Newborn Photos

http://asholders.photobiz.com/cart/

Above is the link for Xander's newborn photos. Click on "newborn" and then choose "Xander". The log in is my email vrh1977@gmail.com and the password is xander.

I think they turned out very cute considering he would not sleep at all. Not what I wanted/expected, but I still love that we captured him at this lil' age. I just know he's going to grow SOOOO FAST!

xoxo
V

Xander: Week 2

Week 2 brought with it plenty more firsts for lil' Xander. He's a busy boy. :) And he's keeping momma (and daddy) on her (his) toes. Seriously.

This week he met Tia Carmen for the 1st time, and he just loved her. You can tell when he's comfy, and she definitley made him comfy. Guess it's all the practice she has from work. :)


We were also lucky enough to have meals from church start this week, which was awesome since Mike went back to work mid-week and time is precious. We have 10 days worth of yummy meals being prepared daily by different couples in our FUN Young Couples class. What a blessing! Then again, it's also requiring me to start thinking about losing the baby weight a little later than I would have normally thought. But who can resist mexican casserole, chicken spaghetti and tons of homemade desserts. Yum! People have also been great about not needing to come in or hold Xander, etc. I'm guessing it's the current flu season, but people have been very respectful of our/his space.

Wednesday we had Xander's urologist appt. Basically, we didn't get him circumcised in the hospital because his pediatrician thought we should have a pro (in that area) look at his penis because the scrotum is attached just a smidge too high. Looks like lil' Xander will be fully intact until 6 months old when we'll have to put him under with general anesthesia so they can circumcise him properly. I'm a bit nervous about it, but the urologist assures me that babes do quite well being put under at that age. Lots of prayers please -- both now and in April. Here we are on the way to the urologist with monkey:


Friday's appt, which I discussed in another post, was a total success, and his weight gain is superb (8lb, 4oz). Here we are at the appt:


It was also recommended that we start doing tummy time with him to build up some strength. Now the doc assured me that he wouldn't like this at all and that we should just keep him at it until he begins to cry. Well, our little guy is apparently out of the norm because he fell right to sleep and didn't think twice about it. Whoops! Too cute:


This week also brought with it his first full bath since he lost his umbilical cord on Sunday and didn't yet get circumcised (we'd thought perhaps they'd do it in the office on Wed). He seemed to really enjoy it, and it became a family event with Oscar taking part, as well. How many people/canines does it take to wash one small infant!?! ;)






Lastly, we had his newborn photos taken today with Andrea Gayle. I'll post the link as soon as I have them available. The idea was to capture those wonderful lil' sleeping, naked baby photos where they scrunch up into a nice lil' ball. Well, Xander took it upon himself to stay wide (and I mean WIDE) awake for the entire 3+ hour photo shoot. But he was still totally cute, and hopefully she got some good photos. Andrea is awesome! She'll be doing his every 3 month photos for the 1st year of life. Can't wait.

Just a few additional photos of Xander for fun:


Playing with daddy on Nov 1st


Do you like my hair?

Hope everyone is well! Oh, and check out prior posts from this week -- I've added some pics. :) And obviously even more pics can be found on ofoto in the Week 2 photo album. :)

xoxo -
Vicky

Looking good...

So we had Xander's 2nd pediatrician appt this morning, and he's looking good. The lil' guy is up to 8lb 4 oz, which is almost a pound above his birth weight of 7 lb 6 oz. Since all they look for at 2 weeks is to see if the babe has gained back the lost weight (he was 6lb 14 oz three days after birth) up to their birth weight, we're doing good. Seems the bottle feeding breast milk really works. :) And I'm really enjoying it.

Next doc appt isn't until December 18th. I'll be updating on other happenings this week and on the urologist appt in tomorrow' weekly update. He's 2 weeks tomorrow -- time is flying! :)

A cutie patootie pic at the docs:

Back to work...

for Mike, that is. Yep, today is his first day back since Xander was born. And then he'll take the week of Thanksgiving off, as well. I'm a bit nervous but (i) I think it's more just from exhaustion and (ii) my mom is here since last night and will be the extra set of hands I think having a little one requires. I'm seriously impressed by anyone who can do this alone at this early stage. I think it makes it a bit more complicated since I'm pumping and bottle feeding and sometimes our schedules just don't work out so that both of us can be happy at the same time, but hopefully that gets better. Right now, Xander obviously gets priority and I just ache for awhile. :)

Anyway, wish us luck on Mike's 1st day back. We're going to miss him. And he's gone til 8:30pm tonight too since he has class after work on Thursdays. Boo!

xoxo
V

Infections and a Germ-a-phobe

Well, it looks like I stopped putting Xander to breast a bit late because I was still able to contract a bacterial infection that resulted in flu-like symptoms and a call to the midwife at the hospital last night. They said anything above 100.4. I was so scared I actually had the flu or something that I was pleasantly surprised when she told me it was an infection, she's right a script for penicillin and I didn't have to stay a mile away from my lil' man. I'd been avoiding him all night in fear of making him sick.

Thankfully, the meds started working right away and by today I felt A-OK. Then I stupidly went for a mile walk with Mike (and Xander) to St Elmo's for some hot chocolate. By the time we got home I was starting to feel crappy again and, yep, the fever was back over 100. What was I thinking? I've made him promise to not let me out other than for Xander's doc appts for at least a few more days...til Saturday. I have 10 days of penicillin ahead of me. So this seems reasonable.

Also, I discovered I'm a total germ-a-phobe now. I mean, I was bad before, but taking Xander to St Elmos (the neighborhood coffee nook) made me realize how bad I really am. We were there for 25 minutes, and we'd both washed our hands twice prior to leaving. I couldn't help but think how potentially covered in germs the chair I was sitting in was, which is so not a good thought when you're trying to relax over a cup of HC. I just don't want the lil' man to get sick. I'd feel so guilty. Now, once he's walking around and "eating dirt" as Mike puts it -- well, then, it's all on him if he gets sick or not. Hopefully, I can teach him to do otherwise.

xoxo
V

To Save, or Not To Save...

the umbilical cord, that is. Xander lost his umbilical cord remains today, and admittedly, we didn't notice. So you ask -- how could they possibly save it? Well, mom (grandma terri) found it in the washing machine while doing a load of his clothing. Apparently it stuck to something. Who looks in the bottom of the washing machine between washes!?! I guess I should start! :)

There was some debate in this house whether it's something to save or not. To put it in the baby book. I'm not sure, but for now, I'm drying it out and leaning toward saving it. I mean -- it's clean after all! :)

Xander with his umbilical cord on the outside of his pjs.

Happy Halloween!

What a fun time of year! I just love Fall generally eith the cooler temps, pumpkin bread and desserts, apple cider, and holidays just around yje corner, but the lil' kids running around the neighborhood and through the leaves asking for candy in the cutest costumes is just awesome! Despite only being 1 week old, Xander and some of his friends dressed up this year.

Our friends, Melanie & Kevin and lil' Sean (about 16 weeks) and Kate & Joe and lil' Matthew (11 weeks), all came to visit us today. We took some pics. I think these will be successful blackmailing tools in years to come when our little men are older. :)

Xander (skeleton), Matthew (pumpkin) and Sean (giraffe)

no tears

Xander, daddy & mommy -- 1 week old!!

pooped out from the company