Father's Day

Jana spent a lot of time going through our digital pictures of Drew and changing selected pictures to black and white images. I was thrilled to celebrate my first Father's Day (yeah!) this past Sunday, so in honor of Father's Day here are some of the black and white photos of Drew that I really enjoy. These go all the way back to right after he was born and take you up to the present.

This first picture was taken a couple minutes after we got Drew home from the hospital. That already seems like so long ago! He was so tiny in my hands!

With Drew's initial struggles to eat, we had to strip him down to his diaper to keep him awake while feeding. When I was home, I got to take Drew's outfit off before handing him over to Jana. He's so much fun to handle without clothes!
Holding Drew always makes me smile!
I have so much fun with Drew's baths. He's looking at Jana here. I love the way Drew lights up when Jana enters the room.
Here I am enjoying a good conversation with Drew prior to putting him in the bath. Whenever I put Drew on his back to change him or to play, he likes to look up at me and chat away.
Drew in his hat!
Here are my two favorite people: Jana and Drew!
Every time Jana and I look at this picture it makes us smile. Drew is so happy and cute in his sweater!
Is there anything better than a sleeping baby lying on your chest?
This is one of our latest family pictures. I have such a great family!
Drew continues to smile and talk more each day. It has been so much fun watching him grow and develop, and I'm excited about many more years of being a dad. I have been blessed!
I will try to do another post with current Drew pictures in the next day or two, so keep posted!

the regular Monday post is on Tuesday this week

Sorry it took me so long to get these photos posted. After a friendly reminder that I haven't posted in over a week (you know who you are! :) I have finally gotten around to putting up another Drew update. Enjoy!

Last week Drew was looking really cute in his tractor outfit, so we had to grab the camera and get some pictures. We love the warmer weather because now Drew gets to wear shorts and we can show off his cute chubby legs. He's generally not a very chubby baby, but he's got some nice rolls of baby fat in his thighs. While Drew was with Jana below he couldn't stop chatting away! Drew continues to be at his best with just Jana and me (to our frustration!). He smiles, laughs, giggles, and talks all the time with us . . . and uses his pouty lip for people other than us.
As usual, coming home to Jana and Drew is my favorite part of the day!

You can see the moisture on Drew's bib from all his slobbering. He's getting ready to teethe and he produces copious amounts of saliva.
One night last week as we got Drew ready for a bath we noticed the contrast between my tan and Drew's baby whiteness. We're continuing to do our best to keep him out of the sun during peak sun hours and if necessary we keep him covered with his hat or sunscreen. We love his baby whiteness and we don't want him to get a tan!
After his bath I chatted with Drew while he was in his hooded towel. With our warmer weather he doesn't mind getting out of the bath as much as he used to when it was cold.
Drew was busy working the cell phone talking to everyone he knew when he finally gave in to the tiredness and fell asleep.
When Drew gets tired, he gets tired. Doesn't it look like he just collapsed into sleep?
One night on the couch Jana set Drew down for a second and he moved into this position on his own. We immediately grabbed the camera! Is Drew hoping to be a model someday?
With cool looks like this maybe he will get his modeling contract! This past Saturday it was a beautiful day on MSU's campus for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Jana, Drew, Aunt Christina and I all participated and walked many laps around Sparty. We prepared Drew for the sunny weather by providing him with some sunglasses.
Drew also stayed out of the sun with the help of his trusty hat. Every once in a while we turned the brim up for him so he could have a look around at what was going on around him.
Later in the evening the sun wasn't as bright, so Drew decided to flip the shades up and show off his blue eyes.
We wanted to get one more picture with the sunglasses, but Drew and the sunglasses just didn't cooperate. This was the closest we got to the picture we wanted! :)
Eventually, Drew got tired from the day's events and we bundled him up for an evening nap. Jana is holding him next to Gabby, a graduate student friend from my lab, and Kristen, a lab technician in my lab. Other people from graduate school who participated in the Relay for Life included Heather, a graduate student in my program, and Alexis and Rob. Alexis was our team captain and we had an ALOHA theme.
Here is Drew in action in his swing. He loves his swing and especially enjoys playing with the two toys in the front of it. Drew continues to look so cute in his outfits that we need to take pictures. We had a great time talking to each other on Sunday afternoon.
Drew took a few breaks from talking to do some leg lifts and work out his abs. He's got really strong abs!
Jana snapped this photo of Drew in his swing yesterday.
Drew's face is a little bleached out in this photo, but you can get the idea of how happy I was to see him at the end of the day on Monday.
Drew is getting more and more wiggly. He still likes to be held, but he has started reaching for things and looking around more and more.

the weekend and the doctor

Yesterday Drew had his four month checkup with Dr. Turner, our pediatrician. The four month visit included three more shots. Ouch! We were better prepared this time for Drew's screams following the shots and he calmed down and had a bottle within a couple minutes. Drew is continuing to grow nicely; he's about 25 inches long and weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces. Drew continues to surprise us by being completely average in height (50th percentile), but just like his dad he's running a little on the thin side for weight (25th percentile). Even with his diapers on he's got a cute little butt! Dr. Turner said that Drew looks great and that he is developing very nicely.Last week while we were downstairs at our computer (probably looking at Drew's blog :) Drew couldn't take his eyes of Jana. Drew is continually fascinated by the two of us, which makes him a lot of fun to hold and play with.Drew continues to discover his voice and the many ways he can use it. He squeals, yells, coos, and whines. Because of his limited range of noises, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether he's distressed and getting ready to cry or whether he's just experimenting. That's the case in this picture below because I can't remember if he was happy or distressed when I took this picture! Drew continues to practice his standing!
On Thursday night we took Drew out in the backyard to enjoy our lilacs blooming (you can see them to the side of Drew).
While I was holding Drew, Jana snapped this picture when I wasn't suspecting it. Drew's head is so soft and kissable! I couldn't resist!
Drew got in a little closer to check out the columbine in bloom. I don't think he quite knew what to make of the flowers!
Drew has been sleeping in a "sleep sack" for a while now, and I don't think I've captured many pictures of it for the blog. This is his cooler summer sleep sack with no sleeves. This outfit is very convenient for diaper changings during the night or early morning, but not the most masculine look for a little boy. I like to tease Drew about how cute he looks in his "sleep dress."
I guess he doesn't always like the teasing because here he is in full pout!
Last Saturday the three of us went out on a date that included a stop by the miniature horse and miniature donkey farm. Here are the minauture donkeys, which when full grown are about 3-4 feet tall! The one in the middle must have just been born this spring because it was REALLY little. I think Jana and I enjoyed the miniature animals more than Drew, but some of our enthusiasm rubbed off.
We haven't taken many bath pictures of Drew lately, so when we gave Drew his Saturday night bath we decided to have another photo shoot. Here are a couple of photos of Drew in his diaper before his bath.


I did it! I finally got the Drew's face when he first gets in the bath. He has a look of extreme panic on his face for a couple seconds when he touches the water, but the panic quickly changes to joy and he starts splashing around.Within minutes Drew enjoys himself in the bath like he's doing here with Jana.
Drew's not always happy to get out of the bath, but on Saturday night he handled it pretty well. He snuggled right into his towel and even started to play with it.

Drew loves chewing on his hands! Sometimes it is hard to get a picture of him without a hand going in front of his mouth. Our pediatrician agreed that he is probably starting to get teeth, but that they won't break through for another month or so.
There's a picture of Drew without his hand in the way!
Drew got sick of lying down and wanted a chance to get some pictures standing up.
On Sunday afternoon we made Drew a little tent in the backyard so that he could enjoy the backyard with us.
Of course, we also had to strip him down to his diaper so that we could see his cute little body in just a diaper (actually, we didn't want him to get hot).
Drew liked being outside and was chatting away with us.
By Sunday night Drew was tired out, so he took a little nap with Jana. This was shortly before he went to bed and was struggling to make it to bedtime without falling asleep.

Drew stands on his own

Last night Drew achieved another milestone when he stood up unassisted for the first time! While Jana was working on our computer downstairs, Drew was playing with me. He seemed to be standing really well, so I decided to try something new. Drew stood up next to the couch, held on to it for support, and when I let go of him he held on to the couch and stood for about fifteen seconds on his own (then he got tired). Jana watched as well and when Drew was tired of the game I hurried to grab the camera. No moment in Drew's life can go uncaptured! :)
You can see Drew is reaching for his cell phone on the couch. He loves to hold his cell phone and while standing he had the cell phone in one hand and the pacifier in the other. Way to go Drew!Drew got all tired out from our playing and soon needed the pacifier, which immediately preceded a much needed nap with Jana. Standing is hard work!