Sleeping Arrangments

If Cavin continues to sleep like this....

...then we are going to need to buy a king size bed for him very soon at the rate he's growing! He's got some monkey arms!

Then there's our dogs, who sometimes like to sleep like this....

And, yes, that's even Jerry's crate...which is quite a bit smaller than Sandy's.

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy with his kids (minus Toby):

To mark Mike's first Father's Day celebration, we decided to physically torture ourselves by loading our 75th percentile in weight baby in the stroller, picking the steepest hill in the East Bay, and hiking up it during the hottest part of the day. Sounds fun right? This is what happens when a sleep deprived mom attempts to plan a family day out.

Truthfully, it was a nice day. We started off going to mass. Then we enjoyed a picnic in the park followed by a tortuous hike in Briones park. We did get some great shots once we got to the top...

Best Buds:

Happy Father's Day Honey! Toby, Sandy, Jerry, and Cavin are a lucky bunch.

Happy Two Month Birthday Cavin!

We celebrated Cavin's 2 month birthday this past Saturday. TWO MONTHS! What happens at his two month check-up? Shots. It is a darn good thing Mike decided to be there to support his son on the big shot day, because I needed it. There were three tough people in that room and I was NOT one of them. There was the mean nurse with the really long needle. There was Mike who had to hold Cavin down and talk him off the ledge. Then there was Cavin himself who screamed bloody murder after the first shot, to which the nurse replied "okay, this 2nd shot is going to sting him a little bit so he is going to cry even harder". Uhm, excuse me, that's impossible. Well, apparently it isn't. Cavin cried so hard he made no sound. Did you think there was such a thing? Me neither.

And where was I during all of this?? Standing a few steps back bawling my eyes out and cursing the mean nurse's name while wondering how Mike could be so calm about the situation.

Pretty much immediately after the shots were given, Mike picked Cavin up and the babe feel asleep on his dad's shoulder. That was a sweet moment.

Other than the shots incident, Cavin had a successful appointment!

Weight: 12 pounds, 7 ounces (75th percentile)

Height: 24.75 inches (97th percentile)

This past month we've seen some real progress with Little C. He gives us really big smiles, is doing a great job with his tummy time, slept through the night 3 more times, is graduating into size 2 diapers, found his big toe and grabbed it, LOVES his bouncy chair and consistently grabs Ms. Hippo to shake her, follows us with his eyes, and sleeps in his crib in his own room. His personality is really coming out and it couldn't be any sweeter.

And just like last month we had a good time getting the little one to balance on Elmo.

Which resulted in....

Happy Birthday Cavin!!!

Like....Totally!

Our friends, Matt and Amy, threw an 80s karaoke party a week or so ago and Mike, Cavin, and I got really into our costumes! I think it took longer for us to get ready than we were actually AT the party...

I would like to point out that even Cavin was dressed 80s style. Please note his double socks with the colors switched on the opposite foot. Also, his fluorescent green pants with his "Mommy Rules" onesie...this kid knows how to dress up for a theme party!

Probably the funniest part of the night happened prior to and on the way to the party. We realized half way there that we forgot to bring beer with us so we stopped at a Chevron. Since Mike was the one who wanted the beer "we" decided that he was the one to go inside the store to get it...dressed up like he was. Let me tell you, watching that man walk into the Chevron station looking the way he did and seeing the looks he was getting was the highlight of the year! I was laughing so hard I was crying!

Luckily, I was able to take some pictures...

Notice how his jacket almost glows!

Notice the lady in the background. She worked behind the counter and the looks she was giving Mike behind his back are what made tears stream down my face!

A good time was had by all! Well, until Madonna's "Holiday" starting playing and Cavin decided it was time to go home. Who doesn't love the 80s Madonna? Is this child mine??

If I can JUST figure out a way to clone myself

So the dreaded time of every new mother is here....the time to look for day care. I decided to start a little early because I felt as if it may take me a bit longer to find something suitable for my sweet angel. One, because everyone knows I hate making decisions and two, nothing is good enough for my child. Nothing except this great center called The Spruiell Household apparently.

I started my search on Monday with two day care centers. I left the first one in tears and I cried AT the second one. I feel the need to say that there really wasn't anything wrong with the two centers, the tears came from a place of 'Oh my God I have to leave my child soon. I wonder if my boss was serious about using Cavin on projects and billing him out at $50 an hour'. On Tuesday I visited an in-home day care and today I visited another day care center.

Every time I visit a place, I of course give Mike the detailed run-down. So far, I haven't found the place of my dreams. And like I said, there's really nothing wrong with each center, it's just that....well...feeling you get / don't get. That being said, here are some of the reasons (aka excuses for postponing the inevitable decision) I have either given Mike or told myself:

1) There was a tear in the changing table.
2) The front door was unlocked.
3) One of the kids was dirty and had really messy hair. To which Mike replied "honey, our son is going to get very dirty in his childhood". To which I replied "that's fine. it is our child. but there's something to be said about cleanliness." (By the way, I realize this makes NO sense at all to anyone else but me.)
4) The kids were sleeping on the floor! (later after consulting with my mom, I realized that this, in fact, is normal)
5) They quote their price in a weekly rate but want us to pay monthly. I don't want to do the math.
6) She kept calling him Kevin!
7) The lobby smelled like sauerkraut (even though the classrooms were immaculate).
8) We aren't Russian.
9) The lady spoke too loud.
10) They were too close to the freeway.
11) It was like a baby factory...cribs everywhere! I didn't walk in and see a beautiful nursery full of white furniture with block letters that spelled "Cavin" on the wall.
12) Our baby would by far be the cutest one there. That's a lot of pressure.

Bottom line is this: I trust myself, my husband, the grandparents, and our friends to take care of Cavin; however, apparently I do NOT trust someone with a day care license, child care degree from an accredited university, and years and years of child care experience.

Makes complete sense to me.

One Inch

Wow. Last week was R-O-U-G-H. The 6 week growth spurt left my mother and I wondering if we had half a mind to function. Conveniently, Mike was out of town for a work trip at the time and missed all of the fun. I do; however, have 10 minutes of the 3 hours of screaming fits that Cavin threw one (out of 5) nights to use as punishment later on in his life. I figure if Cavin needs to be grounded, I will lock him in his room with this video playing over and over and over again. Pretty sure whatever he did will NEVER happen again. I'll be sure this tape is in working order during his teenage years.

The result of said growth spurt: 1 inch. In my mom and my unprofessional opinion - we stretched the babe out with a measuring tape - that is how much he grew in the short amount of time. The growing, coupled with some pretty bad reflux, explains the tears. When I say "tearS", I mean by Cavin and myself. Cavin was crying b/c he was being stretched like a rubber band and my crying was due to a severe lack of sleep, a cold w/ fever, and the feeling that I was losing my mind! My mother took it all in stride and I'm not quite sure what I would have done without her. She was actually laughing while Cavin was crying! Maybe she was losing her mind too.... Either way I've got it ALL on video. Paybacks are hell.

This week I feel like all Cavin has done is sleep. Clearly he is recovering from all the activity of last week! Here he and I are at this week's playgroup:

And that same night when Mike was in charge of watching Cavin while I made dinner...

Gotta love my boys!

Two big brothers and a big sister is born

Many have been asking how the furry creatures are handling the arrival of Cavin....it is, of course, Animal Planet. Well, surprisingly, we've had very few problems. Sandy was the most emotional but in a sweet way. She segregated herself into a dark room on the other side of the house for about 2 weeks when we first came home from the hospital. Not because she didn't like Cavin but because she didn't really know her place. And because she and I are best buds and I was completely consumed with the new baby, she really didn't know what to do with herself.

Now she is back to normal and has been known to stop a fussy baby by running up to him and licking him on his face. And a sibling bond is born....

We didn't see much change with Jerry until recently. Mike left for a 5 day trip to San Diego for work and when he came back, Jerry was glued to him every second of every minute of every day. He followed Mike from room to room but then would ignored him. Jerry was upset with Mike for leaving him alone with his sleep deprived mom and a crying baby but at the same time wanted to make sure the Mike had no plans to leave again in the near future.

Toby has pretty much remained the same. We were concerned with Toby from the get-go but have been pleasantly surprised with him. He joins Cavin and I in the baby room for our nightly feedings by lying on the floor next to the glider to keep us company. And when Cavin does his "tummy time", Toby lies a couple feet from the play mat, rolls onto his back, looks back at Cavin, and squirms around on his back just like Cavin does on his tummy. Very sweet!

Sandy was lying on the floor the other day and we decided to put Cavin down next to her and see / monitor what happened. Well, she gently placed her paw over Cavin and started licking him everywhere! He was just smiling and enjoying every bit of the attention.

And Jerry followed suit...

So I'd say we are off to a good start.