i'm happy to report

Things are going well. Mason is moving along just like he should be: gaining weight, learning to bottle-feed, regulating his own temperature, and breathing all by himself. His main hurdle at the moment is getting strong and coordinated enough to bottle-feed at EVERY feeding. He currently can only handle (barely!) a bottle once per day. The whole suck, swallow, breathe at the same time thing is terribly difficult for such an underdeveloped little guy. He'll get there. Once a day now, maybe twice a day over the next few days, then three times, then... you get the picture. Once he can successfully bottle feed for a few days we will move onto learning the whole breastfeeding thing, which we hear is much more difficult. We have faith in this little boy, though! He is so strong -- all 4 lbs 10 ounces of him :)

I'm also happy to report that I'm no longer a walking, breathing, wreck of a woman. I have stopped bursting into tears every 5 seconds, I can walk pretty well, and I'm slowly getting used to the odd regime of just visiting my newborn baby. It still seems very unnatural, but I no longer feel overwhelmed with guilt and sadness when I need to leave. I'm getting back to the "just grateful he's healthy" mentality. Thank goodness for that!

On a completely different note, I passed my 18-question drivers' test today and am now a legal resident and driver in the state of California. About time, I suppose :) Besides the fact that my Utah license expired last week, I knew I needed to get myself registered in time for this year's big election! Woot!

I leave you with pictures and tidings of joy.