Shutterfly | Slideshow

Shutterfly Slideshow
Feel free to browse some pictures on the above link compliments of Lola.

A Day In the Life of a One-Month Old...

Lazy Sunday afternoon.

Jonathan, trying to get his jaws around an apple almost as big as his head.

Smiling at Aunt Kristi during her weekly Thursday evening visit.

Christopher usually doesn't look at the entertainment provided for him, he prefers staring at the ceiling lights. However this particular time he was quite interested in the rainforest monkey and frog. He was smiling, I just missed it.

Every afternoon around 3, Christopher does his floor "workout". I help him do a circuit of bouncy chair, tummy time & floor mat. I usually read him a book while he cools down.

"And hold for a count of twenty"

Christopher getting ready for his bath time. He loves getting a bath, hence the smile.

Christopher smiling at Daddy after a diaper change. "Thanks Dad!"


Friday Christopher had his one month check-up. He now weighs 10 pounds 2 ounces and is 22 inches long. He remains in excellent health. The doctor gave him the second of a three course hepatitis B vaccine. Our little guy only cried for a brief minute. He was such a good boy during the entire appointment. The doctor also said that his infant acne is very typical and nothing can be done for it. Hopefully it will gone by 2 months.

On Saturday Christopher and I drove to Hanover, Pa to visit cousins Kim, Matt and their kids, Noah and Jonathan. Kristi visited as well. It was only supposed to be for the afternoon, while Ryan was fishing a tournament in Joppatowne. However the tournament ended early, so Ryan joined us up in Pa. We spent the evening with Ryan's parents and their friends. Bill and Lola hosted a gathering after touring York county's vineyards for a wine tasting during Uncork York. There was a good number of friends present, so we got to show off Christopher. Sunday morning we came home after a yummy breakfast of buttermilk pancakes.

Christopher continues to be an excellent night sleeper. Daytime naps are another story. I am trying to encourage him to sleep in his crib for naps as well as the night. For some reason though, his naps in his crib are brief ones, only lasting 30 minutes. The daytime can be a little hectic for me. Christopher loves to be held (and I love to hold him) but this leaves little time to get anything done around the house. By the end of the day, my arms and back ache from constantly carrying him. And he is only 10 pounds! Oh well, one day, when he is a big boy, I'll lament these early days and wish he still wanted me to hold him. So I will enjoy this time while it lasts.

Christopher's First Easter

Third cousins, three weeks apart. Congratulations to Mark and Stephanie. Matthew Raymond Klaben was born on St. Patrick's Day. In this picture both babes look like they are doing the chicken dance.

Grandmother loves her Easter bunny.

Christopher with his future Godparents, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Kevin. Leif of course never misses a photo op.

Christopher loves his safari swing given to him by Oma Ru.

Introducing the pacifier.

Christopher is a real pro at holding up his head.

Christopher meets Aunt Mary Ann. They look as if they don't know what to make of each other!

Happy Easter from the Winterseins!

Mutual Love!

"See Ma, I can do this all day!"

How bout this for strategic hand positioning. Christopher loves his bathtime.

Fresh and Clean!

Today marks Christopher's four week "birthday". Tomorrow he will be one month old officially! These past weeks have flown by. Of recent, Christopher is smiling often. Many times it is a more social smile, in response to our smiles at him. He has settled into a great night sleep pattern. Last week he slept from 10pm to 5am, when I decided to finally wake him to nurse. Most nights he sleeps 4-5 hours straight, wakes to nurse then quickly goes to sleep for another 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, his evenings are his fussiest times. I am learning more about him everyday. I believe for the most part, his fussy periods are from being overtired. Last week we decided reluctantly to introduce a pacifier. We use it sparingly to help Christopher learn to self-soothe. Beforehand, the only way to calm him in the evenings was to nurse him, and he often didn't need to eat, just to suck. Since his body didn't need the milk, he would just spit up and become gassy, making him even more fussy. It was a vicious cycle. The pacifier helps this situation tremendously. Hopefully he'll only need it until he learns to calm his self down. On another sour note, his has a bad case of infant acne. His beautiful little face is covered with tiny red pimples. They should go away in the coming weeks. Until then they just look awful. Poor guy.

Tomorrow I will mail Christopher's birth announcements. I wanted to make them myself, rather than have them printed at Target or online. Boy, I underestimated how labor intensive it would be. Nevertheless, they are complete and turned out nice. Thanks to Lola, for her photography and hours spent assembling them. Also thanks to Laura for running me around for the supplies and my Mom for assembling them as well. In the end, I am glad we went the handmade route.

Our Easter was enjoyable. Ryan, Christopher and I went to mass in the morning. This was our first mass with the little guy, he was very well-behaved. Afterwards, we joined the Wintersteins for a tasty Easter dinner compliments of Gran Winterstein. For dessert we headed to Bayside to join the McClain gang. By the end of the day, Christopher was completely worn out, tired beyond reason. We wasted no time getting him to bed upon are arrival home.

How Sweet It Is!

Laura snuggling lil' Christopher
Tummy Nap

Daddy and Christopher watching fishing shows. They both had their right arms up, I thought it was cute.

Snoozin'

The next 5 pictures are from Lola during our visit this past weekend. Christopher obviously loves being in Daddy's arms.
So wonderfully sweet...

Gran and Pop's first meeting with our little guy.

New motherhood has it's ups and downs. Christopher has started his predicted 2 week old feeding frenzy, which means he cluster feeds as often as every 30 minutes to an hour. This is a little taxing on my sleep schedule. But just as I feel exhausted beyond words, Christopher will smile, or even laugh and this makes the long hours invested well worth it. I am looking forward to initiating some sort of schedule into our home life, but I'm afraid its a bit too early for this 2 week old. Our day goes something like this: Midnight to 7am are filled with nursing sessions and numerous diaper changes, 7 - 10am we're snuggled in for a nice nap, the mid morning and afternoons are dappled with more feedings and naps for Christopher, by 2 or 3pm we head outside for a stroll around the neighborhood, and finally evening arrives to find an fussy Christopher just in time for Daddy's return home, then Ryan takes over for me until bedtime, which is usually 11pm.

The hard work pays off though. Monday morning Christopher had a doctor appointment which revealed that our little man is growing like a weed. He has grown 3/4" and gained a pound in just 2 weeks! His doctor said he is a picture of health. But of course we knew this.

Christopher amazes me with his strength, his arms fight me when I dress him and his neck holds his head up for minutes at a time. We practice with his neck muscles by putting him on his stomach over a pillow a couple times a day. A little baby workout never hurt anyone. We are looking forward to the months ahead, when Christopher becomes more social. Until then we just enjoy his soft, sighing newness.

Photos Galore!

Trying to catch one of Christopher's many smiles is like waiting for a shooting star

This sweater was a gift from one of Ryan's clients.

Another smile caught a little too late.
The following photos are courtesy of Grandma Lola
Happy feet!

Grandma's new favorite subject.

Grandma taught him how to suck his hand.

"Enough already! This photo session has worn me out!"

On Tuesday, Grandma Lola spent the day with Christopher and me. She was in her glory, taking picture after picture of her new grandson. She placed him on the bed under a window in the office, where natural light poured over him. I think Christopher had fun in the beginning, but as we kept him awake all afternoon, I believe he had had enough! After the photo session, Lola spent the evening prepping the pics on Adobe so that I can use them for Christopher's birth announcements. They should be coming to you soon!

Monday was Ryan's last day of paternity leave. We took advantage of the beautiful weather. After dropping off our taxes, we headed to Honeygo Park. There, we strolled around and took in the fresh spring air. We saw a bald eagle soaring overhead. The playground was alive with many kids and moms, who were enjoying the warm day. It felt so good to get out, after being indoors for eight days. The little bit of exercise did my achy body wonders. I was very sad on Tuesday morning when Ryan returned to work. Our special week as a new family ended so abruptly. I enjoyed being together; loved learning together about our new little man.

I have been fortunate enough to have plenty of helping hands this week since Ryan's return to work. On Tuesday we had visits from Grandma Lola and Aunt Lisa, on Wednesday Laura C. came by and today Oma Sue stayed with us. Many hands make light work, and the help of friends and family proved this to be true. Because of the help received this week, I am well rested and just about fully recovered from delivery. I thank everyone!

Christopher is just amazing. He is still sleeping through the night, only waking two times for feedings. During the day he sleeps often, wakes to nurse, then has an alert period (my favorite time). When he sleeps, he dreams! He makes so many noises and funny faces. His breathing pattern changes from calm to the pattern of a freight train. He even laughs in his sleep. I am glad Ryan talked me into using his crib for night-time sleep. If he roomed in with us, I doubt we'd get a wink of sleep. He is nursing well, and he has chubby cheeks and a stack of dirty diapers to prove it! It is amazing how fast the day goes: it's nurse, burp, diaper change, sleep, entertain, then repeat cycle. When Ryan comes home, it is daddy time for the evening, as Ryan won't put Christopher down till bedtime.

Gotta go now, Christopher is letting me know it's time for him to eat.

A Weekend of Visitors

Christopher prepared for his long weekend by getting a little spa treatment by Mom and Dad.

As well as a baby manicure...

After the bath Christopher and Ryan spent some one-on-one time. Christopher couldn't stop staring at his Daddy.

Here is the proud Grandfather, he can't wait to start teasing him of course! Jonathan loved the baby, he held him a few times, and told me "I'm going to have a baby too". His Mama is due at the end of March.

So Sweet!

This sling is quickly one of Christopher's favorite things. No matter what mood he is in, as soon as he gets in this thing he is so content! He is too cute for words!

Christopher surprised Ryan and I with several smiles in a row during his sleep. Unfortunately the flash kinda washed the pics out. He also gave us a few belly laughs in his sleep yesterday. I had never heard this from a newborn before!

Christopher has been pretty popular since his arrival. This past weekend he had a visit from Grandparents Winterstein, Aunt Kristi, Matt, Kim, Noah, Jonathan, Karen, Steve, Grant, Uncle Jason, Aunt Laura, Cousin Leif, Aunt Amy and Great-Greatparents Winterstein. Phew, he was exhausted! It has been nice seeing everyone and showing him off. The first few nights home, Christopher only slept 30-90 minutes at at time, waking often to nurse. Last night, though, he slept 3 1/2 hours, woke to nurse, then slept another 3 1/2 hours. What a wonderful sleep we had!
On Friday, Christopher had his first doctor's appointment, and he his the picture of health. He has returned to his birth weight, his baby jaundice is practically gone, he is nursing like a champ and his umbilical cord and circumcision is healing wonderfully.