Henry's first week/ Grandma Mitchell's visit

Henry had his first long-distance visitor this week. Grandma Mitchell wasn't schedule to arrive until today (10 days after his birth), but simply couldn't wait to meet him. So she booked a crazy, last-minute ticket (that included four planes each way!) just so she could meet her grandson right away. She spent tireless days cooking, cleaning, and, of course, helping with Henry. I've never known anyone to be so enthusiastic about changing a diaper- Grandmas are a special breed :) She got to be there for Henry's homecoming/ his introduction to the dogs, his first trip to the pediatric office and his umbilical cord falling off. It pains us that the Mitchell grandparents are so far away, but we will find ways to stay close through pictures and Skype. We miss you already, Mom, and we love you!

What I learned about Henry this week:

Well, it was his first week, so the obvious answer is "everything," but here are some highlights:

-Nothing in the world beats his newborn smell. I never really knew what people meant when they talked about a "newborn smell"- babies are still just humans, right? But it's amazing how strong and distinctive his smell is- especially to Drew and me, I imagine. I hope it's not like new car smell that fades way too fast!


-His hands and feet are disporpotionately large! We obviously know where this comes from, but I'm still not sure if it correlates to height.


-He forms sweet little smiles even though he doesn't yet know what they mean. At this point, it doesn't matter... it's just an awesome preview of what's to come.


-He sneezes just like his Dad. Andrew always sneezes multiple times in a row (I, alas, am a single-sneezer) and Henry is a multi-sneezer! It's fun to discover traits beyond just the empirical.


-He and the dogs will coexist in harmony. They are really interested in sniffing him, but always keep a gentle distance.
A beautiful moment from this week:

In the early days when Henry and I weren't getting the best latch for feeding, Drew came and sat behind us in bed to lend a helping hand. I know what you're thinking: how many adults does it take to feed an infant? Well, let's just say, four hands were helpful at the beginning. So there we are, this brand new family of three, all working together to try and get Henry fed. It was really beautiful.