Mr. & Mrs. Gubbins & Sons: January 2008

Busy Busy Week

It's been a busy week, heading into an even more busy week. And, a sure sign that we're getting used to having Simon around, we're no longer taking pictures of every little thing he does and every person he meets (just every other)--so our apologies to those he met this past week and we forgot to take a picture!

We love his funny faces--this one just cracks me up!

Wearing pants Jess knit for him, for the first time--they fit better than I thought they would

Simon is now one month old. Aside from meeting more friends, this past week he had some other exciting events--he got to try taking a bottle for the first time (thankfully, no problems there!), and he showed us just how much he dislikes tummy time, by rolling himself on to his back! We thought this was just a fluke at first, but he's done it a good five or six times in the past three days, so it appears that his days of tummytime may be limited--unless he starts to enjoy it more and decides he doesn't have to 'escape' it every time.

Simon rolling over (22 seconds):

Hello (in grunts) from the four-week-old (23 seconds):

Simon's Days, in Video

So, what does one do all day as an adorable little neonate? Well, Simon haas kindly obliged to give you a glimpse into his life through a few short videos. Note, however, that most of his day is actually spent eating, sleeping, and getting diapers changed...but those are a little less cute so we haven't exactly had our camera at the ready when they are occurring!

Simon with Hiccups (21 seconds long):

Simon, not really enjoying tummytime (our first "but its good for you!" activity that we make him do even though he often would rather not) (43 seconds long):

And, just the past week or so he has really started looking around and noticing things more, so we pulled out a playmat on loan from some friends--this is his first time checking it out (37 seconds long):

Meet Captain Speedy!

Did you know that Simon is a superhero? Of course he is--child of Captain Olaf and Super-Jess, aka Captain Sparkle (see Oct 2005 posts), how could he not be? We just didn't realize it until we stumbled upon his superhero hat--when he puts on this hat, he miraculously transforms into Captain Speedy!

Andy, shocked at the discovery that our little seemingly-helpless infant is actually superhero Captain Speedy!
Shortly prior to this photo Captain Speedy had been magically propelling himself via Andy's legs around and around the house at near-lightning speed, while also magically prompting Andy to shout his battle cry "Cap-tain Speeeeeeeeedeeeeeeee!" (note: while the duck mittens aren't a necessary part of the superhero outfit, we do believe they add to his powers in some yet-un-discovered way)

They finally meet!
Our good friends Alex & Erica had a baby, Elsie, three weeks before Simon was born. We finally got to introduce them to each other. Here Andy & Alex are holding each other's kids. Hard to believe they're both fathers (especially if you're familiar with any of the many stories of jointly-achieved mischief from their pasts...)!

Simon (almost 3 weeks) and Elsie (about 6 weeks)

Simon meeting Aaron.
It was an exciting week of first introductions for Simon (as has been every week of his life! Someday we'll run out of new people to introduce him to...). Here he is getting acquainted with Aaron, his godfather.

Meeting Great-Grandparents

Simon is very lucky to have six living great-grandparents. Last week he met two of them for the first time:

Simon is the first great-grandchild on Andy's Mom's side of the family

Uncle Peter came over, too, and decided he was ready to hold Simon :)

look at all that laundry Simon helped Mom fold!

just hanging out

Our son...and his muumuu

Well, some call them "baby bags" or "sleep sacs"...you know, the little baby pajama-nightgowns that gather with elastic at the bottom rather than having legs, for easy middle-of-the-night diaper changes. Pre-baby I was not a huge fan of these things (sleepers are so much cuter!)...post-baby I think they're awesome. I'm guessing that will happen with a lot of baby-related items I used to think were ridiculous, or ugly, or unnecessary. In any case, we have several of these little nightgown things, but only a couple that fit Simon right now, so we have two that he often wears--and one, we have decided, can only be described as a muumuu. We can't help but laugh to see him in it, with socks sticking out the bottom, looking like an unfashionable gender-confused old man.

Simon and his muumuu (note the awesome sneaker-socks, too--thanks Cate!)

And a few other random photos from the past week:

cooking with Dad (in the muumuu!)

sharing Mom's cold feet and hence, love of slippers! (these little baby booties knit by Jess long ago when she first discovered she could knit something other than a rectangular-shaped item)

out for his first walk in the stroller

getting chores done around the house with Mom (note the awesome duck-mittens that rattle every time he flails...otherwise his little hands get so chilly!)

Sure...he's sleeping NOW

Oh, look at the serene, peaceful look on my baby's face this morning:

Isn't that precious?

Now, if we pan down to the bottom of that blanket-bundle, what do we find?

Toes! Bare feet! Where are the socks? Where are the pjs? Isn't this winter in Minnesota?!

Well, since you asked...it just so happens that in the wee early morning hours, after eating, while getting his diaper changed, our little bundle of joy decided to let loose and pee everywhere. And, despite the fact that I thought I had covered him quickly enough--a mere second or two until I got the clean diaper in place, surely. Perhaps my bleary-eyed reflexes weren't as quick as I thought, though, because I soon discovered that he had peed not only on his tummy and back--as per usual for when he decides to squirt at us--but somehow also up near his shoulder and on his head (his head!), and of course his pjs and socks were soaked. So, sleepy and now rather grumpy, I stripped off those clothes and gave him an impromptu bath via diaper-wipe. We parents then decided it was not worth the time and effort to re-dress him, so we swaddled the little naked one with naught but a diaper on.

Later this morning, at a more reasonable hour, he was quite the cutie to find naked under his blankie :).

the many faces of Simon

Andy recently heard someone compare being around a newborn to being around a campfire--they don't really do anything, but they are mesmerizing to watch, so you find yourself just staring at them, as they do nothing in particular. We've found this to be true with Simon. And occasionally, as we sit and stare at him, we try to capture some of his entertaining facial expressions on camera...

"Oooooh...really?"

one-eyed Jack

look, I can open my eyes!

almost-a-smile

harrumph

Lots of Visitors

We have been busy with visitors coming to meet Simon. Here are a few whose introductions to Simon we managed to get photos of...

Natalie

Paloma

Leif

Ioan

Ron

Rose

Simon, Simon, and more Simon

Someday we might post something other than Simon photos...but probably not any time soon, so don't hold your breath! Besides, he's so much cuter than us...

big yawn!

baby on the move--testing out our sling

after his first sponge bath at home

such little fingers :)

having some tummy time on Andy

Hello from the one week old!

As of yesterday, Simon is one week old! On his one-week birthday, Mom and Simon tackled the seemingly-enormous task of getting up, fed, dressed, and out in public. That's right, we attended worship so all the chapel folk could meet him. And since Dad has to be at chapel early, that meant it was up to one parent to get two of us up and out the door--how parents make this look so easy, I have no idea. But we made it! So that was our big outing for Simon's first week birthday. Here are a few photos from his first week with us!

Andy and Simon

snoozing after a meal

testing out the lovely quilt Paloma made him

testing out the lovely quilt Aunt Kay made him!

Coming home from the hospital

Well, I thought I'd take advantage of Simon's little nap here to catch you up on photos. Here are some of Simon's trip home from the hospital.

He's so little in his car seat!

It was only +2 degrees outside the day we headed home (New Year's day), so we made sure he was well-covered in there!

You can't even see his head when his car seat cover is all zipped up, he's so tiny :-)

The first order of business when we got home was to get Mom and baby sitting down again, in a comfy spot! We decided to introduce him to his Ugly Doll, too (thanks Pete!), which is about as big as he is with his legs scrunched up :-)

It has been a rocky few days home, as I'm sure all new parents can attest! But things are going well, and we are enjoying seeing Simon change every day. Thankfully, we've had Grandma Phyllis here being a wonderful help by cooking and cleaning and doing laundry--continuing the illusion started at the hospital that food will just materialize in front of you when its time to eat :).