Kunzes Ahoy, Part II
Latest update on Nina is available at her Care Page at the link below. Eventually I’ll be incorporating those entries here into the blog.
Back to the Kunze visit, for now…
We spent some time outside on the 16th… Our neighbor happened to scoop a pile of snow off of his driveway, and across his lawn for more places to park his vehicles, and it made an excellent ramp once the vehicles were gone. Connor was a regular daredevil when it came to this particular run. From where I was standing, he’d flip up and over the hill, and disappear with a quiet thud, followed by “AWESOME!” or “DO IT AGAIN!” See this image larger.
His attempts to break the sound barrier were met with failure, but not by much! See this image larger.
The conqueror of Mt. Chapman! See this image larger.
We got a little stir-crazy on the 17th and decided it was time to go outside again! See this image larger.
Ian quickly discovered that the orange ball was the better choice for this particular course. See this image larger.
Kaylee gets in on the action! See this image larger.
And so does Ian! Halfway down the hill for the little ones, of course, it would be crazy to let them go down the full hill, am I right? See this image larger.
Intermission! See this image larger.
If you looked at this without thinking “Awww!” you have failed. See this image larger.
Some snowy football action! See this image larger.
Ok… so… Ian asked me to help him climb to the top of the hill. Aaaand then we talked about how to get down. Now I know you’re probably about ready to send these pictures to child protective services, but believe me when I tell you, we had this all figured out. Unlike the orange sled, which has a small, long contact area… the lid from the turtle sandbox and has a wide, textured undercarriage, resulting in a slower, smoother ride. And unlike the orange sled, where my weight would have just made it go faster, I could tell this just sank down deeper. Regardless, he faced it bravely, and he went ALL…. See this image larger.
…THE… See this image larger.
….WAY!! And this is probably a good thing, too, as I’m not sure how many more times we’ll be able to sled on this hill as we’ll probably end up moving. If you’re wondering… we came nowhere close to falling out of the sled, and made a perfectly safe run. See this image larger.
These pics are from the 15th of January, I believe this is the day the Kunzes arrived to greet Nina and hang out with family in Rockford! 
So happy togetherrrrrr! 
These might be the best contractors I’ve worked with so far. 
Ian and Daddy rock out together on Guitar Hero: Van Halen. 
We were instructed to make guitar faces. Ian’s smile is not quite fierce enough for a proper guitar face, but we’ll work on that. 
Took him in for a quick haircut… I think he was exhausted and pretty serious. Might have had something to do with the proximity of a pair of sharp scissors. 
And voila, he looks like he’s 12. Where’s my toddler go? 
Just brother and sister! We had to take some shots with his new haircut! 
I’m pretty sure Nina is sinking into the crack between the back and seat cushion. 
Grandma Sue hops in for a shot or two… I love Ian’s face in this one “Wow, can she scream!” 
Intermission between various activities. 
The quintessential boy in his overalls. 
On January the 8th, 2010 Nina had another check-up with Dr. Bultje, with little to report, and in this case, no news is good news! 
Grandma Barb holds Nina in one of her many outfits of the day, this one a catchy pink and white number with a luxurious purple evening blanket suited for a night out on any town. 
Here Grampa Ray models with Nina in purple jumper wrapped in a formal white blanket with pink border, perfect for office meeting or interview. 
January the 9th, 2010 turned out to be a major day for pictures! So for the rest of this entry we will focused on that day. Here, Ian and I snuggle up to play a quick game of “Cars.” 
If 90% of your body is asleep, this is about how much you can smile, sorry folks. 
Grampa Ray helps build a tunnel that Ian had fun spelunking! 
There’s a little smile! She actually fussed for a total of two minutes just for fun… 
…and quickly discovered that Grampa Ray makes for a good crib. 
Meanwhile Ian took the ladies on a trip to downtown Rockford to see ice sculptures! 
Pretty cool stuff down there! 
Ian poses for a picture with Grandma Sue — all grins this early in the photoshoot! 
Proud Mommy and baby girl! 
This picture looks like the perfect time to proclaim that Ian is doing brilliant as an older brother. Ian has handled having to share his parents with the sort of grace that only the bravest of children could know. I imagine this would have to be very hard, and I often think of what I must have meant to my brother when I was first born. That said, here he wanted Nina the heck off of him. Pronto. 
Grampa Ray proudly holds two of his grandkids, while Nina flashes Ian a peace sign. 
Eventually there got to be too many clicks of the shutter and we started getting faces like this from Ian… 
A bribe of c-a-n-d-y was offered by a certain parent of his in the room who shall go un-named but wasn’t me, and blammo, just look at that genuine smile! 
However holding grandchildren is all it takes to bring a grin to these grandmas’ faces! 
A bonus amount of coinage from a change purse was also supplied, and Ian made quick work of putting it all in his robot bank! 
Meanwhile Grandma Sue sneaks in a quick hug with baby girl! 
This first shot is way out of order with the rest of them, but I thought it would be important to show the bili blanket as the whole thing looked. In time I’m giving myself permission to move this picture with the rest of those that correspond to this topic. Nina doesn’t look happy, does she? 
Grandma Sue showed up on January 4th, 2010 to meet Nina and see Ian again… this picture was taken on the 5th, as Ian listens with rapt attention to a Curious George story! 
Ian and Mommy use their Dyson’s to clean up the house a bit. 
They did a good job, no? 
Grandma Barb and Grampa Ray arrived on the 6th to see our cute little bundle! For those trying to keep track of the continuity, it was this morning, a bit before Barb and Ray arrived, that we found out that Nina’s chromosome test came back normal. 
We went out to eat at Cinqo de Mayo that night. Ian enjoyed a chip in some salsa, and showed off what a good little boy he can be at dinner! 
Ian goes for a ride on a one-Ray open sleigh! 
That night, and Grandma Sue takes Ian on another romp with George! 
Word of Nina’s birth reaches Ian’s daycare. They were kind enough to make dinner for us one night later on in the week. These are good people. I’ll re-format this image someday so that it fits better. Apologies. 
Nina’s flare for the dramatic surfaces all the time. 
January 1st, 2010 and we were all exhausted… whether from the waiting (chromosome test still not in at that point) or the holding of little Nina at odd hours of the night. That sun looks a little bright, huh Nina? 
January 2nd, Nina is being bathed in the sun’s rays from above, and the bili-blanket from beneath. As I mentioned elsewhere, her numbers dropped throughout the first week of the new year. 
Slightly different angle. 
Another slightly different angle. 
On January 4th, our first car trip as a family of four! 
January 5th… somebody looks worried that this is going to last longer than a photo-shoot. 
On the 29th of December, while Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia entertained Ian… 
Seth seemed to keep himself busy, watching the fish go by! 
Grampa Dave takes Ian for a “drag” around the house despite being very tired. (Did I mention they are building next to us?) 
There was fun to be had in warmer places as well! Sorry about the lack of Grandma Marcia pictures in this entry… she was a blur, doing things around the house! Thanks again!!!) 
By this time Ian had seen his sister many times. Was this maybe the first time Nina got a clear vision of her brother? 
…and an even clearer vision of Lucky! 
Soon we prepped Nina for her first trip to the physician’s office. 
As Dr. Bultje was not in town when Nina was born, this was their first meeting. 
Our physician looked at Nina and said her Jaundice was maybe a “15 out of 20” where “20” required hospitalization, and anything above 15 would mean it was time for the bili blanket to bring the number back down. 
We were at Home Depot purchasing a new clothes washer when I got the phone-call that Nina’s number was actually an 18 out of 20, and that the bili blanket was on its way to our house. This is what it looks like, it is a flat pad at the end of a length of optical cable, that becomes lit when the machine is on. The light helps her break down and get rid of the stuff that’s making her yellow with jaundice. Sunlight also helps, which is why that “soak up the sun” song was appropriate for the video. 
The blanket did not make for a good sleeping surface, so Nina was up a lot. She wanted to be held. Everybody took shifts throughout the week. On the 30th, while Ian was being watched, it was time for Nina’s cardiologist appointment. I ignored about 32 signs that said to turn off my cell phone so that I could snap this picture. Look at how many sensors they put on her! 
This was also the appointment where a 45 minute ultrasound in silence was followed by the prognosis that Nina’s heart had some serious issues, and the potential for a Down’s Syndrome baby was first described. The cardiologist drew out this picture for us and compared it to a drawing of a normal heart. 
The bold general of a one-man unwrapping army surveys his battlefield, and envisions the wrapping paper carnage to follow. 
Somewhere there’s a piggy bank in an unemployment line as a result of this robot. Welcome to Michigan! 
Ian graduated from “mega” to “duplo” blocks… It seems like only yesterday he was facing backwards in his car seat. 
Nina watches from the safety of her bouncy chair as packages are torn asunder. 
Froggy towel approves of SuperWhy’s Super Duper Computer! 
Daddy performs the “hip hip hooray” dance from SuperWhy. 
Ian was mesmerized by the left-turn action of this light/aquarium. (Which he loved!) These fish turn left more than NASCAR drivers! 
A stuffed animal puppy for Nina… “Lucky,” and boy is she! 
His mouth is forming the “een” of Lightning McQueen. 
His mouth is forming the “whyyyyyy” of SuperWhy. 
I think everybody that saw these little trains fell in love with them. It wasn’t so much their scale as the number of features built into them given such a size. They chugged, whistled, hissed, and lit up! 
The best Christmas gift ever, as held by Grandma Marcia. 
The best Christmas gift ever, as held by Grampa Dave. 
Mommy and the loves of her life. 