Troy's Third Week Home

Saturday, 22 May: Troy can hold his head up for nearly a whole minute! When Daddy helps Troy pulls himself up with his super-grip, his head doesn't flop at all. And he must be going through a growth spurt because he fed every two hours today...hmmmm...

Sunday, 23 May: Congrats to Nathaniel's sister Carly for getting her first payed job. BuyBuy Baby has not only just got themselves a hard worker, but also a new loyal customer base!

Monday, 24 May: Apparently, Troy needs to just "cry-it-out" sometimes. He's fine. He just needs to cry himself to sleep, and he DOESN'T need your help or tender care to do it.

After baths we wrap him up real good and put a beanie on him to keep him warm.

Obviously, it works to warm hi up!

Maybe his umbilical cord is hurting? It is pretty close to falling off, and when he cries you can see the flesh-inside part of it. Gross, but satisfying.

Mommy continues to sleep OK and do little projects around the house. Nathaniel always knew she would be a happy Mom at home. Soon the scrapbooking will start :) Yay for scrapbooking!
Thanks the Lord for DVR/Tivo. A little cry here and a little cry there cannot taper Nathaniel's need to watch the Celtics dominate the Magic.

Wednesday, 26 May: Troy kind of ruffed it today. He just wanted to cry for no reason. It was difficult for Mom and Dad.

Mom has started taking her own pictures at home! Mom has also decided she wants to start blogging, so look forward to that little bit of fun! How will we co-exist? Different font colors perhaps?

Some have already seen these pics, but here they are again anyway. Here is scary bear.

Bear with friends in forest.

Hibernating bear.

Thursday, 27 May: Cristy went to the doctor today and they explained how the surgery went a few weeks ago. They also gave her a clean bill of health and said she is an excellent validate for a more traditional birth in the future. Yay for babies!

The boys are tuckered out.

Proof of the one-eyed peeper monster. More funny faces.
Usain Bolt in training.
Troy's first mail was his SSN paperwork. He was so happy...
Troy says, "I love you Mom."
Sometimes Troy rolls onto his side and sleeps like this, back and head arched. Nathaniel ask him why he would do that to his parents, and he replied, "It's more comfortable Dad. No duh."

Friday, 28 May: Nathaniel went to hang out with some guy friends Friday night, and Cristy had a girl party at home, including nail painting, baby oggling, and other stuff which Nathaniel does not comprehend.

Sunday, 29 May: We had the Clemens over tonight, who just had little Elena a month before Troy was born. They had a good time hanging out, and so did we! It's good to swap baby stories and make sure your infant is hitting par (at least--we're shooting for Eagles but you never know!)

Pictures of Troy and Elena's first handhold next week!

Troy's 2nd Week Home

Tuesday, May 18: The Taylors brought over food for our family, and a few days before brought over these sweet onesies! Now Troy and his BFFs can all hang out in style :)

Touchdown!

The dragon sleeps...

Of course, grandparents continue to visit, and we love it!

After bath #2 (and first with Dad), Troy needed some snug time with Dad.

My sister is learning that not all babies cry when other people hold them :)

Friday, 21 May: Troy continues to grow! His head grew 1 cm and he weights another 1.2 lbs. than he did at his last peds visit! He is also another 1/2 inches taller. He has developed a second cry...this one is more of a whimper "wah wah" sound. (It's his fake "I want something" cry).

We couldn't be more proud of Troy. He continues to excel at everything he does. When he had his hearing test in the hospital he finished it twice as fast as most babies!

Troy's First Week Home

Tuesday, 5/12: Troy came home from the hospital today.

Like most babies, he eats, sleeps, makes diapers, and cries when he needs to eat, sleep, or make diapers. Like most boys, he pees a lot. On Janelle. On Nathaniel. Once in his mouth and face in the hospital.

He is so strong already, He can already lift his head and arc his back, so much so that if you are sitting down in a chair and leaning back with his tummy on your chest, he can fall backwards if you don't grab him. His legs could break a finger if you don't watch while you change his diaper.

Troy's dad used to worry a lot about his respiratory system, but not anymore. His prior seeming weakness is now his greatest strength: his lungs. When he wants to tell you something, he does. He's not shy or passive-aggressive. He will go from calm to shrieking to calm in a minute. 0 to 60, just like his Dad (or at least that's what Mom says).

In the hospital his Daddy found he likes having his head rubbed to calm him down, and that he really likes to feed. He is still learning to control his face and appendages, but sometimes he gives Mommy a little smile, which is wonderful because he undoubtedly learned this skill from her.

Wednesday, 5/12: Troy and Mommy are doing well. Mommy is a trooper and a great Mom. She does so much with so little sleep and still stays happy.

Troy, Mommy, and Janelle went to the pediatrician today. Billy Ruben test was 1.9, so he has no problems with jaundice. He is a good at making diapers. He also pooped twice while diaperless on the table while they were taking his bum temperature. "Vengeance is MINE!" says Troy.

Otherwise, the day went smoothly. He cried a little less when we changed his diaper and is such a calm baby. We are organizing the house to fit his and our needs. He loves us and we love him!

First trip to a store (Target)

Trying to organize his clothes. Apparently, he is pretty little...for a big guy, that is...

First bath--and first moment of self-discovery?

All clean!

I'm not going to lie...this is his poop face. Whether he did it or not, Nathaniel doesn't know. But that's the face ;)

Thursday, 5/13: Troy has been able to lift his neck up since he was born. Today, while on tummy time, he lifted his head up and switched sides of his head. Like a professional baby. Wow.

Troy has also been suffering from hiccups. Daddy has read that this is normal and not to be worried. But sometimes his parents get sad because the hiccups distress him and he starts to whimper and cry :( Thursday there was several cry sessions :( BUT Daddy and Mommy did learn a few more tricks to keep baby content.

1.) Troy likes when Dad sings to him. Any song will do, even the "poop" song that Dad made up while everyone else was sleeping.

2.) Troy likes it when Mom talks to him while he is getting his diaper changed. He flails a lot less and kicks less passionately.

Cristy has continued to get better at an awesome rate. She can do everything but comfortably lift Troy from his bassinet, so he sleeps on a thin blanket in the living room at night sometimes.

Janelle has been just as helpful as Mandy. We appreciate them so much--life would be so much harder without their help this last week. From cooking to straightening to holding Troy and changing diapers, they have both been so helpful. Thanks so much!

We have visitors almost every day, and half of the time it is grandparents.

Snug as a bag, as Mama says.

Friday, May 14-Sunday, May 16: This weekend we are reminded of how much we love our family and how important it is to have support during this new time in our lives. From people wanting to come over and hold Troy (and distract him with a new(er) face) to Grant and Liz sending over that Equate gas solution liquid drop stuff (for his hiccups) to my parents bringing over dinner Saturday night, we are really grateful for everyone's help. It seemed like all we did all weekend was hold Troy while he cried from hiccup pain, change his diaper, or feed him.

And yet somehow, after all that, when we looked at his little sleepy face at night, its all worth it. Maybe it's seeing he has his Dad's big toe, one sleepy eye in the morning, and "perfect mouth" (whatever that means Mama), and Mom's sleeping posture (think "touchdown" when he's swaddled or a snow angel unswaddled) and facial expressions.

Whatever it is, we love him all the same.

Next Up: Troy's 2nd Week Home

Troy Hospital Day 3-5: Mandy Leaves :( Janella Arrives :)

Alas, Mandy needed to fly home and tend to her own family. I'm sure the boy Poteets were so happy to see Mom on Mother's Day. For as grateful as we were to have Mandy with us, of course, there was no double birth in Alexandria! Yay for Troy and Poteet boy!

Mandy was so patient. Cristy says she only held Troy 15 minutes before she left because she just wanted other people to have a chance.

After Nathaniel took Mandy to the airport, he zoomed home to study for finals (for 8 hours). Nathaniel's mother was gracious enough to stay at the hospital with Cristy during the majority of that time to keep her company.

Day 4: Mother's Day.

Cristy claims that the best time to have a baby is on Mother's Day. Every member of the staff is so nice to you, and you get lots of cards and flowers from your kid. How your kid got the flowers or knows how to write is beyond me. What happened for us is that Nathaniel hung out with Troy in the NICU and Dad translated Troy's message.

What was that Troy? OK, Dad will include that in the Mother's Day card. The oxygen dome. Our frenemy. One great Mamma's gift was taking Troy out of the Giraffe and putting him in a crib free of IVs and oxygen. Next step/stop: Mamma's room!
Hey Janelle! If there's one thing you may have noticed about Janelle, it's that she likes to take pictures. How many pictures do you think she took while she was here? Hi grandma :D

Troy gets moved into Mama's room!

Flowers from Abuela (grandma in Spanish)

Friends visit...

And all of the sudden Tuesday morning (day 5) comes. Nathaniel went to work on Monday and Tuesday while Janelle stayed at the hospital with Cristy.

Dad couldn't be around for everything...but thankfully, with the help of Janelle, Cristy had lots and lots of help. Like helping Troy into his first car seat and first ride in a car. What at adventurous young man.

Next Up: First Week Home and LOTS more "Firsts"!