Thanksgiving, part II

Friday morning, we headed up to Wrenshall for the second part of our Thanksgiving at Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Rick's house. Aaron and Lindsey took care of most of the meal preparations while the rest of us slept. Naps sure feel good, especially these days. James fell asleep right before we were about to sit down to dinner and slept for over 3 hours -- plenty of time for food, dessert, clean up, and a game of Scrabble. He also slept really well both in the car there and back, and at night, so he was a pretty good houseguest and traveler.

While we were up there, we wanted to take a few pictures for our Christmas card as well. James had a special outfit for the occasion.



Finally, James had enough of the photoshoot:


We only stayed one night, but before we headed back, we wanted to get a Christmas tree from the farm. It's a pretty small tree, but just the right size for our place. I hope to get it decorated in the next day or two.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As is the case every year, we have so much for which to be thankful -- but this year, we are especially thankful for our little James:



He is 4 weeks old today. He is definitely more interested in being awake than in being asleep and it takes more of an effort now to get him to take a nap. I'm hoping he will continue with his current nap so we can eat our Thanksgiving meal! We are having turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted squash, and cranberry sauce. A few of our "traditional" side dishes aren't on the menu this year since we didn't want to take on too much in the kitchen while also watching James.

It will just be the three of us for Thanksgiving dinner, and then some friends will be over for dessert. I made an apple pie, and as is usually the case, I might have gone a little overboard with the apples:


I ended up taking out some of the slices out of fear that the top crust wouldn't fit over all the apples. Fortunately, the final product looks just fine -- too bad we have to wait until this afternoon to have a slice!

multitasking

Last night, Aaron demonstrated his multitasking skills: happy hour-enjoying, baby-calming, and kitchen-sweeping.


Shortly afterwards, we all settled down on the couch for a Friday night at home.



Uncle Matt stayed with us last night so he could catch an early flight back to Spokane. He brought at least 15 lbs of venison for us from one of the 4 (!) deer that he got while he was here. I think we'll be set on meat for the next year, at least. Time to pull out the crockpot for some venison stew!

3 weeks

James is 3 weeks old today! He's growing more every day and is finally big enough for his cloth diapers -- even if they look big on him. They are bulkier than the disposable diapers we were using but we are glad to be using cloth. We will still keep some disposables on hand for outings and such.


Many people have asked us how Amelie the cat is dealing with the new addition to her family. She alternates between curious and indifferent. We have decided that she doesn't really care as long as there is a lap available for her. At the very least, he is not a threat to her. Here she is checking him out:


And a few more pictures of James from yesterday and today. I was trying to some shots of him while he was awake.

week 2

James is now over 2 weeks old and already seems so much bigger than when he was just a newborn. He is outgrowing a few of his newborn-sized outfits and seems heavier as well. A few other changes:

He has more periods of quiet alertness and he will also fall asleep on his own (as opposed to being rocked or nursed to sleep)
His eyes seem to be focusing more and he turns his head toward me when I talk to him
His eyebrows are visible now
His hair and eyes are a bit lighter in color

He's still a pretty happy baby. There have been some fussy evenings but he is sleeping well at night -- usually waking up once to eat and then going back to bed. Today, he let us sleep in until 8:30 which was pretty nice of him :)

We've had a few more visitors as well. His grandparents left yesterday after being in town for 10 days and friends have also stopped by. He has been on more walks, including multiple trips to the local Starbucks. We've also made it to Target and even went out for dinner last night. On Friday, Aaron took the day off from school to catch up on schoolwork and run some errands. We ended up bringing James by Aaron's two schools so the office ladies could coo over him. It's nice to be able to get out with him -- that makes up for the days when my only accomplishment is taking a shower.

My parents brought us the rocking chair that served them well when I was a baby. It is up in our study so James and I can rock and spend time with Aaron while he works on schoolwork.


James approves of the new rocker:

a busy few days

James has had quite a number of visitors recently. His grandparents are visiting from Arizona for 10 days and he met most of his aunts and uncles (as well as a great-aunt and great-uncle) this past Friday. We have also been busy going for walks and other outings and making sure everyone gets their quota of holding time.

Aunt Molly got to hold James for a while:


Then it was Aunt Lindsey's turn:


Most of Aaron's siblings were able to come down for the visit:


On Sunday was James' baptism. He was very well behaved throughout the service and he eventually fell asleep toward the end.

After the service, we stopped at the Finnish Bistro for pastries and coffee and then spent a lazy afternoon at home with football, chili, cornbread, and pumpkin pie.

baby's first outing

This morning, James had his newborn check up with his pediatrician. This check up was basically to ensure that he is gaining weight and that there are no other issues or complications.

He was very well behaved the entire time -- awake and alert, but not fussy. He is back up at his exact birth weight and everything else looks fine as well. His heartbeat irregularities that were detected toward the end of my pregnancy and shortly after his birth appear to have resolved themselves and his doctor sees no reason for concern. So it was a successful appointment and we don't have to come back for another well baby visit until he is two months old.

Afterwards, we stopped by our local polling place to vote in today's election. I took an extra sticker for James to in honor of his first voting experience :)

home alone

Aaron is back at work today so James and I have the house to ourselves. If our day yesterday is any indication, time will be spent eating, sleeping, and changing diapers. Last night was our first night of really sleeping well. James was only up one time to eat and for a diaper change and then he went back to sleep for the rest of the night. 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep feels pretty good!