Teething

Teething bites.

Charlie did not want to play yesterday, he just wanted to be held.  I walked the entire satellite dish walk with him in the Ergo carrier, I didn't even attempt to put him in his stroller.  He slept during the whole walk.  When I got home he took a couple of 30 minute naps but in between those times I held him and bounced him.  How is he ever going to develop if I just hold him all day?  I was so tired from the dish walk but he needed a distraction so we went for a bike ride.

It was cold (mid fifties) and he was solemn but he enjoyed the entire ride.

Dad came home on time last night to help.  He gave him a bath and Charlie was happy until he managed to lunge out of his elevated baby tub and hit his head on the bath faucet.  He was crying and he still had shampoo in so dad dumped a pitcher of water over his head to get it off quickly and get him out of the tub.  Poor Charlie was so upset.

Today is much of the same.  Lots of holding and bouncing and fussing and short naps.  When will this tooth come in?  I need a breather!

Yo Gabba Gabba

Today dad worked late and I needed to cook dinner so I decided to see if Charlie would watch Yo Gabba Gabba while I cooked.

He loved it.

Oh, and I didn't leave him alone on the couch.  After these photos, he went into his exersaucer.  

It's 8pm, Charlie is asleep and we just finished Ina Garten's wild mushroom soup, yum.

Like Mrs. Kirbyface would say, don't judge me!  

Weekend

This weekend Charlie got a new snow suit for our upcoming trip to Bozeman, Montana (note Scott's deep-V).

He also rode in the bike seat for the first time.  On Saturday we did circles in the driveway.  On Sunday we did a loop around the block.  He doesn't look too excited here, he was tired.

The 49ers won their playoff game and Scott held Charlie during most of the game as a good luck charm.  Every touchdown Scott tossed Charlie in the air for a victory dance.  I don't have a photo, I was too busy doing things that didn't include holding a 20 pound baby.

Charlie moaned all day Saturday and Sunday.  He wouldn't play much by himself, he just wanted to be held.  I think he's teething.  His gums on the top seem swollen.  Poor baby.

Happy weekend!

Forever Friends

I miss my friends.  They live far, far away.  I like who I am when I'm with them but our visits are few and far between.

I need to make new friends however I have never had to try so I'm terrified to put myself out there.  I'm not joking about being afraid.  This is hard for me.

I try to do something social with other moms once or twice a week so that someday I'll have some friends in this new town.

On Tuesday, as I mentioned, I went to baby sign language class with six other moms.  The experience was a success.  I made it in time, Charlie was happy, I was not dressed like a crazy person, and I didn't say anything to alarm anyone.

Today I had breakfast with my friend, Carrie and that was really fun.  She's a new friend that is quirky and smart and fun and I feel like I can say whatever I want.  Phew, that's one down.

At least I have a baby that adores me that I get to talk to all day long.

No Naps

Seriously?  You're awake already (this is a photo of the baby monitor)?

How do you get a baby to nap that will not nap?  Today he has been awake since 7am and he's slept a total of 50 minutes and it's 3:20pm.

By 5pm most days he's so wired and so tired that he has a super early bedtime.  Last night he went to bed at 5:40pm!  Daddy usually doesn't make it home in time to see him.  The sleep books all say that a good bedtime for his age is around 7:30 pm.

I would love it if he would nap like the sleep books say.  On a schedule, lasting about one and a half to two hours each.  Is this too much to ask?

I can remember the number of times that Charlie has taken a long nap during the day because they are so few and far between.  I'd say he has slept longer than 3 hours in a row during the day less than 5 times in his life.

These days, his naps last about 45 minutes and he takes three or four a day.  

Charlie is a pretty good night sleeper (besides his sleep regression that lasted about 6 weeks where I should have been committed).  He's not sleeping through the night but at least he sleeps a solid 7 or so hours in a row (like Kim says, people who have babies that sleep twelve hours before they're one year old can s*ck it)!

What's the secret to napping?  

6 months old!

Charlie is 6 months old and at his check up yesterday he weighed 19 pounds 5 ounces!  He's in the 85th percentile for weight.  His head is in the 98th percentile (thanks to his daddy).

Today I put him in a Carter's 9 month sweatshirt and it's too tight on his little tummy.    It's a brand new sweatshirt and it's so cute and it is part of a set.  It's also too tight in the shoulders.  He's so big for his age!  I can't believe that I have managed to keep this big baby fed for the last 6 months.

Today we had our first sign language class together.  There are 6 other moms and babies in the class.  I hope I stick with this class because I think it will be a good challenge for my mushy brain.  In class Charlie was his typical loud self.  He just wouldn't stop talking no matter what I tried.  I finally just sat him back down to continue playing with his toys and experimenting with his voice.  At least I thought it was cute.

He seems to really like attention from people and when he gets it he smiles or laughs and it reminds me of his cousin, Stella.  I hope that he becomes outgoing like her.  I will encourage it in every way that  I can!

Charlie is rolling over, sitting up, eating (so far bananas, avocados, pears, apples, peas, and rice cereal), babbling, grabbing, holding, laughing, and he has two bottom teeth!  I'm trying to put him down more often but his favorite place to be is in our arms.  He can entertain himself for about 15 minutes at a time.  When we first got the exersaucer he actually played in it for 40 minutes at one time but it's not holding his attention for that long anymore.  I'm trying to get him to like the door jumper but he just doesn't like it.  I really want to see him like the jumper!

My favorite thing that he does is when he looks up at me and touches my face.  It's so sweet to see his baby hands reach up while his eyes study my face.  He is so focused and so trusting and so loving when he does this.

My second favorite thing he does is when he grabs both feet while lying on his back (he is 4 months here when he first started grabbing his feet).

My third favorite is when he grasps both hands together while sitting up.  He looks like a sweet little angel.

Charlie takes a bath every night.  He spends most of the time splashing.  I am drenched by the time bath time is over.

When we put him on his back on the changing table he bicycles his legs really fast and his arms go up and down like a penguin.  Changing his diaper or his clothes is a really tough task.  It's amazing how fast he does the bicycle penguin thing.  Do other babies do this?  He never sits still.  When he does sit still I go into alarm thinking something is wrong.  I also try to trim his nails (is there anything harder in life than trimming a baby's nails (oh yeah, changing the sheets in a crib, that is harder)).

Right now he's my little baby and I am his whole world (most of the time).  We spend a lot of time at home right now, on the floor, playing with toys that make noises, singing along to baby songs, and not getting much done otherwise.  I am very lucky that I get to spend my days with him as I know these moments are fleeting.  I am already sad when I see old photos like this one (5 weeks old).

Happy half birthday baby Charlie!  I love you so much!

Satellite Dish Walk

Today we did the satellite dish walk at Stanford.  We didn't make home in time for the afternoon nap.

Swing Ride

We had a better night of sleep last night with Charlie.  The tough love is really difficult for me but I think he will become a better sleeper if we survive this sleep training.  This morning he took a two hour nap from 8-10 which is amazing.  Sleep begets sleep.

Today we went to San Francisco to attend Stuart W.'s first birthday party.  Charlie's first time at a birthday!  It was so fun to see all the old friends from up there and all the babies.  We should have taken a photo of Charlie, Charlotte, and Anderson but the time flew by.

Charlie went on a swing for the first time.  He liked it!  Yay for Saturdays.

Rolling Over!

Charlie has been rolling from his tummy to his back for a while now, that's old hat but today he rolled from his back to his tummy!  So exciting!  I managed to get his third roll over on video.  Once he did it once he just kept doing it.

He decided not to sleep at all today as a result.  He took three naps today for 15 minutes each.  He protested every single nap and cried much longer than he slept.  Is there an association with the two (rolling over then NOT sleeping)?  We just put him down to sleep a little earlier than usual because of his zero naps today and he's crying and there's no end in sight.  This is so not fun.

At least it's Friday and Scott is home.  We are drinking wine.

Solid Foods

Charlie has started his solid foods journey.  Yesterday was day three of bananas and today was day one of avocados.  He liked bananas and he seems to be okay with avocados.

I was at a play group today talking about his solid foods journey when he started coughing.  His coughing then became choking.  The choking stopped and he stopped making any noise and he turned bright red and his mouth was in an "O" shape.

Oh. My. God.

It was the scariest moment of my life.  All the other moms confirmed that it was a scary moment because they started to freak out too.  I could have fainted but I had to stay alert and figure out how to handle this.

I didn't have time to figure anything out because as quickly as it started it just ended and he went back to playing with his toys.  I could tell I had turned bright red because I felt really hot.  I no longer heard anything anyone else was saying, I couldn't enjoy myself.  I was stuck in my head thinking about what I would have done if he continued to choke.

What the heck happened there?  It had been hours since eating avocados. Was he choking?  Bananas and avocados are the introductory foods, they should be totally safe, right?

I now hate this solid foods introduction.  I'm not ready.  The 'are you breathing' obsession I had when he was a newborn is back except now it's the 'is your throat closing because of an allergic reaction' obsession.

Can I just never introduce solid foods to him and continue to nurse?  Would it be weird if he were an EBF kindergartner?  I'd be really thin so that's a plus.

I love my baby.  Here's some photos of him eating bananas:
 

Xmas Vacation

Scott has had the last 10 days off and it's been awesome having him around.  We had big plans to be active every single day.  Instead, I got the stomach flu on the 23rd and Charlie and I got a cold on the 25th.  Today I think I'm finally better and I think Charlie is better too.  I am really thankful that Scott was around during our baby's first cold and during my first two illnesses since having a baby.

We managed to go to Santa Cruz on the 29th (solo, thanks Grandma!) and San Franciso on the 31st, which I mentioned.

The best part of this vacation is that Scott got out of his head which he is often trapped in during work weeks.

We did a lot of walking around our neighborhood with Charlie.  He doesn't love his stroller (or his car seat) but we keep trying and someday he might not hate it.

He looks proud here

Doesn't our baby look portly here?

 This is the best part of walking with him in the Ergo carrier, he likes to study your face.  It makes it hard to look where you're going

I will cherish the memories from this last week.

New Years Day

Only two wake ups last night and he was in bed from 7-7!  I couldn't be more pleased.  Today was a very warm, sunny day.  We stayed home all day except for one walk to get coffee in the morning, and one trip to the grocery store.  Charlie rode in the shopping cart for the first time.  He loved it!