Mother's Day

Due to way too much stuff happening at once, Mother's day was pushed late this year.  Anyway, here is Cassandra presenting Mommy with her present.  (It was LEGO R2D2.)

Michael's Visitors From St. Louis

Mommy's and Daddy's friends from St. Louis were in town for a family visit and were able to swing by before they headed home.  Michael was happy they visited especially since he got to meet another Michael.

Relaxing with April

Michael Squared!

First Photoshoot

Today, Michal had his first official photo shoot.  Here are some of our favorites:

"So soft!"

"Let me think about it."

Next On The List...

Aunt Kristi and Uncle John stopped by to say hi!  You cannot tell from this picture but Aunt Kristi is pregnant and is due the end of September.  This means Michael will have a cousin in town only four months younger although they probably would end up in different classes in school.

Michael hanging out with Uncle John.  Notice that Michael is wearing a different hat from yesterday.  He is not really a fan of hats, completely opposite of his sister.  Like I said, it will be interesting to see how different they are.

Time To Meet The Grandparents

Well first up tonight is Papa Hodges.  Michael proceeded to treat Papa like everyone else, as a warm pillow.  I guess he was so exhausted by the 12 hours of labor he just couldn't be bothered to stay awake.  Funny part is Papa joked about not knowing what to do with a boy because he had four daughters and four granddaughters.  Guess he is going to need to read the manual but is doing good so far.

Now Grandma Hodges gets a turn to hold Michael.  Notice the spot of high fashion that Grandma is wearing.  Grandpa thought the yellow sticker looked so good that he should have one.

Grandma Wendel knows exactly what to do with boys since she had three of her own.  They need trains and cars and trucks just like Daddy has been giving Cassandra.  (So far, so good as Cassandra loves trains.)  With my luck, it will balance out on Michael and he will probably like hot pink.

Grandpa Wendel gets a turn holding Michael.  Notice how relaxed Grandpa is sitting in the sun with Michael.  Guess he is a sun baby.  Maybe he will get lucky and tan like Daddy.

Hello Everybody!

Well the doctors are satisfied that Michael's earlier elevated heart rate was just a result of loss of amniotic fluid.  We are very glad of this because it means they will start leaving him with us for longer than 30 minutes at a time.

This being the case, it is time to start meeting people.  Michael's first visitors are Aunt Cheryl and Cousin Samantha.  Cheryl's smile might be related to Michael's cuteness or be related to this being the first male grandchild in the family.  Michael's cousins (and of course sister) are all female so the "tradition" just got messed up.  You knows Mommy likes to get people of of their comfort zone, right?  The Hodges mojo couldn't last forever, right?

Aunt Cheryl

 Samantha is holding Michael a little differently than she held Cassandra.  I think she is a little uncertain because he is a boy.

Michael's Cousin Samantha

I Guess We Can Keep Him

So Michael finally made his appearance early this morning.  Janice and I were finally able to get some sleep but the 3:47 AM birth is not something I recommend.  Also, with his high heart rate right when we first got there we do not see our little boy much because he is being watched like a hawk.  This one is definitely different than his sister.  Early, not late.  Scared the doctors.  Hopefully this is not a portent of things to come.

It is interesting because in some ways Michael is the opposite of Cassandra.  She was late, he was early.  Cassandra was born normally but Michael required much twisting and turning.  Cassandra was born with white peach fuzz while Michael had a lot of dark hair.  And of course there is the gender thing.  It will be interesting to see what other differences they have...and if they develop some just to irritate each other.

Cassandra was brought to the hospital to meet Michael.  She is actually excited about the whole thing but doesn't really understand what is going on.  She is still a little hesitant but for the most part has accepted Michael as her little brother.  She doesn't want to sit with him in her lap for very long though.  Its like "Ok, he is here, now what do we do with him?"

We have also been telling her "nice touches" and reading to her "big sister" books so she knows how to behave around a baby.  The way she pats him though make you wonder if she is worried about breaking him.