Straight or Curly?

The first survey is up at the left. It's kind of hard to tell because this isn't the best picture, but after we give Alstan a bath it kind of looks like his hair is curly. By the next day it looks poker straight though. Check out the picture shortly after we bathed him and decide for yourself. Will he have my poker straight hair or Jessie's curly hair?

Hanging with Mommy

This picture is also from Friday. The other thing I forgot to mention was on Monday he had his two week check-up. He was up to 9 lb. 2 oz. already. Usually it takes breast feeding babies three weeks to get back to their birth weight, but he likes to eat (an issue with both his parents). I like to think that our baby is just a little more mature than other babies:)

Bath Time

Jessie gave Alstan his first bath in the bath tub (he lost his umbilical cord) on Friday, March 28. She left him without his diapers for just a couple minutes, because the nurse said that it will help with diaper rash. As you can imagine, with no diaper he went all over. She wrapped him up in his clothes as quickly as she could, but he still made a big old mess. Jessie had to do some extra cleaning after that, like his clothes, her clothes, some rugs, the floor, and the kitchen cupboards. Too bad I was at work.

Sleeping with Aunt Netty

Waking Alstan

Here is my attempt to wake Alstan after I got home from work. He didn't want to wake up at all, but he did make a bunch of funny faces and stretch a lot. He really didn't want to wake up this evening, so it'll probably be a long night. Hopefully everyone else enjoys a quiets night sleep.

Updated Slideshow

Here is the updated family and friends slideshow. It's also updated on the left. Thanks for everyone who visited this weekend.

Two Weeks Old

Today Alstan is two weeks old. He's had lots more visitors again this weekend. Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Grandma Van also sent some pictures of his dad when he was about 4 weeks old. We'll do a side by side comparison in a couple of weeks.

March 20 Pictures

In case people are wondering, this is also doubling as our digital scrapbook. This site is supposed to archive all the blogs. So all the posting I do we'll be able to look back on down the road (except when technology changes and the Internet is obsolete). Then I'll have to take holograms or 3-D video of him or something like that (I don't Grandma Van's dial-up is going to handle that). He has really been a great baby so far. He's eating and filling his diaper like crazy, and he is also sleeping well. He sleeps for about 3 hours each night, which is better than I had hoped for. Anyway, I'm rambling now, here are today's photos.

March 18 Pictures

Here are some new pictures for the day. Alstan slept 4 hours last night, ate, and then slept 4 more hours! It was a very good night. I have to go back to work tomorrow so pictures may slow a bit, so I'll put a bunch on the blog tonight.

Picture Montage

Here's a little video I made this evening of Alstan. I probably should have been taking a nap instead. There's also a slide show at the left of the page showing all his visitors.

Sleeping

He certainly doesn't sleep all the time, but this must be the only time we get a chance to take pictures.

Friends and Family

I'm trying to put in a slide show. Hopefully this works. These are some of the people who have visited Alstan and his parents already. We've also had great neighbors who have come to visit and bring food. Everyone has been great!

Busy

I'll get some more pictures up in the next day or two. I've been a little preoccupied. Alstan is continues to do very well. He's gained 5 oz. since he got home already. His mom is also moving better each day, but she still has sausage feet (swelling from the surgery) :)

Coming Home

It took us several tries to finally get home. I packed up the car (including diapers and wet wipes)and then Alstan had to go to the bathroom. He went right through this diaper, sleeper, and on to my sweatshirt.

Naptime

Alstan and I taking a nap before we came home from the hospital.

Bath Time

Jessie giving Alstan a bath. He liked most of it, but got a little cold at the end. We are heading home this afternoon. His hair is definitely straight as an arrow just like Dads.

Pictures and Update

Thanks to everyone who has left comments on the blog. I won't have time to respond to them all, but we've read them and appreciate the kind words. Here's a little update: Alstan has been doing very well. He's a very content and hungry baby. We've been doing a lot of feeding with him. Jessie is doing well too. She's walking around and avoiding the bed all day. And I'm doing great, I got 5 hours of sleep last night!

I'll leave everyone with what they really want, more pictures of Alstan. These pictures start out smaller, but you can also click on any of the pictures in the blogs to enlarge them. These were all taken on Tuesday.

Picking on Alstan

Of course, Jessie's brother, Jeff, was the first to pick on Alstan. When we told him we should start waking Alstan up to eat he thought that tapping on his forehead, like Chinese torture, would work best. I guess getting picked on is just something he's going to have to live with (sorry buddy, I think much of it may have to do with some of the picking on people I've been ACCUSED of).

Swinging

I'm testing to see if I can get video on. He's not moving much, but here he is in a swing. He was a little fussy and the nurses said he liked swinging last night.

First Day

Hard to type. I'm holding a sleeping baby. Here's a full body shot.

Dad's First Diaper

Here is the first diaper that I changed. Alstan was not very happy about the whole process. This picture is especially for the Zielicke girls, who were trying to stay around and watch yesterday. It wasn't too bad, but I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon.

One Day Old!

Being one day old can be exhausting! He's been sleeping this morning after really getting the hang of eating last night. Jessie will be up and moving around more today after she gets unconnected from all her cords. I've been learning to swaddle. We are such infant newbies.

If you look at his little nose it's still a little crooked. He was so squished in the womb that his nose, ear, and foot all came out looking a little compressed.

Close Up

Here's a close-up.

Family Picture

Here's our first family picture. Alstan is doing great and Jessie is doing well too. Jessie had to have a C-section this morning as Alstan was just too big at 8 lb. 15 oz. All the doctors and nurses were very surprised to see how big he was.

Alstan has a full head of black hair, and I'll get better pictures of him up soon. He also already has eye brows and eye lashes. He has spent most of the day sleeping and enteraining visitors. He is a big boy too, I should have been lifting weights, because he's heavy.

Mom and Alstan

Here is Jessie holding her little guy for the first time.

Dad and Alstan

This is the first time that I'm holding my little boy. I'll try to resume entertaining comments later, but I'm too tired right now.

Welcome Alstan James Van Overmeer

Born on March 8th at 8:13 a.m.
Height: 21"
Weight: 8 lb. 15 oz. !!!

Lots of black hair... more information to come.

Late

I guess the baby takes after his Mom ... late! March 6 was the due date, so he's at least going to be fashionably late.

The sub sheets are prepared for both of us though, so this weekend seems as good as any to have the baby (as long as it's after the Michigan basketball game on Saturday).