Martha's B-day | Easter with her sisters

More Photos Here | PHOTO GALLERY
New! VIDEO CLIP! (Mar,28,2005)

This Easter sunday was Martha's birthday and we celebrated it at my parent's house along with my brother and his family and Martha's sisters.

We have had a good week with their visit. Tina and Mabe took over some of the Nicolas caretaking and we slept for 2 nights - well not soundly but MUCH BETTER THAN lately. They in turn were exhausted those days. :-)

The photo above includes a solo shot of Nicolas (with a very nice smile) and an Easter shot with (from left to right) -- Martha, Nicolas, Mabe, Tina and Rachel (our niece).

Nicolas's surgery recovery continues - he's still fussing instead of eating well - which is tiring. But this week he seems to have discovered his hands - and he enjoys touching his finger tips together in a slightly mad-scientist sort of way. Like he's making plans for world domination - which...well... you never know do you?

It's obviously a world with cool headwear (see picture above).

smile baby smile

All Photos Here | PHOTO GALLERY

Last week many of my co-workers chipped in and bought Nicolas the amby-baby hammock to help his reflux. We started having him nap in it and as of this weekend he is sleeping soundly in it. A special thanks to everyone at RISD who made this possible. :-)

As of Friday he is 7 lbs and 10 ounces. Which is amazing. He seems to be more excited about eating as a whole and we are feeding him every 3 hours or so. He also has been playing with his gymini more and more - and he loves to be carried around the house. Changing him is no longer a traumatic event either - he likes to watch his little animal mobile while we attend to him. And the other day I sang a little Bob Marley to him and he smiled at me the entire time - an indication that he's got excellent taste in music already. :-)

Martha's sisters Tina and Mabe (surprise!) have come to visit and will be here throughout the week - we are very happy to have their company and hope they will have fun taking care of Nicolas and teaching him spanish. :-P

hernia...all gone!

All Photos Here | PHOTO GALLERY

This week was a tiring one for all of us. Wednesday morning Nicolas had his inguinal hernia surgery and in the process the doctor's also removed his appendix. Apparently it was caught in the hernia and it was easier to remove it completely. We are hoping this is a good thing for him in the long run and maybe its one less organ that can cause later problems in life. :-)

It was a mess for us that day - due in part to the secretary of the doctor who told us to be at the hospital at 7:30 am and forgot they don't do surgery on Wednesdays until 10am. So we were stuck with a starving child there for hours (we had to stop feeding him after 3am). We spent the night there - to make sure Nicolas didn't have any spells or complications - and came home at 3pm on Thursday - I taught class that night until 9:30pm and it was the most tired I've ever been.

So far Nicolas seems to be ok with it all. His little discomfort from time to time is treated with lots of holding -- and tylenol. :-)

Bigger boy

All Photos Here | PHOTO GALLERY

This week Nicolas weighs 7 pounds!!! Its unreal.

We had a rough week though as his reflux kicked up and he caught a cold. The little coughs were so tough to hear. His doctor changed his medication also - to Prevacid - so hes not on Zantac anymore (he hated its minty flavor). Prevacid is strawberry flavored which he likes alot.

Nicolas' inguinal hernia is scheduled to be fixed next wednesday morning at Hasbro Children's Hospital - we are looking forward to having this overwith.

Last night was the first night he was smiling -- alot. And it wasn't gas related - what happens is - he looks right at us and we stick out our tongues and then he smiles. It's great to see. He also wants to be held high looking over our shoulders whenever possible - and insists we walk around and show him the house.