Natural Disaster

Monday evening I layed Gavin on the couch to change a dirty diaper, got him all clean and turned to pick up the new diaper when I heard some noises that were more than a little frightening, considering the fact that the only thing between my couch cushion and his sweet, bare little bottom was one of my favorite sleepers. I grabbed his feet and slid the clean diaper under him, but not before the sleeper had a pool of baby poo in it. So I grabbed some baby wipes and proceeded to mop up the mess under him in order to prevent it leaking through the sleeper, but he decided he still wasn't done. I was trying to hold him up so that he didn't end up laying in his mess, and trying to contain the continual stream with the "clean" diaper, but wasn't succeeding, so a frantic, half laughing yell brought the perpetrator's dad onto the scene.

I was just dealing with the mess, but Quinn, while holding Gavin's legs up, got totally tickled with the concentrated expression on the baby boy's face. He was totally calm, totally focused, and totally messing everywhere. I'm still not sure how we did it, but somehow, between the two of us, we managed to keep the mess off the couch until his expression changed to smug satisfaction, by using two diapers, a sizable handful of wipes, and the sleeper.

The sleeper spent the night soaking in a tub full of warm water and detergent. It's in the dryer now. We'll see if it survived.

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5 o'clock Tuesday morning I pulled the hungry child into bed with me, nursed him, and snuggled him in beside me to sleep through dawn. I woke up an hour later with both of us drenched. He had soaked plum through his diaper, onesie and (another) sleeper. Darn.

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9 o'clock, that same morning, little man was all clean and fresh and fed, in an adorable overalls/hoodie outfit. I was feeling awful, fighting a migraine, and was walking from the couch to the desk, where Quinn was fighting a nasty cold and studying on the laptop, when another terrifying sound came from the boy. This time, from the top-end. Breakfast went everywhere. For the most part, "everywhere" means "into mom's clean cami that she had just changed into." It also means "all over mom's foot and the carpet." The last bit of meaning would be "down the front of aforementioned adorable overalls/hoodie outfit."

I didn't cry.

I handed the boy to Quinn, and I left the room.

Retching.

But not crying.

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So, I guess there's a reason that people say that all that newborns do is poop and throw up, but honestly, that was a record breaking stretch. He spits up quite a bit, but not excessively, and rarely cries, though he fusses when he's tired, bored or hungry. His diapers are usually a breeze to change, and he has yet to develop a diaper rash.

He does love to talk. Absolutely is crazy about making conversation. He'll sit on your lap and stare into your eyes and grunt and gasp and coo and drool for as long as you'll return the favor. Minus the drooling. I don't know that he'd appreciate that.

He also loves his toys. He loves the toys on his rocking seat, and loves anything I hang on his car seat. He'll lay on the floor for a solid half hour talking to anything that I hang above him. He's so quick, and so in tune to everything around him that it's hard to keep his busy little mind occupied.

He's got a routine, and he likes to maintain it. He has his morning nap, then playtime, then a very long afternoon nap, followed by 3-4 hours of being very awake and wanting very much attention. He'll doze all evening, but hates to be put to bed before 10:30 or 11. (Which would be why, at 9:30 last night, when we were ready for bed, he got to hang out in our bed with us for an hour or so while Mommy dozed with him)

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We attended the wedding some very dear friends this past weekend, and one of them noted how much personality Gavin has, citing his psych professor who claims children don't actually develop a personality until they're 2-3 years old. The idiot. He must have never been a child...

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But on that note, Gavin had his first roadtrip last week, and did a fantastic job. We drove from 6:30am til 3pm on Friday, and he hardly fussed the entire time. He only ate 3 times in the 9 hour stretch, so we made excellent time. He put up with Quinn and I walking him to the Galleria North for a couple hours, then Mommy dragging him to a restaurant and on a photo-scavenger hunt for Ashley's bachelorette party that evening, then slept without a sound at the hotel room that night. I did NOT expect him to do so well, but he did.

Friday morning we went to the wedding-before-the-wedding, where Ashley and Danny had their pastor officiate the legal ceremony, since they couldn't find anyone in OK to legally officiate at the wedding location, (it was an adorable little event. We were *so* glad that they asked us to witness it!) then went on our traditional hunt for a bookstore and a coffee mug. (We're collecting mugs. Currently we have  Chicago mug, a Eureka Springs mug and now a Dallas mug! Can't wait to add more to the collection!) From there we headed to OK to find the reserve where the wedding/bed and breakfast was, but headed W instead of E, and ended up an hour behind schedule. Darnitall. Made for a 6 hour drive that afternoon, and Gavin didn't cope well with that. About 4 hours into it he absolutely fell apart. We had to pull over for 20 minutes so I could cuddle/cool him down 'cause he'd worked himself into a sweaty little wreck, but then he was fine for the last two hours. I felt so bad for the little man.

That evening was wedding rehearsal, then a bar-b-que and a campfire. It was so fun to have some time to hang out with all the Dallas people. Most of them we'd never met, but knew via facebook, so getting to spend some face time with them, just relaxing around the fire, was delightful. We're kinda in love with everything about Dallas...the roads, the businesses, the people. It was pretty awesome. Not *quite* as good as home, but pretty close.

Sleep at the bed and breakfast was wonderful. We were on a hillside above a wide creek, and we got to listen to the lovely forest sounds and the room was delightfully cool all night. (Got chilly, eventually, so we closed the windows) The next morning Quinn was pretty much on full time Gavin duty while I helped the other two bridesmaids get our bride ready for her 1 o'clock date with her future. It was the normal crazy rush, coupled with photographer appointments that ended up getting pushed back further and further, then there was the darling, gorgeous, outdoor ceremony on a huge pond surrounded by massive pine trees. It was lovely.

Then the reception at the bed and breakfast, with a full dinner buffet and cake and punch. The whole thing was a party. We all had so much fun. Gavin, again, did beautifully, staying awake and happy through most of the festivities. Around 5:30 we packed up, loaded the car, and by 6:30 we headed home.

Quinn, through the course of the day, was developing a cough/congestion issue, and by the time we rolled into our parking lot at 11 that night, was all out sick. He coughed, sniffled and headached his way through Monday, Tuesday and yesterday, but this morning was well, with the exception of a small left-over cough...

But now I have it. Went to bed feeling iffy on Tuesday night and got worse and worse all day yesterday. Raw throat, nasty cough, sinuses that are completely congested, a constant headache, etc. Not fun. I woke up without a voice this morning, and I haven't quite found it yet. I did get the house a little bit cleaned up, but it's still in rough shape.

And that's the blurb for the past week. My only excuse for the length/wordiness of it is that diet mountain dew is the only thing that feels good on my throat right now, so I'm buzzing with caffeine.