Family Time

Andrew's cousin, 6 year old Christopher Corley.

Andrew's first bar experience after we had lunch at Legal Seafoods.

Tevukas and June

Christopher made a necklace with Fart Slime!******************************
Yesterday, Tevukas, Christopher, Melissa, Mike & Maureen came over to visit with Grandma.

Great-Grandmother, Anna Bucelwicz.
96 years, 6 days apart!Tevukas with his grandsons.
Christopher feels how soft his skin is.
(Note the HUGE cucumber from the garden!)

Chowder Lunch

We went to Aunt Dot & Uncle Ron's on Sunday for a get-together to meet Andrew and also since Melissa, Chris and Christopher are visiting from Florida.
Andy was such a lap baby!
He loves his Aunt Maureen :D

The cousins.

Nana!
Aunt Judy Cousin Mary Jane
Andrew has a lot to learn from M.J. about the Red Sox!
Cousin Debbie
Aunt Maureen

Cousin June and Uncle Mike

Modeling... Take One!

It's not easy being a 2-week-old model!

My attempts (in vain) to get the perfect baby-announcement photo.

It's a work in progress.

Here we are, before bath- at his best for photo-op!
Andrew's "rock star" pose (picture microphone in that hand).

All cozy after his bath.

A SMILE! Too bad the overall bib interfered....

This is so (yawn) boring!

"Oh no, Mom."

Our session ended with a DIAPER EXPLOSION!!

Yep! Blowout under his right leg...*through* the blanket....onto the supporting pillow underneath..through that pillow sham to the protective zippered cover underneath!
Good thing for "Shout Advanced" stain remover spray. And make sure those Huggies are hugged in tight!

Visit to Nana Bucell's

Little peanut can ride in the laundry basket!
Mmmm warm clothes fresh from the dryer as we prepare for our busy day.Nana was delighted to have us for lunch today!
She made a delicious tuna salad plate & we had peanut butter-chocolate chip bars for dessert. Yum!
Andrew was a bit fussy but he was hungry. He also had a couple meals while we were there :D

Admiring her grandson.

Muscle Man!

Phew! We also went to the mall to get photos printed and saw Dad at work (oops, all the excitement, forgot to take pics!)
Dad is so proud.
Everyone admired him, of course-
Later on, we even stopped at the supermarket.

Now, Mommy just needs to visit her former coworkers at B.L. Makepeace! (I promise sooooon!!!)

















Relaxed back at home.

Baby Zen

Getting Out!

Our Maiden Voyage! Kerri is housesitting a gorgeous property in Newton.

We took advantage of the great day/palatial grounds for a cookout.
This proved to me that, with thoughtful planning (as far as his eat/sleep schedule goes),
we can go almost anywhere! He is very portable.

He spent his awake time in the rainforest bouncer. Attached is the "Itzbeen" baby timer. That little gadget, along with his feeding time chart, has offered a lot of peace of mind. You just press a button at the start of a feeding, diaper change, sleep, and etc. button and it starts timing so you know how long "itzbeen"!

One of my favorite outfits for him.
I call him "little bird" (when his mouth is wide open like a little chick waiting to be fed).

Andrew is mesmerized by stark shapes.

He is unable to look straight up at his changing table mobile so we detached the pieces.
He studies them intently, making diaper changes a lot less squirmy!Uncle Mike, June, Andrew and I had fun at the park at the nearby Charles River today.
(Well, Andy slept the whole time;;)

June loves the ducks!
Studying the shapes on his "Peanut Shell" carrier. This came in handy while we ate dinner tonight. He is definitely right-hand dominant. It's cute how he holds his binky like that. Hopefully this will turn into his not dropping it as much!

Our First Outing as a Family

Today (Thursday), we went to Magic Beans in Brookline to buy a couple necessities and I showed Alex the stroller and high chair I'd like to get further down the road.
Little Andrew (like *all* babies do) fell asleep as soon as we were moving in the car. I rode in the back seat to watch him but didn't have to intervene once.
We then had a very filling lunch at Qdoba (Mexican) then headed over to Tevukas' in Cambridge. Brian got to meet him for the first time.

Seen here, Tevukas might eat the baby!Andrew's car seat fits into a stroller shell which has an ample basket underneath. Super-convenient!
Tevukas has a nice back yard for Andrew to run around in someday.

Brian noticed that Alex and I now refer to each other as "Mommy" and "Daddy"! LOL!!

It would have been nice if he was awake but for now, we know a sleeping baby is a good thing i.e. otherwise he probably needs to be fed or changed.
He does have "quiet alert" times, however, they are just not that predictable yet.

Later on, Mommy dressed him in this little sailor outfit (which he is already too long for!).Based on his gaining 2oz/day or thereabout, I am guessing he's back at his birth weight.
It'll be interesting to watch him get all chubby! We've noticed it happening in his cheeks.

2oz is a lot.... Just think, a stick of butter is 4oz! Hopefully it's "melting" off Mommy's body just the same;;; I am confident it is- mother nature at her best- my appetite is no longer as voracious. No more cravings for Friendly's chocolate peanut butter cup sundaes *every* night!

Home Sweet Home

Ahhhhh~~~
What a relief it is to be home!
Dad took great care to make sure everything was in perfect order.
Biggest change of all? He now goes *outside* to smoke!
Mom has never seen the living room remain so dust-free.
The air conditioners are run to keep a consistent 74 degrees.

Andrew loves his crib & Dad does a perfect job wrapping him in a little envelope!

His baby monitor is finely adjusted so we can hear every little peep.
It comes in handy for "escaping the baby"- though, of course, we still check on him a lot.

View from Andrew's bedroom window.

The garden is in full swing. Since we've been back, we've been enjoying it's bounty: cucumbers, yellow squash, and for dinner tonight we made stuffed zuchini with fresh herbs (basil, rosemary and parsley) and used our own garlic. Aunt Carol is our full-time gardener (seen relaxing by the garden shed which is getting ripped down/replaced this fall).
We're so excited, the park in back is being completely rehabbed!
Slated to be done by next year: irrigated field, self-guided exercise area, walking track, new baseball diamond, rehabbed basketball court and, A NEW PLAYGROUND!!!
We suspect Harvard is influencing getting this project done, in the next few years they are going to make a lot of changes with new construction in the nearby neighborhood.

I've been able to go out and browse the garden a couple times with the aid of the
"Peanut Shell" sling, a fine contraption.

First appointment with pediatrician, Dr. Deborah James on Wednesday morning, 7/18.

Andrew gained 4 ounces since he left the hospital! He also measured 1/2" longer than at birth. Babies lose weight after they're born but are back at their birth weight by 2 weeks. Looks like he'll be back at it at 1 week! All this feeding is reassuring. Also noted is that he is in the 90th percentile for height. Looks like he'll be a tall Bucell! Next appointment is 8/16.

He likes listening to the Red Sox while in his baby seat. Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are apparently very soothing. Noted a couple crying incidents when a commercial came on and when Tine Cervacio spoke (Hey! Back to the game!).
Propped him with a pillow.


Mommy likes her "Breast Friend" pillow a lot!
Many nurses and Dr. Falzon commented on what a clever contraption it is.
It has made feeding him really easy; it staps around my upper torso and creates a table top for Andrew to lay across.