Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Strolling and Impossible Weight Gain

We took Graham on his first stroller ride the other day, but first we had to get him all decked out:


















We then did the strolling, though as you can see he didn't take in a whole lot of the world outside his stroller:














When we popped the top, he didn't seem to excited about the whole ordeal:















Yesterday we took him to the doctor for his first visit. He did great. We did, however, discover that Graham can eat a lot. When he was first weighed it looked like he was now 10 lbs 4 oz, which means he gained 2lbs 11oz over his birth weight, after two and a half weeks of life. At this point many babies are just now geting back to their birth weight.


When our doctor, a wonderful man from our church, came in he looked at the weight gain and said, "That's impossible, we'll have to weigh him again." We did the whole rigamarole of the exam, Graham peed on the nurse and myself, and then pooped, and then we did another weigh in. Same result. So, Graham is in a class of his own when it comes to weight gain, a good thing, we hope. He's also grown almost two inches. Go Graham!
Finally, we'll leave you with one of our favorite pictures so far. We took Graham to Junior High Youth Group last week, and he seemed to like it. He took a nap in this unbearably precious position on Mom's shoulder. It seems contrived, but we promise, he just likes to pose!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

He's two! (Weeks old)

Graham is doing great. He's had a couple more active days and nights, keeping mom and dad on their toes, or rather propping their eyes open, but he's also been a delight to have around. Here's a picture with his dad:
         

 
A huge highlight recently was a visit by Graham's Uncle Jovan and Aunt Keely from Japan. They were in for a whirlwind weekend, but it was so great to have them here, and they got some great bonding time with their first nephew:


Graham is having more alert time these days. Here's a typical pose, showing off his Brandon inherited chicken legs:

And finally, we've been trying various methods to calm him down when he is feeling upset. An occasional (but always adorable) success has been his sling from Aunt Rapunzel and Uncle Michael:



We love you guys, thanks for the visits, the cards, the gifts, the thoughts and the prayers.

Friday, February 8, 2008

From Mama

I thought it was about time I got on here to talk about my magical little guy... it's still amazing to think that one week ago he was curled up inside of me still (and he FIT?!!). He is just a few hours away from his one-week birthday. Exciting news of the day: He lost his umbilical cord stump, so we get to see his little belly button for the first time. Also, his Aunt Keely and Uncle Jovan should be arriving any time from Japan to meet him, so we can't wait for that.
Here is a picture of him after his first full bath at home.

It has been amazing to begin the process of getting to know Graham. Being a mom isn't like anything else, as all of you moms know. At this point I am feeling very blessed, as it seems we have a wonderfully agreeable baby in Graham. Although he tends to get alert and fussy around 10pm to midnight, he is also allowing us 3 hour stretches of sleep regularly. In fact, so far he reminds me of his dad the most when I am trying to wake him up from a nap to eat--I can just hear him saying "But mom, it feels so good to sleep!" as he tries to pry his eyes open.

It has also been an amazing joy to watch Jonathan in this role of Dad. He is so supportive of me, and so wonderful with Graham. He calms him at night when it's fussy time, and spends lots of time talking with him when he's alert. And of course snuggle time is extra-special, too.
Sorry, I am not as good with this whole blogging format as Jonathan is, so it's not as pretty as usual! But I had to at least put a few thoughts up about this incredible time together.
Jonathan gets the pin out of his finger and his large splint off today, and we're so excited for him to be able to hold Graham more easily, without "The Claw" as we call it. This also means he can now help by changing diapers. We have certainly gone through a few of those in the last couple of days...

Well, it's time to feed Graham before my sister arrives. Love to you all, Kate

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Future competitive eating champion...

We took him to his first check up. We loved his outfit but he didn't seem to:














He's already only an ounce off his birth weight, and in his feeding test ate more than any other baby they had seen that day. Way to go, Graham! The fitness regime to keep his six-pack abs in shape starts soon.

He loves his mom and she loves him:




















He also is getting some pretty good sleep now. He always has his hands by his head (even on his ultrasounds), and hates to be at all naked, but yesterday he totally sacked out and didn't seem to care one bit:

Sunday, February 3, 2008

He's home!

Graham is home at last!

But first, here's a little wave from the hospital, just hours old:











Here's the amazing mom and nurse checking Graham out just after birth:















He's ready for his first car ride home:



















Home with mom:














A nap with dad:














Thank you all for the comments and support! We love you and hope you can meet Graham soon.

He's been such a great boy. He loves to cuddle, loves mom's milk, and only cries when you take off all his clothes for changing, but stops right after cuddling picks up again.

Here's the last one. He's with the Brandon grandparents at the hospital:

Saturday, February 2, 2008

The brand new Shaw is here...


Here he is! Note that he's already posing for the camera.

His name is Graham David Shaw, he is 7 lbs, 9 oz., 19 inches long and adorable. Born at 6:47pm.

He is perfectly healthy and so is mom. Kate is my hero, she was amazing.

Can't wait for you to meet him.

Much love,

Jon (and Kate)