We're still here - quite tired, but still here. We survived our first two weeks as parents of two beautiful children. Things are going extremely well considering just how crazy these last two weeks have been. When I look around at our disaster of a house or the giant pile of mail - I keep reminding myself that just 17 days ago we didn't even know that Daniel existed let alone that he would be joining our family! He's an amazing baby and we are all completely and utterly in love! He's already smiling and laughing a bit (especially at Faith and her dancing) and he makes the sweetest noises when he sleeps. And boy does he have some crazy awesome hair. Faith didn't have this much hair until she was almost 2! We've been working on getting him on some sort of schedule, but he is still up a lot at night. We think he might be a little bit colicky, but it's by no means as bad as we imagine it could be. Randy and I have been taking turns getting/staying up with him downstairs so the other person can get a little bit of sleep. However, between the cat, Faith getting up sometimes and hearing Daniel cry - not much sleep in general is happening. So we're exhausted, but blissfully exhausted and really couldn't be happier.
Faith is adjusting extremely well. She certainly has her moments, but we all do. And let's be real - she literally had about three hours warning that she was a big sister so given the little time we had to prepare her for Daniel - she's amazing! She of course knew we were on the waiting list to adopt a baby, but we didn't know when that would happen so it wasn't part of our daily conversations by any means. She's a fantastic big sister who tells him she loves him at least 20 times a day along with three times as many kisses...at least! She doesn't miss a diaper change that she's awake and home for. She loves to help hold his bottle - although after about 2 minutes she says her arm is tired. She actually doesn't ask to hold him very much right now - which is fine since he's still in that floppy newborn stage. Although he is certainly one strong little dude. He tries to hold his head up and likes to roll to his side on his playmate. He downs a bottle like a champ so he's growing like a weed. He was 10 lbs. at our first pediatrician visit and we go back again on Monday.
One thing that has definitely changed for every member of our family is our sleep patterns. Faith still loves her new big girl bed, but she definitely gets up much earlier than she used to. And unfortunately she's up at least once sometimes three or four times a night. We don't know if it's because she knows Daniel is here or if it's just a phase that would have happened anyway. Probably a bit of both. We just bought her a sound machine to drown out the noise around the house and it seems to be helping. Fingers crossed we all get more sleep soon.
It wouldn't be a typical blog post for us without a few "Faithisms".
- The first time Faith held Daniel that first day she exclaimed out of nowhere "We need to teach him high fives!" So she's been working on that. Right now it's more like first bumps, but he should be opening his hands more very soon. And the other day Randy asked her what she is most excited to teach her little brother and she said "I'm going to teach him to walk!" Yikes! Hopefully not for at least another 12 months.
- All of these diaper changes has opened her eyes to the differences between girls and boys. We haven't gotten into specifics yet because she seems satisfied with us saying "those are his private parts just like you have private parts" or as she calls them "his privacies". I'm guessing we won't be able to get away with that forever and more questions will be coming very soon.
- As many of you know Faith loved her pacifier aka her bink. And we mean LOVED! She parted ways with the last one this past fall, but having pacifiers around again is a bit like torture for her. One day earlier this week I caught her with two in her mouth at once. And just last night she was no where to be found and then I realized she was hiding under the kitchen table with a bink in her mouth. Hopefully that will pass quickly and actually Daniel doesn't seem to be the huge fan his sister was so maybe we won't need them for long.
Daniel Allan Grove was born December 14th at 6:30 AM at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. It's just a few short blocks from our beloved Camden Yards where our Orioles play. We love that both of our babies were born in Baltimore (Faith was born at Johns Hopkins Bayview). Daniel's birthmother, Danielle, gave him his name. We loved it immediately - especially since it's a part of her name. It's something that he can always have that will tie him to her and we couldn't bear to take that away from him. And we honestly really love it! We added Randy's middle name, Allan, and it's official. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz, was 48.5 cm long and he was born at 36 weeks so just a few weeks early. We haven't met his birth parents yet, but we hope to see them in the next few months. They have requested we send updates of pictures and letters once or twice a year just like Faith's birth family. So we'll definitely be in touch with them that way.
Daniel is a healthy and very happy boy and we can't believe how blessed we are. He spent his first six weeks with a lovely family that works for our adoption agency as an interim care provider. They were such an important part of Daniel's early days and we really hope to stay in touch with them. We keep telling him what an amazing village of family and friends he's a part of and just how loved he is by so many people! We can't thank each and every one of you enough for all of the texts, calls, cards, gifts and dinners. We cherish each and every message and please know we love you all even if we don't always write back. We blame it on being in newborn bliss and sleep deprivation. :-)
Just a little selfish PSA - one of the most helpful things this past two weeks is that we have only had to cook dinner a couple of times. My sister set up this meal train for us and it's been AMAZING! So if you haven't had a chance to come over and meet Daniel and would like to sign up - we'd love you for it.
Much Love,
The Groves
Contemplating how to steal Daniel's bink
First outing to the pediatrician's office
First weigh in at the doctor
First bath at home
Giving mommy and daddy strict instructions
Lots of kisses
A glimpse into Faith's new room
Ready to play in the snow
Daddy makes me laugh
When you're this exhausted, you sleep anywhere
Best birthday with my two babies
Ice cream cake for mommy's birthday
First family selfie
Reading to mommy
Cheering for Villanova!
Faith and Daniel also got a new cousin. Jess's sister Erica and her husband Bobby had a baby boy last week. Talk about a busy week for the Kehler family! As Jess's mom pointed out - we now have 5 grandkids/cousins all under 4. Our family beach trip this summer should be really fun and really loud! ;-)
Benjamin Robert Cucinella
Born 1/30/15
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