Ephram and his Dad

My mom gave us this cute outfit when I was just four months pregnant.  The shirt says "Daddy Loves Me".  When Ephram was 11 weeks old I caught Ephram and Andy in a few photos...  I think their mutual adoration is obvious!

After all that daddy time we packed Little E up in the stroller and got ready to head for the park... he was still smiling!

He Loves the Stroller

I decided to reinstitute my daily walks when Ephram was about eleven weeks old.  Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated well, and I can't really take the baby out when it is freezing cold and raining... thank goodness the weather should be changing soon!

Not too surprising, but still a happy discovery, Ephram loves his stroller.  We have had a great time, the three of us, out strolling... and Ephram will inevitably fall asleep every time!

Excited to be leaving the house

Starting to get sleepy

Big yawn...

And fast asleep... he'll usually stay this way for an hour afterward... and yes, that's a little smile on his lips.  

He truly loves his carseat and stroller!  Thank you Great Grandma and Grandpa Hayman for giving us something that he enjoys so much... and will fall asleep in every time!

Hello Giggles

Nothing has been better than watching Ephram morph from week to week... but so far, my most favorite thing has been the emergence of a giggle.  We first noticed it when Ephram was ten weeks old, although I think he actually started it a little sooner... we just didn't recognize it yet!  I have not caught it on video, and you would all probably be bored with it if I did.  :)  However, the giggling has made the smiling even bigger... I think these pictures show the biggest smiles yet!

Along with the new laughter, Ephram really expanded his fascination with shoving his hand in his mouth during the same week.  Even when holding a mouthable toy, Ephram will favor his good old hand.

He also loves laying in his crib and watching his mobile... and one of these pictures shows you how close he was to getting that thumb in his mouth, he just needed to stick it out!

Later that week I went to spy on him while he was asleep and I found him with not one thumb, but both thumbs inside his mouth.  (He woke up about 3 minutes later hungry for a meal!)

Our little boy is pretty much all smiles, all the time right now... it is adorable.  I just love watching him learn new things!

Reading Time

When we were moving Charlie into his new big boy room, we went through his things to decide what belonged to the new room and what he was ready to let go of.  He made a special pile of things he wanted to give to Ephram.  In that pile he put one of his favorite books, "Tails".  Now he loves to read his old book to his baby brother!

All Smiles

Lately Charlie has been fixated on smiles.  He's been trying all different kinds - big smiles, little smiles, pleasant smiles, silly smiles, etc.  (Yes, he has invented names for them as well.)  He instructs me on what kind of smile I should make, and then he counters with another kind.  He also draws smiles all day long.  Here is just a small sampling of smiling Charlie.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Here are the boys dressed in Charlie's new favorite color... green!

Adoption Day

Charlie came to live with us on March 22, 2008.  We have had 2 summers, 2 falls, 2 winters and are getting ready to celebrate our 3rd spring.  We have seen social workers 41 times.  We've gone to countless meetings, visits, doctors... and have really gotten to know the state's systems.  And now it is over.  Because on March 3, 2010, a Snohomish County Supreme Court judge declared Charlie  an official member of our family.




We talked to Charlie quite a bit about adoption as the day approached, we didn't want him to be confused or apprehensive when it arrived.  He was a bit baffled by the idea.  For him, we are his family and the concept of a judge saying that we are family was a bit foreign.  Still, we wanted to make the day special for Charlie.




We started out with a breakfast brunch.  We had french toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns and OJ.  Charlie was pretty pleased with his special meal.

Once breakfast was over we all got dressed to go "to court the judge" as Charlie kept saying.  Ephram and Charlie had matching outfits... but Ephram was not in picture taking mood.  In fact, he slept through the entire affair - which is just as well, because it was Charlie's special day.

Snohomish County Supreme Court is located in a complex with several other of the county buildings.  Charlie had a grand time in the parking garage and getting up the elevator.  (The elevator was quite crammed already, and I had to get the stroller in as well!)  Finding our building was pretty easy.  It was a beautiful day.

When we got through security, our lawyer met us downstairs and we headed up to our courtroom.  Both of Charlie's social workers were able to make the hearing.  He was pretty excited to see them, and I'm still not sure if he realizes that they will no longer be coming to our house on a monthly basis. 
We had the whole large room to ourselves, and Charlie thought it was pretty neat.  We were probably in there for about fifteen minutes before the appointed time, so we took the opportunity to take some pictures.  Charlie had fun sitting on the benches.  When the lawyer told him that he could sit at the big table, he got pretty excited.  He tried out several chairs.  It was obvious that he was excited, although a little nervous.  I can't blame him, because I felt the same way!

Our lawyer took a shot of the three of us together, (Ephram was still asleep in his stroller,) and then we were asked to rise as the judge entered the courtroom.

Andy, Charlie and I stood in front of the judge and said that we wanted to forever be a family.  The judge quickly went through his findings and then ruled that we were a family.  Something that took two years to get done was over in about six minutes.  The judge then took a picture with us, and even let Charlie play with his gavel.

After the hearing we had to wait to get our copies of the decree.  There was another bench outside of the courtroom that Charlie was playing "volcano" on.  We took a couple more pictures - one with just Charlie and another with our lawyer.

Then we headed home, where Charlie continued to be quite hyper.  We continued to celebrate him and let him chose dinner.  Big shocker here - we had McDonald's.  Then for the real treat, banana splits.  My first job was at a Dairy Queen, so I had some fun making them pretty.  Charlie thought it was the best thing ever, although he only finished about half of it.

We capped off the evening with a couple of gifts for Charlie to celebrate his special day.  He was very excited to receive Handy Manny on his motorcycle and a book about his motorcycle adventure.  My timing was good, because Handy Manny's Motorcycle Adventure actually came on the Disney Channel a few days later.  This is definitely his new favorite toy.

All in all, this was a very special day for our whole family... one that I look forward to celebrating again year after year!

Ephram at Two Months

Much to my surprise, Ephram is already two months old!  I cannot believe how quickly we are moving through the weeks and I already find myself reminiscing about how he "used to be".

Here were Ephram's stats at his two month check-up.
Height: 21.5 inches (4%)
Weight: 10 pounds, 3 ounces (14%)
Head Circumference: 41.5 cm (82%)

I was so absolutely thrilled with his weight gain!  I was crossing my fingers that he would be around 9 pounds, so when the scale jumped to 10 right off of the bat I was surprised.  Looking back, it makes sense... for the last couple of weeks the little boy had a voracious appetite, almost doubling his previous meal size.  Also, my back and arms had been killing me... not that he is a super-heavy baby, but I think he put on that three pounds rather quickly.  The quick gain, I theorize, may have put some extra strain on the arms that carry him literally all day.  And yes, his head has climbed higher in the percentages, and his height has gone down just a tiny bit.  Ephram has some pretty short legs, like his mom.

Milestones:
5 weeks - grasped toys
5 weeks - rolled from side to stomach
6 weeks - graduated from newborn diapers to size 1, finally!
8 weeks - graduated from newborn clothing to size 0-3 months
8 weeks - started babbling (he's added some consonants to his repertoire)

Now that he has figured out how to roll from his back to his side and his side to his stomach, we're waiting to see if he can put the two together...

What he's eating:
1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula

Favorite songs:
"What's Up" 4 Non Blonds (I think he likes it because the melody goes up and down)
"Little Drop of Dew"
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" Jim Croce

Favorite Things to Do:
Play "I've Got Your Nose" ... I get his nose and then help him get mine, this earns smiles daily
Play on his bouncy seat
Stare at any ceiling fan, moving or stationary
Be held by mom or dad
Eat

Least Favorite Things to Do:
Get immunized
Be set down to sleep
Spend time on his tummy
Spit up (poor kid has been having a lot of problems with this!)

Nicknames:
Monkey
Little E - for now, this one seems to be sticking

And now, for some pictures from Ephram's eighth week...

Ephram gets less time with daddy now that Andy has returned to work, but the time that they get together is really good.  Ephram really likes to be held by Andy, and I like to watch Andy interacting with him!

Another side effect of Andy's return to work is that I spend much more time holding my little monkey.  I have come to love the moby wrap, and Ephram does too.  Without fail, he will be asleep within 5 minutes!

Now that he finally has put on some weight, we were able to graduate into his 0-3 month clothes... finally!  I have many, many more outfits in this size range than I did in newborn.  The first outfit I put him in was this little puppy one.  It has been fun to be able to dress him with more choices available.

His Aunt Daja gave him this bear for Christmas, and during his second month Ephram came to appreciate it.

In fact, he's interacting with toys more in general.  One day, around week 6, I realized that he had started to coo at things as he was playing.  His favorite thing to talk to?  The owl on his bouncy seat!  (Thank you Angie for the gift, he loves it!)

My Boys

I am so lucky to have both of these little boys in my life. And they really love each other too. One day Charlie wanted to hold Ephram, so he climbed up into our chair... I had to take the opportunity to take a few pictures of them together. I think it's pretty easy to see how much they adore each other.