Taking a bottle

Surprise!  This is what I saw when I arrived for the 3pm feeding today!  What a big boy!  He took a little over half of his feeding through a bottle.   (He's eating 42 ML each feeding with none left over in his tummy by the next feeding.  That is encouraging, signs that his body is functioning very efficiently and he's able to thrive on this schedule.)  I greatly appreciate his nurses.  She quickly showed me what to do and I got to feed him the rest.

 Here I am holding my 4 lb. 6 oz boy!  He's gaining weight every day.

 Here is a better shot of his face and him holding his paci.

Super sweetie.  He was so alert and active this afternoon.  He was awake my entire visit, which has never happened before.  When I laid him back down he immediately passed out.  Bottle feeding and mommy time requires a lot of energy and burns a lot of precious calories.

Today was a great day.  We've enjoyed our visit with Phil's brother Brian and are looking forward to our upcoming weekend when my in-laws will be here.  Having things to look forward to on the weekend (and throughout the week) helps the time fly by and makes the day to day routine more bearable.

Thank you to all our friends who have brought us meals and cared for Ethan last week.  He is having a blast playing with friends and asks now more than ever when he is going to play with friends again.  He and I have wonderful afternoons together - mostly staying home and playing toys and occasionally a trip to the park.  It is a time for me to recoup and also for Ethan to have some mommy time.  We seem to be doing well, settling into this routine.