Next lesson: Keep the diapers in a sealed trash can

It's really been a great week getting to know this kid. It started out with a great doctor's appointment on Monday. Cade was 5 pounds, 10 ounces, just one ounce shy of his birth weight. The doctor was very pleased with his weight gain and told us that we could take him off his three-hour feeding schedule and let him dictate meal times by when he was hungry. We were ecstatic dreaming of all the extra dreaming we'd get to do during the night since most of the time we were having to wake him up to feed him anyway. Well, that didn't quite happen the first night; he actually was up more than when we had him on the schedule. But it's been getting better and better overall (with a couple rough nights) and we're all adjusting to a better, more regular schedule. A couple mornings ago he actually slept from 4 to 8 am (and I ended up being late for work since I've been relying on him to be my alarm clock).

Chili has been great as a big brother. You could tell his world was pretty well rocked when we first brought Cade home. But you can definitely tell now by the way he acts and where he positions himself that he's completely accepted Cade as part of his "pack" and would defend him just like he'd do for Susie or me. And it's also interesting to see how Cade is already used to Chili. If a door slams or we drop something and make a sharp noise Cade startles. But I've not yet seen him startle or even blink or move when Chili barks, and sometimes Chili can startle us with his sudden loud barks. I think Cade was used to hearing it when he was inside Susie.

The only compaint we have had so far (and it was really our fault) happened a few mornings ago. Up to that point we'd been putting dirty diapers in a trash can in the room where we feed Cade. I don't have any idea why doggies are attracted so much to turd, but they are. I hadn't been walking Chili as much as I should have been or as much as he needed, and on Tuesday morning I got the following text message from Susie when while I sat in my office at work: "Poo and pee everywhere. Chili just shredded 4 of Cade's diapers around our room, on the bed, & in the study." The previous night had been a trying one as far as sleep goes, so I couldn't tell if her text was one of amusement at our silly puppy or of sheer rage. Fortunately, I arrived home to find Chili in one piece and the rooms cleaned up. Susie had to put our sheets and duvet cover in the wash to clean them, but it's all good now, and we keep dirty diapers in a trash can with a cover. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), Susie didn't get any pictures of the incident or you would be looking at them as you read this post.

This morning I noticed some dry skin on the top of Cade's head so I put some baby lotion on it to help keep it from flaking too much. To my surprise and glee I discovered that baby lotion can also be used as hair gel. After much serious debate and discussion, Susie and I decided that Cade's first official hairdo would be a mean fro-hawk. As you can see in the pictures, Cade completely agreed.

This afternoon Susie was feeling good so we went on our first family walk together. It's times like this when we use new baby equipment that we are reminded of just how small he still is. He's still not tall enough to eat at the big boy table but check out his large dogs hanging out the bottom of the blanket. :)

One thing that has been almost magic at times is the ablility of a swing to calm Cade when he's fussy. Sometimes it makes him forget he's hungry or has a dirty diaper. So when we got to the park we absolutely had to take him on the swing. Doing so provided the definition of a relaxed baby. I've made the following statement several times this last week: "I had no idea how tiring and how much work this would be, but I also had no idea how much fun and exciting it would be." Doing this is definitely the definition of total sacrifice, but it just keeps getting better and better. We wouldn't trade our situation for anything.