Things we love

about our new little boy:

1. His receding hairline. Dark baby hair is falling out, slowly but surely, and now he looks like a perfect 60-year-old. Dark hair: replaced by white fuzz. Another toehead in the works?

2. The puff of hair remaining on the top of his head. A light-brown fluff. Luke noticed it the other day, enjoyed touching it, and then declared, "DONE!" because he wanted that fluff of hair to go away. We are keeping a close eye on Luke to be sure he does not become the instigator of that fluff's disappearance.

3. Zeke's brow. His general "look" is of worry; his brow pairs with his shiny, dark, wise eyes to tell his admirers that he knows more than we know, and the weight of the world is on his shoulders.

4. But then he grins. We love this about Zeke. The left side of his nose crinkles up, his mouth opens wide, and then two big dimples appear. Mommy so far is the Grinner Winner. (And she's proud of this.)

5. The remnant of dark downy hairs on the bottoms of his ears.

6. His folds. Getting chubbier by the day (eleven-and-a-half pounds and counting), Zeke has creases that house the occasional remnant of that white stuff affectionately known as vernix. The idea of this, before we were parents, would have grossed us out; but now it is a heartwarming reminder of how new to this world our baby really is. (It is also a good reminder to bathe him more thoroughly.)

7. His cowlick. We have never seen such a far-over little twist of the hair. It is so far to the right, you'd think it could touch his ear.

8. The angle of his nose. Zeke's profile looks like his nose and forehead form a 90-degree angle.

9. His strength. It seems superbabyish. That thick neck; and huge, long arms; and gigantic hands; and quads that put his mother's to shame (as if that takes much). He loves to hold his head up and look around, and he can scoot all the way across the bed!

10. His suave combination of patience and fire. There is something about him: a patient, wise, old soul. Yet he goes from zero to sixty in half a second. Poppy calls him Stromboli after the Italian volcano. Nothing, nothing, nothing... then an eruption. He's not one to gripe much. He's mellow, mellow, mellow; and suddenly, it's time to scream.

11. His predictability. He gets on the Fuss Bus each evening at 6 PM, disembarks at 10 PM, and then conks for at least a three-hour stretch, usually four. (Though, unfortunately, that's the longest stretch of the night; and his parents are very, very tired.)

12. His naps. Magically, Zeke falls asleep right at the start of Luke's noon nap, so every day Mommy gets her nap, too. Well timed, Son.

13. His belches. They always make him happy.

Etc.

Zeke turns one-month-old today. We love the new fellow to bits and are so thankful to have this little one as our son.


In a moment of puffiness.


In a moment of sleepiness.


In a moment of burritoness. (Grammy got this surfboard towel for Luke, and he loves to be wrapped tightly in it after showers.) (Speaking of Grammy, Luke's name for her has evolved nicely. For a long while, he has insisted on calling her Baba. Recently, he discovered that adding the EE sound to the end of a name is a nice nickname, so Ra-Ra is sometimes Ra-Ree, and yes, Baba became Bobbie. Now, in the past few days, Luke has started actually trying to say "Grammy." But it comes out "Dammy"! Bobbie might even be better than that...)


We are now back at Orchard Park after three weeks of living with Bethany's parents. It was heavenly to be taken care of by them! They even gave us their bedroom suite, which made us feel guilty; but they insisted, so we had to cave in. THANK YOU, Poppy and Grammy!!! Bethany is feeling great after the c-section; it's like nothing ever happened! Huge answer to many, many prayers. So life in Orchard Park resumed much more quickly than we had anticipated. Luke loves living at a park and reuniting with his big buddy Vicente, a first-grader from Chile who is the sweetest pal to Luke. It is also very easy to supervise Luke in a house that is only 500 square feet.


Remember that dear old Moses basket? And the cute striped outfit Haley gave to Luke? Here they come again...


Showers are one of Zeke's (and Daddy's) favorite times of the day.


Wow.


Zeke is introduced to Mr. Giraffe!


And here is Luke with Mr. Giraffe, two short years ago. (Luke is a few weeks older than Zeke in these photos, but still, quite similar, eh?) What a great friend Giraffe is. Very loyal to the Armstrong family.


Well hello, Mr. Zeke! (Sporting a handsome new shirt from Ya-Ya.)


The three musketeers returning from an evening walk.


The naughtiest musketeer, at it again. He dumped out our three-pound bag of almonds while Mommy was nursing Zeke. As if Mommy has nothing better to do during the day than pick up three pounds of almonds off the floor. (Luke helped her, pretending to be a tractor ("LOAD-ull!" = "loader"), and Bethany realized that picking up almonds is actually preferred over wiping peanut butter off of the sliding door, couch, and bedspread--the previous day's what-in-the-world-will-Luke-do-now-while-Mommy's-nursing? adventure.)


The Armstrong Brothers.


Luke's typical twinkly look when he wants to give Little Brother some "love."


Back to Zeke, our balding wonder.


"Oooo!"


Oh, those dimples get us every time!


Luke got a Valentine's package from Ya-Ya and Toopie, containing a motorized Thomas train! He took it on our walk last night, placing it carefully on the ground, sauntering ahead of it, calling out, "TRAIN! TRAIN!" to alert us of the dangerous oncoming train, and carefully setting it on a new course when it ended up in the grass or stuck in a rut. Needless to say, a short loop around this side of the UCD campus took a looong time. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."


Our little Stromboli in the middle of an eruption.


Luke's hiding games have gotten more sophisticated now that Mom spends half her life nursing. Which lump is Luke? Hmm...


Zeke, again.


And again. (Notice his shirt.)


And yet again.


Saturday morning, Richie took Sarah and Luke on the train to Sacramento, a trip that never seems to get old. (Clearly.)


Then Saturday afternoon we left, Lukeless, for Bethany's friend Sonya's wedding. Sonya and Bethany taught fifth grade together their first year of teaching, and are still dear friends. It was wonderful to meet her new husband, Eric (who, Gracie, you will be thrilled to know, rides a unicycle and wore a tophat in the ceremony!); and Sonya looked stunning. Zeke was a champ. (Not to mention his father, who wore the Beco pouch the entire time.) Zeke turned into a pumpkin promptly at 6 PM, so we had to leave early, but it was a treat to be able to go!


Here is Zeke all ready for a chilly walk with Daddy and Luke this morning. We use this blanket for everything. Beth (Tatum's mommy) made it for Luke on the boys' first Christmas. It is wonderful to have friends from Massachusetts who know what cold weather is. This thing is warm. It covers Luke in his bike trailer, covers Zeke on walks, covers Luke in his crib at night, you name it... And don't you think it makes a lovely hat?


Our little man on his one-month birthday.


That good ol' fencing pose!


Hi-YA! Swatting at his toy.


And a farewell one-month grin.

Bye for now!