Week Four

The first weekend in May, we drove up to Chapel Hill to celebrate my baby brother's college graduation. Here he is, the day before the main affair:
The trip up, usually 4.5 hours, took us 6, which I considered a major victory with a three-week-old baby. We made sure to stop at South of the Border on the way up, so Leo could meet Pedro (for those of you unfamiliar with South of the Border, it is a clean and vibrant educational facility on the North Carolina-South Carolina state line):The whole trip was a long string of firsts: the next being Leo's first out-to-dinner experience. While Uncle Brad and Aunt Amy babysat Owen back at Edgewood Road (real dolls, those two), Poppie, Uncle Alex, Bill, Leo, and I headed out to Acme for Alex's graduation dinner.
The best firsts, though, were all of the people that Leo got to meet. It was his debut, really. In addition to Uncle Brad, Aunt Amy, Nana, Megan, Gary, Monty, Hudson, Anne, Daniel, Heba, and Ed (I failed to get any photos of these, I'm sad to say), he got to meet Aunt Jean:
and the whole Hunt family:
He got to visit with our doula and friend, Joanne, who was with us for both Leo's and Owen's births:
Leo took his first trip to visit "the Reservation," which is where Grama and Papa live. Here he is with Aunt Marsh and Aunt Helen:
Getting lots of love from Grama, Papa, Aunt Marsh, and Poppie:
Poppie and Leo:
Poppie and his grandsons, plural (wild):
Aunt Marsh, having waited patiently, finally gets her turn:
Leo slept very contentedly in Aunt Marsh's arms for quite some time - he knew he had found a good spot:
Meanwhile, Owen had struck up a conversation with this gentleman:
Me and my favorite boys (including the newly minted college graduate) on graduation day:
It was a wonderful trip. Completely exhausting since we were still only getting a handful of hours of sleep each night, but wonderful.

Back in Charleston, Boo reunited with her boys:
Still working on trying to get some sleep...

Week 3

Week 3 looked like this.

Me doing a lot of breastfeeding (also enjoyed a repeat read of Jernigan):

Bill doing a lot of computing (trying desperately to finish up his semester): Leo doing a lot of sleeping and looking cute: Bruno doing a lot of barking at UPS trucks, trying to score kitchen scraps, and sometimes getting into the bathroom trash (this would not really differentiate this week from any other week in our lives). Also looking cute, though, so we keep him around: And Owen helping to keep us all on our toes and entertained: Enjoying some family time in the back yard (I was convinced that the sunshine would work to turn Leo's days and nights around, and I think it did help): Someone taking a nap and someone who needs a nap:
Alex came over for a final visit with Owen before heading to California. Many hugs ensued (sniffle, sniffle):

Alex got to hold Leo, and I caught one of his precious smiles! Clearly, Leo is just as fond of Alex as his big brother is.
Overall, we're staying cool (and goofy) like Fonzy:

Easter Egg Hunt

Owen had the time of his life on his second-ever Easter Egg Hunt. I wondered why we save this game for Easter Sunday, when we could be having this kind of fun every day, and I made a mental note to have another Easter Egg Hunt very soon.

First find:
Owen liked to keep his Easter basket on the front stairs and gather the eggs in his arms. Not entirely dissimilar to when I go to the grocery store; I tell myself I don't need a cart or basket and wind up looking like this:
Here's when an expert use of the chin really comes in handy -- glad Owen is learning this technique early:
Returning to the basket:
And again:
And again:
And again times 100. He kept putting them in the basket, and we kept taking them out and re-hiding them:
It's brilliant, really. When you're tired of re-hiding eggs, the game is over.

And, finally, Owen with the special Easter Bunny sent by Mimi:

Week 2

Week 2 was an eventful one. Here are some highlights:

First Outings: One of our first outings was to the Pitt Street Bridge in Mt. Pleasant. It was a gorgeous day. Owen got very put out with us because we would not let him push the stroller by himself (meaning no one's hand could be touching the stroller or even acting like it might touch the stroller) the entire time. First big post-Leo tantrum ensued.
Leo slept soundly through the fuss:
A Hail Storm: I don't think I had ever really seen hail until this happened. April in Charleston, 80 degrees outside, and balls of ice the size of big marbles came tumbling down. Here is what it looked like:
Alex's Last Week: Alex has been taking care of Owen two days a week since February 2010. She is now finished with her graduate program and moving to California to pursue her career. We are so sad to see her go and miss her terribly already. As a parting gift, Alex gave Owen a book with her voice recorded reading it, including a special message to Owen and the song she sings him before nap time. In my hormonal state, I cried the first several times I listened to it. Fortunately, Owen proceeded to read the book about 100 times a day after that, so I've toughened up a bit after so many listens. Here they are:
Breastfeeding Woes: Leo was born with a tight frenulum (the part that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth), which led to some significant breastfeeding problems, including marathon feedings, nipples that looked like new members of Fight Club, and quite a lot of pain, all of which culminated in mastitis (accompanied by a fever, flu-like symptoms, etc.). At a week old (and not a minute too soon), I took him back to the Birth Place and they snipped the frenulum. (A drop of blood was all, and he was mad about being held down, but stopped crying as soon as I picked him up.) I have now recovered, and we have finally hit our stride, but it was rough going there for about a week. Now that I'm not in excruciating pain through feedings anymore, the world is a much brighter and sunnier place. Here we are - survivors! - during a breastfeeding intermission:
Going Outside: With all the various breastfeeding ailments, I was instructed to go topless as much as possible for faster healing. Being without a shirt for almost a week meant that I was confined to the indoors (especially with neighbors as attentive as ours). It was a joyful occasion when I was finally able to put on a shirt and go outside!
Grandparents: Leo got some good snuggle time with his grandparents. Here, snoozing with Boo:
Here, mid-yawn:
Here, smiling:
And then Pooh and PapaRuss came to town!
Pooh and PapaRuss with their grandsons (now plural!):Pooh and Owen reading Country Mouse and City Mouse:
Easter: A few pics from Easter Sunday (another post will be dedicated to Owen's Easter egg hunt):
Party of four: