Avery: Growing Little Girl

We took Avery in for her four week checkup on Friday and were pretty amazed at how much she has grown. We knew that she'd been often and eating a lot, so we knew she'd grown, but she has REALLY grown. At her four week visit, she was 9lb 4 oz and 21 3/4 inches long. That's almost 2 pounds heavier than she was two weeks ago. Two pounds in two weeks and 2 1/4 inches in 4 weeks! She's gone from being a small baby to being right in the middle of the range in only two weeks. She's clearly following in the footsteps of her big brother!

Speaking of, Jack is doing great and his teachers at school say he has been very happy recently. He really likes being a big brother. He's also been pooping in the potty at school which is a really big step forward. He got the baseball tee out this morning and was smacking the ball all over the backyard. Unlike two weeks ago, he was listening to my suggestions and realized that I can help him hit the ball farther. Moms and Dads do know about some things.

Robyn and I are doing ok and we managed to take the whole family to dinner at our favorite Mexican food place last weekend. This two kid thing is not easy, but it's doable. It's tough on the days that I go to the plant b/c I leave early and can't take Jack to school. Not that it's easy on the other days, but it's tougher then. It's hard to believe it's already been a month since Avery was born. Time really flies.

Below are some pictures.

Settling in at home

Well, we're settling in to life at home with a newborn, at least sort of. Robyn's parents were here for the first weekend at home, and her mom stayed the rest of that week, and then my parents have been here for the last week. Sooooo, we've had a lot of help and that has been fantastic! Thank you, thank you! I'm back at work and the last of our help leaves Saturday morning though, so next week will be the real challenge.

Avery is sleeping better now than the first week, but is still getting up every two to three hours. Poor Robyn! At least it's now every 2 to 3 hours rather than every 1 to 2 hours though. Jack has been enjoying all of the attention from the grandparents and has settled into his role as the big brother. He's very helpful and loves to get things for the baby. We got him some new backyard toys (a baseball glove, some soft baseballs, a tee to hit the balls off of, a little baseball bat, and a new soccer ball). In typical three year old fashion, he'd play with one for about 5 minutes then want to play with something else. Last weekend was really hot so it was a great time to play outside.

Avery Elizabeth Paris - March 29, 2008

The newest member of our family joined us on March 29, 2008 at 2:23pm. After all of our concerns how how small she was, she weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and measured 19.5 oz long. There was a bit of confusion about her actual birthweight though. The scale in the delivery room showed 6 lbs 0 oz but she weighed 6 lb 5 oz a few hours later in the nursery and weighed 6 lbs earlier this morning, so everyone has concluded that there is no way she only weighed 6lbs at birth. Regardless of how much she weighs, she's doing great. She wants to eat essentially anytime she's awake so that has been challenging but it's a great sign. Robyn is recovering well and is already free of all tubes, is eating solid foods, and just took a shower. Looks like we'll be at the hospital until Wednesday but Robyn and Avery are doing great. So far, Avery seems to have a very laid back disposition and only cries until she realizes that someone is taking care of whatever ails her (dirty diaper, need for food, etc). She also loves to be held which has been great for dad and Nanny (Robyn's mom).

Jack has been really excited to see Avery and has been really cute around her. He keeps saying, "She's so little" and "she's so cute" and has been talking about her to pretty much everyone we see, nurses, doctors, kids at school, people at the cafeteria, etc. He told us he wants her to come home so that he can show her his toys and teach her to ride his tricycle. Such a good big brother.

Below are some pictures form her first 24 hours.

Trip to Palm Springs

Two weeks ago, we went out to Palm Springs for a weekend of relaxing before the baby comes. Although Robyn is winding down her last quarter at UCLA and needs to finalize her last two scripts, it seemed like a good time before things really get busy. We got in Friday afternoon after a quick stop at the outlet malls and spent most of the weekend relaxing. Robyn got a motherhood massage and Jack & I went to an outdoor zoo called the Living Desert. One of the attractions is the largest model train set I have ever seen. It's HUGE! I didn't think I was going to be able to get Jack away, but eventually we went to see the giraffes, zebras, bighorn sheep, etc.

One common activity was feeding the ducks that were outside our room. Jack had an absolute blast chasing them and having them eat out of his hand. On Sunday, we couldn't leave until we fed the ducks which turned out to be more work than we thought since most of them were hiding from the wind. Eventually we found some on the 18th fairway of one of the golf courses and managed to feed them while staying out of the way of golfballs.

Back From Hiatus

If you're reading this for the first time, which you probably are since I didn't email anyone when we started this blog three months ago, you may have noticed the big gap between the posts. The reason is simple, Kristen showed me how to set it up a while back and then I forgot/got busy/got lazy, etc. I did think about updating several times, but I never got to it. Anyway, the Paris blog is back and I'll try to keep up this time.

This was an interesting weekend with an unusual combination of events. Our anniversary was this week (9 years for those keeping track) and we went to a great French place for a romantic dinner. The next day, we drove an hour and half into Riverside county to a demolition derby at the fair. Jack loved watching the colorful cars crash into each other and I must say Robyn and I had fun too. If you haven't been to a demolition derby, it's worth checking one out. Jack also hit the petting zoo and even rode on the back of an elephant! What's a trip to the fair without an elephant ride?

Other than good restaurants and dusty fairs, we've been busy. School has started again for Robyn, Jack is attending preschool, and I've been working on the fresh pomegranate season.

More to come, I promise.

Recent Picture

Here's a picture of us at a Santa Monica farmers market on Fathers Day.