Things are starting to feel more "normal" around here as we have become a family of three. Here are some pictures we've taken over the past couple days since we've been home...
There's nothing like a nap on dad's chest.
Stop taking my picture. (This is also what he was doing during our 3-D ultrasound)
I had to get out of the house yesterday, so we went on our first walk around the neighborhood. Ezra was super impressed the whole time.
The hat doesn't quite fit, but he'll grow into it. Start 'em young is what I say.
Paul and Carolyn have been here since Thursday helping us around the house and giving Ezra plenty of attention. I think Paul has held Ezra the entire time they've been over here...and Ezra's not complaining! (sorry about the blurriness...drives me crazy!)
Thanks for the swing, Erin. We are already putting it to good use.
This is how Ezra sleeps at night. Chad swaddles him in regular receiving blankets, but I'm not so great at that yet, but we have this blanket type contraption that has something like wings on it that you just wrap around and attach with velcro tabs. It works really well and puts him right to sleep.
The night we came home, Ezra got his first "bath," which was really a wet soapy washcloth. He looked so cute in his little towel. And he actually opened his eyes!
As far as our schedule goes, right now Ezra sleeps a lot as newborn babies tend to do, and he eats about every two hours. We go to bed right after he eats at around 1:00, then he wakes up twice at night to eat again. He goes back to sleep right after he eats, so I am able to get about 2 hours of sleep at a time. I am not nearly as sleep deprived as I thought I would be at first, and I am sure that is a combination of adrenaline, euphoria, and the constant help we have had. Check back with me in a few weeks when the family goes home, Chad goes back to work, and I'm on my own. Have a great weekend everyone! Tomorrow we make our first outing with Ezra...to church of course!
I've found that the swing is my go-to baby item that I can put Ezra in when he is awake, turn on the mobile and the music, and he is entertained and happy. Half the time he'll fall asleep, which is very helpful at 5 in the morning when he is ready to go for the day and I'm not. :)
Ezra found granddad's chest particularly comfortable for long naps.
He has been awake for longer times and more often lately. He has started smiling here and there, but I haven't been able to catch it on video or in a photo. Soon enough.
I wouldn't normally post pictures of my baby crying, but I wanted to talk about this "Happiest Baby on the Block" thing. We watched the DVD in one of the classes we took at the hospital and read the book before Ezra was born, and it seems to work to calm him down. According to the pediatrician that devised it, babies have this "calming instinct" that happens when you combine a bunch of different techniques. Here it is in action:
Step one, swaddle.
Step two, shushing. Step three, turn baby on his side, kind of facing the floor. Cradle his head in your hands and jiggle (like a vibrating motion). There are a couple other steps like sucking on a pacifier and swinging (it's called the 5 S's), but you only do the ones you need. Most of the time Ezra calms down after he's swaddled. He just can't stand those flailing hands hitting him in the face.
Shortly after this Ezra fell asleep. Now, I will be the first to admit that he is fairly easy to calm most of the time. But I am sure anyone who has ever had a fussy baby will agree that it never hurts to try something, and this works for us.
My two favorite people. :) Chad has become an expert at ignoring me when I have a camera in my hand.
