Happy 1 month birthday!

1 month-holy moly! All at one time that feels like a really long time and just a second of time on the other hand. It's been so fun to get to know him more everyday and see all the cute things he does that make us fall more in love with him daily. Tom and I both agree that he makes some of the best faces, everything from gassy smiles showing off his dimples (inherited from his Denison genes!) to puzzled expressions to cute yawns to curious glances with his big blue eyes. He also loves to look at people's faces, swinging in his swing, staring at his mobile in his crib, and kicking his feet while laying on his play mat. He's also getting quite the strong neck since we try to have daily tummy time too. He's not quite sold on the bath thing yet, though. He doesn't cry during baths, but has a generally freaked out look on his face during them, so we try to make them brief. I'm sure he'l grow to love them eventually. I feel like he's growing so much everyday and it makes me glad that he has a healthy appetite. He's even starting to grow out of some of his newborn clothes. He doesn't have another pediatrician appointment until he's 2 months old so we'll have to wait until then to know how much he weighs, though. As for sleep, things are gradually improving in that area. We still struggle to get him to take naps, but car rides seem to be a sure bet to get him to fall asleep. Night time feedings are overall getting better too, as he'll eat every 3-4 hours and typically fall right back to sleep after he's done eating. We hope this trend continues! We've also continued to be blessed with so many people bringing us meals-such an enormous help! And my parents came over this past Sunday and watched Gavin for a bit while Tom and I went on our first outing together without him to Starbucks. It was a nice break for both of us and were glad that Gavin slept the whole time we were gone (must have been showing off for the grandparents!). Overall I'd say things are getting a little easier everyday and we sure love our little man a whole lot!

2 week old Gavin

It's hard to believe that we've had baby Gavin now for two whole weeks! In some ways that feels like a long time and in other ways it's flown by. One thing is for sure that it's been a roller coaster so far. We've had many, many joys and some tears too, but couldn't be happier that he's here. Since Tom last posted Gavin has been growing and flourishing. His jaundice is now completely gone with no remaining yellow tint to his skin. With that he hasn't been quite as sleepy which makes for much easier feedings as before he fell asleep constantly when I tried to nurse. He also had his second pediatrician visit today which went really well. The doctor said he's in great health. As for his stats at this point, he weighs 8 pounds, 8 ounces putting him in the 50th percentile. He's 21.5 inches long, putting him in the 80th percentile. And his head circumference is in the 50th percentile as well. He does have a bit of an eye infection we're treating with antibiotic eye drops, but other than that, he's in tip top shape. Some little tid bits about Gavin... He loves to have his hands free and they can almost always be found by his face. He also makes some pretty funny faces. Everything from big grimaces to gassy smiles to big open eyes showing his wrinkly forehead to puzzled expressions. He is definitely very expressive. He also likes to grunt a lot which the pediatrician said is just his way of being vocal as he definitely has no problems in the diaper department if you catchnmy drift! We both love when he has his big steely blue eyes open because he really seems to take in a lot when he does.

As for me, my recovery has been frustratingly slow and difficult. As Tom talked about, I developed three separate infections after labor and am on my second round of antibiotics now to try to combat this. Luckily I am definitely doing a lot better now than I was even a week ago, but I've been ordered to do absolutely no exercise for at least another week to let my body try to heal. This has been pretty tough, because for those who know me, I love to stay active and have been looking forward to working my way back up to running again since I took a hiatus from this while pregnant. But I'm trying to be patient and take things one day at a time. Tom has been an enormous help to me these past 2 weeks, and I truly couldn't have made it through without him. He's been doing lots of diaper duty, laundry, dishes, and taking care of Marty so I can rest and feed Gavin. The other piece that has been so helpful has been the support of our family and friends. My parents made us over 5 meals and we've had multiple friends make us meals as well. I never realized what an immense help it is to not have to worry about what to make for mealtime. This past Saturday night we had some friends over (the WOWZAs and MANZAs as we refer to them) and they prepared and even cleaned up a wonderful meal for Tom and I. This was extra special because since neither Tom or I have any sisters, my WOWZAs have become Gavin's faux aunties. These wonderful ladies even gave me a fabulous gift when they visited--super soft and comfy pajamas which will definitely come in handy in the weeks to come.

Well that's the latest in the life of our family of three. We'll be trying to add new posts every now and then, but it likely won't be quite as regular as during the pregnancy as things are busier now. Thanks for all of your support though!