I've been everywhere, man!

The last three weekends have found us out of town, which along with the end of my school term, has contributed to the lack of blogging. First Greg and I went to Chicago for a midwifery summit - what a great time - we met a lot of midwifery "celebrities" and got a lot of great info and networking for our group.

Then, while Dan went to Minneapolis for a Vikings game, we went to Norfolk, NE, for a big to-do at the birth center there. We had been working hard at planning it for over a month and it was a smashing success. The Nebraska Friends of Midwives annual meeting was a part of that event, so it was great to put faces with a lot of names I've only known over the internet. Also I was elected to the Board, in the position of Education Chair - I am very glad because there is a lot I want to do!

And for Thanksgiving, we all went up to Bismarck to spend time with Dan's family - both sides! It was a whirlwind trip but I know the family, especially the Grandparents, were happy to see Gregory! We were especially thankful that he actually did pretty well in the car, only crying when he was tired, which he does no matter where he is. So if we weren't in full gear before, we will be now, with Christmas fast approaching, a new quarter starting for me next week, and a lot of work to do to get ready for the January start of the legislative session.

Much to my dismay, several people have reported that they cannot view the slideshows from Photobucket, so I am trying yet another program. If you are having trouble please let me know. Enjoy!

Greg's First Halloween

Sorry its taken me a little while to get these up - been quite busy between school and the Nebraska Friends of Midwives stuff...

Well we had a little fun dressing Gregory up for his first Halloween and he was a pretty good sport about it. He didn't go trick-or-treating this year, but we did make it to a couple of parties.

Otherwise, there have not been any new developments in the arena of rolling over (still only naked) or riding in the car (still usually hates it). We did attempt to drink some water out of a cup a little bit, which didn't go half bad... He had fun playing with it anyway!

Greg and I, along with our friend Becca (Jacob's mommy), are going to Chicago this weekend for a very exciting midwifery summit - hopefully we'll learn some things that we can use to help the situation here in NE. And certainly network with a lot of other great people from around the country who are concerned about the same things.

Well enjoy the pics!

4 month update

Well Gregory is your typical adorable 4 month old! He giggles and smiles all the time (almost) and is really starting to interact with the world around him. He went to the dr yesterday and actually weighed quite a bit less than I thought - 13 lbs 3 oz. He is still doing fine for his age and height and as you can see in the pictures, is far from malnourished! I just thought he was more because when we were last in ND we weighed him on Grandma's scale and it said 14 lbs, and that was a month ago! Must have been off, but I'd say thats good news for Grandma! Anyway, he has been working hard at learning to roll over. He gets pretty good at it sometimes, but seems to have a hard time remembering his technique from one day to the next, so its back to square one... I'm sure it'll start sticking soon! Funny thing, he seems to be much better at it when he's naked! Rolling and all kinds of other movement as well - when I set him down for some fresh air time, he wiggles all over the place and ends up off of his blanket, but if he has clothes on, he seems perfectly content to lay in one place... Maybe being naked gives him extra body awareness, I don't know?? I have been trying to catch his skills on video, but I don't think he would appreciate me posting footage of his nakey-ness on the web - with the rolling you inevitably get views of his personal areas! Pictures of his chubby buns, on the other hand...well thats just too cute to not share! I did want to figure out how to post a video though, so here's one of him not rolling over - he makes a lot of noises though!

I thought I'd take this opportunity to give an update on how the Montessori stuff is going too, since we thought so much about it before he was born. The nursery is working out fantastic! He loves the mirrors and the mobile and I love the floor bed! We are also increasingly grateful that we decided to go with all natural toys. My latest issue of Mothering Magazine just arrived today and guess what the theme is? Natural toys of course, with a huge article on toxic plastics and dangerous chemicals. Not to mention all those awful toy recalls. Of course, we didn't have any of them in the first place! So we will continue to stick with natural toys - wood, cloth, safe metals, etc. And in Montessori fashion, we'll try to have things that are as realistic as possible, so he can learn about the real world. Kids really have no capacity to understand the difference between real and imaginary until they are much older - like first grade!

Soon we'll need to start thinking about some dishes and cups for Gregory too since he may want to start trying out some solid foods in a few months - I think we'll go with wood, glass, stainless steel, or enamel for those as well. I already have a great stainless steel water bottle that you can put a sippy cup adapter on! Next we need to get a baby-sized table and chair for him. I think we'll also get a nice wooden high-chair - the kind you pull up to the table - they used to be called "junior chairs" - so he can sit at the big table with us as well. Wow, eating will be a whole new adventure...good thing we won't really think about that until he's at least 6 months.

The one thing we have been doing is combining a lot of Attachment Parenting philosophy with our Montessori approach. Some things seem a bit contradictory, but you gotta do what works. For example, we carry Gregory in a sling or wrap a lot (very AP), but when we're home and he's in a good mood, we do set him down to play on his own (more Montessori), which some days ends up being several hours altogether. Also, we have resigned ourselves that he is just not one of those kids who you can lay down drowsy and they'll drift off to sleep on their own...no, he needs a lot of help! But, we do lay him down once he's out, and he has been doing a lot better sleeping in his own bed for naps. He still sleeps with us at night, but he is starting to kick and wiggle a lot so I am starting to think of transitioning him to his own bed. That is a huge step for me because only a few weeks ago I couldn't imagine ever wanting him to sleep anywhere other than next to me. Those tiny toes digging into me are slowing changing my mind! Of course, we won't force it and will continue to do whatever allows all of us to get the most rest. Anyway, the goal of Montessori is to help kids develop at their own pace and to grow in self-confidence. AP has the same goals, but sometimes somewhat different ideas of how to reach those goals. I do believe that the more securely attached children are to their parents, the more confident and independent they can be because they have trust and security. I think both philosophies are working together quite nicely for us...

Enjoy some pics - mostly of playtime...

busy, busy, busy

My goodness the last couple of weeks have been a total whirlwind around here! I can't even remember how many weeks old Gregory is now - I'll have to look it up. Ok, he will be 17 weeks old this Sunday, thats in two more days. Oh my goodness!! He's not technically 4 months old until the 17th, but he is getting so big! I am not sure of his weight but I estimate him to be close to 15 lbs - we'll find out officially on the 25th at his 4 month dr's appointment.

Anyway, as promised, here are more pictures from the baptism weekend.

We bid farewell to Grandma Mary and Grandpa Nick on Monday afternoon, but the activities were just starting to get going for National Midwifery Week. We (Greg and I) have been getting more involved with Nebraska Friends of Midwives, so on Tues, we went to our weekly pot-luck lunch for socializing. Tuesday night we went to a showing of Born in the USA that we helped to organized. That was a good event with some new faces, but as these things tend to go, it was a bit like preaching to the choir. Wednesday a bunch of us trekked out to Lincoln for the Governor's Proclamation Signing. There was an amazing turnout there with people from all over the state. We filled the entire front of the legislative chamber and the Governor was taken by surprise. The picture only shows maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the people that were there! The whole crew had lunch at Old Chicago with a few midwives and a couple of representatives from some senators' offices too. The energy was amazing with all the families there. As people trickled away it sort of evolved into a mini planning meeting for our Organizational Meeting in November. I am SO excited for the next few months - we are hoping to be able to get some legislation on the agenda for the next session starting in Jan. It feels really great to be teaming up with other passionate people and working towards something we all believe in so strongly. It also keeps me out of trouble (but it keeps me from keeping house too, much to my and Dan's dismay...gotta get more organized...)

Gregory's Baptism

This weekend we celebrated Gregory's baptism. Grandpa Deacon Mike was the celebrant and all the Grandparents were here for it, which was very special. Our friends Patrick and Keri Godon also came in from Chicago to be the Godparents. Patrick and Dan have been friends since 3rd grade! Many of our local friends also joined us for the ceremony. It was a very beautiful opportunity to thank God for giving Gregory to our family and was made extra special because of the personal touches that Grandpa Mike put in. He said a touching homily that had everyone dabbing their eyes! Afterwards we all enjoyed lunch together. It was a short weekend since people had long journeys home and had to get going, but Grandma Mary and Grandpa Nick were able to stay until Monday afternoon, so we got to go to the art museum and the zoo with them. It was a great visit. I have about 200 pictures from the weekend, but the following slideshow just highlights the baptism. I will add more later!

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