Evan

I noticed that a couple of Evan's recent pictures have been either setup to be just like ones we took with Ellie, or just turned out that way. Recently I posted Evan in his Yankees outfit, just like Ellie wore when she was little. Here are some more examples:

Evan in the Baysox helmet that led to this Ellie classic.

Evan's version of Ellie's Cindy Lou Who. He's more of an Alfalfa.

Ellie was a little older on her first St. Patrick's Day, but I'm sure Evan will be hitting the Guinness hard next year. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! And remember, friends don't let friends drink green beer.

We dug up a baby outfit we bought back when we visited Hong Kong, and had Evan try it on. It was a bit of a tight fit, but we got a good picture for the "Year of the Boar."

To tide over those of you who will be here in a couple of weeks, here are the very latest Evan pictures.

Evan's first experience with snow. I think I mentioned before that he didn't seem too impressed with it. He wasn't as mad as the picture makes him seem, just indifferent.

Ellie has been teaching Evan lots of good habits, like how to knock over Lego towers.

Ellie's godfather, John, came for a visit. He's a smart guy, visiting before all the relatives show up.

Obligatory naked pictures. Ellie has been insisting on helping to give Evan his bath, so she just stays in after she's done. It actually works out pretty well.

Yet another flattering shot of the naked butt. And seriously, check out those Thunder Thighs!!!

My new nickname for Evan is "Kruk," as in John Kruk. Not only do they look alike, but until Evan's testicle dropped, they each only had one testicle (Kruk had his removed due to cancer).

Seriously, tell me they're not dead ringers:

Evan didn't really have much idea what was going on. He was only 6 weeks old after all.

But he woke up a bit later and had lots of fun making happy (gassy?) faces.

Is his left nut! And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them... Oh wait. And lo, when changing his diaper today, I noticed a new bulge, and sure enough, his second testicle has descended and is in its proper place. Come on, you know you've been waiting to hear that news all month. Evan will now be able to partake in the fraternity of all men: the "I'd give my left nut" cliche.
In other Evan news, we went to the midwives for Lisa's 6 week checkup. All was fine, but Lisa wanted to check Evan's weight. Remember, he was 7 pounds, 10 ounces at birth, dropped to 7 even a few days after, was back up to 8 by his 2 week appointment. Now, 6 weeks in, he is roughly (due to the imprecise nature of our weighing method) 11.5-12 pounds! Yeah, 4 pounds in 4 weeks! Ellie didn't weigh 12 pounds until she was 5 months old, and Evan is there just over 5 weeks!
In honor of these two momentous occasions, I give you what I know you all have been wanting for Christmas: naked baby pictures!

Looking contemplatively elsewhere.

Getting that butt up in the air. He must be already thinking about how to start crawling. We're in big trouble.

Full posterior nudity. Only here on The-Ds.com. You get a good idea of how well he's filling out. Skinny butt, round belly.

Flickr has a cool "Christmas egg," which I used to add a Santa hat to one of Evan's photos. Check it out.

Lately, I've been trying to remember just when babies start to get into a set sleeping pattern. Of course, with Ellie it never really ever happened, so that's probably why I don't remember. Evan is still a good sleeper, but we just wish that he would have his deep daytime sleeps at night, instead of his current fitful night sleeping. Still, ten times better than Ellie. And he's still eating better than her too. Both of these are evident in the following picture (how's that for a segue?):

Damn that's one cute baby.

We took Evan to the doctor for his two week checkup today, which unfortunately included his first shot. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that he is now up over 8 pounds, well over his original birth weight, and a weight gain of 17 ounces in about 10 days! I guess the kid is an eater. He definitely eats better than Ellie ever did, and he also sleeps better, not nearly as fitfully as Ellie. So those two things combined lead to a good weight gain, and also an additional inch of length! He cried only for about 10 seconds after his shot, and once we picked him up, he stopped and was fine.

Our two kids couldn't be more different. Evan eats like crazy, Ellie had trouble, and spit up a lot. Evan sleeps a lot, Ellie would fall asleep in your arms, but then jolt awake if you tried to lay her down in her crib, or at any other noises. Ellie did not make it back up to her birth weight for a good long time after she was born, and was constantly falling behind the growth curve. Evan, even at 3 weeks early, is at the 50th percentile for weight, and 25th for length. Ellie cried and cried after her shots, Evan cried for 10 seconds. Ellie would suck on the pacifier all day, Evan spits it right back out if you try to offer it to him.

Here are the latest pictures:

The obligatory stork, with Ellie looking contemplative in the background.

Evan next to his birth sign.

Once again, our kids seem to be into flashing gang signs.

Ellie reading "Goodnight Moon" to her little brother. I think she actually knows all the words to that book, even though she can't read yet. Hopefully she will be a good reader when she gets a little bigger.

Way too close closeup. You can see his teeny cleft chin, which apparently he gets from Lisa's side (you just can't tell because Bumpa has had a beard for so many years).