Family!

Axel has had a fun filled week, filled with lots of family love.  He has seen, in no particular order:
both grandmothers, an uncle, his sister and his cousin... and his cousin/aunt is coming in tonight... followed by HER mom on Friday!  Omigoodness the love!!!

We were thrilled to have Brittany come into town to see this boy last Wednesday - and she's staying through Sunday of this week.   They immediately took to each other and he was like velcro - or better yet, a super strong magnet.  It seemed as if every time I would put little man down, he was in the arms of his sister.  I don't think he's complaining.

We were sure to greet our sister in the appropriate attire...

Immediately after we got home from picking Brit up at the airport, it was time to eat.  Great time for them to bond. :) 

Clearly the bonding went well...  they enjoyed taking some selfies together... 

Fun to see them together and I know it especially means the world to Ben.   She's so good with him and it's just amazing how sibling bonding can transcend miles.  Pretty cool, actually.

We tool Axel out for his first sushi outing the night Brittany got here.  He was SO good... and he particularly liked the yellowtail sashimi - the cilantro and jalapeno got him hooked.  (kidding, it was really the tuna roll).  He's really good company, we try and take him out as much as we can while we can.  He's hit a few restaurants, gone to a friend's house, gone fish shopping... we haven't tackled the grocery store yet.  We choose our excursions carefully.

A few days after Brit got here, Lauren, my niece, came to visit.  She's only a year younger than Brittany and may as well be Brit's sister... every summer we had Brittany here, we had Lauren here, too.   Lauren got here and Axel was like, Hubba Hubba...

Taken from the arms of Lauren... "so, you come here often, blondie?"

Needless to say, the girls have been so helpful to have around.  We have Lauren here until Saturday and Brit leaves on Sunday.  They will be missed. :(  But, it looks like we may have Brit here for Thanksgiving... we really want to get her out here as much as possible so that Axel grows up building a relationship with her... so far it looks like that's a no brainer, based on how much they both already adore each other.

Round baby anyone?

We had our six week doctor's appointment yesterday.  Homeslice is officially in newborn territory!  He's cracked the seven pound mark!  Raise the roof!  7 lbs, 2 oz, and 20 inches long.  He's still not big enough to hit the scale to determine where he falls in size versus other babies his age... but against other preemies that were born six weeks early, he is in the 10 - 12th percentile... so a little dude no matter how you look at it.  That being said, he's got a good growth trajectory and the doctor was really pleased with his progress. 

Unfortunately yesterday also turned into... SHOT DAY.

BOO.

I had the choice of either having him do one vaccine yesterday and the rest in two weeks or just get them all over with at once.  I chose the latter.  POOR HONEY.  I now know why all parents dread that day.  Not a fun experience.  He was SO happy at the doctor, just blobbing around, and all of a sudden the needle came out.  (well, after he spit up all over the nurse... I think he was proactively acting out, knowing what was in store for him). 

He got the first shot in his little leg and his li'l face just went purple and he did this silent scream... and then it was not silent at all.  Poor honey, it was just heartbreaking.  The nurse moved like lightening though, and it was over before I knew it.  Slapped some bandaids on and she was done.  

Unfortunately he was pretty uncomfortable towards the end of the day and voiced his displeasure quite a bit... but today is a much better day.  

One last pic to close out with, because it makes my heart smile.   Hope it does the same for you.