Lots of Firsts

This week has included a lot of 'firsts' for our Eli! Just as I remember with Emmy, it is exciting to experience things for the first time with a newborn. Even small everyday things take on a new meaning as we do it with Eli. On Tuesday, we made our first visit to Falcon Country to see Daddy at work. I planned our visit for an evening that Boomer had late events at his school, knowing he wouldn't otherwise get to see Eli until the next morning. Eli and I came at the end of the school day, and he was quite a hit with all of Boomer's coworkers. The staff at Forbush has become like an extended family to us over the years, and I always enjoy seeing their friendly faces when we make the trip to East Bend. Eli slept through most of our visit, but he woke up at the end when I snapped these photos. He is not old enough to sit up in Daddy's chair like his big sister; we will be sure to visit again over the summer for those annual pictures in Daddy's office. 

Another BIG 'first' was Emmy holding her brother. On Wednesday evening when we were over at my parents' house for dinner, Emmy asked to hold Eli without any prompting! She hopped up on the couch and even put out her arms like she has seen her cousins do when they have held baby Eli. It lasted only a moment before she proclaimed "I'm done" but luckily I had my phone handy to snap a quick picture. I brought out the rainforest playmat this week for Eli, and Emmy loves using it with her stuffed animals and babies. Look carefully in the second rainforest photo - there is a real baby in there somewhere!

Still more firsts! Later on Wednesday evening, we gave Eli his very first bottle. Pediatricians and lactation consultants generally recommend introducing a bottle for the first time between 4 and 6 weeks. We are a little ahead of that timeline, but as I wrote about in my last post, I started pumping (once a day, in the morning), and so the natural next step was to try the bottle. Another recommendation is for someone other than the mother to give the bottle. After a brief lull in between the fall and winter sports seasons, Boomer is back to evening events 2-3 times per week, so catching him on a night that he is home is not always easy. So even though Eli is only 3 weeks old, I decided to give it a shot - and the first introduction was a big success. Eli took right to the bottle and drank 2 ounces in less than 5 minutes. With nursing and the extra milk from the bottle, he slept for 6 straight hours that night - whooo hooo! 

Eli also had his first "submerged" bath. We used the bath seat so that he was raised above the water. Just like with the sponge baths, he wasn't a big fan so we tried to be speedy and get him back in his clothes. 

Rounding out our week of firsts, I survived my first evening at home with both kids. Over the last three weeks, on evenings that Boomer has had to stay late at work, my mom has come over to help with the bedtime routine, but on Tuesday (and again on Thursday), I did it all by myself. A few things that helped make it a success: 1) We went out to dinner! This is a no-brainer. Since Eli is still immobile, he stayed in his car seat throughout dinner. After dinner was over, there was nothing to clean up and no dishes to wash! Mommy could move right on to the next part of the evening. 2) It was not a bath night. Since the evenings tend to be a time that Eli wants to cluster feed, it would be difficult to fit in a bath with nursing. Eli tends to nurse from about 7PM - 9PM, on and off for that entire time. For now, I declare all the nights that Boomer is home as bath night, and the nights that he is not, we will skip it. and 3) Thank goodness for flash cards! Emmy did a great job occupying herself while I fed Eli just before bedtime. She even stacked all her flash cards by color - what a smart girl! Shortly after this photo, the next 10 minutes were a bit of chaos, as I attempted to still read with Emmy while Eli was crying. Emmy was so understanding and didn't push it when I said it was time for bed. As soon as I got Emmy tucked in around 7:30PM, I "plugged" Eli back in again. He was in bed a little after 9PM - and Mommy breathed a sigh of relief!

I think that sums up the 'firsts' from this week. We had an at-home nurse visit on Thursday, and it was so helpful to have another weight check. Eli's weight came in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. He was weighed completely naked, without a diaper, so comparing to his weight of 7 pounds, 10.5 ounces the Monday before, I'm estimating that he has gained about 4 ounces in 10 days. This is on the lower end of the recommended amount of daily weight gain, but it is weight gain nonetheless. We are not doing any sort of extra supplementation, but I am hopeful that now with the extra bottle each evening, his weight will take off. 

We had a pretty 'sweet' weekend as we continued our annual tradition of cookie-making at Grammy and Grandpa's. The cousins each took turns cutting out cookies, adding sprinkles, and of course sampling the final product. In the afternoon while all the kiddos napped, the adults watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (and napped a little, too!) It was such a fun day and really helped get us all in the Christmas spirit. 

On Sunday, Boomer and Emmy made some more sweet treats that he will share with the staff at his school. Emmy was such a good helper lining up the pretzels and opening up the Kisses. We ended our weekend with our now nightly ride around our neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. After Emmy is in her pajamas, we'll load into the car and make the loop, stopping to watch the "lights that sing" as Emmy calls them. There is one house in our neighborhood with an elaborate display of lights that are synchronized to music on a radio station. We will be sad in January when there are no more Christmas lights, but for now, it is a fun family event each evening. My Christmas cards are in the mail; there are presents under the tree; the Kennedys are ready for Christmas break!