Stronner still prefers to spend his days attached to a warm body, but now that I’ve gone back to work and we had a week break between grandparents, we’ve had to get a little more sophisticated with how we carry him.  Thus we have started using the Moby Wrap, as Fiona models in a couple of these photos.  It is a big long piece of fabric we can use to cradle him to our bodies so we have both hands free for cooking, cleaning or coding, as the case may be.

Stronner has also been meeting more people in our local community, and would especially like to thank April for attending and documenting his birth, Mark and Beegee (and Elvie) for the yummy oatmeal cookies and casserole, Mila and Helen for the lovely flowers, and Aaron and Kate of Green Canopy and Sustainable Ballard for their generous offers of food and support.

According to some definitions, Stronner has officially graduated from newborn to full-blown infant.  That’s right, the first two weeks are behind us, and we are all still alive – though the longest stretch of sleep any of us has gotten in those two weeks is 4 or 5 hours.  Stronner has been a little slow to regain his birth weight, still a quarter pound shy as of yesterday, but he’s making progress and has surprising strength in his neck, arms and legs.  Of course, Fiona could have told you that when he was still in the womb!

Our pediatrician warned us that the next month or so will probably see an increased level of gas and discomfort as Stronner’s digestive system continues to develop, so we’ll just have to keep helping him cope.  He’s particularly fond of singing and dancing – his current favorite tune is “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”.

We can’t speak yet to the depths or complexities of Stronner’s personality, but what we can say right away is that he loves to be held, and so far has welcomed everyone who has picked him up.  And that makes him the perfect valentine!

This photo from the Evans family archive reveals that baby Fiona had a quite similar profile to her future son.

After our first night in the hospital with Stronner, we were paid a visit by Amanda Tomczyk of Bella Baby Photography, who took these terrific shots of Stronner in our bright, clean room in the new post-partum wing at Swedish hospital.  We have purchased the rights to redistribute and print these freely – if you would like to make large prints of any particular shots just email me the file name and I can pass along the high resolution originals.

As I’m sure all new parents will agree, the first night with a newborn can be a little daunting.  On the other hand it seems like a breeze compared to laboring for 14+ hours!  Probably the worst thing about staying a night in the hospital with a newborn is the constant stream of doctors, nurses, consultants and specialists making sure the parents never sleep for more than a few minutes at a time.  On the other hand they are also the best thing about staying at the hospital, because they answered a million questions and gave us a comprehensive crash course in caring for our baby, as well as the piece of mind that we weren’t alone the first time he spit up, had trouble eating, and made a meconium mess in his diapers.

We also had a visit from a professional photographer who took some wonderful pictures we should be able to post here in a few days when the disc arrives.  In the meantime you’ll have to do with a few of my shots from today, from the hospital until we brought Stronner home.