My piece of Heaven

Yiayia and Papa arrived a day after Orion was born. They spent two weeks with us. Apollo is sure that they come here just to be his own personal servants and playmates. As parents, it is such a treat for Melanie and myself to watch Apollo interact with his grandparents. Everyone gets to play cars...whether they want to or not. 

Yiayia, Papa, Apollo, and Orion
8/14/2011

Apollo is actually a funny kid. He knows how to solicit a laugh when he so desires. He spontaneously finds things funny, and has the ability to laugh whole heartedly at himself, when he is involved in a bit of carnage (that leaves himself relatively unscathed, that is). He thrives on the attention he gets for singing

the Alphabet song and the Fish Head song, along with his own repertoire of silly phrases.

Overall, Apollo is a very happy young man. I know I have used the term 'charming' to describe him and his personality in a couple of my past blogs, but it certainly is the best term I can  think of at this point; he really is charming. You have to experience him for a few days to get the full effect.  Apollo insists that everyone should "Be happy!" In fact he demands it. If he even suspects that someone is less than happy he will interject with; "Be happy Yiayia!!" He also likes to check in on your well being from time to time; "How you feeling Papa?"

Apollo's mad face

Be happy!

 Yiayia and Papa were pretty blown away at Apollos extensive vocabulary and his nonstop chatter. They talk to Apollo a few times a week via Skype, however, they were not prepared for the barrage of talking that they experienced during their visit with us. The icing on the cake for Apollo's grandparents, was the "I love you" and "I love you so much" phrases that were freely offered up.

 We seized the opportunity to spend this past Sunday out doors in the perfect weather. It was my plan to gets some pictures of Apollo and Orion with their Yiayia and Papa. I went into this photo session knowing full well that I had a 1 in 10 chance of getting any descent pictures, as the quality of the photo's is directly related to Apollos mood at the time I am taking the pictures. He was definitely in rare form and it was a real task to get him to sit still  long enough to snap a couple of pictures. Apollo really enjoyed making faces at the camera and running off every chance he got. Fortunately, we were able to kick back for a couple of hours in this little park, which afforded me enough time to get a couple shots worth keeping.
  Orion is doing well. He has been making his way through the residual jaundice, and has really perked up. He spends longer periods of time being awake and very alert. He is making up for lost time with frequent feeding frenzies that leave Melanie threatening to switch him to formula.
 Orion graduated out of his size 1 newborn diapers, the day we got home from the hospital and fits nicely in the size 2's. He has already outgrown his newborn size clothing as well.  His remaining umbilical cord, or his "crunchy" as Apollo called it, fell off when he was around 10 days old.  He has also filled in all his wrinkly skin now.
                   The nights have not been too bad yet, at least not as bad as Apollo was by 5 days old.

Apollo and his Mickey Mouse back pack

Don't get me wrong, Orion is waking up and eating about every hour to hour and a half, but the difference is, that he will fall asleep while feeding and stay that way until he wants to eat again.
  Apollo, on the other hand, stayed up late, took a long time to go to sleep and then cried for thirty to forty five minutes after each feeding... all night long! Melanie would pass him off to me and say, "Okay, I did my part, now its your turn...and you need to leave the room with him so I can sleep." Yup, kicked out of bed, and my room, to walk to floors with a crying baby, two to four times a night. Then up at 6:00am to go to work. I would gladly do it all again with Orion, but Melanie and I are both hoping it doesn't come to that. Orion is also a lot more cuddly than Apollo was at this age. He is perfectly content curled up in the fetal position with his ear pressed to your chest. Apollo, in contrast, was always a thrasher.
  I am still in disbelief that we have a new baby. I find myself awake at night, leaning over Orion, listening to him breath, and watching even the tiniest movements. I settle back into bed with the biggest smile on my face with only the twilight of the room to share it with. For a brief moment, all the worries of the world around me are gone. The soft sounds of Orion cooing, and Melanie and Apollo breathing, serenade me back to sleep. I have found my piece heaven here on earth.