Pease Porridge Hot, Pease Porridge Cold...

Pease porridge in a pot,

NINE DAYS OLD!

One Week Plus One

Since we waited for spontaneous labor this time, we didn't have time to make Birth Day brownies for Ollie like we did for G.  We decided to make them for his one week birthday.  Here we are with G's brownies:

and here we are with O's:

Yesterday, we noticed that Ollie is almost reaching toward things, and today, he grabbed Mommy's shirt.  We thought that was a pretty significant milestone.  Here is a photo of when it happened:

He also really started tracking yesterday - if we jingle a toy, he will follow it with his head.  

Finally, one more thing we noticed today is that he seems to be putting on weight.  I think that every parent of a newborn wants that reassurance that he is getting enough nourishment, so we are happy that Ollie looks so healthy.  Just look at those cheeks in today's "Awww" moment:

One Wonderful Week!

It has been one week since our precious Oliver came into our lives.  It has gone so quickly, but what a wonderful week it has been!  Here are some highlights.

He had his first walk!

Big Bro was excited to push him and did a great job.

He has so many great expressions, and we love when he studies us.

We are enchanted by his many expressions, like this one...

and this one!

He loves the giraffe his big bro brought him in the hospital.

We have had meals all week brought by wonderful friends, and here is a highlight - the appetizer...

and the main course.  Our friends studied Ukrainian cuisine and spent two days cooking this amazing dinner for us!

On Thursday night, Ollie lost his umbilical cord.  We haven't found it yet but we will continue to look.  It was too soon for me, because that connection between me and Oliver is precious.  It feels like he is now completely physically independent, although his need for me to constantly hold and feed him reminds me that that isn't true.  Now that he has a belly button, though, there are a couple of things he can do, like take a bath and wear cloth diapers (they would have irritated the cord).

Ollie had his first bath, which we made the mistake of doing when he was hungry...

followed by his first cloth diaper!

Here he is, with his big bro, getting to know his Papa.  The balloon is from cousin Jackson.

Today, we had his newborn photo shoot with our friend Angie.

We celebrated his one week birthday at exactly 1:44 pm...

with birthday brownies!

It has been a wonderful week with our little Ollie.

What We Are Doing At 2:29 am

Ollie and I are just sitting here in bed, having a chat. For a three-day-old, he really is quite the conversationalist. He says more with his facial expressions than most people do with words.

The Great Comforter

Oliver does NOT like car rides. As our pediatrician is a good 45 minute drive, that is an inconvenient truth. Cue big bro to the rescue. G put down his bagel despite being hungry to spend a significant amount of time stretched all the way across the back seat letting Ollie hold and chew on his finger. Where we were unable to calm the little guy, G was a success... for a little while, anyway.

Introducing Oliver John Asher

Allow us to introduce you to our younger son, Oliver John Asher Angle!  He was born at 1:44 pm after about 9 hours (almost 6 since the water broke) of labor.  He weighs 8 pounds, 12.5 ounces.  He is 20 inches tall and is perfect.  He came into the world swimming (see the photo below), with no medications.  He was alert, happy, and recognized his parents and big bro right away.  He lifted his head and looked around as soon as he was wrapped up in his mommy's arms, and his Papa made him smile.

Here are some photos of his - and our - big day.

The minute he was born.

Brand new baby, still in the pool.

Margaret, one of our midwives, showed us how he knows how to swim.  He looks like he's crying, but he isn't.  He loved it. 

Gabriel loves his new little bro!

G connecting with his little bro.

Oliver's very first meal.

Everyone is excited to meet the newest member of our family.

Proud Papa!

He definitely recognizes our voices.

Bros.

Proud Daddy.

A Loving Big Bro

After our wonderful photo shoot with Angie, I realized that I never asked G to take a pic with his little brother.  We decided that we should take a few before the little one is born, so on Saturday, we took a few photos.  Here are our favorites.

Eggplant Parmesan Baby?

As our due date is this weekend, we decided to revisit Scalini's, the restaurant with the eggplant parmesan famous for inducing labor.  We have only been here once before, three days before G was induced.  It clearly didn't work then, but we wanted to give it another try.  We had completely forgotten how delicious the food was and what a cool atmosphere the restaurant has, and we had a great time, no matter whether it actually works.  Here is our outing in photos:

Going in - hoping our stomachs are ready!

His best coloring yet, and some delicious spaghetti.

Very tasty chicken francaise.

Ta-da!  THE eggplant parmesan.

That is one huge dish.  No way can I finish that!

I started thinking that every bite brings us closer to our baby, and pure willpower took over.

Not a bit of eggplant left.

Now we just wait!

One of the walls of Scalini's babies.  Will we add our photo?

That was a super fun dinner!

Recreating the photo we took seven and a half years ago, when this little one was in my tummy.