You Capture ~ Water

Ohhh I was so excited about this challenge!  In my mind I saw images trips to the public pool, splashes in our baby pool, and even some water fun in our sand box.  And I saw me there to capture them with my trusty Nikon.

Reality turns out doesn't play nice with my fantasies.  'Cuz Mother Nature chose this week to send oodles of rain.

So what do I have to show for water this week?

Well, I have raindrops on flowers...

And raindrops on Mr. Turtle Sandbox...you know the one I had visions of us playing in with water instead of standing next to while water poured down...

And I have a picture of a little boy playing with an umbrella in the rain though I realized I have absolutely no idea how to take a picture of rain falling in a way that you can actually see rain falling!

And yesterday my son got a water bottle for his birthday (see the cake back there?) and he was very excited to drink water from it...

So yeah, I may have been stretching it just a bit this week, but on a brighter side I did get back to shooting in manual! 

For more water visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

A Baby Story ~ Part II

Today I'm telling Logan's birth story.  If you missed the story of his conception (minus the details, of course) click here.  Or if you missed the "riveting" story of my pregnancy click here.

So there I was at 10 in the morning on my birthday hooked to a pitocin drip wondering what the heck had happened to my day.  I called Justin, told him what was up, and then told him not to rush over 'cuz nothing was happening and nothing would be happening for awhile.  See, my doctor may have decided that it was time for me to have a baby, but my uterus was still sealed up tighter than Ft. Knox.  Since my uterus was "unfavorable for labor" the doctor was not expecting me to actually deliver Logan until the next day.  So Justin worked until his lunch hour and then popped in...and still nothing was happening. 

Nothing. 

And "nothing" basically describes what happened for the next eight hours.  Around mid-afternoon I did start to actually feel some very mild contractions...but then they went away.  Before he left for the evening the doctor came to check me and due to my lack of "progress" (only 1 whole centimeter after an entire day of pitocin) he decided that I should continue to receive pitocin through the night even though he had originally promised me the "night off."  My first thought was "oh big deal...this is easy cheesy."  My only complaint at that point was that I was still technically on bed rest so all I was allowed to do was lay in bed.  Bah!

I spoke (thought) much to soon.

Around six that evening I was slammed with pain.  And I was confused; I wasn't feeling contractions that came and went.  I was having one continuous-never-ending-most-painful-cramp-in-my-life contraction.  After about an hour of this I told the nurse.  She looked at the monitor and told me that the monitor wasn't registering any contractions - was I sure?  Uhhh, YES!  So she checked me, but I was still only 1 centimeter.  She told me to try to get some sleep and left.

Sleep didn't come and the pain just got worse.  The nurse came in around nine that night to check me again.  Still only ONE freakin' centimeter!  As she was leaving I felt a gush.  "Uhhh, I think my water just broke."  The nurse looked at me like I was crazy and then humored me by checking.  Oh, and guess who was right?  Yeah, me.  My water had broken!  And from this point on the night just went downhill.

The constant pain continued ALL NIGHT LONG.  And never once did that darn monitor I was attached to register a single contraction!  Oh, and my husband, no help what-so-ever. He was the only one getting any sleep!  I tried IV medication around one in the morning, and the first time through it helped...for about 45 minutes.  But after that, the meds couldn't even take the edge off.  The nurse began backing off my pitocin drip, but that didn't help much either.  Finally about 4:00 she turned the pitocin drip off completely because Logan's heart rate was starting to drop, and an hour or so later the pain eased up enough for me to doze a little.

At 7:00 a.m. I my new "day" nurse came into see me.  She had been informed about the trouble Logan and I had through the night and informed me that when she checked me if I had still not made it past 1 centimeter that a c-section may be my only option.  Ugh...  The checking commenced and the verdict:  ONE CENTIMETER - STILL!  But, she felt that despite that my cervix was sufficiently "changed."  She left to talk to my doctor who came in, performed his own examination, and agreed.  It was decided that my pitocin would be turned back on and cranked up big time.  And then he told the nurse to order the epidural - WITH OUT even asking ME if I wanted it (at the time I didn't want one), but I was too pooped - and scared - to protest.  Keeping my mouth shut at that time was the smartest thing I've ever done!

At 7:30 my pitocin was turned back on and by 8:00 I had finally discovered what contractions could feel like...and looked like on the monitor (mine just happened to have double peaks - not pleasant).  There was no denying it now - I was in labor. 

And this is where I insert my personal opinion on pitocin.  It is a drug created by the devil himself.  It is awful in the fact that it makes contractions come very hard and very fast.  I would never voluntarily choose to be induced "just because."  End of personal opinion; now back to the story.

My magic epidural man arrived around nine and by 9:30 I was pain free.  Ahhhh...  At this point I was able to doze in and out of sleep.  Every time I woke up I saw one of my two nurses at my side.  I thought that was normal.  Shows what I know!  Turns out my contractions were causing Logan's heart rate to drop substantially so we needed to be very closely monitored.  At one point they had to start pumping fluid back into my uterus (remember my water had broked twelve hours before) to help try and cushion Logan from the contractions.  I was also given extra fluids and eventually had to go on oxygen as well.  And the worse part:  I wasn't allowed to move!  I was carefully propped on my left side in a way that was best for Logan and I had to stay there!  Thankfully I was able to continue laboring.

At noon I was declared fully dialated and ready to push.  The doctor came down to watch my first push, told me nice work, and took off to the clinic again expecting it to be awhile before Logan appeared.  He was so wrong!  Before I could even finish my third push the nurses were telling me to stop; Logan was right there and they needed to get the doctor (due to the complications in pregnancy and labor they were unwilling to deliver Logan with out the doctor present and a pediatrician near by).  By the time they got a hold of him and he got back to my room we had been waiting almost twenty minutes.  Then it was time to push again...I couldn't believe that after 38 weeks and 27 hours of labor I was about to meet my baby!  Logan literally shot out on my fourth push...and he was beautiful.  My first thought was he looks like Justin.

The cord was cut and Logan was quickly whisked away to be checked out before I could hold him.  Turns out they were all worried for no reason!  Though he weighed in at only 5lbs. 3oz. he was in perfect health.  The nurse wrapped him up and handed him to Justin who promptly carried him over to me.  Seeing my husband hold our child - amazing!

And that first moment of holding my baby, our wedding gift from God, well, there are no words to describe it. It was just that beautiful!

Logan Nathaniel

June 29

5 lbs. 3 oz.

18 inches long

I honestly can't believe that all of this happened four year ago already...  More amazing yet:  On that day I couldn't imagine how I could love him any more than I did in that moment, and today I'm left realizing that I already love him more than ever.  And even though he is four years old today and will continue to grow every day, Logan will always be my baby.

This Boy

This boy is four years old today. 

He is very excited that it is his birthday today.  VERY!  Can you tell?

This mama is having trouble figuring out how her baby got this big so very quickly...

There are some important things to remember about Logan right now.  Like the fact that he loves to laugh and make others laugh along with him.

And he would eat chicken nuggets and cheese pizza at every meal if only we would let him.  And his favorite movie right now is Cars.  He can't wait for us to take him to the movie theater to see Cars 2 next week so he can see Lightening McQueen and "Anchessco" (a.k.a. Francesco).  In fact he requested a cheese pizza for dinner tonight and a Lightening McQueen birthday cake.  (Both requests have been or will be met).

Coming in a close second and third on the favorites list are trains (preferably Thomas trains, but any train will do) and Spiderman (I think he owns three pairs of Spiderman pajamas that he would wear all day long every day if we would let him).

Logan is also a great big brother.  He loves playing with Gavin and is often more than willing to share his toys with Gavin (though he frequently hands them over saying, "Don't chew on that now, Gavin" and upon getting the toy back exclaims "Ewww, baby drool!")  He also likes to give Gavin hugs and kisses - especially before Gavin goes to bed at night.  And the sweetest thing...in the mornings when he hears Gavin up and playing in his crib he drags one of his little chairs into the room to stand next to the crib and play with Gavin. 

Happy Birthday, Logan!  Thanks for letting me be your mama for these past four years.

P.S.  If you want to hear Logan's birth story check back in later tonight...I'll have it finished by then!

28 on the 28th

Today there is going to be a slight interruption in the story of Logan.  Why?  Well, because...

It's my birthday!  My golden birthday.  And it has been a golden day for sure.

Today was just happened to be one of those days where both boys are at the day care, so Justin and I took off for a day in Springfield.  And there was shopping.  And eating.  And it was wonderful!

But despite it being a beautiful day, I was ready to come home, go pick up the boys, and spend the rest of my birthday cuddled up with them.  And cupcakes.  And flowers. 

Today couldn't have been any better.

A Baby Story ~ Part I

This week I'm telling the story of Logan.  If you missed the beginning, and you're curious enough to want to read it click here. 

I always figured that being pregnant wouldn't be easy and I always knew that because of my medical history it could possibly make pregnancy a little more difficult than average, but the roller coaster ride that was my pregnancy with Logan was more than I had anticipated. 

6 Weeks
At six weeks pregnant I met with the nurse practitioner to discuss my medical history and the changes that needed to be made with my medications.  I also called up my endocrinologist to get his input.  In the end it was decided to leave the medications for my hypophosphatemic rickets alone (its a genetic thing that affects my endocrine system and kidneys - really no biggie normally as long as I'm monitored) and my blood pressure medication changed to a "baby safe" pill (Yes, I have high blood pressure.  Have since I was 14 although no one has ever really been able to explain why a healthy active 14 yr old becomes hypertensive suddenly).  At this there were no worries; Justin and I were floating on a nice baby high...


10 Weeks
We had our second appointment in the Women's Clinic and met our OB/GYN for the first time.  Things were dreamy at first...there was an ultrasound and we got to see our baby - Logan - for the first time!  He was swimming around like crazy making it hard for our doc to get a good look at him!  But he was in there and he was healthy and beautiful.  Medical concerns were brought up afterwards and it was discussed how best to proceed through this pregnancy.  It was decided that at 20 weeks I would have a more in-depth ultrasound and meet with a prenatal specialist.  Our doctor was very positive about the whole situation, and we left feeling great.

16 Weeks
While in the hospital getting some routine lab work done for my endocrinologist Justin and I ran into a friend of ours in radiology.  She sneaked us into the ultrasound lab, rounded up a technician, and gave us our second look at our baby.  So much had changed in six weeks - that little round, gray, wiggly lump now looked like a baby!  Oh, and it was very evident that that baby was a "he"!  We were so excited to know!

20-22 Weeks
By this point I had been to the doctor a number of times - more often than normal as we were making an effort to regulate my blood pressure on the new medication.  At 20 weeks things seemed to cruising along pretty well, but our doctor still set us up to see the prenatal specialist.  We had to drive an hour away.  Once there first up was the ultrasound.  It was very extensive and long as the technician took all kinds of measurements and pictures of every part of Logan (she also told us he was a boy and we acted surprised of course...).  Then it was on to the specialist.  He was less concerned with my rickets - other than the added strain that pregnancy would continue to place on my kidneys - and more concerned with my high blood pressure.  Though it was under control at the moment he feared that as Logan continued to grow and put more strain on my circulatory system my blood pressure would become harder to control.  My risk for preeclampsia would be very high as would Logan's risk for intrauterine growth restriciton as a result.  It would be very important for me through the third trimester to have regular ultrasounds and non-stress tests to monitor Logan all of which could be done locally by my doctor.  All in all, we left the appointment feeling pretty good about everything.


28-30 Weeks

I went to my regular doctor's appointment ready to talk to my doctor about how poorly I was feeling - I had headaches, dizziness, nausea, and had started to notice more and more swelling in my hands and face.  When I got to the appointment I found out my doctor was on vacation for the next two weeks and that I would be seeing a "fill-in" doctor, and I was worried.  The nurse checked my blood pressure - it was hovering in the 150's/100's.  She asked me to lie down for five minutes and returned to check it again.  Still it was too high.  The doctor than came in told me to rest more and eat less salt and then left.  I was stunned.  So was the nurse I guess because when she saw me getting ready to leave she told me to sit back down and chased the doctor down.  He returned to the room ordered some lab work, sent me to ultrasound, and told me to come back the following week.  I was in tears by the time I made it to my car.  I was scared and didn't know what was going on.
I returned the next week.  My blood pressure was lower - not "safe" but lower.  The doctor called it a success, told me to continue watching my salt intake, and told me to come back in a month.  This time I was scared and angry!  The next day I called the clinic and scheduled the first available appointment with my regular doctor upon his return from vacation.  And I'm glad I did.

For the third week in a row I was back in the clinic, but this time I was prepared to get some answers.  My doctor looked through my lab results which were "ok" and looked at the results of the ultrasound which showed that Logan was slightly smaller than average babies at that stage - nothing to worry about yet, but something to watch.  He also did a non-stress test.  As far as my blood pressure was concerned, I was maxed out on medication, but it improved upon resting.  He decided to send me home on partial bed rest.  I was allowed to go to work as long as I taught from my desk with my feet up and after work returned home and laid down - absolutely no kind of strenuous physical activity!  I was also supposed to start coming in for weekly appointments and non-stress tests.  For the first time in three weeks I felt better - not great - but at least I felt like things were being taken care of.


34 Weeks

I went into one of my weekly appointments feeling less than amazing.  I wasn't surprised to see that my blood pressure was extremely high again.  I was surprised though - and scared out of my mind - when my doctor came in and sent me straight down to be admitted to Labor & Delivery!  For the first time I put on the ugly pink hospital gown, crawled into one of the uncomfortable beds, and was strapped to a monitor.  I called Justin and he came straight over from work.  I gave up blood and urine to lab tech.  Next came a portable ultrasound machine and a biophysical profile was done on Logan.  Finally the doctor came to see me.  He told me that I was pre-eclamptic and there were concerns that Logan was suffering from intrauterine growth restriction.  But, do to my body's response to rest (my blood pressure fell back into normal levels when I was laying on my left side) and okay labs that he was sending me home - on total bed rest.  I could walk to the bathroom to use the rest room and shower.  I could sit up to eat or drink.  Other than that I was to do nothing but lay there.  I also was going to need to start coming to appointment twice a week, but I would no longer be seen at the clinic.  Instead I had to check in to Labor & Delivery for each appointment.  I was told that with luck I would be able to carry Logan to 36 weeks - a much safer early delivery date.

And so began my bed rest...it was fun...for about three days.  Then it became unbearably boring.  And scary.  My days were filled with books, day time television (we didn't have cable or satelite), blood pressure checks (I'm a pro at taking my own), and hourly kick counts.  Thank God for all of the great friends who stopped by to visit, brought me movies, and drove me to and from doctor's appointments while Justin was at work.


36 Weeks

Bed rest = comfy clothes, no make-up, and bad hair.  That was probably the best part about bed rest...aside from improving my and Logan's health that is!

I went to the hospital twice a week for two weeks.  One appointment each week was just for a non-stress test and usually only took 2-3 hours.  The other appointment each week included not only a non-stress test, but an ultrasound and lab work - they also lasted 4-6 hours.  I left each one breathing a sigh of relief that I got to go home again each time.  Bed rest (and lets face it - a lot of prayer) had helped lower my blood pressure and almost eliminate all my sympotms of pre-eclampsia!  At my 36 week appointment my doctor commented that he thought I just might carry Logan to full term after all!  Big sigh of relief!

38 Weeks
Despite the fact that bed rest sucked and sucked bad things were going along really well.  Then the night before my 38 week appointment (and 24th birthday) I started feeling really sick, and I slept horribly.  I finally got out of bed that mornig, choked down a bowl of cereal, and sent Justin off to work assuring him that I was "fine" and not to forget he had promised me an ice cream cake for my birthday.  Then I waited for my friend to show up to take me to my 9:00 appointment.  And I was worried - I knew what I was feeling was a bad sign.

Sure enough my blood pressure was too high again.  It was a lab work/ultrasound appointment, but I never made it to the ultrasound part.  My preliminary lab work came back bad - I was showing all the signs of pre-eclampsia again.  My doctor came in and told me I was being admitted and induced that morning.  Sure enough by 10 - only an hour after showing up for my appointment - I was back in a hospital gown tucked into my very own room with and IV and a pitocin drip.  I think I was in shock because I'll I can remember thinking is There goes having any birthday cake for me today...

Tomorrow:  The Birth of Logan (minus all the gory details - I promise!)

A Wedding Gift

Logan's birthday  is this week, so if you don't mind I'm going to spend the next few posts talking about him because I happen to think he's that special and it's my blog so I can do what I want!

I've decided to start at the beginning for two reasons.  1.  I've never written it all down before and I think it would be kind of cool someday to look back and show Logan the story from the beginning.  2.  It's my blog and I can do what I want!

So, back to the beginning...

Justin and I got married in October 2006.  For two months leading up to the wedding I was breaking out in hives.  BIG. BAD. UGLY. RED. HIVES.  I went to my regular doctor twice before she finally referred me to a dermatologist.  Turned out he wasn't much help in figuring out why I was breaking out in hives either, but the last time I went to see him in absolute desperation - my wedding was in one week - he decided to prescribe me some steroids in hopes that it would at least temporarily stop my break outs.  It worked like a charm - a week later I was married hive free!  'Course neither he nor the pharmacist bothered to mention the possible side effects, and I - a poor consumer indeed - didn't bother to read the "literature" attached to my prescription.

(Are you trying to figure out where I'm going with this yet???  Keep reading - it's all relevant; I promise!)

The ceremony was beautiful, and I'm not kidding, with in minutes of it ending questions and jokes about "making babies" started flying.  Justin and I just laughed and told everyone that we had a five year plan.  We'd talk about babies in five years.  Little did we know that the joke was going to be on us...

(Have you figured it out yet???)

On Monday I went back to work...it was a busy week as I was figuring first quarter grades, prepping for my first parent-teacher conferences, and planning a weekend trip to Iowa for our second wedding reception (95% of my family lives in Iowa so my parents insisted on having a second reception in Iowa - no complaints here...I love a good party!).  After a crazy week and whirlwind weekend I was back at work and exhausted.  I chalked it up to the excitement and didn't think anything of it...until a week later when I was still tired...among other things that I won't mention (there is such a thing as to much information!!!)

That week a little, tiny voice in my head started whispering, "You know, you could be..."  I ignored it, because I knew I couldn't be - I had the birth control thing covered.  Then later that week one of my co-workers mentioned that she had heard that steroids were kind of like antibiotics and could affect birth control and did I know that.  Huh...hadn't known that...  At that point the little voice inside my head got a little bit louder, but still I ignored it...no need to go there right???

Then November came...but my period didn't.  And I knew, but I didn't mention it to Justin yet (denile is a good friend of mine).  After a couple of days I mustered up the courage to take a pregnancy test.  And then I knew for sure...and I had to tell Justin.  To my dismay he was really okay with the idea (telling Justin made me nervous as he was a big fan of the five year plan).   That night, just to be sure, I took four more pregnancy tests.  And then there was no denying it.  I was pregnant.

(Betcha guessed that was coming didn't you???  Good-bye five year plan...Hello five hour plan!)

I had to get into the OB immedietly because there were medications I was on that I couldn't be on anymore so changes needed to be made (unplanned pregnancy remember...) and during that appointment our baby's due date was calculated:  July 12, 2007.  This baby was due almost nine months to the day after our wedding.  There was no question that this baby was a wedding gift from God himself and by far the best gift we had recieved.

That day...it's one I'll remember forever...

Stay tuned...there's more coming tomorrow...

Operation Logan's Room

So I finally did it.  Finally!  Logan's room is completely cleaned out and organized.  It took at least two hours...maybe more...it was that crazy in there!  See we moved Logan out of the nursery and into the larger spare bedroom over a year ago, and since then there has been birthday, Christmas, and Easter presents.  Not to mention all the toys he has collected in the past year from Happy Meals, Treasure Box (daycare thing), and random "Sure you can have that today" gifts.  This means that for over a year now I have been putting things wherever I could find space.  And that meant that nothing was together which in turn meant that lately it was getting harder and harder to find certain toys. 

Here...take a look at the mess...I'm brave enough to show it...but only because I've already cleaned it...

This is Logan's room...it doesn't look to bad from a distance...does it???

But then you get closer...for instance here is his headboard full of books, stuffed animals, an airplane, and a micromachine, and even some old birthday cards...and none of it in any kind of order as you can see. 

And here's his table...I think it speaks for itself...

And this is inside his toy box...it's best not to try to find a specific toy in here because, well, you can't.  Hard to believe...ok maybe not...

And this is the closet...inside here is complete chaos...so bad it makes his actual room look organized.

See we bought this really cool shelf with cubby holes and boxes that fit in the cubbies a couple of years ago.  It works really well for storing toys...at least it does when the poor boxes aren't stuffed so full of toys they no longer fit into the cubby holes...

And there are lots of cool art supplies in these blue tubs, but they are up to high for Logan to reach and even if he could reach them they are so messy inside he couldn't find a crayon unless he dumped the whole box out!  Oh, and that stack of clothes...those are winter clothes I pulled out of the dresser and shoved in the closet haphazardly one day instead of taking the time to pack them away for the summer.  Plus there is a stack of books there that didn't fit on the book shelf because, well, you saw the book shelf so you know they're not going to fit!

Basically I had my work cut out for me.  I started in the closet by packing away all of the winter clothes and cleaning out the art boxes.  And from there I was able to move onto the bookshelf.  After that I conquered the toy box, and finally I was able to clean out the cubby shelf.  In the end I had one plastic Walmart sack full of trash, another full of toys for the day care Treasure Box (we recycle), and a stack of books and a few toys to move to Gavin's room.  And here's the final result!

I had to adjust the shelves on the book case a little to fit all of the books, and I had to move a few of Logan's "babies" (a.k.a. stuffed animals) to the closet or Gavin's room, but I made it all fit.  Of course to keep the shelf looking this nice will require routine maintenance since Logan likes to pull books and animals off the shelf and play during "nap" time.

And look...I got the little table completely cleared off!  I also moved the train table around.  The new arrangement doesn't make the most sense as far a use of space, but it allows Logan more access to his train table with out Justin and I having to go in there and move it out of the corner to he can play on it.

And this is inside the toy box.  It may not look a lot neater, but trust me it is!  I know exactly where to find all of the Toy Story toys, the remote control cars, and all the pieces to "Gator Golf."  Again this will take maintenance, but at least all of this stuff has a "home" now!

Here's the closet...my pride and joy!  All of the art supplies is now neatly contained in the box.  It's still to high for Logan to reach, but I decided that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing...we're talking about paint, play dough, markers, and scissors here!  Oh, and those boxes of Legos...those are Justin's...he's a grown man but he still likes his Legos!  And look how clear the floor is - we can acutally walk into the walk-in closet now!

And now for the cubbies...don't they look nice???  Cars and airplanes are separated into storage containers on top while each cubby below houses a specific type of toy.  One bin for stuffed animals, one for blocks, one for costumes, one for Little People, one for bigger cars, one for miscellaneous toys, etc. 

When Logan got home from day care today I took him on a "tour" of his room.  He was so excited about it all - he was so happy that I "found" some of his toys.  Later on this evening out of nowhere he said, "Mama you cleaned my room really nice."  I could have melted - I love it when his sweet side comes out!

So that was what I was up to today.  That leaves me with half of my summer projects list completed.  Left to tackle is the living room/office area and the hall closet.  Originally I was hoping to have them done before Logan's birthday next week, but seeing as I only have one day between now and then where both boys will be at day care I don't think that is going to happen...especially since it is my birthday next week too! 

Oh, and as far as summer to-dos go, remember how I told you I could be a candidate for "What Not to Wear"?  Well, my wardrobe has not improved any, but despite my claim that I refused to weigh myself I stood on the scale anyway today.  And guess what???  I've lost five pounds!!!

Today is what I would call a good day.  Hope it was the same for all of you!

Gavin is 10 months old already!

Last week Gavin went from being nine months old to ten months old, and I'm left sitting here wondering where the last ten months have gone.  How could they have passed so quickly? 

He's been sick again (sore throat this time), but seems to be shaking it now, so I took him outside to capture him.  He held up pretty well...until the end...

....this face is one we're coming to know very well because as he grows bigger each day, he gets more opinionated as well.  And when he doesn't get what he wants right now he can throw a mighty tantrum!  But really, most of the time Gavin is one very happy baby.

Here are a few other things that have changed in the last month:

• He's crossed into the 17 lbs. range (we know 'cuz he's been to the doctor three times this month!)
• He has just six teeth now (and you can see each and every one of them in the picture above), but his two front teeth have come in far enough now that he no longer looks like he has fangs.
• He can go from his tummy to sitting up now.
• He took off crawling (just yesterday morning in fact) though he still prefers to pretend that he can't crawl and will throw a fit rather than crawl the two feet over to me (I told you he was throwing tantrums!).
• He's learning to pull himself up, but can only do it on low objects and is still very wobbly once he does get on his two little feet!

Gavin is aquiring some new table manners too...

• He eats a jar of baby food for breakfast...but the rest of the day forget it.  He's on to table food!
• Bread was his first food...
• And he likes everything!  There isn't a cracker he won't eat, and he's also eating chicken nuggets, PB & J, grilled cheese, noodles, peas, carrots, corn, watermelon...basically anthing I can give him that he can chew up!
• We're done nursing (Boo!  Yay!  I have mixed feeling here...if you can't tell...).  I'm not even sure what day he nursed last (sometime last week).  In the end, he just lost interest, and I let him.
• He's drinking a mixture of formula and breast milk (frozen of course), but he only takes three - sometimes four - bottles a day.
• We're working on the sippy cup with him.  He'll hold it himself, but has trouble tipping it enough to get the juice to fill up the spout.  It causes much frustration on both our parts!

Gavin is now what I'd call a sleeping champion!

• Finally, finally, he is sleeping through the night.  Bed time is still usually between 6:30 and 7:00, and typically he doesn't wake up before 6:00 a.m.
• When he does wake up in the morning he will actually entertain himself in his crib for up to half an hour!!!!!
• Naps are pretty solid now too.  There's a morning nap - usually around nine - and an afternoon nap starting somewhere around 12:30.
• And the best part (or maybe saddest...more mixed feelings here) is that he can put himself to sleep all by himself.  He doesn't need to be rocked anymore...(like I said, mixed feelings)

Gavin's little big personality is really starting to emerge now.

• He is still a very easy going baby.  He's usually calm and more than ready to go with the flow (i.e. We drag him around Springfield all day during which he doesn't nap and yet he's still pretty happy.  'Course we can't do this two days in a row...).
• While he is calm most of the time, when he gets mad, boy does he show it!  (I mentioned the temper tantrums right?)  He's got a screech that is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard for me, and he can keep it going for awhile!
• He can be really silly at times - making funny faces and noises, but he also has really serious moments where you can just see him taking in everything he sees and trying to figure it all out.
• His like and dislikes are becoming very evident.  For instance "likes" include music, Dada's guitar, and any toy that plays music.  Also a "like" is any toy of Logan's.  "Dislikes" include rattles, teething rings, his jumper, and anything else than can be classified a "baby" toy.  Also a "dislike" is formula/breast milk served too cold.   

And just because I have so many great pictures of Gavin here are a few more...

Ten months...it's been an amazing journey.  And while I'm sad to see these moments go I can't help but be excited for what the future is bringing for this little boy!