Baby chef wishes you all a Happy Halloween. Hope you're cooking up some fun tonight.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Rough housing
First it looks all innocent...
And then he goes rogue.
And then he goes rogue.
I sure hope these boys like each other...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Dear Callan -6 of one, half a dozen of something
Dear Callan-
Today is your 6 month birthday (now it's yesterday -I started this on your actual birthday but didn't finish it until the day after. Oops). Do you know what that means? That means you need two hands to count the number of months old you are and that half of a year has already passed. HALF.A.YEAR -another half of a year and you'll be a whole year old (that's how math works). That is ridiculous. Do you hear me? Ridiculous!
Before I started this newsletter I did something that I don't usually do -I reread the previous letters and you know what I found out? I write every month about how fast the month has gone by, how much you've developed and how great the month has been. Well, I don't want to disappoint, so let me tell you. This month, month 6, has been crazy. It's gone by way too fast, you've developed at lightening speed and it's been an amazing month!
So much has happened I can't even wrap my mind around it and to be honest, it seems like it all happened in the past few weeks. This month also included wonder week 26, and boy was it a wonder week! On your 6 month birthday you decided to pop your first tooth. We've been able to feel it for a little while and your dad claimed he's seen it before, but today was the first day I could see it -so that means it didn't count until today. Haha, that's how it works in mama's head. Last week you figured out how to get to a sitting position from your belly, which is an amazing feat and now you do it all the time like it's nothing. Now it kind of seems like you're trying to stand/walk, although I would really prefer you learn how to crawl first. But if we're being honest, I wish you would skip the mobility thing altogether. Rolling and army crawling is all my mind can handle right now as it's already being blown on a daily basis and can't handle any more. For some reason in my head you stopped aging around 3 months, so it takes me a minute (or two) to calculate how old you really are. I wonder when you're 30 if I'll still have to do this kind of math in my head.
Anyway, other physical developments this month: You do this really cute downward dog pose and you move your feet/legs (it seems like you're really good at yoga -you do downward dog, cobra, pigeon and happy baby). Good thing you're kind of top heavy otherwise you'd be standing! You are really good with your hand eye coordination and we've taken advantage of this by starting you on solids. So far you've had apples, apple sauce, bananas, mango, pear, green beans, baba ganoush on pita bread, home fries, cheesy grits and kale. So far you've seemed to like everything although it is hard to judge since we only give you a few teaspoons at a time. Your dad and I are excited to introduce all sorts of foods and flavors to you and now that you can sit up in a high chair in restaurants, I think the introduction of foods is going to increase.
We are still nursing and you're taking the bottle from us before bed and from Adelia during the day. A few weeks ago I thought you were starting to wean as you showed for the first time a preference for the bottle over the bewb and I was actually pretty sad about it, more so than I expected. Thankfully it turned out just to be a bit of a nursing strike so I don't have to say good bye to that quite yet. As we slowly introduce more solids to you, I'm sure we'll naturally start to wean and hopefully I'll be more prepared.
You are still the curious creature who loves to look, listen and touch. You touch everything and like to feel and grab different thing. You especially love touching peoples faces, but we need to work on your "gentle" touches. You still love to put everything in your mouth and you've started this new habit where you'll put a toy in your mouth and then decide not to hold it with your hands anymore and continue on your business either sitting and reaching for other toys or rocking on all fours. It's incredibly cute, but it makes me compare you to a puppy -I mean, a really cute puppy, but using your mouth to transport objects like that is kind of what dogs do!
It seemed like overnight you could sit up and then you've decided to do all these other things -it's been a crazy month. As you can imagine, you are a squirmy worm, which makes diaper changes and getting dressed really interesting as you refuse.to.sit.still.
Your sleep this month has been a little erratic. I don't know if it's because of a growth spurt, you're cutting teeth, wonder weeks or what, but you still wake up at least once in the middle of the night and lately you've been waking up a few times in the hour or two after you go down. You do this cute thing when you're getting ready to fall asleep where you roll over to your side or onto your belly and stick your butt up in the air. As much fun as I have with you when you're awake, I could watch you sleep for hours. There has been a lot of talk recently about the banning/outlawing of crib bumpers. When you're older you're going to realize we had one on your crib and might wonder why we would put you in that kind of danger. Well the thing is kid, your dad and I nicknamed you danger baby and part of that is because you enjoy slamming your body from side to side in the crib like a pinball. I don't know if you're just trying to figure out the dimensions or if you would keep rolling if you could, but I feel like the bumpers are there for your protection. Plus, you like to snuggle up next to them to sleep and a bumper is much more snugly than the wooden slats of a crib. So for now the bumpers are staying on.
This month your babbling has really increased and recently (as in, within the last week) you finally started opening your mouth when you talk. It was very cute before that you would talk/hum with your mouth shut. You've finally opened your mouth, but that also means you now talk a lot louder than you did before! We're trying to work on your "indoor voice", but (shockingly) you haven't grasped that concept. You are much more talkative and you do this really cute thing where you stick out your tongue -it's like you're rediscovering it. I'm trying to teach you how to blow raspberries, but so far you've only gotten the sticking out the tongue part down.
You still love bath time and since you can sit up, it's made it much easier for us. You love splashing and don't seem to mind too much when water hits your face. I still want to take you for swim lessons and am so excited to take you swimming when we're on vacation. We only bathe you a couple times a week because you have such dry, sensitive skin, but I think you would let us do it every day. Thankfully we've never had a problem bathing you and now that you can splash you're really having fun.
Anyway kiddo, 6 months has come and gone and each day you still continue to amaze me. Even on your grumpiest day, you're a joy to us and your dad and I are having so much fun with you. We've turned into those people who think their kid is the best/smartest/funniest/cutest and want to share their accomplishments with everyone. I guess in a way that's what this blog has turned into since you have so many people in your life who are far away and want to keep up with you. You are truly blessed and lucky to have this extended family of friends and family and I hope you realize how lucky you are.
Well if you made it this far you deserve a prize. As your dad says, this is your whole bag of tricks in one short video!
I love you bubbers and you are truly amazing. I know everyone says that about their kids, but for you, it's true *wink*. You are a happy, smiley baby that makes us happy and smiley. I love you more than words can express and I hope I continue to tell you as much as I do now. I wouldn't trade you for anything and I'm so honored and proud to be your mama.
Happy 6 month birthday bubs.
Love,
Mama
Today is your 6 month birthday (now it's yesterday -I started this on your actual birthday but didn't finish it until the day after. Oops). Do you know what that means? That means you need two hands to count the number of months old you are and that half of a year has already passed. HALF.A.YEAR -another half of a year and you'll be a whole year old (that's how math works). That is ridiculous. Do you hear me? Ridiculous!
Before I started this newsletter I did something that I don't usually do -I reread the previous letters and you know what I found out? I write every month about how fast the month has gone by, how much you've developed and how great the month has been. Well, I don't want to disappoint, so let me tell you. This month, month 6, has been crazy. It's gone by way too fast, you've developed at lightening speed and it's been an amazing month!
So much has happened I can't even wrap my mind around it and to be honest, it seems like it all happened in the past few weeks. This month also included wonder week 26, and boy was it a wonder week! On your 6 month birthday you decided to pop your first tooth. We've been able to feel it for a little while and your dad claimed he's seen it before, but today was the first day I could see it -so that means it didn't count until today. Haha, that's how it works in mama's head. Last week you figured out how to get to a sitting position from your belly, which is an amazing feat and now you do it all the time like it's nothing. Now it kind of seems like you're trying to stand/walk, although I would really prefer you learn how to crawl first. But if we're being honest, I wish you would skip the mobility thing altogether. Rolling and army crawling is all my mind can handle right now as it's already being blown on a daily basis and can't handle any more. For some reason in my head you stopped aging around 3 months, so it takes me a minute (or two) to calculate how old you really are. I wonder when you're 30 if I'll still have to do this kind of math in my head.
 |
| Your form could use a little work -maybe nana can help. |
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| Having brunch in your Halloween costume -don't worry we don't normally dress you up like this. |
You are still the curious creature who loves to look, listen and touch. You touch everything and like to feel and grab different thing. You especially love touching peoples faces, but we need to work on your "gentle" touches. You still love to put everything in your mouth and you've started this new habit where you'll put a toy in your mouth and then decide not to hold it with your hands anymore and continue on your business either sitting and reaching for other toys or rocking on all fours. It's incredibly cute, but it makes me compare you to a puppy -I mean, a really cute puppy, but using your mouth to transport objects like that is kind of what dogs do!
It seemed like overnight you could sit up and then you've decided to do all these other things -it's been a crazy month. As you can imagine, you are a squirmy worm, which makes diaper changes and getting dressed really interesting as you refuse.to.sit.still.
Your sleep this month has been a little erratic. I don't know if it's because of a growth spurt, you're cutting teeth, wonder weeks or what, but you still wake up at least once in the middle of the night and lately you've been waking up a few times in the hour or two after you go down. You do this cute thing when you're getting ready to fall asleep where you roll over to your side or onto your belly and stick your butt up in the air. As much fun as I have with you when you're awake, I could watch you sleep for hours. There has been a lot of talk recently about the banning/outlawing of crib bumpers. When you're older you're going to realize we had one on your crib and might wonder why we would put you in that kind of danger. Well the thing is kid, your dad and I nicknamed you danger baby and part of that is because you enjoy slamming your body from side to side in the crib like a pinball. I don't know if you're just trying to figure out the dimensions or if you would keep rolling if you could, but I feel like the bumpers are there for your protection. Plus, you like to snuggle up next to them to sleep and a bumper is much more snugly than the wooden slats of a crib. So for now the bumpers are staying on.
This month your babbling has really increased and recently (as in, within the last week) you finally started opening your mouth when you talk. It was very cute before that you would talk/hum with your mouth shut. You've finally opened your mouth, but that also means you now talk a lot louder than you did before! We're trying to work on your "indoor voice", but (shockingly) you haven't grasped that concept. You are much more talkative and you do this really cute thing where you stick out your tongue -it's like you're rediscovering it. I'm trying to teach you how to blow raspberries, but so far you've only gotten the sticking out the tongue part down.
You still love bath time and since you can sit up, it's made it much easier for us. You love splashing and don't seem to mind too much when water hits your face. I still want to take you for swim lessons and am so excited to take you swimming when we're on vacation. We only bathe you a couple times a week because you have such dry, sensitive skin, but I think you would let us do it every day. Thankfully we've never had a problem bathing you and now that you can splash you're really having fun.
Anyway kiddo, 6 months has come and gone and each day you still continue to amaze me. Even on your grumpiest day, you're a joy to us and your dad and I are having so much fun with you. We've turned into those people who think their kid is the best/smartest/funniest/cutest and want to share their accomplishments with everyone. I guess in a way that's what this blog has turned into since you have so many people in your life who are far away and want to keep up with you. You are truly blessed and lucky to have this extended family of friends and family and I hope you realize how lucky you are.
Well if you made it this far you deserve a prize. As your dad says, this is your whole bag of tricks in one short video!
I love you bubbers and you are truly amazing. I know everyone says that about their kids, but for you, it's true *wink*. You are a happy, smiley baby that makes us happy and smiley. I love you more than words can express and I hope I continue to tell you as much as I do now. I wouldn't trade you for anything and I'm so honored and proud to be your mama.
Love,
Mama
Saturday, October 22, 2011
First tooth
Friday, October 21, 2011
Just for laughs
I couldn't leave such a serious entry up...so a little video of my silly boys should lighten the mood. (Received 10/19/11)
Parenting fail
I had my first (of what will be many) patenting fails last night. In my head, right before it happened I knew I should have moved him, but for whatever reason, laziness, over-confidence, any of a litany of excuses, I didn't and I paid the price. Granted no one was seriously hurt and I'm being much too dramatic about it, but at the time I was so sad that I had let my poor baby get hurt. So what is it that I did? I played peek-a-boo with Callan sitting on the hardwood floor and while my eyes were covered he fell straight back and bonked his head! The crying was heartbreaking and I silently cursed myself for letting it happen. Lest you think I'm a hovering, over protective mother, I'm not. Callan has fallen over plenty of times, but this was the first time where the blow wasn't being cushioned by a hand or some other soft object. Just his noggin and the hardwood. You know it's bad when the tears/crying are immediate and then at a certain point there's the closed eyes, tears, open mouth but no sound cry. That is the worst! Anyway, we are all fine and after a few moments we were back to laughing and playing (on the mat of course), but definitely my first parental fail.
And I realize (unfairly) that if this had happened on Huge's watch, I would have been pissed and not so forgiving. Ha, at least I can admit it ;) Lesson learned.
And I realize (unfairly) that if this had happened on Huge's watch, I would have been pissed and not so forgiving. Ha, at least I can admit it ;) Lesson learned.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Video first
Callan's been working on sitting up by himself. I can't believe we actually captured it on video!
*please excuse the outfit. This was after dinner and Callan got some bananas on his pants and we were too lazy to put new ones on him. Oops, if only we had known he had to be camera ready.*
*please excuse the outfit. This was after dinner and Callan got some bananas on his pants and we were too lazy to put new ones on him. Oops, if only we had known he had to be camera ready.*
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Weekend in Canada
This past weekend Callan took his first "international" flight to Canada and got his first stamp in his passport! He travelled like a champ and although he whined a little bit on the plane before he fell asleep coming home, it was short lived and I don't even think the other passengers noticed. In fact we got a few compliments on how well behaved Callan was (and how cute he was).
We had connecting flights there and back, which I was dreading a little bit, but it seemed to work out ok. The flight to Montreal was in the morning, so by the time the flight to Toronto took off, it was just about time for Callan's first nap and he slept the whole way. We brought a play mat for him to play on in the airport while we waited for the next flight and as an added treat, he got to stay in his pj's for most of the day!
While in Montreal, Callan met the rest of Huge's family. His immediate family (mother, father, brother and sister-in-law) has been to Chicago to see Callan, but the rest of his family had not met him and they were all very excited. Callan's great-grandmother was very excited and it was so cute to see Callan sitting on her lap and see him watching/listening to her.
There was a large family gathering on Saturday at Huge's parents house and I'm not sure Callan knew what hit him. He was often surrounded by many people smiling, cooing, laughing and talking to him all at once. He was such a trooper though and made the rounds, from one lap to another, while throwing back enough smiles and laughs to appease the masses.
We also got to see some of Huge's friends and meet the new babies. Olivia Marie is just 5 weeks old, but Callan was already smitten. Olivia, doesn't seem as impressed in this picture, but I think she was just "working" on something more important at the time.
Callan also met Annabelle, who had the cutest, chubbiest cheeks ever. I wanted to gnaw on them all day!
All in all, it was a great weekend. Huge and I got to spend time with family and friends and took advantage of the free (and eager) babysitters and went out a few nights. Callan travelled like a champ and wasn't thrown off his routine too much. It was great to see everyone and got to spend some extra time with Callan -he rewarded us by making a few more advances. He can now sit up unassisted, he is getting super close to crawling and he is sprouting his first tooth. Slowly (well, not so slowly) but surely, he is morphing from this little baby to this little boy. Seeing Olivia and Annabelle really drove home how much these little munchkins change and how quickly it happens!
We had connecting flights there and back, which I was dreading a little bit, but it seemed to work out ok. The flight to Montreal was in the morning, so by the time the flight to Toronto took off, it was just about time for Callan's first nap and he slept the whole way. We brought a play mat for him to play on in the airport while we waited for the next flight and as an added treat, he got to stay in his pj's for most of the day!
While in Montreal, Callan met the rest of Huge's family. His immediate family (mother, father, brother and sister-in-law) has been to Chicago to see Callan, but the rest of his family had not met him and they were all very excited. Callan's great-grandmother was very excited and it was so cute to see Callan sitting on her lap and see him watching/listening to her.
There was a large family gathering on Saturday at Huge's parents house and I'm not sure Callan knew what hit him. He was often surrounded by many people smiling, cooing, laughing and talking to him all at once. He was such a trooper though and made the rounds, from one lap to another, while throwing back enough smiles and laughs to appease the masses.
We also got to see some of Huge's friends and meet the new babies. Olivia Marie is just 5 weeks old, but Callan was already smitten. Olivia, doesn't seem as impressed in this picture, but I think she was just "working" on something more important at the time.
Callan also met Annabelle, who had the cutest, chubbiest cheeks ever. I wanted to gnaw on them all day!
All in all, it was a great weekend. Huge and I got to spend time with family and friends and took advantage of the free (and eager) babysitters and went out a few nights. Callan travelled like a champ and wasn't thrown off his routine too much. It was great to see everyone and got to spend some extra time with Callan -he rewarded us by making a few more advances. He can now sit up unassisted, he is getting super close to crawling and he is sprouting his first tooth. Slowly (well, not so slowly) but surely, he is morphing from this little baby to this little boy. Seeing Olivia and Annabelle really drove home how much these little munchkins change and how quickly it happens!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
On a plane
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Should have named him George
Monday, October 10, 2011
What, the what?
I'm sorry, but when did this happen? I just wrapped my head around you rolling and army crawling. Now you want to do it for realz? I'm not ready! I thought it was my birthday -why are you the one getting noticeably older? Hm, maybe you'll just be "close" for awhile... or is that just wishful thinking?
He's not actually crawling yet, but he sure looks close...
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Applesauce and Bananas
Even though Callan is almost 6 months old, he has been on an all milk diet as we have been waiting to introduce solids to him. When he's awake during dinnertime, we sit him with a toy in his high chair and he'll sit and watch us eat (and play with his toy). Recently he has been taking an increased interest in our food, watching us while we eat and drink and opening his mouth like a baby bird. We've been waiting to introduce solids until he's ready to feed himself and plan on skipping the puree food step. This method is called Baby Led Weaning (or BLW for short) or Baby Led Solids (BLS) and is based on a paper written by Gill Rapley. BLW/BLS just means letting your child feed themselves from the start and waiting until they are developmentally capable to feed and eat food. By waiting, it allows the intestines and stomach to fully develop and encourages babies to listen to their own cues about when they are ready to eat and how much. The thinking behind BLW over traditional puree food feeding, is that you don't need to trick the baby into swallowing before they're ready and it teaches the child to chew and move the food around in their mouths until they are ready to swallow. If they aren't ready to swallow, they will just spit the food back out. Gagging at this point is actually good as it will prevent chocking later on.
Anyway, we've been waiting to do this with Callan. This is a milestone we've been eagerly awaiting since both Huge and I enjoy eating. We're intrigued to find out if Callan will also be an adventurous eater and what his palate will be. We were planning on waiting until he hit 6 months, but he seemed ready and we figured 5 1/2 months was close enough. We started with some applesauce (I know that's technically pureed, but he self feeds and that is the natural state of that food so I don't think it's cheating) and bananas. We're starting slow, but Callan did so well that I have a feeling it's going to be quite the culinary adventure with him.
The videos are a little boring and don't mind the commentary (we obviously were not prepared or paying attention as you'll also notice that he's not wearing a bib in either video taken on 2 different days), but this is one milestone worth capturing and I'm sure there will be more to come.
Don't tell Huge, but the next "crunchy granola" plan of mine is to skip the sippy cup...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Indian summer
Anyway, Chicago has been unseasonably warm this week. Here the boys are taking advantage of it by wiggling their toes in the sun. Wish I was doing the same...
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Sometimes
Saturday, October 1, 2011
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