I guess this is growing up...

When I was a kid, one of the things I thought was coolest and most "adult" about my mom was her purse. It smelled like leather and spearmint gum, and had all manner of odd things floating around in it; lipsticks worn down to the dregs, hardware from a door she needed to replace, the bulletin from church the previous week, a half-roll of chocolate Velamints when she was trying to quit smoking, a 3 pound set of keys that would make a janitor blush, and so on. I could look in her purse and instantly get a sense of my mom- her busy, loving, awesomely chaotic life, raising 3 kids on her own and working full time and still having dinner with all of us sitting around the table each night- all contained in one convenient bag. To me, I knew once I was really, truly a grown up, I would have such a purse.

Today I went in my purse looking for a receipt and instead of finding it I came up with an empty camera case, a usb drive, diaper coupons, 7 letters I need to put in the mail box, a free lotion sample, and wafting over it all, the smell of leather and spearmint. I have arrived, folks. I have arrived. I am officially all growed up.

And now, the week in photos:
:

Reading "Where's the Bone?" with Daddy. Will the great mystery of that pesky bone's whereabouts ever be solved?? I beleive it was last seen "Up in the sky".

With Bunbun, her best good friend. I bought him when I found out I was preggo, and she got him the day she was born.

In an outfit Aunt Alex made. Looks cute, and apparently tastes good too!

Shot Through the Leg, and You're to Blame....

....You give Polio a BAD NAME!! Gawd I love me some Bon Jovi.
So yeah, Gwen-monstress got her first round of shots, and she did just fine. She cried for about a minute- not even Super-Sonic Dolphin Scream,more like a little bit shocked and chagrined- and then was done. I couldn't look at that big mean needle going into that fat little thigh....but I held her and applied Mommy-comfort and she was fine. A bit sleepier than usual at home, but other than that, just the same. Except now immune to like four potentially debilitating diseases! Viva modern medicine! Way to go, Mr. Salk.
I think we heard our first Gwendy laugh today too! It was sort of a wheezy baby-donkey sound. It was incredible enough to send me into all sorts of undignified shenanigans to make it happen again, I tell you. I think its in Peter Pan where every babies first laugh turns into a fairy; I now believe it's so. That laugh could cure cancer. It could create world peace and give everyone free healthcare with no tax increase and make Kim Jong Il dance the Electric Slide. It rocks, that laugh. I will attempt to capture on video in the coming days.

2 Months Old!

Hard to believe, but our little girl is already 2 months old as of this week. The changes happen so fast, I can't even keep track of them. It's so cool to watch her sassy little personality developing.

Gavin goes back to work tomorrow- we both feel the way you do when you're a kid and summer vacation is about to end. But, we have had an amazing 6 weeks together- the longest we've ever spent w/ neither of us working, and yet the busiest time of our lives! Gav marked the occasion by getting rid of the pirate goatee he had grown over the past few weeks. Also, he discovered he gained a bit (read- more than Gwendy weighs) of weight since he stopped working. HA! Sweet vengeance! Take that, Freakish Metabolism Man! Now watch him loose that poundage in like, 6 minutes. Bastardo.

Tuesday is her first round of vaccinations- I am sort of dreading it. The idea of inflicting pain on such an innocent little monkey sucks. A lot. But I know it's for the best. Sigh.

Here's about a million photos of our gal to commemorate her reaching the 60 day mark!

Um, is her hair looking a bit red? Will I get to live my dream of dressing her up like Anne of Green Gables?



It was Grandma's birthday! Gwendy helped celebrate it by being lovely.


Goofball:

She appears nervous about this bath. Probably because it was the result of being covered in poop and was unexpected.

Right before Gavin got rid of his Paternity Leave Goatee:

Our last day of paternity leave in front of our new building:

Gwendy decided not to scream in rage every time Grandpa picked her up this weekend. It was a pleasant change for all involved:

In her honorary cousin Lucy's former clothes, looking a-freakin-dorable. Yeah, I'm biased. So what?

Fitzpatricks in Spaaaaace!!!!

PRAISE GOD, we are out of our teensy tiny 350 sq foot apartment and in one nearly triple the size!! We kind of don't know what to do with ourselves, what with all the glorious SPACE. We are still very much digging out from the move, but it feels so very good to have to actually raise our voices to call one another from parts of the apartment. The new digs are in Beautiful Burbank. We are in this cool area called the "Rancho Equestrian District", and they mean what they say- horses literally walk up and down our sidewalk on a daily basis. Plus we are right across from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, so there's always people riding and horses neighing and all that fab stuff. Double plus, somewhere nearby there are a group of Donkeys that Hee HAW at 6:25 on the button every morning. We love love LOVE our new place. Can't wait to have some of y'all over to see it!
Gwendy is 7 weeks old as of yesterday, and changing seemingly every minute. She now has about an hour of awake playtime for every hour she sleeps during the day. She coos and smiles and is utterly facinated with her own feet at the moment. She stares at them endlessley, drooling like a maniac.
Here's some photos and a nice video of Daddy building Gwendy's crib and her reaction to said crib, or more specifically, her reaction to her lamb mobile.
*(Just a disclaimer- my videos of late are and will continue to be mostly just shots of our girl with very little in the way of careful editing. First, I just don't have that kind of time, and second I make these videos for the Gwendy-hungry among you (you know who you are....Mom, MJ, I'm looking at you) so don't judge me too harshly! )