Bath time! The boy's first bath in a real tub in early July.

Father's / Mother's Day

Life changed in the month between. For the better.

Paradox

Somehow two top bananas found their way into our house.*

*I promise, no more matching outfits but aren't these just the best?

Now We Get To The Fun Part

By which I mean two healthy, fully interactive kids at home. This was probably the first day Colin and Nicholas actually played together. Pretty good stuff here.

Travel Tips

Boy, these car seats are something. Two minutes and it's lights out. This was the first joint visit to the pediatrician, so we're settling into normalcy around mid-June. Colin is beginning to be able to do his Brando.

Oh, So This Is Our Life Now. Got It.

We were numb and zonked for the first couple of weeks with both boys in the house. And we didn't even have them from newborn! I wouldn't wish our full experience on anyone, but we did ease in rather than getting slammed immediately. Which makes for an odd, somewhat jaundiced (get it? jaundiced? ha ha...) take on the first couple months; we'll tell you about it sometime.

The Wristbands Come Off

Here the boy (other boy) comes home, finally. The days before we had done some full family visits in the hospital. This is on or about 6/11/09.

Save Me!

Joel is adamantly opposed to the posing of children, but he may have to rethink.

That Guy. Yeah, Over There.

Down To One Tube

Early June. Nicholas developed a bit of liver dysfunction as a result of being on IV nutrition for so long, which is why he appears jaundiced here. Appearances aside, he was starting to suck down food properly and getting very close to getting out of the hospital. And his feeding tube was the only one left!

The Pleasure Principle

These are from Joel's birthday. While he's never been one to make a big deal, the day seemed markedly less important than in the past. Fortunately, he spent it hanging out with the boy at the hospital and the boy at home, both of whom were in good spirits.

Then For A Time, Nothing Happened

Hi. Do you want to know what takes up a lot of time and mental energy? Working, having one infant in the hospital, and another at home. This was a long few weeks.

Spring!

We had to bring the mountain to Mohammed as Nicholas was housebound for more weeks.

Big Day In

Nick had major surgery today - 5/6/09. This is before. Long day.

Ma and the Boy

Colin looks a little odd here - a sort of surrealist doll, especially in retrospect now that he's pretty beefy. Note the fine two-tone paint job, inspired by Northwestern Memorial and handily implemented by AJS.

Tilting

Next day. Impossibly cute closeup of Colin and an illustration of Joel's developing work-life balance. Colin left the hospital around 7 lbs and change.

Catching up

OK! Last post 5/1/2009. Those of you with children know this means only one thing - the boys have come home. 2 months later and I finally have time and motivation to post some new pics, so here goes an attempt to catch up chronologically.

Starters is a nice trad photo of Mom and Dad bringing #1 son (Colin) home on May 2, I think. The nurse was at the end of her shift but kind enough to wait for the wind to die down and get a nice pic.

A Bit of Normalcy

We'll never ever take for granted the simple pleasure of holding the two boys at once. I suppose the chair pattern gives away that we're still in the hospital.

Not Just In The Same Room

Friends, this is an extra special post. Both parents, both babies, no crises. We had a tremendous day today, and that thing about Nicholas opening his eyes? We took care of that too.

Waiting and Waiting

So this open crib thing is nice! The boys get to wear some cool clothes and Mom and Dad can scoop them up anytime. We've gotten a taste of real parenting and there's no return from here. Now just to get Nicholas to open those eyes...

Freedom...of a kind

Nicholas and Colin both transferred to a new hospital in late April. They each need a little "work done" before they get to come home. The great news then was that both of them got to move to open cribs - no more temperature support.

Two Progressions

We snapped that two-babies-at-once picture for the first time. With the impending excitement of the moment, the camera could not be held still. Focus and setting will improve with time.

Also, today (Tax Day, I think) was Colin's first day in an open air crib with no temperature support. He's starting to chow on mouth feedings too, so we're hoping he's in the final laps toward home. A couple more weeks, maybe.

Big Brother

Nicholas outweighs Colin by about a half pound and looks much beefier. I'm still working on a good shot of them together, which is surprisingly difficult at this stage.

One sleeps and the other gesticulates. He speaks with his hands, you know. He also speaks with that cute spitup I just noticed in the background. 

Little Eyes

A bit of a weird shot, but this is the only picture I have from this day, so you get to see a Colin closeup with his little dark eyes. I thought they had to be blue by natural law - eventually - but apparently anomalies exist so we'll just have to wait and see. He's this calm most of the time; I hope it holds.

To the nines

I believe this was Colin's first day in real little-man clothes. He had gotten enough tubes removed and was making progress toward moderating his own temperature, so we came in and saw him sporting a nice powder blue jumpsuit. Some parents apparently bring clothes to their kids  in the hospital - we've been content to let the nurses raid drawers and offer Northwestern's best. 

12 Days On From Last Time

Apparently parenting slows things down even if the kids aren't at home. We've got a couple of weeks to update here, so starting back on April 9 here is Nicholas grabbing some time outside with Mom.

Wonderment

Nicholas's eyes were darting around while he grabbed ahold of Denise's pinky. He's got this endearing open-mouthed awestruck face today.

Nicholas Spends More Time Outside

Please ignore the meager chest hair and focus on the cute kid. Thanks. P.S. I think he looks like my nephew Josh and/or my Grandpa Zeile. Denise is not so sure. 

A Quick Check, Every 3 Hours

As I said, Colin is a fast learner and has taken to the pacifier like a natural.

Hats May Now Be Worn Indoors

Here you can see Colin's feeding tube. Both boys are too young to know how to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time so it will be a bit before they can eat conventionally. For Colin, it could be this week, as he appears to be a fast learner.

More More Week 2

Colin looks a little perturbed here, doesn't he? I'd either just woken him or he was taking care of some business. 

More Week 2

I realize the first thing that pops to mind with these stunning pix of Colin is that Denise and I were fiddling with his arms to pose him. Nothing of the sort, I promise.