1 month old!

Blake had his 1 month checkup today. the doctor said he is thriving and doing great. he weighs 10 pounds 10 ounces (69th percentile) and is 22.8 inches long (85th percentile). Blake has been such a good baby so far! He:

• wakes up once or twice during the night to eat, so i still feel like i’m getting plenty of sleep.
• still has grayish eyes most of the time. i can’t decide what color i think they’ll be.

• is majorly losing his hair and has the silliest patchy, old man look going on.
• had lovely acne all over his face and head. luckily it’s getting better now that he only drinks formula.
• has a perfect cinnamon roll belly button.

• has the cutest smile with big dimples.

Ryan is almost 20 months old now, and is a great big brother. he likes to say hi to Blake and asks to hold him every once in a while, but other than that Ryan is in his own little world and doesn’t really realize Blake is even around. He:

• is very into shapes (especially triangles right now), colors (“buh-lue” is the current favorite), letters (knows maybe half of them), music (ALL music) and strawberries.
• loves his morning cartoons (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and Shrek ("Sher-eck”). he gets to watch movies/cartoons when i need to keep him happy and occupied so i can take care of Blake. hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

• still sleeps 12 hours a night. so wonderful!
• has spent a couple whole days in his pajamas. (so has his mom. oops.) sometimes getting us dressed is the last thing on my mind. taking care of two little boys can be hectic and exhausting. and fun! :)

• is an all around happy guy! well except for when glimpses of the terrible 2s start to shine through. he’s pretty silly. i don’t know WHERE he gets that from :). he keeps us very entertained and loves to laugh and dance. and take off his diaper in the kitchen and run around naked.

Avila Valley Barn

my mom and i took Ryan and Blake to Avila Valley Barn today. i wanted to buy pumpkins, and i thought Ryan would have fun looking at the animals.

Ryan and Gramma Angela

i let Ryan wander where he wanted, and we just followed. “animals! more animals!” he loved it.

“a big, BIG cow!"

“no, no thank you.” i don’t blame you, Ryan. these guys were ugly.

 he loved the pumpkins, too, and wanted to hold them all. “another one? another one?”

 right after these pictures, Ryan realized he was sitting next to a scarecrow and freaked out. time to move on...

i really wanted a picture of Ryan and Blake together, but i’m starting to realize that getting a good picture of a 1.5 year old and a 3 week old is close to impossible.

Ryan REALLY wanted to take a picture with me :). he’s mad that i stopped him from running around with his pumpkin. oh well, it was worth a try.

we stopped for lunch on the way home. this boy loves his burritos!

Blake being an easygoing guy in the stroller :)

longest/scariest/happiest week ever

we had quite the week. here’s the rundown (short version) — 

monday afternoon: Ryan had a fever. i called his pediatrician’s office because it was really high, and the nurse assured me that my thermometer wasn’t accurate; he would be convulsing or limp by that point.

monday evening: Ryan had a seizure. scariest thing i’ve ever experienced. thank goodness i was with my mom, and Tim’s mom (a nurse) was already on her way over to check on Ryan.

monday night: woke up at least every hour to check Ryan’s temperature, give him medicine, be an all-around worry wart.

tuesday morning:
1. we found out Tim’s grandpa passed away the night before. :(
2. i had a doctor appointment. just my weekly checkup. i was STILL pregnant.
3. my mom took Ryan to the doctor just to make sure he was ok. fyi he’s totally fine. he had a fever (which is what caused the seizure) for a few days and has a cold.

wednesday:
2:00 a.m. i had my mom come over to stay with Ryan because i thought i was going into labor.
2:30 a.m. i spent the longest half hour of my life in the waiting room of the hospital because the lady admitting me was slower than molasses.
3:00 a.m. finally in a hospital room.
5:00 a.m. DRUGS! :)
6:33 a.m. Blake was born! he spent about half hour in the room with us, then was taken to NICU. basically, his oxygen saturation level (or something like that) was low-normal. by the time we visited him, he looked perfectly healthy (except for the iv in his arm for nutrition). him being in NICU wasn’t nearly as scary as it sounds.

thursday: i was discharged from the hospital, but Blake wasn’t. :( he was still being monitored as a precaution, and they were waiting on lab results to make sure he didn’t have any infections. Tim was sick by this point, so he didn’t get to see Blake at all. i visited him 5 times this day though, and he was doing great.

friday around noon: Tim and i made the first of many planned visits to the NICU. the nurse told us the neonatologist heard Blake let out a huge burp and saw him holding his pacifier in his mouth and decided he was too healthy to be in there. best surprise ever! (we thought he’d go home saturday morning at the earliest.)

sunday: our first night at home as a whole family. we survived! Ryan had been spending the nights with his grandparents so we could adjust to having Blake home. i know, we’re kind of spoiled.

Blake Robert Regnier

8 pounds 6 ounces

20.5 inches long