Scrooge

Joel is a Halloween Scrooge. I think he passed on his sentiments to Anders, despite how cute he looked in this frog costume. I'll be sure to take another picture when he's a bit happier.

Friends

Joel & I have been in a couples small group for almost 3 years now. This summer, four of us had babies in July & August. Anders is the youngest. Zachary is the "old guy" of the group--he was born in March 2007. So, total there are 5 kids (four of them boys!)--it makes for a crazy group on Wednesday nights.

A couple of weeks ago we took these pictures with 3 of the 5 of them...they are sure to be good buds as they grow up.

I'm not sure Anders really knew what was going on...


Anders, Zachary & Ryan
Anders & Ryan--Ryan's not sure why he has to share his comfy chair with someone else...
Anders & Zachary

Busy, Busy

Who knew that such a little person could keep you so busy?! I'm learning.

We've had a couple of big weeks! Anders turned 2 months old yesterday. He had his 2 month check up and weighed in at 11 pounds! Here are the rest of his stats:

11 pounds--41%
23 1/4 inches long--72% (no surprise there)
15 1/2 inches for his head--43%

He's small and long! And he LOVES to move! This is a video (I don't know why it's sideways) I took this morning and it shows a little of his movement. (The loud noise you hear at the beginning is Haiku shaking and then you can hear her clicking nails on the floor) Earlier in the day he laid on his activity mat and literally just MOVED his limbs for about 45 minutes. Then he took a nap. :)




My parents (Oma & Opa) came for a visit, too. It was great to have them here. I will post pictures from their visit at another time...Oma is the photographer when they are here...

Two other "big" milestones are that Anders has started smiling in response to people. He first did it at my friend Julie's house on October 16. Two of her kids (Josiah--preschool age & Adah--2 1/2) were so cute with him--talking to him and giggling, that he joined right in. The other milestone is that yesterday & today Anders has started grasping onto toys.

OK, so the truth is yesterday I forced him to hold on to a toy by placing it in his hand and then curling his fingers around it--but he did hold on for about 30 seconds. Then, today he grabbed on to a toy on his own and held on for a while multiple times.

The other "event" that is a bit more traumatic--but a rite of passage for parents, I'm told--is that Joel clipped the tip of Anders' finger while cutting his fingernails on Monday. It was awful! Joel felt so badly & I almost felt worse becuase I asked Joel to cut his nails while I was feeding Anders. I won't post a picture because it breaks my heart, but I assure you, it's pretty bad and Anders let us know it.

Week 6

Anders is really growing like a weed! He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow! His face is getting a bit more chubby...I doubt he'll ever get really chubby, much like his father, but it is a bit more round these days. He likes hanging out with dad when dad gets home from work...in this picture he's hanging over dad's shoulder getting burped.

Here are a few pictures from this past week...

Bath Time--we had a few traumatic experiences with bath time--water was too hot (according to dad) then the water was too cold (according to mom)...but I think we've finally gotten it figured out!


He's really cute sleeping in his car seat.



And today, he fell asleep in his bouncy chair after being outside in his Baby Bjorn while I played fetch with Haiku...

Firsts

Although I don't have any pictures, I wanted to document some of the firsts we've experienced in the last week.

Last Wednesday, I attended bible study for the first time. That meant leaving Anders in the nursery. It was a challenge for me, but I'm glad I did--just to get used to leaving him in the care of others. He slept the whole time, so I'm sure he was fine! We'll see how we both do tomorrow.

Friday night we had our first full family outing. Previously, it was just Anders & me or Joel & me while grandma watched Anders. However, we attempted our first outing to the D'Evelyn football game. It started at 730pm, so it was a bit of a risk--he eats a lot in the evenings. But, it turned out great. We stayed about 1 hour and he slept--despite the loud noises! We left at the start of the second quarter and we were up 40 to nothing. We may go again next Friday night!

Saturday night we attended our first church service. Ironically we did not attend our own--we attended a service at our friends' church because their video testimony was being shown. Anders woke up during the music part of the service--it was really loud. But, he slept the rest of the time.

The other big news is that I had Anders weighed today. I had some concerns about him at the beginning--he wasn't really gaining weight the first few weeks of his life. But, I'm not concerned anymore...today he weight 9 lbs 7 oz! (He was 7 lbs 14 oz at birth)

1 Week

So this blog and the next one are kind of backwards, but here are pictures from Anders' first couple of days at home. You can compare them to 5 weeks in the next blog!

5 Weeks

Anders turned 5 weeks old yesterday!

We've reached many milestones this month, like getting into a good 3 hour routine. He eats for about 45 minutes, "plays" for about 45 minutes and then sleeps for an hour and a half. This is usually from about 5 am until about 9pm. Then he goes to sleep. We feed him from a bottle (without waking him up) at about 11pm and he sleeps until about 3 am. Then we start it all over again!

We have had many outings this month--to dad's school, mom's school, Target, Babies R Us, and a few other stops along the way.

Anders enjoys walks in the afternoon--he sleeps well in his stroller while I walk around and play with Haiku in the park.

I have learned to manage on the day that dad is gone from 630am until 930pm. Joel has class one night a week, so he is gone ALL day. It seemed like a daunting task at first, but we've learned to manage.

He's also learned to sleep better--it was a struggle getting him to fall asleep at the begining. Now he is falling asleep much faster & on his own.

Here are some pictures from yesterday...unfortunatly, the lighting isn't very good. But, he sure is cute in this cowboy outfit from cousin Chris & his horse (which Haiku would like to have for her own)...

Haiku

A number of people have asked me how Haiku has weathered the storm of having a new baby in the house.

It depends on the day.

Overall, she has been very good with Anders. Her worst habit is "drive-by licking". She loves to run by and lick his hand or his foot. We're working on that. Most days, we get out of the house (Anders in the stroller) and walk down to the park. Anders sleeps and Haiku gets a lot of time playing fetch. Those are the good days.

Days like today, when I stay instide all day, Haiku gets a bit restless. And I get a bit irritated. And we all don't get along too well.

So, that moral of the story is: get out more. We'll try again tomorrow.

She is a great dog. Here she is with her favorite chew toy...a 2 liter bottle. What I can I say? We're cheap!