The one month thing...

POO REPORT - Poo is serious business...for those of you who think otherwise, I suggest watching this little
video of Finn...it may be hard to differentiate the 'thinker' from the 'stinker'...yes, they can be difficult to separate.

Finn celebrated his fourth week with his first bottle feed, his first bath in the bathtub (due to a serious 'train wreck' while diaper changing), and impressing the ladies with his frequent big smiles. Finn joined his grandmother Karen (see www.karenlynn.blogspot.com) for her chemo treatments this week, where he received many warm welcomes from the hospital staff who have come to know our family over the past two years. Nicki weighed him on the hospital scale and he now weighs a whopping 8 pounds! Cousin Tracy was visiting Omaha and stopped in to check out the newest Cregan grandchild. We continued our travel with the little guy, taking him to Lincoln to meet his great Aunt Pat, Uncle Bob, and cousin Kim. This was the furthest from home he has traveled. He even enjoyed an evening of Indian dining at 'The Oven'. Finn had to say a sad 'goodbye' to his wonderful aunt Jenni, who had to return to Dallas. We brewed the little guy his first homebrew this week, a 'steam' beer which had a starting gravity of 1.065...our name of 'Finnebrieation Steam' may just live up to its name. He has continued to go easy on us, giving us two 3.5 to 5 hour sleep sessions per night, we can't ask for more as new parents.

Finn - Week 3

POO REPORT - This weeks poo can be described as 'abundant'...'copious'...'substantial'...'voluminous'...you get the picture. Finn began binge breast feeding this week like a college freshman with a fake ID. This may also explain his apparent gain of at least one pound. The kid also found his thumba few days ago, although it is so far a fluke, as he has yet to rely on it for pacification. Aunt Jenni Nabb was called back to Nebraska by the Catholic Church of Exeter to sing for a fund raiser. She stopped in for five days for her second visit to her new nephew. She practiced her quiver of classic jazz tunes, often with the little guy nearby, getting his lessons in rhthym. We are so lucky to have to so much help. The end of the week brought ~7 inches of fresh snow, and aunt Jenni babysat while Nicki and I nordic skied in nearby Elmwood Park. The snow was a welcome change to an otherwise hum-drum winter which, prior to this week, had not delivered enough snow to slide on. The dogs were more exicted than we were to get out and sprint through the fluffy white stuff, which we are sure reminds them of their mountainous origins. Life has been great as new parents. We took the little guy to the zoo on Monday to stretch our legs and get out of the house. Watching mountain gorillas with your own little monkey slung around your neck is surreal.

Finn's Second Week

POO REPORT: This weeks poo can be summarized as 'mustard seed to seedy spinach'. Per the request of several family members, and to assure no controversy in Finn's future presidential campaign, we are excluding pictures of actual poo :(...we do, however, take requests. Week two has been full of excitement, things like the monumental 'loss of remaining umbilical cord', binge breastfeeding, and the discovery of the kung-fu grip on the pacifier. The end of the week brought warmer weather and allowed us to get out of the house and get Finn into some fresh air. On Friday we took a stroll around nearby Elmwood Park, a family favorite, and sure to be one of Finn's first stomping grounds. Saturday was gorgeous, and we decided to pay a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Nabb's grave, and take Finn across the border into Iowa via the new Bob Kerry pedestrian bridge, which spans the Missouri River. Finn can now check Iowa off his 'life list' and concentrate on other states. Grandma Krejci's 80th birthday was Sunday, and the family met for the brunch buffet at the Upstream Brewery in Omaha to celebrate. Afterwards, Grandma K. came over to meet her first great grandson and have some cake and ice cream. A trip to the doctor this morning revealed that Finn has gained 1 pound since last Thursday, and shrank 0.5 inches in length (due to the loss of his alien conehead). He is in the lower percentiles of the baby growth curves, but gaining momentum. So far the little dude has gone easy on us, giving us at least one 4 to 5 hour sleeping session per evening...so, although we are tired, we get chances to catch up on our rest.

Finn hams it up for the camera

Finn's first week

POO REPORT - Week one's poo can be summarized as 'meconium to mustard seed'. Finn latched his first day and, with some help from the post-pardem nurses, Nicki was able to get him to feed every three hours or so while in the hospital. Finn lost 5 ounces in the first 3 days, which is apparently normal; he was also slightly jaundice, although well below the threshold for remaining in the hospital. Finn pooped in his hospital departure outfit shortly after we put it on...luckily we had another. After a bath, a quick 'new parents' class (don't shake the baby...that sort of stuff), we put little Finn in his carseat and hit the road...for the long 1-mile journey home. The carseat nearly swallowed the little guy.

We were so lucky to have so many visitors in the hospital and over the first week. Nicki's sister Jenni drove all night from Dallas to be with us, and arrived just a couple of hours after Finn's birth. She took a heavy load of responsibility off of our shoulders by taking care of the dogs, the kitty, and delivering breakfast to us every morning so we did not have to eat the powdered eggs and 'facon' from the cafeteria. Jenni stayed for the better part of the week, and managed to get more 'Finn time' than his father She became Finn's personal photographer, and was commonly found photographing and taking video of the little one with her phone. Grandma Karen drove in to visit every day, despite recovering from a recent chemo treatment. The little guy had better get used to being filmed...grandma Karen is renowned for her home videos. Jason's parents, sister, three nephews, and great grandma Olive drove in from St.Louis on Friday. The last time the Alexander family was in town, their hotel had no hot water. This time their wing of the hotel had a little problem with diapers in the plumbing and they woke up to 'rain' in their bathroom...so...if you are an Omaha hotel, you may want to claim 'no vacancy' if the Alexanders are booking. Grandpa Terry and Nana Peggy announced Finn's birth on the new Cave Springs Lanes marquee. Yes, Finn was born into a pround bowling family.

January 26, 7:04 am - Finn Carter is born...6 lbs, 3.5 oz, and 20 inches long!

Finn Carter Alexander was born on January 26th, 2009 at 7:04 am. He was born under a new moon, the first day of the new Chinese Year, 4707. This is the year of the OX. Oxen are born leaders, patient, persistent, and hard working. Given the present state of the world we need plenty of oxen personalities, so we believe his birth is timely.

Nicki's water broke around noon on January 25th...17 hours later, Finn was delivered. Nicki began pushing 2.5 hours before delivery. She made Finn's birth happen her way...she is a rock, and I think this picture is says it all for the mother and child.




The little guy had a silent cry, a healthy head of hair, and paddle feet. People like to say their world was turned upside down when their chidl was born...I would say that a change from a warm, fluid, entirely nurturing environment to a world of steel and plastic, and unknown protections is a bit more of a change. Nicki and I wonder what is going through is mind in this photo...makes it all the more beautiful that humans are born without developed vision, it might just be too much for our powerful brains to deal with. Our voices made his crying stop nearly instantaneously...all that talking to the womb!
It is rather bizarre, and beautiful, that we were a family of two going into the hospital...and we are now a family of 3...and two dogs...and one cat.