West has visitors and a photo shoot

Noelle and I are surely blessed with great friends and family.  We have had many visitors come by the house to meet West.  Below are some of their pictures. Also below is West's Saturday afternoon photo shoot.

1 Week Birthday

West is now 7 days old!!!! This week has been a new learning experience  :)  for all 3 of us.  West has slept really well at times and during a couple of the nights he decided that midnight to 4am was not a time that mom and/or dad should be sleeping.  However, he has gained weight, looks to have grown enough, and every time I look at him he seems to have changed (I know, I know...get used to it right?).  Today was an eventful day. We went back to the hospital to complete West's registration of birth, this was a long and eventful process in and of itself; but the end result is leaving the hospital with a Singapore birth certificate and an immigration form "Welcome to Singapore" that we filled in for West.  We also went to the Kodak store and were able to his passport picture.  Noelle's parents have been here for the birth of baby West and have been a huge help. The following pictures are a short account of this week. From the immigration form to the passport photo attempts (The US Government required the picture to be on a white sheet with no hands obstructing the picture and with eyes open...this was not an easy task).

First day at his new home!

West came home to our apartment on Friday February 4th at 1pm.  He settled into his new bed and slept a lot. He had one visitor, Helen, who came by at 4 with some lovely roses for Noelle and greetings to West.  He was the typical eat, feed and pee kid until 9pm when his parents went to take an hour nap and Grandma and Grandpa got the experience of his first non meconium poop, his first poop since 4am that same day (Thanks mom and dad) :-D West slept well through the night and Noelle got up to feed him as needed.

Saturday February 5th was a day of visitors and adventure and no shortage of diaper changes.  He is starting to eat more and Noelle and I are grateful that he is able to eat for a longer period of time before falling asleep.

Here are some pictures from the last two days.

West's First Car Ride

Helen visits with West. West will surely now enter a life of politics. Too bad he can never run for president :(  Well, maybe that's not so bad.

 Grandpa West with little West. Doesn't Noelle look great?

 Like Grandfather like Grandson!

 West's first bath...he did not really enjoy this kitchen sink time.

 B-E-A-U-TIFUL eyes! We finally got to see them today

 West still not sure what to think after bath time.

 West strikes a pose

 And another one

 David and Ana taking care of our son

 West's first Hong Bao. Thanks Eilers

Aunt Alicia telling West about how James Naismith created the game of basketball. Next week comes the story of how Larry Brown helped Kansas University win the title in 88

36 Hours Old

This is now working like West's diary.  West is now 36 hours old. He is breastfeeding well and sleeping even better. The good healthy lungs we heard early on (when he first got weighed and bathed) are almost non-existent now, except for sometimes when he sees his dad's hairy face ; - )

In 5 hours we will put him in a car seat and return to our home where Grandpa and Grandma are waiting to see him again. It is so great having family in town.  If you would like to come meet our son, please give me a call, e-mail or comment on the blog and we will try to figure out the best time.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

P.S. What is your favorite song to sing to babies?

One more picture  :-)

Our Boy! The Tiger's Tail Tale

West Ray was born on February 2, 2011 at 17:53 in Singapore.  His mother and I are so excited for the little guy.  He is almost 25 hours old (we just celebrated his 1 day birthday with "aunt's" Jenn and Alicia.  West is a Tiger's Tail because a little over 6 hours after he was born, the Chinese calendar zodiac sign became the Rabbit.  So, as West was born at the end of the Tiger year he is officially a Tiger (however, being born in 2011 makes him a Rabbit).  Living in Singapore has allowed Noelle and I to greater understand this zodiac system better. More than concerning ourselves with whether he is a Tiger's tail or a Rabbits nose, Noelle and I wanted West to be healthy. Praise the Lord! He is.

Here are some pictures that will help tell the story of our sons birth. Please note that my wife looks beautiful the whole time (in fact at 17:35 (just 18 minutes before West was born) the nurse in charge said "Noelle is so beautiful, even in labor she looks like Ms. Universe).