Milestones...

So I was reading last night about the milestones your baby is supposed to reach by 3 months. I suppose I was doing this to drive myself crazy since every baby is different and my baby is only 2.5 months old. Anyway, everything I was reading Gage is doing except they said that your baby will start to grab for things or swat at them like when on an activity mat, etc. I said oh, well that's the one thing he can't do and he has 2 weeks, AND babies grow SO fast and learn new tricks every day. So anyway, of course, I say that and lo and behold, today Gage is reaching for things, not quite swatting, but conciously putting his hands on different things. HEre is a picture of him sleeping but making sure his friends are not leaving his side. For weeks we have talked to Gage about Zippy (the zebra) and Geoffrey (the giraffe)....now he knows they exist!


Also, Gage is getting dissatisfied with just hanging out. HE always wants to play and be engaged. I used to be able to hold him facing outwards in sort of a standing position. This no longer works for him because, along with his hands and plastic friends, Gage has also discovered his ab muscles and wants to sit up ALL the time. No more standing, he just wants to sit....w/help of course. Bumbo, here we come!

"Nuk"ie monster

This was my 1st week back to work and also the week that we chose to unswaddle our baby. Yes, I know I said that like 2 weeks ago, but it never happened. It took Gage accidentally rolling over in his swaddle and not being able to get back over to convince us. And why not, on the 1st day I have to be up by 5am? The dr. said it would take about a week for him to get used to it and it's been almost that. The first night was rough (3.5 hrs. of sleep) but so is any new habit you teach a baby. Anyway, he sleeps pretty much as well and as long as he did before. Now, we just have to work on the nap situation....and attempting to get him to nap on a regular basis.

Also, I believe that my husband has created what we like to call a "Nuk"ie monster and if they don't already have a shirt that says that, I am marketing one and trademarking it. Anyway, our child will now not nap or sleep w/o a Nukie, which is fine since he used to just spit it out after he had calmed himself. But oh no, not now....now he will fuss until we come and pop it back in for him. Oh no, not me! That is all Luke. I told him he should look for a blow up mattress for the floor of his nursery when Gage moves in, b/c I'll be damned if I get up everytime he needs it. I have friends who do that and it's just not going to work for me.

Also this week, Gage and Daddy have had a lot of fun... from going on walks and going shopping to making cheesecakes. Gage also found his hands this week and went cross eyed for hours looking at them. He is now trying to figure out how to get them in his mouth........oh and Gage's 3rd snowfall of his life....on a Saturday. This will make it 3 weeks, 5 weeks and 11 weeks.

So this is it.....

Today was my last day home with Gage before Mommy has to return to work tomorrow. I have my pump and digital picture album by the door all ready to go! Kelly came to visit today and it was nice just to hang out and enjoy my baby. He is in good hands though, which makes returning to work so much easier. GAge is so lucky to be home with his Daddy for 4 weeks and then his Grandma Penny for another week before he has to start day care in March.
Now I just have to get back in the swing of things at school tomorrow and remember to pump in between. The hardest part for me will be remembering to take my pump and then remembering to bring home the milk for baby. I have heard it's not an easy task so wish me luck! At least this week will be an easy transition....it is midterms week and there are 2 full days and then 3 half days and I can go in late on Monday. It should be interesting tomorrow having GAge hang out w/ Daddy all day. Any bets on how many times he will call or email me? Maybe I should let him take over the blog to share Gage's adventures w/ Daddy!

HEre are the pictures i promised from the beach, courtesy of Grandma!

Baby's 1sts......pictures, beach trip, shots and bedtime

On Friday, an old friend Bunny took GAge's pictures for the 1st time. She took some of us as well, to have our 1st family portraits. Unfortunately we did that 1st and Gage became cranky by the end and therefore we didn't get all we wanted of him. There were some good shots though and we can't wait for the 8x10 of our little cutie! I was going to get pictures taken at 3 mos. as well, but might wait until Easter instead.

This weekend we also took Gage to the beach house for the 1st time. Thankfully the weather was so nice that we actually got to take him on the beach 2 days in a row! He loved it! Of course. Every night Gage falls asleep to the sound of the ocean from a stuffed bear his Grandma Sandi gave him, so this time it was the real thing and he was thrilled! So thrilled he immediately fell asleep both times! Hope that doesn't happen this summer, when he's supposed to play in the sand! And judging from his bath time, he is going to love the water also. (I will post picuters later, somehow Luke has lost the camera cord). While we were at the beach, Grandma took some very cute shots of Gage having tummy time. And as you can see, we taught him to swim while he was at it!





On Tuesday, when we returned from our long weekend, GAge had to get his 2 month check up and shots. He was a whopping 12lbs, 13oz., which we actually thought was way more. This is in the 75 %ile. He was 90%ile for height measuring 2 ft. and his head is of course teeny tiny as I had predicted coming in at the 25%ile. Gage had to get 3 different shots that immunizes him against 100 different things...overkill if you ask me. Anyway, he screamed of course b/c they hurt but he was easily consolable. Afterwards there was no fever and he was only cranky for a few minutes. Overall, not a bad appointment.

Finally, the latest news is Luke and I putting GAge down before we go to bed and actually implementing a 'bedtime'. The dr. suggests we unswaddle in the process so we are beginning that tonight. Last night the bedtime went pretty well and he was asleep by 9pm. However, he also didn't sleep at all yesterday so we shall see how it goes. Wish us luck! Ah....parenthood. Only 2 more days at home w/ my baby:(

2 months old!!

I don't think any picture I could post would top the last one of my little baby smiling so I'll wait until after our weekend at the beach. Yes, this will be Gage's 1st trip to the OUter Banks and he is so excited! Tomorrow we are getting his 1st professional pictures taken and we are looking forward to that as well. Only 10 more days at home w/ my baby....more to come.

A candid shot....

How can you not love this face?

Play Date w/ Jake...

Last night Gage went on his very 1st play date (if you don't count the one where he slept the whole time). The boys decided beforehand it would be fun to wear their favorite band shirts and rock out, so Jake is dressed in his Zeppelin shirt and Gage in his Kiss shirt that Uncle Brian bought him. The boys played and ate and checked each other out. Jake is a sissy and went to bed at 8pm and Gage stayed up all night and partyed w/ the adults. Finally we captured his sweet, round smile....after many, many takes.








Here is a full lenght shot of Gage's sweet shirt. This was from the tour of his very 1st concert when he was minus 4 weeks old.

Nothing to write home about...

People are asking about new pictures and I guess we are bad parents, b/c I think it's been over a week since we've taken any. I have tried to take video of him in the bath b/c he loves it and smiles constantly, EXCEPT for when I try to take video. I have tried to take his picture any other time he has been smiling at me or his imaginary friends, but again, I can't seem to catch him. I'm sure the smiles will become more plentiful and I can eventually capture one.

Gage has been feeling a little under the weather this week and has seemed to have a bellyache nearly every day. He has slept most of his week away and we had few hours of play time. We did go visit work again, went to play with Jake and yesterday had lunch with his new babysitter. Thankfully he doesn't have to go there until March. I'm not quite ready for that yet.

This weekend we are taking down his favorite accessory, the Christmas tree. He is having a play date with Jake tomorrow night (I'll post pictures from that) and next week should bring more excitement. Mommy gets a massage on Wednesday! Yay! Evie comes to play on Tuesday and we are getting his 1st professional pictures on Friday. Then it's Gage's 1st trip to the beach and to see Grandma and Granddiddy....hopefully more pictures...

Oh and we got our new mattress today! Couch comes Tuesday!

A day in the life of a 7 week old- babies have bad days, too

After the couch purchase on Saturday, we thought that wasn't enough and needed also to drop another grand on Sunday on a new mattress. Oh well, hopefully the little sleep we are getting will now be in more comfort and buying new furniture is always fun. However, mattresses are probably the last thing on the list of fun new furniture.

Anyway, I am counting down the days until I have to go back to work and trying to cherish every one of them. Gage is beginning to smile and interact much more and I will be so sad to leave him. I am jealous that Luke will get to stay home with for another 4 weeks! Our little boy has still decided that he will not sleep before 1am, however, we can't complain about his night feedings. He eats at 11pm and then at 5am, which if he keeps it up will fit perfectly into our schedules when we go back to work. It could be much worse.
However, yesterday, he slept ALL day long, I think he was up for only a few short hours and we were worried he might be sick. He is his most alert at night and wants to play. It's a shame...he is so cute at night but we don't want to play with him too much since we need to wind him down for the evening. He did put himself to sleep last night though. After hours of trying, I gave up and put him down when he was just a little drowsy and after 10 minutes of talking to himself he went right to sleep.

Today was a different story......today we started the morning with eating and his favorite activity-- the bath. He smiled and cooed and all was well. We went to his room to go through all of his clothes and pack away the ones that don't fit him anymore, etc. He was laying on the floor flat on his back and had been for about an hour when he projectile vomited EVERYWHERE. So...we took another sponge bath and ate again. All was well for another hour. Gage took a 20 minute cat nap and woke up with another belly ache. The vomit continued....We ate again and the cycle continued. The amount of vomit got smaller each time since he didn't have a full belly, but none the less, it continued.

Being a 1st time mom and the fact that it had happened 3 times in a row, I called the doctor to ask if I should be concerned and they told me to bring him in. What?!? We have been to the dr. every 2 weeks for his whole life! Anyway, they 'examined' him and said everything looked good and that it was only one day. Thanks....you could've told me that on the phone and saved me $20. They said only be concerned if it continues and try smaller portions more frequently. Again, they could've told me that on the phone. I was told to call back if it continues through the night and they will do an ultrasound tomorrow. I'm hoping it was just a bad day...

I was supposed to get my nails done tomorrow while Gage plays with Jacob.....ah, babies.

A New Year, a new couch....Happy 2010

Happy New Year! We rang in the New Year at a friend's house and Gage got his 1st taste of being around many little kids. At first it was a little chaotic but things calmed down a bit and Gage was as sweet as ever, of course. He got a new VT outfit and the Hokies won because of it. We have spent the 1st few days of the new year looking for new furniture. We figure that over a year of having a mattress that doesn't fit our bed is enough and we are investing in a larger one. We also purchased a new queen sleeper today so our guests will have somewhere to sleep instead of a futon (not sure a sofa bed is much better.) At least it's not next to the baby's room. Speaking of the baby's room, we ordered custom made letters for Gage's nursery 6 weeks ago and never got them. Sucks to be out $50.