Family Fun!

The last couple of months have been filled with lots of visits with family and, of course, more milestones as Gunnar continues to grow quickly in his quest to become the World’s Strongest Man.
At his 2 month checkup he weighed in at 14 lbs. 7 oz. and 25 ¼”, which put him in the 95th percentile for weight and 97th for height. And unfortunately, we had to make an unscheduled doctor’s visit last week to take care of a couple of ear infections (welcome to daycare!). But that gave us another opportunity for a weigh-in – at 3 months, our little man is a whopping 15 lbs. 15 oz. He is now rolling from his back to his side (he sleeps like that - with his hands clasped by his face, looks like he’s praying), grabbing onto rattles, talking all kinds of baby talk, and has successfully trained his parents to break into song and dance anywhere, anytime, rewarding them with many smiles. We've spent lots of time outside, and Gunnar got to go on his maiden voyage in the jog stroller.

Gunnar has gotten to meet many more family members over the past month. Great Aunt Mary Ellen and Great Uncle Joe stopped by for a visit. And Gunnar dressed up in his pumpkin costume for Great Aunt Sue's 60th birthday party. Cousin Paisley thought his hat was pretty cute and stole it right off of his little bald head!! I guess she was trying to make room to go in for a kiss. Now there's a little girl who knows what she wants! The Hamiltons flew in from Denver, and Gunnar got lots of lovin' from Aunt Lizzie and cousins Andrew, Grace, and Will. He also got to meet cousins Connor and Bradey and watch them make bottle rockets out of 2 liter bottles and water, while Gunnar made his own version (involving a diaper and, well, his own concoction).

Time flies!

So I got to my last week of maternity leave, and realized that my to-do list of things I wanted to get done while on leave still remained untouched. I wasn’t too concerned about that, because I did spend my time doing the most important thing – caring for Gunnar – but I did want to try and check at least a couple of items off the list. So, the blog fell to the bottom of priorities, and now I have some catching up to do! I promise to post pictures next week (we’ve probably taken at least 1000 since the last post)! In the meantime, check out my milk memo…

Milk memo #1

My prenatal yoga teacher, Cheryl, told me about a book I need to start reading – “Milk Memos.” It’s a book of memoirs from working moms who would write in a communal journal as they would pump at work. So here’s my first “milk memo.”
Tuesday was my 1st day back at work. We did a test run at daycare Monday morning, and I had barely set foot in the building when the tears started flowing. The last 12 weeks have been the best of my life. Physically, things weren’t exactly smooth sailing (PUPPPS, mastitis, the list goes on…), but none of that matters because hanging out with Gunnar and watching him grow was the coolest thing I could have ever done.
While I was pregnant, it seemed like every parent told me “Having a baby will change your life.” And all I wanted to tell them was “No s***, Sherlock!” That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?!! Anyway, I’ve been able to reflect a little bit on how it’s changed my life.
Being a kid is fun. And having a kid lets you re-live that fun. You see, these days, I don’t need an excuse to sing all day, make funny faces in the mirror, or play peek-a-boo. An outsider would look at me and think, “Awww, she’s entertaining her son.” And yes, that is what I’m doing, but those things just happen to make me smile and laugh too!
My favorite activity: loading up Gunnar in the Baby Bjorn (facing outwards), looking in the bathroom mirror, and singing while Gunnar dances on the counter. One of these days I’ll get a video camera and post our act – it may even be Broadway worthy!!
Our latest discovery: hands. What an incredible invention! They are attached to us, so they are like toys that never get out of reach, and fingers win over a pacifier any day! I love watching Gunnar examine his hands. He has been known to stare at them for 10 minutes – just looking in amazement.
Ah, to be a kid again!!!

All Smiles for Fall!

Between the first days of fall and Gunnar's favorite song, "Skinna Marinka Dinky" this little man was all smiles!

Humpty Dumpty

Last week Erik left on his 1st big work trip since Gunnar was born. He was off to Houston - yes, to the eye of Hurricane Ike. And if that wasn't an omen...
Mom came to stay with Gunnar and me for the week - thank goodness since I was struggling with my second bout of mastitis! But when Mom got here, she started feeling not so good herself - and it turns out that she has a kidney stone! And she had just left Dad, who was recovering from straining his back, and we were all looking after Chick, who is still limping from her injury! Could anything else go wrong? Actually, yes. Little Sam called to tell us that he was headed into surgery Wednesday night to remove a popcorn kernel from his ear that his buddy in preschool had put in there!
Then we got the call I think we all needed - Elizabeth was headed home with Will and Grace to visit and help put all of our Humpty Dumpty selves back together. What a relief!
They arrived on Friday evening, and we had a great weekend! We took a trip to the county fair, where Grace got to test out a few tractors, and Will had fun watching the little ducklings go down the slide. And we all discovered the great fair food - fried Snickers bars are now a favorite.
By the time the gang headed back to Richmond, I was well on my way to recovery, Dad's back was on the mend, and Mom was headed home for the doctor to get fixed up. And Sam was the bravest of all - he endured his first surgery like a big boy. There will be no corn growing out of his ear anytime soon!
Last but certainly not least, Erik made it home exactly 1 day before Ike hit Texas. Phew!

New parenting rule #73 - Introducing pets to your newborn

Erik and I skipped over the details of this rule in our handy new parenting books. This was even discussed in on of our classes, but seeing as our only pets are fish, we decided that they did not need special attention as we embarked on this new chapter of our lives. We were wrong - dead wrong.
The other day as Erik was putting dinner on the table (I'm still working on becoming fully domesticated - thank goodness he doesn't mind cooking!), he let out a loud "ARGGGGHHH!" I turned around, startled, and saw that he was holding up our fish. He had apparently stepped on it!!!
All we could figure is that our little betta became so jealous over all of the attention that Gunnar has been getting, that he sadly jumped to his demise. So the little fishy took a swim in the toilet bowl and went swirling off to fishy heaven. What a sad day.

Richmond week

The week before last, I got to take Gunnar back home to Richmond to spend some time with Patty and Rooty and to meet all of our friends from back home. Well, at least we can call most of them friends...
Our 1st visitors were Steph, Andrew, and Eamon. Steph and Andrew are our buddies from UVA, and they had Eamon just 5 weeks before Gunnar was born. So we thought it'd be cute for the boys to meet each other, but apparently Eamon had a different idea. He tried to turn his visit into a boxing match. Check it out!



But not to worry... Gunnar stood up for himself (ok, maybe with a little help from Mom)...


We decided that Eamon was intimidated by Gunnar's size - they weighed in at about the same (thanks to Gunnar's buddah belly - more to come on that later) - even though Gunnar is 5 weeks younger. But in the end, they decided to be friends.


Here's a picture of Eamon and Steph - is it me, or does it look like Steph is trying to show off her son's right hook???

Be sure to check out Steph's blog to see more photos of the boxing match! (link in left column)

During the week, Gunnar got to spend lots of good quality time with Patty and Rooty.



And we got to spend a day at The Rivah with great-grandmother, Nan, and my godmother, SueSue. Do ya think this kid gets enough love?!!



And we had a delicious dinner with our friends, the Pierce's. Sydney wasn't too sure about Gunnar until she realized that her status as Princess of the House wasn't going to be threatened by this little prince. She warmed up quickly when we made it clear that he was only visiting. Who knows, maybe in a few (ok - more than a few) years, she'll be asking for Gunnar to visit. Gunnar has a thing for older women!



And our last stop... Dixon's house. Dixon was my high school guidance counselor, and here I am, in my 30's, still with his phone number etched in my brain. I couldn't wait to introduce him and his adorable wife, Kate Roy, to Gunnar. We tested his patience, but Dixon showed off his talents, and here we have The Buddah Belly and The Cutest Hiney Ever!



Thank you to everyone for a wonderful trip home!