Tad is One Month Old

On Saturday, Tad turned one month old. He now weighs 9 pounds, 14 ounces and is 22 3/4 inches long. He is becoming quite the bruiser and we are having a great time as Tad begins to explore the world. He had a busy weekend including lunch with Grammy, a barbeque at the neighbor's house and dinner with Grammy and Gwynne Davis. The Davis family are dear friends of the Howells and Johnny has known Gwynne his entire life, so it was fun for Tad to meet Gwynne. Tuggie adores Gwynne, so he was also very excited for the visit.

Tad in Action

Daily walk through the neighborhood.

Swinging.

Tubby time.

Thinking. Deep thoughts.

More stretching - how Tad spends the majority of the day.

Tummy time on his elephant mat from Ella Wilson.

Working out in his gym.

Hanging out with his friend, the hippo.

Baby Rocky.

Relaxing with Dad.

The Stare Down - this has become a nightly ritual with Dad. I think Tad is winning.

Snoozing...

As you can see, Tad enjoys a good nap. We are still in the process of convincing him of the benefits of sleeping through the night. Unfortunately, he seems to be stubborn like both of his parents.

Happy Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day a week early this year because Poppa was going to be out of town this past Sunday. Tad and the frenchies gave Johnny a smoker in honor of his first official father's day. The bbq from the smoker was delicious and I am sure it will be Johnny's hobby this summer. Unfortunately, I did a terrible job of taking photos and did not get Aunt Barbara, Uncle Mike or Poppa.

The Dog Days of Summer

When family and friends call or visit, their most pressing question is usually "how are the frenchies adjusting to the baby?" We are happy to report that Abby and Tug are doing well. They actually have not shown much of an interest in "the hairless one", however, in the last few weeks Tuggie has become increasingly curious. He now likes to lick Tad when he is on his gym mat on the floor and sometimes joins him napping. Tug and Abby both become distressed when Tad cries loudly - don't we all? On one particularly loud occassion, Abby came over to me and gave me a very intense look as if to say, "can you please make him stop?" During the first week or so, Abby and Tug both woke up each time Tad started to cry and stayed awake while I fed him. Those days are long gone as they now usually have no problem sleeping through the night (and day...). We look forward to more photos once the frenchies start interacting with Tad.

The Many Faces of Tad

Trying to wake up.

Groggy.

Perplexed (perhaps I got a little too close with the camera). Clearly Tad has inherited the Gaffney cheeks!

The Tadpole.

The Stud.

The Yeller. Tummy Time is Tad's least favorite activity... can't say I blame him as it really does not look fun.

Alert.

The Angel.

One of the biggest surprises for Johnny and I has been learning that Tad already has his own, distinct personality. We have enjoyed spending the past few weeks getting to know him and the photos above capture some of his numerous expressions. We spared those viewing the blog "The Whailer" as it is not a pleasant picture and usually makes an appearance in the late night/early morning hours. Unfortunately, we have yet to capture "The Smile", which we have started to catch a glimpse of and looking forward to seeing again. Cross-Eyed Tad is scary, so I did not take a photo.

Tad Meets Aunt Addie

One of Tad's first outings was to meet Aunt Addie. We quickly learned that traveling by highway is definitely preferable as Tad does not like when the car stops at red lights. I now find myself accelerating rapidly when approaching a yellow light and feel that I would be completely justified for speeding if pulled over. Tad enjoyed the visit, despite sleeping through most of it. Addie smocked a beautiful baby blue gown for Tad and also gave him her father Frank's (Johnny's grandfather) silver bowl and spoon, gifts we will certainly treasure.

Grammy & Grandpop Visit

We were very fortunate to have my parents in town for the first ten days after Tad arrived home. We would have been lost without them as they cooked, cleaned, ran errands, did countless loads of laundry and spoiled Tad. With Jeanne and Johnny's gourmet chef talents, we ate very well. It was Jeanne's daily mission to find a reason to go to Harry's Food Market. We look forward to Grammy and Pop returning in July for a visit!

Thaddeus Meets the Southern Family

Aunt Meg and Cousin Brady... 7 months old the day Tad was born. The Little Man, as he is called by Pop, ran the show while big brother Cooper stayed home with Uncle Travis.

Aunt Beth and Kit... a New Year's Day arrival, born January 1, 2009. Kit, aka "Baby Sister", was tiny but is quickly catching up with big sister Elsie. Elsie visited as well but was getting over a cold, so we did not get a photo with Tad.

Uncle David and Kit. Why won't David let Kit hold Tad? No fun!

Aunt Meg and Cousin Brady. This photo followed Tad's first sponge bath, after which I learned the importance of quickly getting a diaper on rather than posing for photos.

Grammy (Pat) and Tad on Day One. Pat spoiled us during our staying at the hospital by bringing lunch and dinner every day. So much for the crappy hospital food! Tad also met Poppa (John) at the hospital and has since, of course, met wise Uncle Rocky.

Tad is very lucky to have 6 cousins under the age of 3: Cooper and Brady in Nashville, Elsie and Kit in Savannah, and Bryce and Brooke in Atlanta. We look forward to holidays, vacations and many adventures with this brood! Tad's arrival was perfect timing as Beth, David, Elsie and Kit were in town from Savannah for Memorial Day Weekend. They treated us to multiple visits, words of advice and encouragement, as well as a delicious shrimp taco dinner.

We were extremely fortunate to have Megan and Brady come from Nashville for the weekend. Brady and Tad are just 7 months apart, so I am sure they will soon be buddies. I would have been completely lost without Megan - she was a wonderful doctor, counselor, teacher and friend.

We have already had many fun visits with Aunt Barbara, Uncle Mike, Bryce and Brooke who live just a few a minutes away. Somehow they managed to escape my camera, so I will soon post photos with them. Thanks to Barbara for visiting us at the hospital, lots of helpful advice and the amazing swaddle blanket which has brought Tad (and us) many (not consecutive) hours of sleep. After watching the nurses at the hospital, Johnny was determined to master the swaddle and has now become quite the expert. My skills are lacking and it is quite obvious when I swaddle Tad as the "little houdini" usually manages to at least break one arm free.

Thaddeus Joseph Howells Arrives!

Johnny and I were thrilled to welcome Thaddeus J. Howells into the world on May 20, 2009 at 10:18 am. Tad weighed 7 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long. He is named after Johnny's grandfather, Tad Harvey, and my father, Joe. Tad arrived two days early and was alert and very excited to stretch!