We are going on a little over a week since Johnny has been home and Jimmy is still intrigued by his baby brother. He is surprised each morning when he is reminded of his baby brother when Johnny’s makes a peep from his cradle. We set up his picnic table bench as a look out stand. It is much preferred than the alternative of having Jimmy attempt to climb on the sides of the pack-in-play. With this new set up, Jimmy spends much of his day checking on Johnny.  He has even convinced Johnny to play with him a few times too!

In addition to being big brother, he has also taken on the role of best helper. He is always eager to grab a diaper and pick out which pair of socks Johnny should wear. Whenever, he sees a bottle or pacifier for Johnny, he rushes right to Johnny with it. He thinks that it is always time for feeding Johnny — even if Johnny is full.  We even had to move all the hand sanitizer bottles far from Jimmy’s reach, as “washing our hands” is one of Jimmy’s favorite activities.  We are working with Jimmy to learn what it is to be gentle and nice; however, he hasn’t figured it out completely, so we are limiting his interaction to only touching Johnny’s feet and kissing his hair.

We temporarily have Jimmy on break from daycare this summer in hopes of avoiding any illnesses that might come home with him if he was in enrolled in daycare. With this new schedule, Jimmy’s bedtime is now 9:00 pm! The bed time rhythms now include brushing his teeth and reading “Good Dog Carl” among 20 other favorite books. We could not have imagined a better transition for Jimmy in his new role as big brother. We are very thankful that Jimmy is so welcoming.

Johnny is six weeks old today!  He had quite a busy week last week with two doctor appointments.  Last Monday, he had his first doctor’s appointment with the pediatric group.  At five weeks, he was 6 pounds, 3 ounces.  It was our first outing as a family.  We have a picture below of Daddy’s new look — carrying both kids!  Then on Wednesday, Johnny went to the cardiologist for a follow up appointment.  The appointment included a repeat of the heart tests that he had in the NICU.  His ticker is still fast, but no cause has been determined.  Hopefully, it will slow down to a normal rate as his heart matures.  In the meantime, it will be monitored through follow-up appointments.

Other than doctor’s offices, Johnny had his first big outing yesterday.  We went on our first neighborhood walk and stopped by the local frozen yogurt shop since no one was in the shop.  Johnny slept through the experience.  Jimmy seemed quite confused and disinterested.  In time, both will realize what a cool shop we have right in our backyard!

Here are some pictures over the past month.  Our personal favorites include Jimmy checking out the big backhoe.  The smile on his face is precious.  There are also a few pictures of him picking up sticks in the backyard.  He really is a best helper!