Finally!

We've been home for a week and a half, Leslie is almost two weeks old, and I'm finally going to do a longer blog post.

These last couple of weeks have been a complete blur.  I do want to take a moment to thank Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Carrie, and Great-Grandma Munyon for coming down and helping take care of Daniel while Amy and I were in the hospital with Leslie.  Daniel loved all the attention and I think they all had a great time.  Honestly I have no idea how we would have done it without them!  

Since coming home, we've had a few ups and downs in terms of Leslie's feeding, weight gain, and jaundice.  Thankfully, the worst of that is behind us and things are looking better.  She's gaining weight well and the jaundice is under control and going down.  We still have to make sure she doesn't go longer than 3 hours without eating, and will continue to do that for at least a few more days.  During the day, and especially in the evenings, she often is hungry before 3 hours.  Thankfully at night, she goes the full 3 hours and we end up waking her to eat.  

She continues to be a mostly content baby.  She still sleeps a lot, but when she's awake, as long as she's not hungry, she's alert and quiet and seems to enjoy taking it all in.  

Once Amy started feeling better (which was surprisingly quickly after coming home), we've made it a point to go out as a family for errands and fun outings.  So far, we've all been to Target, JC Penny, Trader Joe's, the park, and McDonald's for some ice cream.  We have a sit 'n stand stroller that Daniel can hop on and off of, and he likes doing that and being able to watch his sister as we cruise around the stores. 

Speaking of Daniel, he's done amazingly well with the whole transition.  We had a few rough evenings that were, I think, due more to him skipping naps than anything else.  But things have settled down and he's adjusting well to having a baby in the house.  Most of the time, he's very enamored with her, stopping to touch and kiss her often, wanting her to do things with him, and wanting to help make her feel better if she's crying.  I can't count the number of times he's said things like "I love my new sister," or "I really like this baby," or even "She's so cute."  But, Daniel is three-years-old, so we have had a couple of times where he wasn't quite as excited about having her around.  A few times he's said, "I want mommy's doctor to put Leslie back in mommy's uterus."  But, thankfully, those times are rare and I really think he is taking well to being a big brother.  Not that we had any doubts!

Unfortunately, I have to go back to work on Monday.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading it.  But, for the next 3 weeks, I'm only working 3 days a week, so that will help ease the transition.  And Aunt Carrie is coming down today to help out for a few days.  Then Grandmommy will be here to help out some more!  We're lucky to have such amazing families!  

We've taken a lot of pictures over the last two weeks.  Rather than trying to select a few, I'm just going to post links to the full albums for you to look through at your leisure.  Hopefully we'll be able to settle into a routine of more regular updates here with pictures, videos, and stories to share.

Album #1 - October 13 - 16

Album #2 - October 17 - 19

Album #3 - October 19 - 20

Album #4 - October 20 - 25