An update from Erin

Mark celebrates his 9-week birthday today--yay! Sorry we haven't written much at all. I've barely found time to upload photos to FlickR these past few weeks. I guess I owe a brief overview of the past 9 weeks.

We had some nursing struggles the first few weeks but with the help of excellent lactation consultants and the support of good friends from church, at around 4 weeks Mark started nursing correctly with some assistance. Now at 9 weeks we're doing much better. He is on a 3-3.5 hour schedule more or less--eat, wake time, diaper change, and naptime. Mommy often naps with him. He is sleeping 7-8 hours straight at night which is a MARVELOUS blessing. He has his 2-month checkup tomorrow and will start getting his vaccines (ouch).

Mark is now starting to smile back at you when you smile at him (and are about 6-8 inches from his face!). This is HUGE to us first-time parents. He also coos and makes "talking" sounds. I swear he even laughs/gurgles a bit when he's excited that you're excited that he's smiling. His most fun time is right after feeding--he moves into a "quiet alert" state where he smiles, coos, and is in a great mood. He also fills his diaper during that time!

Daddy went back to work after 4 weeks of paid paternity leave (yay for Microsoft!). Although that is an amazingly long leave in the corporate world, the time went too fast. And unfortunately some fires sprang up at work that caused a lack of progress on the next deadline, so when he came back no one had been able to do his work for him. Needless to say work has been a little hectic with trying to cram too much work into too little time. But Mark is always glad to see Daddy come home so he has someone new to smile at!

Well Mark just woke up from his nap and he sounds unhappy. I will try to write more again sometime soon!

A brief break in guests...

After a whirlwind of wonderful family visits, Matt and I get a short break until Minnesota friends arrive May 3. It has been great to have help with the household tasks, shopping, meals, and baby care. Matt and I got to go on a date to see a Shane & Shane (Christian acoustic guitar group that is awesome!!) concert while Auntie Abby babysitted!

Mark continues to grow and change--he's now 6.5 weeks old! Last week he weighed 9lbs 6oz and was 21" long. I swear he's starting to smile on purpose (not just when he has gas) and can bat his hands at hanging toys. His quiet alert awake times are so much fun--I was even able to give him a bath today without him crying!

I uploaded photos to FlickR from Matt's parents' (Joe & Ellen) visit and my sister Abby's visit. That will have to do for now until I find more time. :)

I've fallen in love with a burrito... and I think you will too :)

IMG_0091
Originally uploaded by matt.young256.

I finally decided on a photo hosting service, sorry for taking so long. I know many of you were ready to hop on a plane just to get a peek at the little guy.

This collection is from Mark's first two weeks. We just wrapped up week 3 today, which I hope to post tomorrow. Isn't he cute!

Oh! You can order prints using flickr, but I believe you need to signup for an account before you *see* the order prints option.