Josie family visited our house yesterday to celebrate Josie's.. um, I mean, to visit Aidan. ;-)

Here is the official footage of Michelle meeting Aidan during his first day at the hospital. Originally taken on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 10:28 AM.


View this clip on Vimeo

Here are some more shots taken during Lil' Dude's third week. Oh, and a blog redesign too.

Big-sister Michelle gave Aidan a tour of her favorite park today.

We took Aidan to the doctor again for another check up. He's gonna be just fine. He now weighs nine and half pounds. Lil' Dude can't be stopped! He was in good spirits today, especially whenever he heard Josie and Michelle voices.

Aidan's congestion seems to be improving. He finally had a chance to take a mild sponge bath today, per doctor's approval, and was later given his first hair styling from mom.

Unfortunately, the same virus that plagued me, then Michelle, and then Josie manifested itself as Bronchiolitis in Aidan. My family visited us to pray over him which definitely helped to raise our spirits. Michelle even entertained the family with her own special brand of ballet.

According to his doctor, Aidan now weighs 8 pounds 14 ounces. All of that nursing is definitely paying off not only in terms of weight gain but also in terms of the transfer of Josie's antibodies to Aidan. Antibodies which are thereby making his infection far less severe. Our doctor was quick to allow Aidan to return home once he was aware that Josie was nursing him.

Mother's milk can be a truly incredible form of nourishment for babies. Michelle was breast fed for about the first 18 months of her life and in that time, even with regular exposure to other babies and toddlers, was probably sick only two or three times. Michelle is remarkable and at two years old is already sharper and more alert than I probably was at age five.

I strongly believe that Josie's sacrifice as a mom, both in terms of natural deliveries and of breast feeding, is what has been the main factor in the wonderfully good head-starts of our babies. It's always encouraging to hear the elated reactions of medical professionals who learn that Josie delivered her babies without the aid of drugs. One nurse after Aidan's birth even rejoiced at the concept and rarity of a "drug-free baby" when learning that Josie had decided to forgo any drugs during her labor and delivery.

As for Aidan, he is doing remarkably well considering the extent of his exposure to three sick people during his first two weeks of life outside of the womb. He's a tough lil' guy and I know he'll be fine.

My iPod battery replacement kit arrived today from Kokopelli Music. Thanks Joe, by the way, for the recommendation.

The kit consisted of a new battery, some plastic prying tools, color photo installation instructions, and even a mint-filled Ghirardelli dark-chocolate bar, which I almost mistook for the battery. Good thing I didn't eat the battery and install the chocolate instead. ;-)

The installation was easy and took about ten minutes to complete. Beyond this, it appears that the new battery even fixed a problem where my nanoPod would sometimes hang in iTunes!

Josie's family visited us yesterday. Clareese and Kristin finally had a chance to meet Aidan. They are all so happy to finally welcome a boy to the family for the first time in over twenty years. Alfonso Jr. was the previous and has now been officially dethrowned. As Josie's family puts it, "this boy is going to be spoiled".

In addition, Josie's mom and Tia Fina were kind enough to surprise us with loads of sustenance given our sickly states. Michelle was looking better yesterday but has since become more feverish. Josie has contracted our flu as well so I'm doing my best to look out for both of them. Aidan appears to be fine but we're still keeping an eye on him.

Aidan had his first physical on Thursday. He passed all of his tests with flying colors and managed to gain an extra six ounces during his first week. Doctor Dimen was especially impressed with his strength and reflexes.

Here are some more shots of Lil' Dude...

Recovering from a head cold, I felt the sudden urge to get to work on Phase 3 of my Planter Project.

For Phase 3, I moved a bunch of bulbs that were growing wildly in our side planter to our front planter. I then planted a hydrangea where the bulbs used to be. I think the bulbs may be Common Grape Hyacinth Flowers but I won't really know until spring.

The hydrangea was a gift from Tia Fina during her hospital visit to see Aidan. She definitely knows how to pick great plants for us.

The area where I planted the bulbs was teeming with tree roots, the likes of which I hadn't encountered since having dug water-main ditches for my dad back when I was a teenager.

It's funny how, as a teenager, I lacked the drive but not the physical endurance for this type of work and now that I'm thirty-one years old, I definitely have far more drive than physical endurance.

Fortunately, a youthful spirit in the form of Michelle helped me out a bit with the digging, that is, until she caught sight of a baby lizard and wanted to take hold of it. Of course, the lizard was much too fast for her. When Michelle complained, we just told her that the lizard had to go home to his mommy. She was fine with the situation, of course, once she knew he had a good reason for leaving. One she could relate to, I suppose. ;-)

Aidan turned one week old on Sunday. He was visited by his Grampa Robert, Grandma Frances and Uncle Robie.

More visits are pending as virtually everyone has taken ill. Myself included.

Michelle has really gotten into puzzles lately, both offline and online. Here's a video of her completing an online puzzle from the "Ready Set Learn" web site.

Michelle and I visited our favorite park today.

Aidan's hospital pictures are up at his Growing Family page provided by Arcadia Methodist Hospital.

A great hospital to have your kids at, with a very kind staff, I might add.

Here are some close-ups of Aidan. Pardon any blurring as I make it a point to avoid using flash for close-ups.

If you've ever shot a camera's flash into your eyes from about ten inches away you'll know it's not very comfortable. ;-)

We're having a great time with Aidan surviving off the Dream Dinners Josie prepared a few weeks back. A great solution for Mr. Mom moments such as these.