our good little sleeper

Look at this, a post with no pictures! I have to take a brief moment to brag that Jana and I have cut back a little on the picture taking. Last Sunday, we went for a five mile hike in the late afternoon in a local park along the Grand River, and we didn't take any pictures of the event. A moment of Drew's life went uncaptured!

When I get the next batch of pictures posted, you will notice that Jana and I look a little more rested. That's because for the past four nights Drew has only woken up only once during the night! He has been doing much better during the night with sleeping for long stretches, and we think it may be attributed to him making the move to his own room. Apparently, my snoring wakes him up during the night :) We are so excited that he is letting us have long stretches of sleep and that he is doing much better at putting himself to sleep too, so his feedings don't take as long at night. Yeah!

Great-Grandma Gezon

This past week Jana and I were in Grand Rapids on Tuesday and Wednesday for the visitation and funeral for Jana's Grandma Gezon, who recently passed away. She lived 94 years, and by the end of her life she was suffering and ready to move on to heaven. We are very sad that she is no longer with us and we will miss her terribly, but we are also happy that she is finally at peace.

The week before she died and with the end of her life near, Jana went to Grand Rapids to say goodbye to her grandmother and to show her Drew one last time. Drew snuggled right in, grabbed his great-grandma's hand, and they both fell asleep! We are happy that Drew got the chance to meet his great-grandmother a couple times and we are thrilled that Drew was a source of joy for great-grandma Gezon during her final days. She told everyone who visited about her great-grandson Andrew.

Drew's helpers

I'm starting this update with a "thank you" to some people who have been a big help with taking care of Drew. First, Jana and I are continually grateful that Grandma Sue uses her day off from work to come to Lansing to care for Drew. Having Drew taken care of for a day makes Jana's online class and dissertation work much more manageable, and it gives here a "catch up" day during the week to get things done.

Second, we want to thank Alexis and Rob for their help babysitting Drew. Alexis and Rob have been taking care of Drew on some weekday evenings, so that Jana and I can go to the gym together to work out. Physical activity is great for our mental health, and getting the opportunity to work out together is a special treat!

Third, we would like to thank Nora for coming during the day to take care of Drew (Nora's pictured below). Nora has come several times and allowed Jana to get out of the house and do work, or go grocery shopping, or run errands, or to stay at home and catch up on sleep.

Drew was so happy after being with Nora, that Jana had to snap a picture of him.
Drew continues to enjoy his baths. He has a momentary look of panic on his face when first getting in, but once in the bath he splashes around and enjoys it until the water starts to cool off. He is very alert during his baths, and he does a great job of making eye contact. Giving him a bath is still one of our favorite things to do with Drew.
During some tummy time with me, the distinctive shape of his head (that he gets from me) was quite apparent.
After a little while, Drew got tired of craning his neck, so he just looked to the side at me.
While Jana was folding laundry during the day, she thought Drew's hands and feet looked so cute in his onesie, that she needed some pictures of him in the laundry basket (it's hidden beneath the towel).
Flying baby!
This past Saturday Drew and I went to Grand Rapids for the day, while Jana enjoyed a day-long break from her two boys. Jana got the chance to sleep in and dictate her schedule for an entire day!

When Grandpa Bill and Grandma Sue heard that Drew was coming, they made sure that Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Vryhof got the chance to see him too. Here Drew is being admired by Grandma Sue and Great-Grandma Vryhof. My Aunt Barb also came over for her first opportunity to see Drew. She happened to come right at meal time, so she gave Drew his bottle.

The reason I was in Grand Rapids was to help build an addition on my parents' deck. Here my grandpa is surveying the work that needs to be done.
Todd and I rented a two-man auger from the Home Depot, and we used it to dig new post holes for the addition. While Drew was inside spending time with Grandma Sue, I was outside working with Todd and Grandpa Bill.
We got a lot of work done on the deck, and you can start to see what the addition will look like. We still have to add a set of stairs on the side with no railing. We need to add stairs too so that Grandpa and Grandma can get down to the yard to play with Drew.
Drew was happy inside playing with Grandma Sue, and he even managed a couple of smiles for her. See if you can read his bib. We love this one! (it says "I love big hugs")
Uncle Todd took a break from working to hold Drew for a little while. (I did too :)
Here's one of Drew's smiles!
Here is another smile (I just caught the tail end of it).
During the day Jana has to figure out what to do with Drew while she takes a shower. I got to see her plan in action this weekend when she placed Drew in his carseat and then proceeded to narrate her shower and sing to him to keep him happy.
Apparently, it works quite well because when I went in to see how he was doing he was grinning away and cooing.
With this kind of audience response, I expect that Jana will be doing solos in no time :)

a lot to catch up on

I had a very busy week last week, and I fell a little behind on posting new pictures of Drew. This post is quite large and will catch me up on what's been happening for the past week.

Last Monday, Todd and Kelli came over for a visit. We all went out for dinner, and then Todd and Kelli helped out with the first night feeding, which ended up being quite early in the morning because Drew slept for a while. Jana was still getting over being sick, so she appreciated the rest. Jana slept for the longest stretch of time since Drew was born! As usual, Drew was the center of attention. By the way, Jana and I were in the room too :)

On Wednesday, I came home to Jana sporting a fresh haircut for the first time since Drew was born. Doesn't she look great?!
In preparation for a presentation on Friday, I decided to do a little baking on Wednesday night. As part of my presentation I had to provide food and beverages, so I make almond bars. I felt right at home in the kitchen with my oven mitt on and Drew strapped in the Baby Bjorn.
Drew and I were both in blue on Thursday. We planned our outfits to coordinate, of course.
When I got home on Friday, I had to tell Drew all about the presentation I gave on "Hormonal Regulation and Function of Progesterone Receptor Isoforms In Vivo." He thought it was fascinating stuff.

On Saturday Drew was dressed up in his khakis and button down shirt for a trip to Grand Rapids. He was so cute!!
We stopped by Grandma Sue's house first, so that she could see Drew in his outfit.

Then we moved on to Nate and Meg's house for the evening. Drew is continuing to practice the listening skills here with Nate.
Because Drew needed a bath and it is so entertaining, we all gave Drew a bath on Saturday night.
Meg cleaned Drew's hair for him.
Nate helped out with rinsing and keeping Drew warm with the washcloth. (I hovered and took pictures)
After his bath and a snack, Drew was happy to sit with us.
Although, all the action from the day eventually tired him out.
Sunday afternoon Drew enjoyed more time looking at himself in the mirror on the Gymini.
By later Sunday afternoon, Drew had moved on to a new outfit after dirtying his cute puppy outift. Jana needed a picture of him with his Winnie the Pooh booties.
Sunday night the whole family got outside for a walk. We enjoyed the extra hours of light thanks to daylight savings time, although we didn't enjoy the lost hour of sleep. Drew loves to go for walks in his stroller. He was awake and quiet for most of the walk, but did manage to catch some sleep after a while. We didn't hear a peep from him during the entire walk.
We got back from our walk, and I kept an eye on Drew while I was making supper. He was in a very good mood, so I decided to grab the camera to get some more pictures. As soon as I started snapping pictures, Drew surprised me with a smile! What a great way to end the weekend!

first smile!!

Here are some pictures from our weekend. We had a fun time taking Drew out and we enjoyed staying in with him. Either way, we continue to take lots of pictures of him!
Drew appears a little dubious here about having his picture taken yet again.
On Friday night after work I had fun with Drew and his bee toy. You pull the cord and then as it winds back up the bee buzzes. Drew was captivated by it!

We like to have fun with Drew and his stuffed animals. His alligator is lurking here . . . . . . and it has attacked! Luckily, Drew is moving his arm up to ward it off. (Yes, I know. Jana and I are easily amused.)
Friday night Aunt Christina came over to visit. She stayed overnight and helped out with a night feeding of Drew so we could sleep. Yeah!
When we sit Drew on the floor, he's getting so much better at holding himself up that we can hold his hands while he supports his head, looks around, and occassionally lets out a yell (pictured below).
At other times he was content to merely sit up and look at me.
I'm working on continuing to put pictures of Jana in the blog. Jana wasn't feeling well this weekend, but she still managed a smile for me and Drew.
Saturday night was a bath night again for Drew. We wanted him nice and clean for church on Sunday. Bath time with Drew is so much fun!
Jana and I noted on Sunday night that Drew was in the same outfit that he wore home from the hospital seven weeks earlier. We decided to take a couple photos for a direct comparison to see how much bigger he's gotten. Below is the original picture from Drew going home. His feet barely made it into the leg part of the outfit! Here is Drew with Jana in our kitchen. He's gotten a lot bigger . . . and we lucked out during this photo and captured one of his first smiles! :) Drew has been smiling for a while, but it hasn't always been a clear social smile. There is a very good chance that this one was his first! It looks like our obsessive picture taking paid off. After all the smiling and reacting to us, Drew was tired out and was happy to snuggle in with his mom.
Even though he was tired, Drew had to keep an eye on me every once in a while to see what I was doing.