Fast Forward

It's hard to believe that our little Neil is already 1 week old! Chris was able to take the week off from work and I had imagined that our time would be spent relaxing and adjusting to our new addition in easy, lazy strides. Not that I haven't done a lot of laying around this week, but it seems like someone has pressed the fast forward button on our lives and my week of lazy bliss has gone by much too quickly. I guess that's life!

Here's a little update on the five of us:

Chris has loved being home and hanging out with us all week. He has been an amazing help to me-- waking up early to make breakfast for Tom & Gord (plus a couple of breakfasts in bed for me!), shuttling the boys to and from school, making dinner, and just generally catering to whatever I need. Chris even braved being with all three boys by himself while I ran a couple of errands on Friday afternoon. He's a pro!



Elise-- I'm physically recovering very well. I've been a bit emotional, but so far, it hasn't been too crazy. I actually put make-up on twice(!) this week, although doing something other than a braid or the messy bun with my hair is out of the question. I think this is the only time in my life where I can honestly claim that I've lost a whopping 15 pounds in one week!

Thomas looooooooooves his new brother. He is so proud and affectionate-- it's very cute. We had Tom's SEP this week (parent-teacher conference) and we were extremely pleased to see how well he is doing in school. In fact, his teacher and I had a hard time coming up with a goal for this quarter because Tom is already on par with 2nd grade expectations. He's a great kid.

Gordon also adores Neil and asks to hold him about 20 times a day. He is very sweet and mostly gentle with him-- I think it's hard for a 3-year-old to conceptualize "patting gently", but he tries. Gord has been pretty clingy this week, which we kind of expected. It's hard to be knocked from your place as the baby of the family, and he is doing his best to cope. Luckily, Chris has been extra attentive and we're hoping that helps the adjustment continue smoothly. Gordon helped Chris pick out some flowers for me-- he was really excited about the butterfly. What a sweetie!



Neil doesn't do anything different from any other newborn-- basically, he just eats, sleeps, and cries when we change his clothes or diaper. But oh, he is so cute when he does all of these things! It's hard to imagine that he will be so different even a month from now, so I'm trying hard to enjoy the tininess of his newborn life. We love his teeny, fatless body and his husky little cry (a lot like our other boys), his blonde-tipped rock star hair and his funny furrowed brow during his brief (but so cute!) awake times. It's only been a week, but we can't imagine life without him!