Growing Like a Weed

Our sweet baby boy turned one month old yesterday! The month has flown by and it seems like Arie is getting bigger each and every day. He weighed in at 9.5 lbs at his check-up yesterday, and measured 21 inches. Both put him in the 50th percentile for full term one month olds. So, for a preemie... he's already caught up! He has officially grown out of his preemie clothes, and is now filling out his newborn clothes. Those don't look like they will fit him for very long either at the rate he is growing!

Arie eats seven times a day and generally eats well, except that he is, like his older brother was, a very slow eater. We can usually plan to be feeding him for about an hour. I just marvel at my friends' babies who pound down a feeding in 15 minutes! Oh well, at least we get lots of quality time with him! :) It just presents a problem when our two-year old constantly demands our attention.

Speaking of Jack, he loves his baby brother. He often wants to hold him and give him kisses on the head. He hasn't figured out that he needs to be gentle and quiet around Arie, but he scores high for enthusiasm!

Back to Arie... he has settled into a good routine and schedule, starting his morning with an 8am feeding, then eating every 3-3.5 hours throughout the day. We work hard to keep him awake for a bit after he eats during the day, which we feel has paid off because he has not yet gone through that typical newborn phase of having his days and nights mixed up. At night he'll go up to 4 hours between feedings. He only cries when he is hungry or tired.

As a reminder... here he is at one week old with his puppy:

And here he is yesterday at one month old:

Within a matter of one week he accumulated several rolls on his thighs...

...and a healthy double chin.

We love our darling boy!

We're so grateful for a healthy baby!

{I took the above picture as a comparison to a picture that I took of my hand with Jack's when he was in the NICU... Arie's hand is quite a bit bigger than Jack's was in that photo. I'm glad we have pictures to remind us of those kinds of things}

Brotherly love

For the two weeks that Arie has been home, Jack has been a loving big brother. Here's a little evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74_JL2B5dD8

Home

*Disclaimer*

We realize these posts are somewhat out of order chronologically, but oh well!

It was so nice to have a "normal" going home experience. It was great to have two nights of rest at the hospital, but then we were thrilled to go home with our baby. We still remember vividly how sad it was to leave the hospital without Jack, so this was a welcome change!

This is one of the better "family of four" pics we got... not great, but again, oh well!

Arie in Daddy's arms.

Some of Arie's first visitors at home were his California cousins. Our boys are so lucky to have such fun and loving cousins, both here in California and in Michigan!

Jack likes to hold Arie at least a few times per day. He does really well (with lots of supervision!) and seems to think he's funny because he just laughs this goofy laugh with every move Arie makes.

Comparisons

When Jack was a baby we took monthly pictures of him with a little stuffed bunny. We are eager to do the same for Arie with another stuffed animal. It will be fun to watch him grow this way! Here is Arie with his stuffed puppy at one week old:

And just for fun, here is Jack at one month old (which is the same gestational age that Arie is now). What do you think??? Similar?

And for even more fun... here is Jack with his bunny today at two years old. He watched us photograph Arie with his puppy and wanted his own turn, too! :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE our growing boys!

Dad's visit

So, my Dad had been planning to visit us from Michigan during my Spring Break from teaching. However, he had not planned to be here for the birth of his second grandchild.

Dad's visit was truly providential. It was lots of fun and Jack had a live-in caretaker for all of our time at the hospital and the craziness of bringing Arie home.

Dad and Betsy took Jack to his first movie, African Cats. Jack especially liked it when when the momma cats licked their babies. The little guy even lasted most of the movie without wanting to run around. Maybe the popcorn, ricecakes, and candies had something to do with that...

Dad also helped with another big house project. We installed a retractable awning over our deck in the backyard.

Oh, and Jack is in love with his Grandpa. Every morning when Betsy or I would go to get him out of bed, Jack would say, "Grandpa go?" In fact, he's continued to say it every morning since Grandpa left. Grandpa was also the favorite at mealtime, naptime, and bedtime. I think it's safe to say: Grandpa, you're a hero!

Thanks for all the help, Dad. It was truly blessed time. We appreciate you and love you so much!!