A posting from Mommy

There's not much new at the Ripley house. We are having a great summer. Vince is sleeping longer and longer each night. Last night he went 6 hours without eating...not all of that time was devoted to sleeping, but we are on our way to a full night's sleep!

He went to visit the Curtis family for a couple hours last week so that they could get to know him a little bit and so that I could get used to leaving him with someone else. We are going to try to do that once a week until I go back to work full time. It was easy to leave him with Jamie because I'm so comfortable with her ability to take care of Vince. I'm so thankful we found someone we are able to trust so much!

We've been trying to get out of the house a bit more in the last week or so. In addition to Vince's trip to the Curtis home, we visited the Hartmans; we went to Grandma Ripley's house; the Zerwekh family came to visit; we went to church and then out for lunch and shopping on Sunday. Vince is a great traveler and I love the convenience of breast feeding: I never have to worry about having enough formula with us!

Hope you enjoy the latest photos.

First time at church

I went to church for the first time today. Mommy was working in the nursery and I was the cutest baby in there. I slept most of the time, but I woke up right at the end ready to eat. I was a champ and mommy feels good about leaving me in the nursery next week...as long as I stay away from any sick babies!

Big Boy!

Mommy and I had a big day yesterday. We visited Gramma Sandy at work and she showed me off to everyone in the entire building. I think she kinda likes me. One lady asked my mommy if I'm a good baby. Mommy doesn't really know how to respond to that question. What are the other choices? Has anyone ever answered, "No, my baby is a bad baby; I wish I had gotten a different one"? My mommy is always going to say "Yes, he's a good baby" because she loves me and I am really good at being a baby. Even when I cry and fuss for a long time; she still thinks I'm good at being a baby. She would like to meet the parent who has said, "No, my baby's not a good baby." I bet there isn't one.

Mommy finally bought a scale for the bathroom and weighed me. I weigh 10.4 pounds! I have been eating like a big boy. I usually eat about 3 to 4 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. It varies sometimes, but that is how much I usually eat. Mommy is still trying to figure out a way to pump the milk that I eat at each meal and plus have a little more for storing. She's been taking an herbal supplement to help her milk production and it makes her smell like maple syrup; but I don't care because she gives me my milk and that smells really yummy still.

Aunt Valerie and Gabe and Madi came over the other day and we all played together. The kids were really gentle with me and I liked them. I can't wait to meet my Uncle Sam. Mommy says maybe on Tuesday if Uncle Sam can squeeze me into his schedule.

Surf's Up!

What's new in the world of Vincent? Well, I am certainly the cutest baby alive, but you wouldn't know it because most of the time my face is beat red and my eyebrows are scrunched up and I am wailing at the top of my lungs. But there are a few precious moments when mommy or daddy is feeding me and my sweet little eyes close, and I look like the perfect baby they had been waiting nine months for. So while I'm up screaming at 2:34 in the morning, mommy and daddy picture the sweet faces I make and that helps them get through the night.

I haven't really hit any milestones to speak of, but I do have a really goopy eye problem. The doctor says the tear duct gets backed up or something and that makes my eye get all goopy. But mommy massages it several times a day with a warm wet washcloth and I really like that. I took a bath today; I don't really like being placed in the baby bathtub, but I do like to lie on the counter while mommy sponge bathes me. I stay really quiet and very still and she scrubs all the spit-up out of all my little baby rolls. It really works quite well. Mommy can't stop sniffing my head afterwards, though. It gets really annoying: she just sniffs my head all day long. I think we're going to have to get some help for her. Someone should find her a group for clean-baby-hair-sniffers-anonymous.

Mommy had another amateur photo session with me today. I'm wearing a really cool outfit that my Great-Aunt Jenny and cousins Katie and Jacob got for me. Mommy wanted to cry when she put it on me because when I was born it was WAY too big for me and now it fits me perfectly. The shorts look a little baggy, but I think they're supposed to because that's the way surfer dudes wear their shorts.

My first two weeks of life

Welcome to my blog!! Check it out periodically to find out what I'm up to. Mommy and Daddy (and by that I really mean just Mommy) will try very hard to keep this updated each week or every couple of weeks with new photos and developments.

Here's a recap of my first day of life:

It all started on June 15, 2007. Mommy was induced at 7:45 am and had a very good labor that lasted only 8 1/2 hours. I was born at 4:18pm and weighed exactly 7 pounds. The nurse measured me at 18 1/2 inches long, but everyone thinks I was a bit longer than that because my legs were pretty scrunched up when she measured me. I peed on Dr. Dameron and then I peed two more times before they could get the diaper on me. (That is my favorite thing to do and I try to pee on someone at least once a day...even if that someone is just myself. Mommy is trying to teach me not to do it though, because Miss Jamie doesn't want to be peed on when it's time for mommy and daddy to go back to work.)

When I left the hospital I weighed 6 pounds and 10 ounces. At my 2 week well-baby visit I weighed 8 pounds and 3 1/2 ounces!! I was also 21 inches long. Mommy's milk is really yummy. I like to eat it and she likes making it for me. We are both grateful that God is giving her good healthy milk for me to drink. Mommy doesn't mind that she is the only one who can feed me in the middle of the night, because we like to hang out together as much as possible.

My puppy is very protective of me. He doesn't like it when strangers hold me. He likes to cuddle with me, but mommy and daddy try to make him stay out of my face because his paws are really big.

I've had lots of visitors and our friends and families have been very generous and given us some really sweet gifts. I'm blessed to have so many people in my life who love me and want to spend time with me!