Easter with the Andersons

We started out the day Sunday by going to church--Lewis slept through most of the service and just let out a few peeps, thankfully. He got to meet the St. James congregation afterward with Memaw Carter.

Then it was time to get him ready to meet the Anderson side of the family. We decided to go with an ode to Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, brought to you by his Auntie Em. Behold.

Lew and Papa ready for Easter Dinner

Chilling on his new and appropriate safari blanket from
Great-Great (is that right?) Aunt Rose

Aunt Paula and Uncle Jim recently adopted a puppy, Neo, who also came to Easter dinner. He is beautiful--part Great Pyrenees and part German Shepherd. He already weighs in at nearly 40 pounds, and he still has a lot of growing left to do! I'm so glad we got to meet him...I took 10+ pictures of him, but there are just a few where I caught him in a still moment. :)

Good puppy



:)



Bigfoot



Doing the 'Long Dog'



See what I mean? He was a quick little feller.

Lewis did well being passed around again on Sunday--he spent a lot of his time sleeping (which made me a little nervous for the nighttime, but it didn't seem to mess up his routine, thankfully). We did have a little poo incident, so the Crocodile Hunter outfit was short-lived. Luckily, we packed some backups--back to his stylin' STRETCH PANTS!

Sleeping on his 2nd cousin, Mallory



He is edible.

And then it was time for us to go since we had a 2 1/2 hour drive (or more like 3 hours with a stop to feed). I don't think Memaw and Papaw Carter got to spend as much time with Lewis as hoped since they were entertaining/hosting both days. We'll have to make up for it next time. We had a great first overnight trip away from home--look forward to doing it again soon!

Lew with Papaw and Memaw Carter

Meet the Carters!

This past weekend was a big one! We had our first overnight away from home, and Lewis met most of his family from the Carter and Anderson sides. We will be getting together next weekend with Kevin's family for him to meet them, too!

First, Kevin's friend Reed, his wife Maria, and their daughter Clara were in town, so we had them over for dinner on Friday evening. We were going to have a cookout, but it started to rain just as I was going to fire up the grill, so we improvised and had an indoor barbecue of sorts. Chicken, corn on the cob, fried potatoes, and salad. And the most decadent double chocolate cake I have ever tasted! Icing so thick it got stuck in my teeth. Yum. We had a nice evening, the boys talking sports and Maria and I talking babies!

Kevin, Lewis, Clara, and Reed
(best we can expect to get with 2 babies)

Then Saturday morning, we got up and drove to New Castle for our first overnight trip with Lewis! We had an open house at Mom and Dad's on Saturday afternoon for the Carters (and Aunt Rose and the Herrimans) to meet him. We had a great time seeing everyone and introducing him to the Carter side. He did very well with all of the extra attention, too.

Lewis with his 2nd cousin, Mary

Lewis with his 2nd cousin, Gina



Lewis finally figured out his thumb! (while on his great aunt Pat's lap)



Lewis with Gina and 3rd cousins, Nick and Cassie (Taylor was in NYC)



Nick and Kevin 'playing' Ghostbusters...Nick wanted to play,
but made Kevin play for him (while he sat and gave directions).



Mary, Gina, and Lewis again...think they love holding babies?!?



Cousins with Lew



And finally, Nick with his little buddy

We had a great time, and it was great to see everyone! Of course I didn't get pictures of everyone (Joyce, Charlie, Danny, Jeff, Rose, Abby, Kady, Brad), so I'll have to try to do better next time.

Sunday we got up and went to Easter service at St. James and had the Andersons over for Easter Dinner. More on that to come...

Lewis Jumperoos

Here is a video I took of Lewis trying out the Jumperoo for the first time. He is slowly getting the hang of it.

Two Months - How do they poop UP?

Lewis' pediatrician read our minds today at his 2 month check-up--how do they poop UP? We have had a few big blowout diapers this past week as Lewis' digestive system is 'maturing.' Instead of pooping a little in every diaper, he has gone to once a day, once every other day, or, the dreaded, once every 3rd day. Phew. Twice he has had to go straight from the changing table to the bathtub. So much poop.

As I mentioned, he had his 2 month check-up today. All looks good--he had 2 injectable vaccinations and one oral, so we're expecting the worst but hoping for the best this afternoon. I went to Target to get him some infant Tylenol, just in case.

Two Month Statistics
Height: 24 inches (75-80th percentile)
Weight: 14.3 pounds (90th percentile)
Head Size: 16 5/8 inches (90th percentile)

A chunky monkey.

What he is doing now:

• Smiles! Not really 'on demand' yet, but at certain times of the day, he gets super giggly and smiley and it is oh-so-sweet. His whole face lights up.
• Follows us with his eyes (not all of the time yet)
• Flinches/Reacts--Peter went to give him a kiss the other day, and he moved his head away from The Lick Monster.
• Rolls over accidentally sometimes during tummy time (so front to back); Can roll up onto his side from his back, but hasn't gone all the way back to front yet.
• Spins a little when he is on his activity mat...he won't be going anywhere anytime soon, but he does rotate himself sometimes.
• Prefers to stand now to be burped (some of the time)
• Talks to his 'friends' on his mobile (frog, lion, toucan)
• Holds his head steady during tummy time and between 45 and 90 degrees
• Sleeps overnight for about a 6-7 hour stretch, followed by a 3-4 hour stretch
• Eats every 2-3 hours during the day
  
• Wears 3 mo clothing (and has since he was about 5 or 6 weeks old)
  
• Gets to play in his Jumperoo now (and looooves it!)

I think I'm going to like this thing!

I like to stand now.

Feeeeed me.
(And he looks so much like Kevin here!)

We have a lot coming up the next month or so! His first trip to New Castle to meet the Carter/Anderson families, a party down here to meet Kevin's family, his first Kentucky Derby party, and a graduation party. And his first 5k if the weather permits!

Tummy Time

I have been meaning to take some video with the new camera M&D got us for Christmas--finally got around to it yesterday. This first one is a bit long, and I say "Good job, buddy" and "You're so strong" too many times, but it's a start. You can always turn down the volume when it becomes too much. :)



What a pain it is to learn how to a) post a video and b) post it in the correct orientation so you don't have to view it with your head sideways. I feel like such a technologically-inept dinosaur right now. Enjoy, and know how much stubbornness it took to get this up for your viewing pleasure.

Whoops

Dear karmic god of sleep,

I get it. I shouldn't have boasted about how well Lewis is/was sleeping. It still isn't bad, but the instant I typed it out, Lewis changed his routine. Instead of waking at 3 and at 7 for the day, he did one night at 2:30/6:30 and then one at 2/6am. Last night he woke up at 1, and I was thinking, "Please don't let him wake up at 5am for the DAY." Luckily he awoke at 4 and went back down until 7. The pattern is gone. He was actually doing the 1am/4am/7am waking before he flipped to the 3/7, so it's okay. I can adjust back. It's fine.

One positive, that extra awakening let me read a bit more of the book I just started. A book for FUN, and not a baby book, for a change...The Help. I loooove it so far.

Sincerely,

Kristen

Six Weeks

We have officially reached the six week mark! I remember thinking how far off that seemed during those first few weeks...and now here we are.

We have been doing very well lately. We started implementing the E.A.S.Y. routine during the day (Eat, Activity, Sleep, 'You' time) from one of the books (Secrets of The Baby Whisperer) I read (Thanks, Maggie!), and Lewis has really taken well to it. He is supposed to stay awake and have some active time after he eats, and then, in theory, take a nap while I get 'me' time to get things done (or to relax, which I haven't really done much of since he was born...I will do that moreso, in time). I don't keep him to it rigidly and I watch for his cues if he has something else in mind. :) Sometimes he stays awake the whole time in between feedings, and sometimes he sleeps most of the time in between feedings. HOWEVER, in the morning, knock on wood, he has some good, solid blanket time/tummy time, and then takes a nice nap that allows me to 'safely' take a shower (a must for me to feel awake and ready for the day).

Speaking of tummy time, he is kicking its butt. He has gotten so much stronger the past week or two--his neck, head control, even his legs. Observe:

From week one, we have been going to a New Mom group at the hospital where I delivered. It is something I look forward to every week--some weeks there are just a few of us, some weeks there have been 10+ moms (or moms-to-be) with their babies. It is so nice to have other moms to share our experiences with, swap stories, see the older babies, see the younger babies, etc. We can ask the nurse questions, and towards the second half, they have a lactation consultant who comes down to answer any questions about breastfeeding and to give us tips. Last week, my friend Rachel and her son Abram came, too! I'm excited that they'll get to come a few more times before Rachel goes back to work. Here are the boys at Penn Station afterwards:

Last week and weekend we had visitors--here are Memaw and Papaw Carter with Juniper and Lewis. We had a great time...Emily and I were even able to escape for pedicures while the grandparents and Kevin watched the kiddos. It was great to have some much missed and much needed sister time.

Here are Emily and Juniper at The Comfy Cow, a neighborhood ice cream place with the most delicious (and somewhat ridiculous) ice cream flavors. I had the new Creme de Menthe Cookies and Cream and it was awesome.

Here we are Krogering, fresh from the airport, with Juniper in her glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas. She was blowing raspberries for us (and by 'us' I mean everyone within earshot). Such a happy girl. :)

We have also been sleeping more regularly the last week or two, which is so amazing. I thank Lewis each and every time he wakes me up in the night. We have started putting him down around 9pm (sometimes he is ready, sometimes he is not). If he doesn't go down right away after that feeding, Kevin stays up with him (I head to bed) until he is ready to sleep. One night recently, he was up until 10pm, one he was up until 11. He usually stays down around 9ish, though. For some reason, he has started waking at 3am and then at 7am for the day. If not 3/7, then 3:30/7:30. One night was 3:45/7:45. It's weird, really, how his internal clock works. I am not complaining. We are so fortunate. He is awesome, and we love him. A whole lot. :)

So that is where we are at the six week mark. I'm looking forward to his 2 month appointment to see how much he has gained and to see how tall/long he has gotten. Our friends Reed, Maria, and Clara will be coming in from New York this weekend to visit and to meet Lewis. We look forward to their visit!