Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

So, as many of you may know, HE'S HERE! Samuel Elijah Culbertson (Sam) was born on Feb 2nd, 2011 @ 9:21am weighing in at 8lbs 14oz and 21inches long.

He is... AMAZING! Sam has quite the set of lungs on him... He cried super loud as soon as they pulled his head out and suctioned out his mouth. Then he didn't stop crying until he was bundled and in Daddy's arms and Mommy was talking to him. Only then did he calm down. So far, he's been pretty good. He seems to only really cry if he has to poop or is hungry... or if I am wiping his bottom with a cold baby wipe. He's not a fan of the cold hiney thing. Not that I blame him. I'm not either. :) He typically eats every 3ish hours during the day and at night he can even stay asleep longer. Not sure if it's because I have him in one of those swaddling thingies to sleep or because it's dark and quiet, but he's made it 4.5 to 5 hours some nights. After he's done eating, he drifts back off to sleep. This makes mommy really happy. During the day he'll sometimes stay up for an hour or two at a time depending on how much he's slept previously. He just stares at the world around him. Sam's so serious looking sometimes... that must come from Daddy. :)

His only "issue" is that he poops in every diaper. Not much, but just enough to smell up the joint and it's typically RIGHT after I've changed him once. :o/ Sometimes I haven't even gotten him off the changing table or his clothes back on before he poops in the new diaper. We've also had some of the "crazy hosey" (as my sister calls it) incidences. The best one was when he shot a stream of pee halfway across the room and hit Ava in the arm. She started to scream and ran around trying to get her shirt off because it had pee on it! I laughed. She didn't think it was funny. Maybe someday she'll see the humor.

As far as Avery's thoughts on him... she LOVES him. She wants to snuggle with Sam all the time and constantly tries to soothe him if he fusses or cries. "Sam, it's okay. You're alright. I'm here." :) I constantly find her petting his cheeks or rubbing her cheeks on his head because she says he's soft. Several times a day I hear, "Mom, I love Sam." She has just about forgotten about the baby that she (for MONTHS) claimed was in her belly. We got her a doll and brought it to her in the hospital. She loved it... but now that we're all home and the REAL baby is here she is much more interested in helping me with Sam. She gets his blankets or pacifier or a new diaper for me or whatever. She loves being a helper.

The first few days were trickier because Ava wanted attention and even negative attention would do. (She was not aware that she was jealous or acting out, but she just wanted someone to notice her.) We had several time outs and "chats" about how to act appropriately. But, it's gotten easier. She now loves her role as helper, and during his naps we color together or practice letters or play games or whatever. As Sam gets older and requires more attention I am hoping to be able to have her share in his attention and then get some of her own at times too.

Although sometimes momentarily overwhelming, I only need to look at her big, bright smile and his sleepy, milk face grin to know that it's all worth it. I'm in love. :)

Check out http://www.samculbertson.srprints.com/  for more pics