The Kotters are finally settled in (at least mostly) to their new home in Arlington, Virginia. It has been a busy couple of months filled with lots of changes!
Oliver has changed the most over the last couple of months. In late September he started teething, which meant that he wanted to put everything that he could get his hands on in his mouth. By mid-October his first two teeth (in the bottom front of his mouth) were clearly showing. Now he has two top teeth starting to poke through his gums. He still loves to chew on everything, but Mom and Dad have to be careful not to let him chew on their fingers too much because he can bite really hard now!
On October 18, after turning five months old the day before, Oliver got to eat his first real meal of rice cereal. Mom and Dad fed him first thing in the morning so that he would be good and hungry. Oliver loves eating! He ate his whole bowl of cereal (and he didn’t even get too much on his face!). Since then, Oliver has had a bowl of rice or oatmeal cereal once or twice a day.
Finally, Oliver has mastered the trick of rolling over from his back onto his tummy. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to be on his tummy very long and he doesn’t know how to roll back over. As a result, he has started waking up in the middle of the night screaming because he is stuck on his tummy. Most of the time Mom or Dad can roll him over on to his back and he will go back to sleep very quickly. With any luck, Oliver will learn how to roll back over by himself soon!
Kay Lynn has her hands full taking care of Oliver. Most days she wishes that she had a little more time to draw and paint. Still, she has found time to paint a couple of paintings to hang in Oliver’s room. She is doing a great job as a mother and spends lots of time taking Oliver on walks, going to the park to swing, and singing songs with Oliver. She was recently called to serve in the Arlington ward as a visiting teaching district leader.
Jason is learning lots at his job. He still wishes that he could do more academic research, but he appreciates the computer programming skills he is learning including SAS and PERL. He recently attended a retirement party where he was able to stand next to Chairman Bernanke and he saw former Chairman Alan Greenspan. It is fun to be able to rub shoulders with some very impressive people!
All in all, the Kotter family continues to do well. We miss our friends and think about you often.
Please send us an email when you have a chance!