Videos of Evan

Evan is at such a cute age right now where I'm trying to do my best to capture him on video camera.  However, once the camera goes on, he generally becomes shy.  We were able to record him twice tonight with the iphone when he didn't realize he was being recorded.  Because of this, he is not quite facing the phone.  We hope to get better at videos in the future.  But in the meantime, we hope you enjoy these two.

The first is Evan singing the "Party Rock" song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJ1d4K0fV0&feature=g-upl

The second is Evan telling us all of the truck names in his truck book, followed by him telling his daddy that he "needs" rice.  He hasn't quite learned the definition of "need" versus "want" and he tells us that he "NEEDS" everything (cookies, rice, etc).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dN388YVWk&feature=g-upl

Smiles!

It seems that Eric began smiling last week. He had been smiling involuntarily - mostly when very tired or just after eating. But last week I had him on his playmat and was talking in a high-pitched voice and the smile didn't seem too accidental. I wasn't so sure so I took my camera out and started doing it again and I caught one (and then more) on camera. So I'll say his first real smile was April 17th at 5 weeks old:

And then a few days later, I was successful in getting one out again - these next few photos show the evolution of a smile:

And he's not really laughing here, though this picture makes it seem like he is:And resting on daddy's chest earlier in the week

These smiles are hard to come by and require a lot of work right now. Hopefully he'll be as happy and smiley as his big brother was as a baby.

1 Month Old!

Eric turned one month old last Friday, the 13th. And he definitely has grown a lot in the last month. While he hasn't had his one month appointment yet, I weighed him on an infant scale at home and he was 9 lbs 2 oz on Friday. As a comparison, Evan was 9 lbs, 13 oz at one month. I can definitely tell that he doesn't eat like Evan (or like a "Weiss"). He also doesn't yet sleep like Evan, but I'm hoping that the bigger he gets, the longer he can go at night without eating.

Besides the sleeping, Eric is one easy-going baby. He doesn't really cry too often and doesn't even really seem to even get too fussy in the evenings. He definitely bears more of a resemblance to the Felt side of the family, whereas Evan is all Weiss. We are on a pretty good schedule during the day now and he seems to be doing well with it.

Here is for his one month picture: And here he was just one month ago - those legs have certainly filled out!And here is Evan at 1 month as a comparison - definitely more "chubby" in Evan's cheeks :)And here is a different angle of Eric at 1 month:And compared to a month ago. What a difference a month makes:And here is Evan checking out the photo session. He was very curious as to what was going on. It'll be interesting to see what changes come about for the 2 month photos.

Ben & Jeff's Wedding

We were very fortunate to attend the wedding ceremony of two dear friends this past weekend. Since marriage isn't legal in Pennsylvania yet, I guess this would be called a committment ceremony, but it was a wedding to us. For anyone that does not believe in gay marriage, they have obviously not attend a ceremony as wonderful as this one. If they had, I am certain they would change their minds.

Here are the happy grooms:
Brian and I enjoying a night out without the kids:

Another of the two of us - probably my favorite photo of the night:

With Jessica, whose weddimg is coming up soon. Funny story - back during our wedding in 2003, we had wanted to set up Ben with Jess as Ben had not yet come out. Jess and Ben were paired up in our wedding party and we were hoping for sparks to fly. Little did we know that Jessica's group of friends would be instrumental in introducing Ben to Jeff many years later.

Ben and his mother walking down the aisle:

Ben's parents, Chuck & Susan:

We wish lots of love and happiness for these two.

A Visit from the Alaskan Felts

Brian's brother, Kyle, made a trip home from Alaska with his fiancee and their 5 month old baby girl. Brian and Evan journeyed to upstate NY while I stayed behind as travelling so far with a newborn seemed to be a bit much for us to handle. I know Janet was thrilled to have almost the whole family together . . . minus one little guy. Here they all are: Nana with her babies:

Morgan and Evan:

They are so cute together:

Little Mary Morningstar Felt:

Morgan Felt:

Morgan & her daddy:

Mary's first beer:

Hopefully it's not another 2 years before these cousins get the chance to play together again . . . and next time, Eric will be sure to join in on the fun!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter! We are back from yet another whirlwind Easter trip to NJ and were happy to get to celebrate Eric's first Easter with our family. Here the boys are on Easter morning, all dressed and ready to go. This is one rare picture of the two of them together - you really need to catch Evan in the right mood these days. But this one is a keeper:

And here is Eric on his first Easter, in an outfit given to him by my cousin:And here is a miracle shot of the whole family together at brunch:Onto my grandmother's house, where the boys were happy to play outside. Here is one of our many "throwing Evan in the air" photos. Not a great one, but his face is priceless:Here is Matthew dressed in his Sunday best, looking very handsome:And Matthew giving Evan a hug:The boys finding the Easter eggs on their hunt:Evan loved opening the eggs and eating the candy - his first time ever really eating candy . . . and he thoroughly enjoyed himself

And Claire enjoyed watching the boys. Love, love, love her red hair!!Eric spent most of his Easter like this - next year, he'll be able to join in on the festivities

Warming up

This post is about "warming up", as in the weather is warming up AND Evan is warming up to the idea of having a brother. Last week, we had record highs and I was able to get outside to take some pictures of Eric. Not quite the quality as Bri's photos, but how often can you put a naked baby outside in a basket in the month of March?? I just can't believe how tiny Eric is and, in a few short weeks, he will no longer fit in this basket:Tiny baby feet:

We were lucky to have lots of help thost first 2 weeks home from the hospital as I wasn't able to do any driving or any heavy lifting. Nana & Papa came to visit and chauffeur me around for a few days to doctor's appointments:

While we never even got to take a picture, my mother (aka - DeeDee) was here for 3 days and cleaned our house from head-to-toe. She took down the curtains to wash them, washed windows, changed sheets, cleaned bathrooms - her help was invaluable.

As for big brother Evan, he has, for the most part, just ignored his brother's existence. He has been acting fine at home, but had decided to act out at school by BITING other kinds and OFTEN. It was quite a stressful first week as the phone just continued to ring with the teachers calling to tell us he had bitten yet again. They opted to move him to the next classroom and he is doing much better there. In addition, he's warming up at home to having his brother around. Just this past Friday, he snuggled on me and right next to Eric to watch some of the Disney "Cars" movie:Now, everytime Eric is in the bouncy seat, Evan goes over and plays the music for him. And he will also now rub his brother's tummy and feet very gently:And just the other day, he gave Eric his first kiss. It was slow progress, but he's getting there!

Eric seems to be following in his big brother's footsteps. He seems to love being in the water and enjoys his bath time:

He likes to hang out in the sink while Brian worked to fix the toilet:

And just hanging out with mommy on the couch. He's already looking bigger!Now that all of our help is gone, I am just enjoying my time at home with my new little man. I already feel like the time is flying too fast!