Middle Name Update

Since choosing Sarah as a middle name for Gwendolyn, we've received a bit more information that reinforces the fact that it was the right choice.

It turns out that Sarah was the name of Grandpa Ronaghan's Grandmother who immigrated to Idaho from England, and then came to Alberta with many other families who heard there was land available. Unfortunately, Sarah didn't survive the harsh Alberta winters but we are happy her name lives on in Gwendolyn.

The quote "...and Sarah laughed" was a favourite of Felicity's aunt (and namesake) Felicity, who incorporated it into one of her many art projects.

We are so pleased that the name has such strong family connotations, and that it will further connect Gwendolyn to her family history.

Grandpa Ronaghan Visits

We had a visit today from Grandpa Ronaghan who was down from Grand Forks. We spent a lovely afternoon drinking tea, eating cookies and visiting. As you can see, Gwendolyn needs to work on her hospitality skills; she slept during the whole visit. Though considering she could have been fussing or crying, maybe sleeping wasn't such a bad thing!

Gwendolyn is so lucky to have all four grandparents in her life, and is looking forward to meeting Mémé and Papa John (Felicity's parents) in the New Year.

Dad and L'il G. revisited

Some of you have wondered about the absence of Kevin in the majority of the photographs posted so far. Of course, "Big K." is normally behind the camera, capturing as many Mom/Gwen moments as possible.

Mom can happily confirm that K. is also fully engaged with "baby work" around here - from helping with feedings and changing those awful poopy diapers, to silly-dancing with Gwen during her fussy times and making sure Mom eats, drinks and gets her rest.

As you can see by this recent photo of K. and G., large flannel shirts sure come in handy for cuddling!

Peanut!

Many of you know we affectionately referred to our baby as "Peanut" during the pregnancy. Well, one of Felicity's sharp-eyed colleagues spotted this "onesie" and knew we had to have it. It's 100% organic cotton to boot!

"ColiJen" drops by for a visit

Gwendolyn entertained our good friends Colin and Jennifer today. She was the perfect little angel, sleeping quietly the whole time. I'm sure we'll pay for that with an extra special burst of fussiness later tonight.

By the way, Jennifer and Felicity are NOT related, despite the uncanny resemblance. (Not to mention the flukey wardrobe colour match!)

Caution: super cute baby ahead!

Here's a few photos from an amazingly calm and quiet diaper change. Gotta love the "pin-up" pose, eh?

Mom and Dad have become a pretty darn good diaper changing tandem, if they do say so themselves -- no small feat when dealing with a squirmy baby!

The last photo with Mom is more indicative of Gwen's typical reaction to diaper changes.

Report to Baby Central

MEMO

TO: Baby Central
FROM: Baby #11122007 (aka Gwendolyn Sarah Ronaghan)
RE: Two-week check-in

Per the terms of our agreement, I am providing a report on the parental units I selected. In order to keep it brief, I will summarize my observations in two categories: Pros and Cons.

Pros

• the one with the endless supply of milk (delicious!) has v. good soft, pillowy sleeping area near source of milk. Excellent for sleeping upon.
  
• the one with the prickly face has good vocal tone, especially useful during FP (Fussy Period -- delivered per all requirements of courses FP101 and 201).
• two successful excursions to a place known as "outside." Fresh air very welcome, though caused extreme drowsiness.
• high level of tolerance for spitting up, fussing and crying.
• parental units very engaged in all my activities, esp. smiling and laughing I do while asleep.
  

Cons

• photographed me in ridiculous "Christmas" outfit. V. embarrassing if photos get disseminated to other Baby Central graduates.
• keep awakening me to feed me the delicious milk; causing me both sleep deprivation and weight gain. Parentals appear extremely pleased with (and significantly fixated upon) weight gain.
  
• the one with the prickly face forgets to turn off flash on camera, startling me when I am sleeping.
• cloth used to swaddle my bottom half ("diaper") continually becoming wet; parentals change same relatively promptly, however (pro).

Summary: Overall rating acceptable. Further report to be provided at 4 weeks.