Sunday, April 28, 2013

9 Months

Bowen :: Nine Months Old

Weight: At his 9 month appointment, he was 20 lbs 5 oz which leaves him squarely in the 50th percentile again. He's still a shrimp at 27 inches, just 10th percentile for height. He's mostly wearing 9 month onesies, pajamas, shirts and shorts although some of his one piece rompers are 12 mo to account for those chubby little thighs. 

Eats: He drinks 4 bottles a day - 3 are 7 oz and one 3 oz. Some days the stretch from his 2nd to 3rd bottle goes longer and I end up not doing his 4th bottle, because it'd basically be bottle-dinner (food)-bottle all within a couple hours. It doesn't seem to affect his sleeping (or ability to fall asleep) so I've been leaving that night time bottle out more and more. Food! Oh my gosh, this was the month of eating. He has tried so many new foods this month, with much enthusiasm. He's eating a lot more finger foods now - little pieces of bread, French toast, black beans, steamed carrots. He doesn't like to touch anything slimy so while he's enthusiastic about bananas, mangoes and avocados, he is not interested in picking them up himself. I've also started pureeing a lot of whatever we're having for dinner if it's not too seasoned, and that seems to be going over well too. Never knew my 9 month old would enjoy chicken marsala (spaghetti and all, in puree form) so much. 

Sleeps: This month has been a little weird with sleep as we've started to really drop the 3rd nap. If we're out running errands, sometimes he'll still snooze but if we're home, I try not to put him down so it won't affect his night sleep… and this has meant that some nights he's in bed as early as 6:00 or 6:30. He has started waking up at 6:40 like clockwork, and since he doesn't cry out - just jabbers to himself and roll around - I leave him until 7:00. I haven't been able to pinpoint what's caused my former 7:00/7:30 riser to shift things back, and noticed it's been stable whether he goes to bed earlier or later, drinks more formula or less, is fussy the day before or calm… obviously, I've been a little obsessed with trying to return to our later wake time, but to no avail. He wakes up every morning delightfully happy and squeals with excitement when I come in his room, so I guess he's just ready to start the day then! (I'll be sure to remind him of this when he's 16 by coming in HIS room at 6:30.)

Milestones: Rolling! We are finally rolling. I say this with some relief, as he was definitely slow to hit the first mobility milestone, but some despair as I know the rest are now right around the corner. Right in the middle of this month, he started rolling over and now he's unstoppable. If he spies a toy he wants, he's off and rolling for it. He's totally pleased with himself too. He's babbling a mile a minute, including a little something I like to call "the screamies." The screamies, coincidentally, are usually at their peak when Matt is trying to sleep during the day after working nights. He's become incredibly aware of where I am in a room, and though he's still good at independent play, he is quick to let me know he'd like to me to come back into his line of vision. We've had lots of play dates this month, and it's fun to see him actually begin to interact with other kiddos. 

Likes: Oatmeal, puffs, Greek yogurt, the buckles on his high chair, bath time, screaming, screeching, yelling, shouting (LOUD!), kicking his crib rails, rolling, his Buddy dog, anything that crinkles, FaceTiming (he can barely hold himself still with wiggles when he sees people come on the iPhone screen), yanking my glasses off my face, his Daddy playing "gonna getcha", doing Paddy cake. 

Dislikes: having the iPhone taken away (especially when he had plans to chew on it), the end of a bottle, having his hair rinsed, getting his clothes changed, being overtired, shopping, picking up slimy foods.

Oh my goodness! What a month it has been. I feel like every month I claim it was my favorite so far, and then it just gets better. It's sad to see the slipping away of my baby boy every month as he barrels full steam ahead into a little boy, but it also gets more and more fun to hear our house fill up with the sound of shrieks, laughter, babble and the percussion instrument known as "upside down toy bucket." Bo's personality is starting to emerge, and I feel like I am getting a glimpse into a future where I will have my hands very, very full. As my mom often says in reply to the numerous photos she receives of Bo investigating various household objects: "this boy has an extremely healthy curiosity." I have a feeling each month ahead of us is going to be more fast paced than the next, and I just hope Matt and I can keep up with this little 20 pound scientist with a slight flair for the dramatics. We are certainly going to enjoy the ride. 

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Feather The Nest Baby Shower

When our friends Anne and Locke told us last fall that they were pregnant, we were so thrilled for them… and for the future playmate that Bo was going to have! It's been so fun having one of my best friends go through all the stages of pregnancy that I feel like I just left behind… and I have to say, Anne is one seriously cute pregnant lady.

It was a joy to throw her baby shower for her this weekend and help her get one step closer to welcoming her little boy. My friend Caroline and I had so much fun planning out the details of her "Feather the Nest" shower.

Anne had so many wonderful friends and family members show up to celebrate baby Glenn. We were even so lucky to be able to have one of our closest friends, Akanksha, who moved away at the end of her husband's residency fly in from St Louis to celebrate with us. Anne is the oldest of four sisters and this little boy will be the first grandbaby on both sides. I think it's safe to say he's going to spoiled and loved to pieces.

Hopefully this was just the start of all that spoiling…

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Winos, Babies and Juice

Whenever we come back from a vacation or wave good-bye to visitors for a week, I find myself saying "Oh I am so ready for our normal routine!" 

Spoiler alert: there is never any normal routine. 

Right after we got back from the beach, I headed over to Raleigh for a quick visit. Pam had flown down from Boston to meet Emily's baby, and both she and Jess (up from Charlotte) were there for the weekend. I couldn't have 4 winos be together 2 hours away from me and not go, so I loaded up poor Bowen into his car seat again and we set off. 

Em and I always talk about how Bo and Cameron are going to be such great buds, but right now Bo is much more interested in older sister, Claire (2 yo). He could not take his eyes off her and she loved bringing him toys to hold or books to look at. We had a wonderful time visiting with each other, as always, including a lunch outing to Mellow and then your typical mid-afternoon juice sesh. (Explanation: Jess has become a juice convert and we were all very curious about the process and convinced her to bring her equipment and a crap ton of kale and beets. She obliged.)

Just to keep true to our roots though, we followed up the juice session with some champagne. Bo surprised me by taking a 2-hour nap at Emily's house - something he hasn't done in months at home - so I got some extra quality time with my girls before hitting the road to get home for bedtime. 

A few hours isn't long enough, but it will have to tide me over til the next winocation! 

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And one last photo… when I got home that night and texted everyone to tell them I was home. Emily sent me this photo of everyone texting me at the same time. It's nice to know even when you're not there, you can still be there.

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Beach

Another year, another Claffey family beach trip! There were, however, quite a few changes from last year. For starters, instead of showing off a small baby belly, I was showing off a (not so small) baby. Easter was also much earlier this year, and the weather gods were not so kind to us. We had one day we were able to sit on the beach, but the rest were a little chilly and windy. We had a smaller crew than usual this year. In the past, we've had as many as 19 family members on one trip. For most of this week, it was just my parents, my sister and Bo and I. My 2 aunts and their daughters were there for the weekend but their spring breaks didn't coincide, and they headed back on Monday.

We were indoors most of the week but it still felt like a vacation. With lots of extra eyes and hands around for Bo, I took advantage by sleeping in, taking a few naps and tackling a huge project: organizing a mere decade's worth of digital photos on my external hard drive. You know, one of those projects that always gets pushed aside for the tasks of daily living… or never gets tackled because it is just too darn overwhelming. (I managed to get through 2003-2011… now the trick is making myself finish the last 1.5 years back home.)

It was a quiet and relaxing week, a nice little escape from the day to day. I ended up heading back a day early due to near-hurricane like conditions on the forecast and a Daddy who was missing his little boy. Our drive home was an eventful cap to a low key week (pouring rain! crying baby! barking dog!) but we made it safe and sound and it didn't counteract the relaxing effects of the week too much.

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