Dimples

We went swimming at Aunt B's today and have some great pictures to post later. In the meantime here's a little dimple action to whet your appetite. It's not the full glory of a real smile, but we haven't been able to capture that yet. Hopefully very soon!

Phototherapy

These are for you, K.P. Enjoy!

G.Q.

Modeling his Proraps cover (Mr. Zookeeper's fave)

Get your tickets to the gun show

Perfect for snacking

One month old!

Yes, it's true: Monkey is one month old as of yesterday. Thanks to our non-lunar sleep cycle, that's kind of like today around here. Actually, the whole month has pretty much been one very long day. But oh, what Monkey has accomplished in that day. At his one month check up yesterday, he weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 20 inches long. This keeps him firmly in the 10th percentile for height and weight and right on track. The big surprise was another measurement: his head has jumped from the 5th percentile to the 25th! That amounts to about an inch and a half increase in circumference. There are giant German noggins on both sides of Monkey's family, so it isn't a complete shock, but still. Seems like there must be some big brains in there.

We are also pleased to report that Monkey is now wearing his cloth diapers and newborn clothes!!! The cloth diapers help with filling out the newborn clothes but even in disposables the preemies are a tight fit now. We find it isn't worth the wrestling match to get his arms in those little sleeves. For those curious about cloth diapers, what is working for us right now are prefolds during the day and Kissaluvs at night. We are switching between Thirsties, Bummis and Proraps covers. If we had to pick a favorite, it would probably be the Thirsties although the Bummis are winning us over. Aunt A and Uncle N graciously loaned us their Sleepy Wrap and Monkey really loves to be carried around in it. It is quite possibly his favorite place to be. Actually, his favorite place to be would be in the Sleepy Wrap while bouncing on the exercise ball. As long as this happens within viewing distance of a laptop (thank you, hulu!) we are happy to indulge him.

Overachiever

Let it be said that being Zookeepers to the most adorable Monkey in the world can be fraught with difficulty. How to appropriately care for such a paragon? The weight of responsibility is heavy. However, we have an excellent support staff for this project, and we are very grateful for their wisdom and expertise.

For example, Monkey's pediatrician is a very intelligent and highly educated woman. How do we know? Not by her resume alone, that's for sure. Perhaps it is the way she refers to Monkey: "textbook perfect" (his weight gain) "the best I've seen" (his belly button) "so adorable" (his overall state of wellness). Yes, it's true, these are statements of cold, hard fact. Monkey's weight gain is textbook perfect. As of our visit last Thursday, he had grown to a hefty 7 pounds which moves him from the 5th to the 10th percentile, and puts him within reach of the weight of an 'average' newborn. While still wearing his preemie wardrobe, we are glad to see that it takes a little stretching to snap those last snaps now. His belly button is completely healed and adorable in addition to being one of the best belly buttons our doctor has witnessed. Our doctor is part of the local university medical group, so there was a student shadowing her during our visit. After listening to Monkey's heart, the student was instructed to take careful notice of how clear and lovely Monkey's skin is, which is also unusual in a baby his age. (We were instructed to take pictures now while it lasts.) So, all in all, it is clear that Monkey's pediatrician is a highly astute and perceptive lady who knows what she is talking about. We will see her again on his 1 month birthday for another update on his progress.

To celebrate this excellent check up, Monkey journeyed to the south to meet some very important people. Here is Monkey with both of his great-grandmas:



The pictures are a little fuzzy because it is sometimes hard to hold Monkey and not rock. He's just that snuggly. Here at the zoo our bedtime rocking is accompanied by Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. Judging by the contented pacifier sucking, we think that Monkey is enjoying them very much.

Yes, in case you're wondering, we are getting a little punchy over here.

Weekend Update

It's been an interesting weekend here at the Zoo. Recent happenings included: Monkey's umbilical cord stump fell off, he grew into the newborn diapers, he slept for 3 straight hours at night and attended both his first party and his first funeral. While we are enjoying our time together as a new family we are so sad about losing Grandma Kathy. She was a dear, dear friend to both the Zookeepers and a huge fan of Monkey long before he existed. We are very grateful that she and Monkey were able to meet each other even though their time here only overlapped by a few days. Please keep Grandma Kathy's family in your prayers.

We regret that we don't have new photos to post, but we hope you'll understand. We hope to have some more to post later this week, when we hope Monkey will have moved into his cloth diapers. We're waiting for his belly button to heal up a little bit more. So we are good on diapers now, but we could still use food and/or magazines if you are so inclined.

Recommended Daily Allowance of Sweetness

Baby Burrito

Arms are good pillows

Plotting world domination with his friend Mr. Pacifier

Just FYI for those new to the blogosphere: if you click on any of the pictures on the blog they will get bigger.

Not much new to report, except that Monkey now has insurance and a lot of official government-type documentation to prove that he exists. He very much likes to chew on his hands or a pacifier or his lower lip. We are having some issues with keeping him in diapers as he needs the preemie size but the absorbency of the newborn size. There were several Houdini-like incidents before we figured this out. He's still too little to wear his cloth diapers, unfortunately. The clothes he's sporting in these photos are part of the preemie wardrobe Grandma and Grandpa T and Aunt B brought to the hospital.

In case you were wondering about the other animals at the zoo, Dog is doing reasonably well (he's a little too interested in the trash) and was excellently cared for by Friend E and Aunt A while we were in the hospital. Now that we are home he is getting special exercise time with Friend L, for which we are very, very grateful. So don't worry that he is being cruelly neglected.

We have been asked frequently what we need right now, and the list is quite short: food, someone to mow the lawn, preemie diapers, and glossy (girly) magazines. Other than that we are pretty well set. Thanks so much to everyone who has brought over food already! It is very much appreciated.

Monkey Update

We are all home and settling in. While we truly had amazing nurses and doctors at the hospital, there is no place like home and we are all enjoying being able to relax and be comfortable in our own space. Monkey had a big day yesterday, having appointments with the pediatrician and a test at the hospital. We were astonished to learn that Monkey now weighs 5 lbs, 14 oz!!! Like most newborns, Monkey had lost a little weight after he was born, getting down to 5 lbs 3 oz at our last hospital weight check. That amounts to an 11 oz weight gain in 36 hours - which should give you some idea of how we have been spending our time. The hospital test was for bilirubin, which is the substance that causes jaundice. He was starting to get a little yellow but all that eating and hanging out in the sunshine have kept his levels right where they should be and he is doing great. Mrs. Zookeeper continues to recover as well, although her blood pressure was a little high when we left the hospital so she will go in to the doctor's office to get checked again tomorrow. And now for what you really want: gratuitous baby pictures!



We are trying to select a picture for the birth announcements, so if you have a preference, please leave a comment and let us know!