Happy New Year to all of my followers!

Strrrreeetch

We continue to have to swaddle Calvin so he can sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a time. Sometimes I feel bad for him because he wants to move his arms and can fight the swaddle after being in it. I think a lot of the grunts and groans I hear in the middle of the night is him trying to break free! Tough love begins early I suppose. Upon unswaddling he immediately throws his arms up and begins his stretching routine. I do not think gravity applies to his arms sometimes! I look forward to the day when I can rock him to sleep and not worry about swaddling but I'm sure that will be a bittersweet day as well. It will mean my baby is no longer "new" any more. It's amazing how fast they grow. Everyone is right! Below I've included pictures of him in "the swaddle" since he's been born and then some pictures of a stretching session.

Calvin and Friends

Calvin has had lots of people come to visit him in the last 7 weeks. Mark and I have never had so many people interested in coming to visit us before! We have enjoyed the company and Calvin has certainly enjoyed the attention. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of all the visitors but will in good time. Calvin has started smiling more and we even catch the occasional laugh. He weighed in at a hefty 11 pounds yesterday. He gained almost a full pound in 10 days -- I guess there is something to be said about the 6 week growth spurt! I included pictures of some of our friends with Calvin below.

Tara, my friend from work

Cindy, another friend from work

The Moore family came to visit all the way from New Mexico on their way to KY. I worked with Rich and Kelli during my summers at Glorieta. I had not seen them in 9 years -since my wedding. It was so good to see them and catch up!

My best friend Angela came to visit from Lubbock around Calvin's 3 week birthday. She helped me start to get out of the house, showed me the art of swaddling, and helped a lot around the house. I always enjoy seeing and spending time with her.

Our good friends Bert, Brandi and their daughter Bailey came to visit. They grilled steaks for us and we had a nice evening.

Karan, my sister-in-law's mother

We met my good friend Joey-Michelle for lunch at the Sushi restaurant. It was my first lunch outing! I am starting to become more adventuresome.

Nancy, my mother-in-law's good friend brought me and my mother-in-law Chinese food for lunch. She also gave us Calvin's first Polo onesie!

Mover and Shaker

Calvin is a very active baby. Since he has been born it became very apparent to me why I was so uncomfortable the last month of my pregnancy. I know that's why he came 10 days early because he simply ran out of room! This baby boy is in constant motion and must be swaddled to sleep a decent amount of time. His jerky movements wake him up or he gets super frustrated he cannot keep his hands/fists in his mouth. It breaks my heart a little as he tries so hard but simply does not have the coordination yet. I also know I am going to be in trouble when he starts moving as he probably will never stop! The first video shows him moving quite a bit in his bouncy chair. The second video shows the calming power of a pacifier. You can tell his body is more relaxed but his hands still move quite a bit.

First Restaurant Outing

We took Calvin on his first restaurant outing with some friends to Taste of Texas last night. This particular place is about 45 minutes from our house and I was hesitant on how it might go. Calvin seemed to be entering his 6 week growth spurt and was eating very often. All my worry was for nothing though as Calvin sat happily at the table with us and hardly even cried. He was quite interested with the new environment and looked very intently all around. His pacifier also seemed to bring him comfort and kept him calm. I now am a believer in the pacifier for this child! I was hesitant in the beginning because I didn't want it to cause any feeding issues which it has not. It really seems to relax his whole body and he does not use it very often.

Last night was also another first. We put Calvin down to sleep at 9:30 and went to bed a little after 10:00 and I was fully expecting to wake up by midnight to feed him. I woke up at 1:00 worried I had not heard him but he was still snoozing away. I laid back down fully expecting him to stir any time and dozed off. When I heard him I thought it was only a few minutes later and was shocked to see it was 3:00. I got about 5 hours of sleep in a row! I thought maybe he would be wide awake after eating but he fell right back to sleep even through a diaper change and didn't wake up again until 6:00. I do not know if we will get a repeat tonight but it would be nice! Perhaps there is more sleeping at night on the horizon.

Below is a video clip from a few weeks ago. Calvin seems very calmed when Mark blows on his face. He has the same response almost every time!

Family with Calvin

Uncle Grant and Aunt Lauren
Grandma
Papa and Memaw
Our first family picture

This was Calvin's first picture taken right after he was born.

Calvin Rolls Over

On June 30th Calvin rolled over from his tummy to his back during "tummy time" on his activity mats. He did it two times and then I caught him on video the next day. He hasn't had a repeat since but we know he can do it!