Dear Gabriel {1 month}

Gabe is actually almost 5 weeks as of Sunday, but hey, having a newborn is busy! I hope to give a little update of Gabe's world once a month in the form of a letter to him and make it into a booklet for when he gets older. Here's edition one of Dear Gabriel.

Dear Gabriel,

It’s hard to believe you are already more than a month old. This was the fastest month of my life! (And probably a sign that I finally understand what “old people” say when they talk about how fast the time flies!)

The first month of parenting has been a rollercoaster of new emotions for me and your dad, for sure! (Mostly I’m the one who rollercoasters!) Here’s some of the things that have happened since your birthday:

Physically:

You were born 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 19.5 inches long. You left the hospital 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

At your first doctor’s visit, you hadn't really gained any weight, which worried the doctor a lot. She thought you had jaundice and caused me a lot of unnecessary worry by telling me all the long-term damage it could cause if it got serious. (It wasn't serious!) You were just fine (like your mom and dad who were also both jaundice babies), and now you weigh 8.75 pounds! It’s no surprise, little man…you are a very good and eager eater!

You are also 20.5 inches long now and looking more like a big baby every day!

You are also getting stronger everyday. You are getting better at lifting your head, though you can’t quite control it yet. You head butt your dad and me a lot when we hold you close to us…or maybe you are doing that head butting thing on purpose? Hmm…

Your eyes are still blue. You still have a full head of hair but are losing some of it off the top. Your fingernails are destroying me! Your cheeks and belly are plumping up perfectly!

And, probably my favorite thing is how expressive you are getting. You make some killer faces, but your dad and I are pretty partial to your Blue Steel face from Zoolander (hopefully you’ll like this reference one day). We call it Poop Steel!

Things going on this month:

Much of our time has been us all getting to know each other, and that gets easier for our little family every day. You spend most of your days eating…it’s definitely your favorite activity! (Which was pretty hard for mom to get used to but now we've both gotten better at breastfeeding, so it’s easy breezy for us).

You are pretty alert for a newborn, and while you do drift off to sleep at random times throughout the day (particularly in the car), you sometimes are awake almost for an entire day. So I try to engage you in my daily routine, read you books, sing you songs and let you practice moving around. You also have a fun mobile dad made you that you enjoy looking at.

The first two weeks dad stayed home with us, which was great. I was really nervous about being able to take care of you all day, but sure enough we made it through and really had fun together. Dad comes home during his lunch breaks to visit us, so that breaks up the day nicely.

We've also gone on lots of outings…the doctor, the park, church, dad’s work, mom’s work, Midtown Coffee, the grocery store, the health department to get your birth certificate and couch shopping. Mostly you sleep through these adventures.

You've had a ton of visitors! Co-workers, grandparents, mom and dad’s friends from around town, and these two Tyler’s came all the way from Florida just to meet you.

Your dog Charley is really fond of you. Every time you cry, he comes running in the room where you are to see if you are alright!

Things you hate:

Hiccups (and you get them a lot!) That is your hiccup face!, diaper changes, changing clothes and baths!

Things you love:

Besides eating…it’s really just being close to mom and dad! In fact, you aren't really a fan of being in slings or rockers or bouncy seats…mostly just in our arms.

You do like your monkey rocker from Aunt Cherie and Aunt Lynn, though, and you get some good sleep in there!

You ALSO like, you discovered, hanging out in your parent’s bed. I can’t really blame you...it is comfy!

What your parents are feeling:

Something that a lot of people have told us is that we wouldn't understand love or happiness until we had a child. This isn't true. In fact, your dad and I believe that keeping our marriage strong is the most important thing we could ever do for our family. So yes, we were happy before you came in the world AND we are happy now that you are here with us! You add more love to our life and make me fall in love with your dad in a new way every day.

You've made our hearts mushy! I cry over things I never thought I’d cry about and worry about things I never knew I’d worry about (and the same goes for your dad…except the crying part). We over-read and research everything for fear of breaking you and doing this parenting thing all wrong, but as time goes on, I am getting more comfortable and confident in my instincts. I definitely find myself loving you more and more everyday (something your Grandma Lori says!)

Thanks for putting up with us first-timers for a whole month! Can’t wait to keep growing together!

Love, Mom

P.S. "Uncle" Nick Noble got you the COOLEST present. We hope you appreciate the reference one day :)

Tumblr Update

Hey internet,

I made an update-type post to my tumblr, on which I haven't been very active since Holli was about halfway through pregnancy. Anyhoo, if you're interested it's HERE.

It's mostly about comics and stuff.

Peace and love,

- Joseph

Obligatory newborn pictures post

We weren't planning on getting newborn pictures taken other than the ones we took ourselves. Our baby's godmother is a great photographer and is coming to visit sometime fairly soon, so she is going to take family photos for us. I THOUGHT that would suffice.

But, our hospital has a photographer that automatically comes in and takes pictures of your two-day old baby. Sneaky, sneaky. I got home, saw the gallery and of course, melted and HAD to order ALL of them. So, here's some pics of our two-day old son.

-Holli

#firstpost

Sup, y'all?

I'm Joseph, for those of you who don't know. Welcome to FaveBlog and welcome to my first post. For the most part, my posts will be novel-sized and possibly rambling and maybe even redundant. The subjects will most likely include family stuff, stories and whatnot, art/comics/drawing/etc., reviewing nerdy stuff, top 10 lists of all types, essay-type opinions and thoughts, and various tutorials (maybe?). I also wanna do a healthy amount of video posts from a yet-to-be created youtube account.

But, for now, I just wanted to get stuff up on this here website--specifically, stuff about my new son (mostly to appease my loved ones for whom this site was initially created). So, in case you haven't seen them, here is a compilation of #gabethebabe videos from my instagram:


MAN I love that guy. I'm also pretty excited about this blog and sharing and reflecting and stuff. Hope you are, too.

Peace and love,

- Joseph

Welcome to the world, baby boy!

We've talked about starting our family blog for a while now. It only seemed fitting to me that my first post be about the little guy that finally motivated us to do it!

Close to two weeks ago, Joseph and I were preparing to welcome the newest member of the Melancon clan into the world: Gabriel Louis. 

Specifically, we were doing this by attempting to deep clean our house, pack a hospital bag and chase away this pesky mouse that seems to lurk in and out of here at the most inconvenient times. 

As I introduce Gabriel to this blog, it seems fitting to start with the story of how he got here (NO, not THAT story!)…we'll just skip to his entrance into the world. (Don't worry, I'm not getting real graphic over here so you can keep reading). 

We woke up last Sunday morning casually around 10:30 a.m. I had noticed some slight pain that felt different from those Braxton Hicks "practice contractions" I'd been having, but since I've never had a child, I didn't get too excited. 

While we were up making breakfast, I jokingly asked Joseph if he felt like having a baby today. I also texted my sister-in-law (who's little one turned a year old on Gabriel's birthday) and told her I'd do my best to give her son a cousin for his birthday. Little did I know that would even be possible! I've heard the stories of how long labor can last, especially for a first time mom.

So that morning, as the contractions started to get to a level where I believed I was actually in early labor, I decided it was time for a distraction. (It was my goal to labor in the comfort of my home as long as possible, so I figured keeping busy would make that easier). That's when the cleaning began.

Around 5 or 6 that evening, the pain was getting a little more intense, and thinking that I may be laboring till the wee hours of the morning, I decided it was time to rest and maybe start actually timing these contractions and see if there was a pattern. 

I lounged in bed, downloaded a contraction-timing app and read a little Harry Potter 4. Then me and Joseph watched Blue Jasmine (good movie, though I must admit I didn't super pay attention to the whole thing). The pain started getting a little more intense, and I just kept trying to relax and do normal stuff (like straighten my hair…I was NOT about to go in labor looking crazy). 

After an hour of contractions that were about 3-5 minutes apart, I decided to call the midwife and let her know what was going on. When she talked to us on the phone, she said we sounded so calm that she didn't think I was actively in labor and told us we could probably spend another hour or so at home. 

We made it to about a half hour and decided it was time to go to the hospital. (Thank God we did that!)

We checked in St. Francis, and she told me I was 4-5 cm dilated and could stay and have that baby (woo-hoo!). About 10 minutes later, my water broke, I threw up on the floor and she was wheeling us into the Labor & Delivery room. 

At this point, the pain got really, REALLY real. All those relaxation techniques I'd used to keep myself calm went out the window, and I just kept telling Joseph to "help me" (whatever that means). Not even an hour later, I told the nurse the pressure was getting real intense, and she checked again…9 cm! 

She called the midwife to urge her to come a little faster, she walked in the room and literally asked if I was ready to have the baby. My whole active labor and transition phase only took 1 hour! 

Probably four or five pushes later (who was counting) Gabriel busted his way out in the world. 

Joseph said his mouth dropped open and I just stared around the room and didn't make eye contact with anyone for a while. I think it is safe to say we were both super in shock about how quickly everything went (um, and that we were PARENTS!) Joseph gave little 6 lb., 9 oz. Gabe-the-babe his first bath and I just hung out with a nursing staff who couldn't quit marveling over how quickly everything moved. 

I literally had to sign the consent forms for them to deliver my baby AFTER he was already in the world. We called our parents (who had last heard we were headed to the hospital...except my dear Dad who was definitely asleep and got the surprise the next day) and told them we were holding our new baby boy.

Joseph and I sat in our room, consumed an entire box of Triscuits and some M&Ms and attempted to digest how everything went even better than we had hoped it would. (And of course started at how freaking adorable baby Melancon is!) 

The next day, I felt like I could do anything. I just gave birth…NATURALLY!...Then, we fumbled our way through a week and a half of being parents and I wasn't so sure I was invincible anymore (in fact, I'm sure I'm not…but here we are giving this parenting thing the old college try!) Wish us luck!

-Holli