Lookit...the chubbiness!

Yep, that is one chunky little dude. We can barely get his pants on over those chubby thighs. The doctor put him in the 95th percentile in weight (15 lbs. at 8 weeks).

You gotta love cubby babies.

Grandpa with the the latest McLain

Indeed, the proud grandfather sitting with his latest grandson, knowing that there are two now to carry on the family name.

He couldn't have been happier or more proud.

Family pictures

What can I say - I have a beautiful wife and two handsome boys. I take no credit for any of it. All credit for good looking kids goes to the aforementioned wife. I just get to hook my thumbs in my suspenders and say "Them's my boys!"

I'm just lucky I guess.

Just the boys

Again, what more can be said? Goofy, half-talking smile on my face notwithstanding, there be some cute little boys hanging out with daddy.

Life is definitely good.

Dig that smile!

This is what Gavin looks like when he's happy. He usually achieves this particular state of Nirvana after he has eaten, burped loud enough to wake the neighbors, dropped a load in his diapers or peed on mommy or daddy.

In other words - fairly often.

Yes, he's sleeping...your point?

Yes, indeed. Babies sleep a LOT. Gavin likes to sleep in the "touchdown" position (originally made famous by Caleb). He also snores. Poor little dude is already afflicted with the McLain sinuses. He's doomed.

Honestly - will the McLain children ever be free of the horrifying curse of snoring like a congested moose? Their future wives can only hope.

Smile, dang you...

This is the latest in my attempts to get a shot of Gavins charming, crooked smile. Like I said - he'll smile for Marci all the time, but as soon as I show my ugly mug around he clams right up.

Isn't it a little early for him to be a surly teen?

Repose of the content

Gavin is a fairly content little dude. He especially enjoys laying on my chest. Who knows, maybe it's the warmth, maybe it's the slow heartbeat and breathing, but he usually calms right down and goes to sleep whenever he is laying on my chest. Sometimes it's the only thing that will calm him down. Go figure.

I still think he likes Marci better though. He'll smile for her all the time - but never for me. I figure it's just cause she's better to look at (which is obviously true), and the fact that she's his meal ticket. Hhe's only interested in me as a relaxation matress.

They grow so fast...

We took Gavin to the doctor on Friday to see how things were going. This was after Marci took him to a lab for a PKU (a series of tests run to see if an infant has any of 9 different genetic diseases - at least that's how many they test for in Arizona).

I don't do the PKU test - they have to prick the baby's heel to get a blood smear. I can't handle seeing the little dude pricked like that. I went for Caleb's test and it was really hard for me to watch. So I opted out of this one. I'm not squeamish about the blood - I'm more affected by the baby freaking out.

Anyway, at the doctor's office we discovered that Gavin is already at 8 lbs. 4 oz. When we left the hospital a week and a half ago he was at 7 lbs. 4 oz.

Dude gained a pound in a little over 1 week. Pig.

He's doing quite well at this point. He's a pretty calm baby for the most part, but he's had some problems with gas. It happens on average every other night. Last night for example I only got about 2 hours of sleep, and Marci probably only got 1 hour. It was not a good night. It's so sad for Gavin - he's obviously in pain, but you know that he just doesn't understand what the problem is; and it's just no fun listening to the little guy cry (heck - it's no fun listening to any infant cry - it's just so sad!).

Most of the rest of the time he stays on a 3 hour schedule - awake most of the day and sleeping between feedings at night.

He's still the cutest baby around. And Marci and I aren't in the slightest bit biased at all.

Curious big brother pt. 2

Did we mention that Caleb is seriously curious about baby brother? He can't leave him alone. Anytime he's near him he has to touch/kiss/hug Gavin.

Recovering with aplomb

Although generally Gavin didn't really enjoy his first bath, he recovered quickly to be just as cute as ever.

The first bath

How about this schnazzy getup? Much better than just ploping them in the .sink or using a bunch of towels and a bowl on the kitchen table.

He wasn't too pleased with the proceedings by the way.

Just plain cute

They are small, and they are helpless - and that's why you love them so much.

All gussied up...

Marci put Gavin in his best duds for the baby shots the hospital provides (for a small fee). He looks like he's swimming in that outfit. He went home in this same outfit (minus the jacket) and his little feet had disappeared inside the legs of the outfit.

You do forget how small they are when they're first born.

Obligatory shot #3

Well, here is the obligatory shot of just me and the little boy.

I know...it's horrible to look at. Sorry.

Seriously curious...

It's pretty amazing actually. Caleb sat there at the edge of Marci's bed and just stared at Gavin. He'd reach across every 20 seconds or so and just touch his cheek or head, and then he started poking him, then he started to play "spiders" - anything to just touch baby brother.

Gavin had better get used to it quickly - I have a feeling Caleb is going to be very interested in "helping" raise baby brother.

The curious "big" brother

"Big" in this case being a relative term. When we went over today to see Marci it had been about 24 hours since she had seen Caleb. Her comment was "Wow. Caleb is HUGE! I didn't realize how big he was." This not more than one day after we got to hold Gavin and said "Wow. You forget how small they are."

I guess pregnancy has made Marci's memory REALLY short.

Sleeping like a....

Well...like a baby...I guess. Dude stays awake for 3 or 4 hours at a stretch, but that just means that when he crashes - he's out for the count. You cannot wake him up. Even Caleb was unsuccessful - which is quite a statement in and of itself.

Obligatory shot #2

We let Caleb hold his little brother for a few minutes - and he really enjoyed it. The look on his face was absolutely incredible.

Poor little dude has no idea how much his life will change in the next little while.

Obligatory shot

Marci was very happy about how well things went, and she is really proud of Gavin. You really need to see the look on her face. And if you've never had the opportunity to see the look on a mother's face when she finally gets a to look at her child in those first few moments of life - well, you're missing out on one of the most beautiful moments life has to offer.

Posing with the boys

Hey, why not. If I get to pose with the two boys - Marci gets to as well.

Caleb meets Gavin

Right in the middle of Gavin's first feeding Grandma McLain, Great-Grandma Miller and Caleb came by to meet him. Caleb was VERY excited about this. He's been talking about it for weeks and keept asking when baby brother was going to come out.

He wanted nothing more than to hold him. I was only too happy to oblige - I really wanted to see that smile when he got to hold him for the first time.

I was not disappointed.

Check out those peepers!

Right before he got handed over to Marci to try and breast-feed for the first time he got checked out once again to make sure he was still doing okay. He wasn't too happy with the cold stethescope probing him a little - and it sure woke him up. This was the first really good look we got of his eyes. However, it certainly wasn't the last. Gavin really likes to look around and see what's going on. He stayed awake for 4 hours straight just looking around.

Starting to wake up

After a little while it was time to wake the boy up and get him to try and feed a little bit. He was NOT happy about being disturbed from his sleep.

All cleaned up

I went to breakfast with Sherl and Kathy while Gavin was being monitored, and then went home for a quick nap. We were hoping that Marci would get a chance to get a little rest without everyone there. She ended up getting a qick power-nap, but that was about it.

Anyway, when I got back to the hospital they were done monitoring Gavin and let me take him back to the room - peaceful and quiet and all cleaned up. He slept very soundly for a few hours.

5 minutes old

I'll spare you the pictures of Gavin when he was just out of the womb - some people would probably think that was gross. Instead, here he is with Marci after he's had a little cleaning up, but before he was taken away to be monitored.

Gavin Thomas McLain

Gavin Thomas officially joined our family at 6:45 am this morning.

Weight: 7 lbs. 10 oz.
Length: 20.5 in.

Everyone is healthy and happy.

Marci was scheduled to be induced at 5:00 this morning, but at around 2:15 am she woke up with contractions. By the time we got to the hospital at 5:15 the contractions were quite hard and right on top of each other. When we got up into the delivery room the nursing staff had to hustle to get an epidural in her; everything was moving along very quickly.

Dr. Beck arrived at about 6:30, Marci pushed a total of 4 times, and out popped Gavin - screaming away just like his brother did when he was born. Dude already has a set of lungs on him. The total time of labor once we got to the hospital was 1 hour and 15 minutes.

While they were cleaning up they noticed that Gavin was grunting more than crying, which could mean that there is some fluid in his lungs, so they took him to the nursery for closer observation. I saw him again about 30 minuts later and he was doing much better, crying away like a madman, which in this case is what we want to happen. The one and only time in his life where we're encouraging him to cry.

We're trying to enjoy it while we can.

Ah, the vigor of youth...

It's just fun to watch how the kids just run around with gusto; completely ovlivious to nearly every rule except one: kick the ball.

If you havn't been to a 4-5 yr old soccer league game yet - you're seriously missing out. The entertainment value of those babies is off the charts.

Preparing for battle...

Here's another fun shot of the players waiting with thier coach for the other team to be ready.

Once again, let me emphasize the impressive nature of this truly dominating lineup.

Gladiators indeed.

Forth the gladiators...

I'm not sure exactly why, but this picture just kills me.

In Caleb's league they only play 3 on 3 in a shortened field. That way every boy/girl will have a really good chance of at least kicking the ball once or twice.

Let me tell you - that is one intimidating line-up.

Awesome.

The first amature competition

Caleb had his very first soccer game the Saturday before Gavin was born.

So we took pictures of the little ham.

Dig that uniform.