the Baby Bjorn

I actually meant to include this picture in the last post, but forgot. When we found out at the latest doctor's appointment that Drew was over eight pounds and around 21 inches, we were excited because that meant we could put him in the Baby Bjorn! Here he is below strapped in for his first ride with me. The Baby Bjorn is very comfortable to have on, and Drew fits snugly into it with his chest against my chest. As he gets bigger, we can fold the top down and he can ride facing out. After I snuck in the first turn, Jana has actually given the Baby Bjorn the most use. She has been using it to keep two hands free for typing and she and Drew have gone for a couple of walks with him riding in front of her. Last Thursday night Drew was really sleepy, so we had a fun photo session of him sleeping. We love having him snuggled in on our chest!

Drew did wake up eventually (he got hungry), and that gave us a chance to talk to him. This is my typical view of him; he's looking up at me and I'm looking down on him.

Jana and I had another hot and steamy Friday night date . . . . giving Drew a bath, which he really seemed to enjoy. We put him in the water and he stayed very calm throughout the whole process.

I had to take a couple of naked bathing pictures (doesn't every parent?), but I also wanted to protect Drew's modesty. Thank goodness for Photoshop! Drew is definitely growing and filling more of the tub. Here I did some artful camera work to capture Drew from the waist up. He's still enjoying his bath!
After the bath, we put Drew in his duck towel. We love how his hair spikes up after a bath. Can you see it against the yellow towel?
On Saturday we went to Grand Rapids, and for the big outing we put Drew in his sailboat outfit and PANTS! Drew doesn't usually get to wear pants, so this was a big occasion for him.
Here's another shot of Drew in his pants being held by Grandma Lynn.
After going a year without drinking pop (as part of a bet), I was happy to have my beloved Mountain Dew again. I thought I'd give Drew a little encouragement to "Do the Dew" as well. I think Drew is getting bigger, but he looks tiny next to the 20 ounce bottle!

Drew was doing a great job of making eye contact with me on Sunday while I was watching basketball. He's been spitting up from time to time, so I protected his outfit with his "I love my mommy" bib.
And after a couple minutes of eye contact, Drew is staring off into space again. Last night Drew was lying on the couch so alertly, that I had to take a picture of him. He loves to purse his lips and give us this serious expression.

future hockey player?

Yesterday after work some of my labmates and graduate school friends went ice skating at Munn Ice Arena on MSU's campus. Jana and Drew joined us as well. Both Jana and I got into skates and were out on the ice because there was no shortage of volunteers to hold Drew while Jana and I took some laps around the rink! Going to the hockey rink was Drew's first exposure to a sports arena. Does this mean we have a future hockey player on our hands?

Ritu, a graduate student in my program, the Cell and Molecular Biology program, got the first turn holding Drew.

The next person to grab Drew was Sarah, who is also a graduate student in my program. Sarah started graduate school with me and works in a lab right down the hall from mine.
Emily got a couple turns holding Drew as well. Emily is an administrative assistant for MSU's Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center.
Alexis waited very patiently, and eventually she got a turn holding Drew too. Alexis obtained her Masters degree in our lab and has stayed in the lab working as a research assistant.
We spent a lot of time distracted by Drew, but we also got some skating in too. From left to right, Sarah, Ritu, and Gabby are making their way around the ice. Gabby is a Genetics graduate student working in our lab.Drew had many female admirers at the rink, but this one was the youngest. This four-year-old girl came over to Drew and wanted to touch him. She liked petting his face and she gave us some "help" with the pacifier.


With all our outings lately, Jana gets pretty tired. Sometimes after feeding Drew she falls asleep before making it back to bed, so she and Drew sleep on the couch. I have to give a plug for Jana here because she has been a real trooper. I am nicknamed the "weak link" in our household because I don't do well without sleep (I immediately get sick). Therefore, Jana handles the night feedings for us (she's the strong one) and very occasionally I help out with one. Despite getting small amounts of sleep, Jana still manages to have a smile on her face during the day!
We've been going out more lately, so Drew has become more accustomed to being in his car seat.
After sleeping the whole time we were ice skating, Drew woke up and was ready to play last night. I love it when he's awake at night because then I get a chance to play with him.

Drew's one month checkup

This morning we took Drew in for his one month visit to the doctor and found out that he is doing very well! He is gaining weight and now weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces and he's growing longer at 21 inches. After being in the 10th percentile for his first appointment, he has now bumped up into the 25th percentile. He's still a little guy (who would have thought Jana and I would have such a little baby?), but he's getting bigger!

Thank you for your support and prayers during our first month with Drew!

Drew has lots of family!

I am starting this post with a thank you to our families, who have been a big help in taking care of Drew. They have provided a lot of support without being around TOO much (if you know what I mean), and they have also helped out a lot with providing food (I like that!). Most of the pictures so far have focused on Jana and me with Drew, but here are a few showing Drew with our families.

This picture is from Drew's first road trip to Grand Rapids. My parents, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill, were pretty excited about having Drew over! Grandma Sue has been making regular trips to Lansing on her day off to give Jana time to grade for her online class or run errands. It's been a big help.

Uncle Todd's truck has frequently found its way to Lansing, and he has helped out with some of the feedings.
Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Vryhof hurried home from Florida to see Drew. They have been to Lansing several times since then and helped Jana and I to go out for dinner on our own for Valentine's Day.
This past weekend Drew made his first overnight visit to Grand Rapids. We stayed with Jana's parents, Grandpa John and Grandma Lynn. Drew did very well on his first overnight trip, and we had a great visit with Jana's family. Is Drew practicing a cheer routine here with Grandpa John?Aunt Christina watched Drew last Friday night while Jana and I went out for our first full evening without Drew. She has also made the trip to Lansing and helped out with distracting Drew so that we can get things done.
Grandma Lynn has taken time from her busy schedule several times to come to Lansing and help take care of Drew. She has been a big help with feedings and with baths!
Okay, now I'll move on to more recent pictures of Drew. We've been working on getting him acclimated to the swing, and he's pretty content in it for about 20 minutes at a time right now. Here he is with the swing in action.
I tried to get Drew to look at me, but he was enthralled by his mother in this photo. He's been doing really well with eye contact!
We get such a kick out of Drew in his car seat. It makes him look so little!
Drew continually likes to stare at us with a look of total concentration. We're still trying to figure out what he is so serious about.

We've found other uses for the pee-pee teepee! . . . . Our amusement!
Here are a couple pictures of Drew sleeping. Even while sleeping, we hover over him snapping pictures!

Last night we gave Drew a bath. I'm keeping him warm and calm before he's rudely shocked by the water (and I'm having fun holding him).

We keep Drew snugged up in his soft blanket, then take parts of him out to wash them. He doesn't seen to mind it too much.
The bath couldn't have been that bad because about halfway through Drew started to fall asleep!

He woke up at the end though (he got hungry), so that we could see his eyes while in his hooded towel.
I had fun snuggling Drew to warm him after his bath.
I was even able to pull my finger out and Drew stayed calm long enough to take a picture.

the latest photo session

As I mentioned yesterday, I lost a bunch of photos from our memory card. Jana and I concluded that the situation obviously required us to take many photos of Drew to make up for lost time (of course!). Thus, last night we had a photo session, and Drew cooperated quite well. As promised, here are more pictures of Drew with Jana. See, I let her hold him too! :)
This teddy bear is from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill and it originally resided on top of a diaper cake at one of Jana's baby showers. We're secretly using it here as a frame of reference so that we can use the teddy bear someday to remind ourselves that Drew was really that small once.
Drew is chilling here on the couch with man's best friend, his stuffed dog from Uncle Todd. All he needs is something to drink and some sports on TV and he'd be all set.
Jana and I never get tired of watching Drew peek over each other's shoulder.

Like other pictures on the blog, holding Drew makes me very happy!
Jana has a bit of an Ann Geddes streak that I didn't entirely know about. Last night she walked into the living room with a big bowl, which I assumed meant that we were going to pop some popcorn. Jana immediately corrected me and told me that the bowl was for Drew. This confused me even more until I realized that she wanted to put him in it and take pictures. He was a little floppy in it, but I think this one turned out all right. Women and babies! :)