here’s the beginnings of a smile..

and penelope rocking him while we scramble to get out the door to church…

arthur’s second week has been one of great joy and surprise. he remains a very content little guy (unless mama eats lasagna, as we learned last night).

the surprise lies in his excellent weight-gaining skills. he was born hungry (actually rooting around moments after his birth!) and his appetite hasn’t slowed. after the troubles we had with penelope’s weight gain, we made sure to get to know a lactation consultant and utilize her expertise as much as possible in the hospital. she came each day we were there, sometimes multiple times, and called me after our first weekend home. she is incredibly encouraging, and assured me that he was on the right track– that his patience and appetite were just what was needed to make it work this time. we went in to her office on his fourteenth day to do a weight check.. and he was already up to 8lbs 4oz!! Our goal was to get him back to his birthweight by two weeks.. and he gained back the weight he had lost, plus an additional pound in that time!! Without any supplementing! I know that may not sound like a big deal.. but after much struggle and heartache last time… this is huge.

He is almost entirely out of his newborn-sized clothes, solidly into 0-3 months… a feat his sister didn’t accomplish till she was 2.5 months old!

That’s all for now :)

penelope is adjusting pretty well to life with a sibling. she loves him dearly and hates to hear him cry. his cries are often met with kisses or offers to share blanky/sippy/etc. as expected, she’s also using this transition as an opportunity to retest some well-established boundaries.. but she’s coming around :). having my mom here sure helps– penelope is getting all sorts of extra attention while arthur is in the eat-every-five-seconds newborn stage.

i’m sure there is more i could say about her transition.. but as expected… arthur needs to eat again :)

more later!

2.4.2010 at 2:36 p.m.

7 lbs, 4oz

21 inches long