It's hard to believe

but Brendan is one month old on Sunday the 29th. He's changed a lot over the last 30 or so days. He's basically outgrown the clothes in which we brought him home. He's more responsive to attention. He sleeps more consistently though the night. He produces fewer number 2s.

Below is a report card on how Brendan is doing compared to 'normal'. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Brendan's such an exceptional kid that he could do any of these things, natch. He just chooses not to do some of them for reasons known only to him! We're looking forward to Brendan deciding to smile back at us, though.

We took a few more pictures today, but I can't seem to find the cable to download them from the camera. Once I dig it up I'll post some comparison photos showing him on his birthday and his one month anniversary.

We couldn't post yesterday

Brendan decided that he needed to be up ALL DAY (and night) so it was a tough to get any blog time. Fortunately Tuesday night was better and he was giving us about 3 hours at a time.

We did get time to snap a couple pictures. So Brendan and I decided to do a little bonding by dressing up in our Red Wings uniforms.



Brendan also wanted to spend some time with his kitties so we put him in the cat condo to pose for a picture. The girls really like Brendan and they tend to get agitated and concerned when he's crying. They don't quite get that his voice is coming through the baby monitor in his room so they're confused sometimes and look around for him when he's crying through the speaker.



Finally, here's a copy of the birth announcement that we sent out. I've been having a lot of fun with Photoshop.



Hope you all are doing well.

We had a nice quiet day

It was a work day so I spent the bulk of it in the office. Brendan and Dana were together most of the day and took a quick trip to the post office so Dana could ship some of the items she sold on half.com.

Brendan was awake all day. Not a lot of napping. Dana's working on getting him to sleep right now, though.

He's spending much more time focusing on faces. He's also doing a really good job at lifting his head when he's getting tummy time. He's a really good boy, and we love him to bits.

Here's a couple pictures.

I propped the little guy up on the couch for a little photo shoot.

Snuggling up with MY SON!

Brendan thinking about his next meal.

Finally a few new pictures

After being gone a couple days it was a little easier to see some changes in him. His face seems to me to be changing shape a little as he adds more weight. He doesn't have the pumpkin head (round and orange) like he used to. His face seems to me to be a little longer. I also noticed that he spends more time focusing on a particular object. He really likes looking in the mirror. He also likes to look at Dana, even when he's not eating. He seems to be responding to touch a little more.

We haven't taken Brendan out for any adventures lately so we don't have any 'action' photos. Now that he's on his way to his 1 month birthday (I can't believe it's been a month) I think we feel a little more comfortable exploring the outside world. We're trying to coordinate a visit with my dad. We may try to go see him in March or have him come out to see us in the Summer when Betsy finishes her semester. We still need to get my mom and Dana's dad out.

Mom and Dad could use a nap

Sorry it's been a couple days since we've had a chance to update you all. It's not because we're any less excited that Brendan is home with us....we're just a little pooped.

Brendan is a wonderful little boy even though he doesn't really have a personality yet. He does react when I tickle his underarms and he seems to like to look at Dana when he's eating.

He has a huge appetite as evidenced by his rapid weight gain. Below are all of the data points we've gotten on the little boy's weight.

12/29.... 8 lb 13 oz
12/31.... 7 lb 15 oz
1/5........ 8 lb 1 oz
1/12...... 8 lb 14 oz
1/18...... 9 lb 10 oz

Over the weekend Brendan threw his first fit. He wasn't hungry and he wasn't tired so he let us know about it by yelling. I tried to take him for a walk, but it rained so we had to come home. Then we tried holding him. Then we tried putting him in his swing. Nothing worked but he finally wore himself out (and us) and took a nap.

We've finished the birth announcements and put them in the mail. Perhaps by the time you are reading this you'll have received yours. We'll wait a couple days and then post it on the site(don't want to ruin the surprise). I've been having a lot of fun Photoshopping the pictures we've been taking. I'm working hard to get pictures printed out for Brendan's grandmas and grandpas so they can fill up the photo albums they got for Christmas.

I'm in Phoenix for a couple days so Dana and Brendan are getting a little one on one time. Day 1 and Dana says all is going well. I told her not to let Brendan do anything important while I'm gone. When I get back I'll post a few new pictures.

Hope you all are doing well!

We went out and about

on Friday the 13th. Dana had a Dr. appointment and she got a clean bill of health. She's very happy to have the green light (so to speak) to drive again. She's been getting a little stir crazy at home.

After her appointment we got to show Brendan off to Dana's co-workers at Nanogen. Unfortunately, he was asleep the whole time. But we promised to bring him back in a couple weeks when he'll be a little more active. Here's a picture of the little man snuggling up with Dana's boss, Pam.



Today, Saturday, was a quieter day. Brendan was being a little fussy so we took him on a short walk and that put him right to sleep. Here he is in his first hot rod!



And here's a picture of Brendan telling me, "Only one more picture, dad!"

Brendan's two!!!

Two weeks old, that is!

We took Brendan in for his 2 week check up and he got a clean bill of health. He's still a little yellow, but not so much that they needed to draw any blood. They do want him to come back in a week for one more check on his skin color.

The best news is that he's putting on weight. He now weighs 8 lb 14 oz, so he's now bigger than the day he was born which is a really good sign. I'm surprised he's not 14 lb 8 oz with the way that he's eating! He's got a huge appetite and really keeps Dana busy. But the more he eats and the more he poops the better to help with his skin color.

He's also 21.5 inches. The nurse said that doesn't necessarily mean that he's grown an inch and a half. I guess his little bow legs are straightening out.


Here's a picture of Brendan on his way to the doctor.


Here's the little man chillin' in his papasan while we eat.

Brendan had a good day.

Brendan continues to do very well. He spent all day with his Momma and even gave her a chance to catch a little nap. He spent most of the day sitting in his boppy watching Dana and holding her hand. This is what he looked like around lunch time when I came out of the office to check on my family unit.



He napped in his papasan swing while we had dinner (Sesame Garlic Chicken from Dream Dinners ). Afterwards we gave him a little tummy time in the living room.



Shortly after this picture was taken we had the biggest hazardous waste spill to date. I noticed that his diaper needed changing so I tried to get away with changing him right there. As soon as I got him out of his diaper he delivered a number 1 which missed me, but got all over the blanket he was lying on. So we wiped him down and got ready to put his new diaper on when the other shoe dropped. That's right, a lovely number 2 right then and there. After much wiping we got him diapered up and dressed. Lesson learned....no diaper changes without a changing pad.

Hanging out with momma, lots to eat, a nice poop that got dad running around...it was a very good day for Brendan.

Tomorrow Brendan has a Dr. appointment so we'll have some updated measurements to share.


This is a picture taken yesterday of Brendan wearing his new outfit from his cousin Audra. Thanks Aud!!

Everybody's doing fine

Brendan continues to do very well. He still has a big appetite eating about every 2 hours. He still naps quite a bit during the day which leads to restless nights. I had to go back to work today and he was fussing a bit about 2am. Dana did a good job of consoling him so that we could all get back to sleep. Dana's a great mom and she makes it all better for Brendan. After I got done with work I was able to keep Brendan with me for a couple hours so Dana could have a nice nap.

Brendan has a Dr. appointment this week and we'll get a few new measurements on him. Dana also has a follow up Dr. appointment to check her incision. Hopefully she'll get the go ahead to start moving about a little more.

Here's a picture of Brendan getting a little tummy time on the quilt he got from his Grandma Brown. This was taken a couple days ago.



Here's a happy baby getting a little attention from his Momma.

Short update

naked as a jaybird
dressed for a night out


We've spent the last couple days just sort of hanging out getting to know our fabulous new son. He's still a very good boy and never cries just to just occupy himself. He'll grunt and groan when he's hungry, and he'll yell when he gets a diaper change, but that's all part of the package. He spends more and more time awake and looking around exploring his brand new environment.

Dana has been a real trooper. Brendan keeps her busy with feedings and she's pretty exhausted. My job is to keep the house running (scary thought) and changing diapers and trying to entertain him for a couple hours to get Dana a chance to nap. I wish I could do more, but for now, this is just the arrangement.

I started working on the birth announcement and hope that we can get those out next week. We took a bunch more pictures of the little fella to try to incorporate into the announcement.

Speaking of next week, I'm going back to work, but I'll be working from home so I can still help out. After that I'll be heading to Phoenix for a few days. It'll be interesting to see how we're all going to feel about that.

Hope everyone has had as good a start to 2006 as we have!