Excersaucer to the Rescue

Since Dr. Nash said his head wasn't rounding out as much as she'd like to see, we have been trying to keep Gunner off his back as much as possible. Meaning, unless he is sleeping, having his diaper changed or in his car seat, he is off his back.

We have found that this is nearly impossible and totally inconvenient. He doesn't exactly love being on his tummy, even though that is the new trick he learned. He likes to flip from his back to his tummy, but once he is there, he doesn't enjoy it nearly as much as we would like him to.

We also have a Bumbo chair that we put him in. But he gets sick of it pretty easily and tries to get out of it when he gets tired of sitting in it or he sees something interesting on the floor and tries to grab it.

What he does enjoy a lot are his Excersaucers, or activity seats. He sits in them and plays with all the toys. And when I say "play," I mean he tries to get them in his mouth. It also helps him stand up a little bit.

He gets really excited and will stay busy for a while. But when he's tired of it, he is pretty vocal about getting out. Luckily if he is tired of it, he is just tired in general and will go for a nap.

Yum yum -- cereal!

They say there are certain cues for when your baby is ready to try solid foods. He may try to grab your food or watch you intently as you eat. Since Gunner was sort of showing these signs, we thought we'd give rice cereal a try.

A couple of things to note: Rice cereal does not mean Rice Krispies. It sort of looks like instant mashed potato flakes. And "solid" foods is pretty misleading. You are supposed to add formula until it becomes a soupy consistency.

Anyway, we tried to give it to G. He didn't really know what to do with it, so he sort of pushed it out of his mouth. Dr. Nash said he might do that. I think he managed to get a little bit of it down, but we'll just have to keep trying until he gets it. Seems like he may not be totally ready yet. But we're sure it will be pretty soon!

Here Comes Santa Claus

It's Gunner's first Christmas. It wouldn't be complete without a trip to see ol' St. Nick.

We took Gunner to Aisha's work party to see Santa for the very first time. We stood in line for a good 20 minutes just so Gunner could sit on Santa's lap. Mrs. Claus was there too.

Of course, G didn't really know what was going on. He was sort of looking off in the distance.

4-month Doctor Visit

G had his 4-month doctor appointment Dec. 9. We couldn't wait to get him in there to see how much the little guy weighs. He feels heavier and heavier every day. We figured he had to weigh at least 16 pounds.

And we were right. Gunner tipped the scales at 17 pounds, 9 ounces. Hard to believe that is pretty much 10 pounds more than what he weighed at birth. It is unbelievable how much he has grown, not only in weight but in height too.

A few people have affectionately called him "chubby" but Jim and I think he is just fine.

I'm not chubby, I'm just very healthy!

Also at this appointment he got his dreaded 2nd round of immunizations. He was very brave again and only cried for a little bit.

Dr. Nash gave us the go ahead to start giving him solid foods, so Gunner will get to try rice cereal in a few weeks. She also said he needs to play more on his tummy because she is worried about his head staying a little flat in the back. Looks like we got some work ahead of us!

Gunner gets things rolling!

Well, we knew this day would come. Gunner had been so close to rolling over for the last week or so that we knew he was about to get there. It happened three days ago and now, it's old hat. Gunner is rolling over quicker than the Chiefs out in San Diego.

And with his ability to go from his back to his belly so easily, his nights have become interesting as well. He rolled over for Nan Monday afternoon and when it was time to go get him from his crib Tuesday morning, there he was sleeping away on his belly. Not bad for the little guy. He tends to get fussy after about 20 minutes of tummy time during the day.

Aisha saw him close to rolling over at about 3 a.m. when she got up to check on him. My guess is that he made the move a few seconds later because his whimpers and whines stopped on a dime and we didn't hear a word out of him until he woke up, grinning ear-to-ear at about 7:15.

Now he's everywhere in the crib. Aisha checked him last night at about 1 a.m. when he was squirming around a bit, not only had he rolled over, he was facing the opposite direction from when we put him to bed earlier that night.

Look out world, here he comes. Next thing we know, he'll have his driver's license.

Raspberries and LOL'ing

Gunner has an array of noises that he makes. Sometimes he coos. Sometimes he sighs. Sometimes he burps. Sometimes he cries. Wait a second ... that sounds like a Dr. Seuss book or something.

Anyway, lately he has added blowing raspberries and laughing to his repertoire.

I think he is still in the earlier stages of blowing raspberries. It doesn't quite have that farty sound to it yet, but he does stick his little tongue out and make cute little mini raspberries. We tried to catch some of it on video.

He also smiles (a lot -- he is such a happy baby) and a few times he has laughed (or close to it). Once when he had the hiccups and Papa bounced him on his knee making hiccup sounds; another time when I kept calling him a scallywag over and over. "You ... scallywag!" I got that from Mrs. Doubtfire, a fine film starring Robin Williams in drag.

Then there was the time when Aunt Allison kept saying "dasso ... dee-double-oh-gee good" (aka the jingle for KFC with a Bradford twist). And by the way -- who were the marketing geniuses that came up with THAT jingle? No matter how annoying, Gunner just loved it and smiled every time she said it. He'll probably be hooked on KFC when he grows up.

Decorating Our Tree

The day after Thanksgiving, we skipped the Black Friday mayhem and stayed home to watch some college football and decorate our Christmas tree. That's usually when our tree goes up every year, right after Thanksgiving. Any earlier just doesn't seem right.

I thought Gunner would be excited about seeing the tree go up and all the colorful lights, but he took a nap instead. Oh well. It gave us time to finish decorating and clean up a little bit.

But he did discover it later on that night after we plopped him down in his Bumbo seat (that's the blue chair thingy in the photo). He sort of just stared at it for a while. Probably wondering where all the presents were!

Gunner’s first Thanksgiving

   Sure, we had a barbecue for Labor Day.

   Gunner even got to dress up as a penguin for Halloween and go trick-or-treating at Rick and Karen’s.

   But we really didn’t get a chance to celebrate our first real holiday with Gunner until last week when the whole family got together for Thanksgiving.

   Thanksgiving has always been a big holiday with our family. It got even bigger when Aisha joined in on the fun several years ago. We’ve always had plenty to be thankful for, but man, never anything like this.

   What a day.

   We made our way over to Nan and Pa’s house with Oma Dhani, my sisters, the boys, my Aunt Pat, Grandma Margaret and cousin. We even got the pleasure of a visit from my cousin from Chicago, Erin, her husband Brian and their two sons Nathan and Cullen.

   So much fun, so much food.

   Gunner was the life of the party. And he behaved so well.

GG and Gunner

   And as much as Nan wanted to give him some mashed potatoes, it’s just not time. Gunner’s first Thanksgiving meal came in a bottle. 

The sweet sounds of bedtime

   Every night, we get Gunner ready for bed at about the same time. First he gets a bath, then he we get his pajamas on and get him ready for his last feeding before bedtime. It’s a perfect time to get him to unwind and relax a bit.

   And lately, he’s been getting a little bit of extra help — a little bit of music.

   No, not from tone deaf dad or the delicate soothing sounds from mom, it’s the soft sounds from the stereo that have been a favorite in Gunner’s room.

   An awesome CD from Nan and Pa that was personally made just for Gunner starts it off. Some lullaby standards made just for Gunner with his name in the songs and everything. It’s pretty awesome.

   Follow that up with lullaby renditions of U2 and Journey (courtesy of Jerry and Lisa) and there are times when Aisha and I get caught singing along and don’t want to leave the room. I never thaought that a xylophone, chimes and a glockenspiel could make “Don’t Stop Believin’” any better. Who knew?

   It’s a perfect way to end the day.

   He loves it now and he’ll appreciate it later.

Roll Over. Sit. Stay.

Uh-oh. It's happening. He's starting to get mobile! Well, not really. But sort of.

Gunner can now roll over onto his side when he's on his back. He has yet to flip all the way over, but it will just be a matter of time. He just hasn't figured out what to do with his arm yet.

He also is consistently holding his head up during tummy time. Although after about 5 minutes or so of this and he gets tired and either gets fussy or just lays his down. So we probably don't have to worry about him crawling around just yet.

Back to work!

Today was Veterans Day, the day we honor our military veterans. It was also the day I went back to work full-time.

I chose to go back on a Thursday. People say it is better to come back mid-week so you don't have to endure a whole week right off the bat. I think that was pretty sound advice.

It wasn't as difficult to leave the house as I'd imagined it would be. And throughout the morning I wasn't nearly as sad as I'd imagined I'd be. My morning actually went by really fast. Before I knew it, it was 11:45 and I was out the door and on my way home for lunch.

I really didn't worry at all because I knew that Gunner was in good hands at home with his Nana. If we had to send him to a day care with strangers I probably would have been a little more worried and a lot more frantic as the day wore on.

When I got home for lunch, Gunner was happy as a clam, taking a nap while Nan ate lunch. He woke up soon after I got there, and I got to cuddle him and tell him how much I missed him!

My afternoon back at work also went by really fast. It helped that I had plenty of work to do and a couple of afternoon meetings. When 5 o'clock rolled around, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the day had gone for me, and I made my way home, excited to see my baby.

At home, Nana said that little Gunner had some tummy troubles in the afternoon. He was fussy and didn't nap well. He welcomed his Nana to her new job with a giant stinky diaper load. I'm sure she forgave him though.

So all in all, day 1 back to work went fairly well for all of us. And we'll start it all over again tomorrow. But at least it will be Friday!

Grabbing Toys

Coming up on 3 months here. Gunner is now able to grab and hold some of his toys. They seem a lot more interesting to him now. He smiles and plays a lot with all kinds of toys: Charlie, Monkey, Bob and Jeffrey (toys named by his cousin Corey), and Ladybug. He pretty much will play with anything you give him, even a spit rag.

It is really amazing to watch him reach for toys and discover that he can touch and feel them. It really happened quickly. One day he just stared at toys with closed fists and the next he was grabbing him and bringing them to his face. It's so cute!

Sleeping through the night!

Gunner started sleeping in longer stretches right around the age of 11 weeks. At first we put him in his swing because he slept the longest stretches in there. But after a few days we tried migrating him over to his crib. Now we can put him in his crib and he is sleeping through the night. We usually try to get him in bed by 9 or 9:30 p.m. and sometimes he wakes up around 7 a.m., sometimes around 8 a.m. -- it varies. But we are so lucky to have such a good baby!

Once in a while he will be noisy in the middle of the night, but usually if we put a pacifier in his mouth he will go right back to sleep. Those days of waking up every 2 hours or so seem like a distant memory now.

He is also the happiest when he first wakes up. He must be very happy to see people after being in slumberland.

Gunner's First Halloween

For Gunner's first Halloween we dressed him in a penguin costume. I'm not sure he was really excited about his first Halloween, since he doesn't eat candy and all, but it was still fun for us.

We went to Aunt Allison's in the afternoon for chili and cinnamon rolls. Then we put him in his costume so that everyone could see how cute he was. His bow tie was bigger than his face!

Then we headed home so we could pass out candy and Gunner could go trick or treating. It was a little brisk, but Gunner stayed warm in his penguin costume. It was like a giant fleece blanket. We went to our next door neighbor's house and our neighbors Rick and Karen gave Gunner his very first ever Halloween candy, even if he didn't say "Trick or treat." He got some M&Ms, which Jim and I enjoyed on his behalf.

That's the cutest penguin I've ever seen.

Helping mom and dad pass out candy.

Future quarterback?

The other day, I told Omar that Gunner has now received 2 shirts that say "Future Quarterback." And Omar's response was "Of course. With a name like Gunner Bradford, what do you expect?"

So -- no pressure or anything, son, but you kinda DO have a pretty good quarterback name.

We think the football looks good in his hands. We're just sayin'.

His rookie card.

Pass is complete!

His First Cold

Dr. Nash said it would happen right around 3 months old, and it did. Gunner got his first cold after he turned 12 weeks old. He was sneezing and had a little cough. Plus his little nose was running.

I felt so bad for him. All we could do is give him some saline drops in his nose and try to suck out the snot with the booger sucker.

It didn't really seem to affect Gunner at all. He was still very happy and playful. He just sounded congested so it was sort of sad. Poor little baby ...

His little runny nose :(

12 weeks old? What?!?

October 23, 2010 ...

It really is unbelievable. There are no other words for it. Gunner is now 12 weeks old. What's that you say? Yes, 12 weeks. Has it really been that long since our little Gunner entered this world? Seems like the blink of an eye.

Dr. Nash let us know some the milestones we can expect to reach as he approaches 3 months old. He is starting to see in color (which is evident by his increased interest in his colorful toys), he will start smiling and cooing, and he will start holding his head up more and more.

And he is just getting so big!

 

Uh-oh! Time for shots!

September, 29, 2010 ...

Hard to believe, but Gunner has passed the 8-week mark. Unbelievable that he is 2 months old now! And if you didn't know, that also means it's time for his first immunizations.

We went to see Dr. Nash and the nurses at College Park today for his 2-month checkup and the dreaded shots.

G weighed in at 13 pounds, and 23 inches. He is around the 70-ish percentiles in both areas. So he has basically doubled in weight since birth.

He was very brave today when he got his shots. He cried of course, but calmed down soon after and was asleep and seemingly normal by the time we put him in the car. We'll see how he does tonight. Hopefully he stays strong and brave and doesn't fuss too much the rest of the day.

Fashion Show

Gunner has received so many great gifts from family and friends, especially clothes. He is growing so fast though, I am afraid he won't be able to wear them all. I have not yet resorted to playing dress up with him, but here are a few pictures of him wearing some various outfits, just in case he can only wear them once.

 

He has many more to show off. You'll have to wait for the next fashion show to see the pics.

Where's the poop?

For the past week or so, Gunner's digestive systems seems to have slowed down. He goes a few days without a dirty diaper at all! We asked Dr. Nash about it at his 2-month appointment and she said that it was completely normal for babies his age to go several days without a poopy diaper.

We recently introduced some formula into Gunner's diet, so that also could have contributed to the change in BM frequency. It is sort of worrying Jim and me, but I suppose we should be happy that we don't have to wipe up as much poop as we used to!

It wasn't me, it was daddy!

He does still have a lot of farts, and boy he sure does take after his daddy in that department, because they are pretty stinky!

Old Settlers

Every year around Labor Day, there is a celebration in downtown Olathe called Old Settlers. It consists of carnival rides, a parade, antique auto show, arts & crafts, and, more importantly, food. Lots and lots of food that you can only get at carnivals and Renaissance Faires.

Apparently it's been a tradition since 1898. I don't know what the purpose or history is of this Old Settlers, but Jim introduced me to it a couple years back. He said I had to go for a Grange Pup, which is sort of like a corn dog, but with pancake batter instead of corn batter. And yes, it is delicious!

So of course we go back every year, if only for the Grange Pups, Walking Tacos, Funnel Cake and Hawaiian Ice. Ok, so we don't eat all of that, but it is still fun to walk around with your Grange Pup and then toy with the idea of getting a Funnel Cake and maybe a giant turkey leg or corn on the cob.

We also can't leave without getting some swag from Farmers Insurance, or whatever company is giving away coozies. I am a sucker for a free coozie.

We brought Gunner along this year for his very first Old Settlers. I don't think he enjoyed it quite as much as we did. He can't eat the food, he's too young for rides and -- let's face it -- he has no need for swag such as coozies and chip clips.

But we had fun anyway! Maybe next year he will have more fun and stay awake long enough to take in some of the festivities.

Those Grange Pups are calling!

Gunner had so much fun that he couldn't stay awake.

Bath Time

A few weeks back Gunner had his first bath. He seemed to like it very much. He looked a little confused at first, but then relaxed and enjoyed the warm water and being scrubbed by mommy and daddy.

He likes the water sprinkling on his head from the little turtle bath toy. And we gently scrub him down with a froggy washcloth.

Afterward, he is so soft and smells so sweet!

"Where are you going with that froggy?"

All clean! Happy baby!

Waking to the sound of life

(This is a column Jim wrote for the Star/Olathe News after Gunner was born.)

I woke up a week or so ago to some thunder and lightning. It was off in the distance, but you could tell that something was coming.

I rolled over and hit the snooze button. There was no way I could handle this one by jumping right out of bed. I needed to sleep on it with about 10 more minutes of sleep.

I mean, what can prepare you for that first day of junior high better than a few extra minutes of sleep?

Directly in my rear-view mirror was the innocence, and free-spirited days of my youth. Those long days at the swimming pool with no worries. I was taking a right turn off of Easy Street and heading onto the first divided highway of my life.

Then, just a couple of days later, there I was, hearing that alarm again. This time, I was knee deep in my senior year of high school, having the time of my life. I couldn’t wait to get out of bed. There’s no way life could get any better than this. Carefree days with my best friends. We were seniors. We ruled the school, like all seniors, right? It was perfect.

The next morning the sun was shining bright. It was warm, but not one of those sweltering mornings that make you wanna turn right around and stay inside all day. It was a perfect spring morning.

And there I was, cap in hand, with a black graduation gown draped over my right arm. I was just a couple of hours from college graduation. Those carefree days seemed so long ago. I was an adult. I was ready to tackle anything the world had to offer. Bring it on.

Less than a week ago, I woke to an overcast sky and a slight mist. Nothing too bad, just enough to notice. It just kept raining. And just when you thought it would stop, it would pick up just a little bit. It seemed like it had been raining for days. Nothing ever changed. I was on my way to work, but nothing could spoil my day. I was about to cover the football state championship game — again. Who wouldn’t love this job? I was being paid to watch sports and then write about it. Awesome.

A few days later, I woke up with one of the most calming, but weird, feelings I’ve ever had. In a few hours I was going to be married. Married. It was surreal. The most beautiful woman in the world was about to say “I do.” She was going to be my wife. What an amazing feeling. I had it all.

So many brilliant, amazing moments in my life seemed to fly by in a blink of an eye. I go to bed one night and seem to wake up years later.

Then, I woke up yesterday. Suddenly. Abruptly. A light came on and Aisha shook me awake. “It’s time.”

The next few minutes or so were a blur. We loaded the car and were off to the hospital. Yep. That time.

Everything was getting very real. My wife was about to deliver our first child. The hours drifted away slowly and sometimes painfully. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, that gorgeous woman gave birth to the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. He was perfect. All of a sudden, everything I had ever experienced in my life seemed trivial. As my sons life began so did mine, so did Aisha’s. We stopped being husband and wife and became a family.

The flood of emotions that washed over me when I first laid eyes on Gunner James was overwhelming. Too overwhelming for words.

Yesterday, I woke up as a man and went to sleep as a father.

Now, I never want to go to sleep again. I don’t want to miss a second of this.

Day/Night Confusion

Gunner sleeps really well during the day. In fact, that is practically all he does, besides eat and request diaper changes. So in the middle of the night, he seems to think this is play time. Jim and I have had a few sleepless nights trying to get him to sleep after feeding. One of the reasons is that he isn't consistent on where he likes to sleep. Sometimes it's his crib, sometimes a newborn rocker, sometimes it's his swing.

It seems like G has a little bit of day/night confusion. Dr. Nash's suggestion was to keep him awake during the day for at least 15 minutes after he feeds. So we've been trying to do little sponge baths or tummy time after each feeding during the day.

But keeping him awake is easier said than done. He is still pretty young so toys sometimes don't really hold his interest. Here is what happened when I tried to keep him awake with a toy the other day.

What, you think you can keep me awake? Good one.

He fell right asleep with a little smile on his face (or gas in his tummy). So much for keeping him awake! But it was so darn cute I had to give up.

But he's getting better. Last night he went to sleep after each of his feedings and we (read: mommy) was able to sleep in 2-3 hour spans. Which I'll gladly take!

Gruntin' Gunner

Gunner has been quite noisy at times when he is sleeping. We are pretty sure it is the gas in his tummy that makes him grunt and squirm so much. It is very cute, unless it is as 2 a.m.

Bianca also found this out one of the times he was napping during her visit, she was rubbing his feet and he grunted really adamantly, as if to say "Stop it. Get away from me!" She wasn't offended though.

As Jimmy puts it, Gunner is a "noisy get to sleeper." Here is a video of him grunting during one of his naps. You'll have to endure about 20 seconds of a perfect little angel sleeping before the grunting and spit bubbles begin.

New Nursery Decor

While Tante Bianca was here, she thought that Gunner's room could use a little decor. I don't really have the knack for decorating, so I gladly accepted her help. She found some really cute decals at Babies R Us.

They look really cute! Now if I can just get some of Gunner's photos printed and framed ...

What's in a name?

When Aisha and I started thinking about names last winter, we thought it was going to be tough. We each had our “veto” card out and ready. Since we weren’t sure if it was a boy or a girl, we had to be prepared with two names. We threw around a few names, but laughed them off. No way we were going to name a baby boy Mort. And the chance of a girl named Prudence was out of the question.
 
We finally decided to get serious. We threw out a few more before Aisha said, “What about Gunner?”

Hmm. I loved it.

See, it’s not just a catchy name, not just one of those we-have-to-be-different kind of names. The name has some meaning.

When I was born, my dad thought I was a bit of a pistol and since he was a Navy man — having just returned from a tour in Vietnam — he started calling me Gunner. It was a variation of the Navy term gunner’s mate, who was charged with the operation of guided missiles, gun mounts, small arms and the like.

And suddenly, I had a nickname.

My dad called me Gunner for years. Still does, every now and then. What makes the name even more special is the fact that my Uncle Lewis called me Gunner all time. Even called me Gunner the last time I saw before he passed away last November.

Sure, our little Gunner has a unique name. He has a name that not a whole lot of people have heard, but for more than 40 years, it’s a name that has been very familiar to us and very special to our entire family.

No “veto” cards needed. As soon as we said it once, we knew we had a name if we had a son.

Gunner James.

Upcoming 4-Week Milestones

Today is an exciting day. Daddy is going to give Gunner his first bottle because it is almost his 4-week birthday. I'm excited because it means that I won't be the only one who can feed him, and Jim's excited because it will be a great bonding experience just for the guys.

It also means that I am closer to having that ice cold beer that's been waiting for me for more than 9 months!

Also with his 4-week birthday, as long as he is still feeding 8-12 times per day and has the normal amount of wet and dirty diapers, I don't have to wake him up every 3 hours to feed him. Here's hoping he sleeps for longer stretches during the night.

Dr. Nash said that maybe around 4 weeks he will be responsive to our smiles and start to smile back, but it could be as late as 8 weeks. But I think we catch him smiling at us sometimes. It's probably gas, but it's still cute!

Are you smiling? Or just farting?

Show me Blue Steel

Gunner has already had a couple of "photo shoots" in his short (almost) 4-week life. He is a natural.

When we were in the hospital, the hospital photographer took his photo for the Web site. Nan brought a special blue tuxedo for him to wear for his first official picture. It was the same blue tuxedo that Gunner's cousins Cole and Corey wore in their newborn photos.

He's a dapper Dan.

And we soon found out after we brought him home that he likes to give us Blue Steel, and sometimes Magnum. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here you go:

Blue Steel

Magnum

It's from the movie Zoolander. Kind of a stupid movie, but I think it's pretty funny. Ben Stiller is a male model and he names his "looks." Blue Steel and Magnum were a couple of the names of his looks and Gunner does them perfectly!

A Cold Day in August

This morning I went to the dentist. Mom and Bianca kept watch over Gunner. He behaved like a perfect angel, sleeping soundly in his crib the whole time. (Where was this sleeping soundly last night though?!? That's what mommy and daddy want to know!)

It was absolutely gorgeous outside! At 9 a.m. it was 72 degrees. That is a cold day in August here in Kansas. Bianca and I took advantage of the weather and went on another walk with Gunner. We put him in the jogging stroller and he usually drifts off to sleep even though the ride is a little bumpy.

Ready to roll!

 Maybe in the next few weeks I will work up to actually being able to jog with G. Right now though, my body isn't really ready. But in my mind, I am itching to get out there and go on a nice long run with my boy! I got some baby belly to work off.

If you can't tell, he's wearing his favorite Jayhawks onesie.

Tante Bianca Is Here

Gunner finally got to meet his Tante Bianca this week! She was very excited to see her first nephew. She said he is so cute and she loves that new baby smell. She has hardly put him down since she got here, so between her and Oma Dhani being here, I'm getting a nice break!

Oma Dhani and Tante Bianca fight over Gunner.

 

Loving her nephew!

Tante (that is Indonesian for aunt) Bianca is here all the way from San Francisco for a 9-day stretch. Oma Dhani is also here for a week. They have been very helpful, watching Gunner so I can get some sleep during the day, and helping make dinner. But mom is also bad because she wants to eat Chick-Fil-A and BoBo Chinese every day. And I'm sorry Mom, but I just have to say no to that.

Bianca got Jimmy and me 2 months worth of Netflix, since we'll be spending lots of nights at home instead of going out. We haven't gone out lately anyway, but at least now we'll have something else to watch besides Food Network and Cooking Channel on Saturday nights.So thanks to her we won't be bored. Thanks Binky!

With Oma Dhani here, Om "Ramo" (Omar) has also been coming over too. Gunner is getting to spend lots of time with family.

I have been amused by Bianca and Mom's reaction to Baby G. Every time he grunts, farts, spits up or does anything besides sleep, they sort of freak out a little bit. I have to keep telling them that it's all normal. Looks like the new mommy is an old pro now.

One Week Down!

All right, the first week is in the bag! Gunner is doing beautifully well during feeding times. We now have that under control. We are waking him up at least every 3 hours to feed, and sometimes he lets us know before that when he's hungry.

Chillin with daddy.

Sleeping has been pretty inconsistent. He has done some bed hopping lately. One night he does great in his bassinet, one night it's the pack n' play, the next night its the crib. We're just going to have to keep at it until he settles into a routine.

We were thrown a curve ball this week though (literally). Jimmy took a softball to the face on Friday. It busted his lip up pretty badly, and he had to get 13 stitches inside and outside his lip. Ouch! I was pretty worried when I got the call from Ericka. But there was nothing I could do. I was pretty upset when he came home that night. He looked like he was in so much pain. Now I had 2 of my babies to take care of.

After a couple of days, Jimmy healed up really nice and was able to help out again with Gunner at night.

Gunner also had his follow-up appointment with Dr. Nash. He was back up to his birth weight, so it was a good sign that he was eating well. We set our 2-week appointment and then we were off. He did really well at the doctors office. We'll see what happens at next week's appointment.

Some of G's Many Visitors

Gunner has had many visitors so far. Nan and Pa come by at least once a week to see him. Nan needs her Gunner fix! And Jimmy and I appreciate them bringing us dinner a few times too.

Opa Curt came to visit Gunner right around his 1-week birthday. Om Omar (or Om Ramo, which rolls off the tongue better) has been working hard on finishing our basement, so he has been spending time with me and Gunner during the last few days. The basement looks awesome too! Thanks to Omar. He did such a great job. Now we have a place to put most of the stuff that used to be in Gunner's room.

Aunt Nanny also came and stayed the night with us to meet Gunner. She helped us out a lot by bringing us lunch and dinner. Thanks JP! We miss you!

Here are some pictures of some of Gunner's many visitors. He is a popular guy and has such a wonderful family who loves him very much! Get ready for a bunch of pictures of people holding him ...

Anna

Katie

Don

Omar

Allison

Pa

Oma

Nan

Uncle Bill

Cat

Aunt Ericka

Erin

Amanda

Great Grandma Margaret

Emerson

Nancy