Growing

Kate is definitely growing.  The sleeves on her newborn outfits don't have to be rolled up nearly as much and she has a little belly to fill out those newborn diapers.

Our little peanut enjoys being held, grunting, and napping.....lots of napping.  We have also been trying our luck with a bit of tummy time and Katie is so strong she can lift her head from side to side.

But Kate is also very alert.  She doesn't want to miss any of the action especially with a big brother like Jacob around.

We love to catch some of her smiles.

She has not really warmed up to bathing, but hopefully she doesn't mind being clean.

Happy Easter!

Saturday Jacob opted for an early nap and met up with Babcia for the Easter basket blessing and the Easter egg hunt.  The Easter basket blessing was beautifully done by Father Jacob and then the Easter egg hunt began.

Jacob thought these kids were crazy all picking things up off the ground and putting them in their bags and baskets, but he went ahead and picked a few pieces of candy out of the grass.  Of course Jacob could not be bothered to carry the basket.....that and picture taking was Mama's job.

After some walking, Jacob rested in the picnic area.

And then it happened......the Easter bunny left a Reese cup to warm in the sun and Jacob picked it up.  Of course it mushed in his hand and then got into his eye.  This is how Jacob looked after he and the Easter bunny tussled......the Easter bunny looked worse.  I guess Jacob is still allergic to peanut butter or at least Jacob's right eye is!

Happy Easter Sunday!  This year went to Mass at 6:30 AM and thank goodness we did because we heard the later services were beyond capacity.  6:30 is very doable for us since neither Jacob nor Katie understand the meaning of sleeping in......yet.

Kate looked so cute in the pink outfit Grammy got her and mostly slept her way through the day like a good baby.  She accessorized with her bunny hat and was so cute.  Jacob was a little more active, but he still looked handsome.  And Jacob was having an interesting hair day to go along with that puffy eye!  Of course we tamed the hair for church.
Once we got home, Jacob quickly caught on that someone (aka the Easter bunny) left a couple deliciously valuable M&Ms in each of his Easter eggs scattered throughout the house.  You better believe Jacob was on a chocolate fueled mission to find each of those eggs.  That Easter bunny must have felt bad about the peanut butter incident on Saturday.

After his appetizer of M&Ms, Jacob was ready to go to the annual breakfast at Babcia and Dziadzia's house.  We look forward to this meal all year and it never disappoints.  Jacob was mostly interested in the egg hunt especially the eggs with M&Ms and not all interested in the eggs with "paper" (money) inside.  Oh how quickly that will change.  Luckily Alex was there to handle all the eggs with "paper" and to help Jacob run off his chocolate frenzy......or maybe Alex was just there to push Jacob on the ride on toy.

Kate pretty much slept through everything, but did wake up for the important things like eating.  Next year she might need her own Easter basket to hunt those important M&M eggs.

The following week while at the mall, Jacob spotted some more eggs in the children's department display and opened them all to see if there was anything interesting inside.  They must have forgotten to include the M&Ms.  Jacob sure was comfortable among the mannequins, but he was a little under-dressed among his friends.

One Month

Katherine Cole is a month old!!!  We can tell she is getting chubbier because our arms hurt after a while of holding her.  Newborn clothes are still a little big, but she sure looks cute in pink.  Of course our Kate is still in newborn diapers and spends her days eating, sleeping, and requiring diaper changes.  The NICU schedule is sticking with Kate and she eats about every 3 to 4 hours.  She especially enjoys milk and a couple daily servings of formula (to bulk up her weight).  After an evening meal of formula, she sleeps well through the night.

Jacob shows occasional interest in baby Katie, but mostly prefers to be the center of attention.  He is skeptical of new family members showing up at the door.

Home Sweet Home

Now that we are home with our sweet baby Katie, we are enjoying her new baby schedule.  One benefit of the NICU is that Kate came home with a routine.  Here is our little peanut in her first few minutes at home.  It must have been an adjustment to have a big brother running around and shouting as opposed to all those alarms and machines beeping in the NICU. 

While Jacob was so big he was normally off the growth charts, Kate is working to simply get onto the charts.  She had a pediatrician appointment on Wednesday the 26th and had gained an ounce since being discharged from the hospital on Sunday.  She is up to 4 lbs 6 oz.  We will take that small victory in 3 days of being at home.  We dressed Kate in the same outfit Jacob came home in and it was just a little too big, but Jacob was also above 7 lbs.  

It has been a while since we had a baby around the house so Dada brushed up on his swaddling by reading the swaddle instructions.  He sure can wrap a tight burrito baby.  Kate doesn't seem too pleased with the swaddle, but she loves it at night.

Kate was originally due on March 31 (Mama's birthday) so we celebrated with a picture.  Jacob wasn't excited about participating so Katie and I just sat near him.  Jacob must have been a little upset that we are all getting older or possibly that we are interrupting him to take a picture.