Other notable things G is doing:

-His hands have found his mouth!

-His eyes now follow me all around a room

-He can roll from front to back sometimes

-Holds his head at a 90 degree angle on his tummy

-He laughs…at everything.

-Can almost hold his head up 100% when I’m holding him, still a little wobbly.

Notable things for mommy:

-I can change a diaper in under 30 seconds

-I can now tell when G is tired! Go me!

-I can get a hot pan of roasted potatoes out of the oven with one hand and a baby on my hip.

-I have trained Heidi to come back to the door on her own when taking her out to pee. woot!

On to the baby..

Mark was out of town all week this week and did he miss out. This week it was like I had a new baby on my hands. Gus has become so interactive with me. We talk and sing and he just stares and stares at me like I’m the coolest thing on the face of the planet. I love how every thing I do makes him laugh. I’m pretty much a rock star in his eyes, and I’m loving it. He isn’t eating as often which is nice, and getting him down for bed is much easier these days. He’s usually in bed by 8pm (and so am I! ).

Our next big adventure is flying to Austin next week. I’m pretty much terrified but I’ll fill you in with all you ever wanted to know about flying with a baby. Well what do you know, it’s like he knew I was typing. He has awoken. Bye for now!

Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz – >97% !!! (holy fat baby! )

Height: 24 and 1/2 inches – 95 % (holy tall baby!)

Head: I can’t remember this one, I think 39 cm? But it was 50% .

Sorry for lack of blogging. I’m not even going to pretend like I have my stuff together because obviously I don’t. In between taking care of this VERY active baby, Heidi dog, chemistry lab work, and family visitors I have had about zero time for anything else.

Let’s see milestones…

-Gus weighed 15 lbs at our last Cuddlers group weigh in.

-Gus rolls over from his tummy to his back! Such a strong man. He continues to hold his head up like a champ.

-Still breastfeeding exclusively.

-Still not much of a napper but will sleep through the night now til sometimes 8am! Usually 2 feedings at night. Goes down from 8pm-10pm usually.

-Gus started his Music Together class which he LOVES!! He is so happy and engaged for the full 45 minutes. Hard to believe that something can keep his attention that long. All the older kids in the class (1 year old + ) are just fascinated with him. It’s hilarious. Especially the little girls, they all want to “pet the baby”.

My parents and sister came for a visit. We went to the Alaska Beer and Barleywine Fest. Gus enchanted them all and they fell under his sweet love spell.

We went on our first hike with the Taiga Trekkers, mommy/baby hiking group.

Such a fun group. I try to keep busy with little G and get him out for an activity at least once a day. We do: Cuddlers group, Taiga Trekkers, Music Class, Mommy/Baby yoga, lunch dates with other babe friends, and story time at the library. As he gets older I am going to start taking him to the zoo and the museum but for now he likes what we’re doing.

Tomorrow we have G’s 2 month check up + his first set of vaccination. Going to be tough but it’s for the best. I’ll update with his percentile stats.

As far as my working out status. I’m still walking mostly. I’m determined to find the time to run though and with Alaska racing season on the horizon (starts in April) I must get on the ball. No time to write more, Ciao amici!

A few pictures from Grandpa Jim’s visit:
Some news!:

1) I registered for the Mayors Half Marathon here in Anchorage. It’s not until June but gives me plenty of training time. Goal is a 1:50 (PR).

2) I got my acceptance letter from the UAA Nursing School! Downside, it’s the only nursing school in the state so the wait list is very long. My start date is scheduled for Fall 2012   Because of this I’m also applying to another nursing school in Texas. I apply this spring though. So… I have a while until I’ll know if I’m accepted to that one.

Gus News:

Baby boy is losing his hair!! I have read this is common in newborns but I’m so sad that his soft hair is falling out. G is now 5 weeks old. I cannot believe how time is flying. We weighed him on our bathroom scale a few days ago and it said 12.5 pounds. Holy cow!!! He is a chunky boy. I’ll weigh him on the baby scale at the next Cuddlers group meetup. Our frustrations lie with his night time fussiness episodes. He refuses to eat at night and gets even fussier and it just builds and builds. I think he gets irritated because this is when my milk production is at the lowest. I always pump in the mornings to save milk for a bottle feeding during this period, however, our next problem lies in the fact that he HATES the bottle. I mean HATES! He also hates pacifiers. I have tried four brands so far. None of which he likes and yesterday I went out and bought some rapid/fast flow nipples for one of the bottle brands, and some latex nipples for another brand. The latex ones are said to feel more like the breast than the silicone nipples. One mama suggested I try a sippy cup. That it was the only thing that worked for her baby. Another mama with the same problem said she had to resort to spoon feeding the milk to her baby or using a regular cup! I never thought I’d run into these problems exclusively breast feeding.

The other challenge lies in the fact that G hates sleeping on his back. He’ll only sleep in his bouncy seat, swing, or in bed with me because he can be on his side. You can get him in the deepest sleep ever but the second you set him on his back his eyes FLY open and he starts screaming. The pediatrician just tells me to let him cry it out. He must sleep on his back. But he’s only 5 weeks old and it just breaks my heart.

Positives: We can hold him up and he puts weight on his legs. He will follow my face. He can hold up his head on his own now. Still a little wobbly but he can do it. He is incredibly strong and wants so badly to be independent and stand, crawl on his own. I think he starting to smile and hope to catch a picture of that soon. Here’s the chunky monkey in all his glory:

Gus 5 weeks, Jan 1, 2011

We rang in 2010 with Steve and Brittany!
January:
I went to the Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival while Mark was training for work in Houston:
Heidi graduated from obedience school!
February:
Mark started putting in our new hard wood floors!

March:
Staci came to visit!

and I found out I was pregnant with Baby G!

teeny bump!

April:

I ran the Heart Run 5K with little G at six weeks along.

May:

We visited Houston, camped at Lake Louis, and went dip netting for salmon on the Kenai!

The Boucher Family at the Butterfly Garden - Houston Museum

June:

My parents and cousin Zac visited and we went halibut fishing
Also Mark ran the Mayors Half Marathon and ran the 5.6 miler!

August:

Mark and I went on our Babymoon in Kauai and I visited San Antonio & Houston for my baby showers. I ate more snocones than should ever be allowed.
September we went blueberry picking in Hatchers Pass and I started ballooning up.

October:

Heidi got dressed up for Halloween

Wonder Woman!

November:

The love of our lives was born on the 27th. Augustus Everett
December:

He’s already a month old! He’s growing so fast and continues to amaze us every single day.
HAPPY NEW YEARS all!! Hope 2011 is as blessed as 2010 was…

Milestones:

He is holding up his head at a 45 degree angle while on his tummy. He can hold it at 90 degrees for a few seconds.

He can put a little pressure on his legs when you hold him in a standing position.

He still never sleeps! Especially on his back. He hates being on his back but we’re working on that. He’s doing better at night. Last night he actually slept from 1am – 5am. New record.

He loves going walking in the Ergo carrier, hates the Moby wrap but I’m going to keep trying. I think I just don’t have the technique down yet.

He loves his activity mat from Aunt Judy and Uncle Terry. So funny to watch him on it.

No smiling when I look at him yet, only in his sleep still. I can’t wait for that day though.

Goings on:
We’re doing our first hike with the Taiga Trekkers this week out at the O’Malley Trailhead. Warmer temps are upon us. Hooray! (about 15-20 degrees when I say warm).
Sorry these aren’t the best quality. They are from my iphone. Okay baby crying must run!

Baby G is doing well. He gave us the best Christmas present ever and had a fabulous night last night. He didn’t fuss at all and only woke us up 3 times to feed. Glorious!

Grandad Jim is here and he and Mark fixed our door to our garage that was broken and leaking frigid air. He also finished up the bathroom remodel by fixing the exhaust fan. I’m going to be sad when Mark goes back to work again on Monday. It’s so nice to have him at home. I have some great posts coming up so stay tuned.

For those of you in Alaska… STAY WARM!

Sums up my feelings exactly!