Little Thumb Sucker

It took about a week, but Gavin has figured out how to suck his thumb. His many failed attempts to get his thumb in his mouth over the past week were nothing short of hysterical. The funniest was when he finally got his hand to his mouth (as opposed to his ear, nose, forehead...) only to be missing his thumb - it was stuck in the center of his clenched fist! He's so sweet tempered that he laughed along with me.

Speaking of his sweet nature, Gavin has slept from about 9 to 6 almost every night the last week. AND when he wakes up, I hear him cooing in his bed. That sound has been what has woken me up most days recently. I'm glad one of my kids is a morning person!

Lena

Completely random picture. I was driving home from getting the seasonal flu shot and this truck passed me. I had to speed a little to catch up and snap this shot. It came out better than I thought it would. It reads: "Gavin Transportation Systems" Hysterical.

Long Time, No Type

Things have been crazy busy here, as it is bound to happen.  I'll make a quick overview of what's been keeping us occupied.  As well as an adorable picture of Gavin just for fun.

First it rained and rained and rained.  Our basement got partially flooded, which kept us (and especially Josh) pretty busy.  My work also got flooded.  Somehow no water got in our doors.  These pictures are of our building as well as some of the other tenants on the property.  Notice that these were taken AFTER the water started to recede! http://www.flickr.com/photos/dadsgarage/sets/72157622427724382/

Chloe finished her last "flips school" (gymnastics) of the session, and we're going to take a break until after flu season.  Speaking of flu, Chloe and I each got our first flu vaccines this week.  Josh will once he's feeling better - he's had a bit of a bug this week.  I got the shot for the first time this year because of worrying about Gavin's health.  And speaking of shots, we'll find out in the next week or two if Gavin is approved to get the RSV shots.  They are about $1,500 per shot, and because it is some kind of anitbody instead of a vaccine, it needs to be received each month for 6 months.  I can understand why the insurance company wants to approve it ahead of time.

Nana (my mom) has been a lifesaver in offering her time to take care of the kids.  She keeps Gavin on Tuesdays and both kids on Wednesdays.  She keeps offering to help out on the rare other days that she has off as well.  I keep telling her it isn't necessary and to enjoy some time off without the grandkids, but then days like Monday happen.  Chloe was literally kicking and screaming on the way into the pediatricians office. And she likes going to the pediatricians office, but we ended up rescheduling her flu shot.  She just had a day full of meltdowns that day.  I was very glad to have the extra help.  And I got to practice what I'm learning from the book "ScreamFree Parenting" by Hal Runkel.  I'm curious if any of you have read it - I'm about halfway through and pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying it.

Gavin is getting baptised on Sunday!  I'm really excited.  If you want to attend and don't have the details, shoot one of us an email.

This isn't very exciting, but I've been working a lot of late hours because of meetings with volunteers that have to happen after normal business hours.  Josh has been awesome and supportive.  I think it helps to know that this is temporary.  We're hiring a new Artistic Director, which is basically my co-CEO, we're wrapping up our strategic plan, and our board has started meeting among other things.  In addition, I'm on a panel to interview the four main candidates for Mayor of the City of Atlanta this Monday, so that's been taking up some brain time as well.  Apparently it is being filmed and will be on www.LensOnAtlanta.org.

Not much else to report.  Chloe is definitely in her terrible two's, but she's doing a lot better the last few days.  Gavin is pooping every 4-7 days and not happy about it.  Other than being fussy about not pooping, he is a really easy baby compared to Chloe.  Thank goodness!  With one exception - he's following in his sister's footsteps and will only sleep if he's being held.  And he's taken to nursing so well that he only wants to nurse!  Which means I'm really tired.

And speaking of tired - I think it's time to get to bed.

Lena

Happy Babies

Apparently Chloe is fully recovered about finding out there is more than one baby doll. Now she wants them to be twins!

Visit with Mamie and Grandfather

Mamie and Grandfather came for a visit 2 weeks ago!  Love our new camera...but I sometimes forget to get photos up later.  The instant posting nature of cell phone pics is nice, but the quality of these is way, way better. We all had dinner at Aunt Jerilyn and Uncle Justin's house, and their friends were there as well with baby Felicity.  It was a few days before Josh's birthday, and Aunt Jerilyn surprised us with a cake for him!

Lena

I Want...

After many, many, many viewings of "Ratatouille" Chloe has just informed me that she wants her own rat. I wonder what Mommy will think of that.

A Friend My Size!

Actually...Gavin outweighs Benji by a pound. Considering Benji was born 2 days after Gavin's due date (and 4 weeks early...maybe...his mom and dad think the doc got the due date wrong), they're pretty darn close in size in terms of length.  I can't believe how fat Gavin looks!

Gavin is really starting to look more and more like a newborn.  Christian and Adrianna (Benji's parents) got to get a little sense of how their son will develop in the next few weeks. And I got to spend some time with friends and an adorable baby that wasn't my own!

Most memorable - we laid the two boys down a little too close to feeding time. In addition to a little crankiness, Benji tried to latch onto Gavin's hand whenever it got close!

Lena

Chloe the Problem Solver

She's so smart. Always thinking! She overheard Josh and I talking last night about how Gavin was way overdue for a poop. She advised us to try pulling his finger - a tactic no doubt thought up from a recent and related lesson from Daddy.

And in related news...still no poop. Our laid back boy is starting to get a little understandably fussy!

Lena

Daddy-Daughter Time

I picked up Chloe from school yesterday and told her that she and I were having Daddy-Daughter time when we got home. She looked up at me, her eyes grew wide, and she gasped, "Baseball?!" I laughed and said sure. She gasped again, "Pizza?!"

Best night ever. I love that kid.

Fun with Good Friends

Betsy & Jason


L to R: Eli (blue hood), Noelle with Linden, Trace with Asher


Mommy & Gavin


Chloe & Daddy, Poolside


Grammy & Gavin

This is the first of a few posts to get us caught up on some awesome photos! Gavin made his poolside debut on Aug 22 at the home of our friends Betsy and Jason. This was a big deal for us particularly for sentimental reasons – their annual pool party was Chloe's first big outing after being released from preemie house arrest two years ago. It also was a great chance for us to see good friends and their "giant" babies. Both baby Asher and baby Linden are less than 2 months older than Gavin – we can't wait to party with them poolside next year when Gavin has caught up to them in size!

Does the Scale Lie?

Ours at home tells me Gavin weighs 8.4 pounds!!! And yes, he's wearing horizontal stripes and a jacket to appear bigger.

Lena

Oh, Boy!

Sorry for the haitus. We've been busy. Chloe thinks you should get yourself some ice cream, too. She got "Purple Dinosaur" (vanilla with purple food coloring).

Grammy & Bapa Visit

Here are the first round of pictures from my parents visit this weekend. I'll post more over the next few days; I'm just tired right now. It was a long day at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, grilling out with neighbors, and trying to get two children bathed, one of whom took a nap WAY too late today. Enjoy!

The Things Kids Say

Against my better judgment, I'm sharing a story about Chloe from tonight. I was glad my mother-in-law was able to witness it as well. Chloe told us tonight that she wants to be a doctor. Awesome. I asked her if she wants to fix babies, mommies, or daddies. She told me immediately that she wants to fix mommies with "boo boo 'ginas." Fabulous. Gavin's godmother is an OB and I'm sure will be proud!

This is, by the way, following a time period (roughly the first 4 weeks of my postpartum) that Chloe told everyone that would listen that Mommy has a "boo boo 'gina." Kid - I promise the nurses at the hospital already knew. Our neighbors and your teachers at school probably had a hunch as well, but thanks for the first of I'm sure many embarrassing moments to follow. I love you, Chloe. Even with curiosity and discoveries that sometimes make Mommy squirm.

Lena

Pants, No Pants

At about 7 lbs and with virtually no control of his body, Gavin has somehow managed to wiggle his little butt out of 2 different pairs of newborn-sized pants in the last 24 hours. I blame it on his meeting 3 Dad's Garage improv ensemble members and spending alone time with Lucky on Saturday while Josh and I enjoyed a dance at the wedding. For those of you totally confused by the Dad's Garage Theatre Company reference, come to our 8pm New Year's Eve show, and it will all make sense!

Lena

Sweetheart, That's Daddy's Nose

Nursing is getting slightly better. Gavin still gets a little confused...but at least he's latching on!

Day of Appointments

Gavin had another well visit to Doctor Woodhams today and Lena had her final follow-up with Doctor Shin. Both went well. Below are pictures from those visits. Gavin weighed in at an amazing 6 pounds, 7.5 ounces, or 10.5 ounces gained in one week. We were still shooting for 1 ounce per day, and we overshot it again. That makes 1 pound, 6 ounces gained since his discharge from the NICU. The doctor is pleased, but she's decreasing the amount of formula mixed in with the breast milk he's getting to make it 22 calorie, down from 24. He's still stubborn when feeding, but it's getting better...slowly. The point is that what we're doing is working, but it's a struggle, and it's getting better.

Also, because of the nature of Gavin's delivery and his stay in he NICU, this was Doctor Shin and her staff's first meeting with him. One odd thing to note: it's a little strange to hear a woman who delivers babies for a living comment on how little and light your six-week-old is when she's holding him. Wow!

Enjoy the photos!

Just Rolling


Doctor Woodhams and Patient


Doctor Shin, her Patient (Lena), and the Result of July 2

Birthday Confession

Chloe Helps Mommy with Her Birthday Candles

Today is a little bittersweet. Not because I turn 31. My doctor's office had scheduled my pre-op appointments for this morning way back in May or June when my tests looked normal and they thought it looked promising that I would carry Gavin full term. I was scheduled for a c-section on Friday.

The woman at the office realized that a half day at the hospital might not be how I wanted to spend my birthday, and she had offered to move the appointment to Thursday. I told her to leave it.

I had secretly treasured the idea of celebrating following in my friend Wendy's footsteps and having an issue-free second pregnancy after a challenging first due to pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. I had even looked forward to going out to dinner at Scalini's to celebrate the day and to order their famous labor-inducing eggplant parmesan. Josh and I started planning our date night months ago.

I have a whole lot to be grateful for, but I'm still mourning the loss of a "normal" pregnancy and delivery. I think I'll heal from that faster this time around, but processing the inability to ever be pregnant again is still a bit of a challenge.

I didn't lose the day to the hospital. Instead I struggled to bottle feed a 6lb baby that still can't quite get it together. But he is home and healthy, even if he was still scheduled to be in my belly for another 2 days.

I can't explain it, but we still went through with our plans to go to Scalini's tonight. I was at a loss for any other dining option. It was a little unnerving to walk in and see the wall of gigantic full-term babies whose mothers had come there desperate for any promise to relieve them from carrying any longer.

I had a good time there with my family including my mom, sister, and brother-in-law. Gavin even drank his bottle - with a lot of coaxing from Daddy. I had the lasagna.

Lena

Gavin the Guinea Pig

A quick, or not so quick video that Lena promised a few days ago. She wanted everyone to hear the noises Gavin makes when he's being burped. Enjoy!

Maybe Too Smart for Her Own Good

Baby Doll

The truth came out the other night about Chloe's baby doll. First, the back story. When Lena was pregnant with Chloe, one of her friends gave us a 12-inch tall knitted doll for our soon-to-be-born Chloe. Oddly enough, aside from a blanket that my mom made for her, this was the one item that she latched onto and would not, will not let it go. Naturally, this became a problem after a few weeks when baby doll started to stink; and by stink I mean really stink; think about what would happen if you used a hand towel to wipe up some milk and then left that towel just out in the open for a few days. Got it? Okay, moving on. So, we researched the doll in the hopes of finding a replacement baby doll that we could substitute out while the original was being washed. That's where the first bloackde went up: they're hand-made in Peru.

Great.

However, luck was with us as there is a store here in Atlanta that sells the dolls; and by sells them, I mean that's all they sell are products related to these dolls. You can see them here: blabla Atlanta

Blockade number two actually didn't come up until after version 1.0 was destroyed in a canine attack and version 2.0 was really, really, really dirty, and we had to buy two more. Being hand-made in Peru has its advantages: they're $35 a pop. This isn't that big a deal until you find out that we are currently on versions 6.0 and 7.0.

Version History

Ver. 1.0 - murdered and mutilated.
Ver. 2.0 - retired due to use.
Ver. 3.0 - retired due to use; recently returned to emergency active duty.
Ver. 4.0 - retired due to use; recently returned to emergency active duty.
Ver. 5.0 - Missing in Action somewhere in a Kohl's store.
Ver. 6.0 - Current Tag-Team Member.
Ver. 7.0 - Currently in Chloe's hands.

But Wait, There's More

Chloe has a very strange fixation with chewing on baby doll. Not such a big deal, one might think, until you know that she exclusively chews off their little faces. She starts with the three freckles per cheek, gnaws off their eyes, and then just goes to town. This isn't an immediate process; it takes a little while. But, soon enough, no matter how much we try to stop her, she will eventually chew a hole in baby doll's face. This requires a skilled surgeon to perform surgery. Enter Daddy. Too many times now have I stitched a baby doll's face back together, and I'm always rather sneaky about it. Chloe goes to eat dinner, so Daddy goes to give baby doll a bath, which is just me sneaking the spare baby into the bathroom, misting her with water, wrapping a hand towel beneath her armpits and a wash cloth around her head, and presenting her freshly-mended and clean-smelling to Chloe. In reality, I've just switched them out and I'll go back to mend the broken one after Chloe's gone to bed. There was one emergency day where I had to mend the current one right in front of Chloe. I explained what I was doing and she was completely fine with it, as long as she could watch. Not a problem. Ever, really. It made switching them out a little harder, but it's doable, so we move on.

Hitting the Fan

So the other night Chloe was having her last cup of milk before bed and started whining that baby doll was broken. Not really having the time to fix her in front of Chloe, I snuck her out of the room and swapped them out. Apparently this is where things started to unravel. I announced that I found and fixed baby doll and presented her to Chloe. One look and a fastball that would make a Major League Baseball pitching coach proud later, Chloe was red-faced screaming and crying her eyes out. After several failed attempts to assuage her anguish, we were left with no choice but to reveal the truth behind baby doll. We opted for only one doppelganger during the reveal; after her initial reaction to one baby doll that she viewed as not the real baby doll, this was probably for the best.

Would the Real Baby Doll Please Stand Up

Lena commenced the explanation and when Chloe was calmed down enough, made the second baby doll appear. This did not go over well at first, but the tears subsided. Chloe then grabbed the "real" baby doll -- and yes, it was the really real one -- and more or less told us to put the other baby doll away. Yesterday we made a special trip to JoAnn's to find some heavier-duty thread that matched baby doll's coloring. Baby doll has been scheduled for the O.R. tonight, with Chloe in attendance, of course.