We hit a real milestone today: Will opened his eyes! Barely. When we came into the NICU this morning, there were rumors about having seen him crack open an eye to take a peek at the world, but it wasn't until our visit this evening that we saw for ourselves. As we bent over the warmer bed to say hello, he snuck his first look at Mom and Dad. I refrained from capturing photographic evidence, figuring the last thing he needs as soon as he opens his eyes is some paparazzi sticking a camera in his face. As strong as he's getting, I feared he'd get all Sean Penn on me and knock the camera out of my hands.

Ah yes, those strong hands. Here, as promised is a photo from this morning of him grabbing Mom's finger and squeezing for all he's worth. He did this very briefly with me the night he was born, but has really developed some finger strength in the past eight days.

To add to that, he continues to bulk up. He was at 530 grams tonight, up from his previous high of 526. Challenges remain as he deals with his eating and breathing and other issues, but there is no denying that he has made significant progress in a short amount of time.