Getting back to work

This is the fourth time I've tried to do this post....my stupid old computer keeps shutting off for an unknown reason. So I'm not sure how much I'll write.....

Last week was my first week back to work, and Gus's first week at day care. Everything is going well so far for both of us. The day care people like Gus because all he does is sleep. He's been sleeping really well at night too (about 7.5 hours at a time) so we certainly can't complain!!! Work for me has been fine....I eased myself back in last week but this week will be mostly full days. I'm grateful for the lists I made telling me what I needed to do when I came back to work, but its still a little overwhelming. I'll catch up eventually.
I've been really bad about taking pictures of Gus lately. He's smiling a lot more often, and he's discovered his tongue, so I have a few new pictures of that.

He was so excited and smiley here he almost looks like he's cheering :)


Hanging out with dad


I'm so cute when I smile


Here's my tongue!!


Jackie and Allen closed on their house in Glen Carbon on Friday, so we spent a good amount of the weekend at their house helping out. Sunday everyone helped with painting the bedroom and living room, and Monday the new laminate floor went in the living room. They'll probably start moving this weekend. Gus will be so sad when Aunt Jackie moves back to Illinois!

Mom painting in the bedroom


Dad painting in the living room


All the guys at work painting


Kevin gets started on the flooring


All done! Just a few more trim pieces needed....


Not much else going on. I'm done with the two baby blankets I was making for my friend Heather's twin boys (and I got them done before the babies came - woohoo!) so now I'm working on a sweater. Things go so much more slowly now with Gus around, but hopefully I'll finish this short sleeved fall sweater before its too cold to wear. We shall see.....

Time is running out!

I can't believe this is my last week at home! There were so many things I had wanted to do that are obviously not going to happen, but I guess that's ok.
The weather has been blissful here lately (highs in the upper 70s to low 80s!!), so Gus and I have been getting out for some nice walks. Friday we went downtown to check out the new City Garden. Its this new sculpture garden that opened last month, and it was really cool. There were a lot of people there, especially people with kids playing in this one fountain and splash plaza. Its just good to see people downtown that aren't working or going to a Cards game. Here are some of the pictures I took there:






Saturday Gus got to meet Anna June, who is exactly 3 weeks older than Gus. Emily and I went with the kids to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, and then for a walk in Troy park. Here are the kids in their car seats:



Last week also was Gus's 6 week pediatrician appointment. He was 11 lb 14 oz (75 percentile) and 23.5 inches long (90 percentile). He got 3 shots and an oral vaccine, and he did very well with that. He needs to go back again at 10 weeks, I had no idea they had to go so friggin often!

We have a very busy week this week. Today I have to go to campus to meet with a guy that organizes courses for Wash U's U College - I'm going to teach a plant physiology class this spring thanks to my friend Mary who used to teach it and recommended me to replace her. So that will be interesting. Tomorrow I have to go to Wash U to do some moss work, so mom is coming over to watch Gus. Wednesday we have $4 tickets to the Cards game with Jackie and Allen, and Thursday I'm going to the 'Garden Nights' deal at the botanical gardens before they're over.....I guess they have a winery that offers tastings and then I think there's music too or something. So that sounds fun. Friday through Sunday are still open I think, so there will be at least some opportunities for downtime before I have to go back to work next Monday. Its just crazy how fast the time has passed!

Time to feed the kid, and then we're going to enjoy the last day of nice weather and take a nice long walk in Tower Grove Park.

Smiles, great-godmothers and the brewery

First of all, my dogs are cute.





Gus has started smiling relatively often! I still haven't captured it with my camera, but have gotten a few blurry pictures with my phone. He has dimples just like daddy.



Gus and his friend Satchel




Other than that, Gus has been pretty busy. On Friday, we went on the Anheuser Busch brewery tour with Lauren, Erin, Mike, Max, and Mike's parents.

Baby's first brewery tour...



Collars up :) Mike and Max (and Erin) were all dressed preppy for the day



Erin, Lauren and I



We also headed to Illinois for the day Saturday. Gus got to meet some more of Kevin's family....aunts, uncles, and cousins....and got to meet Kevin's godmother for the first time. Then we went to Grantfork for the homecoming parade, and Gus also got to meet my godmother along with lots of people from church that were excited to see him.

Not much on the calendar for this week except for doctors appointments for both me and Gus.....I'm anxious to see how much he weighs now! Only two more weeks til I have to go back to work....

A few new pictures

Gus and I have been busy getting out and around. He's been to both Wash U and the Danforth Center to meet everyone. He also made it to the last two wednesday night concerts at the gardens - my favorite St. Louis summer event. We've also started making regular use of the stroller. So far I've attempted to walk both dogs (separately) while pushing the stroller, and both dogs are annoying in opposite ways. Satchel is so slow and needs to be pulled a lot, while Lucy is ridiculous and basically pulled us. I can't decide whether to keep alternating dogs when walking or give up on them.....I would think Lucy has to get better at walking, right?
Gus has also started using his bouncy seat and his activity mat more often. Yesterday we gave 'tummy time' a try as well....Gus moved his head around but was pretty mad after about 5 minutes. Today we're heading to my mom's house to print out baby announcements, finally, so you can look forward to that. I have to wait for the gas people to come and inspect something though, and they're coming between 7:30 and noon.....please come sooner than later!
Oh, and both dogs barfed last night. Yay. I wonder what they got into....

Bouncy seat


At the gardens with dad


Wearing the cute Arabidopsis shirt Agnes made


on the activity mat

Busy Weekend

We've all had a busy few days. Jenny, Charlie, and John flew in on Thursday, which was also John's first birthday. That evening we had dinner at our house - ribs, potatoes, and peach cobbler made from home-grown peaches....delicious.

Gus is wide awake to meet his cousin, aunt, and uncle



The Wilkins family



On Friday, Jenny, Charlie, John, and mom came over to St. Louis. In the morning we went to Tower Grove Park and walked around a little bit. I love that place.

Sisters and cousins



Gus doesn't mind riding in his stroller.



After TGP, we had lunch at Bread Co. Gus had his first poop-out-of-the-diaper-in-public incident, so that was fun. Then we went back to my house so John could take a nap. He ended up napping for almost 3 hours, so we didn't make it anywhere else. But it was nice hanging out with everyone.

On Saturday, we headed to Salem IL for my cousin's wedding. Gus got to meet my mom's side of the family for the first time, including Great Grandma Lovekamp. He was pretty good all afternoon and evening, so I guess everything went well.

Aunt Jenny and Gus. Kevin decided to get into this picture too for some reason. Why can he never smile for a picture when I want him in the picture??



Cousins. I think John is pointing at Gus in almost every picture they are in together.



John is so cute! His eyes are so pretty!



Sunday we went to June's and had lunch with her and Matt for her birthday, which was Saturday. Gus got to go to 9th Street Cafe for the third time (I think its the only restaurant he's ever been to in Highland). Then we spent some time at June's house before heading to my mom's for John's first birthday party.

I made John a sweater for his birthday that will hopefully fit this winter.



Singing Happy Birthday to John



Nothing much happened on Monday. Gus and I went over to my mom's house, and we all went to Edwardsville for a little shopping with Grandma Lovekamp. Jenny and Charlie didn't leave til yesterday, but I had work to do at home. So I stayed home and made a cake for a baby shower, and I canned tomatoes - 10 quarts and 1 pint - not too shabby for a city garden!!! I'm sure there will be more to come though!

Baby Burrito

Let's see if this works....

Mom and dad gave us a flip video camera so we can capture everything Gus does. Obviously, newborns don't do a whole lot that is worth taking video of....so we've had the camera for more than a week and I didn't even try it out. But I finally realized I could try to capture the cutest thing Gus does do. We swaddle him at night, so whenever I undo the velcro to get him out, he always stretches his arms out really cute. Here it is, if it works....

A week with lots of firsts

I'm sorry, I've been lazy about posting anything this week. In general I haven't taken as many pictures, because obviously Gus doesn't do too much, so I could take pictures of is really his cute clothes every day.
But we had a busy week. Gus went to the doctor for his 2 week appt, at the time he was up to 9 lb 7.5 oz, so by now I'd guess he's hitting 10 lbs. Mom came to go to the pediatrician with us, and we also went to the mall where Gus got to ride in his stroller for the first time. I also had to go to the doctor this week; she thought my incision looked good so now I just have to go back in another 4 weeks and I should be completely back to normal by then (I hope). Jessica came to go to that appointment with us, and we went to the mall too and Gus and I used the BabyBjorn for the first time. I realized after the fact that might not have been the best idea for my incision because it hurt a bit more the next day, but not too bad. So maybe I'm not using that again for another week or so.
Let's see, what else..... Gus's umbilical cord fell off early last week, so now he's got a normal belly button. He got his first real bath as a result. He also had his first bottle, which went just fine. Saturday, Kevin, Jessica, Gus and I went to the cactus show at the gardens, and Kevin tried out the BabyBjorn (and I'm sad I didn't get a picture).....I think he enjoyed carrying Gus around. Yesterday we went to Illinois to take Gus to meet Erin, and her friends had organized a welcome home party.
I'm sure lots of other things happened too, but I can't remember. But here are a few pictures from the last week.

I'm knitting again, but Gus has been fussy during the day unless he's being held....this is the compromise.



Wide eyed in a cute outfit



First bath - he seemed to enjoy it after getting past the initial confusion



All cleaned up!



At Erin's party - Emma held Gus for awhile (until her arms were tired, about 2 minutes....)



This week will surely be exciting, because Jenny, Charlie and John are coming! Only 3 more days until Gus can meet his aunt, uncle, and cousin!