George comes home

On Thursday Nicole and George were released from the hospital and came home for the first night. Our first major experience with Swiss health care was really positive overall. I think the 5-day stay makes a lot of sense, because at that point the baby is already gaining back weight, and the mom is more fully recovered and ready to come home. Also, I really enjoyed the champagne dinner they served Nicole and me during the stay. That's health care.
So, the first night at home was prettty rough on everyone. The worst part was, it wasn't George who was up doing all the crying - it was Mason. I think reality set in pretty quickly once George came home, and Mason spent half the night crying in his bed. Everyone warned us that Mason would probably regress somewhat once the baby came home. They were correct. If he continues regressing at this pace, he should be a zygote again by sometime late tomorrow.
Night number two was much better. Mason was so tired he had no choice but to crash all night, and George slept for two four-hour stretches. We are all still living on caffeine for the time being, but hopefully things are more like last night going forward.
As for George, he is a very hungry, very strong baby. I wouldn't call him a "happy baby" so far - he seems perpetually upset that he cannot drink milk 24 hours a day. I think the picture above captured George in his happiest moment to date, if that gives you any idea of his general demeanor (kidding, of course - he does seem to get really happy for about 30 minutes everyday, usually at 2 a.m.). However, with all his eating, he is growing fast and is really strong. Mason better start working out, because if George keeps up at this pace, he will not be the little brother for long.