Will falling asleep.

Just because.

Babies have it pretty easy, don't they?

Will's first bath.

We gave Will his first bath this past week. We got a little behind schedule giving it to him because of the unplanned trip back to the hospital. Fortunately babies are resilient and he seemed no worse for the wear.

Will wasn't too happy with the bath, though he seemed to like the warm water. And he really liked it when I sat him up. Katherine even says he fell asleep like that, though I couldn't really tell. The whole thing was reminiscent of Lyla's first bath... just not as stressful for the adults.

It was good to see him all clean and shiny. His hair definitely is blondish, though the jury is still out as to whether he'll be blond haired/blue eyed (like his mom) or come over to the dark side, by which I mean dark brown hair, dark brown eyes (like his dad and sister). Either way, he is super cute.

Trying to take a family photo

Three of the four Rings were cooperating as we tried to take a family portrait. I'll let you guess which one wasn't having any of it.

Outfit change

Nothing spectacular here other than we changed him out of the newborn jumpers and put him in a long-sleeved, blue onesie and immediately all of us (Katherine, her mom, and I) remarked at how handsome he looked in dark blue... just like his dad... which is me.

Anyway, here are some candid photos of my squirmy boy. Enjoy!

And then there is this.

She's been capable of this for weeks, if not months. Of course she chooses today, while Katherine is upstairs resting to do it. Fortunately, she was more than willing to take the show upstairs for Katherine to see. Before Will was born, Katherine and I had commented that Lyla was probably going to start walking the same day Will was born. I'm glad she waited a couple days so that we could be there.

She went from this:

To this:

To this... all in a matter of minutes.

She is awesome. I can't wait to see her tomorrow as she begins to explore her world on two legs. I am a very proud father right now.

Big sister, little brother

We are home

After a tenuous Monday-night and Tuesday, with Katherine's recovering seeming to run into some minor (and not uncommon) complications, Wednesday turned the corner and Katherine's body sprinted to the finish line, recovering well enough that they let us go home at the usual time. So the morning was spent reviewing instructions from nurses (e.g. cover the front when changing a diaper or you could get an unpleasant surprise), packing up our things (we brought a bunch of things to the hospital and received a bunch of things at the hospital... like a baby), and waiting for Patient Transport to wheel Katherine and Will out to the car.

That last part took a long time... not sure if "Patient" refers to who is being transported or a recommended state of being while you wait for them to arrive. They came, they wheeled her out, we loaded the car, we started driving, Will started crying, we made it home. Hurray!!!

Waiting...

On our way out!!

Home!!!


Our time at home has been great so far. The first night home with Lyla we were up all night trying to get her to sleep. So our expectations were pretty low. And we were pleasantly surprised. Katherine slept on the couch, I slept on the air mattress and Will slept in his cradle which I had set up in the living room. We'll probably do the same set up tonight while Katherine is still recovering (it's difficult for her to sit up on her own in our bed). Today we sat around, playing with Lyla and taking care of will. I tried to get back to work... it took me seven hours to write one email (granted I had to look up a lot of the information I was communicating in the email, but frequent interruptions to change diapers, tend to Lyla, help Katherine, etc. didn't help).

Katherine's mom has been here since Sunday taking care of Lyla and she's staying for awhile. Having her here has been great, a huge help. Katherine's dad is coming up tonight to meet his grandson and stay a few days.

Hopefully, Katherine will be back to normal soon, save the mandated restrictions like not lifting more than the weight of Will in the car seat. I know that Lyla wants to get back to climbing all over her and it's hard to keep an eye on Lyla so she doesn't kamikaze right toward Katherine before Katherine is well enough to handle it.

If you're in Grand Rapids and want to visit, call and let us know. We're thinking that we'll be up for visitors starting tomorrow. I know Will can't wait to meet all of you!

Here's more photos:

In my exhausted state, I totally poored my cup of water on Lyla while she was sitting on my lap right before bed. She forgave me, then proceed to prance around sans clothes for about 10 minutes before she went night-night.

Goofing off with dad!

Yay! Family! I am the luckiest man in the world!

The kid sleeps a lot!

Time to head home... we think

So I'm a little self-conscious about the fact that I haven't been posting as much as I did when we were here with Lyla (we really were here with Lyla, on the other end of the floor, in fact if you turned the building 180 degrees, we'd end up in the exact same spot we were in fro Dec. 4 through 7, 2007). I love will and don't want him to feel neglected because of second-child syndrome (I'm especially sensitive to it because I'm a second-child). That being said there are a few things that Have kept me from posting pictures and blurbs:

1. Lyla - she still needs attention, and though Grandma is here and doing a great job with her, I still have been taking time out of each day to spend with her. Yesterday, she and I went down to the GR Children's Museum for an hour or so so Katherine and her mom could spend time together. We had a blast, riding around on little carts, pretending to drive a car, throwing balls around, making music, brushing teeth, grocery shopping, looking in mirrors, and climbing on things. It was a lot of fun but it wore both of us out. Lyla passed out in her stroller as we were walking back. It was cute.

The other thing we've done while she's been here has been to walk around the hallways. The first day she walked around for about 30 minutes holding my hand. She kept walking up to different doors and knocking on them. It was cute. Yesterday she took the stroller and pushed it around the hall a whole bunch. She kept trying to go into different offices, it was funny.

We also walked over to the nursery to look at the babies. When she arrived yesterday, Will was in there recovering from his circumcision. We walked up to the window and I pointed him out to her and she got this big smile on her face. Then she kept asking to look at all the different babies but kept coming back to Will. I think she recognizes him, which is awesome. Anyway.

2. Katherine - this recovery has been a little more difficult than last time so we had to invest more time in making sure Katherine was getting what she needs. Fortunately she's feeling much better and we're on target to leave today, assuming the final checks go okay.

3. Internet access - this time I can't get on the network from our room so I'm sitting out in the hallway right now. Makes it harder to post.

Anyway, despite all the distractions, it has been great getting to know Will the past few days. He's such a content and strong baby. He sleeps, then he eats, then he sleeps again. But starting yesterday, and more so today, he's becoming more alert, looking around, spending time with his eyes open. He's so beautiful. I love it.

We're excited to get home and to get started on this new phase of our life. But until then, here are a bunch of pictures I've taken over the past two days.





I love the way she smiles when she sees him.

Our friends the Schalks are geniuses (well, Julie is) and they brought a present for Lyla. It's a duck.

Sunday evening - the siblings meet

Along with all the other moments that made up that very long and amazing day, this was a moment that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Lyla and Grandma came by the hospital Sunday afternoon to meet little Will. Lyla was intrigued, a little shy, a little curious. She definitely was aware that he was there and was receptive to us referring to him as her brother Will We'd been consistently asking Lyla where her brother was while Katherine was pregnant and she learned that he was inside of Katherine. So the concepts of "baby brother" and "Will" weren't foreign to her. There were a few times when I'd ask Lyla where her brother was and she'd point to Katherine. But overall I think she picked up pretty quickly that this kid was special.

I love the look of joy on her face. Katherine and I are both hopeful that Lyla and Will will grow up to be good friends, so the excitement that Lyla has expressed thusfar is real encouraging and heartwarming.

Where's your baby brother?

Can you give your brother a kiss?

She's still the best.

Shortly after Grandma and Lyla arrived, our friends Mandy (right) and Alisa (center) stopped by to visit. Mandy and Alisa are the mothers of Lyla's buddies Ian and Sadie (respectively) and it was Alisa's delicious pork tacos that sent Katherine into labor on Saturday night. I know they're both excited for the newest addition to their playgroup.

Don't forget Lyla!!

She's a super star!!... I honestly don't know how she got up on that counter.



Refusing to walk (though she is fully capable) in the cutest way possible.

Stairs? No problem

Will pics

Pictures from our adventures last night/this morning.

Post pushing, pre surgery picture. Kate is such a trooper.

The doors outside the operating room. Seems like only 15 months ago I was waiting anxiously outside these doors. (Looks like they've added some awesome decals to the doors in the last year.)

The boy emerges!!

Ooh, he does not like it out here.

Tending the umbilical cord.

Katherine and Will meet for the first time. Katherine was so much more aware this time around, the anesthesiologist did a great job.

7lbs 11 oz, what a big boy.

Mother and son. Katherine is such a great mother, it was awesome to see her love for Will come pouring out of her.

All cleaned up.

Tiny foot.
More pictures and videos later. I love my family.