Andrew's Week 3

Andrew is 3 weeks old today.

Here he is with Matt.

He continues to eat, sleep, and grow. By Friday he already weighed over 11 pounds! He does have some more alert time, during which he likes to look at Mama or Dada and watch big brother. (He has no interest in the cat, but then Matt didn't either at this age.)

We never even tried to put Andy in newborn sizes for diapers or clothes. He will be outgrowing his 0-3 month sizes soon for 3 month clothes. I'm not sure he'll be in size 1 diapers much longer, either.

We had a pretty quiet 3rd week, staying mostly at home because of the heat and rain. But Friday Andy and I participated in a research study on infant nutrition and brain development. We got some neat images of his growing brain.

Here are some photos from week 3:

Awake 

Ready for some football (although both he and I were asleep soon after the game started)

Talking to Dada

Asleep on a hot afternoon

Taking a nap on Dada

Dimple in his elbow

Zonked

Andrew's Week 2

Yesterday Andy was 2 weeks old. At his doctor's appointment Monday he weighed 10 lbs. 5.6 oz. and measured 22 inches long. He got a clean bill of health. We certainly can tell he's growing even stronger. He can throw himself over to one side or the other if you hold him in your arms, and he can roll from his back to almost halfway on one side or the other. Sunday when I put him down for tummy time he managed to make his way from his tummy to his back, which seems to have been an accident, but it's a further sign he is not going to want to stay immobile!

Andy continues to like snuggles, especially with Dada; listening to voices, including his big brother's; and eating. He is still pretty laid back and content to watch what is going on. But this past weekend he had a big growth spurt, so he was fussier and more prone to crying than he has been.

Andy is very expressive. He saves his crying for when he is very distressed, like when he's having his diaper changed. He will squeak and grunt when he's hungry, but if those don't produce the desired result he will escalate to a cry. When he was first born he really sounded like a squeak toy, and his cry was not particularly loud (at least, not compared to Matt's). He is getting a little louder now, perhaps because he has realized he has competition with big brother and his noisy toys.

Here are some photos from Andy's second week:

He did a lot of sleeping...

But spent some time awake and alert.

With one eye open...

Doing tummy time while big brother watches

Discovering his thumb

Looking a lot like Matt

Labor & Delivery for Andrew

Andrew came a little faster than Matt: my water broke around 12:30am on Monday, July 25, and I delivered him later that afternoon. The same doctor who had delivered Matt had just started her shift when we went in, and she delivered Andy, too. Unfortunately I don't have as many photos from his delivery, as extra hands were needed to check him over once he arrived. (He checked out perfectly fine, but they wanted to make sure because he came out with the umbilical cord around his neck and hand plus had some fluid in his lungs.) In the end we're thankful to have the healthy, strong, happy baby we have, and we'll take plenty of pictures of him now that he's here.

We would like to thank the doctors and nurses at the hospital for their care of us. And we would like to thank all of our friends and family who volunteered to be on call to watch Matt and especially those who stayed with us to help take care of Matt and things around the house while we were waiting and while we were in the hospital. The logistics were definitely trickier the second time around, but we were able to work things out. (Luckily we also beat the traffic, both rush hour and game day, in and out of the city, as we did the last time.)

July 2016 Recap

Obviously we have had a busy July. I've already posted our 4th of July weekend and our big news, but I wanted to make sure to post what we did with Matt before the new arrival.

This month has been a hot one, which somewhat limited our outdoors time, but we did manage a number of excursions.
We went to some playgrounds.

Driving a tractor

Riding on a turtle

Digging in the sand

Riding in the ladybug

Crawling on a crocodile

Beep beep in the jeep

We did a child development study at our alma mater.

Standing in front of Dada's college

With his prize (he picked out the bunny himself)

We went to the berry farm to see the animals and do some blueberry picking with friends.

Saying hi to the ducks and (big) horse

Picking blueberries

Picking raspberries later that afternoon off of our own bushes (yes, that's Matt's hand, not mine)

Matt went to the zoo.

Posing with the gorilla

We played a lot inside when it was too hot...

Drinking "coffee"

Driving his Thomas bus and trains on the mat

Putting together a train puzzle

Curious George blasts off

Getting a haircut from Dada

Making music

And we played a lot outside when it was not too hot.

Going "fishing"

Examining the bee he caught

Splashing in puddles

Riding his tricycle (he does well when it goes downhill but hasn't quite mastered pedaling enough to return uphill or even go on level surfaces)

Ringing the doorbell

Watching the butterfly

I'll close with Matt doing one of his favorite things: reading (which he does more and more as he naps less and less - not the worst tradeoff, for sure!).