They give you the bright colored blankets so it is easier to find the baby in the dark.

Experience.

We held a Big Sister party for Felicity on Friday to celebrate her role in the new and expanded family. Then she went off with Papa and Grandma Friday night and we went to the hospital to spend the night taking care of Austin.

I think papa would look better in the blue hat. :-)

Apparently Papa's heart skipped a beat last week when she decided to let go mid swing and remove her hat. Luckily, papa has quick reflexes and caught her before she hit the ground.

I'm ready - give me a big push and release the tiger - the crowd loves this one.

I've got the hat - where's the pony? (Best of Papa and Felicity Collection)

Nothing says summer like a lawn chair (Best of Papa and Felicity Collection)

From the Best of Papa and Felicity Collection

Lots of thoughts, photos and videos to come with beautiful narrative arcs - for now - we made it home - everybody is healthy and happy and we're almost through day 1. Lots of love. S.

Look Ma, no tubes!

O2 has been removed, the monitors have been turned off and he is still nice and pink and eating lots. He's coming home Saturday!

Family update

A week or so to go and we think that Austin will be home with us. He is down to 15 cc/min of supplemental O2 and feeding regularly from the bottle without his O2 saturation levels dropping precipitously. We were in both Sunday and tonight and he was more active and generally vocal than we've seen. It left both of us feeling more positive. It has been an up and down week, when you talk to the nurses it seems that what he went through with the pneoumothorax was certainly not just a routine procedure and very serious and unusual for babies at his stage. We're through that now but it makes you do a little shudder here and again.

I had an interesting date night with my wife. Drop child # 1 with the grandparents, to for dinner, go bathe and feed child #2 at the hospital and then go for desert and coffee. This two kids thing is really easy when somebody else takes care of them. :-)

The video belows shows what slipping a couple extra dollars to the nurse with the razor will accomplish. I hear punk is the latest look at the mother-baby groups.

Thanks to all who have been calling and emailing. The support is greatly appreciated.

Lots of love,

Sean and Renee

Smiling mama

Check out the look of happiness on Mom's face.

Big Steps Forward

We're off the supplemental O2, taking a bottle at least once a day and waking in anticipation of our feedings. That and he's over 6.5 lbs. Maybe another week and then he comes home.

  

Hide and Seek

I told him again and again that you have to cover both eyes to play hide and seek. I hope there isn't a test on it before you get out of intensive care.

Baby Smackdown

Who's ready to rumble? I've got my mouthguard and one hand free. I'm sure I can take the baby one incubator over. He was eyeing my O2 tank last week and you can't just let that go.

  

Big Sister

I'm Big Sister! My superpowers include that ability to destroy a room in under 10 seconds. I inherited that from one of my parents. They won't say which one is fully responsible but I have my suspicions.

  

Fishing for stuffed animals

1. Tie loop and string underneath arm of stuffed animal. This is more fun if it is a favoured stuffed animal in the obscure ordering system understood only by small girls.

2. Find a height - preferrably a second floor deck.

3. Tie one end of the string to a solid object (not the toddler). This saves you having to walk down and retrieve the stuffed animal from the lawn.

4. Hurl stuffed animal over railing (not the toddler). Discourage toddler from attempting same.

5. Demonstrate hand over hand technique of recovering the stuffed animal.

6. It is like playing hide and seek again and again.

7. Watch for the bears head to pop up over the railing in the video. The string got stuck so recovery was prevented.

Hitting the scales

He's following the family men. The older he gets the more his hairline moves. Of course, it's being shaved off by the nurses as opposed to the rest of us. I should take notes.

Moving up and moving out

Lots of progress today. Our first set of clothes, our first hat and moving from the maximum security baby jail to the medium security baby jail. The IV also came out.