Happy 3 Months, Nasie Gunnar!

Another month has gone by! I cannot believe Gunnar is 3 months old already. My pregnancy went by so fast, and now it seems like the trend will continue, and Gunnar's baby years are going to go by fast, too. Before I know it, he will be a grown man, and I'll find myself saying the cheesy phrase that all parents say, "It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital". In reality though, it honestly DOES seem like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. He has gotten so much more fun since that day! He's smiling, laughing, grabbing at things with his hands, and showing definite preferences for his mom and dad over strangers, which makes us feel so special! Anyway, last month, when I did his 2 month blog post, I said I was going to start doing a "Top 5" list each month. Last month was "Top 5 Things I Love Most About Gunnar". This month, I'm going with the "Top 5 Biggest Events in Gunnar's Life Last Month". In no particular order...

1) HE HAD HIS FIRST CHRISTMAS. I was so excited about Gunnar experiencing his first Christmas. That's really kind of funny, because it wasn't exciting for GUNNAR at all. He had no idea that the day was any different, or more special, than any other day. We dressed him up in a special Christmas outfit, (which he peed on about 10 minutes after putting it on), everyone got him presents (which I couldn't even get him to look at), we stuck an ornament in his lap and shoved him in front of the tree to get a picture (which got on his nerves)...you get the point. Special for us, annoying for him. Next Christmas should be more fun for everyone.

2) HE GOT HIS FIRST SHOTS. I expected this to be so traumatic. I made Nason come with me, because I just couldn't bear the idea of having to pin a screaming Gunnar down on the table while someone stuck a needle in his thigh. I thought Gunnar would go nuts, and I thought I would for sure cry. It turned out to be so easy. Nason did go with me, and held him on the table while I closed my eyes and covered my ears, but Gunnar never even screamed OR cried. He let out one tiny little wailt, and that was it. Such a tough little boy!!!

3) HIS MOM DECIDED TO BE A STAY AT HOME MOM. When I first found out I was pregnant, the plan was that I would quit my job once Gunnar got here. Then, an arrangment was made where I was going to be able to work part-time from home. With that taken into consideration, I thought I may try to keep working. It would be nice to have the extra money, plus I really did like my job. It seemed like a perfect arrangement. However, after Gunnar arrived, I decided that I just didn't want to have to be away from him AT ALL...not even part-time. I also decided that being a mom was way harder than I thought, and I just didn't know if I could do both jobs well.Nason never even wanted me to go back to begin with, so that also played into the decision. So, I let my boss know I would not be coming back, and I officially became a member of the SAHM club. I am loving it, and I am so grateful to Nason for allowing me to be able to do it!)

4) HE GOT HIS FIRST COLD. As most of you know, I was pretty cautious (ok, maybe OVERLY cautious) about not taking Gunnar anywhere for the first 8 weeks of his life, because I was so afraid of him getting sick. Christmas kind of forced me to get over it, and reemerge into the world. I couldn't NOT see family for Christmas. So we went from one extreme (hermits) to the other (visit every family member and friend we've ever had, it seemed), and the Monday after Christmas, Gunnar got a cold. I smugly told my mom and Nason, "I KNEW I wasn't being overly cautious. I KNEW I was right all along to not take him out. Look at what happens the very first time I do...HE GETS A COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". My mom reminded me that it's inevitable that Gunnar is going to get sick at some point, and that I needed to chill out a bit. She was right. Today, I can proudly report that I am totally over the germaphobe period of my life, and Gunnar and I have a very active and healthy social life : )

5) HE STARTED SLEEPING IN HIS CRIB AT NIGHT. This was a slow, hard transition for me. I don't know why, but it was. He started by sleeping in his Pack n Play in our room. Next step was moving him into his crib, while I slept on the floor in his room. THIRD step was him in his crib, me in the guest bed (which is right next to his room). That lasted for a week. FINALLY, at the end of that week, I moved back into our bed, in our room, and the transition was complete! Gunnar does great in his crib, and it feels nice to have our room back to ourselves.

Shout Outs From Gunnar

Gunnar and I were talking yesterday, and he told me that he would like to start writing a featured "column" on his blog, that highlights special people in his life from time to time. In this first edition of "Shout Outs From Gunnar", Gunnar will be focusing on......


His Mimi

Ok, actually, I'm not going to use Gunnar's "voice" to write this entry, because that would be super annoying and cheesy. So I'll use my own voice...just know that the words have all been divinely inspired from Gunnar. Ha ha.

My mom, "Mimi" to Gunnar, is one of the very most special people I know. She has the sweetest spirit, and is always ALWAYS thinking about other people above herself. She's not just a thinker though...she's a do-er. I would say that 99% of my mom's time is spent doing stuff for other people, and MAYBE 1% of her time is spent doing stuff for herself. That is the kind of mom she has always been to me, and that is the kind of grandma she is shaping up to be as well. Mimi is rapidly becoming a very special person to Gunnar, because:

- She is always willing and eager to come spend time with him. She typically asks Nason and I if we'll LET her baby-sit (um...YEAH!), so that she can come spend some time with him each week. She works hard all week long, and really should use her weekends for relaxation, but instead, she faithfully comes over every single weekend and sits for Gunnar, while Nason and I go on a date. Oh, and inevitably, while she's here, she does something helpful around my house. I guess Gunnar doesn't necessarily appreciate that, but I sure do!

- She is an absolute natural with him. I feel 100% completely comfortable leaving him with her, and what's more, is that he is 100% completely comfortable BEING LEFT. She is second only to me in her uncanny ability to soothe him, no matter the degree of fussiness he has attained.

- She is his biggest fan....pictures of Gunnar make up her computer screensaver, her cell phone screensaver, and her deskspace at work. She makes him feel so special!

- She has a sixth sense about her, that allows her to anticipate what he (and I) am going to need before we need it. Everytime I'm out and about with her...shopping, running errands, etc, she seems to know exactly just what to do to make things quicker, easier, and less stressful for everyone involved. I'd say she has this effect on everyone actually...not just Gunnar.

I will leave you now with some pictures of Gunnar and one of his favorite people in the whole world...his Mimi.

How Gunnar Feels About Napping (Part Two)

Nap Time..Our Least Favorite Time of the Day

Yes, I say "our" least favorite time of the day, because I think Gunnar and I both hate it equally. Nason and I have been very blessed to have a little baby who sleeps really well during the night...unfortunately, the same cannot be said when it comes to his daytime sleeping. Unlike his daddy, napping does not come naturally for Gunnar. It ESPECIALLY does not come naturally when he's in his crib. I may get a nap or two out of him if I allow him to sleep in his swing, or if I rock him for the duration of the nap, but otherwise....nada. This is extremely frustrating, because I can tell that he is tired...his eyes droop, he gets fussy, and he yawns continuously. So when this happens, what does mama do? She picks him up, rocks him for a few minutes, sings to him, lays him down in his crib, and he drifts peacefully off to sleep. For about 15 minutes. Then, he wakes up crying, and nothing, NOTHING, will get him to go back to sleep. He cries as though he is being tortured. As though it is the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to him. Now surely, SURELY we could do worse things to him, than lay him down in a comfy bed, with a comfy blanky (wrapped tightly around him, of course), soft music playing in the background, in a room that is just the right temperature, right? You wouldn't think so from his reaction. You'd think we were laying him on a cement floor, in a freezing cold room, with someone dripping water on his face continuously. Torture. I just do not know what to do with this boy! I dread naptime, because I know it's going to make him upset, and I hate knowing that I am to blame for causing my sweet baby to be sad. HOWEVER...for reasons that would have to be explained in a totally different blog entry, I am DETERMINED to stick to our nap schedule, and DETERMINED to get him to feel comfortable in his own bed, so for now, I am going to have to just toughen up, and continue to be greeted with the sad little face you see pictured above, and naptime will continue to be "our least favorite time of the day".

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Sweet Boy!!!

Today is Gunnar's Two Month Birthday. Well, that's not technically accurate...he was born on October 28th, so realistically, December 28th would be his actual "birthday", but today is the 8th Wednesday since he was born (confusing, huh? The weeks don't actually line up with the months). Anyway....we're calling it 2 months. I cannot even BEGIN to describe how much I have grown to love this little guy over the last couple of months. It's funny, because although I've loved him since Day 1, I'm not sure I've truly ENJOYED him since Day 1. The first two to three weeks were such a blur, and were so much harder than I envisioned, that I can honestly say I really didn't enjoy them all that much. I know that sounds kind of bad...but it's just true. Quite a few times during those first several weeks, I wondered what in the world we'd been thinking when we decided we wanted to have a baby, and I felt pretty sure that one kiddo was all this household would be producing. HOWEVER....somewhere around Week 4, everything suddenly switched, and I suddenly realized that not only did I love Gunnar more than I thought was humanly possible, but I was also loving every second of hanging out with him, and that there was no where I would rather be during the day, than with him. In fact, here I am today, on his 2 month birthday, with the house all to myself (because Nason took Gunnar on a "man date"), and about five minutes after Gunnar was gone, I realized that I missed him being here, and really would just rather that he come back!! Anyway.....I'm going to do a "Top 5" each month for Gunnar's birthday...this month, the Top 5 will be The Top Five Things I Love the Most About Gunnar So Far:

1) His Shark Face- this is the face he makes when either his pacifier, his bottle, or his primary milk supply-me- is in his face. He scrunches his nose, opens his mouth as wide as it can possibly go, and then shakes his head back and forth viciously, like a shark that is tearing apart it's prey. It's scary and endearing all at the same time.

2) The way that every single time we lift his legs up, a fart comes out

3) His little baby mullet

4) His SMILE. Oh my gosh....I don't think anything could melt a heart more.

5) When he wakes me up in the middle of the night to eat, and I grab him out of his pack and play, and he instantly cuddles up to me, and kind of burrows up against my chest.

Gunnar's First Holiday

Just a few weeks after being born, Gunnar was already able to experience his very first holiday...and what an appropriate one! Thanksgiving. Nason and I have plenty of things to be thankful for EVERY year, but we were ESPECIALLY thankful this year, for our sweet little boy. He was a long time coming, but he's finally here!


Anyway, the whole time I was pregnant, I was so excited about the idea of having Gunnar right in the midst of holiday season, and getting to show him off at all sorts of holiday gatherings, where everyone would crowd around and ooh and ahh over him, and remark on how cute he was, how cute his outfit was, how cute his parents are (just kidding), etc. What I WASN'T factoring in in those daydreams, was the fact that a) "Holiday Season" happens to coincide with "Flu Season" and b) upon having a baby, I would turn into a total psychotic, germaphobic, paranoid, Howie Mandel-ish, FREAK. I'm so afraid of Gunnar getting sick with The Dreaded Swine, that I can hardly stand for anyone to so much as LOOK at him, much less TOUCH him. (I'm not claiming that this is right, healthy, or normal, by the way).

So...the idea of him being around tons of people at Thanksgiving was really stressing me out. To get around this problem, we decided we'd do a small-ish Thanksgiving this year. Me, Nason, Gunnar, his parents, my parents, and the Magee clan. Just enough people for it to be festive, but not so many that my scrutinizing eye couldn't keep watch on all people at all times, to ensure that no one was touching Gunnar's hands or face (ha ha...I'm partially kidding). Anyway....at the very last minute, Cousin Aiden got the flu, sadly eliminating the Magees from the festivities, and my parents had car problems, taking them out of the picture as well. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! I wanted a small-ish gathering, but not THAT small. Our Thanksgiving was beginning to seem a little sad. Just me, Nason, his parents, and Gunnar. Smallest Thanksgiving celebration ever. It ended up being SO nice, though. We spent so much time relaxing, eating our weight in GOOD food, letting Gunnar get uninterrupted loving on by his Grammy and Poppy, and enjoying lots of help/free babysitting for Nason and I, even allowing us to go on a date in Marble Falls one night! It was a different Thanksgiving, but special all the same!

Gunnar, aka........

When I was pregnant, and even before I was pregnant, Nason and I spent hours discussing what we should name our little boy. A lot of thought went into finding a name that we could both agree on....one that was "different" enough to satisfy me, but still "normal" enough to not freak Nason out too much. My question now is, why did we spend so much time deciding on a name, when we NEVER even use it?? The kid has more nicknames than should be allowed for one baby! I realized today that I can barely even remember the last time I called him Gunnar. Same with Nason....neither of us EVER call him Gunnar. What do we call him? Well.....don't think we're too weird, but here is the list of nicknames that this poor boy has acquired thus far:

- Biscuit Man
- Buttermilk
- G Mac
- Sharky
- Mr. Butterton
- Little G
- Angel Bear
- Roo
- Roo Biscuit
- Bubba
- Bubbakins
- Sweet Man
- Poopy
- Gun (that one is probably the only one that has any rhyme or reason to it)

Here is a picture of little GUNNAR, for your viewing pleasure: