Richard Engel and his wife Mary Forrest are feeling grateful now that they’ve brought the newest member of their family home from the hospital.
After Forrest gave birth to their second child — a baby boy named Theodore Forrest Engel over the weekend, the journalist revealed the little tot is doing “great.”
“Theo is doing great and is drinking like a champ,” the couple tells PEOPLE. “He’s out of the hospital and is already getting stronger. Go Theo go.”
“We know it isn’t always this easy and are immensely grateful and thankful,” they add.
Engel, 45, announced Theo’s arrival on Monday on the Today show, saying that the tiny tot’s arrival is opening a new chapter for their family. Engel and Forrest also share son 3-year-old son Henry, who was diagnosed with Rett syndrome in 2017, a rare genetic neurological disorder that leads to severe physical and cognitive impairments and, as of now, has no cure.
“Mary and I are so excited to introduce our new son Theodore (Theo)” the journalist wrote in an email to the Today show on Monday. “He’s healthy, happy (unless you unwrap his swaddle) and thirsty. We couldn’t be more in love. And now Henry is a big brother, too.”
“Life has twists, turns and new beginnings,” Engel continued. “This is Theo’s first chapter, and a new one for our family. We’re excited, nervous and thankful.”
Engel and Forrest have been candid about their son Henry’s diagnosis, and celebrate any milestones that Henry reaches, like sitting up unassisted or saying “Dada” for the first time.
“We’re not looking for huge milestones,” Forrest told PEOPLE last year.
“Anything is good as long as it’s progress,” Engel added at the time. “You hear parents say, ‘I woke up this morning and went down to the crib and the baby was standing.’ That didn’t happen in our case and it doesn’t seem to be in the cards. So we’re focused on the little things.”
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And those little things, Engel said in an essay published in March, light up his world.
“To parents with typically developing children, a little Dada may not seem like a big deal,” Engel said. “But for me it was a validation, an acknowledgment that he’s in there, knows me, knows that his mother and I are forces for good in his life, and above all, that he loves us.”
“It was something I’d been waiting for for years,” the proud father (now of two!) said. “A lot of parents, it happens naturally, it happens early on. Henry’s situation is different.”
Engel added, “My world lit up.”
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