This past Sunday was Little Man's first time to attend church. Daddy and I were understandably nervous about the whole experience but Little Man did beautifully even when the fire alarm went off in the middle of Tim's sermon. Daddy was extra cautious about people getting too close to Little Man or touching him (the pediatrician was very specific about letting him go "out" only if we protected him) but everyone was very understanding.
Little Man has had such a busy weekend! Uncle J and Aunt Ash are in town and we all went to see Aunt Hay play basketball last night. Little Man slept through the entire game; not even the buzzers woke him up! This morning Aunt Ash (who is working on her doctorate in physical therapy) spent an hour working him through a series of exercises to determine which developmental milestones he had reached and determined that his motor skills are age appropriate (which means she didn't have to adjust for his age!). Little Man was exhausted after his "work out" and slept peacefully on Aunt Ash for several hours. Tomorrow is his first day at church and we are all very excited.
Little Man has finally been cleared by his pediatrician to leave the house! He is still too young to be around young children, since it is RSV season, so he can't go to nursery or daycare but we are so excited to not be homebound anymore. This Sunday will be his first time at church and mom's first time to church in 14 weeks! Uncle J and Aunt Ash will be in town too so the whole crew (except Uncle Bud) will be there to accompany him. Little Man loves his new baby Moses basket and enjoyed giving it a test run before Sunday (doesn't he look comfortable!?!). 
Little Man is becoming more and more alert every day. In an effort to help him keep from confusing his days and nights we have been trying to stretch out the "awake times" and have introduced him to some new toys including his vibrating bouncer, aqua swing (which are almost too stimulating for him) and his personal favorite, his Wubba Nub (see picture). Little Man had his first appointment with the pediatrician and weighed in at 6lbs 11oz; he will be one month old on Friday! 
Little Man is getting stronger every day; he is starting to lift his head and just this afternoon he kicked the bottom out of his swaddled blanket (see picture). Thank you for your sweet emails and phone calls, we really appreciate all of the encouragement and support.
We are home at last! After 3 very long weeks we have finally made our exodus from the NICU and are settling in to home life. We are sleep deprived and desperately trying to establish a schedule but couldn't be happier. We have been so blessed to have help from our family; mom has been helping out with the baby during the day so that we can catch up on sleep and laundry. Little Man will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and is a whopping 6lbs 1 oz. Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragament; we feel so blessed.
