Colin, Our Social Butterfly

We had a wonderful visit from Cristina (Juan's mom) this weekend while he was away in San Diego for the world baseball classic. He'll get his own post later, which I am sure is much more exciting :)

Cristina was an amazing help and she got to spend some quality time with Colin. It's only been about 3 weeks since she last saw him, but we all think he's grown quite a bit since then, both in size and cognitive ability. He adored her, especially the Spanish hand song she sung to him with fingers moving in front of him. 

On Saturday the 3 of us headed out to Tricia's neck of the woods to have fun at Sydney's 10th birthday party. (More of that on Tricia's blog) I did capture a couple of nice pictures of Colin with Cristina and Grammie as well as a cute video of cousin Ciara dancing.  (To be added later once I figure how to edit movie clips with the new Mac)

Abuela and Grammie with Colin

Help me out Trish ---- Ella or Charlotte with Grammie?

Ciara in one of the twins' carriers. She loves her new cousins...and their stuff!

Happy Birthday Grammie

The whole clan gathered in Pembroke Sunday for a birthday brunch for my mom. (Juan was the only one not able to join us as he headed to the airport to get an earlier flight to Chicago due to last night's snow storm.) At any given point in time, someone was feeding / changing / consoling a baby, making breakfast, playing in the snow or getting Jake (the dog) out of the room so a full family picture wasn't possible. However, this is a cute one of my mom and Colin.

A Week of Firsts

So many things to update from the Flores family activities this past week (ok maybe longer, sorry!) Colin, Juan and I had several "firsts".

1. Breastfeeding in public. (Which I never thought I would do!) Although I had strategicly fed baby boy right before leaving for a lunch date with sisters Tricia and Erin and friend Shara, with all children in tow, Colin decided (demanded) that he needed more. After watching the expert (Tricia) I decided to give it a try in the farthest corner of the lunch area. It actually went pretty well, even though Colin thought it would be hilarious to keep pulling down the blanket I had attempted to use to cover us. (Fellow UMass allumni may recognize the atrium of St. Vincent's Hospital where we had lunch every day for > 2 years, a perfect spot for toddlers and breastfeeding mommies.)

2. Road trip to Elmira. The three of us braved the 6 hour road trip to Elmira, NY to visit with Juan's family. Although his parents visited us days after Colin was born, most of the family hadn't yet met him and were very eager to. In our pseudo parent wisdom we thought it would be a good idea to start the trip at 9 at night, so as to coincide with Colin's bedtime. Unfortunately, it back fired. It happened to be the night of a snowstorm so the whole trip took more than 8 hours and, while we were very sleepy, Colin was up at 7 am, on schedule as planned. This trip also brought a couple of other firsts : first feeding in the back seat of the car at 3 am in a dark rest stop and a diaper change cramped back there.

While the trip was a little overwhelming for Colin (going from spending days with only mommy to more than 15 people at a time and sleeping somewhere strange) it was great to see everyone and introduce them to Colin.

3. Vaccinations. This first round of vaccinations was not fun but Colin weathered it like a champ.

4. Colin slept 5 hours at night. 'Nuff said.

5. And finally ... Juan and I set up a joint checking account. After 4 1/2 years of marriage, we thought it was time. Plus if I go on unpaid leave, I need to continue to live in the manner to which I have grown accustomed :)

Getting Big

We've decided to measure Colin's growth by how big he looks sleeping with daddy :) (compare to the picture posted in December!)

One Month Already!

Hanging out in the bouncer. Colin likes the bright colors but isn't so wild about the accompanying "froggy" song. 

Just a little bit of size difference between Colin and his new cousins. :)  I think that Trish is holding Ella on the left and Charlotte on the right.

Daddy and Colin at one month old.

 

Not too happy after his first bath. We have been doing sponge baths up until now and the first time sitting in water was not much fun. Good thing babies don't get that dirty - I don't think we could do this more than a couple times a week.

So Colin is just a little over a month old now. (Yes, I'll probably mark every monthly milestone) The time has absolutely flown by! He's such a big boy, eating well and awake for most of the day now. He's 10 lbs even and already growing out of the newborn sized clothes. We spend the day "talking" to each other (he make a few very cute cooing sounds now), playing in the bouncer and swing and doing a little "tummy time". (We're up to 5-8 minutes before he starts crying now.) The 2 of us have started to venture out of the house a bit more too - running errands and visiting family. I know it's early, but we can't wait until the warmer weather comes so we can go for walks and play outside.

3 Weeks Old Today!

Colin's Nursery

Colin spends his nights and most naps in the cradle right next to our bed. However, we've been putting him into his crib in his own room for at least one nap a day so that he can get used to it. He's so small in the big crib!!!

Colin is already 3 weeks old! We are doing well and Colin is eating regularly and sleeping a lot. Last week Juan returned to work in NY and Grammie Seymour stayed with us for most of the week. This week is our first time truly on our own, although Grammie might come back for one overnight visit to give Roberta a break for a few hours.

Colin is already growing and we can see that he is holding his head up just fine and starting to grasp with his hands. He loves his bouncer and seems to like to look at very simple but bold patterns.

Introducing Ella and Charlotte

Just when the excitement from Colin's arrival had abated a bit, Trish's delivery began. After some complications Ella Joyce and Charlotte Carla were born early on January 4th. (See her blog for details and pictures, link on the right). All three are still in the hospital but we hope to have them safely home soon. Colin and I aren't able to make it to the hospital to see them unfortunately, but we will be visiting them as soon as we can when they come home and will have pictures of our own to post with Colin and his new cousins on our first real trip from home :)