Passing Time

I was wondering when it was going to happen. Saturday morning when Charlie went to get Freddie from the crib he was standing up, gnawing away at the sleep sheep strapped to the railing. He'd pulled himself up! I was a little disappointed I didn't get to see him standing there but happy Charlie got to see that moment since he's usually just hearing about it or waiting for me to recreate it.

This morning I heard Bug stirring in his crib around 6am and then I finally went in to get him about 7am when he was fussing. I hoped to find him standing there, but instead found him chewing on a beaded leg from the horse that's been hanging on his crib. It was a gift from someone in Charlie's lab from India. She explained it to be like the stork, a creature that delivers babies, and had given it to us when we were in the midst of fertility treatments. The talisman hung on the crib for a year before Bug was even conceived and it made me happy to see it there. Except, I should have known those beaded legs would be irresistible and within his reach.

Penny under a wooden bead for size reference.
It is bigger than the plastic beads.

He was really miffed when I yanked the thread from his mouth and did a quick finger sweep. I retrieved on bead and counted the others. Four were unaccounted for, two wooden and two plastic. The mattress was pulled up and the furniture shifted around. Still no sign of those 4 beads. I assume they're long gone, down his throat.

He's acted fine all day. No problems that I can tell. I've gotten one back, but still hoping to get the other three. And if I don't get the other three, do I take him in or do I wait for him to show some sign of distress or blockage???

Celebration in the Oaks

Tonight we headed out to City Park to take in some holiday cheer. The lights were on this weekend for Celebration in the Oaks.

Checking out the trains. We must get one for under our tree.

We had a few margaritas and some yummy dinner at Juan's before heading over to the park.


We were trying to get a family photo for the card, but didn't do so well. I am not sure what I am going to do about that card.


We visited the spot where we got married. They had just turned the lights on for the season the night we got married. Bug was *very* impressed when I told him about our wedding.


We ran into the Hendersons, and Freddie got in some laughs at Uncle Lee.



Storyland is always my favorite part, probably since I remember many afternoons here as a child.

We visited the three little pigs.

And Pinocchio!

Freddie even got to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. In the few seconds before he burst into tears he smiled for the camera and put in a good word for his Daddy.


That smile is the nervous "why is my Mama walking away from me" smile he gives moments before the tears. He did better than the two screaming kids in front of him.


It was different visiting the park as a trio. I think tonight will be spent lying in bed, smiling as we talk about this Christmas and the next and the next, and all that we wish and hope and dream for our family and son.

9 month well visit

Freddie's Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz. (Below the 5th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (5-10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 45.8 cm (50th percentile)

Vaccinations:

• H1N1 booster
  

My concerns:

• Lead: We did another test. Should have results early next week.
  
• More solids, less breast milk: Freddie has been eating lots more solids and his nursing time with meals is decreasing significantly. And this is just what's supposed to happen, but we did spend some time talking about his eating habits since he has now dipped below his growth curve and has fallen off the charts. So when I told her he is still nursing 5 times a day and his breakfast this morning was 6 oz applesauce, 3-4 tablespoons oatmeal, 1/2 banana, and 4 oz yogurt after a vigorous nursing 30 minutes prior all of her concerns vanished. She said it isn't unusual for babies to bounce around their growth curve during this 9 month growth spurt and for small babies that means they may fall off the chart for a bit. She did find him to be rather active while he was there and assured me he is probably burning a lot of calories with his gross motor activity being on the upswing. His thunder thighs also helped allay any concerns. So his growth will continue to be monitored but no immediate interventions to consider now.
  
• Sleeping: Night sleeping sounds just right and recommended I should go with my gut feelings on naps, and thought it was typical to transition in to one longer midday nap.
  

She had no concerns about his development. She thought he'd be walking sooner than later. She asked about his poops, his babbling, his other motor development and thought all looked good. Healthy baby.

Only shot today was H1N1 booster and he cried as soon as he saw the syringe. When the cap came off the needle he wailed. A whole lot of drama that ended as soon as the band aid was on. He didn't seem phased by the blood draw for the lead test. It was a finger prick where he had to bleed 2 vials full of blood. Last time this wasn't so pleasant, but this time around he seemed pretty interested in what was going on but grew tired of having his finger held for so long.

Next appointment: 12 month well visit, February 2010

Thanksgiving

We are thankful. I hope we've told you. I hope it shows.

We are thankful to live this life.

We give thanks for...

• Giggles and squeals
  
• Booty shaking
• 10-0! Who Dat, baby!
• A cozy bed
• Breakfast each morning as three
• Dinner each evening as three
• Daydreaming together
• Partnership and friendship
• The porch swing on cool evenings
• Butterflies in the overgrown garden
• Text messages to the "Dinkies"
  
• Packing lunches and love notes
  
• Sippy cups in the dishwasher
• An overflowing costume box
• Unconditional love

39 Weeks

9 months old today! Hard to believe it. Lesley reminded me last week that your time on the outside has finally exceed your time on the inside.


You are cruising more and more on the furniture and pulling up to stand on anything you can grab. After you've gotten yourself to a stand, you usually have to get your feet in on the action, checking how climbable things are. Thankfully, you haven't had much success with that yet.


I think you're working on a few more teeth. I'd rather you hold tight with only 4 teeth though because you are beginning to look more an more like a little boy and not Mama's baby.


Your tongue seems to be working overtime checking out the state of things in your mouth and sleeping this week has been tricky. You're up at odd hours and are pretty inconsolable. It's pretty frustrating for both of us.


You're "reading" books more frequently now, sitting with me to read several times a day. I like when you point at particular pictures. You always seem to want to point to Curious George.


You're jabbering so much I often wonder if there is some meaning to it. It is a whole lot of squawking for just general noise making and exploration. You certainly imitate our sounds, my favorite is when you give kisses in response to ours. Your daddy thinks "doggie" will be your fist word. You certainly have a lot to say to those pups.


Something I love is how much you remind me of what I am *supposed* to be doing. Like when I am changing your diaper, if I don't get the subtle hint of your feet waving in the air you'll grab on to my hands and place them on your feet. Ah yes, wiggle those toes and kiss each of them. How could I forget?

Better Together

I had the bright idea to go to the zoo in the late afternoon on Friday...after the school crowd and missing the weekend crowd. Charlie made it home for 3pm, we ran an errand, and arrived excited to see the monkeys and giraffes at 3.45. Wouldn't you know the zoo closes at 4pm during the week. Big disappointment.


So we grabbed a loaf of cheapie white bread and headed across the streets to feed the ducks. The ducks, Freddie, and I all loved munching on the bread. Sorry, can't resist white bread stuck to the roof of my mouth.


We saw a mama duck and her 9 ducklings.


We fed the ducks and geese and ibis while the mosquitos feasted on us. After all of nature was fat and happy we headed to dinner at Parkway!


Poboys, beer, and banana pudding. Freddie had some shrimp but was far more interested in the pudding.


We were home and in bed, rubbing three fat bellies, by 7pm. A perfect anniversary.

Anniversary Card

Yep, he made me a pop up card!


Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat Dis Life?

Who dat? Who dat?

For My C-Bear on Our 5th Anniversary

38 Weeks

For some reason you wanted to sit on
this side of the chair for pictures today.

This week it's been chilly. I learned that baby hats are cute in theory, but they really don't work for you. You wanted to play peek a boo the entire time it was on and would get pretty irritated if you couldn't get it back up.


Any bit of a tune and you are bouncing and bobbing. That head and shoulders get going or if you're standing it's a full on jig. I love, love, love it.


You've built up some speed with crawling. If you've got a little space you'll bolt off, but glance back to look at me because you're hoping I am chasing you. And if I am chasing you, it usually means you're giggling so hard you can't keep up the fast pace.


Have I told you I love the kisses?

Puckering up

Walking is getting closer and closer. Each day you get steadier and a little braver. I keep thinking you'll be walking up to the Christmas tree to see what Santa left.

You look much too old with top teeth!

You are a good sleeper. Who knew! You're sleeping without a peep and from 6pm-5am no less. This morning you slept until 5.45am! And after some nursing and cuddles you will sleep until 7.00 or 7.30 am. Wow. And I think maybe you're moving in the direction of one nap.

Looking for your doggies.

I've been rocking you to sleep lately. I know it's *not recommended* by the experts and I'll probably pay for it later, but for now I cannot resist holding you as you tuck those hands underneath your belly, wiggle that behind into just the right position, and set your head on my left shoulder. Some nights we rock for a few minutes and other nights it could be an hour or more. Time well spent.

Shots

Today The Mama was vaccinated.

H1N1 in the right side and the seasonal flu vaccine in the left.

It's my first ever flu shot. Felt like I had to do it. Didn't want to risk bringing it home to Freddie.

Saturday with The Daddy

Pictures in my inbox, sent from his phone...


This certainly feels like just the right size bolt, Daddy. It will work prefectly for our project.


These two have been busy in the workshop getting ready for Mardi Gras. Wondering how the party wagon will roll this year.

Shake it

The boy gets a bouncing and shaking any time he hears music. Here he's into the Talking Heads but he's not so sure about Midnight Oil.

He loves, loves, loves his "rouge faced" dog that Anthony gave him because he can get it to play "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" or "If you're happy and you know it" by pushing all over. We may need to get some full length versions of these songs. Who knew I'd be searching iTunes to load songs on the iPod for Freddie so soon.

Injury Report

He's got a fat, busted, bloody lip.


He fell this morning in attempt to walk from the ottoman to his push walker. Mama got lots of cuddles and a bloody shirt to go with them. He's napping now and I sure hope the swelling goes down by the time he gets up.

Poor little guy.

Baked Potato Soup

Got this one from Cooking Light, but changed it a little. Mine isn't quite as light. We had burgers and baked potatoes last night so I baked the potatoes then.

Ingredients:

• 4 large baked potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
• 6 cups milk (I used 2%)
  
• 1 cup colby cheese, shredded
  
• 1 cup sour cream (I used an 8oz container..this is a cup I believe)
  
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions (forgot these!)
  
• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions:

1. Peel and coarsely mash cooled, baked potatoes.
2. Melt butter in large pot and add chopped onions and garlic, cooking until veggies are clear, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in flour and then gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended.
   
4. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes).
   
5. Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts.
6. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions.
   
7. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
8. Top with more cheese, onions and crumbled bacon.
   

This was easy and pretty tasty. We'll be doing this one again.

37 Weeks

Screaming. You love it.

Your number of teeth doubled this week! Number four made an appearance this morning. You have not been too terribly fussy with the teeth, but this upper took a while to come through and it caused more fuss than the other three.


You're eating so much more these days. Your very favorite thing is yogurt. I have to hide it at breakfast to get you to eat your fruit and oatmeal first or else you whine and reach for it the entire time.

Gotta go!

Still sleeping 10 hours straight. That's my boy! Mama is feeling better too getting more sleep. You go down at 6pm, sleep until 4.00 or 4.30am, nurse and then sleep another 2 hours. When I go in to greet you at 4am you have been up on your knees hanging on to the side of the crib but have not yet pulled to a stand in there. Napping has been interesting though with more nighttime sleep. You are still taking 2 naps, but they seem shorter...one is 45 minutes and the other is about an hour. Everyone seems to function better these days with more sleep happening.

Um, Mom?

Will you put that camera down and help me up?

You are climbing on everything and pulling up on whatever you can grab hold of. You use your walker to take a few steps, but the idea of walking around isn't as appealing as just getting somewhere new. I'm sure when it dawns on you that you have reason to be on the other side of the room we'll see more walking. For now you are content to fiddle with everything on the couch, ottoman, and chair, all of which are within a few steps of each other.

I think I'd like to climb this walker.

Your hair is looking more red to me each day, but I can see blonde as I look at you in the sun on our walks. Your eyes are hazel. And you're just a lean and petite as ever.


You are enjoying dancing around the house with me. And if you are cranky I can just say "Shake Your Booty" and you instantly giggle and we do a little shaking.


It's a great life we have, shaking and giggling and loving.

Lesson

Due to some sort of human error in attempt to be organized, all of my photos prior to October 2008 have been wiped out.

I am now trying to sort through files here and there to recover a handful of photos lying around in folders.

Most importantly I will be setting aside some time this weekend to upload all photos to an online database to prevent this from happening again.

Yes, I am crying and probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

Who Dat!

I knew he had to be a Saints' fan deep down.

After his last trip to the Dome I was hesitant, but Freddie begged and pleaded, as did his Daddy. All three of us had to be there to see the Saints' go 8-0!

The camera battery was dead but there were no explosive diapers, tears, or breastfeeding in the smokey stalls. We stayed until the last five minutes of the game as the Saints' took the lead.


The headphones helped a whole lot. Charlie keeping it low key next to us helped as well. He even got to the point where he'd scream along with everyone else. And his voice could be heard by the folks in front of us who'd turn around to exchange smiles with him. But for the most part he was content to hang out on my lap or practice his standing while holing on to the seats in front of us.


That's our boy! He's a seasoned NOLA sports fan.

Knock on Wood

Waiting for breakfast after good night's sleep.
Love having a camera on my phone.

The boy slept last night.

We began sleep training, although I hadn't planned on it until next week when Charlie's schedule settled down a bit so he could be on the front line. But when your highness called at 11.30 pm on Wednesday night and kicked his legs in excitement when he laid eyes on me approaching his crib I just decided in that instant to not nurse him. Mean Mommy. It went something like this...

• Wednesday: In bed by 6.00pm. 11.30 pm crying. Scoop him up, attempt to sing and rock him to soothe him. I felt bad at first, but after the little sucker wouldn't have any of it after 20 minutes straight I felt a bit over it. He would barely even let me hold him, leaning back, squirming around. So I plopped him back in his crib with the intention of returning in 15 minutes and trying again. At 14 minutes he settled and so I just listened. And by 20 minutes he was back asleep. He didn't wake up again until 5.30 am, smiling and hungry.
• Thursday: In bed by 6.00pm. 12.00 am crying. Scoop him up and sit in the rocker. He shows no indication of expecting to nurse and puts his head on my shoulder and tucks his hands under him, an indication of his trying to get back to sleep. I rock with him for 5 minutes and put him down. He cries for five minutes and then goes to sleep. We have the same routine at 2.00 am and 3.00 am. At 4.00 am I give in, nurse him, and bring him to bed with me. I wondered if he was cold or if his tooth was finally coming through. We sleep until 6.15am.
• Friday: In bed by 6.00 pm. Sleeps all night. I hear a little cry three times during the night, but it only lasts a minute each time. I can finally here him babbling in this crib at 4.30 am so I tip toed in there and watched him for a bit. I think he would have gone back to sleep, but he saw me and was very excited. So he nursed and went back to bed with me and we slept until 7.00 am.

Really? I read all those books and just not feeding him was all it took? Sheesh.

I'm not quite declaring a victory but this is looking promising.

Research Day

It was actually more crowded than it looks for Charlie's 8am talk. He did well holding that laser pointer steady even though Bug and I, sitting in the back, knew he was nervous. We love our science guy, who interestingly enough wore the same shirt last year. This year was better though because he had on a TIE! Perhaps we need to expand that professional wardrobe just a little.

36 Weeks

Likes:

• Dancing, both on your own and with Mama or Daddy
• Standing
• Books
• Sippy
• Yogurt (Finally found some whole milk yogurt other than yobaby)
• Morning snuggles
• Kisses on your feet, and I love when you put them out for more kisses
• Exploring things with your feet, My Monkey!
• Kicking balls
• Mama's look of horror when you undo your diaper EVERY time I get it on
• Porch swing
• Hearing the front door close and your Daddy's steps make a beeline to the living room at 5:30 each day
  

Check out my snaggle teeth.
Daddy thinks one on top has come through
but Mama is yet to confirm this.

Dislikes:

• Diaper changes
• Getting dressed
• Ferber (Yes, the sleep training has begun.)

Here I go...

Wiggling to a stand

Vocabulary:

• Kisses, back and forth
  
• Mama, this may be getting specific to me!
• Yayayaya...louder and louder and louder until everyone laughs
• Jabbering before naptime while you're in the crib

Diet:

• 5 nursings per day, we won't talk about nighttime right now
• 6 oz pureed fruit mixed with oatmeal and 4 oz yogurt for breakfast
• 4-6 ounces pureed fruit or veggie with rice cereal for lunch
• 6-8 oz pureed veggie, sometimes with cereal for dinner
• Finger foods here and there, but you've figured out that handing these over to the dogs or offering them a lick of your spoon is a quick way to make friends

Hooray!

Working on:

• Sippy drinking, water and juice
• Cruising on the furniture, you've become more cautious
• Squatting and crouching
  
• Bending over while holding on to my hand