6-month checkup

Nicholas went to the doctor this morning, and everything checked out fine. In what I am insisting on taking as good news, his growth has slowed down considerably, which means he should be okay in his infant carrier for awhile. He weighed in at 18 lbs 7 oz and 27 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both length and weight.

The really aggravating part of the visit was that he wasn't able to get the shots he actually needs. He got three vaccines for things he is unlikely to actually be exposed to, but there are no flu vaccines in sight. Babies aren't eligible to get flu vaccines until 6 months of age, but now that Nicholas is eligible, they don't have any left. Grrrr!

Our pediatrician is expecting to get in more seasonal vaccines soon, so we're supposed to call the office every few days until they arrive. And then hope that when it comes time for his second dose they haven't run out again. But they have no idea if or when they will get more H1N1 vaccines. And he needs two doses, so that means tracking down somewhere that has it in stock and is willing to give it to him and doing the whole thing twice. This is seeming like mission impossible. I was really hoping he'd have immunity by the time we began our Christmas and conference travels. It was also a key component to our plan to start part time daycare in January. So frustrating!

More snippets from the other room

Stop scratching the wall! Repeat after me: "I am not a cat."

Thanksgiving trip

As you probably gathered from the pictures in the last few posts, we went up to New York to spend Thanksgiving with Joe's family. Because of crazy work schedules, we ended up doing Thanksgiving on Wednesday, so we were there from Monday night to Thursday afternoon. A little weird, but it meant that all of the family could be together, which is the most important thing.

Nicholas was overwhelmed by the number of new people he met (and had trouble figuring out how to nap through noise for the first day or so), and so was a little extra cranky, but overall did a good job. We went into the city Tuesday morning and spent a couple hours with some friends of Joe's from high school and college. Wednesday morning we took him over to the boys' high school. Then that evening some family friends came by for a few hours. By Thursday afternoon when we stopped by a neighbor's house, he was very upset with us.

But he loved hanging out with his grandparents, uncles, and aunt. Now that he is old enough to enjoy silly antics and being tickled, having so many uncles is the best thing ever. There are a bunch of pictures from the trip in The Peanut Gallery, but here is one that captures the fun of being a little boy with a lot of uncles:

From Nicholas - Month 6

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I finally got a shot that gives you a pretty good view of his teeth:

From Nicholas - Month 6

We're now back home and have already jumped back into our normal routine. Joe has a big deadline (and with short notice) on Monday, so he will probably spend the next few days at the school library. I'm trying to figure out how to keep Nicholas occupied and take care of errands while avoiding the crowds, while simultaneously making Christmas presents, ordering Christmas cards, and you know, finishing my own dissertation. And so, yes, here I am blogging because it is much less intimidating.

Midyear Marvels

It's amazing to think that six months ago today, we were at the hospital with a baby we'd met less than twenty-four hours earlier.

It's even more amazing to compare that Nicholas with what he's become.  On the way home from New York, we stopped to take a break, switch drivers, and get a drink.  From the parking lot, we had a decent view of the highway, and Nicholas was fascinated.  So we stood and watched the cars go by (and the occasional truck).  He's gotten so grown up so fast, and sometimes it's just wonderful to watch.  Even when it's a little scary.

On another note, we hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We'll leave you with two photos, and a warning: sometimes the cuteness is so strong, it hurts!

From Nicholas - Month 6

From Nicholas - Month 6

6 month update

Nicholas' doctor's appointment is on Monday, so we'll post stats then, but for now, here is a summary of where Nicholas stands at 6 months.

In terms of tangible skills learned, this has been the month of gross motor development. He can now roll in any and all directions and is a proficient sitter and confident supported walker. Those first few hesitant steps I posted about a couple weeks ago have turned into walking marathons clear across the apartment. Joe and I spend a lot of time scooting around on the floor behind him. He, however, unlike a normal baby, seems to have no interest in scooting or crawling. We'll see if he ever does.

In the intangible category, he has started to seem more like a little boy than a baby. And I won't lie, it makes me sort of sad.

He has instituted a morning nap and shorter afternoon nap in place of his old habit of a marathon afternoon nap. In all honesty, this is not as convenient for us since it makes outings more difficult as well as harder to get a good chunk of schoolwork done during the day. But since walking across the apartment for him is roughly the equivalent of me running 3 miles, it makes sense that he is worn out by 10am.

Other than that, this was the month of getting his first two teeth, starting on solid foods, and exploring and interacting with the world in new ways. He is becoming an adventurous little boy who wants to take on the world and do it on his terms. And good luck to the person who tries to stand in his way. Sound like anyone else you know?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

From Nicholas - Month 6

First Day of School

From Nicholas - Month 6

We took Nicholas in to Uncle Patrick's high school today, which is the same high school Daddy and the other uncles also went to.  Nicholas was mostly wigged out by the loud teenagers, but the few teachers who were still around from Joe's day seemed to really enjoy meeting him and seeing all the brothers.

And, of course, we had to go hang out in the Latin room for awhile after school to give him an authentic experience.  Does he look ready for school?

From Nicholas - Month 6

Rising to the occasion

We have asked a lot of Nicholas in the past couple days--putting him in numerous situations that required a lot of patience and good behavior. Between dinner out Friday evening, shopping for suits for both me and Joe on Saturday morning, and church last night as a family, it has not been a baby-centered couple of days.

But he has been quite the trouper. Not perfect by any means (he melted down before the end of each of the first two activities), but tolerable. And, possibly most importantly, he let us accomplish what we needed to get done. He even made it all the way through mass without having to go up to the cry room. We had to do a little pacing in the back towards the end and I bought us the last few minutes by letting him walk around the back, but he made it most of the way through occupied by looking around and chewing on his board books.

He also rose to the occasion when it came to dinner last night, as Joe mentioned in his last post. After two less than successful attempts and a downright refusal to eat last night, I was mentally composing a post asking for suggestions on how to get him to eat rice cereal. He loved the idea of eating, but wanted nothing to do with the cereal. But on our second try last night, right as we were about to give up, we decided to let him try to help and it was like magic. Suddenly he couldn't get enough, even on spoonfuls when Joe did it for him instead of having him help. Remind me in the future when we're having trouble getting him to cooperate that we need to empower him to do it. It is something I mentally know from classes and training for working with older kids (although I never expected it to apply to a 5-month old), but I tend to forget it in practice.

Keep Your Hands Off the Spoon!

From Nicholas - Month 6

Apparently the key to getting him to eat rice cereal was to let him do it himself.

Okay, not quite, but letting him help (and using formally mixed formula instead of just adding some formula powder to the water and rice cereal) seems to have made something click tonight when we tried again to feed him.  As Sarah noted, we should have known that control would be an issue with this child.  Now we just need to get the consistency of the rice cereal thick enough so that we can get him onto food with, you know, flavor and such.

More Meaningful Contrast

I realized after posting this picture

From Nicholas Meets More Relatives

the other day, that it is only mind-boggling if you've seen him in his carseat recently.

So, for contrast, here he is the other day:

From Nicholas - Month 6

The angles aren't comparable, but you can basically see that he now completely fills out the carseat in all directions. My big fear is that he is going to exceed the limits for the infant carrier before our January trip. Dealing with the convertible carseat in taxis and/or rental cars will just be so much more complicated.

Baby's First Meal

We both have a ton of work to do tonight, so I'll just leave you with these pictures of this evening's adventure.

From Nicholas - Month 6

From Nicholas - Month 6

He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. We'll see what he thinks tomorrow.

A Matched Set

Nicholas' second bottom tooth cut through the gum overnight last night, joining its twin above the surface. Ironically, last night he slept for the longest stretch he has in weeks (7 1/2 hours, instead of 4). This child baffles me.

And, yes, I know you are anxiously awaiting pictures of his toothy grin, but bottom teeth are hard to see until they are full height. Go smile in the mirror and you'll see what I mean.

Growth Spurt Dividends

I'm not sure if Nicholas gained any inches or pounds with this week's growth spurt, but he definitely got stronger and made some developmental leaps forward.

I think we can now officially say he can sit up on his own. He isn't 100% reliable not to lose his balance or throw himself backwards, so if you aren't going to sit behind him, you have to put a pillow there, but he can sit and play for long periods without any help and even reaches for toys in front and to the side of him without (usually) tipping over. I know, the description doesn't make it sound all that different, but watching him you can just see how much stronger and more stable he is.

From Nicholas - Month 6

Equally difficult to pinpoint, he started figuring out different ways to play with a bunch of different toys. Nothing super complicated, but it is like something clicked and he realized he could do more than just grab at them and try to shove them in his mouth. Although don't get me wrong, he still does a lot of that.

And, the most impressive of all, he has started taking steps! The first time he did it, I wasn't sure I'd seen correctly, and the second time I was certain it was just random coincidence, but he has now done it probably 8 or 10 times this week and is getting a little more confident with each try. He is nowhere near walking because he is very unsteady on his legs even when being supported, but again, something clicked this week and he realized he could pick up his feet and move them rather than lunging forward while acting as though his feet were stuck in cement.

This video is from tonight when he pieced together the most steps I've seen yet. There were a few steps before I could get the camera going. (As usual, click on the image below to play the clip.)

From Nicholas - Month 6

What I love most about this video is how excited he is. The first couple times I don't think he realized the implications either, but he seems to be understanding what he has discovered. And he is so excited! As much as it makes me sad that he is growing up so quickly, I can't help but celebrate with him as he learns and discovers new things.

Friends, Fall, and Fun

Between getting to spend some good time with friends and the most beautiful mid-November day I may have ever seen, we had a pretty good weekend. Somehow Nicholas' naptimes came and went without me getting much work done, but other than that, it was great.

Saturday morning we went down to my parents' church for the annual Christmas Craft Bazaar. Somehow we came home with more used books than Christmas crafts, but that sounds about right for us. And the real reason to go was to visit my parents, and see some of the crafts my mom has been working on.

Then pretty spur-of-the-moment some friends decided to throw a dinner party. We almost didn't go because our knee-jerk reaction is to assume we can't, but we were so glad we did. Nicholas had fun playing with everyone and then he went to bed in their pack n' play upstairs (one of the many perks to having friends with a child the same age) and Joe and I got some very much needed time alone with friends. Possibly the only benefit to Nicholas still waking up every 4 hours overnight is that I didn't feel guilty waking him up at 10:30 to go home--it was just his first nighttime feeding. Anyway, it was so good for us to get the chance to hang out and just catch up with friends. I hadn't really realized how much I missed that.

And today? Well today was just beautiful. Church takes up most of Sunday morning these days (I go at 9, Joe brings Nicholas to me for the last 10 minutes while he goes to warm up with the choir, and then he sings at the 10:30 mass--so one of us is at church from 8:45 until noon). But this afternoon we just couldn't stay inside. I mean, really, how many 70-degree and sunny days do you get in mid-November? After the three of us took a long walk, Nicholas and I hung out on a blanket in the shade behind our apartment for a little while enjoying the weather. Okay, I tried to take pictures while Nicholas was on a mission to get the leaves and dirt all around the blanket.

There are lots of pictures of the weekend in The Peanut Gallery, but here are my two favorites:

Trying to get Nicholas and Alice to pose for a picture together. (I swear sometime before we all move this summer, we will get one good picture of the two of them. Although with everything going on in this picture, I may actually like it more than if both babies were looking at the camera.)

From Nicholas - Month 6

Playing with Daddy:

From Nicholas - Month 6

The Departure of the Body Snatchers

I swear growth spurts are like the invasion of the body snatchers around here. I look at Nicholas and wonder if the little boy we know and love is still in there somewhere. I wonder if this is what it feels like when your kids hit puberty. Except then it lasts longer than 3 days.

Now, don't get me wrong--Nicholas is never an easy-going, low-maintenance baby. (I'd probably wonder if he'd been switched at birth if he was.) But he is a generally happy baby and, at the very least, a baby you can make happy pretty easily if you're willing to do things his way. But for a few days earlier this week there was just no pleasing him. And the shrieking and screeching were driving me up a wall.

But that mutant child has gone away now, hopefully not to return for a few months. Good riddance. Our sweet Nicholas is back in his place. And he is probably confused why he has been getting so many extra hugs today. I'm just so glad to have him back.

Christmastime is Here—Already!?!

Sarah needed to get some work done at the house this morning, so Nicholas and I took a ride to a big mall about a 25-minute ride away so that she could do that, and because it made my life much easier in the mall.  At our local mall, I can do two to three laps of each of its four levels in about an hour.  That's a lot of repetition and elevators to keep from getting bored.  At the giant mall, I did two laps of its entire single level in an hour, which was much nicer.

And as the post title indicates, Christmas season is already alive and well in retail; the music piped over the loudspeakers, the decorations, it's all there.  We had a good time, and even got to see some snow!  (They had a snow machine in one part of the mall).  We had stopped to rest for a minute because I was carrying Nicholas and pushing the stroller, and were looking at a Christmas tree made entirely of Legos.  When the snow machine started we were already walking away, but I turned back so he could see it, and he loved looking at it (it was just bubbles).  When he first saw "snow," a big grin came across his face, and he was transfixed for several minutes before we moved on.

... At which point Nicholas met Santa Claus!  He was completely nonplussed (Nicholas; Santa was very pleasant).  He mostly seemed confused as to why someone would dress like that, but I explained that in a few years Santa would be a very important person in his life.  Still no reaction.  Maybe next year.

Now, I also had a few other comments about the mall, since one can only discuss so much with a five-month-old, however smart he may be:

• This mall has a brand-new Lego store, which I wandered into because it was bright and fun, and I figured Nicholas would enjoy looking around.  Social comment?  The only shoppers in the store were all male, including one other father with a toddler son.  Go figure.
• Speaking of Legos, it looks like it's going to be difficult to get Nicholas just a set of Legos (as opposed to a set to build a castle/military base/fire station/spaceship) unless we buy used.  Oh well.
• From the Back-to-Retail-School Department: the kiosk workers are annoying generally, but the guy who approached me (while carrying Nicholas and pushing the stroller) by saying, "Sir, gimme your glasses for a minute" gets a special prize for stupidity.
• Nicholas likes going fast in the stroller, which discovery mid-walk I used to great effect around kiosks that seemed like they might target me.  We paced nice and slowly past the women's face cream and battery-operated cigarette stands.  Everything else got a "here we go!" and a giggly baby blur.
• I feel really bad for people who work in retail at this mall.  I used to think it was crazy that stores insisted on opening at 5am on the Friday after Thanksgiving for sales.  This mall is opening at 11 on Thanksgiving night!  How cruel by the corporate honchos who made the decision that a bunch of poor workers have to watch their families go to bed after Thanksgiving dinner while they head out the door to work.
• Of course, given what most families are like these days, the workers will probably just get a ride to the mall with their addled consumerist relatives looking for a steal on a Lego spaceship set.
• Honestly, the Christmas theme was pretty half-assed.  The stores are totally not ready to go yet, which made the random Christmas music and scattered decorations in the mall seem totally out of place.  And Santa already in place two weeks before Thanksgiving just seems early to me.  At some point we'll hit a limit, right?  Or are we eventually going to start having Santa hang out at the mall starting the week after Easter?

That's about it.  Now I'll go back to hoping he'll take his full nap, and trying to sneak in some work in the meantime.

Cranky Baby

Update: Joe remembered that there is a 6-month growth spurt, so our new theory is that since Nicholas got each of his other growth spurts 1-2 weeks early, his current behavior is the result of being extra hungry. So I'll try to feed him extra times tomorrow and see what happens. This is one of those times when I wish he could talk. If he had said "Mommy, I'm hungry," rather than just shrieking all day, we all would have been happier.

Original Post:
Nicholas has been very cranky, whiny, and needy the past couple days. He basically has been acting tired all day but not sleeping enough to fix it, including waking up an hour earlier than usual in the morning already cranky and tired. Fun fun. But otherwise he seems physically fine--no fever, no cough or congestion, normal diapers, etc.

I'm wondering if the second bottom tooth is trying to make its way through and bugging him. He did really well with the first one, but I guess there is no reason why the pain would be identical for each.

At any rate, he's tired and cranky and dealing with a tired, cranky baby is exhausting, so I am now worn out and a little cranky. And so while he is down for a nap I think I will go take a nap myself. I have so much work to do, but I have the feeling I'll need some energy reserves for when he wakes up, which I'm guessing will be before he is fully rested.

But as long as it is just teething, I'll happily deal with a few days of cranky baby. And the housework may just have to fall a little further behind so he can have the constant contact he seems to need right now. In the grand scheme of things, small potatoes.

Our Little Monkey

One of the side benefits of playdates is that we get the chance to learn from watching other parents play (either with Nicholas or their own kids). Here is one I got from Katie last week (click on the picture to watch the video):

From Nicholas - Month 6

Think the little monkey is having fun?

Joe and Nick's Excellent Adventure

We're back from New York, and if you couldn't tell by the post's title, things went off without a hitch.  We had a great visit with Grandma Alice, Grandpa Richard, Uncle Patrick, and Great-Grandma Claire (plus a few neighbors who were itching to meet the Most Popular Little Boy in the World).  We spent most of the time at the house just hanging out and playing, but Nicholas seemed to enjoy himself immensely.

Here he is, for example, demonstrating to Grandpa Richard how to properly eat your fingers to soothe teething pains:

From Nicholas - Month 6

And he's gotten really good about letting anyone feed him (Grandma's not just anyone, but still):

From Nicholas - Month 6

[N.B.: More photos in the Peanut Gallery, as always.]

For this trip I had worried most about two parts: Nicholas being separated from Mommy, and sleeping in a strange place.  Now, he'd already done one overnight mommy-separation successfully way back in August, so I wasn't too surprised about his handling that part with aplomb.  And for the most part, even at home he doesn't get too clingy with Sarah, or notice that she's not around, or mind eating a bottle.  Unless of course, if she walks by when I'm in charge, and then all hell breaks loose.  But with Sarah safely ensconced in Tennessee, that last was an unlikely occurrence.

As for sleep, the last time we traveled with him (at the end of August), he had a lot of trouble adjusting to the new sleep patterns, being in a different bed, and so on.  So we tried to prepare him a little bit by having him take a few naps in the last week in his pack n' play in our bedroom—a different location, a different bed.  And boy did it pay dividends.  Plus it helped that he decided to be incredibly agreeable.  We arrived at about 11pm on Thursday night, and I set him down—still in his car seat—on the floor in "his" bedroom (it's currently a shrine to Uncle Brian) and went to quickly warm up some milk.  He sat very patiently, and beamed a huge (mostly) toothless grin when I came to get him.  I fed him, and he went out easily and quickly for five hours. [Ed. note: Yes!]  The first night, I had to share a room with him, since Sarah's parents had also come up, and took the other bedroom.  This caused a problem when I fed him at 4am, because I apparently got back to the room too quickly, that is, before he'd gone back to sleep.  In our efforts to adjust him to a new bed, we forgot to adjust him to the idea of sharing a room, which he hasn't done (except for our Louisville trip) since he was about four weeks old.  He screamed for nearly an hour, and I finally got him to sleep by picking him up to comfort him, putting him back in the crib, and then stepping outside and sitting by the door to wait for him to fall asleep.

Needless to say, I switched bedrooms the second night.

Other than that one little hitch, he was fantastic.  He slept the same amount as he usually does, ate with the same frequency, and threw in at least one five-hour stretch each night.  In other words, Sarah was envious.  Even more importantly, this trip gives us added confidence that he'll be good for our upcoming travel extravaganza, involving another trip to New York, a Christmas jaunt to Louisville, and an early January trip to San Diego.

Where the Boys Are (And Mommy Isn't)

So, Sarah took off this morning for a brief vacation to visit Stacy, her best friend and Nicholas's godmother, at her new home in Nashville, Tennessee.  That means Nicholas and I are on our own until Saturday afternoon.  He's doing fine so far—a little cranky this morning, but that seemed attributable more to the fact that we had to get him up early, so his sleep and eating schedule were a little off.  But since lunch he's been fine.

Well, except for during lunch when he grabbed the bottle to eat, but got the nipple and squirted himself with milk.

Anyway, because I figured Nicholas wouldn't be confused enough, he and I are driving up to New York tonight for him to get a little visit in with his grandparents et al. there.  Sarah's parents are driving up with me, as they've planned their own getaway to New York for this weekend, so I'll have company on the way up.  And Grandma Alice and Grandpa Richard apparently already have all sorts of stuff set up for him (read: I don't have to pack the portable crib!), and we'll see how he does.  Should be fun ... or horribly sleep-deprived for both of us!

In other words, look for the post on Saturday or Sunday to see how things turned out.

Flashbacks

Every once in awhile a picture will flash across my screensaver that stuns me, so I figured I'd share:

From Nicholas Meets More Relatives

At the time he seemed huge to us, but now it is hard to believe he was ever so tiny.

Conservatory and Playdate

In our constant quest for new free or cheap outings, Nicholas and I decided to check out the Conservatory in the park near school. It was okay, although pretty small. I doubt we'll go back.

But we still had a really good morning, mostly because we met up with Katie and Alice. I called Katie because they live near the park and it turned out she and Alice were in that very park running. So they extended their run while they waited for us (yes, Katie is amazing--I get winded pushing the stroller up a hill . . . walking) and we took the kids in together and then went back to their house to play.

The babies seemed mildly interested in the plants, but really liked the little pond with bright orange fish and a waterfall. I thought Nicholas was going to try to climb in to get a fish!

From Nicholas - Month 6

Back at the house they mostly just sat and played with separate toys, but towards the end they began to interact a little. This mostly consisted of Alice reaching out to grab Nicholas' hand or touch his head, but it is more than they have interacted in the past. They are growing up so quickly!

From Nicholas - Month 6

Happy Birthday from Prince Nicholas

Today was my mom's birthday, so we went out to lunch with my parents and Uncle Andrew.

From Nicholas - Month 6

But first we went to baby storytime at the public library. Today's theme was princes and princesses, so each of the kids got a crown to wear and the librarian called them all Prince x and Princess x. As usual, Nicholas loved the music and watching the other kids, but got really antsy during stories. He does well at home, but when the book is that far away, he doesn't seem to be able to focus on it. He thought the crown was pretty cool--when he could grab at it. Ironically, the only way I could keep him from grabbing it was to put it on his head.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Kathleen, from Prince Nicholas.

From Nicholas - Month 6