Gabriel's 4 Month Well Baby Appointment

On Wednesday afternoon, Michael and I took Gabriel to his pediatrician office for his 4 month well baby appointment and immunizations. Gabriel was 16 weeks and 2 days old. He weighed 13 lbs and 14 ounces, which is still the 50th percentile for his age. And he was in the 75th percentile for his head circumference and height. The nurse practitioner reports he is growing consistently and right on schedule. Gabriel has had a cough for a week now, which came either from Daddy or the little 12 month old girl in day care. And he seems to be developing a cold on top of the cough since his nose and eyes are runny and goopy now too. I've been told that this is par for starting day care and being exposed to all of the new bugs. The good news is that his double ear infections seem to have resolved. Gabriel again took his shots like a trooper. He calmed down quickly. He goes for his 6 month appointment and shots at the end of June.

After the appointment, Gabriel and Mommy hung out at the hospital for a while. We filled a prescription at the pharmacy, visited the Human Resources staff, and checked out the lactation room. We stayed on the campus because there was a reunion for babies recently born at The Family Place. It was nice to see other babies and their Mommies and Daddies. We saw some babies from the Baby Steps classes we use to be able to attend before Mommy's return to work. And most exciting was we finally got to meet Jaxson and his mom, Alison. Alison and I took prenatal pool exercise classes together before we had the boys. We plan to set some play dates for the future.

Karen's Green Message on Earth Day

My friend Karen Rix had a lovely letter to the Concord Monitor published on Earth Day all about the original green group- The Girl Scouts. Check out the article here.

Happy Easter!!

Gabriel makes one cute, fuzzy bunny! The dogs are quite happy that Mommy has taken to dressing up the boy rather than them these days.

The Easter Bunny brought a huge pile of loot for the whole family. I think the Easter Bunny forgot that Gabriel doesn't eat anything but breast milk right now. So Mommy is working hard at eating the supply of sugar and chocolate that The Bunny left off. Hope the Easter Bunny came to your house too!

Mommy, Daddy and Gabriel went to the Egg Shell Restaurant in Loudon to have Easter breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Abberton, and Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Norm. And then we went and hung out at Grandma and Grandpa Abberton's house for a leisurely visit to allow our breakfasts to digest. It was Gabriel's first visit to Grandma and Grampa Abberton's house.

And if that wasn't enough Easter excitement, we went to Lowe's where Mommy and Daddy bought a new fridge while Gabriel napped in his car seat in the shopping carriage. We will get delivery of the new fridge as early as next Sunday.

Over The Mountain And Through The Woods...

... to Grandmother's house we go! Gabriel made his first trek to Nana and Papa's house on Saturday. Gabriel slept the whole way to Vermont. When we got to Nana and Papa's, he stayed up for 3 and a half hours. He spent the time smiling at Nana and Papa, playing with his Easter balloon, sucking on the ears of his new bunny, and learning how to run the remote. He tried not to, but he did eventually pass out. And Mommy and Daddy loaded him back in the car at that point and drove home. The round trip makes for a long day, but we hadn't been to Vermont since November.

Gabriel's First Fundraiser

Gabriel will be joining me for this year's Rock 'n Race in Concord on May 20th. We will walk 5 kilometers with thousands of other people in order to raise money for The Payson Center for Cancer Care at Concord Hospital. I have participated in this 5K for many years- as a volunteer, a runner and a walker. Well, minus the one year is was raining and I chickened out. Human Resources puts a team together and I plan to push Gabriel in his stroller. It's my favorite 5K ever since there is music and food along the pathway. If you'd like to sponsor Gabriel and I for the Rock 'n Race, please visit our fundraising web page. This year, donations can be made directly on-line. Or, we will be happy to accept donations the old-fashioned way too. Gabriel and I are happy that it's getting warm enough to start our walking training program.

double ear infections

Gabriel had his first non-routine appointment with Concord Pediatrics on Wednesday. He had a fever over the weekend that Tylenol took care of, once we figured out he had a fever. By Monday, he started rubbing his ear against his car seat and bouncy seat. By Tuesday night, it was clear that Gabriel was having discomfort trying to nurse. So on Wednesday morning, I took Gabriel to the pediatrician. The diagnosis was double ear infections. Poor boy! We were instructed to give him Tylenol and Ibuprofen alternately. The two medicines seemed to keep him comfortable enough to sleep and keep him from being grumpy thankfully.

11 Weeks and 5 Days Old

Parents told me when I was pregnant to enjoy every minute with the baby, as the time will go so fast. It certainly does! I have finished my eligible time out of work under the Family Medical Leave Act and will be returning to work on Monday, March 30th. I have already started picking through work e-mail's via remote access just so I am not as overwhelmed when I return on Monday.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has grown so fast! He has some outfits that are 6 months sized that he can wear now, and he will most certainly start the summer off in 6 month clothing. He is also going to bed in his crib now. It only took about a week to transition him from our bed to his crib. Unfortunately, it does make for a more disruptive sleep for Mom and Dad than we have had for the last several weeks. If Gabriel stirs or needs his pacifier popped back in, we have to get up and out of bed and go to his room now. And Gabriel has to get uncomfortable enough that he makes noises that can be heard on the baby monitor in order to tell us he needs a minor adjustment. Gabriel pushes himself around on his mattress with his strong legs, and even can flip himself onto his side now. These movements tend to set off his Angel alarm, which of course makes us go running into his room to make sure he is still breathing. Gabriel doesn't need to be swaddled anymore in order for him to settle down at night, though he does still fight going to sleep as if he doesn't want to miss anything. Usually by 9:30 pm as of late, Gabriel is ready to go to bed and for the most part he will sleep through until morning. He starts to sleep lighter and wake up around 4:30 am like clock work, but will sleep in a snoozing pattern with a little intervention. Considering everything, he's a good sleeper, which I think is the whole key to enjoying maternity leave. I can't imagine taking care of an infant completely exhausted all the time. We have also noticed that Gabriel seems to be losing some of his hair off the top of his head, but not in the back yet. And his eyes are not as blue as they were when he was born. There are some flecks of brown in there now, but the blue isn't totally gone. I have given up hope though that he'd get Daddy's pretty light blue eyes. Gabriel still hates tummy time, but we do insist he tries it every day. Maybe his day care providers will take on the challenge of getting him to do tummy time so we don't have to make him cry during our precious few hours that we will have him home at night on work days.

This is a photo of our boy this morning, snoozing in our bed. He put himself on his side and was soothing himself with his pacifier.

Big plans for this weekend include enjoying the beautiful weather forecasted for today, and maybe heading to Babies R Us to look into a jumpy seat and/or an exercise play center for Gabriel to start using in the upcoming month. He has strong legs and I know he will love a jumpy seat.

Gabriel's Two Month Appointment

We took Gabriel to his pediatrician's office today for his 2 month appointment. He was a very good boy. He weighs 12 pounds and 12 ounces now, which is the 50th percentile for his age. And he is 24.5 inches long, the 75th percentile for height according to the ARNP that examined him. Charts I found on the internet show that he is more between the 75th and 90th percentile for his height. Either way, I am still not sure where the height is coming from. And his head is 16.5 inches in circumference, which is between the 75th and 90th percentile for his head size. The big noggin comes from Daddy. Gabriel was a trooper for his vaccines- three shots in the thighs and a liquid vaccine he took orally. He did cry when he got his shots, but he was soothed quickly. The photo of Daddy and Gabriel was taken in the exam room before he got shots. Gabriel slept most of the morning following his appointment. He had a low grade fever in the early afternoon that Tylenol took care of. And he's a bit cranky this evening, not that I blame him. He doesn't seem to be sore, but those were awfully big needles in comparison to his little legs. I am finding that the new temporal thermometer is a lot more convenient than the old fashioned rectal thermometer.

Gabriel's First Day in Child Care

Michael and I dropped Gabriel off at Precious Angels Childcare & Enrichment Center this morning just after 7 am for his first trial day of day care. Because he is going to the center so early in the morning, Gabriel gets left off in a communal room until enough kids come to break off into the age appropriate rooms a little later. So drop off is a bit chaotic. Gabriel was asleep when we left him, so he did fine with the separation. Mommy had a little melt down in the lobby though. I felt bad about "wasting" a day of maternity leave with Gabriel by putting him in day care. But I am glad to have all of the emotion behind me now rather than trying to deal with it on Monday in addition to my return to work. Gabriel was apparently pleasant on his first day, though, Katelin called by 3 pm to say he had already eaten all of the breast milk I sent with him. So he had a fourth bottle of formula to make it through the day. Gabriel goes again on Thursday for his second trial day, and then he is full time on March 30th- the day Mommy returns to work. I can't believe how fast the 12 weeks have gone.