One Month

Samuel is one month old today! I can't believe it.

He weighs 10 lbs 14 oz, and he's 22 inches long. It's crazy how fast they grow! He'll be over 11 pounds very soon, and he looks so much bigger now than when he was born.

He's a pretty good sleeper, sometimes with a 4 or 5 hour stretch of sleep at night, other times waking every 2 to 3 hours. And he's a very good eater, as you can tell by his weight gain (once he's 11 lbs 1 oz--which I expect in the next couple of days--he'll be 3 pounds over his birth weight, and he's only a month old!) He's very easygoing. Also, he's super strong and has been able to lift his head well since he was born.  

His eyes follow me around the room when I'm not holding him, and he responds to my voice. He likes kisses and being held, and he enjoys being in the carrier I wear.

Look-alikes

I had to put these pictures together because as soon as I saw the picture of Samuel I thought it looked like a picture of Elena when she was tiny. Samuel's on the left, and Elena's on the right.

Elena

Elena is so much fun to be with. Here she's reading to her baby. She went into her room, pulled her little chair to the bookcase, and started "reading."

 

She plays with her dolls all the time. Here she brought her baby and her blanket to the couch and set up a cozy little corner.

Again with her baby!

 

She's so creative with her play and makes us laugh all the time. Whenever she sees something silly or funny she says "This is ridiculous!" 

 

Her pinky finger fell asleep for the first time and she picked up her hand and said "Uh oh, mama! Uh oh!" She was pointing to her finger and I asked her if she had been sitting on it. She said yes and I told her that her finger fell asleep and that it would be better soon.

 

She always points out the moon, and as we were driving she pointed and said "full moon!" I asked her if the moon was a circle, and she said "This not crescent moon, this circle!" And I said, "Yeah, when it's a circle it's a full moon!" She blows me away sometimes.

 

She did something the other day and Jorge said "Are you serious?!" She said to him "Elena serious!" She still pronounces her name as "Enay." 

These toddler years are so much fun, and always unpredictable.

Samuel

Here are some pictures of my sweet little Samuel. He is gaining weight so fast! Elena gained the same way.

He likes to be in the carrier, which holds him right up against my chest, and usually he goes right to sleep. Here he's in his little rocker after I took him out of the carrier, but I left him in the newborn insert piece because he seemed so comfy in there.

 

I noticed the weight he was putting on when I saw little rolls forming on his thighs. It's also obvious in his face. 

 

We finally gave him a pacifier to see if he likes it. He figured it out a lot quicker than Elena did, and it seems to soothe to him. Now if only he could put it back in his mouth after spitting it out!

 

Me and my little guy

 

 

Family of Four

Everything these days is a family affair. I used to put Elena to bed by myself, reading to her, rocking her, then putting her in her crib. After Samuel's birth, I couldn't pick her up and put her in her crib, so Jorge and I started putting her to bed together, usually with me rocking her, then Jorge picking her up and putting her in her crib. Most days, though, Samuel is also in there with us. I loved Elena's bedtime before, but I think now it's even more special.

Doesn't Samuel look just like Jorge here?

Elena is such a good little helper. This was Samuel's first bath and she didn't want to miss it, so we did it in the bathtub instead of the sink. He lost his umbilical cord when he was just 5 days old.

 

She looks so big next to him. I used to think she looked so small. The other day I told her "Elena, you're humongous," and she said "Elena's not humongous, Elena's a girl!"

 

Jorge has gotten a lot of quality time in with Elena. She loves being with him.

And she loves being with her brother

He's a content baby. It's very different than when Elena was a newborn. We're very thankful for that!

We went to Gymboree together and I had Samuel in a carrier and Jorge was running around and playing with Elena. He had her cracking up; she had a blast.

 

 

We've had the expected fatigue that comes with caring for a newborn, but we've gotten in a lot of family time, and Jorge and Elena go out to do something fun on most days. The transition to being a family of four is going pretty well!

Halloween 2012

This was Elena's third, and Samuel's first, Halloween. I didn't want Elena to miss out on Halloween just because we had a new baby at home. We went to our friend's house and Jorge took Elena trick-or-treating while I stayed at the house with Samuel. By the time they got back, Elena was pretty good at holding out her pumpkin bucket and saying "trick-or-treat," and following that up with "thank you." She was dressed as Minnie Mouse. I sewed the polka dots on her skirt earlier that day.

 

Elena and her friend Alana

 

 

Our little pumpkin

Little Ones

For awhile before Samuel was born we told Elena that he would be bringing a present home for her. Before bringing her to the hospital the day I was in labor Jorge asked her to pick out a toy to give to Samuel, and she did . . . it was a little baby-safe mirror that had velcro on the back, and there was a little finger puppet princess stuck to the velcro. Totally random, and that's what she wanted to give him. She carried it around and kept setting it next to him in the hospital. And she had her "big sister bear."

She's been sweet with him since the beginning. She's a little sweetheart.



 

Such a cute little face

 

 

Samuel likes putting his feet together. He must have been in that position in the womb. And you can see that Elena put her present in the little rocker with him, right next to his head.