Cassidy's Baptism

We are happy to report we successfully made it through Baptism. There was a bit of confusion at the beginning. They only had down that three were being baptized and of course Cassidy was the one left out. It all worked out and in the end she got baptized, we just need to get her certificate later, not a big deal at all. So yesterday Cassidy along with three other little girls got baptized.
We are thankful so many friends and family could make it to the day especially since everyone had to drive to DeKalb. Cassidy was baptized at our church, Christ the Teacher Parish (it's the church on the university campus)

The family after Cassidy's Baptism (she wore the same gown I wore that has been in the family for generations)
Grandma and Granpa Gerken with a not so happy Cassidy (she was great throughout mass, then Baptism was another story, she was a little hungry and a lot tired-not a good combination)
Gram and Baka Kitson
The Godparents-Brett (Brian's brother) and Jenni (my sister)
Fr. Godwin wasd the priest, he's one of our favorites. Moments before this picture she was sleeping so I said as I handed her to him that I hoped she wouldn't cry since she cried through most of the Baptism. He said well if she does I'll just pour some more water on her head. He's such a funny guy.
This was her look most of Baptism-both parents trying to calm her. The pacifier did help some.


After the Baptism we headed back to our house for some lunch, fun and the Bears game. Cassidy did not have a good nap all day, but Ellie and Allison definitely tried. They read her several books in her room. I see a definite possibility of babysitters in these two. She was so tired after her big day that she went to bed at 7:00 p.m. and with only one middle of the night wake-up at 12:45 for food we feel blessed.

This week we have the dreaded 2 month appointment and shots, then we're headed to Dixon for the weekend.

A trip to the apple orchard

We have taken more cute pictures so we figured we'd share. Cassidy is beginning to like the Bumbo seat a little bit more. She looks very into her television program here.
Every year we go to a wonderful apple orchard and pumpkin farm in a small town a few miles from us called Jonomac Orchard. It's a great place and we were so excited to introduce Cassidy to a family tradition. We had great plans to have Brian carry her in the baby Bjorn, but go figure we forgot a hat and it was very sunny out. We decided to brave the grass with the stroller and it worked out just fine especially since she really wanted to sleep. We were able to find a Cassidy sized apple and she even woke up for one picture with it.
Brian is studying the apple orchard picking chart so we knew which apples were good for baking and which for snacking. He enjoys making homemade applesauce and it is yummy. We'll be serving some at Cassidy's baptism for any of you reading this that will be coming.
Here I am with Cassidy and our half peck of picked apples. I'm thinking next year she'll enjoy this family tradition a little bit more.
After a particularly crabby day (Cassidy's not ours) Cassidy did decide to have a better evening. She even laid in her crib and just relaxed for awhile. We had fun getting her to smile and it's nice to see she can enjoy laying in her crib and entertaining herself. She keeps lifting up her hips trying to figure out how to roll over. We think it's a long time coming, but it doesn't stop her from trying. She absolutely does not like being still Notice the receding hairline on our precious baby. Perhaps someday she'll get her hair back and if not, well we probably don't have to worry too much about boys coming around (hmmm this might not be bad).
Finally Cassidy has done something that looks like her mom. She has taken to sucking her thumb and occasionally her thumb and first finger (that's what I sucked as a child) while rubbing her hair. We believe she will be a thumb sucker and hair twirler just like me. It's absolutely adorable to see her find her thumb, suck it and rub her hair.

We hope you enjoyed the picture update and we'll have more after the Baptism on Sunday, it's Cassidy's big party. Let's cross our fingers she has a good day and gets enough sleep the night before.

Milestones

Well a lot has been happening here at the Gerken household since we last posted. Cassidy is now 6 weeks old (7 tomorrow) and is growing like a weed. We are happy to report that last week Wednesday we saw her first "social" smile. We are so excited because now it feels like we're performing for a captive audience rather than just being goofballs. She can be stingy with her smiles, but when you get one it's totally worth it. Last night my mom and dad came to babysit while we went to Baptism preparation class and again Cassidy was very stingy with her smiles. In fact Gram and Bakka didn't get one the whole time they watched her, but when we got back she started to half smile and then she did a little laugh (her first one). We all heard it and decided it was even better than a smile alone. Cassidy also did her first sleepover, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gerken's for Labor Day weekend. She is also doing very well at tummy time and can hold her head up remarkably well and is very alert when she's awake. Of course we think she's a genius!

We are still not getting too much sleep, but we're down to 2 nighttime wakeups which is ok and we're adjusting to less sleep. Last night we even got a 5 hour stretch (not normal) which we really appreciated. Brian is keeping busy with work and his running program, he's preparing for his first race a 10K the end of October. I am back to work one day a week and will return full-time on Columbus day. I also was given the ok to resume normal activity and even did a short run the other day and am doing workout videos-who knew it would feel so good to sweat!

And what you've all been waiting for.....more pictures!

Cassidy had such a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Gerken. They got to see lots of her smiles and they worked her hard during tummy time each day. While we were there we got to see Brian's baby book. Once I get a scanner I'll get pictures of his up here next to hers and there will be no question who she looks like.

Gram and Bakka came to babysit last night so we could go to Baptism class. We had dinner and then they spent quality time with Cassidy. It gave them the baby fix they needed.Great Grandma got to spend some time with Cassidy as well and she even got to see her awake for once.
Here is Cassidy at 6 weeks..note the same hat that she wore in the hospital on her beach vacation...now she looks a little less yellow than she did then.
Brian had his friends over for their monthly gaming session and Cassidy was introduced to the world of gaming and dice. As Brian says if he raises her right she's going to make some little nerd boy very happy someday.This same weekend she also got introduced to fantasy football drafts. What a weekend she had. All the gaming guys love her and take a turn holding her.
Brian took this great picture so he could have a picture of his girls for his desk at work. What a great shot!

1 Month Check-Up

Cassidy 1 month old!

Hard to believe that Cassidy is already one month old, but it's true. We went to her one month check-up yesterday and she is doing very well. She grew one inch (currently 20 1/2 inches) and gained 2 pounds exactly (currently 9 pounds); she is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. It was good to hear she's getting enough to eat, because somedays I was really wondering. She did have to get the second of her Hepatitis shots and she HATED that. The minute they put the needle in her face was bright red and she screamed like I've never heard before. I felt so bad and last night was a bit of a rough night with her feeling under the weather as a result of the shot. She was very fuzzy and had a low temp (another not pleasant experience was Brian getting her temperature-why again is it best to do a rectal temp for infants?!?)

Luckily once we got her to sleep last night she did ok, and seems to be back to normal today. I'm really not looking forward to the 2 month check-up that has more shots and should make her feel even more miserable.

Here are some new pics.
We had visitors last week our friends Mary, Julian and their daughter Kayleigh. Kayleigh is 6 months old so she will be able to show Cassidy the ropes as they continue to have play dates. (She really wasn't sleeping here, she just looks like it.And they're off....well sort of. Cassidy did manage to move herself a little bit across the floor by gripping her toes and scooting. Someday they'll actually be able to race-perhaps next summer when we all go camping together.
Unfortunately last week we made our first sick visit to the doctor. Cassidy had been spitting up (which she usually doesn't do) and was gagging and was gasping for breath on occassion. We went and met our pediatrician (he's great, very thorough and super great with new parents). He thinks it is acid reflux so she is now on drops three times a day to help out. It has definitely been helping, which is good because the gasping for breath and gagging is a very scary sound. The first time we gave her the medicine I wish I could have gotten a picture-the look on her face was hilarious. She is getting better at taking the medicine, but she still hates it.Last night we introduced Cassidy to Scrabble. She of course is a genius and is winning the game (to be completed tonight). We hope you've enjoyed the picture update.

Cassidy 4 weeks old tomorrow!

We've been taking lots of pictures lately around the house and decided we should update the blog with them so everyone else could enjoy them as well. Cassidy is growing like crazy (I realized this when I looked back at picture of her in her carseat coming home from the hospital). Cassidy will be four weeks old tomorrow and we are finally starting to get a handle on things. We're still getting up plenty in the middle of the night, but she's getting better at falling back to sleep after eating which is a huge blessing and two nights in a row she only got up twice (never mind bedtime was late, but we're thankful for a stretch of 3 hours of sleep these days)
Cassidy enjoys her naps during the day and is pretty content almost anywhere, we're lucky to have such a good baby.The umbilical cord finally fell off (yes it can fall off in more than one piece by the way-it took Cassidy's three pieces to be gone) so we got a real bath. It was an adventure for all of us, but we did it. Cassidy didn't mind the tub, she was sort of indifferent to it-no opinion either way. It was nice to have four hands to do the bath because it's tricky to bath them and I wasn't really looking forward to doing it alone. Cassidy had other plans 2 days later though when she decided to spit up all of her "meal" over both of us while Brian was at work. So another bath it was and I did it alone. I felt like it was a huge step for me. (thanks Kim for helping me through that tough day)

We decided to let Cassidy try to sit in the baby bumbo-she's not a fan yet, but boy does she have great control over her head. The other night she was doing tummy time and even managed to scoot herself across the floor a bit. We're sure her "finger toes" helped out a bit.
This is Cassidy at 3 weeks with the Bear her Bakka gave her, it will be fun to see how much she grows by comparing her to the bear.
Some nights are long and rough in the Gerken household, so we all need to make sure we get our naps when we can!


Tuesday Cassidy has a doctor's appointment so we'll update after that. We're excited to see how big she is getting.

PRICELESS

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Gerken for this awesome picture. We like to think it's a real smile and not just gas!

Dad goes back to work

Sorry it has been so long since an update we've been busy and there are so many pictures its hard to pick which ones to post. We'll try to update more often so it is less difficult to decide on pictures.

Cassidy and I were lucky enough to have Brian home the first week and then he only had to work 3 days last week. It was really nice, but unfortunately he is now back at work full-time. Cassidy and I are trying to figure out a routine for our days because we definitely miss him now that he's back to work.

Yesterday we began taking walks and are trying to get in at least two good walks a day, it gets us out of the house and helps us keep our sanity. Cassidy is such a great baby that I really could take her anywhere and we feel very fortunate for that. We're struggling at night since she thinks nighttime is a great time to be awake, but last night we went 3 hours without waking and waited until the 4:00 a.m. feeding to decide it was time to be up for the day.

And now what you all really want....more pictures.
Cassidy at her first doctor's appointment (1 week old) she was back to birth weight already which was great news. Unfortunately, she was hungry at the appointment so our usually very content baby was very unhappy.Grandma Kitson was watching cousin Carly for a week while her parents were on vacation so we went for a visit. Carly likes Cassidy and gives her nice hugs. We're sure by next summer they'll be great friends.
Grandma and Grandpa Gerken came to our house for a visit, we'll post pictures with Grandpa later, we have to get some of those.Cassidy got to go check out Dad's work. She slept through most of the visit, but he was very excited to show her off.Cassidy and Gretchen are becoming fast friends, and Gretchen will like her even more when she can throw her ball for her. For now they sometimes nap together and Gretchen watches over her whenever someone comes for a visit.

Well that's it for now, we'll be sure to update more often as Cassidy continues to grow and change every day.