"5 Days Old"

"one day I'll be a year / then I'll be two, then three, then four. / but as for now I'm sittin here / and I'm five days old and no days more ..." -- Laurie Berkner

Well, I'm home, and things seem to be settling down. Pretty much I eat, sleep, and occassionally poop. We think Mommy's milk came in at some point (neither of us really know when), so we've been getting used to that together ... I prefer the left side which is funny because I hear that my Jie-Jie (big sister) preferred the right.

Wha?

Fitting perpindicular on the bathroom counter for my first sponge bath

I'm sleeping pretty well and eating pretty regularly, and I've definitely enjoyed all the loving I'm getting from everyone here. I've already discovered I love hanging out on the changing pad in my room and can easily spend quite some time just chillin' there. The papasan isn't bad either, even when I have to share it with my Jie-Jie's baby doll.

Learning to share already

I could lay here for hours!

Went to the doctor today to have my first check-up. I lost more weight than would be desired (I'm down from 7lb 10oz to 6lb 13oz which is coincidentally how heavy my Jie-Jie was when she was born), so the doctor has me on both boob and bottle (1 oz supplements at each meal) until my next checkup at 2 weeks. Also, I was looking a little bit yellow -- more than my normal Asian-yellow! -- so Mommy and Daddy had to take me to get bloodwork to check my level of bilirubin. The test came back that I had some minor jaundice, but the doctor said that the formula might also help flush that out. I've taken to the bottle and the boob (well, the left one, for sure) without any problems but don't really like the paci so much.

Hard to imagine that never again will I be this small

Got to watch everyone open Christmas gifts. Not too many gifts came my way, but then -- as someone pointed out -- no one knew I was coming. Plus, who can beat the gift of life? ;)

This year, my gift is my family,
and my gift to you is me!

Hello, World! - 12/25/09

Hello, World! Here I am! After much hemming, hawing, and false labor incidents, I finally joined the world on Friday, December 25, 2009. To say that Mommy was ready is an understatement. Of course, I did manage to wait until Christmas morning ... at 4am ... the night after an ice storm. :)

My stats at birth:

• DOB: 12/25/09 @ 9:30am
• Weight: 7lbs 10.2oz
• Length: 19.3 inches

I want to say that all the grief I gave Mommy at the end of my time in her tummy should be forgotten seeing as how I made the actual coming out so easy on her. Remember that, Mommy, when it's time for my birthday and I have to share it with Christmas! I wonder if I'm going to get two gifts or one bigger one?! :D

Being born is exhausting!

I was the first baby born on Christmas Day at Plano Presby which is pretty special. I got a little holiday hat and one of the night nurses even knitted a special hat for all the holiday babies. Plus, there was a special Christmas Day menu for Mommy and Daddy's room service PLUS free Christmas dinner for everyone who came to visit me!

Baby burrito

My full name is Gavin De-Xiang Pee. "Gavin" doesn't really have too much significance except that it's one of the few names that Mommy and Daddy would agree on. The actual name "Gavin" is a Welsh name that means "white hawk of battle". Well, those Hunan people were quite the warriors, so I guess that works. Plus, it's a variant of Gawain, one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table, which definitely works for me. My big sister Claire's middle name (De-Ling) means "a wing to fly"; odd considering how Mommy's not a bird person AT ALL. My parents also didn't realize that Gavin's one of the top baby names for 2009, but it's okay because there's only one ME.

"De-Xiang" is sort of a tongue-in-cheek name that Daddy already liked phonetically (suitable for an NBA or NFL pro star, Mommy thinks). The "De" is the generation name, of course, and then Mommy found a "Xiang" that works well. No, it's not the "smell good" Xiang (although we all hope that I do ... especially with the last name "Pee". Ha!). It's the Xiang that's an abbreviation of the Hunan province of China where Ye-Ye is from originally which makes me part Hunan as well. It's also the same "Xiang" that's in my Auntie Pat's name, so that's extra-special nice.

So far, these first couple of days, I've met lots of people from Mommy's side of the family -- my Gong-Gong, Po-Po, 2 A-Yi's, Xiao Jiu, and Da-Jiu. Most importantly, I've met my big sister Claire who loves me so much already.

Center of attention

The first things that people have remarked about me are that I have a big nose, long fingers, and lots of hair. The big nose thing is in a good way because the big nose (meaning the nose bridge) is something Chinese people -- or Asian people in general -- typically do not have. The guess so far is that the nose, fingers, and hair are from Mommy's side of the family. It looks like my eyes are going to be from Daddy's side, and hopefully my boyish charm. ;)

Po-Po says, "look at his nose!"

After staying in the hospital overnight, the three of us are going home tonight a day earlier than planned. I'm looking forward to seeing my home for the first time and to start receiving al that loving I know is waiting for me. I hope to meet all of you soon!

All dressed up and ready to go

Like my big sis, I have lots more pictures in the December album. I'm sure she doesn't mind sharing, right? :)