This Week In Review

Well this week I went back to work so updating the blog has been delayed until today. This week Ian turned 1 week old and had his first doctor visit since he was delivered. The doctor says Ian and mom are both doing fine and Ian is on his way to regaining his birth weight (he needs another 8 ounces). This helped explain why he often wanted to feed back to back this week, because he's trying to gain back his weight. His tantrums in the middle of the night have gotten milder or easier for us to deal with, or a little of both. He's still an angel during the day.

Ian made out like a bandit this week with presents from a whole bunch of friends and relatives. Early in the week Ian got a fancy schmancy sterling silver crescent moon rattle from Tiffany courtesy of his great uncle Dirk (anyone who attended the wedding will remember the dapper, sometimes monocled, uncle Dirk). Ian is looking forward to Dirk & Chi coming to town (or when Ian visits New York, whichever comes first). Then he got a personalized Pooh blanket and a stuffed Pooh bear from his great aunt Stephanie. He also got a wonderful quilt, a hat, and a very cute stuffed bunny rabbit (for Easter) from Brenda & Walter. After that he got clothes from Larry & Sally (who also took Kara, Bert & Judy to lunch on Friday) and from Julie & Mike & Craig (and their dog Zoe too), and a beautiful hand crocheted blanket and book from Denise & Zach & Sam (Denise said we were lucky we had a boy or we would have had to wait for her to crochet a pink blanket). All in all there were lots of great gifts for Ian and some very nice cards with wonderful, heartfelt sentiments.

Today Bert & Judy left to go back home. They have been a huge help since the baby was born. Having them around since Ian was delivered was almost like having training wheels and now we have to learn to fend for ourselves (which will be much harder for Kara than me). Both Kara and I have been reading lots of baby books and getting lots of good advice from friends so I think we'll be fine. My mom, Kevin, and her sister Stephanie, are next up with a visit in May and then my dad, Cor (possibly, hopefully, with my stepmother Leigh) will be visiting over the summer.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone for their kindness and warm regards. I also want to say that Ian now lacks for nothing. Please do not feel you need to send a gift. A card is fine and a phone call or email (dirkv@sbcglobal.net) is sufficient. If you do however send a gift, please do not send any more baby books, stuffed animals, or blankets. Our cup runneth over.