Introducing Henry William Schultz Chandler

Better known as Baby Hank. He was born January 12 at 7:49 am, weighing in at 8 lbs, 14 oz, and measuring 21" -- with a 15" head, we might add. Yes, he's a big old boy. And a planned c-section. ;)

We've been home since last Thursday afternoon, and everyone is adjusting. Milo is the best big brother we could ask for -- he sure does love his baby brother. But if anything doesn't go *exactly* his way, a monster meltdown ensues. Especially at bedtime. But, what can you do? He is 3, after all.

Hank did have a small bout with jaundice (hence the yellowish-orangeish complexion he's sporting), but only spent one day on the bili-bed in the hospital. We followed up with our pediatrician on Friday, and Hank looked so good, they didn't even take more blood. That, and he was only 3 oz from reaching his birth weight again (he was down to 8 lb, 4 oz two days before that).

As for sleep, we're actually doing really, really well. Hank goes between 3-4 hours between feedings at night. Of course, it does take him about an hour to eat each time, so we're getting about 7 hours total.

That's all I can remember for now. And it's taken me almost a week to finish this post and edit the pictures. But, as promised, here they are! Oh -- one more thing. Here's a link to Hank's online birth announcement: http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=ff76ad40-ff7e-4764-b447-9acc9df860ca&babyid=711d5609-9540-4264-a41b-5a939cdcaf1b

Best laid plans...

Poor Milo is sick. On Halloween Eve. The day of his preschool Halloween party. And Kirkwood Halloween walk. :( He's been throwing up since about 3am....or at Noon yesterday, if you count him putting too much food in his mouth and throwing it up (according to the sitter). he kicks it soon and can still catch trick or treating at Gramme & Papa's tomorrow night and/or Trunk or Treat at church on Saturday.

One thing to be thankful for, though -- he has had no fever and doesn't act *sick*...at least between sessions of heaving.

Poor kiddo.

Thomas the Tank Engine!

Yesterday, Milo's dreams came true. He got to ride Thomas the Tank Engine -- THE Thomas the Tank Engine!

OK, in reality, it was a bunch of old crappy rail cars hooked up to Thomas the Tank Engine over in East St. Louis (why there, I haven't a clue). And while we waited for an hour before our ride (since they told us to get to this gravel pit at least an hour early), Milo at least enjoyed a little train ride (and our camera isn't out of focus -- it really was that dusty!):

Story time:

Tattoos:

Hay maze with Papa:
And, finally, the big Thomas ride:

Pablo and Pirates and Pumpkins!

Well, and Trains, but that didn't start with "P".

We've had a busy couple of weekends (I know, what's new?). But lots of good photo ops we wanted to share.

Two weekends ago, we took Milo to see The Backyardigans Live! at my theatre. Which Milo enjoyed for the most part. However (and this was a miscalculation on my part), our seats were too close. He lasted about 3 songs, and then cried. But we moved to the very last row, and then all was good. Milo even sat still through intermission!

That afternoon, our sitter's son had his 3rd birthday party at the Museum of Transportation, which included a train ride (of which Milo was the very first one on and off). We had to sit in "da goose" (the caboose), and Milo even got to say "All Aboard" on the microphone. A proud day indeed.

Following the train, the kids got an hour in Imagination Station, where Milo quickly adopted a pirate costume. He's still talking about how he drove the pirate boat.

Last weekend, we decided to sneak in a quick trip to the pumpkin patch. Which was fun, but waaaaay too crowded. Lucky for Milo, though, this patch included another pirate ship.

And, if you look closely, the beginning of the end. Milo was D-O-N-E -- as evidenced by the pained expression when holding the pumpkin he chose, and then promptly tossing it when we got to the car.

I think that's about it for us. We're gearing up for a frillion Halloween activites next week. Although, not sure how that's going to go -- Milo has a sharp eye out and wants to see "no scary stuff". Yeah. Oh! And Milo gets to ride Thomas the Tank Engine on Sunday -- the REAL Thomas the Tank Engine!! That boy is going to lose his ever-loving mind! We'll make sure to post more pictures.

On the baby front, I did pass the prenatal glucose screening (whew!), and go back for another check up on Oct 31. After that, I start going every 2 weeks -- can you believe it?! Oh, how time is flying. I swear, we're going to blink and then have two boys and not even know what to do with ourselves...