7 weeks old

I feel like I just blogged about Gordy making 6 weeks, and now he's made 7 weeks!  Time is flying by.  

At this point, his best friends are Mr. Ceiling Fan, and Mrs. Blanket (any blanket that is within reach really).  He frequently engages in a battle of wits with Mrs. Blanket and only occasionally wins.

He is getting increasingly better at following people and objects with his eyes.  And, best of all, he smiles more and more each day :)  

so busy

We have been super busy the last week with hurricane Darby, visiting family and Australian friends, and of course Sunday vball at the bay.

First off, the hurricane turned into a tropical storm before it reached the big island and ended up bringing Oahu only mild winds and a fair bit of rain.  In fact, since the storm was predicted to reach us Sunday night, and light rain and winds started early in the day, we had Waimea Bay pretty much all to ourselves for vball Sunday morning :)  By early afternoon, the wind slowed temporarily and the sun peeked out just long enough for a Gordy, mommy and daddy swim in the ocean.  He's such a beach/ocean pro now that he even let us rinse him off in the shower afterward, which was NOT warm.  

In addition to experiencing his first tropical strom, Gordy met his cousin Adeline for the first time!  

Although it was super cute for the adults to see them together and to picture how much fun they are going to have playing someday, I don't think that either one of them is very interested in the other one... unless Amanda is holding Gordy.  Then Adeline seems a bit more interested :)

p.s. Gordy is wearing clothes in the photo because it was chilly that morning from the approaching hurricane Darby.

Finally, we had our Aussie friends and their kids up to visit on Monday.  Our house was way too hot and stuffy, so we all packed up and headed to the Waialua pool for free swim.  All of the kids seemed to enjoy it... Gordy loved it so much, that he fell asleep in the pool!

VMAC swim

Ever since we had Gordy, I've been waiting for the go-ahead from my doctor to get into the water again so that I could join Todd in the pool for lap swim.  I finally got the thumbs up last Friday, so we celebrated with a swim at our favorite Waipio pool.  After we were done with our swim, it was Gordy's turn.  We put on his sun hat and diaper cover, rinsed him in the showers (as is pool protocol) and plopped him in.  

Besides getting a bit chilly, he seemed to enjoy every bit of the pool... even the floating on his back, which is great because there will be many days in his future spent in that pool :)

6 hours and 6 weeks

Gordy made 6 weeks old today and coincidentally, last night was the first time he slept for 6 continuous hours!  Let's just hope that wasn't a one-off.

We were just going to use the above photo, but it made him look super fat.  So, we decided to add another one that not only showed his weight a bit more accurately, but also showed how long he is.

At 6 weeks old, Gordy is grabbing at objects with his hands more, smiling tons (and almost laughing a little), following us with his eyes, fighting sleep, and being much more playful/interactive.  Here's a few photos from our family play session in bed this morning:

Looking forward to all that will come with week 7!

1st dip at the bay

Today was Sunday, so we packed up our little family and headed to the bay for some vball.  We didn't have too high of hopes about Gordy getting in the ocean since his last attempt ended in some fairly heavy tears.  But, we brought his new sunsuit and hat just in case conditions were perfect.  Turns out, they couldn't have been better.  The sun was nicely hidden by some clouds, the winds were light, the temperature was hot, and the ocean was cool but not cold.  So, we put his cozzy on him, popped him on the boob, and took him out into the water.  We figured that he'd have a harder time being upset about the water if he had his favorite thing ever in his mouth, and we were right!!  Not only did he tolerate the water while he was eating, but once he finished, and he no longer had a boob in his mouth, he was totally ok in the water.  Oh happy day!!

he's YOOOUUUGE

Gordy made 5 weeks on Thursday!  

At his checkup on Wednesday, we learned that he weighs 11lb and was 22.5in long.  The doctor said that while he's large for his age, he's perfectly proportional :)  Everything else that the doctor checked was healthy and he received his first dose of the Hep B vaccination.  Next checkup is at 2 months.

tummy time and bucket dunks

After reading a section about tummy time in one of the many baby books that people have given us, we decided to introduce Gordy to the concept.  He tolerated it for about 1 minute before starting to fuss, which we think wasn't a bad first effort. 

On another note, it's been super hot lately and Gordy has been sweating like crazy (as to be expected since his dad is Todd Sells).  So, to help cool him off, Todd has been filling a 5 gallon bucket with luke warm water, and has been sticking Gordy in the bucket.  I wasn't too sure about the idea in the beginning, but Gordy doesn't seem to mind... and might even love it.

1 month old

At 4 weeks old, Gordy is becoming so much more interactive.  He smiles so much more frequently and will talk to us (make ohhh and ahhh noises) when prompted.

He had his first unassisted couple of seconds in the bathtub today, and he handled it like a champ.  He opened his eyes in the water, and even tasted it a few times (whoops).  At this point, we don't think that he prefers the bath over the shower.  However, we think it's a good idea to get him comfortable with both.

On another note, we may start calling him Fred soon because of the resemblance of his current hairline to his Uncle Fred's :)

daily showers

Gordy may not have been a big fan of the cold ocean, but he LOVES warm showers!!  Ever since his piko fell off, we've been taking him in the shower with us each night.  He never cries or fusses, and he even lets us put his face under the stream of water for a few seconds.  He's so relaxed and content during the showers that, at times, we think he may love it more than he likes eating :)

neglectful parents?

Each day, we try to enjoy our new lives as parents, while still maintaining pieces of the old lives we loved so much.  Sprints were our most recent challenge.  We didn't have anyone super handy who could sit with Gordy on the beach, so we had to make a few adjustments... We left him in his car seat all warm and snug, bundled him up with blankets to protect him from the wind, tied a blanket overtop of the car seat to protect him from the sun, and found a good spot to park him in the sand.  We selected the spot to be:

1. Makai of where we were running so that if anyone were to nab him, we were most likely to see it and chase them down before they made it to the bushes.

2. In between our start and finish lines, but closer to our start line, so we would have the best chance of hearing him if he were to stir.

Instead of doing a warm up jog from Ehukai to Rock Piles and back, we shortened our distance and ran back and forth in front of Gordy's spot.

In the end, it seems like we did well because Gordy slept through the whole thing, and we got our sprints in uninterrupted.

3 weeks old

Gordy made 3 weeks yesterday... he's growing so fast!

Even though he's still quite little (especially compared to the older kids who have been over to visit), he seems like he's growing up so fast.  Already, he is smiling when kissed by mom or tortured by dad.  He can grab hold of dad's fingers and will hold on while Todd pulls him up.  He's been lifting his head when laid on a shoulder for burping.  And, he's discovering that his mouth and throat aren't just for eating and crying.  We are having so much fun watching him grow :)

lomi lomi

Gordy doesn't just poo in his diaper... he destroys it.  He turns super red/purple, holds his breath, kicks his legs, flails his arms, whimpers a bit, and pushes out super loud juicy farts that at some point are going to burn a hole in his nappies.  Todd has decided that he should be doing all that he can to help Gordy get the poo out, so he's started giving Gordy's belly a lomi lomi massage.  He's convinced that it helps and that Gordy is not only cooperative, but appreciative.