George's 1st smiles!

I love that first social smile- it usually comes right when I need it most. When you look into my eyes and give me that gummy, drool-filled, double-chinned, joyful grin, I don't feel tired anymore. Instead, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Love you, little Georgie!

George portraits

We had some Baby George portraits taken by my good friend (and now backyard neighbor!) Jeanette Soffe. George was really fussy and she still got some wonderful, sweet shots. He was only two weeks old. Thanks, Jeanette! 

=""

George- 1 month

Time is just zooming by with this little one! This picture is from when he was 1 month old (and he'll be six weeks old tomorrow!) 

At one month, George was a little over 11 lbs. He looks pretty solid to me! We've been getting lots of weight checks because we've been to the pediatrician almost every week, boo! Poor George had a diaper rash that turned into a staph infection so he needed an antibiotic cream. That started healing then he came down with a cold, poor baby! On the 10th (5 weeks old), he was up to 12 lbs. 6 oz. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it up to 13 lbs this week. 

He's wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing (some 0-3 still fits). Despite having a TON of hand-me-down clothes from his big brother, Charlie and George are almost exactly 2 years and 6 months apart so hardly any of the clothes are the right season! :( Luckily, Chelsea loaned us some of James' clothes to help fill in the gaps. Isn't it great to have family? 

He's still a great sleeper and eater. He'll often sleep for 3 hours (sometimes more!) in the afternoon. And he usually has a 4 hour stretch of sleep in the night. Mama likes that. He's starting to smile, but it's still quite elusive. Both grandmas have been able to coax it out of him once or twice and I've gotten a few, too. 

I bought George a little giraffe like Charlie's so we could take these monthly comparison photos. I ordered it from Amazon and when it arrived in the mail I opened it up right away and put it on the table. The poor little toy hadn't been in our house for an hour before Charlie found it and gave it a good dunking in the bathroom sink. I have a feeling this is how it is going to go for George- he'll have hand me down clothes, toys and books that are well-loved and anything new will have to withstand big brother!

For reference: here's Charlie at 4 weeks and 5 weeks (just a note, George's giraffe is a little smaller than Charlie's but I still think George is bigger than Charlie was at this age). 

Watch out, Mama!

The other day I was driving with Charlie and George in the car when a cat ran across the road. I had to break very abruptly to avoiding hitting it. I looked back at a startled Charlie and explained to him why I stopped so sharply. I think I said something like, "A cat ran into the road and I had to stop the car quickly so I wouldn't hit him. But he ran away and he's okay now." We talked about it for a minute or two more then I changed the subject.

The several hours later, we were back in the car to go pick John up from work (we only have one car). Charlie kept saying something over and over and I was struggling to understand him. Suddenly, it clicked for me that he was saying, "Watch out, mama! Big cat in the street!" I told him that there wasn't a cat any more and that I would watch out and be careful. The rest of the evening and at least once a day since then he tells me to watch out, mama! Sometimes he tells me there are two cats in the street, sometimes it's dogs, but it's definitely a concept he has latched on to!

I love these conversations we have in the car together!

Family, faith and orange rolls

Our church holds a General Conference every 6 months and I love it- the gathering with family, the break from wrestling my kid in the pew at church, the wonderful words of inspiration from our prophet and leaders, and of course, the traditional orange rolls. 

The best part of this conference weekend is that Mark, Chelsea, James and Emma came down for a visit from Boise! They are so dear to us and we've missed them so much. Chelsea and the kids stayed for the week and Chelsea and I squeezed in some fun activities- a play date at Grandma T's house, a girls' dinner out with our high school friends, and a play date at Discovery Gateway with our kiddos. 

Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Mark meeting George for the first time

Hanging out and watching Conference

Aunt Anne just loving baby George

Quality toddler time with Anne

Grandpa T with babies George and Emma

Anne and Emma (I love how pink and perfect and chubby Emma looks!)

George's first family outing

When George was only 10 days old, we took a family outing to Silver Lake. The canyon was beginning to feel autumnal and we loved the chance to wear sweatshirts, smell crisp air and enjoy the beautiful mountains before the snow comes. Charlie loved running on the boardwalk and George slept the whole time snuggled in the BabyHawk on my chest. I felt so lucky to be in that beautiful place with my little family. We had to take a circuitous route to avoid a moose hanging out on the trail and in our backtracking ran into a pair of silver-haired couples who fawned over my babies, making me puff up with pride. We lunched at Silver Fork Lodge- it was our first time there but we'll definitely be repeat customers. It was a perfect day.

George's fan club

Grandma and Grandpa T

Uncle Steve, Sam, and Lily

Sam, Aunt Kerry and Lily (they brought George balloons and a birthday cake with a "0" on it)

Aunt Anne

McKenzie

Emily

Uncle Richard and Aunt Cat (this was really special for us that they were still in town to meet George!
 We made it by two days!)

Grandma Barbara

Aunt Kate

Uncle Sam

Little buddies

When Elizabeth was here for the summer, she borrowed our car seat (she's a petite little gal!). When she and Charlie were in the backseat together, they loved to reach and hold hands. Darling. Charlie wants to hold George's hand now and he'll have to wait a little while for George to grow into this fun activity!