2 Weeks Old!

How old?  2 weeks

Likes:  His hands by his face, when Daddy washes his hair, snuggles, and eating

Dislikes: Diaper changes, being swaddled for sleep, and being hungry

Changes observed: Lincoln is definitely filling out in his face and arms/legs although I think he will always be longer and leaner; Linc makes eye contact for much longer now and really enjoys looking at our faces (and I could stare at him all day!).

Lincoln turned 2 weeks old on June 29th.  We are getting into a good routine as we get to know more about his personality and Brian and I balance our lives with his needs.  He is sleeping more during the night (although I definitely am not as I am always worried about him!), and last night he even made it through two three hour stretches of sleep.  He is super alert in the morning, and I try to do tummy time with him then and read some stories.  He is also really alert before we go to bed around 10pm, and Brian and I do tummy time with him and read stories in bed before we head off to sleep.  The amount that Brian and I cheer when Lincoln picks up his head during tummy time is silly crazy - I can only imagine us at soccer games and other sporting events when Linc grows up!

We were very busy with visitors and love from friends this week!  My good friend Courtney and her three-year-old son, Will, visited on Monday.  They brought so many goodies for Lincoln and us and it was great to catch up.  Court held Lincoln the entire time, and Will "taught" Linc how to play hockey.  I can't wait for a couple of years when Lincoln can actually hold the stick and Will will be even more of an expert on the sport (if that is possible!) and teach him how to really play.  My friend, Heather, also stopped by with some goodies.  She made us an amazing dinner and brought two of the cutest little Polo outfits.  Lincoln still swims in his clothing, but the little Polos seem to fit him the best so far.  I don't want him to grow too quickly, but it will be nice when he can fit into more of his clothing!  I am looking forward to playdates with Heather and her three kiddos - I babysat her kids for a long time and now we can hang out together with my little one too!  A family from school, the Borders, also stopped by for a visit with Lincoln and brought over a huge lasagna, fruit salad, and brownies.  We will be eating that for days!

Thank you, Heather!  So yummy! (we ate some of the guac before the picture :)

We received a lot of love in the mail from family and friends, too!  Lincoln was so lucky and got many new outfits mailed to him, books, and cards.  My Aunt Vicky even sent Lincoln his first fire truck, and I know he will love it.  My good college friend, Jennifer, sent Lincoln his first personalized item - a super cute beach towel which I know Lincoln will love to snuggle in and use when we go to the beach here in Chicago and in Florida this September.  Our friends, Kasey and Brenna, also sent some cute clothes and diapers/wipes.  Even one of the Roycemore families sent a collection of story books that we have been loving to read!  Lincoln has been keeping the mail man and the UPS man very busy!

On Tuesday, Lincoln had his 10 day check-in with Dr. Cathy.  Brian had to head to work, so I was left to go by myself.  It takes a little bit of time to get out of the house (diaper change, eat, spit-up, probably change the outfit because of spit-up or pee, have to eat again, repeat), but we were on time to the appointment which I gave myself a high five for.  Lincoln did great and showed off his chill demeanor to the nurses and Dr. Cathy.  They just did a quick weigh-in and body check, and we were all happy with his weight gain (past his birth weight and up to 7lbs 3oz.).  On Wednesday, Lincoln and I again ventured out and headed to Evanston. The IRS is not happy with my 2011 tax return (oops!) so I had some faxing to do.  I went to Roycemore to send the fax and stopped by and visited with the Discovery program teachers and kids.  Lincoln loved the chaos and noise - I think it lulled him right to sleep since that is what he heard for nine months!  We also went to Brian's work and his co-workers all oohhed and aahhed over him.  After the visit, Brian and I headed to a quick lunch at a nearby sandwich shop.  I knew we were cutting it close with time since we had been out for about four hours, but I attempted the drive home.  About two minutes after dropping Brian off, Lincoln went bat crazy and started screaming from the backseat.  I tried my awesome singing, shushing, and at one point just laughing, but he was sincerely screaming like I had never heard before from being so hungry.  My momma bear instinct kicked in, and I pulled over on a side street and decided to feed him in the car.  It was 80 degrees out, I was sitting on a side street with my shirt up, and I was nursing my 12-day-old infant in the front seat of a car.  It was definitely a moment I won't forget, but he did stop crying and we had a much happier drive home.  Lesson learned - baby needs come first and we are tied to his biological clock (at least for now!).

(Brian here)

Things I learned this week: Science puts Lincoln to sleep! My favorite thing to do with Lincoln is read to him. And while we have a great number of baby board-books, I prefer Google news, particularly the space and science-related articles. Lincoln has learned about Voyager-1 being on the outskirts of the solar system and entering interstellar space, about a 700,000 year old horse fossil that helps link the horse genome records, one particular star that has three earth-like planets orbiting it that are all within the "habitable zone" and more. So much for his little brain to comprehend! PS: I'm not sure when I became such a space-nerd! Looking back on it, I probably should have played one less season in soccer and gone to space camp!  Hopefully my stories will spark his imagination and wonder and stimulate his little brain. But for now, it's the perfect medicine to induce sleep.

As Shelley mentioned, we're settling into our routines. One I really love (and probably one Lincoln hates) is tummy time, especially the ones at night. We turn down the lights really low and put him on his play mat. It lights up, sings, makes animal sounds, and seems like something a little baby would love. However since Lincoln's brain is still a little too immature to really know what he likes or dislikes (besides his momma) it's interesting to watch. When we put the mirror close to his face, it's almost as if he knows what he's looking at. He pauses and stares, and usually Shelley and I laugh. One day soon he'll know what is going on and it will be much more fun.

In addition to reading, we're playing music for him. My step-brother Andrew and his girlfriend Casey sent us four Rockabye Baby CDs this week. These genius cd's take famous albums and convert them to lullabyes. Lincoln's (and dad's) favorite is the Jay-Z and Green Day album so far. But I have my eyes set on the Weezer album and the Beatles album as a future gift for mom. I also made a playlist for him on my iphone that has a small sample of every type of music I listen to including country, electronic, and hard rock. That's a little more fun to listen to for Dad!

Happy two weeks, Lincoln!

Lincoln channeling his inner Zoolander in his Delta Chi gear