Lil' Bruiser

On Tuesday Guy had his 1-month doctor's appointment, and weighed in at an impressive 10 pounds 14 ounces. That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight. Scott's been doing some historical comparisons, and Guy gained the same weight percentage - 32% - as Lincoln during his first month. Of course, Guy started out a whole pound heavier...

In other news. we got to spend a relaxing dinner at Mary and Randy's house last Sunday. Lincoln loves going there and playing with Everett's toys (that's actually all he talked about once we told him we were going), and Scott and I like having a night out with family.

We forgot to take our camera Sunday night, but we did take a few photos before we left. Since it was cold outside, we dressed Guy in his wool pants and jacket that I knitted for him. He looks pretty handsome in his duds, if I do say so myself! The pants are actually overalls that go up to his armpits (very warm and cute!), and as can see in the photo is that the jacket (which I knitted in 0-3 mo size) is actually almost too small to go around his growing belly.

A Visit from the Grandparents

Last weekend (actually, it's now been two weeks - time flies!) Scott's parents visited and the boys got to be spoiled by their grandparents.  Here's some highlights:

Here, you can see Shirley's amazing ability to read stories to *both* boys at once.  We were very impressed with this skill.

We had a bit of snow, so Lincoln got to break out his heavy winter coat and made a snowman.

Even Grandpa Mike got in on the action and spent some quality time with Guy.  All in all, a very nice weekend!

Takin' A Break

The votes are in, and many of you were very close in your guesses! As your reward, I have some pictures of Guy hangin' out during his first "real" bath in the baby bathtub.  

Here's the actual totals - (note: there were also some labs costs but I don't have those handy):

• Hospital: $6,500
• Doctor (Linda): $3,100
• Doctor (Guy): $1,600
• Total: $10,200

The bills do not indicate if the chicken fried steak dinners (or the extra pieces of carrot cake) impacted the cost. Here's your reward!  Note his calm, cool expression.  He is *way* too tough to be excited about a silly bath.

A Model Baby - and a contest!

Yesterday Guy and I braved the cold to get Guy's first official portraits taken.  Our friend Stacey Schmitz is an awesome photographer, and believe it or not Guy was actually awake for the entire session -  I can't wait to see how they turn out!  The event was preceded by a bit of stress, however, when I realized my "little" guy was growing fast and the newborn outfit I had picked out didn't really fit anymore - we made a quick change and he was presentable in some 0-3 month digs

Now for the contest!  The prize, as usual, is that everyone gets treated to even more cute photos of Guy.  Scott and I are fortunate to have excellent health insurance, and as a result our out-of-pocket cost for Guy's birth was very small.  We're now getting our "explanation of benefits" statements from our insurance company that show the actual charges for Guy's arrival.  Can anyone guess how much it costs to have a hospital birth?  Keep in mind that we stayed two nights in the hospital (in which I ate 2! chicken-fried-steak dinners) and had no anesthesiologist  charges.  The answer will be next time!

For now, here's a photo of the brothers hanging out together.

Guy in action

Since Guy was sleeping in yesterday's post, I think it's time to show this video of him awake and in action.  Lincoln is providing the commentary - his Thomas trains had derailed and he had just managed to get them all back safely on the track when Scott started filming.

Home Alone - Part Duo

Scott went back to work this week so I am officially "home alone" with Guy this week.  I wanted to take a photo to show some of the fun activities we've been up to so far, but usually when he's not sleeping we're usually too busy feeding, changing diapers, or cuddling to take a picture - plus he's awfully cute when he sleeps! 

...and here's the "duo" part of this post - a picture of Guy's big brother sleeping in the same Boppy.   Lincoln was about two months old in this photo, but I think you can still see the family resemblance.

Our First Field Trip

Today we took our first field trip as a family of four.  On the advice of one of Scott's coworkers we checked out Science City at Union Station.  You can get an annual pass at a reasonable price, and it includes unlimited visits to Science City and the Planetarium.

We started getting ready for our big outing at 9:00 am, but didn't actually make it out the door until 10:00.  Once at the museum, Lincoln had a lot of fun checking out the "toys".  Here Scott is showing him how one of the exhibits works - this one involves rolling balls down different tracks.

Of course, Lincoln decided that it would be much more fun just to carry the balls around the museum.

As for Guy, he spent the entire trip asleep in his cozy bear outfit.  It may be a while before he can truly appreciate these family outings.

Overall, Science City turned out to be a great way for the entire family to spend a cold January morning together.

Taking Care of Guy

Taking care of Guy is really hard work, as you can see in these photos:

This morning I had to spend a couple of grueling hours watching Guy as he napped.  It required all of my concentration.

Guy likes to be held, so as you can see Scott spent a lot of time yesterday keeping him happy. It is difficult, all-consuming work.

Of course, it would be nice if all of this napping would translate into a lot of sleep at night, but so far Guy is turning out to be a regular newborn and waking up every 2-3 hours.  

Guy's 1 week checkup

Guy had his one-week checkup on Friday, and he is doing great.  He's an eater and a grower - he gained a couple of ounces over his birth weight.

He also measured in at 21 inches, which is nearly 3 inches more than when he was born.  We're assuming that he not growing insanely fast but in the craziness of his birth he was mis-measured at 18.5 inches.  I guess only time will tell.

The last couple of days have been uneventful.  We're all just getting used to each other and getting into our new routine. We're very thankful to everyone for the cards and help recently. Mary made us dinner a few nights ago, we got a Cookie Monster fruit basket from our friends Jon and Heather, and Joni has changed a few dirty diapers.

We did have our first parental test recently when we tried to give boys baths at the same time.  Guy was screaming because he was cold, and Lincoln was crying because he had shampoo in his eyes.  It wasn't pretty.  The only picture we got was a pre-bath test of Guy's baby bathtub.

Here's a picture of Lincoln playing with a new marble game he got for Christmas (with Guy watching in the background) and Lincoln and Guy posing for a picture. We're not sure why Lincoln pulls his shirt up now when he poses for pictures, but he says he learned it from Aunt Joni (Hmmm...Not sure what she's teaching him :) ).