A Day in the Life - July 30, 2007

Some pics of yesterday's events...

We have discovered that trial and error is the key to unraveling the mysteries of early parenthood. Not that we have really figured anything out yet, but here is an attempt we've made to get Alex to sleep in his bassinet instead of in the bed with us. We bought one of those sleeping baby wedgy things to imitate the sensation of being cuddled -which hasn't solved the problem as of yet - but as you can see by the look on his face, he doesn't seem to mind it either.

We christened the stroller portion of the travel system and took Alex on his first walk. Seeing as though he was asleep, I don't think he was aware that he went on his first walk. But at least we have pictures to commemorate the important occasion.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

Alex embarked on his first official road trip Saturday - only twenty days old and already a jet-setter! We drove the 536 miles from Fayetteville to Peoria and he was awesome. His eating schedule is pretty regular, so he only fussed every three hours when it was time to feed him. However, his diaper dirtying schedule is not quite as predictable, so we did have to make a couple extra stops to change him (including one impressive up-the-back poopie blow-out that required a wardrobe change). I ended up sitting in the back seat with him while dad chauffeured us around, and between stops he just enjoyed the scenery, slept, and blew raspberries.

Overall, the whole trip only took 1.5 hours longer than it normally would take us sans newborn. Not nearly the traumatic experience that we were expecting.

We have had quite a time already - it is so fun to bring Alex "home" to the place where I grew up. He's already spent quality time with Grandma and Grandpa, and little with mom and dad, too.

He even helped celebrate Great Aunt Bodie's birthday - he is a true party animal, as you can see...

After all the partying, he got to take his first real bath - and a Jacuzzi one at that!

Lots more family fun to come...

Family and Friends

So much to blog about, so little time. First things first - Alex finally has a belly button!! It seems like such a trivial thing to be excited about (although with a new baby, every little thing is adorable, including burping, hiccups, and yes, even bowel movements). But this means he can finally have a real bath instead of the lame spot cleanings we've been doing so far.

Timothy's family came to see us...er...Alex on Friday, so there were many more photo ops. For example, sleeping with Papa is very likely to inspire a Kodak moment...

As does gossiping with Auntie Leah...

Some random pics of other activities this week...

Knowing we would be gone for two weeks and would miss our friends terribly, we invited the Primms over for a cookout Friday night.

Oliver and Alex met for the first time and hit it off right away. In fact, Oliver impressed us all and decided that he would add the word "Alex" to his growing vocabulary. Joy was showing him pictures of Alex on Leah's phone, and when Grammy walked in with the baby, Oliver pointed directly at him and clearly said "Alex". We all applauded and praised his accomplishment, then spent the rest of the night making him do it over and over.

Finally, it was time to say our sad goodbyes, so Timothy and Seth shared a special moment before the Primms headed back home.

Another good time with friends and family. More to come...

Two Weeks and Counting...

Boohoo, Alex is two weeks old as of Tuesday and it seems like he has grown so much already! He's already asked to borrow the car and I can't seem to get him to come home by curfew. Kids these days...

He had his two week checkup this morning, where the pediatrician determined that he is a very healthy boy. The nurse measured his length and came up with 21 inches, to which I replied, "So...he's shrinking?" At birth, the hospital measured him at 21.5", so this decrease was quite a mystery to me. Apparently it wasn't a surprise to the nurse, who was less than confident in the hospital staff's abilities to get an accurate measurement. Regardless, he has grown almost an inch since the last time we were there, which was exciting to hear. His weight was also at issue, in that he has not yet regained back to his original birth weight - odd since I know how much he is eating (and poohing). The doctor wasn't particularly worried and gave us the OK to travel over the next two weeks, suggesting that we come back into the office for a weight check when we returned. In the meantime, I will be sure to pump him full of milk at every chance in order to fatten him up.

I've had lots of requests for more pictures, so I will post some random ones that show Alex's daily life. Two week olds don't do a whole lot of interesting things other than sleep, eat, and pooh, however I still manage to have a billion pictures of Alex doing just that. Okay, so I don't really have any pics of the two latter activities - and no, I do not plan to take any in the future - so I will be sharing some pictures of him sleeping and a few of him awake, just to shake things up.

We worked a little on sitting up today. He did pretty well, although he likes to bobble his big noggin' around until he falls over. Once he gets his noggin' under control, sitting up will be a cinch.

I typically avoid posting pictures that make Alex look anything but adorable, but he makes these hilarious cross-eyed faces that I happened to capture on film. They must be shared, at the risk of starting rumors about "that poor little 'ole Evans child" and his crossed eyes...

Grammy has been hanging with us this week, making both of our lives a lot easier. Alex has taken full advantage of her attention while she has been here, which Grammy doesn't seem to mind.

I realize that the following pictures are very similar, but I have the hardest time picking just one. My apologies for the redundancy, but he is so photogenic...

Okay, that's enough for now. Papa and Aunt Leah will be coming up tonight, so there is bound to be a slew of new pics to be posted in the near future. Stay tuned...

His First...

As I've mentioned, most of the things that Alex does on a daily basis are firsts. Like his first bath some of those other things we have been able to capture on film. Here are some other "firsts" that Alex has experienced in the last thirteen days:

First swing (outside of the nursery)

First time in the baby carrier

First "real" doggy kiss

First time in his crib

€€First time with his "GiddyUp and Go" gym

I also clipped his teeny little fingernails for the first time last week, although I did not attempt to take a picture of myself trying to do it. It was scary enough just trying not to clip his little fingers, let alone trying to operate a camera at the same time. You understand...I will try harder to capture future "firsts" so that you all can share in these very special moments.