The Six Week Old Nine Pound Thumb Sucker

The other day when Evan was changing Zander's diaper, Zander discovered his thumb. I've noticed several times since then him putting his wee little thumb in his mouth. I hope this is not the start to a bad habit... Overall he is doing good, growing up faster than I want him to, weighing in at 9.25lbs two days ago. This is about 1/2 lb weight gain a week since birth, which I've read is normal. He loves to play on the various mats he has "Baby Einstein", "Tummy Time" and "Lion Gym". Above he is seen on his little lion mat hanging out with mom this morning. He loves to smile and giggle, which has been really fun, but hard for me to capture on camera. He still is only sleeping about 1-2 hours at a time during the evening before he wants to eat, leaning more to the 1 hour timeframe. I'm getting pretty delirious, but don't want to miss out on these moments while he is so itty....so I fumble for the camera when I have the mental capacity to think about it.

Zander's First Christmas

Zander made out with all kinds of loot for his first Christmas. Everything from clothes and blankets to toys and books. Evan and I kept this Christmas small for him just getting him one small gift each - the rest came from friends and relatives. A picture of all his gifts is seen here along with pictures of him opening his Baby Einstein Play Gym Christmas Eve and playing on it Christmas Day.

Favorite Show

Tonight we got a picture of Zander watching his favorite Television Program- InTouch with Dr. Charles Stanley. Zander kept blinking when we'd take the picture so it looks like he's asleep but he's really awake and hanging on every word from Chuck.

One Month Anniversary

Today Zander is one month old. Sometimes the lack of sleep makes things seem like one continual day, so when we realize he has been here a month, it's hard to believe. Sleep is getting better - about 2 - 3 hours a stretch before snack time vs. the 30 minutes to one hour in earlier weeks. Tuesday, mommy and Zander went on their first outing alone to Babies R Us, to pick up those items that it appears you can never have enough of - baby wipes and disposible multi use pads. It's not too far from home and he just slept in the car seat the whole time. Last night we went to dinner at Tiajuana Flats with Evan's mom, who is in visiting from Oklahoma. They had a car seat holder that we put him in at the table. The angle that had him at along with the loud 80's music made for a happy baby. We are adjusting to having our little guy around a lot more. We love to just watch him make his funny faces and admire all his little features, from his eye lashes to his nose. Zander is seen here celebrating his one month anniversary with a faux hawk (by popular demand). Although he cried most of the time I tried to get this picture, so the verdict is faux hawks are out. He tends to like the bed head look much better.

Funny Faces and Noises

Just a short clip of some of Zander's funny faces and little noises.

Dogs/Tummy Mat Part II

Evan was continuing his training with Zander on the tummy mat tonight. The dogs came to encourage him to hold his head up. We put him on the scale the other night and he was up to over 8 pounds already, he's growing fast.

Feet Pajamas

Today we put Zander in his smallest newborn "real outfit"outside the six smallest long sleeve onesies we've been rotating him through the last three weeks. His friend Elias (and mom Kirsty) gave this outfit to us shortly after we announced we were expecting. It's still not tight by any means, but it's got bear feet, what more can you ask for?

The Dogs

Many of you have asked how the dogs are adjusting to Zander, to none of you do I think I've replied. I saw a picture opportunity tonight of how they are responding and thought I'd update all of you at once. Ramone is seen here protecting Zander in his swing. Roxie can be found in the other room snoozing in her cat bed. They both sniff him every once in a while but seem to just mind their own business most of the time.

Sweet Angel

As I was putting together a few emails today, I put Zander in his bouncy chair our friends John & Jen gave him for a few minutes to avoid typing with one hand, like I am doing now. It has a soothing little melody to it and vibrates. He really seems to enjoy sitting in it, often falling asleep. They should make adult size chairs like this! Here is Zander in his first video clip......

Bedtime

During the evening hours Evan and I are having Zander sleep in the the pack n play Grandma D bought him instead of his crib. It's set up on my side of the bed, so I can get up to feed him as often as that can be throughout the night. Tonight I just started taking pictures of him while I was waiting for him to go to sleep. Since I haven't posted one in a few days thought I would share. At his two week check up yesterday he came in at 7lbs 3 ounces, his doctor was proud of him for gaining weight so quickly, since he was small to begin with. Our next check up is at 2 months. He has an excellent bill of health now according to his doctor and we are grateful..

Two Weeks

So yesterday marked two weeks that Zander has been with us. Evan put him on a digital scale he has last night and he came in over 7lbs. We have his two week doctor check up tomorrow. When he was born he was 6lbs 4 oz, dropped down to 5lbs, 10oz and is around 7lbs now. He is still quite small, as you can see in this picture, Evan's hand looks giant!

Car Seat Fun

Last night Evan and I took Zander for a walk to some of the neighbors houses for a little holiday cheer. It was our first time taking him out in a stroller, a quick push up a few driveways and we were back home in 30 minutes. He does seem to love the infant car seat that plugs right into the stroller. It's great when he falls asleep in the car, Evan can just remove the seat from the base without disturbing him from his slumber. See how happy he looks! We even ventured to church this weekend where he just slept through the service in his car seat - although I think I did see him boogie down a little bit to the festive rendition of Joy to the World the band played at the end of the first service in the Advent series. I'm sure it won't be long until he grows into the big boy carseat grandpa bought him. We are just cherishing him for the small little bundle he is at this moment, don't want to wish his life away!