Excuse to post a photo

We took some pictures this weekend, and they were just too cute to keep to ourselves, so here they are. In terms of news, Andy had his first play date today with Russell, his friend who was born two rooms down from us in the hospital. His parents Rita and Tim are friends of ours from church, so we're hoping the boys become good friends so they can raise Cain together. Lynn says Andrew was well-behaved the whole two hours, alert and smiling the whole time. Apparently he was just happy to be somewhere new, like a little Mr. Excitement. On one hand, his father was also notorious for being happy in any situation, so there's a Nature influence. On the other hand, Ruggles has been known to get excited no matter where we take him, so Nurture may be at work too. Either way, we're just happy that we can dress him up AND take him out.

Another Weight Check

We went in for another weight check yesterday, and Andrew was up another 3 oz. Hooray! Any increase is a reason to celebrate at this point. However, we got lectured by one of the other pediatricians in the office (not our primary pediatrician, who we think is excellent) because he did not gain at least half an ounce per day (he was half an ounce under that guideline). But we will just take from that lecture what is helpful and discard what is just WAY overcautious.

In other news, Andrew has started making real facial expressions (e.g. social smiles) recently, occasionally mimicking his parents, which is quite exciting. He is also very good at tracking things and likes to bop the toys that dangle into his playpen, and he's cooing up a storm. To be fair, Lynn has been noticing these behaviors for a couple weeks, but he is now doing them at increasing frequency. It's amazing to watch him go from a blob that is desperately trying to make sense of our confusing world to a small mammal figuring out how to interact with it.

Chunky Monkey

Although it hasn't been mentioned a whole lot here, we have been struggling for several weeks to get Andrew back to his birth weight. For a while we were giving him an extra 2 oz of formula 3 times a day, to supplement what Lynn could provide, along with occasional pumping to increase milk supply. Still not enough, though I should mention that he was healthy in every other respect - just a little skinny.

At his one month visit (at 5 weeks old), the doctor said it was time to stop fooling around and start really forcing the calories into him. She recommended adding a scoop of formula (which would normally be mixed with 2 oz of water) to every 2 oz of breast milk and giving him 4 oz bottles of formula with 3 scoops instead of 2 oz bottles with 1 scoop. The result: Andrew's weight on January 18 was officially 8 lbs 9 oz (up from 7 lbs 14 oz on January 15). Hooray!! I weighed him unofficially on our bathroom scale last night, and he was close to 10 lbs. Double hooray!

Otherwise the whole family is doing well. Nick has returned to work, though he misses his family greatly. Both sets of parents have made an appearance for a couple days, and everyone agrees that photographs cannot capture just how beautiful this little boy is. And today is Ruggles' birthday, so happiness abounds!

Mommy awake?

Finally, after weeks of Nick saying I should add to this blog, I am here posting. Hmm, well I'll leave the details to him with what's gone on. My collection of boys is a generally happy bunch. We have taken to camping out on the couch most days, the boys all piled up asleep. In my short time home so far I have learned a few things 1) daytime tv is judge shows, soaps or news 2) never lend anyone money without a written contract and 3) most commercials target unemployed young people, retired folks, and moms (of which none seem to apply to me--at least yet). We've watched a lot of movies so far, though never straight through as we are interrupted for feedings and crying. We may never see a movie all the way through in one sitting again.