Happy Holidays

I haven't been able to post here for a while. We have a lot of Christmas planning and it is busy at home (I wonder why). Thanks to all of you who have sent X-Mas cards. It is so nice to hear from who is out there.

Linus is starting to pronounce consanants (Ma and Ba) and I am sure that I will post some great pictures from Christmas when we return from Connecticut.

Have a great holiday everyone!!

Okay...here we go!!

So, I have figured out how to get the pictures on here, so now I am going to have some fun.

Here are two pictures that we took from our honeymoon in Newfoundland, Canada. I can't resist bragging about this trip because Katie and I both felt so connected to the magnitude of the earth, the power of the sea and disconnected from the typical modern society. We learned so much about the people who have inhabited this part of the world for over 4000 years and how fishing and hunting are the standard way of life along with strong social connections that unite small communites around the region. We visited the western coast of Newfoundland for 10 days and could have easily spent more exploring other regions of 'The Rock.' I guess that means we will have to return to visit our friends and explore new lands.



Katie spotted whales in the Bonne Bay from atop the mountain in this picture taken from a hike up from the Gros Morne National Park visitor center. You can see it in the foreground (blue roof near the water).



This picture is taken from a hike through the 'The Green Gardens' where we took a little sidetrip down to the coast. This coastal photo is a typical coastal shot so imagine driving this! Can you spot Katie in the center of the pictures standing on the rocks admiring the surf?

Have you ever met our puppies? The black one is Ripley (8) and the yellow one is Lilly (7). They have been lovers since Day 1.



In May Katie and I ventured to New York City for a long weekend to visit some of Katie's good friends from her previous life as a corporate officer, and to surprise them with the news that she was pregnant. The first night turned into a 4 hour dinner celebration with more than a few of Katie's previous co-workers where they swapped stories from the 'good 'ol days' and brought everyone up to speed on their current standings as people swamped in the corporate world. We visited other friends of Katie's and even managed to spend an evening in 'SOHO' with Jessie and Frank Braden (friends of Mark) from college. The only excuse that we had to miss Kyle and Christina and Jack was that we were on the west side of Manhattan and had three or four days jam packed with things to do. (Next time?)



Here is a picture of the remote control boat pond we discovered through our tour through Central Park with one of Katie's old friends from Hoboken (David White) and his little family. The park is such a spectacle of NYC and was by far the highlight for me being an NYC virgin. We spent over 8 hours in Central Park over the length of our trip, managed to see Dustin Hoffman and the other interesting people and events that NYC is so famous for.

After July 22 2006 (the most exciting day of my life so far) we have enjoyed our son every minute and are happy to have a little family of our own here in exciting Ann Arbor. Linus has brought such joy to our lives (and has single handed-ly kicked Lilly and Ripley down to the bottom of the pack (and they know it) and he is our light. Our wedding song lyrics included "All I want is to be your harbor..." and this little boy is the lighthouse that brings us in from drifting or traveling to far out from home.

October and November brought excitement to Linus when he got visit with his Uncle Peter in an impromtu halfway meeting in Cleveland and an especially exciting visit from his Grandma Davison who traveled from her home base in West Hartford Connecticut for a long weekend to visit her grandson. Here are a couple of pictures; one with Uncle Pete and one with Grandma Davison.





Well, time sure has been flying by as we 'parent' and 'own dogs' and 'work' and 'have lives'. Isn't it worth it though? This is part of our journal and we hope you know that as you read this you are intertwined into our lives and that it is our pleasure to share this with you. This is obviously a clever medium to express the lives we are leading and that as our experiences are important to us and to share with you, your connections are important us. We hope to hear from you periodically either through posts on this blog or via the archaic system of electronic mail (ktkozlowski@yahoo.com mskozlowski@yahoo.com).

Until the next time....

one of dad's favorites

I LOVE TV!!

Here's One.....

i hope this turns out okay

let me know your thoughts!! all you have to do is log in as an anonymous user and you can post to the blog. DONT BE AFRAID - WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!!

The Timing Just Isn't Right....

So we tried the sleep experiment over the weekend and talked to the pediatrician's office yesterday. Apparently there are mixed opinions on when your baby should begin falling asleep on their own. We have heard and read anywhere from 1 Week (literally) to 6 months. We had heard three months last month, so we tried it. then we heard that it was a month early, so we tried it this month and heard that it is two months early. We are going to try this again after the holidays, after colege football is over, and after the Superbowl. That means that Linus can have full exposure to the excitement of sports through the TELEVISION (which he loves) until the end of January.

In the meantime we are going to rock him to sleep and work on him falling asleep
un-swaddled. It is a good thing that our friend Rick Carter got us the Baby Owner's Manual as a 'birthday' gift because it is the only book that has consistently correct operating instructions and refers frequently to regularly visit your baby's 'service provider.'

Well, it looks like Katie will be starting work again soon. She heard from one of the partners yesterday who asked her to coordinate a work schedule for planning purposes by December 18. We are probably going to start Linus in Daycare a couple of half days per week until Katie starts working so that Linus can adapt slowly.

That's that for today.

Okay...on the second day

I think that I have this thing figured out as far as entering text and formatting the page. My next task is to figure our how to post pictures onto the page and add captions. I think that it will be fairly easy since there is a button in the 'post' box that I am typing in that allows me to 'post' pictures from my computer. Unfortunately, I don't keep pictures on my computer here at work so will have to update this blog at home where I can access them. Beware....cute baby pictures are about to uploaded!

Whew! It feels good to actually write this message to you all and have it available for your viewing pleasure daily and it not be an e-mail. Think of this site as a museum of the lives of the Ann Arbor Kozlowskis - with Mark and Katie as curators.

So - on with the news.

We are currently conducting an experiment on our four month old little boy. That sounds scary and so does his screaming between 5:30PM and 9:00PM. The experiment is to try and get him to fall asleep on his own at bedtime without being held or rocked or swaddled or comforted to sleep. The books tell katie who tells me that we are to let him cry for a certain amount of time before we go and check on him for ONE MINUTE MAX. How terrifying. My interpretation of the theory is that once mom or dad leave the room linus knows that he is alone even though mom or dad may be around the corner. first we let him cry for 5 minutes, check on him, let him cry for ten minutes, check on him, let him cry for ten minutes, check on him and so on letting him cry longer each time. Apparently when mom and dad come into the room, linus is supposed to know that we are still around and will take care of him (building trust). So gradually mom and dad are gone a little bit longer and linus is supposed to think "I am okay sleeping in this bed with jailhouse padded walls and uncomfortable mattress, I think that I will sleep for 10 hours now!" YAH RIGHT!!!!

It has been four days into the experiment now and he actually is "getting the hang of it."

that's that. Onto development - Linus is pushing up with his forearms from his belly similar to a push up. Katie has seen him roll over (I haven't except for the two flukes at two months old) BUT - I was down on the floor with him yeaterday and as he was pushing up i rolled my head and he rolled his almost to the point of rolling over - so i know he can do it.

wow - it is time to get to work again.

Welcome to our site....watch for pictures...and we love you all.

I think this works.

In the Beginning........

Hello......?

Is this thing really working?

Am I launching into cyberspace?

I am new here.

WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?