Sooo......

Sweetest Baby G,

     You will learn as time goes on that although your mommy has some fairly good qualities, journaling and BLOGGING are not among them! This was meant to be a weekly, then at least monthly update of your life to be compiled later into a baby book, and......oh well! One of my problems has been that as I get further and further behind, it becomes harder and harder to catch up, especially with the millions of beautiful pictures of your sweet self that we've made. So after trying unsuccessfully to load quite a few onto "Blogger" and then blog with pics, I've decided load them onto Picasa and link to them. Easy peasy and then I can just put a "few" of my many favorites for perusal by your grandmothers and great-grandmother (i.e. your fan club) as well as other sweet relatives and friends :)
     SO....when last I blogged you were only 2 months old!!! At 8-9 weeks you started sleeping through the night 12-13 hrs all by yourself and have continued to do so every night since then (except for two nights when you woke up because you were sick)! What a STAR!!! I'm pretty sure your daddy and I had nothing whatsoever to do with this development. Both your dad's and my schedules since I started back to work have been chaotic to say the least, working all kinds of crazy and odd hours, so I think you just found a nice little schedule that works for you and stick right to it. Regularity and affinity for routine seem to be part of your little personality. (We will see how long that lasts, ha!)
    During your third and fourth months, you started to really "wake up" and take notice of your surroundings. You were so CUTE trying to swivel your little bobble head to look at everything going on around you and by Christmas you were quite good at it!
     We had a wonderful, fast paced Christmas season this year! Last year we found out we were expecting you on December 23rd and having you with us this year was a blessing beyond our wildest dreams!!! To say you were loved, cherished, and THOROUGHLY enjoyed by your family this year would be quite the understatement :) We had such fun in the days leading up to Christmas dressing you up and decorating the house. You have a lovely little stocking that Santa brought you, filled with all sorts of cute things that you were too little to play with (except your musical Christmas Puppy, who still sleeps in your crib and plays with you every day). You had such fun tearing paper off of your presents and desperately wanted to taste all of that pretty wrapping! Santa had so much fun :) Then Christmas Eve, we went to Oma and Papa Ru's house and had a wonderful Lawson/Ward celebration with such wonderful family. Christmas Day we went to Athens for another incredibly fun visit and your FIRST visit with Uncle William and Aunt Kalen! You loved them immediately :) Your Aunt Em and all your uncles and most especially your grandparents doted on you and you were lavished with more love than you can possibly imagine. Several days after Christmas we went Aiken to see your Pop Pop and Grammy and you so enjoyed seeing them so, so much! Whew!
     Daddy and I spent the month of January (your fifth month) recovering (and working....lots) :) YOU spent January learning to roll over and sit up really well with a little help, then by yourself! I worked lots of ER and Aiken L&D shifts and Daddy was on night float the whole month, but you were our little prize waiting for us at the end of the day. We raced home as fast as we could and just gobbled up every second with you! On our work days, you had such FUN with sweet Miss Erin! She loves-loves-loves you and takes you on walks almost every day. You play and take baths and eat lots and lots of milk! On "mommy days," you and I hang out every single second (except for sometimes when sweet Oma comes to let mommy run much needed errands). You receive your daily quota of 1,000+ smooches per day. We love to play in your pretty room with all your toys. Some days we don't even get out of our comfy pajamas which is so incredibly fun! (We don't tell daddy that though :). This month we started trying to feed you various baby cereals and foods with little to no success. ALL you want is lots of mommy milk. So be it :)
      Ever since we have put you in a regular (not "baby") car seat and you have acquired "car bear," a little brown monkey holding an I Love You heart that you love to pieces, you have started being a good little car seat rider and we can go places! You still nap several times per day so these have to be little short trips but they are lots of fun. Your favorite places are Target and Grandma's house :)
     During February (month six), we also had a looooong hard work month with mommy working lots and Daddy on night float and ICU! We DID however, have a lovely and restful trip just the 3 of us to the Blue Ridge mountains. We rented a beautiful cabin overlooking the lake and just spent an entire week being our sweet family of three. We went on pretty walks, put together puzzles, read by the fire, soaked in the hot tub (during your naps :), ate yummy things (even at some lovely restaurants during which you were very good), and generally just relaxed. Perfect. Such a nice little break!
     March (your seventh, and the current month) has been busy so far with daddy on Cardiology/ICU/night float (but the last one!!!!). You and I had a WONDERFUL 4 day visit to Athens to see your Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Philip. Aunt Julia, Lydia, Drew, and Baby Rhett also came to visit for several days (while Uncle Andy was circumventing the world) and we had an absolutely fabulous time together while the daddies worked!!! Next time though, we want the daddies to be there too :) We had a lovely afternoon at the state botanical gardens and made super duper cute pictures of our little guys! What a photogenic bunch!! You were so VERY impressed with Drew and all of his exciting antics and quite captivated by beautiful Lydia. You did get a runny nose though and all our plans for you to play with little Rhett had to be put on hold so he didn't get your virus! You did have lots of fun looking at each other though and I can already tell you are going to be the very BEST of friends. The day after the Fisher clan left, we went for your first trip to the Ashford Farm. We had a delicious picnic and your "ate" an apple slice and carrot stick. You had SUCH a fun time riding around on Grandpa's back and looking at all the pretty horses and the lovely farm!
     For the last 2 weeks, you have been rolling and scooting around like crazy! It's incredible how mobile you are without being able to crawl! I left you on your floor with some (safe) toys for 3-4 minutes the other day and came back to find you already in the HALLWAY outside your room! YIKES! You are also gradually warming up to the idea of non-milk foods. Mostly you just gum raw carrots and apples. You are not so much a fan of the mushy stuff so we're just going with it since your iron levels were so good at your 6 month check up and you are off the charts for height and right at the very top for weight!
     You are so cute!!! People probably get absolutely sick of hearing me say it, but I only say it a fraction of the times I think it :))) It's so exciting to see you develop and grow and learn! In a way though, I would love you to stay exactly this way forever - my perfect little angel :) I have a feeling you won't always be this easy! Ha!
    Alright......I will TRY to do this more often, but if not, accept that I'm not perfect and just doing my best, as I hope you will learn to do one day. Know that you are so adored and cherished despite the infrequency of my written accounts of your babyhood. Hopefully you will be able to look back at the one million pictures I've taken of you and know how much :)

All my heart,
Mommy

https://picasaweb.google.com/107727765853015646067

George's First Halloween - A little "Cow Boy" :)

 George had quite an exciting first Halloween! He got so tired helping his mommy cook dinner that he needed a nap with Papa Ru before the festivities started :)

Papa Ru is soooooooo comfortable and cuddly!

We bought George's first pumpkin, but the choice ones were already gone and this one is a little lopsided, Haha :)

He was NOT into taking all these silly pictures.

"I'm kind of bored Mama!"

"Ok fine, I'll be a good boy and pose"

 Next year we will have so much fun decorating our pumpkin :)

 I am SO in love with this little guy!

After we made dinner, George put on his adorable cow costume!

At least all the adults thought it was adorable....George was pretty non-plused :)

Such a sweet little cow face....smile George, Ha!

 Marion's and my favorite part was the little tail....SO hilarious!

I also loved the little hooves.

Aunt Emily came to visit and help George pass out candy to all the kids. (Uncle James was there too, but I took all the pics of him on his phone...booo!)

Our little cow looooves drinking his milk!

The puppies enjoyed getting into the spirit. Esteban was a shark and Pippi Amanda was a pumpkin (she wanted to be a chicken, but she chewed her chicken hat!)

Poor Jonathan had a looooong day, but got home in time for dinner. I made blackeyed peas, corn bread, fried chicken, caramel apple pie, and gingerbread cookies, yummy!!

George had so much fun seeing all the other little trick-or-treaters.

I didn't take their pictures though because I didn't think parents would like that very much.

That's ok though, George was so cute and provided more than enough fodder for pictures :) STILL in love with the little tail!

By the end of the evening, baby George was POOPED out! (In more ways than one, and Jonathan got to deal with that part :)

He can't WAIT for next year and will probably have a little more imput in his costume....maybe.

Mommy had SO much fun dressing you up this year little man! We can't wait for many more fun, candy and costume-filled evenings to come.

Second Month as Family of Three

My Dear Baby George,
     Happy 2 month birthday my sweet angel!!!! I know this post is a little late (actually a lot late if you take into account that I've meant to blog weekly :), but we've been having so much fun and you have filled up so much of our time with your sweet little self!

This month has been one if incredible change and growth for you!

Almost daily you have become more alert and aware of your surroundings. You now look directly into our eyes and recognize your Mommy and Daddy which makes us OH so happy :)

You are still SUCH a good baby and we can take you most anywhere at this point. We really enjoy dressing you up!

You are quite the stylish baby and even have a nice selection of snazzy footwear, ha ha :))

It may be short lived as you become more active, but we are enjoying your portable phase while it lasts. Here you are in a restaurant booth being so polite. (Note: as you grow to know your Dad better, you will understand why you are only allowed to sit in a BOOTH, not one of the "precarious" high chairs holders, on the inside, next to HIM....and he tries to claim I'm over-protective :))

At this point my sweet heart, you are QUITE the eater! For the first part of this month, you were eating every 3 hours on the DOT! Here we are cuddling one very early morning as you digest your 2AM pre-pre-breakfast :)



Tiring, it's true, but these were some of my very favorite and special moments with you. I could watch you sleep for hours and try SO hard to memorize your sweet little face because I already see you changing so rapidly!

Between about 6-8 weeks, you started sleeping long stretches - between 6 to 7 hours per night, and a part of me (the non-tired part) really misses those early morning cuddles with you.

You also nap pretty well (although since I'm working lots of nights and can't take advantage of those 7 hour stretches at night, I kind of wish you would sleep more in the day time :).

You have the prettiest little lips, and I LOVE to watch you smile and giggle in your sleep! What in the world can a 6 week old have to dream about that is so funny, huh?

When you were 6 weeks old, I had to go back to work. Although I really, really love work, I will NEVER love it a fraction as much as my sweet little baby G :) I've been wearing regular clothes again (instead of pajamas/nightgowns) which is probably good, but I still love to get back into them when I get home from work (after washing off the ER germs) and snuggle with you some before bed.

I'm not the only one who is completely enamored with you!

You Daddy thinks you hung the moon and LOVES to take care of you. One of the best parts of me going back to work is that now he gets to spend lots of one-on-one time with you in the evenings.

Even though he won't readily admit it, I'm pretty sure he's watching X-men cartoons with you every night while you eat your dinner bottle. It's ok though. He's been wanting a little son to watch cartoons with for a looong time :)

You guys are such big buddies already!

Everyone thinks you look more and more like you Daddy, which you do....

But there IS a little of your mommy in there too, especially in your eyes when you're excited or concerned.

The only problem with taking pictures of you,

is that you're so cute that I take a million, and

I can't stand to delete a single one!!!

Each picture is so special to me. As I look back through the ones from the beginning of the month, I see how much you've changed already!

You are so expressive and each picture (these are only a smattering believe it or not :) captures a unique little part of you.

I LOVE your little lanky arms and legs! I love that they're getting more chubby and starting to get more dimples. Precious.

When you were born you had a fair amount of soft, brown, fussy hair. One day, around 4-5 weeks this began to abruptly shed in a "male pattern baldness" fashion! Yikes! Little hairs were everywhere and within a matter of days, you were totally bald except for a rim right at the back :)

Here is what your sweet head looked during the shedding period. (Don't worry, though, it grew back fast!)

You love getting your diaper changed, and this was one of the very first times that you actually smiled and laughed AT me, on purpose (social smile, yay for meeting your milestones!) Note the cute onsie that your sweet "Aunt" Nancy and "Uncle" Staples had made for you, ha ha :)

I do wonder what you will be like when you're older. Not necessarily what kind of career you will have, but what kind of person you will be.

I can already see that you will have a serious, contemplative side, but still like smile and are very friendly. You are incredibly laid-back so we'll see if you stay that way. (Although I'm not really holding my breath on that one since it isn't really a family trait, ha!)

You can sleep ANYWHERE, and this skill you definitely inherited from your dad!

So precious! I have this picture on my phone, and when I've gotten sad or lonely for you at work this month, I look at this picture. Such sweet little lips and roly poly arms :)

Your daddy was on elective for part of this month and had to study for a test. I got home several nights and you were being such a good study buddy!

Some of the content may have been a little advanced, but it didn't seem to phase you.

Mostly, I think you just really enjoyed the cuddles with your favorite dad :)

And your (tired) daddy enjoyed them every bit as much as you did.

Sleeping angel baby!

Your hands are so perfect, and so BIG! You're like a puppy with big paws. We visited with one of your little friends the other day who is 7 months old and your hands were bigger than hers at 7 weeks!

You still love to hang out in your Snugabunny.....my, was that thing a good investment!

Precious piggies, but maybe a little dirty between the toes. Oh well, you're a little boy so I guess I should get used to it :) The other day, you somehow had sticky hands! At 2 months old, how do you get sticky hands??

We've done several fun events this month, and your daddy's class soft ball game at Lake Olmstead was one of them. Your dad was SO proud to show you off!!!

It was a beautiful October day so we took a long walk by the lake.

You were in full support of our home team - the Bulldogs! (Again, thank you to Aunt Nancy for the patriotic outfit :).

You were obviously fed up with me trying to take some many pictures of you - "Oh MOM, this is so boring" :)

Such a lovely day.

You want to suck your thumb, and try often, but don't quite have the hang of it yet and this is how it looks when you finally get your fingers organized :)

One of my favorite of your expressions is your satisfied face. You are completely milk-drunk and comfortable in this picture. I feed you and was walking out the door to work. I was telling you goodbye and you were playing 'possum with your eyes half-closed :) Such a good image to have in my mind as I left!

You are SUCH a lucky little boy that you have so many grandparents and aunts and uncles that love you!!!! Uncle James and Aunt Emily live so close that they come see you a lot. We also made several trips to Athens, Aiken, and Atlanta to see your family and friends this month (fantastic pictures of these trips do exist and I need to make a whole separate post for them). Uncle James loves you so much and comes over to hold you quite a bit!

Your personality as a baby actually reminds me SO much of him when he was a baby! You were both laid back and very cuddly, good babies.

You continue to LOVE bath time (thank goodness!)

I have so much fun giving you your bath, that I'm stingy and give you all your baths myself.

You get so exciting and have started learning to splash which gets everything soaking wet :) I can't believe how long you're getting!!! You will outgrow your tub soon!

My very favorite thing so far is your smile.

I LOVE making you smile!!!

Cutest little profile I've ever seen.

You smile so well for me....

But it's so obvious how much you already admire your dad.

I love to see you two interact.

And the only thing better than cuddling you myself is seeing you two cuddle :)

I was really sick on the day that you had your 2 month check up.

So, your daddy came home early from work and took you by himself.

Here is the picture he took of you in the exam room. (I was so upset that I didn't get to go that he had to PROMISE to make your picture).

You have grown SO MUCH!!!!! You were born an average weight and length, but at your two month check up you weighed 13 lbs 13 oz (a 5 lb, 14 oz gain, 90-95th percentile), and 25 inches long (a 4.5 inch gain, greater than 97th percentile)! No wonder you are so hungry all the time!

You did SO well with your shots and only cried a little bit. When you got back home you were back to your smiley self :)

So, this month has been incredibly special. I hope I can look back and remember all the sweet details, but if not, will look back and have this blog post and the (hundreds) of pictures to remind me. These will be some of my favorite times to remember, but I can't wait to see what the next months hold for us. Lots of fun times I'm pretty sure!

All my love,
Your Mommy