First Bismarck Trip

We took Gregory up to Bismarck last weekend for his Grandpa Mike's ordination as a deacon. We finally made it after our trip was delayed several hours by a bout of the stomach flu - apparently it has been going around - I suffered with it Friday and Dan and Coralie had it on Monday. Greg even threw up a couple times, but fortunately he didn't seem too upset by it and was otherwise fine. Anyway, Greg got to meet a LOT of Fix and Hogan family members including Aunt Kim and Grandpa Rod for the first time! Boy does he have a lot of 2nd cousins too!

We all had a great time and the ordination was wonderful. However, we did have a little scare at the rehearsal. Gregory tumbled right off a chair head first onto the marble floor of the Cathedral! I think I scooped him up before he actually hit the floor, as he did not have a bump or red mark, but we were both scared and he screamed for a couple minutes. I am sure it is the first of many falls, but it did come a little sooner than I expected I guess. I guess he is his father's son - Dan fell off a table when he was small and broke his arm! And then, one night at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Coralie's house, he rolled over from tummy to back about 5 times in a row, but when Grandma came to see, he got shy and wouldn't do it anymore! Between that and the chair incident, I think I'd better not leave him alone anywhere he could get into trouble from now on! Time to start baby-proofing!

He did a little better on the drive - he seems to be starting to learn that it is best to just sleep in the car. Hopefully this becomes a trend, but I'm not holding my breath for that. It was probably because he was still tired from that stomach bug...

Well I switched to a new photo website that doesn't cut off the pics in the slideshow. However, it does have a limit to how many pics can be in one slideshow, so if there are a lot, you get two! Enjoy!

3 months old!!

It is hard to believe Gregory's already 3 months old. The time is just flying, but it also seems like he has always been here! He has grown and developed so much in the last month.

It astounds us how much longer he is - I had to remove the newborn insert from his baby bathtub - now he loves to kick in the water. He is also surprisingly heavy when you lift him. People comment that he is small, but he is solid and his belly and thighs are as chubby as can be! I think maybe he just looks smaller because he doesn't carry his weight in his face.

He has also been working on his motor skills. He's now an expert at getting his hands into his mouth and has become rather fond of sucking his left thumb. He is holding toys better and gets them into his mouth most of the time too. He was working on rolling over from tummy to back this morning and *almost* did it! He did move himself across his blanket and got the toy he wanted. He's getting better at batting hanging toys with his hands too, in addition to kicking.

But the most fun thing he's doing now is having conversations! He is a very vocal boy, always sharing his feelings and thoughts about things. He loves to talk and will engage in witty banter with anyone willing to chat! Its pretty darn cute to exchange oohs and aahs with him.

He is generally very happy and smiles easily, even at strangers. His favorite person is Daddy, though - he always has a smile for Daddy! He still hates the car, though it seems he may be getting just a little better...we still don't know exactly what the problem is - we have no idea why he cries some times and not other times.

We have been doing a lot of traveling, as we always do in the fall, and aside from the car, Gregory is an easy traveller. Next weekend we're off to Bismarck, ND, for Grandpa Mike's ordination as a deacon...that will be the longest trip so far, but we'll get to introduce Gregory to the rest of the Fix clan for the first time, including Aunt Kim!!


3 mths

NEWBORN PICS ONLINE!!!

Our professional newborn pictures have been put online for your viewing and ordering pleasure. Go to http://www.amberandrobclients.com/mp_client/login.asp?eventid=32052&eventstatus=0&categories=no&keywords2=yes&groupid=0&bw=true&sep=false&ckw=true. The password for our file is "Gregory" - let me know if you have any trouble getting in. THE GALLERY WILL ONLY BE ONLINE UNTIL OCTOBER 6TH. You can order prints online as well. Just to let you know, we received the prints we ordered and they are absolutely beautiful in real life! They come enhanced, mounted and coated, and ready to pop into a frame of your choice.

Back to work...

Well I have started up again with both of my jobs. The RESPECT shows are no big deal because I don't have to be gone too long. We have some gracious friends who don't seem to mind looking after Gregory during those times, so I guess he'll just bounce between them when I'm scheduled. However, my biology class takes me away from home for about 5 hours, which Gregory does not seem to be too happy about. Tonight he only slept 30 minutes during that time, and only ate about 1 oz. He is apparently not very good at taking a bottle despite our attempts to introduce it to him at the right time. He was starving and exhausted when I got home - poor Dan was at his wit's end. Well we'll try a different kind of bottle nipple and hopefully that will solve the problem and the two of them can get into a better groove.

Otherwise the last week has been quite nice. It was my birthday last week and we went to a neat little restaurant. I am going to get Photoshop Elements for my birthday (just haven't ordered it yet) so I can perfect all of my digital photos and hopefully use it to make a scrapbook. I have ugly handwriting, so making one by hand is not really a great idea for me... Speaking of digital photos, of course we have more to share! The stupid Webshots cuts off the pictures so weird in the slideshow, but it takes up much less space than posting them individually. Lets have a vote - slideshow or individual - which do you prefer??

A couple notes on the pics: you'll see Gregory is already interested in the arts - studying Van Gogh quite intently. I got these famous painter books for him at the museum and they are the first books he really likes to look at! Also shown (though maybe cut off in the slideshow) is the new setup of the toy hanger - he just loves kicking those jingle bells - he'll go at it for an hour at a time! Lastly, he is getting much better at hand-to-mouth and is beginning to prefer his hand over his binki - I am somewhat relieved because I hate the binki, but I suppose you can't throw thumbs away!



10 wks

9th week

Grandma Bonnie and her friend Laurie came to visit us this week and we had a lovely time. We did spend quite a bit of energy trying to figure out why Gregory hates the car and we even attempted some aromatherapy. Nothing has completely quelled the crying yet, but so far the most effective intervention is Daddy singing show tunes. That's it, Dan has to come with us everywhere we drive! Obviously thats not practical, but maybe we'll have to make a tape of him singing??

Its coming upon the time that I have to start back to work a little bit. I have 2 RESPECT shows next week and after Labor Day I'll begin teaching an evening class at the community college again. It will be great for Dan and Greg to be together just them for 2 nights a week, but I know I'll miss them both while I'm away! I am looking forward to having a little paycheck again though!

Well here are some pics - some more from the Napa trip courtesy of my sisters. If anyone has any others, please email them to me since our camera wasn't working on that trip. Thanks!
grandma bonnie aug 07

sometime in Napa

with Great Grandparents

dim sum in Chinatown San Francisco

Pier 39 watching sea lions

Ghiradelli Square

oops - I forgot to tell you...

Gregory had his 2 month checkup at the doctor. He weighed 11 lbs, 7 oz, and was 23 inches. He was around the 50th percentile for both, so he is perfect, but I could've told you that! Anyway, the doc was very pleased with him and said to keep doin what we're doin. I did ask about Greg's hatred of riding in the car, but he had no suggestions other than to hope that he grows out of it - thanks a lot! So I put it to you - has anyone else ever heard of a baby that loathes car trips?

2 months old!

At 2 months, Gregory is learning all kinds of new things. He absolutely loves to look at toys and things suspended above him. He really loves the new toy hanger that was a gift from his Great Aunt Karen. He is also working really hard at getting his hands into his mouth. He can get his hands clasped together, but instead for lifting them up, he bends down his head and ends up slumping over! He is awake for much longer periods now, absorbing the environment around him. I am keeping quite busy making new mobiles and things for him to enjoy. We are also working at getting him to nap in his own bed. He still needs to be helped to sleep (usually in the wrap) but then I lay him down - half the time he wakes up within a few minutes, but sometimes he actually sleeps for an hour or two all by himself!

Greg is also becoming quite the well-traveled little man. Last weekend we took him to Minneapolis for the first time. Daddy and Grandpa Mike went to a Vikings game - they are looking forward to when Greg is old enough to go along. Otherwise, we spent the weekend wandering around the Mall of America and other shopping areas. We also had brunch with Dan's high school friend Jenny and her daughter Elsie. Blog readers may remember Jenny as the one who introduced us to Montessori. It was great seeing how Elsie has grown!

Well, here are more pictures I know you all are waiting for. These are the best of the best - believe it or not, I have about 400 more in my computer! We can't get enough of his smiles!



First Minneapolis Trip