The 4 AM flip

Johan has, since a fairly early age  slept through the night.  As far as new parents go - that's like winning the lottery!  While he can still be depended on to put in a solid 11-hour snooze shift between 8 and 7, he is now more mobile than he used to be.  He is also less mobile than he would like to be.  In his scuffling around at night he rolls over onto his stomach.  The novelty of that pose quickly wears thin and and the call for help goes out.  So a few times per night someone has to get up, maneuver through the maze of toys on the floor, get over to his bed and turn him over.  He goes back to sleep right away and, if lucky, so does the parent with the nightshift!  It certainly beats the overnight feedings though!   

Books and friends

Cousin Jonah and Aunt B came to visit for Johan's baptism and Mathias basked in the extra attention being up for grabs!   The favorite book that week was - again - Cars, Trucks & Things That Go.  Mathias got to explain to both the visitors that Goldbug does indeed show up on each page. You just need to know where to look!

Baptism

Johan was baptized yesterday wearing a a gown made by grandma Kay and a hat & boots made by grandma Ingrid. He was content and didn't object when water was poured on his head.  In the middle of the sermon his brother provided the comic relief by running up to the altar and shouting "Baptize Johan! "at the top of his lungs.  And so we did.

Aunt B, cousin Jonah, and grandpa Charlie came to town for the big event.

Brotherly love

Happy Easter!

Easter is almost here

Time to answer the age-old question: what color would you like your egg?

My bride and her firstborn prepared for the holiday by creating a pastel-colored rainbow of the most traditional Easter food.  We're ready!

Ensuring doctor job security

According to the original plan... Johan should be about halfway through the helmet treatment for his plagiocephaly.  There has been a huge amount of progress and his head shape is looking good.  His head is actually growing so fast that they may have to issue him a second helmet before he is done.   We have settled into a pattern of regular physical therapy and helmet adjustments over the past six weeks.  

On top of that we have worked through:

 - Johan's six-month checkup [everything is looking fine and he is weighing in at just under 20 pounds]

 -Mathias' three-year checkup [everything is looking fine and he is weighing in at just under 25 pounds]

 -Mathias' three-year follow up with the NICU.  Our friends at Children's are tracking all their clients and measuring their developments as they progress through life.  Mathias' results were very promising and he appears to have no lasting challenges from being born early.

To top it all off, last week Mathias came down with pneumonia.  Not to be outdone, Johan countered with a burst ear drum.

Surprisingly, everyone's at good spirits.

Health insurance rocks!