Baby man hands

The countdown to the end of the semester is on. I have two papers, one "quiz," one final, and one journal assignment coming up in the next two weeks. I will be so excited when this semester is over. Joel will have a break soon too, he will have a few weeks off before he starts his family practice rotation in January.

So the turkey was a success! A friend recommended Alton Brown's recipe for brining the turkey. It took a little extra work but made for a good tasting bird. My mom joined us for the big meal and we had a wonderful day.

Cohen was approved for the Synagis shot last week so we went to Children's Hospital for the appointment. Once we got the shot we had to wait in the room for half an hour to make sure that Cohen didn't have a reaction. The nurses were swooning over Cohen and of course I reveled in all the compliments. When we were finished, I thought about breaking into the NICU to show off Growing Cohen, but stopped myself thinking maybe we should wait until a NICU reunion.

Cohen is now up to 8lbs, 4oz and his hands have grown again. They seem to grow first and then his body catches up. It reminds me of Porter when he was a pup. His paws were so big he was practically tripping over them until his body caught up. Cohen's collection of noises are also starting to expand, cooing and talking more often. He has also calmed down during diaper changes. He used to scream tortuously with every diaper change, hungry or not. At one point I thought he might have some kind of pain down there and I had even mentioned it to the pediatrician. But now he just looks around and sometimes lets out some happy noises. Apparently, he is feeling like he might just live through the changing of the diaper and this makes it a more peaceful experience for Joel and I. Happy, peaceful babies are the best!!