood thing is still a little surreal to me, but I think that it will sink in even more once we get into a regular schedule with Caleb and my schoolwork. We hope you enjoy some of these pictures and thanks for keeping up with our lives.
- Mike


Caleb working on his tan with those sweet shades (preparing for Ocean City)


Caleb sleeping on his mommy


"If I hold onto daddy's thumb, maybe he won't drop me"


I don't know what's going on with this pose - we'll take caption suggestions


This is what our apartment looks like now - notice stylish hole in ceiling

Bringing Baby (almost) Home

The past four days have been a whirlwind of new everythings for Sharon and me, so I'm finally getting a chance to share some of the details. It all started around 7:30 AM on January 3rd when Sharon had the audacity to awaken me from a peaceful slumber to tell me that her water had broken. As exciting as that news was to me, I promptly decided to lay in bed for another thirty minutes while wondering if she was sure about this. After calling our doctor's office and finally waking up a bit more, we followed their instructions to immediately head to the hospital because Sharon had tested positive for GBS, which would present some risk if the baby wasn't born within 24 hours of her water breaking.


So after arriving in the hospital, they gave us a few hours to progress naturally before they put us on labor inducing drugs around 2:00 PM. Even with the ever-increasing dosage - these drugs had little effect on Sharon. However, when the drugs started working around 6:00, they really didn't mess around as her contractions went from barely noticeable to very intense and a few minutes apart. After an hour and a half of this, which we were told wouldn't even be considered active labor, Sharon and I agreed that an epidural was in order. After receiving the epidural, she amazingly went from 3-4 centimeters dilated to fully dilated in about an hour. by 9:00 in the evening we started pushing and the baby arrived at 9:42.


For the sake of Sharon and the weak stomached, I'll spare you some of the more squeamish details of the experience that I found fascinating and stick to the general stuff. When I first saw that our Kurbis was a Caleb, I was a little surprised but excited that we knew for sure what his name would be. We both really liked the name Caleb, and the William is in honor of my grandfather who will always have a special place in my heart. Although the rather quick labor was a blessing for Sharon, her parents and sister were a little disappointed that they didn't make if for the birth, as they arrived three hours late. Even though they just missed the birth, it was impressive that they were able to get plane tickets and travel from Atlanta to Boston in less than 16 hours after hearing Sharon's water broke.


Our time with Caleb in the hospital was rather uneventful from a medical standpoint, as he has had no difficulties besides a slight case of jaundice and some breathing issues. One of the highlights of the hospital stay for him was watching (sleeping through) the Steelers game with his dad, which is the real reason he decided to come two weeks early. However, our idyllic hospital stay was interrupted early Saturday morning by a phone call from Sharon's parents telling us that our apartment (which they were staying in) was flooding. A pipe in the hallway broke in the middle of the night and water poured into our apartment and was up to an inch deep in places.

Thankfully, the flooding didn't destroy any of our property due to a quick response by my in-laws and the providential fact that most of our valuables were up off of the floor. However, our apartment is in sad shape and we won't be able to return to it for at least a week (if at all.) During that time, we will be subletting a nearby apartment and are very thankful to at least have a place to go for the time being. So although we are not really home yet, it is exciting to be together as a family and entering this crazy adventure of parenthood.


Look Mom, no neck!




Family bonding in the hospital


Caleb with our friend Dawn


As you can see, Caleb is really pumped up for the big game

Taking Caleb from the hospital to our (temporary) home

Caleb William Koerber

Caleb William Koerber entered the world at 9:42 PM on Thursday, weighing 8 pounds and measuring 19 inches long. We will have more details later, but we wanted to post a few pictures from the first 24 hours.