Little Joe is Home

Last week on March 2nd we took Joe home for the first time. He'd gained back most of the weight he had lost to that point - he'd been down to 4lb 5oz before getting back up to 4lb 10oz - and Rachael and I have been enjoying spending as much time with him as possible.

Joe spends most of his days as most newborns do - eating and sleeping. Since he is still a good deal under what doctors would like his weight to be at we have been feeding him every 3 hours night and day. It's been a rough adjustment for the two of us, especially since I went back to work this week. I've been spending my nights on the couch while Rachael feeds the baby throughout the night and I've been getting up around 5am to feed and change him before I head to work. It's definitely been more taxing on Rachael, and tonight I've offered to take care of him through the night so that she can try to catch up on her sleep.

The next few weeks look to be more of the same; we don't have any plans with family or friends and we've been reluctant to consider taking him out except on walks or to the doctor. That will likely change in the coming few weeks as the weather has been getting quite warm and with Daylight Savings sunsets will be around 7pm starting Sunday night and we can spend time with him outside after I get home from work.

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The Shannons

Out at lunch with my wonderful family As always, I feel I need to add a disclaimer here about how busy I've been and apologize to myself - and whoever ends up reading this - about not keeping up with this blog. It was easier with just Joe because my time home meant mostly quiet during his frequent naps and plenty of time to gather thoughts to put down, where now I feel I can barely keep up with sleep and other basic functions of life. Hectic life aside, I couldn't be happier with where I am right now as father. Joe is at a wonderful age where he always wants to help us and be affectionate with Nora and we have started playing sports together rather than just hanging around the house. He's really started taking an interest in baseball and soccer, and whenever I have the chance I try to at least kick the ball around the house a bit if I can't take him outside. I'm hoping that once things settle down we can really spend some time together and work on some soc...

German Kindergarten

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Week 17 update

Last night Rachael and I decided on a Natural Birth center in Chantilly for baby delivery. She's been immersed in baby books and documentaries since we found out she was pregnant and I know that she's been wanting to find a great natural birth center. I could tell from watching her last night that she can see herself having the baby there and that she's getting very excited about all this - unfortunately we still have 20 long weeks to go. We've decided to schedule an ultrasound for 2 weeks from now to hopefully determine what gender the baby will be. Rachael's been going back and forth for some time now on what it'll be ... some days she feels its going to be a girl, but recently it's gone back more towards boy. Basically... we won't know until the ultrasound. Rachael's belly is definitely starting to show; you can tell that she's actually pregnant now and not putting on a little extra weight for the upcoming winter. She's been starting ...

My little Angels

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