The Latest Photos/Update

Jeremiah and Joshua are doing very well. Joshua surpassed 10 lbs today, 10 lbs 2 oz.  He's huge!  His follow up echocardiogram looked great.  The cardiologist just wants to follow along with screening echoes every 2 months until his heart is mature enough for them to see all of the vessels on ultrasound.  He'll likely need oxygen for another couple of months.  He is developing right on track for his adjusted age, so we don't have any concerns so far.  After months of working at it, Joshua made it pretty clear he likes the bottle better than nursing, so I continue to pump while giving him a bottle.  It works for us, and it's much faster than breastfeeding was. 

We finally took Joshua out to go to church two weeks ago.  It was so nice to go as a family.  Just a word of warning to any of my friends who may come across us.  Don't even try to touch Joshua if James is around.  He isn't afraid to bring out his Papa Grizzly when it comes to Joshua.  Don't take it personally if he snaps at you if you get too close.   Our first day out, I was so excited to finally show off my beautiful baby to all the world.  Two of my special friends at church rushed over and started gushing about how cute he is (oh how I loved that!), and naturally, one of them reached for him to touch his hair.  Right about then, James, who was about 10 steps behind me, blurted out, "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"   Oh boy, was I embarrassed! How do you recover from that one?  Of course I agree that we shouldn't expose Joshua to extra germs, but that was pretty harsh.  Bottom line, he's the vigilant one, and I'm the softy.  I wouldn't let strangers touch him, but I don't think friends would hurt him.  I just need to have hand sanitizer right there to offer people first.  I tried to talk to him about coming across a little nicer, but then last week he wouldn't let another friend at church touch him.  Gotta love that protective instinct!  Just thought it would be worth a warning to any of you if you see us.

Here are some pics of my favorite men.

Jeremiah loves holding Joshua.  Here they are sitting at our "pumping/feeding station." Our bedroom has become Jeremiah's play area as he waits for us to finish.  This was taken a few weeks ago.

The bros, just hangin' out.

Sunday, July 15th. My happy guy.

Happy 4 month birthday, Joshua (July 1st)!

I had to include this one since it sums up their feelings so well.  Jeremiah has so much fun "cuddling" with Joshua, who doesn't really appreciate it so much.

I'm a big boy in my Bumbo seat!

Mr. Joe Cool hamming it up.

Tummy Time!

 Yesterday, I got to get out of the house to go play with Jeremiah at the Summer Reading Program celebration.  It was such a fun day at the library. There were so many fun activities, games, treats, and prizes.  Jeremiah loved the bubbles (above).  I got a kick out of him when he pointed toward the fire trucks, so excited.  Of course, he could read books about fire trucks all day.  He started yelling, "To-an! To-an!"  Huh?????  No clue there. I said "show me," and he went running over to the CONE and picked it up.  Of all the fun activities available, he was more excited about the cone than anything else.  And that's as close as he would go to the fire trucks.

Real men wear pink.

Dad and Jeremiah enjoying a rainbow from our deck.