Vikings!

Our beloved Vikings lost their big game yesterday. It wasn't due to lack of cheering from us!

Before the game we headed over to Jeff and Dawn's for Brooke's 2nd birthday. It was fun seeing them and watching Brooke open her presents. Note to self, next time just buy her singing greeting cards. She loved them!! Dawn made an Elmo cake for the birthday girl and it was yummy as always.

Trevor continues to be a very happy baby. We call him Mr. Smiley -he smiles all the time!! He is very alert, taking everything in. He turns to hear different sounds and definitely knows Mommy and Daddy's voices. His chatting has taken on a few different words, now using consonant letters like M and T. He is so fun to be around!! Here are a few of his smiles from the past few days.

His ear infection seems to be doing better. He was struggling taking his medicine with the dropper so Mommy thought of putting the dose into a bottle nipple. Worked like a charm, he sucks it right down! This morning we went in for a lactation consultant appointment and learned he is now up to 12 pounds 5 ounces. Mommy calls him her little chunkster!! It doesn't help his cause that he has his Daddy's chubby cheeks! Daddy had them as a newborn up until he was about 14 years old! Uncle Jeff thinks he looks more like Daddy then Mommy now. It's amazing how he changes every day!

Trevor finally fit into the first outfit we purchased for him after finding out we were pregnant. It is a pant and hoodie outfit from Baby Gap with a horiscope onesie. His due date of November 19 would have made him a Scorpio (goes through 11/22) so we originally purchased that onesie. It was a good thing Mommy picked up the next month one on sale for $3. Call it mother's intuition since he was 6 days late. Sagittarius fits him well though - it says Loves Adventure, Born to Travel! Although we should make him where the Scorpio one for kicks!

Its Off to Work We Go

Today Trevor visited Daddy and his co-workers at Target. He was quite the hit! And his team really enjoyed the caramel fudge brownies that Mommy made. They were still warm when she brought them in!


Afterward, Mommy and Trevor did some shopping. It was fun being out and about until Trevor got a little fussy and only wanted to be held. That did a number on Mommy's back since she still had to push the stroller, but he still has his ear infection so Mommy did her best to comfort him!

Even with his ear infection he has a pretty happy demeanor. He continues to love his swing. He recently discovered the mirror and moving lambs/stars. He is entertained for a good 20 minutes alone in his swing, usually before falling asleep for nap time.


He's still trying to suck his thumb! He's very close!


Here are a few pics from his 2-month birthday!

Our Little Sickie :(

Sara took Trevor into his pediatrician yesterday for a weight check now that he's breastfeeding. Good news is that his weight continues to increase - he's 11 lbs, 15 oz now (50th percentile) and 24 inches long (75th percentile). Bad news is that he has an ear infection. The doctor checked his ears and asked if he had been fussy, in which Sara responded not really, but maybe a little, but we thought that was normal around his age. The doctor then said he has an ear infection! Sara immediately felt bad for the little guy who was now screaming from the doctor poking at his ears. He continued to scream while leaving the doctors office, in the elevator, down to the pharmacy, in the pharmacy, outside the pharmacy while waiting for his prescription, while paying for the prescription, and on the walk to the car. That was 20 minutes of pure sadness and anxiety for Mommy - he's never had a breakdown like that before in public or at home. So, he now is taking the famous pink medicine that Daddy enjoyed as a kid (Mommy is allergic to penicillin so never was able to take it). We're a tad worried that this is just the start of Trevor's ear infections - both Mommy and Daddy had them frequently as kids.

Trevor was most likely also unhappy because the doctor massaged his tear duct to show Mommy how to do it daily. Well, won't that be fun since he oh so liked it the first time. Trevor has a blocked tear duct in his right eye that he's had since birth. Every so often (this is the 2nd time), it gets infected so he is also once again on eye drops! Between the amoxicillin, eye drops, and Vitamin D drops, baby Trevor is set!

And we can't forget - today is Trevor's 2 month birthday. Happy birthday T-Rev (as Uncle Jim calls him)!

Talking Away and Other Happenings

Baby Trevor is a talker! He loves cooing, awing, and saying agoo! We can have mini-conversations for five minutes or more. He'll talk even longer to his activity mat who doesn't talk back! (Thanks Murray family for his adorable "Just Chillin" outfit!)


Trevor enjoys being read to which probably started when he was first conceived. Sara read to him most every day when he was in her tummy. Here is a pic of Daddy reading one of his favorite books - Monster at the End of the Book - to baby Trevor. We're glad that Grandma and Grandpa Hillins saved all of Brian's favorite childhood books so that he can now read them to his son!


Trevor LOVES his hands, which are now not covered in mittens since he's stopped scratching himself. He loves feeling the different textures of his toys as well as touching Mommy and Daddy's skin.




Trevor learned to like his pacifier this week, thanks to Daddy and Grandma Jeanne. He's still particular in taking it but will take it from time to time. The lactation consultant thinks he really needs it because he eats so fast he misses out on sucking time. So she had us try a new pacifier (2+) and he seems to like it once in a while!


People think he looks more like Sara now. We think he has her eyes and lips and Brian's nose!


Trevor had fun hanging out with his Grandpa John and Grandma Pauline when they were here for his Baptism. They enjoyed reading books, cuddling, chatting, and playing with his toys. He is very into black and white toys and books right now. And they took good care of him while Mommy went to get her nails done - what a treat for all!!


We learned this week that Trevor is 11 pounds 6 ounces. He gained 15 ounces in 10 days (they are supposed to gain .5 to 1 ounce a day) so he is getting more than enough food! Note the chubby cheeks in his pictures!!


His usual schedule now consists of eating every 2.5 to 3.5 hours during the day. He has always followed the routine of eating, then active time for about an hour to hour and a half, then nap time until he wakes up to eat. At night he has his last feeding around 10 or 10:30 pm and goes to bed right after. He usually sleeps until 3:00 or so, eats and goes back to bed until 6:30 or 7:00am. We feel really lucky that he is such a good sleeper!

Trevor loves visitors!! This week Aunt Chandra and Uncle Matt finally got to meet him and Auntie Erin stopped over to catch up with Mommy and hang out with baby Trevor.




Trevor is officially out of newborn clothes. Mommy tried to put him in the outfit he wore home from the hospital, but it clearly didn't fit. That's good though - he has a lot of 0-3 month clothes to be wearing!!


Another big happening was Sara and Brian having their second big outing leaving Trevor with "babysitters" ie Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Steve. We headed to the Vikings game (in which they beat the Cowboys) and Trevor and his Grandparents had quality time. He had no problem taking the bottle and probably didn't even notice Mommy and Daddy weren't there. Although, we sure missed him!!

Trevor's Baptism

On Sunday Trevor's Baptism was held at our church. It was a special occasion held on the Baptism of the Lord! Both sets of parents and the Godparents, Jim and Annie Roslansky and Jeff and Dawn Hillins, as well as Lauren, Brooke, and Sam were there. Afterward we had a brunch at our house complete with red velvet cake from our favorite Queen of Cakes!

So big!

Every day we see a change in Trevor. He is getting so big already!!!

Maaaaa!

Trevor has had a cry since his first day of life that sounds like he is crying out "Ma/Mom" - it is the saddest little cry and tugs at Sara's heart when she hears it. We'll try to record it and upload it sometime!

One thing we realized we forgot to mention in Week One news is that we got the daycare we wanted! We actually got the call that week for both daycares we were on the wait list for so we re-toured both and chose Cavalry Lutheran Child Care. Yes, we are Catholic but it was important to us to have a Christian-based daycare and we hit a home run in getting into Cavalry! We love it there and know Trevor will be in good hands. One other big positive? It is three stop lights from our house - about 1 mile!!

Here's a precious pic of Trevor smiling at Daddy!!

Such a big boy!

Finally Trevor outgrew his first three outfits!! All of them were newborn sleep and play outfits. However, he still doesn't fit into any of his 0-3 month clothes but he is close on GAP brand clothes (we think they must run a tad small). So, he continues to rotate through his limited newborn outfits and pajamas. We can't wait for him to wear all of the clothes in his closet.

This week his nails seem to be on slow-grow-mode so he's been having his hands and fingers out during the day and he loves them!! He definitely grabs onto toys and clothes. When Mommy is nursing him he always has his hands grabbed onto her shirt.

He does a great job following faces and toys with his eyes and head. He especially likes if you twinkle your fingers in front of him and move them left to right. He will smile, coo, and wave his arms and legs in excitement for 10 minutes or more!

Trevor does well with tummy time and has developed quite the strong neck! He does well holding his head up, only on occasion does it flop back or forward. He also has strong legs. If Sara is holding him on her lap with him facing her, she really has to watch her c-section incision wound because he will kick it!

We think he looks like a toddler in this picture, too cute!!


This week the Hillins are coming for Trevor's Baptism. They'll be here for a week which will allow them to spend some time with their grandson as well as their two granddaughters! They haven't seen him since he was born, but we recently had our first video chat! It will be good to see them in person!

Trevor's First Christmas

The meteorologists predicted a snowstorm over the Christmas holiday that would be one of the top storms of the decade. So, instead of heading to Sara's parents' house for the Kelly family Christmas we would have to stay at home and spend the holiday just the three of us, well four of us if you count Randle!! The Kelly Christmas would be rescheduled for a later date. It wasn't what any of us wanted but we had to listen to the experts and not travel.

We decided to make the most of the situation by attending Christmas mass on Christmas eve at our church. Not sure what we were thinking by showing up 2 minutes prior to mass time, but we found space in the kids room. Trevor was the most quiet kid in there!


We also fondued on Christmas eve, which was a tradition on Brian's side of the family growing up. FUN!


At night, Trevor left out a plate of cookies for Santa!


We woke up to 6 or so inches of snow (on top of the 6 we received the day before) and the roads didn't seem too bad, so Sara's parents drove up and Sara's brother, sister-in-law, nephew and their doggie came over as well and Christmas was had!! It was nice to be all together and everyone spent the night so it really did feel like Christmas! Not sure how the doggies get the best seats in the house?!?


The 25th also marked Trevor's one month birthday!!


On the 27th, Sara, Brian, Trevor, and Randle celebrated our family Christmas. Trevor received a new bath, a dump truck he'll use when he's about a year old, a new black and white toy, and a Christmas ornament. Randle got some treats and a new toy.






One of Sara's Aunts and Uncles sent Trevor a Santa suit. It was a little big (it was 0-3 month and he still wears newborn) but he still looked like a cutie. Here are our 2 Santa's!

New Year's was spent in Owatonna for the rescheduled Kelly family Christmas. It was fun introducing Trevor to Sara's family. We are really lucky to have family so close! After we got home our friends Dan and Emily from St. Louis came to visit. It was great catching up with them. They have a little one due June 15!

Daddy's Home!

Brian took an extended period of time off of work over the holidays and boy was Mommy and Trevor glad he was home!! It was great spending time the three of us!! We had a lot of fun things planned - shopping at Mall of America, dinner at Murray's steakhouse, lunch at Benihana, and just hanging out!! We did all that we wanted to and more!!

Here is a great pic from that time - all three boys sleeping!

One of the more exciting parts of Brian's time off was Trevor learning how to breastfeed!! We had decided to give-up on it, more or less, because it was causing too much anxiety for Sara when Trevor wouldn't latch. Then she'd have to scramble to get a bottle ready and then wait to pump. It was just too much. It was easier to simply commit to bottle feeding and pumping, which she did without complaint. However, on our trip to Macy's at Mall of America we had one round of Brian feeding Trevor with Sara pumping in the Mommy room. The next time Trevor got hungry we headed back to the area we were at when Sara said 'why don't I just try to see if he'll nurse.' At this point it had been 12 days since our last attempt and Trevor was pretty worked up from being hungry so not quite sure what Sara was thinking but Mommy instinct must have worked because Trevor latched on like a champ and nursed!!! It's been smooth sailing ever since!!! Nothing like mastering it at 4 and a half weeks old!! Yeah Trevor!!!

Another highlight of his time off was Trevor sleeping through the night - 7 hours!!! We put him down at 1 am and we were up at 6:30/7:00 waiting for him to wake up. Finally the sleepy-head did a little after 8:30am!!! What a treat!!!

Funny picture of Trevor - Sara was taking a series of photos of Trevor sleeping in his swing when all of a sudden he makes this face for one second then he was back to his calm self and sleeping. This is definitely his mad face!

Week Three - Just Sara and Trevor

Week three marked the week that it was just Sara and Trevor at home during the day because Sara's parents left. With Trevor being such a good baby it was a pretty easy transition and a pretty routine schedule was already established. About every three hours Trevor gets fed a bottle, diaper changed, put in swing while Sara pumps, active play time for about 30-45 minutes then he naps for about an hour before getting up to eat and starting the whole process over. At night he usually eats at 1:00 am and then again at 5:00 am, so Mommy is getting pretty good rest. She doesn't rest during the day but isn't too tired! More often she naps from 11:00pm until 1:00am and then 6:00 am until he's up at 8:00 am. Sara really can't complain!

Trevor enjoys when Daddy comes home, they often get their own cuddle time in after dinner which is just too cute!!


Trevor also really enjoys sitting back and analyzing you. He's enthralled with faces.



He also continues to enjoy reading books, here he is reading his black and white book with Grandma Jeanne. Matter of fact, he likes any black and white items right now. We also captured him trying to get his toy zebra!





Speaking of the day Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Steve came up, it was the neatest thing. Grandma Jeanne was holding him and Sara entered the room and said something and Trevor was straining his neck to see in the direction of Sara's voice. He definitely knows Mommy!! Same would hold true for Daddy!

A new toy for Trevor this week is his activity mat from Erin and Dan. He is fascinated with the whale and lights and can often play on this for 30+ minutes a day. He does a really good job focusing on objects and has started trying to hit objects with his arms and legs...or he just gets really lucky by flailing his extremities around!


He has started "talking" and if you stick out your tongue he often mimics you and does the same. It's quite hilarious!! He's definitely going through a growth spurt. He now takes 4 oz bottles about 7 times a day. He averages 26-28 ounces a day. We think he's over 9 lbs now, which is good given that his weight dropped to 7 and a half pounds after birth.

We think he looks more like Sara these days. People that see him also agree. It seems like he has Sara's eyes and mouth and Brian's nose and cheeks. A good mix of both parents!

Special thanks to the Crain family for the yummy, yummy meal they brought over this week!! We must get the recipe for the honey glazed chicken and homemade mac-n-cheese! Everything was absolutely delicious and we really appreciated you doing that for us. What a treat!