Matching PJ's

Nathaniel and big brother Ben received pairs of matching alligator pajamas from Ben's girlfriend Caroline's family last week and since it is so nice out today, they were able to wear them tonight. Here they are posing in their matching bed clothes right after their baths tonight and just before going to sleep.

I usually don't post photos that are so similar to each other but I thought Ben's expressions in each were really cute and warranted their own space on the blog. Of course Nate's wild hairdo deserves some time on the blog as well. It's at its best just after a bath. My dad calls him Rod Stewart or says he looks like a little kiwi fruit :).

Tummy Shots

We moved Nate out of our room last night and so now he is officially on his own in the big world (aka the nursery). Here are some cute shots that the paparazzi took this morning while he napped. Yes, I know it's taboo nowadays but he sleeps on his tummy as of last weekend. He has excellent head control and I check on him frequently and use the monitor so we've been putting him down this way since he sleeps better and is more comfortable.

4 Weeks Old

Nathaniel is four weeks old today. We can't believe so much time has gone by since he was born already! He is changing every day and just this afternoon he spent some time in his swing and on both of his activity mats observing his surroundings. Both are new activities to him in addition to eating and sleeping. Well, he has been going in his swing since he has come home from the hospital but usually he is sleeping so today was a milestone.

"I look so grown-up in my windpants and my spikey hairdo, don't I?"

Checking out the colors and different shapes on my activity mats.

Professional Photos

Yesterday I took the boys for their first professional photos together since Ben was due for his 2-year photographs and I wanted to get pictures of Nate at 1-month as well, since I had taken Ben at that age. Nate was content sleeping (what he does best!) and once we woke him up he did not like the idea of taking pictures. So, we don't have too many of him with his eyes open (and content!) but we figured that this is quite representative of his first month anyways since he always seems to be asleep. Well, except at 3AM, that is! :)

Ben, of course, was a big ham and really enjoyed being the center of attention this time around at The Picture People. Ignore the "zazzle" watermark. I'm copying these from the web site instead of having to scan all of the photos we purchased.

Two years old...

1 month old this week...

Oh no! Can someone that little and cute really make that much noise? :) At least Ben seemed unfazed and proceeded to pose for the photos anyway!

Pediatrician Updates

Ben and Nate both have had recent pediatrician appointments and both boys are doing very well! Ben just went for his two year appointment and is now 36 inches tall and 30 lbs. 4 oz. He passed his alphabet, number, shape and color test with top marks and the doctor said that his delayed speech doesn't seem to be anything to worry about. He is improving slowly and will likely catch up to his peers in the next few months. No other doctor visit for Ben until he's three years old!

Nate is also doing very well and was up to 8 lbs. 10 oz. at his 2 week appointment. He's 21 inches long and is doing much better with nursing since he had some problems at first. He is very easy-going and calm during the day but has a rough time at night and is fussy from around 6PM-9PM. We are praying it is not colic or reflux and are going to keep an eye on him for a few weeks and bring him back to the doctor if it stays the same. W're back to the pediatrician with Nate for his 2-month appointment in May. Man, these copays add up quickly when you have two kids :)!

Grandpa G and CC Visit

Grandpa G and CC visited us this weekend all the way from Florida and both of the boys had a great time seeing them! Here are some photos of G and CC getting acquainted with Nathaniel. He has become so much more alert lately and seems to enjoy looking around to check out his environment and watch whoever is near him. Of course he still sleeps a fair amount during the day but we have been seeing his eyes a lot more lately.

G and CC with both of the boys. As usual, every photo we took had one of the boys not looking at the camera, fussing, etc. So this was the best one we got, even though Ben looks a little zoned out.

Here is Ben exploring some of his new big brother gifts - a wooden workbench and a new puzzle. He's extremely mechanical so both of these items were big hits! Ben seems to be getting very used to this whole "big brother" concept and has highly been encouraging us to feel free to have more kids if it means he will get to play big brother again! :)

For dinner one night we went to one of our favorite places - a Japanese hibachi restaurant that is closeby. We had never taken Ben there and figured he would enjoy the cooking show and he did enjoy that...

Ah, three generations of Martin men and their serious expressions as they watch the fried rice being made :).

Ben also really enjoyed the chopsticks and was actually fairly competent at getting some food onto them and into his mouth, even if he wasn't using them correctly. Fried rice was a big hit with Ben!

And of course the ice cream after dinner was an even bigger hit!

We also took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch one day and what a fun time! Nate and I spent our time at the table since he was sleeping through the outing, but Andrew, G and CC took Ben around to play on some of the rides.

The basketball game was most popular. Ben loves any sport or game that involves a ball and had such a fun time shooting baskets. He made several dunks and 3-point shots! :) Once he finished the game he would stand there and say "more, more!" until they put more tokens into the machine.

Here he is playing Skeeball, another popular game of the day!

Ben can definitely be fearful of anything new and is always cautious about going on rides so he resisted at first. However, once they coerced him to try out the car ride and a few others, he seemed to enjoy them.

Finally, the slide, a favorite activity!

The weekend could not be complete without a few goofy photos so here they are. G and CC bought the boys adorable matching outfits for this summer, complete with sunglasses. They are precious, especially Nate's itty bitty sunglasses :). Here are the boys and Grandpa G in their shades. Ben found this hysterical and Nate seemed unfazed, especially once he had his pacifer in his mouth :). What cool dudes!