Cirrus Week 1 (Feb 16-23)

Cirrus is now one week old.  We celebrated with ice cream cake and presents (well, actually that was all for Justin who celebrated his birthday today, but we made it a joint celebration). 

Here is Cirrus at exactly one week old (photo taken at 8:20am).  

 To recap his week, on the afternoon of the day he was born, Cirrus's first visitors were his big brother and big sister.  They were quite interested to meet their new little sibling.  Cadel climbed up on the bed with him and Senja brought him several little toys and placed them carefully on top of him.  They stayed with us for Saturday and Sunday and then we took Oma and Gimpa's offer to take them back to Connecticut for a few days.  While we missed them lots, it was precious time for us to spend with just Cirrus during his first few days with us.  Now we are all back together and settling in as a family of five. 

Cadel imparts some brotherly wisdom to Cirrus.

 Senja snuggles in for some time with snoozing Cirrus.

 Cirrus's second visitors were Auntie Annalisa, Uncle Joel and 3 month old Cousin Ayla Mae.  Here he gets some good snoozing on Ayla's shoulder.  It will be fun to see their relationship grow over the years.

Cirrus is keeping us plenty entertained, sleeping, eating, sneezing, burping, and being sure to pee and poop at the most inoppertune times, making us realize that even though we are supposedly 'experienced' parents now, rookie mistakes abound!

Cirrus, looking more like a Cumulus.

 Cirrus spent most of his first week eating and sleeping, but did give us some very fun moments of awake and alert time.

February 16, 2013 - Cirrus Arrives!

With joy, peace and love we welcome Cirrus Robert Luoma Cox to our family!

Born:  8:20am, Saturday, February 16, 2013

Weight:  9 lbs, 6 oz

Length:  20.5 inches

Cirrus was in no rush to arrive on his estimated due date and seemed to enjoy the many miles of snow shoeing, skiing, and walking that Stacey put in over the last week.  (With Cadel arrving at 40 weeks +11 days and Senja at +6 days, we were not too surpised at Cirrus's +10 days.) 

When he decided he was ready, Cirrus arrived quickly and peacefully.  Stacey went into labor just before 4:00am on Saturday morning, and 4.5 hours later Cirrus was born.  His birth was a water birth, a first for us and it was a wonderful transition for Cirrus into our world.  He spent his first several hours happily snuggling with his mama and papa.  Then, he did spend some time letting us know that even though is is the smallest in our family, his little voice will be heard! 

For those who are interested in comparisions, here are Cadel and Senja's stats:
Cadel Alexander:  06/07/08   7 lbs 13 oz    20 inches
Senja Anastasia:   08/15/10    8 lbs 13 oz    21 inches
Cirrus Robert:      02/16/13    9 lbs 6 oz      20.5 inches

Here he is getting his first weigh-in.

Happy Birth Day Cirrus! Even if he can't enjoy his birthday cake, we certainly will.

We all enjoy some time together.

Happily snuggled on Justin's shoulder.

Cirrus in a moment of quiet repose with Stacey.

February 2013

February brought bountiful snow with the passage of Winter Storm Nemo. We managed to keep track of Cadel and Senja despite the 2.5-foot snowfall, drifting much deeper in places.

 Senja has lots to contemplate as she looks around her snow-covered world. (Also, she can't really go anywhere until we scoop her up out of the snowpack).

Stacey goes for a ski jaunt around the fields to give Baby Arlo a little taste of winter.

Cadel got to ride the Papa Lift at Mount Cowlane (a small hill in the neighborhood woods behind the houses) with his alpine skis. The Papa Lift consisted of piggyback rides up the slope, after which Cadel and Justin zoomed down together. After six laps, Cadel then trekked back across the fields under his own power. Here, he takes a moment to enjoy a view of our snowbound neighborhood and the post-storm clearing skies.

After the distraction of the snowstorm, each day made us more and more excited about the pending arrival of Baby Arlo.

Senja imparts some sisterly widsom to her sibling-to-arrive.