Its official 2 is now 3!

Well gang, guess what?  The house has a brand new 1 month old member.  Initially, I was going to try to rush out a post on the actual day of his birth ... but as you can imagine, I was a little busy with other matters.  

He's here!

A rose in Jake's honor at our church

So Jacob (my son) was born a little over a month ago on his due date!  Now some of you may be saying to yourself, "Self, why did he put an exclamation point there."  I would respond to this in two ways.  First, you silly reader, DUH, this is our first <human> son, OF COURSE he deserves an exclamation point.  Secondly, now this is super cool as well.  Apparently, less than 5% of babies are born on their official due date.  Already, my son is showing his exemplary nature.  Jacob Tristan weighed in at a little over 7 lbs.  According to the Chinese calendar, Jacob has been born in the year of the water dragon.  This is apparently a really lucky thing ... hopefully he won't need to cash it in on that to often.   The first night was both exciting and terrifying, but we made it through.  It was looking dicey but thanks to a great pacifier (THANKS AUNT DOTTY!), and the knowledge that we could trade nap times the next day ... we were soon through.  Luckily, the nights have gone pretty well since then.

I have to say the little guy has been quite the superstar.  He sleeps well at night, want to interact with us during the day, and is growing like a weed.  His coos are enough to melt your heart, and when he stretches and puckers his lips you will do anything at all for him.
 Some of the pets love the little guy.  Nemo especially likes to curl up next to the him while he is sleeping on our chest or nursing with EJ.  Frisby is still trying to figure out how to get the food he is eating (when he is nursing of course).  The others, well they don't really care as long as they get fed and the house is clean.  So the household has had no problems with the transition which takes a huge weight off of our minds.

At this point, we have a pretty good routine.... of course I have no illusions that this will last forever.  We will need to change frequently as we are forced to adapt to Elsa's return to work and Jake's growth .... but its clearly worth it.  The little man likes to sleep at night, will sometimes nap during the day, but prefers to be played with, cooed to, or held a lot when he is active.  He really likes it when we take him for a walk <in his nifty Bob stroller -- the Cadillac of baby transport devices> to the beach.  Studies show that sun exposure (don't worry we protect him from directed sun rays) in the afternoon assists in better sleeping at night.  This seems to be working quite well so far.  EJ is likely going to teach him Spanish as well as English and we have started reading to him.  He can't see very well yet and when he grabs toys its kinda accidental, but I've already started to dream about playing ball someday, or going on hikes or ski trips.  I swear the lil' man gets more fun everyday!

Ready for his big day out.

We can't wait until he meets everyone.  We have already had a bunch of visitors, but if any of you readers want to stop by for a visit consider this an open invite.  Just call first as I haven't notified the wife about this :-)

Jake's first play date and sleepover... how advanced :)

I will try to write more often... but bear with me if there are delays.  Elsa won't always let me get away with blogging while she does all the work after all.


Love Zach, Elsa, Frisby, Kitty, Nemo, Jamie, Cosmo, Paulie, Dirt Dawg, and of course the superstar himself JACOB!!!

Hey Kid it could be worse.... you could be a Cubs fan now!