Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig!

Evan came home today - again. He had a bilirubin count (see link in previous post) of 11.8 mg/dL - down about 5 from Sunday afternoon. His doctor let us go home and we'll see him in his office on Thursday afternoon. Nathan was glad to have his little brother home, as you can see by the pictures below. He was worried about Evan last night, wanting to hold him at the hospital. He gave him plenty of brotherly love when we brought him home. By the way... Thanks, Lord, for the timing! Evan is not only Nathan's brother, but he was born the same month, which really helps maximize the "hand-me-down" value (see striped outfit in this post)!

Blue-Light Special

We brought Evan home Saturday, with instruction to return for bilirubin testing on Sunday. His bilirubin count was high (16+ miligrams per deciliter), so we admitted him for photo-light treatment. The bluish flourescents (called "Bili-lights") help to balance things out. They want to see his level come down to 11 or less mg/dL before releasing him. His levels weren't dangerously high, but better to be safe than sorry! As of this morning, his levels were coming down, but not enough to release him. We'll have another test later in the day, and possibly stay another night, if needed.

Nathan, Mommy and I had dinner in the room with Evan last night. It was a not-very-romantic Bili-light dinner! Nathan is really starting to warm up to his brother being out! He had a stressful Saturday, when we brought Evan home but is doing great now. He watched mommy change Evan's diaper on Saturday and noticed the black stub of umbilical cord on his navel. Later, he found some black fuzz from mommy's new slippers and picked it up, lifted his shirt, and attempted to apply it to his belly-button!

Nathan also left his beloved "Billy" (goat) at the hospital overnight on Friday and Sunday nights. I don't know that he intended to, but when he asked for Billy at bedtime, I reminded him that he had left him with Evan until he could come home and be with us. Nathan seemed to like that idea. I'm just wondering... Billy Goat... Bilirubin... Is there a connection??? Keep us in your prayers and enjoy a couple more pics until next time!

Welcome Addition

Today, we celebrate the latest little Peck in our "Bushel". Nathan, Laura and I announce the birth of Evan Lee Peck The English/Biblical meaning of Evan is "God is Gracious"; the Celtic meaning is "young warrior", and the Greek is "well-born". He was definitely well born, and we know God is both gracious and faithful in giving us another son, and a brother to Nathan. I guess we'll have to wait and see about that warrior spirit! Lee is a family name from Laura's family, and means "meadow" in Old English, "sheltered from the storm" in English, and "poet/poetic" in Gaelic. Perhaps, our gracious little second gift from God will be a warrior-poet as William Wallace in Braveheart.

Anyway, Evan was born this morning at 7:13 AM, Lafayette General Hospital, Lafayette, LA (birthplace of his brother, Uncle Brad, and Paw-Paw Kelley Peck), weighing 8lbs. and measuring 19-3/4 inches long. Below are just a few of the photos taken. We may upload all of them to an Easyshare album later. Check back here for more news and updates on our boys!

Oh yeah! Nathan seems a little unsure of everything, but he appears to be warming up already and has been a really good boy for his Grandma and Grandad Soldner!

Going Down?

Nathan was somewhat apprehensive about slides on his first several visits to parks. He would go right up to the edge and get nervous - "no want it!" I squeezed through the openings myself a few times to encourage him. It's an even tighter squeeze when he's in my lap. I had to lay all the way back just to pass under the top of the slide. If I ever build a playground, it'll have adult-accessible slides, etc. They ought to build those things for family participation! Ok, I'll save my rant for "portal" (see link at right).

So we went to another park recently - this one has older equipment and it's not that pretty. BUT, it has the old-style slides - the ones with the stainless steel surface that doesn't build up enough static electricity to light up a small city like the "new and improved" plastic types. (That's not a rant, it's the truth!) I figured we'd be resigned to the swing and the little bouncy frog thing, when Nathan followed some little girl up two flights of stairs to some 20' slides! I was close behind, but very proud that he didn't require my assistance. Amazing - the motivation one little girl can have on one little boy! He got to the edge of the slide and looked back at me. I told him we could go down if he wanted to. He smiled and said, "you want to?" I sat down behind him, placed him right in front of me, and he started down ahead of me. I followed close behind, but he never flinched. He was actually pushing himself so he could "beat" me down the slide before I caught him. Since then, he's an old pro. I remember balking at much smaller slides at an older age. In fact, one of my old nemesis slides still stands at a local park, taunting me every time I'm there. Keep taunting, you old evil monster! My seed shall prevail over you shortly! Your days of tormenting my inner child are numbered!! Ha ha ha ha haaaa! (insert old 70's Batman TV series theme music here... "da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na - Batman!...") Prepare yourself - Nathan's coming! I think I just might take that slide on myself - on my belly! (if I can fit through the entrance)

Gaaaaahhh!

Nathan wants to do anything and everything I do. He wants to eat what I eat (well, not everything!). He wants to drink what I drink in the same container I drink out of. He frequently says, "Like Daddy does it!" as he immitates me in some way. He climbs in our bed and gets on my pillow, acting like he's sleeping. He sits on the sofa in my "spot", pointing the controller at the TV as he pushes the buttons and says things like, "C'mon!", "Get him!", and "Touchdown!" He has that little "bounce" in his gait that I have sometimes. And, he "Gaaaahhhs" like me, too.

Let me explain: We brush and floss our teeth together just about every night. (We actually brush every day at least twice, but it's not always together) The one thing I do that he doesn't, is rinse and gargle with Cool Mint Listerine (I should charge for that advertisement). He always enjoys when I throw my head back and gargle (Gaaaaahhhhh!). Today, he grabbed a dixie cup off of the counter and went through the house pretending to take a swig and gargle. He put his head back and said, "GAAAAAHHHH!" It was hilarious!

So, tonight be sure to brush, floss and GAAAHHH before you turn in!

Banana Boy

Nathan is getting (a little too) comfortable with getting his own food. We're on the verge of installing a lock on the upper portion of the pantry door to keep him out of the chips, crackers, cookies, etc. He is also getting quite a reach in relation to counter tops and table tops. This reach is greatly extended when he creates "stools" with plant stands and chairs. A recent forage produced a favorite snack, which Nathan brought to me for sharing:






He introduced a new way of eating the banana, as he "unwrapped" one side and nibbled on the whole thing like an ear of corn!

Chores

In case you missed the 10.25.05 post, Nathan loves to help! He helps with all kinds of chores and duties around the house. I hope his enthusiasm for helping is as intense during his teenage years! Recently, he saw me collecting the trash around the house and asked, "Help daddy take out the trash?" I welcomed his participation, which usually means he follows me to take the garbage outside, followed by his shake-shake-shaking out the new trash can liner for the kitchen can. This time, after I put my shoes on, I turned to see the "young man" with a tight grip on the trash bag on his way out the door ahead of me! I grabbed the camera and followed him...















...I just had to pause my blogging in order to rescue my coffee from Nathan as he tried to "help" me drink it! "Drink coffee like daddy does it," he said...

Nathan decided on Saturday, that some of his little plush buddies were overdue for baths. Apparently, Colorado (the moose) and Hippo (the hippo:) were getting a little funky (and I don't mean their musical or dancing skills!). I noticed Nathan's usual talkative playing down the hall in his room had grown quiet. My "father's intuition" alerted me, and I went into "stealth mode" as I grabbed the camera and searched for the little monkey. I heard some splashing sounds and talking coming from the laundry room, where I had started a load of clothes in the washer about 15 minutes earlier. I peeked around the corner and saw this:

He had brought a bamboo plant stand from our bedroom into the laundry room, climbed up, opened the lid (which, thankfully, stopped the washer), and was dunking Colorado. When confronted, he said, "Colorado's takin' a bath in-a washing machine!" I explained to him the danger in what he was doing, to which he replied, "get Hippo?" as he pointed to the patiently waiting hippo at the foot of the washer. We tossed both of the "funky" little guys in and let the machine finish the job!

Finally, Nathan "helped" me to reorganize my wallet this weekend as well...

He's got an amazing reach (onto counters and table-tops)!

portal

I recently began an additional blog called "Gleanings from Children". I just changed that to "portal" (link to the right), and I am broadening the content parameters. Feel free to check it out... or not!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan turned two this month, and we celebrated his birthday last Sunday. He had a Winnie-the-Pooh cake, with Tigger and Piglet on board as well. Mommy had Pooh plates, cups and tablecloth, in addition to the balloons and streamers that filled the room. The cake was chocolate, with whipped icing, and we also had ice cream and lime sherbert punch. Nathan enjoyed the attention, and "blew" out his candle with his roll-up party favor. (It took a few whacks, including one that knocked Tigger over, but he finally nailed the candle before it caught the party favor on fire!) Some photo selections are attached...

On the baby front, "John" is scheduled to be extracted in less than two weeks. Should we then celebrate "extraction day" for C-section babies, instead of "birthdays"? By the way, we're 99% sure our new addition will be named "Evan". "Evan" means "God/YAHWEH is gracious", or "young warrior", or "well-born", depending on the search source. Having used a family name of mine, "Allen" as Nathan's middle, we plan to use a family name of Laura's, "Lee", as Evan's middle. "Lee" means, "meadow", or "sheltered from the storm", or "poet", depending on the source.

Meanwhile, Nathan is getting ready to share toys and dreams, point out stars and fans, and introduce Evan to the simple pleasure of balloons!

Good Catch!

Nathan loves to throw things! Balls, bats, cars, trucks, animals, books, sippy cups... It's something we've been working on, as his baby brother will be released in less than two weeks! We've not had any major disasters as a result of his "rocket arm", but close calls are mounting. The other evening, I saw his eyes glazing over in excited anticipation of throwing the hand towel he was waving around the living room. I told him to hand me the towel, and he threw the towel toward me with all his might. I caught the towel just below my disapproving gaze. Before I could speak, Nathan gave me a look of pleasant surprise and said, "that's a good catch, Daddy!" (Yeah, I guess it was!)