On the Verge of Greatness

I feel like we're so close to so many milestones. It's amazing how much can happen at once in a young life. We're waiting for teeth, we're almost crawling, we're trying new foods every week, we're pulling up to standing and wobbling like that for a while. We're switching from the infant car seat that we carry him around in everywhere to a big boy car seat and a new stroller. That means high chairs in restaurants and riding in the shopping cart like a big kid. Six months is momentous.

Big Boy

Greyson's latest tricks:

• holding on to mommy's hands and pulling up to standing
• sitting in his big boy ducky bathtub
• eating mushed bananas
• playing with wiffle balls

I've been meaning to post some new videos but computer fickleness has prevented me lately. I hope to post videos to flickr more often.

Life has been a whirlwind lately. I worked a full week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday) and it did not kill me. I thought Sunday would be rough, but it wasn't that bad. I'm going to talk to one of the big bosses here at work to see about working an earlier schedule. The library's open 2-11pm, but since I'm just working quietly in my office, I could perhaps come in before the building officially opens and get my work done earlier. We'll see... it was nice still having the first half of the day to spend with the boys. But it was difficult to go to bed at 11:45 and wake up with the baby at 6:30 on Monday. I think he has adjusted too well to my new early schedule. I was hoping he would still sleep in until 7:30 on my days off. No such luck so far.

While I worked on Sunday, Mike had a dad-date with a close friend and his son. Grey got to sit in a bucket swing at the park, but I don't think there was much swinging... he's still too young. Mike got Greyson to bed with no problems and I got to peek in and admire him in the dark when I got home late.

Last Friday Greyson and I went to preview a Gymboree class. It's a singing, dancing, playing, gym-like environment. I signed up for a 0-6 month class but thankfully they talked me into coming back later for the 6-10 month class. Even though Greyson isn't crawling yet, he had much more in common with those older babies. We did lots of activities and discovered that Greyson loves their little plastic balls (like larger colorful wiffle balls) but doesn't love sliding down ramps and slides yet. We're deciding if we want to sign up for regular sessions on Fridays. It would be lovely day-off activity, but it costs money so we'll have to wait and see.

Last night was Grey's first big boy bath. He's getting too big for his infant tub, and we want him to be able to splash and enjoy the bath with some toys. I thought about a bath seat, but they're not so easy to find anymore. Finally I discovered a giant inflatable ducky bathtub that works great and Greyson loves it! I'm not crazy about the fact that it's vinyl (PVC is evil!) but it will work for now. It might also work as a nice backyard pool this summer :-)

Six Months Three Days

On Greyson's six month doctor visit, he measured:

19lbs 14oz (75-90th percentile)
and
28 1/8 inches (97th percentile)

Tall baby.

Happy Mother's Day

We're just winding up a nice long weekend today. Last week was rough, I worked four days in a row and it was hectic. But it included a nice visit from my mother, who had a great time watching Greyson on Friday. She even took him to the mall and to a friend's house to show him off.

After falling asleep on the couch around 10pm Friday night, I got back into a more human sleep routine for the weekend. Of course it's back to the 6am wake-up tomorrow. Saturday after breakfast with my family, we spent the day around the house and spent the evening out at our friends' house. Greyson visited with baby Veronica, and even slept in her crib! She's still sleeping in her bassinet so the crib was available. We stayed out late, I had a drink after Greyson went to bed (woo hoo!) and we were home around 2am, just knowing Greyson would be up at 7:30 no matter what. Well, he wasn't up at 7:30, he was up at 6:30! On Mother's Day! But to make up for that, he ate and went right back to sleep for a while and the boys let me sleep in until 9:30 :-)

After opening cards and gifts from my guys, we went for a lovely picnic and walk at Lake Eola. We drove past my old apartment and visited downtown a bit, got sweaty walking around the lake, ate ice cream cones that dripped faster than we could eat them, and enjoyed the swans and people/dog/baby watching. You know you're a parent when you check out other people's strollers at the park.

Mother's Day concluded with a yummy dinner at home and an episode of Lost on the couch. Today is Greyson's 6 month doctor visit, can't wait to hear his latest numbers. He's sitting up like a champ, for minutes at a time. He's starting to babble with more consonants (B is his favorite). He's developed a pretty good nap/sleep routine (except for today when Dad was edging the lawn at naptime). He's expanding his food repertoire, and learning to drink from a cup. He's almost ready to crawl, still figuring it out. He's the best baby ever!

Mom's Day Off

I can't believe it, but I didn't change a single diaper yesterday. I left for work at 7am and got home before 6pm. Mike did diaper/pajama duty while I showered, and I was left marvelling at the fact that I have not had a day like that since November 8th!

Greyson is apparently trying to teach his mother some manners. He loooooves to be startled, with a little "bugga buggaboo!" or "wocka wocka!" when he's least expecting it. But twice now I have let out a loud and sharp burp after a good meal and caught him really off guard. It's so sweet yet sad to see his little face crumple up into a wail at mommy's rudeness. Perhaps I'll learn my lesson.

Working Girl

I'm so proud of how well our first two days of work went. Of course it's just the first two days, but still! I didn't cry at work, Greyson took his bottles with no problems, I pumped enough milk to keep up, and I think Grey behaved better for Jenny and Mike than he does for me!

With the pumping and bottle feeding, I've learned a new trick. Greyson hasn't been napping for me lately, and he's been eating every 2 to 2.5 hours. I finally figured out that if I give him more milk at a time (both boobs!) he'll be more satisfied and even fall asleep! He's dozing now, and he had a 2 hour nap yesterday morning too. I used to actually get things done around the house, maybe I'll be able to again.

Today I have some chores and some shopping to do, but I also have to get ready to work the rest of the week. I work four days in a row, then I have a three day weekend, then I start my new wonky shedule (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday). My Mom's coming this Friday to watch Greyson for us, I hope they have a great day together.

Family Resemblance

Jo Grandma

Greyson

A Good Eater

Greyson is on day 8 of solid foods. We started him on rice cereal, just a teaspoon or so at a time. His first few attempts were tentative, much of it ending up on his face and bib. By his fourth day he was enjoying it. Today we gave him a bigger serving and decided to let him taste some carrots too! We'll be making baby food for him at home, but we had some store-bought carrot mush on hand because there's some controversy over preparing your own carrots (I think the problem is the nitrate content). Anyhooooo... he ate some carrots with no problem, just a few funny faces. Next we'll work on avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas, and squash - probably one new food a week. Should be an adventure!

First Bites, First Day Back

Greyson has been eating rice cereal at lunch for about 4 days now. The first few days we weren't sure, but he's started to like it now! I just got off the phone with Auntie Jenny and she said he really enjoyed it today.

I'm at work. My first day has gone remarkably well. It's 4:42 and I'm getting ready to go home. I didn't call until 4:30, that's remarkable restraint isn't it? Pumping milk is going well here at work, and Jenny sounded like everything was going well at home too. Tomorrow Mike stays home with Greyson, due to scheduling issues. It's a brave new world.