4 Weeks Old!!

Samuel went to the doctor yesterday for his four week appointment.
He now weighs 8 lbs 7 oz (up from 6 lbs 10 oz when we left the hospital, and 7 lbs 5 oz at birth).
He is now 22 3/4 inches long (he had grown 3 3/4 inches since birth).

Here are some pictures from the past week...
My daddy always makes me smile :)

Here's Samuel watching some TV.

Samuel's friends Josh and Lesley came to visit.

Samuel chillin in the bath tub.

Samuel holding his head up and talking to daddy.

I was trying to get a picture of Samuel's funny, Alfalfa like, hair do... But, Clara got in the way.

Naturals Game

We took Samuel to his first baseball game last Thursday. Some people from Bud's office were going and it was a cool evening (like 75 degrees), so we decided to give it a try. We figured since tickets are so cheap, if it didn't go well we could just leave early. But, Samuel really loved it! He was very alert, looking around at the lights and the people. He even got the mascot for the Naturals... Strike the Sasquatch. Samuel and his daddy were both pretty tired when we got home, so they fell asleep right away :)

Three Weeks Old

(Clockwise: 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, 1 day)

Samuel has already changed so much over the past three weeks.

• He is awake for more of the day... usually for about 1-2 hours after 2 or 3 of his feedings each day.
• He sleeps for longer stretches at night... our longest stretch so far was 4.5 hours.
• He likes baths now... thanks to some tips from Amy.
• He takes a bottle well... daddy can feed him from time to time, or we can go out without me having to leave the conversation for a good half hour!
• He has started to fill out more and lookmore like a baby (less like a newborn)... I don't have exact measurements, we go to the doctor next Tuesday, but his newborn sized clothes are almost fitting him!
• He focuses on faces... he will make eye contact with me when being held.
• His neck muscles are getting stronger... he can turn his head from one side to the other while on his tummy.
• He stretches out more... he was always in the fetal position, but now he stretches his arms and legs more.
• He explodes out of fewer diapers... we were changing clothes with every diaper until we found a diaper that works for him.
• Mom can comfort him better... I know what his grunts mean - hungry, tired, or pooping :)

Samuel's Play Date

We have formed a play group with friends from church. There are five stay at home moms with kids ages two and under. Between the five of us there are 7 kids and one on the way. Today, we headed to Chick-fil-a to let the older boys play on the playground while the rest of us chased the crawlers and held the babies. I really enjoy getting together with these girls... it's great to get out of the house around adults from time to time. Although Samuel doesn't really play with the other kids yet, we love the company. Above is a picture of the crew enjoying lunch. There was another mom and baby as well as myself and Samuel who didn't make it in the picture. We definitely made our presence known :)

Pictures of Samuel

I tried to set up a photo shoot to get a good picture for the birth announcement, but most of them just turn out goofy looking. Here are some "proofs" from our past sessions as well as some candid pics from the week.

The thinker.


Just relaxing.


AHH... would you please stop taking my picture.


I surrender.


I think this one looks like a doll.


This is one of my favorites from the past week.


The Egyptian.