Quick update

Let's see if I can summarize the past 2 weeks. He was born on a Thursday, so we spent that Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday in the hospital. It takes a little longer to recover after a c-section. But I was very READY to leave when the time came. It felt like I had left prison! Not to say that the hospital wasn't nice or that the staff wasn't helpful - I just wanted to be comfortable and hospitals just aren't comfortable.

The ride home was difficult - my parents came to pick up Ethan and me and we had to drive from Libertyville, IL to Valparaiso, IN. That's usually about a 2 hr trip and I think we made it in about that much time. But there's road construction everywhere and it seemed we hit every BUMP possible, which caused me to wince everytime. I was very thankful when we finally arrived home.

And since that day, which was Sunday, June 1st, Ethan and I have been learning and growing together. I'm learning his ways of communication and getting somewhat of a schedule figured out... how often he eats, sleeps, poops, etc. He is rarely fussy and usually just enjoys looking at his surroundings when he's not sleeping or eating. Though the last couple of days we've hit some rough patches due to bad gas. I'm trying to cut peanut butter out of my diet to see if that helps. So much of this motherhood thing is a guessing game- you try different approaches until something works.

Lets see... last Thursday, June 5th, we took him to his first visit to the pediatrition. She said he looked great and was quite impressed by how calm he was during the examination (with the exception of when he was weighed - that scared him a bit). He weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz, which is great because often times babies loose weight during the first week. He's a good eater.

He's had his first bath, his first visit to the park, his first outing with mommy so she could go shopping, we think his first smile, and he's even pushed himself over when we put him on his stomach! So this little guy is ahead of the game - very strong!

His Grandma Kim came to see him last weekend - all the way from North Dakota. She had some difficulties with the traveling, but finally made it in and enjoyed every minute she could spend with her first and only grandson (blood-related)

And now we look forward to the many other visitors that will come to say hello! My cousin Karna and her family are in town for the week - they've all seen Ethan already:) My sister, Jessie flies in from Seattle June 25th and will spend a long weekend with us. Then my brother Jon and his wife, Christy will be here at the end of July for their wedding reception up in Michigan. And Jessie will be back at the end of August with her husband, David. So Ethan is excited to meet his other aunts and uncles that he'll grow to know and love so dearly.

I'm sure there will be more to come - I've been taking pictures and videotaping him pretty much on a daily basis. There's just so much I don't want to miss. And he's so adorable, I want to capture every little face he makes. So mommy and Ethan are doing well - until next blog...