Sunbathing

This was the sight that greeted me this morning when I got in the NICU...little Alex was sacked out suntanning under the phototherapy lights with his shades on. He looks much better but was going to spend one more night under the lights just to make sure the jaundice completely resolved. Even better news today was that they disconnected his IV (but left the catheter in, just in case) so he's getting full feeds of breastmilk. I went to the hospital twice to give him a chance to nurse and he ate like a little champ! He definitely has a good appetite and caught on quickly to the whole work-for-food idea. It was very encouraging to me because I have no experience in this department since Ben was several months old by the time he was big enough to nurse and he didn't have the energy to get through a meal, so I pumped and bottle-fed him for 6 months. I'm really hoping to cut out the middle man this time.

Here are Daddy and Alex hanging out together after he had his dinner.


The doctor has been very pleased with Alex's progress this week and thinks he'll be ready for home very soon. We've scheduled his circumcision for tomorrow, which they consider a major procedure and want to observe him for a few days afterward, so it would be Sunday at the earliest. It's just not common to circumcise here so it's performed by a pediatric urologist and apparently westerners are the only ones who ask for it first thing. Personally, I think the longer we wait the more cruel it would be so the sooner we get it done the better! Hopefully it will be quick and as painless as possible.

And no, we haven't forgotten about Ben! Poor little guy is definitely not getting the attention he's used to these days but he's been really patient with all the changes, even though he doesn't realize the biggest change is still to come. He talks about "baby Anex" (he's still working on his l's) because he got to see him in the NICU quickly so hopefully when we talk about bringing little brother home he knows who were talking about. I really look forward to watching Ben get to know his little brother.

Here are some pictures from last week that I never got to share. Ben and I had a playground and lunch date and he had a terrific time jumping into the ball pit.



Last Friday I asked him to put on his shoes for school and this is what I got...I guess I need to be more specific and let him know that pants are required as well!

Talking to Daddy at dinnertime...

And this was our last family outing as a threesome, although we didn't know it at the time! I never made it home from this park because I went straight to the hospital.


And if you're wondering why Ben's clothes look so big, it's because they're all size 3's. He's still in 18-24 month clothes for the most part, depending on how they're cut, but he found a drawer of hand-me-downs from his friend Oliver and decided he was going to wear this outfit no matter what! Besides having to pull the pants up over and over, I guess it didn't hurt anything :)