Brice at 2 weeks!

Brice is strong! He throws his body around-- He leans his head back and over he goes. When he's on his tummy against our chests, he can lift and turn his head (or throw his body over to the side if he'd prefer to be nursing). I didn't know that newborns could do this! He practically threw himself out of the swing today.

  Brice also moves when he's in the co-sleeper. Despite us putting him down on his back in the center, Brice turns to sleep on his side.  He also prefers to have his head near the side of the co-sleeper so he moves himself so that his forehead leans against the side. As a mom, this is very concerning-- I've tried putting rolled up blankets by his legs and he winds up sideways. The pediatrician said it's fine, but it's still got me worried.

He has a little tail.

He's a really good eater (so far), but definitely a grazer. He eats every 1-2 hours, but only for 5-10 minutes. Brice cluster feeds at night- he'll eat almost constantly for an hour and a half before going to bed. Luckily after that we usually get 3 or 4 3-hour stretches of sleep. Or at least that's what we were getting...

All of the grazing is paying off- Brice put on 3oz in the first two days home from the hospital (to 7lbs 3oz) and another 11oz over the next 8 days (to 7lbs 14oz)-- almost 1.5oz a day!
When he's hungry, Brice starts huffing and puffing. If he's really hungry, he'll start snorting. It's really funny!

He stays awake for a few hours in the morning- about 8 or 9am until about 1pm. Luckily he's been taking a good afternoon nap at the same time as Chase....and Mommy! Brice is also awake from about 6-10pm at night (mostly eating).

Brice has a blocked tear duct. Saturday afternoon we noticed his eye was red and had some goop coming out of it. I cleaned it with clean warm wash clothes as much as possible (including throughout the night) and we called the pediatrician on Sunday morning. She said he probably has a blocked tear duct that got some bacteria in it and prescribed an ointment. As soon as we put the ointment in, it looked so much better. Phew!

He also has what sounds like congestion. The pediatrician said that it's common in newborns to have some fluid in their airways from everything from birth to reflux. Sometimes it sounds terrible and seems like he has trouble breathing and other times you don't even hear it.

So far, Brice is a pretty chill baby. He's sweet to snuggle with, loves me holding him, and smells like a baby. I went back and read some of Chase's posts and remembered that the next two weeks are harder than the first-- so stay tuned!

Chase's 2nd birthday

On Chase's birthday, we let Chase choose what we did all day (except he had to nap) so went to the choo-choo park. The park also has an awesome playground where Chase showed off how big he is!

 (luckily he is not too old to show his Mommy some love!)

 Veronica, Josh, and the beautiful Daniella met us at the park.

After Chase's nap, we gave him his present- a balance bike and helmet. The bike was too high, but the helmet was a big hit.

When we asked Chase what he wanted to eat for dinner. "Sushi!"

Chase drove:

He did pretty well with the chopsticks!

We had a cupcake with a candle and sang to him, but Chase was not interested.

The next day was Mother's Day, but we continued to celebrate Chase's birthday. He rode his new bike for the first time. Gosh, he looks so grown up!

Happy Birthday, Chase!

The other other other other other big May event...

...was the release of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease on May 15.

You can read some of the press coverage here or just Google News it.

Welcome to the World!

Welcome to the world, Joseph William Zayac, IV and Liam Michael Zayac. Born May 17 at at 4:27 pm weighing in at 5 lbs 9 oz and 5 lbs 4 oz and both 18 inches long.
Yup, you read that right: Brice and his cousins have the same birthday! How cool is that?? Nonnie and Pop got 3 new grandsons on the same day. We are already planning future birthday parties!

Congrats, Aunt Meg, Uncle Joe, and Addy!!!

(ps.this post is a few days overdue!)

Brice's First Days: Days 4-7

Day 4: The first day (of many to come) that  Mommy dresses Chase and Brice alike.

Daddy and his boys. 2/3 smiling and looking is pretty good

Chase nursing his baby doll. Apparently a pretty common older sibling phenomenon.

Day 5: Brice's first doctor's appointment

Brice gained 3oz in the 2 days he was home, bringing him to 7lbs 3oz, which is great! The doctor said he looked perfect, which is always nice to hear :-)

Afterwards, we spent some time outside under the carport where Chase could blow bubbles. Brice hung out in his stroller.

Day 6: First bath at home

Earlier in the day, a brother picture!

Bath time! I posted this picture to show the production that was the bath. Stephen washed, Chase supervised, I took the iPhone video and Grammy and I took pictures.

Brice, who really does not like getting naked to have his diaper or clothes changed, was not a fan of the bath.

But he looks so cute in the ducky towel!

Grammy and Chase reading to Brice

Day 7: Photo shoot with Grammy and Grampy

Thank you for watching Chase and taking such good care of us, Grammy and Grampy!!!