July 2010 DD Club~Jan/Feb Chat

[Redheaded_Momma]

Hi! I thought I'd start a new chat!

I was in the July DD club but sweet Phoebe took her good ole time in the womb. She didn't arrive earthside until 8/10 so we are a month or so behind some of the babes here.

She's nursing like a champ and weighed in at 20.4 pounds at her 5 month wbv. We started with avocado last week and some days she's in to it and others, not so much. She's rolling all over the place and wants to sit up independently so badly but just doesn't have the strenght yet.

She's a co-sleeper, much to our surprise. DS slept in his bed so well we just assumed DD would too. Isn't it funny how they teach us things when we think we are the ones supposedly teaching them. I enjoy her sleeping by me and DH doesn't mind it! That's a huge step for him.

Unfortunately I have been woh since she was 6 weeks. DH and a friend of ours watch DD and DS so I am blessed to have people that love them caring for them.

I have actually found the DS, 4, seems to need me more than DD does. I can sit her down and go play with DS and she's usually happy for awhile. She lets me know when she's ready to be picked up. I wear her a lot on my back to get dinner made or cleaning done around the house.

How is everyone else doing? Nikki

[LittleBirdy]

Hi!  I wasn't in the DDC but have a July babe so I thought I'd jump in.

My little string bean had his 6 month wbv this week... he's 17.5 pounds and 28 inches long!  Wowza!  DH and I are short and squat so we're not sure where this kid came from.

He is just desperate to crawl but hates being on his tummy... so he just tries to crawl up our chests when we hold him in an upright carry!  Definitely interested in food but we've only been dabbling in solids so far.  He seems to prefer veggies to fruits which I find interesting.  Little thief stole a pizza crust from me last weekend - I mean he literally launched his body face-first across mine and CHOMPED.

He spends the first 2-3 hours in his own room and then we cosleep for the rest of the night.  I think he has decided my mattress is more comfortable than the one in his crib.

We are going to take him swimming for the first time this weekend and I am so excited.  He loves to splash in the tub and he is super social so I think this will be the best of both worlds for him.

[neonalee]

Hi mamas!  Aden just got some hummus last night; he seemed to enjoy it greatly.  Some ended up on his nose, his cheek, etc.  A sign of things to come!  Not crawling, & hates tummy time, but if I pull him up he can sit independently.   We have a tooth, & I've only gotten bit a few times!  Still co-sleeping.  It's too cold to stop even if we wanted to.  Love the mirror pic!

[somegirl99]

DS came in at 16 lbs and 27" at our 6-month Dr. visit this week, so another tall & skinny babe.  He is not quite sitting independently but close to it, mostly because he doesn't want to sit, he wants to stand and try to walk.  He grabs our hands and pulls himself up all the way to standing.  He also doesn't like to be on his tummy, just rolls over to his back, but does try to climb up on us.  He will hold onto the couch and take a few steps if one of us is balancing him from behind him.  I think he might walk before he crawls!

We've given him food to play with on several occasions, but very little interest...he much prefers his play food and other toys at the table.  He will put just about anything in his mouth except for food.  We have tried squash, potato, sweet potato, banana.  I would have tried avocado except the au pair eats it as soon as we buy it.  Oh well, at least breastfeeding and pumping/bottle-feeding is going well.  From 4-5 months he would only nurse in the bedroom or maybe in the back of the car, but distraction seems to be less of an issue now.

I know expat-mama had asked in the other thread about our au pair.  I actually ended up giving her two weeks notice this week, we think (fingers crossed) that we may have found someone local to be a nanny.  We have told her we don't want her to work these two weeks but we have to provide room, board, and stipend.  Meanwhile my MIL is taking care of DS while I'm out for work and we share care on days I am working from home (and so I'm getting less done). 

The au pair just turned out to be incompetent at baby care, well actually, incompetent at pretty much everything.  Safety concerns were #1.  I had to tell her on several occasions not to put him on our bed and walk away to get something, when I was out of the house (but my MIL was home) she left him on the changing pad when she went to the bathroom, she once tried to take him out of the carseat while the car was still moving, and earlier this week she let him bounce his head off the hardwood floor (he's ok).  I heard it, didn't see it as I was in the next room over, but she says she was holding him standing, then he sat down and fell over.  She seemed really surprised by how fast it happened and didn't know how to react - I got in there and picked him up before she even moved.  She was supposed to have had significant infant experience (listed on her application) but when I asked her about it her experience was apparently only with her sister's children, who were in a different city from her.   She also has no idea how to play with him or calm him when fussy (and he's happy most of the time), would just lie him on his back and shake a toy at him, never talked to him.  I had gotten her a Beco butterfly so she could take him on walks but she only ever went when I specifically invited her along when I walked the dogs. 

Oh, she had also said on her application that she had won athletic awards, but when walking she can't even keep up with my 14-year-old arthritic dog.  She also claimed she "loved to cook" but couldn't even reheat food without filling the kitchen with smoke and seems intent on giving us all food poisoning.  She kept drying off dishes, including baby bottles, with the hand towel that we all use in the kitchen, and my MIL had seen her on one occasion take raw chicken out of the fridge and put it on the same towel, then later washed her hands and dried it with that same towel.  We are now only using paper towels in the kitchen.  I also saw her drop some rice on the floor, pick it up, and put it back in the container and back into the fridge, and I've seen her rinse a plate she ate off of with just water and put it in the dish rack.

It's not a language problem, it's just her.  I even gave her written instructions on everything, including hand washing in English and Spanish and went over it all, and even that didn't sink in.  She didn't think it necessary to wash hands after doing diaper laundry unless I reminder her, then she would just use water and not soap.   After a month of training, you'd think she'd get better, not worse at things.  Oh, she had also been driving since 2007 but has no idea what to do at intersections, apparently nobody ever stops at intersections in her home country (so she claims).  Getting her to sign up for her English classes was like pulling teeth.  I could go on but I think that is plenty to get the idea!

It's been a bit of a nightmare but we're so relieved that she is on her way out.  Amazingly the agency is trying to rematch her with other families with infants or who are looking for someone who can drive children to school and cook for them.  We're not going to trust them to find someone else for us.

Anyway we are totally having so much fun with our boy, he is such a sweetheart.  I'm working on getting new photos posted, it's been hard to find any free time for that or for MDC lately.

[Terrilein]

@somegirl: that's a really scary au pair!!! I bet you're glad to be getting some competent child care (hopefully) now.

@Redheaded_Momma - your girl is such a doll!

Fritz is still not crawling, but is scooting around. His appetite is enormous, and yesterday I managed to weigh him and he's around 8.2 kg (18 lbs) and about 70 cm (27.5 in) long.

And I got to meet another mothering.com mommy the other day!!! It was SOOOOO nice to meet somebody like-minded. I really hope we get to meet more often.

[expat-mama]

Oh my Somegirl! I'm sorry you are going through all this stuff with your au pair- it sounds absolutely awful! Seriously nightmarish... I really hope you find (have found) some better care for your DS. I honestly can't imagine how horrible it is to deal with all that- I'd be in a state of constant worry and fear that such an incompetent would hurt my boy. Glad you are kicking her to the curb!

DH and I have been talking about #2 lately (we've decided we definitely want just one more LO, yey!) and how/when I'll go back to work. We'll probably get a nanny and they are quite common here (some people even have 2 or 3 of them- arab families here have loads of children and expat families tend to have loads of money)- pretty much all the nannies come from abroad (south east asia- phillipines and indonesia) and we have no idea how one goes about choosing and hiring a nanny. Even before hearing about somegirl's experience I knew I'd have to find some way to find a good person.

Anyway, it will be a challenge... but that's far in the future! I can't help worrying/planning...that's just how I do. AND I'm already so excited to think about having another baby!  DH and I were discussing our summer holiday and how much sex we're planning to have- because by then of course DS will be sleeping through the night (our wishful thinking!) and DH kept saying things like we should "just go for it" and "if it happens, it happens", but I think that would be way too soon for me, for DS and our family in general. I'm sticking to our original plan of having #2 when DS is around 3yo or older. I'm still excited though- time is flying and we'll be there before I know it. I just want to enjoy my wonderful DS and our 1-child family for now.

Anyone else thinking of the next baby yet???

Konrad has changed so much in the past few weeks, it's quite amazing. I dunno exactly how much he weighs or how long he is because I don't want to take him to the doc for a WBV (he gets sick after every time we go!). When I stand on the scale with him he comes in at around 20-21 lbs! DH and I have some pretty chiseled arms from heaving him around all the time! And some pretty sore backs...

K can almost sit up on his own from laying down and he sits now without being propped up and without falling over (only once in a while when he gets too excited and reaches for something out of his range). He can get up on his hands and knees for a few seconds, so he is definitely working on crawling. He really WANTS to get around. Actually, I notice how much he WANTS things in general- know what I mean? He never wanted stuff before, he was just happy with whatever he had at the moment or whatever we gave him. Now he is reaching and lunging for anything and everything and if he doesn't get what he's got his eye on, he gets upset! It's pretty frustrating for both he and I, and I'm afraid this is a just a small taste of life with a willful older baby/toddler- EEK.

Konrad is totally into the new toys he collected over xmas and he has a little 4-key piano thing that he now loves to bang on and make music. He also loves these soft, plush baskets of fruits and veggies that DH and I found at Ikea. And he still loves books- I got him a new one called "How do Dinosaurs say Goodnight?"- because he loved "How do Dinosaurs Eat their Food?" sooooo much. The illustrations are really great and he is just enthralled by them as well as the rhyming story. I'm so happy I have a book lover!

So far Konrad has eaten mashed/pureed carrots, bananas, peas, sweet potato. We just started foods and I've been adding a new one about once every 4 or 5 days or so. I keep buying avocadoes and waiting for them to ripen enough but then they go bad before I get a chance to give them to Konrad. Also on the list to try are apples, pears and meat! I think I'll give Konrad some chicken this week. I did buy some organic whole-grain rice cereal a while back but have been on the fence about whether to give it to K and I think I've decided to wait. But he loves eating that's for sure! I'm not certain how often he should be "eating"- my mom was surprised he's not on 3 meals a day yet. I just give him food sometimes in the morning after nursing and sometimes in the late afternoon after nursing if we have time or at dinner if Konrad seems angry that we are eating food and he isn't. So we average one "meal" a day, sometimes 2. When he eats food he has maybe about 5-7 tbsp in one sitting before he seems to get bored. I don't try to make him eat if he loses interest.

Should I be making it more regular or something? Right now it just seems like a fun thing we do, not like he needs to be eating regularly. Hmm.

We have had some interesting diaper deposits since we started solids- the first one really freaked me out! The fibers from the banana had turned a brownish-red colour and I thought Konrad had eaten some hairy red toy or something.

As for sleep- UGH. Konrad is too roly-poly to put down in the bed by himself now so I've been trying to put him down to nap and to bed for the first few hours of the night in his pack n play. Sometimes he'll stay down, other times he will wake up upset every 10-20 minutes. I have given up for now and put him down in the middle of our king-size bed with a wall of pillows around him and check on him obsessively while he sleeps. I don't know what we'll do when he starts crawling...I have no idea how we'll deal with that because I won't be able to put him on the bed and he won't sleep in his pack n play- we are going to have to figure that out quick before he gets moving.

Konrad is still waking at night and DH and I are dying to have more than 3 hrs (at most!) of sleep at a time. I'm trying to be patient and let Konrad's sleep habits get better naturally over time...but every once in a while DH and I get so tired and frustrated we start looking for solutions and ways to make things better. Then we give up and calm down and just deal with the way things are. Konrad used to go down easily with bouncing on the yoga ball but our backs can't handle it now that he's bigger and he really seems to hate bouncing now- he fights it like crazy. So nursing down it is...all the time. It's wearing on me that I'm the only one who can put him down, DH used to help a lot at night. But nothing else works. So pretty much every time DS wakes at night I am nursing him back down...on really bad nights it could be 5-7 times. Blahhhhh. It can't be like this forever...

Neona- yum hummus! I think we'll have to try that here too! We eat it all the time, I never thought of giving it to Konrad.

Loves the sweet pictures of your babe, Redhead!

My goodness I can go on forever. Sorry about that. Glad to find the new thread ladies!

[somegirl99]

expat, we're also thinking of kid #2 at about the same timing as you!

Well, I think I finally got DS to taste something today, a piece of steamed carrot.  I think it'll be a while before he is actually eating anything though.

He has started watching me eating in the last few days but it hasn't translated to him eating.

Here's a couple of recent pictures of him in his chair playing with his toy spider (much better than food apparently).  My MIL is sitting next to him.

and going back through the older pictures reminded me of how sick we all were over Christmas, totally miserable.  He still was a good sport about it all.

[mama2toomany]

I have permission from my intended parents. Here they are.. Caden and Sofie. 

http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/punk_pouter/cadenandsofie7months.jpg

[majazama]

hey all.. barely time to read but nice to see pics of the little ones. Imagine the baby party we'd have if we were all hanging out.. lol..

[CorasMama]

This isn't a super recent pic, because they're all still on the camera, but it'll have to do.

I realized I haven't given a Fiona update in a really long time.

She's doing great.  We've hit a snag, but it's not an insurmountable one, and all in all, especially considering how things could have gone, we are so so so lucky.  Her omphalocele got almost completely covered with skin at about 2.5 months (I think?), and so we were able to stop coating it with the silvadene cream, and just wrap it, to encourage it to go in.  We were able to wrap it flat really soon.  The closure surgery/ies aren't any time real soon, though.  Her omphalocele was/is fairly large, and the gap in the fascia is quite large and up high, like up to the sternum.  The surgeon said that when they're up high like that, he prefers to wait longer, so that she can grow and have more to stretch closed over the gap.  That's totally fine with us, as the omphalocele itself really barely impacts her daily life right now.

What does impact her life is, unfortunately, being 100% tube fed.   Due to her reflux (caused mostly by her screwy anatomy in the abdomen) and the need for an ng tube at first, she ended up with an oral feeding aversion.  We were able to nurse a bit at first, but less and less as time went on, and eventually, trying to feed her orally resulted in her screaming like we were trying to kill her.  So we gave it a break for a couple of months, and then started some very beginning, really basic feeding therapy stuff, just to try to not lose ground.  We knew that, until the ng tube was gone, we weren't going to make any progress, as the ng tube just made her reflux that much worse, and made swallowing pretty uncomfortable.

Usually, an ng tube (naso-gastric feeding tube) isn't used for more than a month or two, and if someone needs tube feeding for longer, then they do a g-tube (which is a tube that is put in from the outside of the belly straight into the stomach).  But Fiona's case presented a pretty unique problem, because a standard g-tube wouldn't work with her anatomy.  Her liver is in front of her stomach, and where they would usually place a g-tube is right where her omphalocele is!  So the surgeon got together with a GI doc, and the other surgeons, and devised a way to do it.  They had films, so they knew essentially where everything is in there already.  And we found ONE other doc who had done a g-tube on an omphalocele baby before closure.  He was all the way across the country, but we emailed him so he could give our docs some insight.  They ended up putting it in way off to the side, instead of above the belly button, and they had to kind of move her stomach a bit to do so.  I wonder if they are going to write this up, because they were basically inventing the procedure as they went along.  They had to get permission from the hospital board to do this procedure that is otherwise a pretty routine thing!

So she finally got it a couple of weeks ago, and we're so so so pleased!  She recovered fantastically, was out of the hospital after a day and a half.  And it's been great since then.  No more causing her pain, changing the ng tube weekly.  And no more nasty tape all over her face.  But most importantly, we're already making progress orally.  I got about half a ml of breastmilk into her yesterday that she actually swallowed.  This is huge because we were getting concerned that she'd forgotten how to swallow.  We have an Occupational Therapist who comes out a few times a month who helps with all this, and we're hopeful that she'll continue to make great progress, and hopefully be rid of the g-tube in a year or two.  Our biggest goal is to get her back to nursing, and we have some great concrete steps to doing that all laid out, but we know that may not happen, and we'll be happy with getting her back to taking her nutrition orally, however it happens.

Speaking of which, I'm still pumping.  Seven times a day, about 35-45 minutes (with a break in the middle, so really pumping about 25min) each time.  It's a drag, and I'd really love to stop.  But if she never gets back to nursing, I've committed to pumping for the full two years.  I'm very fortunate to be able to maintain a supply with just the pump, and I have a ton of support from my husband and my older daughter.

Ok, well, if you've read this entire very teal deer, you deserve cuteness:

[expat-mama]

Love the pics! Wow our babes are growing so quickly, it's just amazing.

Today Konrad is 30 weeks! On Saturday he will be 7 months old! Egad! My sweet baby is growing up AND he's got the teeth to prove it! Well, almost. His bottom two are just poking through. He doesn't seem to mind them that much- he is constantly pushing his tongue around the front of his lower gum, which is pretty cute and he did like a frozen teether we gave him. Unfortunately his amber necklace has yet to arrive but it should get here soon. I've also ordered hyland's tablets (they're supposed to be safe now, I guess- my DH who generally thinks natural remedies are best is a huge skeptic of homeopathy though and I am too to some degree, so we'll see if they do anything). I was looking at the baby tylenol (not tylenol brand here though) and it has sorbital and red colouring and all sorts of chemicals that we avoid around here so I really would only like to use that as a last resort if DS seems to be really in pain.

It's been a rough week here though- Konrad also has an eye infection and I've been having to give him some anti-biotic ointment for it. His eyes were so red and painful-looking one day and so much goo was coming out of them, it was really gross. So I phoned it in and got the ointment prescribed over the phone so I didn't have to go into the doc's office. Good- because every time I go there Konrad gets some kind of bug. Problem is, his tear ducts are still blocked I haven't been able to unplug them with massage since he was born so he is more and more prone to these sorts of infections. I really hope they unplug so he doesn't have to have the doc do it.

And on top of teething and an eye infection DS is also really constipated. He's pooping actual turds and he's not happy about it. So I've drastically decreased his solids the past couple of days and I'm only giving him things that will get the poops soft and moving like pears. And he's had some diluted prune juice which he loved (yuck). I hope it works and soon! I want my happy boy back. Actually I shouldn't complain- he's such a good sport about everything, he's just a little fussy. He could be in a full body cast and he'd still be all smiles!

The teeth coming in are really throwing me off- it seems like such a big step to being a "big" boy! My little baby!

Here he is playing with his felt vegetables in the kitchen. He is not too happy but still so cute.

Edited by expat-mama - 2/7/11 at 4:00pm

[Terrilein]

Felt veggies! How cute!!! And I can't even believe how BIG Konrad's gotten. Wow!

Fritzi is still our toothless wonder, and there's just no teeth in sight, but his gums are showing "progress". Not having any teeth hasn't stopped him from eating either. At our well baby visit last week he weighed 8420 gr (18.5 lbs) and was 71 cm (28 in) long. It's getting hard to still carry him in the sling. And he's become mobile this last week. He's not outright crawling or even army crawling. He's doing something between an inchworm - reach forward with arms, push butt up to pull in legs and feet, and then push off with toes - and what I call the Terminator crawl - you all recall the very end of the Terminator 1 film with the Arnie's robot/skeleton clawing its way forward. Yup, that's my boy.

Edited by Terrilein - 2/8/11 at 4:00pm

[slgt]

Hi Mamas! How great to see you all here, on a new thread! SomeGirl, what a an Au-Pere Nightmare. That sounds like it was so, so stressful - the last thing you want when it comes to your little one. I hope the new nanny works out. Our Norah is similar in size to your boy - 27", 16 lbs. 4 oz.  Another lanky baby! I have a friend who's son is a full 4 weeks younger, and he is around 23 lbs. and outgrowing his 12 month size clothing. Such differences in these wee ones!

Adorable pictures! ExpatMama, love the felt veggies!

CorasMama, so glad to hear that she is doing well. She looks very happy with the world in that picture! Good for you for keeping up with the pumping. That's a great commitment and a real gift for Fiona.

Mama2TooMany, thanks for posting the picture. If I remember, you had some rough times with the IPs. Have things smoothed out?

Norah is doing great. Well, mostly. She's had a rough couple of days...Terrilien, she is also a gummy monster, no teeth in sight - but I'm wondering if maybe all the uncharacteristic screaming is a tooth? Hah, I can wonder all day and all night, but there are no guarantees! She has an increasingly-efficient commando crawl and loves to chase balls around the house. My, she is a very determined little critter. She's generally an easygoing baby, happy, very smiley and giggly - but she is NOT laid back! Nope, she's a stubborn one. She is starting to get better at sitting - she can actually sit up & play with something and reach for things without tumbling over, but she invariably dives after something after about a minute. I cannot believe how quickly she's becoming mobile!

Nice to see all of you ladies...hang in there!

[lrgs]

CorasMama, thank you so much for the update. I was actually just wondering about you guys awhile ago. Glad to hear things are going pretty well, good job for you on the pumping.

I just had Ainsley weighed and measured yesterday and she is now 19 pounds and just over 26 inches.......SO chunky! She's 6.5 months now and by this point Mya had started army crawling around and slimming down a bit. Ainsley just keeps packing on the pounds. She's rolling all over the place and pushing herself backwards..........I'm content with that because I am just not ready for her to be on the move totally yet. She does get around fairly well and has recently started to get herself trapped undearth furniture and is discovering a lot of interesting things underneath the couch :). We went yesterday and got a gate for our stairs but hopefully we don't have to install it quite yet. She just learned how to clap and Mya loves to clap and get Ainsley to copy her. She also lifts up her hands in the air when we ask how big she is.

She still isn't much about sleep, we have "good" nights every so often where she'll do a couple 4-5 hour stretches but most nights she is up every 2 hours and I can barely function. I'm beyond exhausted and it's not fair to Mya....she needs Mama to have energy to do fun stuff and play with her. I also think it's to the point of being unsafe for driving, yesterday I drove right past Mya's gymnastic studio and down the highway before even realizing I'd forgotten to turn. I'm sick again and Ainsley is a bit stuffy so that isn't helping with sleep. She's recently decided that solid foods aren't evil after all and is trying some stuff now. Sweet potatoes seem to be her favorite, she's coming around on beans and she loves to chew on carrots.

[Love Wins]

Hi RedHead and LittleBirdy!

Somegirl - what a nightmare!  Can you talk to the agency at all to try to stop her from being placed with another family?  Would she be better with an older child and maybe less responsibility?

Terrilein - How fun to meet in "real life"!  And the Terminator crawl!! LOL!

Expat - Konrad is gorgeous!  I've been getting baby itch, but DH isn't ready.  He wants to enjoy our DD for a while, and I understand that....but I've been looking at her newborn pics, and that's a bad idea!  I can pretty much only put our DD down at night too.  And I hear ya on the 'wanting' things....Indi grunts and whines until she is either moved towards what/who she wants or is given what she is wanting!  Even the pic with him playing with the veggies is cute.  Hope he poops soon!

Mama2toomany - Thanks for sharing the photo! How are you doing?

Kate - you are amazing pumping that much!! Fiona looks so grown up! :-)

slgt - Glad to hear things are going well with Norah!

Lana - Sorry about the sleep situation.  Wish I had some great advice to offer, but I don't.... She sure sounds like a chunky little baby! I'm jealous because I've always wanted a chunky baby!

AFM - India is 7 months today (what???), and I finally got her birth story up on my blog (can post it here? ...I'm not sure about the rules)!  She has 2 little teeth, spends her days sitting up or standing up as laying down and the exersaucer are SO yesterday.  She pulls herself up on our ottoman and thinks she's the cats meow!  She will stand up on her own for 10, 20, even 30 seconds at a time.  She's a determined little girl.  We've tried a few solids with baby-led solids, but she is mostly BF.  She still doesn't really roll over very much.  She gets up on all fours and rocks, then crawls backwards and gets furious that she is going the wrong direction!  She talks a lot, but we aren't sure she's saying anything.  We thought she was saying hi, but now we're not so sure. She's so much fun and we love being entertained by her!

[lrgs]

Love Wins......lol @ at the exersaucer and laying down being so yesterday.  She's pulling up already, that's awesome!! Must be really cute too :)

[Terrilein]

OK, I hope this is a link to the terminator crawl video. It's short, but enjoy!

[Love Wins]

Terrilein - I'm an LOL'ing right now!!! He is so funny and he doesn't even know it! And all that hair!  What a little man.

[ProtoLawyer]

Hi!

Ellison will turn 7 months next week (!). He's still not doing much in the rolling department (he's capable, we've seen it, but just doesn't), hasn't figured out scooting or pulling himself up either, but can sit independently for a little bit. He's absolutely gigantic--94th percentile for length, 75th for weight, 99th for head circumference, so longer and more top-heavy, like a lollipop. It makes sense if his gross motor skills are taking longer to develop. His fine-motor skills are pretty good, though.

He's got a silly sense of humor--he thinks the broom is the funniest thing in the universe, followed closely by the dog. He LOATHES the one light-up noisy toy in our house (a leapfrog piano)--he actually pitched it a good four feet off the couch last night.

We've tried some solids--avocado, banana, oatmeal, green beans...he grabbed a handful of halwa (semolina, cashew, ghee--whee, allergies) from my plate and seemed unscathed. I think he'll get some carrot from the beef stew my parents are bringing tonight. He enjoys spoon-feeding himself...no joke. He'll grab the spoon from my hands (we're doing some BLW but he really seems to prefer things a bit mashed up) and shove it in his mouth. No teeth yet, but they're poking.

His language skills are exploding, too (which makes sense--his parents are a lawyer and a politician). He's got "d" down pretty good, and will babble "da-de-da-di-da." We've heard "hi" a few times, in context, but who knows if he was using the word as a word or just as a sound? (We've also heard "eggnog" and "Megan" but those were clearly random.)

As for us, my husband's election (primary) is next week, eek, and it's going very well. Nerve-wracking. We'll see. My job is going well, too--I'm actually pumping at my keyboard as we speak! (You know a Pump in Style can be used hands-free if you're short like me and can balance the collection bottles on your legs and use your shirt to hold the cups on?)

[expat-mama]

- TERRILEIN - that terminator crawl is hilarious! Go Fritz!!! Too cute.