Baby Shower

Some friends from our church branch threw me a baby shower last week. Lucky Hink got to attend with me. It was his first real excursion outside other than many trips to the hospital right after we brought him home.

We had tons of good food and played some fun games, and of course there were some super cute presents for Hink. Here's some pictures.

                                                     

Funny game. Guess the melted candy bars in each diaper. Looks quite disgusting, but a few ladies even tasted them.

My friend Hailey is super talented. She knitted these rattles for Hink. Love them!

Riding home in his new stroller. He loved it.

Happy Due Date Hinckley

Hink is 7 weeks old today. I can't believe how much he has already grown and changed in those weeks.

• He and CoCo are already good friends
• He has put on a few rolls and fills out his newborn clothes, although he will probably still wear them for a few more weeks
• He loves going on walks in his stroller
• He enjoys tummy time for the first 10 minutes and then has had enough
• He still wrinkles up his forehead when he's gassy
• He hates having his diaper changed and cries the whole time
• He has the cutest smile and dimple ever!

Poor CoCo

We finally got around to getting CoCo fixed after he almost got into a big fight with another dog last week. He was minding his own business until the other dog got in his grill, but we still thought it would be best if he were a little more docile now that we have a baby around.

Even with the cone on his head, CoCo was still able to get to the stitches and was determined to lick them. Nick had to improvise and tape it into this funky shape to keep him away from them. It doesn't look too comfortable!

Funny China Story... Dogs are always dressed up in clothes and shoes here. Well, one day while Nick was out walking CoCo with the cone on he overheard a Chinese guy talking to his friend. He was saying how smart westerners are because we had a nice hat to keep the sun out of our dogs eyes! HA! CoCo might just start a new trend.

Overwhelming cuteness!

Nick made this video with some of the thousands of pictures we've taken of Hinckley this past month. You can see some of the things we've done including learning to eat in the hospital, his baby blessing, passport photos, and a visit from Lao Lao (mother's mother) and Lao Ye (mother's father).



Nick chose the song Sweet Baby James for the video because that is Hink's lullaby of choice, only we change it just a bit and sing Sweet Hinckley James. It works perfectly! Enjoy!

1 month

Hinckley had his 1 month check-up yesterday. It went really well. He looks more and more like a healthy baby everyday. The doctor said he doesn't look like a preemie anymore.

Weight- 2.59 kilos (about 5 pounds 11 ounces)
Height- 48 cm (18.8 inches)
Head- I don't remember exactly, but his head is big!
He failed the hearing test in his left ear, but there are a lot of reasons for that and the Dr. wasn't concerned yet. They will just re-test at his next appointment.

He is more and more alert everyday, and starting to sleep better at night. Which we definitely appreciate since my mom and dad left.  Having grandparents around who were happy to cuddle with him in the middle of the night when he decided to be fussy was nice for me.

update

So we are getting adjusted to being parents. I think everything is going as well as it could so far.  Work has been really demanding this week on me, which is good because we are doing well, but it's also stretching.  Hink is getting up every three hours and eating about 45-40ML.  He has a 1-2 hour window everyday where he is wide awake and just looking around. 

We've had a lot of help as John and Annette (dana's folks) have been here with us.  We're going to be on our own in a few days.  And then my parents come in early June.

One of the perks of having a kid is I can convince Dana to let me get new gadgets.  I wanted a new camera.  So at the suggestion of our friend Mark, we got a nikon d5100.  It's great.  below are some of the shots from around the house.

-Nick

 3 amigos.

 Coco on overwatch

This was taken at 2AM.  When Hink decided he'd get up for the day.

Still a small guy.  Thats a new born sized bink.  He's almost at 5 pounds now.

Hink takes matters into his own hands

Sunday night I put Hink back to bed after his bottle. He was sleeping peacefully while I sat down to pump. He was quiet as could be for about 10 minutes, and then I heard little whimpers. I walked over to check on him and he had pulled out his own feeding tube. The tip of it was just stuck in his nose and was bothering him, so I pulled it the rest of the way out.

I knew this would probably happen sooner rather than later since Hink loves to have his hands up by his face. Every single time we swaddle him, he has worked his hands out in about 2 minutes. He just sleeps more comfortably that way. His long fingers were always getting wrapped up in the feeding tube. This time I wasn't there to stop him from tugging.

I'm actually rather glad he pulled it out. It was really irritating his nose and throat and making him an unhappy baby. He has been eating great since he pulled it out, and definitely sleeps more comfortably. We go back to the doctor next Monday to make sure that he is still gaining weight without it, but I am not worried. He is much stronger than he was before and can finish his bottle much faster. Now if only he will learn to breastfeed so I can skip a few steps every feeding time (ie- sterilizing the bottles, fortifying the milk, warming the milk, and pumping).

Hink is making progress each day. In the week that we have been home from the hospital I feel like he is a completely different baby. He is definitely fatter and much stronger. He is alert more and more each day too (usually in the middle of the night!) Nick bought a new fancy camera, so we can remember him at all these fun stages. I see my friends babies here and I can't believe he will ever be that big, but I know it will happen way too quick. I'll post pictures soon if the internet will cooperate with me.