Eric: 7 Weeks

Eric is continuing to grow like a weed.  I weighed him this morning.  Granted, he had on clothes and a diaper that needed to be changed, but he is up to 11 pounds 14.5 ounces!

He is starting to smile more and more.  His acid reflux is still causing him some trouble, and I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow to see about switching his medication, but he is usually a pretty happy guy.  He's starting to make a lot of noises other than just crying, too!  He also likes to imitate me when he can.  If I stick my tongue out at him, he will start sticking his tongue out.  He's definitely becoming more interactive.

Here's a picture of our handsome little guy at 7 weeks old:

Eric - 6 Weeks

Eric had a busy week!  First of all, he did a great job of taking a bottle.  He looked at me like I was crazy for about 2 seconds, and then he started drinking.  Sometimes I forget to give him a bottle or it doesn't work into our schedule, but he gets a bottle a few times a week, and he is doing a great job!

 On Sunday, August 25, Eric was baptized.  Here are some pictures from the event:

Adriana's Marilyn Monroe impression

Quentin, Adriana, Gabby, and Bell waiting patiently.

Father David Huemmer baptized Eric.

Eric screamed through most of it.

Adriana and Grandma Hermie watching

 

We really appreciate everyone who came to celebrate with us!

He wouldn't calm down for Daddy either...

...no matter what he tried!

Adriana thought it was funny to see her brother throw a fit.

Godfather Jeff Miller lighting Eric's baptism candle

Eric started to calm down toward the end.

 

Zekey...looking as cute as ever

Connor did a great job of keeping an eye on Adriana!

 Afterward, Sue and Ron had everyone to their house for lunch.

We cannot thank them enough for being such wonderful hosts!

Posing with Eric's Godfathers, Brandon and Jeff

 

Posing with the Penrods

The beautiful cake!

Adriana blew some bubbles with Daddy.

Posing with the Hermans.  Adriana didn't feel like looking at  the camera, but what can you expect from a nearly-two-year old?

And finally, Eric's weekly picture with Elmo:

Eric - 5 Weeks Old

Eric is still sleeping a lot, but when he is awake, he is smiling more and more.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get a smile out of him for his weekly picture.  He smiles in his sleep, smiles at me, smiles at Adriana, and today he smiled at his daddy for the first time.

I think he is happy that his acid reflux is getting better!  The doctor increased his medication dose, and he is doing a lot better.  He has had a couple of feedings now where he didn't spit up at all.  He still gets a little fussy about an hour before it is time for his nightly dose of medicine, but overall, the acid reflux problems are much better!

Our nurse practitioner recommends waiting to start a bottle until babies are 3 weeks old to make sure that breastfeeding is well-established.  We decided to hold off until his acid reflux got better because we didn't want him to associate pain with the bottle.  We are going to try a bottle for the first time this afternoon.  We're hoping it goes well!

Here's the weekly picture of our little cutie:

Eric Anthony is 1 Month Old!

It's hard to believe that Eric has been with us for a month already.  We're starting to get into a routine, but he still seems so little.

Eric is a great sleeper!  He is already doing five hour stretches twice a day.  Once during the day, he will stay asleep for five hours, and then he does it again once at night.  He will put himself back to sleep sometimes, and he will fall asleep without having to be fed.  Scott and I are still amazed at how well he sleeps.  It seems so odd to us after having Adriana, who likes to sleep as little as possible.

Unfortunately, our poor little Eric has to deal with acid reflux.  I've always had really bad heartburn, and it seems like Eric has inherited my stomach.  He struggles to eat sometimes, and he spits up after every meal.  When he was first born, it seemed like he would throw up everything he had eaten.  We were so worried about him gaining weight.  And then we went to the doctor and learned that he is actually gaining an amazing amount of weight.  I don't know how he's doing it, but somehow, he is getting some food to stay down.  Last week, the doctor put Eric on Prilosec, and today, she increased his dose.  I really hope this dosage works for him.  I hate seeing him in pain.  :-(

Despite his acid reflux, Eric is doing quite well.  At one month old, he can do all of the following:

• lifts his head for short periods of time (the doctor is very impressed with this)
• moves his head from side to side
• prefers the human face to other shapes
• makes jerky arm movements
• brings hands to face
• has strong reflex movements
• can focus on items 8 - 12 inches away
• turns toward familiar sounds and voices
• responds to loud sounds (if he's awake)
• blinks at bright lights
• smiles (he did this for the first time today)...look at his cute little grin in the picture below
• track objects with his eyes
• makes noises other than crying (he just started doing this yesterday)

Here's Eric at one month old:

We love you so much, Eric Anthony Herman!

Adriana Leigh Herman is 23 Months Old

I hear people say all the time, "I can't believe my baby is almost two."  I don't feel that way.  When I look at Adriana, I can't believe she's not two yet.

Maybe it's because she's not my "baby" anymore, but I don't think so.  I've felt this way before Eric was born.  I think it's because of all the stuff Adriana can do.  I'm amazed at how well she is talking, how many things she remembers, and how much she knows.  Still, there is one things I'm struggling with a little bit:  Adriana starts preschool next month.  I'm excited for her because I think she'll love it, but I'm nervous about sending her off by herself.  I'm worried that she'll throw fits at school (I know my mom understands my concern there).  I hope that Adriana's classmates and teachers love her as much as we do and that Adriana loves going to school.

This month, Adriana learned the letter P.  She also identifies S all of the time without calling it Z.  I keep forgetting to mention this, but Adriana also knows many of her numbers.  She can correctly identify 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 100% of the time.  In addition, she can count to 6.  This AMAZES me.  I was working on counting to 5 with her, and she was doing pretty well, but didn't have it mastered, so I hadn't moved on to 6 yet.  About two weeks ago, Adriana was playing, and she started to count to herself.  I couldn't believe it when I heard her say, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6."  I don't know where she picked it up, but she has counted to 6 several times since then.

I am thrilled with everything Adriana is learning, but what I am most proud of this month is how nice she is to her baby brother.  She is truly one of the most loving kids I have ever seen.  She has been excited about Eric since we first started talking about having a new baby.  When she met him for the first time, that excitement grew exponentially.  She has adjusted to having a baby brother so well!  She had some trouble sleeping when he first came home, but that's Adriana.  She's never been a great sleeper.  I also think it was partly to due to fear.  She didn't understand why Mommy and Daddy didn't come home for three nights, and she kept coming in our room to make sure that we were still there.  That lasted about a week, and now she does very well!  She may have a bad night here and there, but at one point, she stayed in her big girl bed 11 nights in a row!

Adriana loves to help me with Eric.  She gets diapers for me without being asked.  She will also get towels for me when he spits up, and she tries to help him with his pacifier when he cries.  Adriana kisses Eric so many times each day that I lose track.  I don't get quite as many kisses anymore because she is so busy kissing Eric.  She is so cute when she talks to him, too.  I hear, "hi Baby Eric," "hi Rarick," aww...Sweetie Eric," "kiss him," "[he] likes it" (after she kisses him), and "nice" (after she kisses him) several times every day.  She will be playing on her own and then need to come over and touch him.  It's like she just needs to check in with him from time to time.

Ever since Eric came along, Adriana's favorite thing to do is play with her babies.  She feeds them, diapers them, puts them to bed, wraps them up in towels/blankets, gives them baths, dances with them, puts them to bed, etc.  This goes on for hours and hours.  I love watching Adriana imitate what I'm doing.  It's neat to see how she perceives what I'm doing with Eric, and to see that she wants to be like me.

Here she is taking care of Sulley after his bath:

And here she is in her monthly picture:

She was clipping Elmo's nails.  She loves to do "mani-pedis" right now.

Laughing at Mommy

Eric: 3 Weeks Old

Eric turned three weeks old on Saturday.  I think this is the week that babies lose their "newborn" look.  At least, this is when both of mine did.  I think Eric is looking more like a baby and less like a newborn, just like Adriana did at this point.  And, of course, I still think he's as cute as ever.  :-)

Eric: Weeks 1 & 2

When Adriana was first born, this was our schedule:

She slept, I slept.
She slept, I did stuff around the house.
She slept, I slept.
She slept, I updated the blog.

Now that Eric is here, this is the schedule:

He sleeps, I play with Adriana.
He sleeps, I try to get stuff done around the house while Adriana "helps."
He sleeps, Adriana sleeps, I sleep.
He sleeps, I play with Adriana.

So, I will continue to take weekly pictures of Eric, and I will get them posted to the blog as I can.  As he starts sleeping more through the night, I'll try to update more regularly.

Week 1:

 Week 2:

Eric is doing very well.  Just before he was two weeks old, he went to the doctor.  They like for babies to be back at their birth weight by this time.  For Eric, that would mean 7 lbs 15 oz.  Eric weighed 8 lbs 10 oz!  He likes to sleep a lot...more than I remember Adriana sleeping.  And he is so loved by everyone, including his big sister.  She loves to kiss him and help take care of him.  I'm so lucky to have two wonderful kids!