The First Six Months
Our new life as a family began May 10, 2001
when Alex Richard Pohl was born. We watched his every move during that
first week with amazement. An early highlight
was his first bath
around Memorial Day. We were soon taking him places
with us, to church, to parties, to Nashville where his Fultz cousins live, and even to
the pool across the street. For Father's Day
we hiked at Sweetwater Creek State Park, wearing ourselves out while Alex slept in the front pack.
By the time he was six weeks old, his cheerful
disposition convinced us that we'd gotten a good one. All his grandparents were
smitten from the start.
In July, he met new cousins Bethan, Webster and Icile,
and then we had a relaxing week at Bear Paw, North Carolina
with the rest of Jill's family. During his third month, we discovered why babies take over households.
They seem to require a lot of equipment. Modern
babyhood comes with not just a cradle, crib and highchair, but a vibrating bouncy seat, a doorway swing,
and an exersaucer. As toys began getting scattered about our home, we realized it would only get worse.
By five months, he began eating solid food--legos,
socks, and even rice cereal. The floor has not yet recovered; clearly we should own a dog.
Alex and Jill were scheduled to fly to Indianapolis
on September 12. Although they postponed their trip, they were still able to have a good time. The
next month, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we decided to take a Florida vacation. Jill has
family in Valrico (near Tampa) and Eric has family in
St. Pete, so we had two sets of gracious hosts
to stay with. We spent time at Sea World and Busch Gardens, and Alex played the tourist like a pro.
We learned a lesson on the drive home, however. Alex does not like long car rides without breaks.
Like everything else he'd taught us about parenting, we filed that information away for future use.
When we got home from warm, sunny Florida, we found we had to bundle up, just in time for
Halloween. His Gramma Patterson had made him
a clown costume and he went to Trick or Treat at several homes. Probably for the only time without risk of
getting caught, we were able to eat all his Halloween candy. Just around this time we taught him how to
sit up on his own--could crawling, standing,
and walking be far off? We realized that time had started to move very fast. It was Thanksgiving
already and we went back up to Nashville,
where he had fun with grandparents and cousins Steve, Will, and Charlie. He was six months old.
Alex's Home Page