Busy, turning a corner, visitors

Let's see. I haven't posted an update in a while.

Just after Garrett's one month appointment, he caught a little virus that had us visiting the doctor daily for 4 days. His fever didn't go much about 100 degrees, but since he is still so little and young, the docs always want to be as cautious as possible. His sleep definitely regressed during this period and he was more lethargic than usual during the night. If he had been one week younger they would have automatically admitted him to the hospital for two nights. I'm glad we just made it out of that window. He seemed to rally through the illness with little issue and I suspect that he will end up having an even more rock solid immune system than his sister given that he is exposed to tons of germs (from his sister) every day.

Then Jo and Bob (Pop pop and Nana) came for a visit. They were both here for 4 days and then Jo stayed on for an additional 6 days. It was great to get some grandparental help around the house and I think they enjoyed getting to know their grandson.

Garrett is doing really well and seems to be getting more chill by the day. He has fussy moments, and usually it's at its worst during dinner, but he is SO so much easier than his big sister that it seems downright easy to take care of him. The days that it's just he and I are wonderful and I get to fully enjoy spending time with the little fella. I feel like I am finally getting the newborn/infant experience that I wanted. Yeah! He is still gassy and you can tell that it's gas that's bothering him a lot of the time. From what I hear this almost always resolves itself by 4 months, sometimes between 8 and 12 weeks. Hopefully for his sake it will resolve sooner than later.

Garrett spits up and pukes more than Delaney did, which leads me to believe he inherited more of his dad's stomach. Delaney almost never spit up or puked and has also avoided a lot of the stomach ailments that have plagued a lot of her classmates. This is similar to my typically rock solid gut. But Garrett... just last night I was feeding him and noticed he was having a particularly good feed. Well, just after having thought that I got a few cups of recently drank breastmilk regurgitated all over me, the boppy, him and the couch. Since Kevin generally has a more sensitive stomach I think maybe they are more similar.

Halloween was great. Delaney seemed to relish in trick or treating, and especially liked going down to Pearl Street where a lot of the storefronts open up to kid trick or treaters and the place is jam packed with kids in costume. She was Elmo this year and I hope to post some pics soon.

Delaney is still as feisty as ever and can be a handful when it's just the three of us. While Nana was here I got to get out with just her and enjoy a few mornings of girl bonding which was fun. She is still way more emotional than usual and we are getting a bit more tantrums and acting out than we used to, I sure hope that will start to settle down soon. I can tell she loves her little brother and is always trying to help me take care of him by bringing him pacifiers, blankets, spit up rags, her toys, etc. It's very sweet but I definitely have to keep an eye on her around him because sometimes she gets a bit overzealous in her affection and caretaking.

My parents are due here in Boulder tomorrow for a quick 3-day visit. I am thrilled to have my mom back and my dad gets to meet Garrett for the first time. I have a bunch of projects queued up for my dad and we are also planning on getting out for dinner and on a separate night, a movie. I definitely miss going to movies. I have also scheduled a massage, a nail appointment and a few trips to the gym. Woo-hoo, I will definitely get some great "me" time this week.

We still have yet to get our first snow in Boulder, although there have been a few days where it threatened. They said on the news the record latest day for snow here is November 15 and we are potentially poised to break it this year. I can't say I'm complaining.

Garrett's sleep has improved enormously since we put him in his own room. He took a step back when we had to put him back in our room because of our visitors, but I was relieved to see that as soon as he got his own room back he started to put in some good straight hours of sleep again. On Saturday night he slept for 6.5 straight hours. And then 3.5 hours after that stretch, which meant I was only up once with him in the middle of the night. I am hoping this means he will be as good of a nighttime sleeper as his sister. It does seem clear that him having his own quiet space makes a difference. With those kind of good sleep nights it feels like we are turning a bit of a corner on the newborn daze.

I think that's most of my update and hopefully now that out visitor schedule is settling down I'll be able to get back on here more and post some pics and updates. Today's project is finishing Garrett's birth announcement.