Baby Accessories

A friend (who is in her second trimester with a baby girl!), recently stated on Facebook that she was starting her registry and asked for suggestions (which is one of the best uses of Facebook, in my opinion).

I wrote her a short comment and decided to write a longer message with links to some of the things we got/bought/were handed down. And it was a LONG message, with another long message attached to it. Who knew I could write so much about baby stuff (uh, everyone?)

I decided that I could copy and paste the message for other mothers who ask in the future, then realized I could blog it!

As I wrote to her, I believe that if parents don't end up getting everything on their registry, they should strongly consider asking friends for things, checking Craigslist, and looking at consignment stores before heading to Target or Babies R Us (save those wonderful gift cards for things you can't find anywhere else). Companies are getting loaded preying on new parents. When we were preparing for Everett, Brian kept saying, "I need to start selling baby stuff! These prices are outrageous!" Or something to that effect.

Before you head to Target, stop yourself and think, "have I asked friends (on Facebook)? Have I checked Craigslist? Might they have it at a consignment store?" Reduce, reuse!

I also believe that all babies are different (as all pregnancies are different), and all families are different. Something one baby needs another baby may not. Some babies spit up all the time, necessitating millions of burp cloths. Some babies rarely spit up (I won't say never. They all must from time to time, right?). Some families would rather pass on a high chair to save space, other families like to put the baby in the high chair while they cook and eat and play cribbage.

With that said, I'd advise against getting too many of one item. Just have a few burp clothes on hand and get more if you need them. Or if you get a lot of one thing, don't open the packages! For example, we got a lot of Soothie pacifiers at the shower, and Everett didn't really like Soothies. Target will take them back even if you don't have the receipt.

I also gave her the advice of looking at other people's registries for ideas. Who do you know who's pregnant, totally on-the-ball, and about to have her shower? Also people who recently had a baby. The registries will still be up. Might sound kind of stalker-ish, but I imagine that other parents are happy to share their registry info with you. It's an easy way to help other soon-to-be parents.

Also, when you're looking at pictures of your friend's babies, look at what's in the pictures. You'll see swings, Boppys, baby gyms, excersaucers, highchairs, baths, cribs, changing tables, blankets, pacifiers, etc. If the baby uses it a lot, he'll probably get his picture taken with it.

Ok, on to the list!

But (hold on!) I'm not writing a comprehensive list. Lots of sites have lists, "layette" lists that have everything you can think of. These are just the things we found especially useful, many we bought ourselves after realizing we needed them (or used our gift cards!!). I'm also including my thoughts on the items, why they're good or not-so-good.



Let's do this thing. 

The Arms Reach mini co-sleeper. A great way to keep baby close to you while you sleep. We got the mini to save space, and I thought, "why would one need the original size for a baby!?!" Then he grew out of the mini at 3 months, and it would have been nice to have the co-sleeper around for some of the 5/6 month teething episodes. But, if I had it to do over, I still would have bought the mini, since the original would not have fit in our apartment.

This is our swing. Kind of cheap and cheesy, but gets the job done and is suuuuper small. I think some of the nicer ones swing in different directions (and have mobiles and make sounds and such), but we had friends with nicer ones come over and comment how much they liked ours because it was so small. It fits in the bathroom for when you need to take a bath or shower and baby is sleeping or sleepy, and it's really easy to move around. 

When your baby's too old for the swing, the next life-saving device is the exersaucer.  Both of ours are loaned/given. We got the first from our neighbor, and it's a ridiculously fun contraption, but it's HUGE! It is a pain to move from the kitchen to the living room, and I certainly couldn't carry it up the stairs and put it in the bathroom. I guess it's not even really an exersaucer; it's a bouncer. We now keep it in the entry way and usually only use it on the porch.

When we realized this bouncer was too big to cart around, Rachel offered her children's exersaucer, and it's our staple now. It's light, easy to move around, and even fits in the bathroom.

Not so much a lifesaver, but a little entertainment for your baby, is the baby gym. When they get old enough to look at things but not really play with things yet, these are great. We couldn't handle the idea of paying $60 to $80 for what basically amounts to a piece of fabric with tent poles over it, so we went to our local consignment store Mollywogs, and picked one up for $27. Some of the toys were missing or replaced with toys from different items, but Everett didn't care. And we had received some toys at the shower with rings on them that fit on it perfectly.

Gotta have a Boppy. A nursing pillow is a must if you're nursing, but the Boppy is also great for the baby to rest in. I know that's not the intended use of it, and it says: "never allow the baby to sleep on the Bobby!!" on the tag. But when they're newborns, they sleep all the time. I would be right next to him on the couch, and the Bobby would make sure he didn't go anywhere.

Aden and Anais muslin swaddling blankets are super nice, especially as they get bigger and other blankets won't contain them. They're also good if the weather's warm because they're very breathable. We received these as a gift and had no idea what they were. We hope the friends who bought them for us understand how much we grew to adore these.

When he was little, I really appreciated PJs with zippers instead of snaps (but I wouldn't bother registering for clothes. People love giving you clothes at your shower. Or handing them down to you).

We registered for a few different types of pacifiers to figure out what he liked. Everett wasn't a big fan of the Soothie. We usually buy him the NUK brand, but he's good with anything with a bulge at the tip so it stays in his mouth. The Soothies just pop out!

We have a shinny new Britax that we just installed. The Graco-type seats are good to start with because you can take them in and out of the car, and if baby's sleeping, you don't want to wake him to go into the store or back in the house (at least we didn't).

We love our BOB (which I found on craigslist), but our Chicco umbrella stroller is really nice for shopping (when you don't wan't to be the A-hole who brings the BOB into the store).

All terain strollers are really the only way to go in Atascadero. For where we go, there's really no point in owning a regular stroller. The BOB is good for walks in the neighborhood, and the Chicco's good for smooth store floors. But I must admit that I get a little embarrassed to be at the park with my BOB. It feels like such a status symbol, and I've always hated being trendy. I feel like screaming out, "I got mine for half-price on Craigslist!!" 

Speaking of shopping, you could register for one of those shopping chart covers (I'm pretty easy-going, but I still wouldn't put him straight into the shopping cart). I asked Rachel (my usual first step), and she had one that her mother had made her.

Another little knick-knack we enjoy is the mirror you put on the seat of the car so you can see the baby in the rear-view mirror (make sure the sun's not in his face). I was unamused that the only brand they had at Target was Eddie Bauer, and said "Eddie Bauer" across the front of it. Fortunately we got a silly elephant one at the shower. 


I also couldn't function without a nightlight so I can see him at night. In keeping with our nursery theme, I found one in the kids section of Target that was a rocket. I think there are often overlapping themes in baby nurseries and "big kid" room themes. 

I was advised not to register for a high chair and just get a booster seat (this is obviously all some families need), but he couldn't sit up in the booster when he was smaller, and we use the high chair* all the time now. Everett loves to be part of what's going on, and the chair brings him up to our level when we're cooking and eating.

We also broke down and bought a wipe warmer. We would have used it earlier, but when we started making our own wipes, that's when it became a necessity.


California baby products are really nice but kind of expensive, so they're great to get as gifts!


And momma related gifts: 

If you know you're going to need a pump I HIGHLY recommend picking one up before the baby's born. I won't go into it, but there's a lot of milk in the first few weeks, and newborns don't eat that much. Since I stay home, I got the Medela Swing.



I waited a very long time to have Rachel make me a nursing cover (I was slow finding fabric I liked). And by the time we started using it, Everett was a little confused by the idea. It's still really great to have when I'm out and about, but it would have been nice to teach him to deal with it earlier

Not really registry related, but I'd have a few nursing tank tops on hand.

And if your feet swell, and your shoes are getting tight, don't try to stick it out until after the baby's born. Your feet will swell MORE the week after the babe's out. Just get some slip-ons that have some give (possibly a size larger).


If I think of anything else, I'll just add it on! 


*we just moved Everett into his booster seat for meal times (early February). We're still using the cloth-covered highchair when he hangs out with us in the kitchen, cleanly. But I was getting tired of washing the highchair cover and straps so often (or putting him in it when his clothes were clean and didn't know there was old yam in there--ew!). The booster is so easy to wipe off, and he actually sits much straighter in it!

6 Month Check-Up

Everett had his 6 month check-up today. He had a little cold, so I called to make sure they still wanted us to come in. They did but we had to come in the regular door, not the Well Baby door.

Everything looked great. Of course he's an advanced super-baby, babbling consonants earlier than average, and he has more teeth (five) than any baby his age Dr. Patterson's ever seen (I guess he didn't see Brian when he was 6 months old!).

A funny thing happened, though. When the nurse weighed and measured him, it seemed as though he had shrunk. At his four month appointment, he measured at 28.3 inches, and today he measured 28! I'm thinking he was 26.3 or 27.3 last time, and she misread the tape. Maybe? I'm certain he grew!

He didn't gain much weight, though. He's 17 pounds 8 ounces. Two months ago he was 16 pounds 6 ounces.

So, according to the chart our doctor gave us, he's in the 87th percentile in height (28 inches) and in the 41st percentile in weight (17 pounds 8 ounces). A friend of mine reminded me that there's a different growth chart for breastfed babies, and it's typical for weight to level off a bit.

He got a few shots, and he did SO MUCH BETTER this time than two months ago. He didn't cry very much at all (but it's almost 8:00, and he's starting to get cranky. We'll see what tonight holds).

We go back in a month for a flu booster and again at 9 months.

But we got a surprise at check out! Preston Wallace and his lovely wife Alexandra were there with their new baby Louis who was born on Thanksgiving. Awwww . . . so sweet (and small!). I forgot to tell Alexandra how great she looks and ask her how she's feeling (because I'm thoughtless like that). But Alexandra, if you read this, I was totally thinking that you look great and wanting to ask how you are feeling. {:

Co-Sleeping

First of all, this is not an opinion piece; this is an appeal for conversation. And I don't want other's opinions on which style of sleeping they believe is best, because I already know all the arguments for and against, and your opinion won't change mine.

Ok, with that . . .

I view myself as a natural/hippie parent with a go-with-the flow attitude. I generally subscribe to the ideas of Attachment Parenting, but if any of those ideas don't fit my lifestyle, I have no problem abandoning them.

Breast feeding: awesome! Totally works for us. Free baby food and mandatory cuddling throughout the day! Love it! And I stay home, so it's easy.

Baby wearing: think it's a great idea, but it's not often necessary for us, so we haven't perfected it. We tried out an Ergo recently, though, and we may be converts.

Cloth diapering: it's worth the extra work to save the environment and money, although since I've been so sleep deprived the last month+, he's been sleeping in a disposable. The LAST thing I want to deal with after a night of constantly interrupted sleep is soaked blankets and sheets.

Food: Everett's probably never going to have rice cereal or baby food from a jar. We'll just moosh up fruits and veggies when he's interested and let him feed himself.

But co-sleeping is a conundrum for me. When I reason it out logically, I come to the conclusion that it's a bad option for our family.

Especially when he was smaller, I felt very uncomfortable having him in bed with us. I didn't trust either of us not to roll onto him, and I still have a little fear of this.

He has slept very long stretches in his crib, I know he has no aversion to it, and the idea of keeping him comfortable sleeping in his own bed sounds just great to me. We'll never have to transition him when he's older, and "mommy" and "daddy" can have their own private space--because that's very important to us.

I'd almost rather wake once or twice a night, fed him a full meal (I watch a TV show on Instant Watch), we go back to our respective beds, and I know exactly how much sleep I'm getting in a given night--instead of waking throughout the night for him to have little snacks, and I'm sleeping in this limbo-land.

And at the heart of this issue, I'm physically very uncomfortable nursing Everett in bed. I love cuddling with my babe, but I have in no way mastered the very key skill of feeding him lying down/while basically asleep.

So if I have all these reasons not to co-sleep, then why even try?!? Well, Everett's been waking up three to four times a night for the last month+ to nurse, and I'm TIRED!! I've tried wearing him out, bathing him, putting him to bed early, putting him to bed late, giving him Tylenol, etc., etc., but nothing seems to work consistently. I tell myself that he's teething. He's very uncomfortable, and when he wakes in the middle of the night, he needs to be comforted and fed. This especially uncomfortable teething will soon be over for him, and we'll all start sleeping better. But when you're in the middle of it, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So I may try co-sleeping more seriously. Maybe I've been doing it wrong.

I consulted Dr. Sears, and his instructions involve 5 pillows! Really?!? First of all, I'm not sure we own 5 pillows. And secondly, I sometimes have issue with the sheets/blankets in the middle of the night, how am I supposed to coordinate 5 pillows? I didn't even have strategically placed sleeping-pillows when I was pregnant; I just slept.

So is there a way to get comfortable without 5 pillows?

We start this process with the age-old question of what to do with your arm. We've all had this question while sleeping with a sweetie: "I like spooning, but where should I put my arm? Do I place it under his neck so he's super uncomfortable, or do I lay on top of it until it falls asleep?" It's even worse with the baby (unless I'm, of course, doing it wrong). I position him low, then kind of shoot my arm out to the side (which is awkward when Brian gets a finger in his eye), or kind of hook my arm around like I'm doing "the robot."

Next is the question of switching sides. Generally, when he nurses, he eats on both sides. So is it necessary to switch positions while co-sleeping? Do I roll him over me, risking the loss of his meal all over me? Or do I roll over him, causing a huge commotion in bed?

Have I mentioned that a week or so ago, I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder while trying to nurse him in bed?!?

Then I start wondering if I'm physically not cut out for co-sleeping/nursing. Before my milk came in, I was basically flat-chested, and I'm not all that much bigger now. I can't move my breasts around. My nipples are basically stationary. Everett and I need to coordinate to get him to the breast . . . it doesn't come to him. {:

Sleep deprivation is hard for me. I'm one of those "lucky" people who does much better on 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night, and I feel like I'd be a much better mom with more sleep.

So prompting this blog . . . we tried co-sleeping/nursing again last night, and it was a disaster--in my opinion. for starters, I was uncomfortable. No surprise there. Then, whenever he "woke" and wanted to nurse, he would cry. Not a whimper, a cry. And it woke Brian up every time. Usually when he cries at night, I get up and take care of him, and Brian stays asleep. This is how I like it, because Brian gets up early to work, and I stay-at-home. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it seemed to us that Everett cried every hour?!? Then I would shuffle around and try to get him on the breast. Even tried to give him the pacifier a few times, but he wasn't really awake, so he just shook his head and refused it.

I'm wondering if he's conditioned to cry at night because he's usually in his own crib and needs to cry to get my attention.

So . . . thoughts? Am I doing it wrong? How do you make it work? If you co-slept, would you do it again?

Thanks.

Signed,

Tired in Atascadero

Six Month Blog

I try to start writing my blogs a few days before "the big day" so I'm not spending so much time on the one day typing, but my intro to this blog didn't seem genuine before. My baby wasn't yet six-months-old! I didn't understand the true awe of the situation.

Six months isn't just half a year, it's a milestone! You think of six-month-olds as hitting certain exciting developmental targets (sitting, crawling). He's no longer a little baby, he's a big ol' infant!

So Everett's there, and it's exciting!

He's still our wonderful, loving, easy-going baby, but he's getting to be a lot more fun.

He's getting silly! He's laughing and babbling and rolling and scooting and bouncing.

Even though he's still generally easy-going, constant teething has made life harder for him (and for me). He's a little crankier at times. He has mellow days where he doesn't laugh very much. And sleep is more challenging. Since I wrote last month, he's started waking two, three, four times a night . . . *grumble*

Luckily he wakes, eats, sleeps. It seems that he just wants to nurse a little and cuddle. Only once has he woken after eating with wide eyes like he wanted to stay awake. And even then, I put him in his crib, and he soon fell asleep.

I wrote last month that he'd stopped sucking the pacifier since he decided to use them as chew toys. Well, since he's become crankier before naps (teething?), we started giving them to him again, and they help. If he's really tired, he'll suck, not chew. He has, however, graduated to the 6+ month pacifiers, which are bright! Apparently older infants need neon things to suck on.

Teeth. Well, he has four! He as the lower middle two. Then he has both canines. He's like a little vampire. And just like his daddy!

He's getting very long and heavy. We don't know his measurements, though, since his next doctor visit isn't until the 30th. But he's graduated to the medium size FuzziBunz, and he's in the next size of diaper covers for the prefolds.

I don't want to brag too much, but I think I might be his favorite person right now. He still loves everyone, but he's really understanding that mommy comforts him the most.

Since he's breastfed and growing well, I'm not in a hurry to start feeding him. But he's been interested in our meals, and grasping things (almost pincers, like pincers with the index and middle). So a few times we've given him a little potato, sweet potato, banana, avocado. He mostly plays with it, gets a little in his mouth.

The other night, though, we had an avocado out for him. We had company, so we may not have been paying too much attention to how much we were scooping into his mouth.

It may have been unrelated (although it's hard not to make the correlation), but that night he started vomiting. It happened many times. We kept cleaning him up and changing his PJs until he was sleeping in just a disposable diaper in our bed (so we could keep an eye on him). The next morning his poop smelled like sulfur! So we're staying away from the avocado . . . for now.

Since I stumbled on a topic that would make a 14-year-old Everett blush, I'll just run with it: poop!

Poop has been one of the more interesting topics in our home lately. At about his four month checkup, his poops had started to become less frequent--one a day, one every two days. Then at the end of October, we realized he hadn't pooped in five days! I called the doctor, and the lady who called me back said that they don't tend to worry until the baby reaches the two week mark! Or if the baby is obviously uncomfortable. Everett seemed fine, just a little gassier than usual. And, of course, he pooped just a little bit after the phone call.

Luckily the frequency has improved a little. From five, it went back to every two or three days. Now we're back at once a day, which seems healthy to me.

On to a "cleaner" subject. Hair! He has a lot more hair now. It seems like every day he wakes up and we say, "your hair grew overnight!" It's nice. I try to imagine him with a full, thick head of hair, and how that will change his look. Although he still has some of his long, wispy baby-hairs on his crown. I keep threatening to get out the hair buzzer thing and buzz them off, but Brian doesn't like that idea. "I won't trim his long hair in the front!!"

About two weeks ago, he started babbling a lot. He was saying what sounded like "dada" and "mama" and "Everett"(?!?), but a few days later, the babbling switched to more guttural grunts and such. I guess he's just experimenting with language in his own way.

So motor-skill-wise. He's grasping objects like a pro. Grabs them, holds them, puts them in his mouth, drops them when he wants. He rolls around as he pleases. He's not crawling, but he can scoot to get to most things he wants.

He's getting up on his knees and toes. I think he's very close to crawling. He's also close to sitting, but I'm not sure he's all that interested in doing so. We will sit him up, and he just lunges for the closest toy he sees. I'm actually more excited for sitting than crawling, because I associate sitting with playdates and crawling with baby-proofing. }:

A few big events this month:

Colony Days! It's the parade dedicated to the founding of Atascadero. All the kids soccer teams, church groups, political candidates, etc., get on flatbed trucks and in classic cars and drive down El Camino along with marching bands, cheerleaders, and horses. Brian, Gion, Everett, and I met Rachel, John, Julie, and Andy (and later Ann) by the Rancho T Motel to watch the commotion. It was fun. Everett slept through half the thing, even though fire trucks were turning on their sirens and we were right across the way from the announcers. When he woke up, he got a lot of affection from Andy.

Halloween!! This was the most fun I've had at Halloween in a long time (sorry Kam, your party last year was rockin', but I had to be sober . . . remember?). Kids bring a new type of excitement to the holiday.

Since he was a tiny nugget inside of me, we'd been thinking about what he'd be for Halloween. But they were all jokes. Baby Kim Jong Il, baby Hurley from Lost, etc. So when Brian suggested porcupine, I thought that was a great idea. Funny, but super cute, and comfortable for him (no glasses or wig). It was a bit time consuming to make (and we kept saying, "whose idea was porcupine?!?"), but Brian and I are great at crafting together, and it went a lot faster with two people. We both cut felt, hot glued, painted, and stuffed quills until right before Zoo Boo on Saturday night.

On Saturday, we met Rachel, John, and the kiddos (dressed as Jessie and Woody from Toy Story) at Zoo Boo. My parents also made it there, which was fun. I enjoyed seeing some of the nocturnal animals out (like the porcupine!), and it was a great excuse to get his costume done before the actual day of Halloween.

Sunday (October 31st), we did a little trick or treating with our friends and their kids (Chris and Janna with Ines and Rosalina and Bobby Jo with Taylor) around the neighborhood. Then we went to Barbara and Bruce's for some snacks. They were all watching some baseball game . . . Then we went to Santa Margarita to see Rachel, Julie, and Andy. We did a little trick or treating in their neighborhood, then went to the Santa Margarita Halloween Carnival. It was fun and totally overwhelming. Lots of kids! Brian and I ended that night saying, "why did we start doing the wild kid-Halloween before Everett even cared?" But it was all fun.

During the Halloween weekend (and a bit before and after), my cousin Bob was visiting Atascadero. Bob is my Dad's cousin, they're very close in age, and very close friends. Everett had met Bob when he was much younger, but it was great to get them together again. Bob is awesome with kids, and he made Everett laugh like we'd never seen before. He also helped Everett drum, bang on the tambourine, and do other raucous things.

We were also very lucky to have Gion's sister Gretchen and her husband Mark visit for a few days. Brian and I hadn't seen them in years, so it was special for us as well as for Everett. We had several great meals and a trip to Morro Bay while they were here. It was a nice visit. Everett was especially taken with Mark. We think it's because he likes male voices.

Our most recent event was a short trip up to San Francisco to visit with friends and family. We were basically in the city for 24 hours. On the way up, we stopped in San Jose to have lunch with Kamryn and visit The Morgan Center (Brian's former employer). We got to San Francisco just in time to picnic with Laurel, find our three other friends (Ben, Darby, and Katherine), and enjoy the Post-Impressionist show at the De Young (baby's second museum trip!). That night we went to Darby's for a little Predator viewing, ended up at my cousin Roger's place to spend the night. In the morning we had coffee with Ben and Roger before going to breakfast and lounging in Dolores Park with Laurel, Darby, and Katherine. After a late lunch with Roger, we headed home, and learned the hard way that Everett HATES night driving. But we got him to sleep much of the way, and he even slept well that night! It was a fun trip, if quick.

Guh. I think more blogs a month are in order. {:

Happy six months my love!

Five Month Blog

My baby is five-months-old today!! Wow!

It's so hard to decide when to blog when you're tracking life with an infant. No joke, he changes every day. He learns new things every day. And I don't really want to blog every day. Maybe I'll do a facebook status update, but not an entire blog entry. So I came up with the idea of blogging about Everett once a month on the 15th (his monthly birthday). This way I can list all the new things he's learned and the ways he's changed, on a regular schedule.

I told my friend Rachel this blog idea, and she said, "that's what I did for Andy. I'd blog about him every month on the 19th, then add blogs for other events." Well . . . goes to show I have great mommy teachers in my life who I learn from . . . then forget that I've learned from them. Haha.

On to Everett!!

Everything in my last blog still stands. He's still a total sweetheart (how many times can I call him "sweetie" in one day? 100+?). He still eats well, sleeps relatively well (still wakes up to nurse at least once a night), and is very curious about the world.

At his last doctor visit (on September 27th), he was 16 pounds 6 ounces (69th percentile), and 28.3 inches! That is off-the-charts tall!

He rolled from back to belly for the first time on September 17th, so he had just turned 4 months. I was planning to write that he had yet to convince me that he could intentionally roll back to his back from his belly. But just yesterday, my parents were visiting, he was playing with my mom on the floor, and he was rolling back and forth--no big deal. (;

He has two teeth!! I noticed the first one coming in on the 15th of September, then the next a few days later. He was a really good sport about teething. He seemed a bit crankier than usual, but it never interrupted his sleep much (a couple nights with one extra feeding?). The only thing that bothered me about him getting teeth was that he started to bite me!!! Around the beginning of October, he started biting me when nursing. It wasn't too hard, but he got me good once, and after that I was pretty jumpy. But thanks to Dr. Sears' advice to push him in close when he bites, we've been constructively working on it. 4-month-olds do not need teeth!! }:

I'm happy to report that his hair is growing back! I was not a fan of the bald-on-the-sides look. But now I've been teasing Brian that his hair is growing in blond! The hair that's growing in really does look light in the sun. It wouldn't be all that strange. Brian and I both had light hair when we were little. Brian just wants to have a brunette when most of our friends have blonds.

He's sitting up pretty well. He can sit unaided in his highchair, and he's quite comfortable in the Bumbo-type chair we have. But I don't really think he's interested in sitting on the floor unassisted. He just reaches for things on the floor and falls over. Looking at him and realizing that he has the longest baby-torso in the world makes me wonder if it will be difficult for him to balance on his own. But I know I'm just being a weirdo with that thought. (;

This month he got to meet his great-grandpa Chuck and his wonderful Great-Aunt Sue. We were very excited for the visit since we don't imagine traveling too soon with the baby, Grandpa lives in Southern California, Sue lives in Colorado, but it was really important to us that he meet these special people.

While they were visiting we had some strange weather--mostly lovely, but one evening it was strange: very humid, thunder, lightening, and rain! Brian decided to take Everett out to get rained-on for the first time. He was very confused. Haha.

He usually has a serious expression on his face, so people tend to think he's deep in thought. I'm not so sure about that, but he's certainly interested in everything, quietly watching his adults go about our business. His favorite things to watch are leaves and wind chimes.

Just recently, he's decided to start rolling over in his crib. Brian or I will go into the nursery, and he will be asleep on his stomach. I guess I shouldn't be nervous because they say, "if they're strong enough to get themselves into that position, they're strong enough to move if they're in a harmful position." But you're always told they should sleep on their backs, so it's a teensy bit unnerving.

His Grandpa Phil is probably his favorite person right now. When he sees him in the morning, he gets a big grin on his face. His grandpa can always make him laugh.

We're totally cool with pacifier use in infants, and we used to give one to him when he was tired and cranky. It would take the edge off and help him fall asleep. And sometimes he would get fussy on the changing table, and the pacifier would help get through the change. But now, whenever we give him the pacifier, he chews on it! Truthfully, I can't think of one time in the last few weeks that we've given him the pacifier and he hasn't gone straight to using it as a chew toy. Guess who's not buying anymore pacifiers. This mommy.

Rachel came over last night and claimed that Everett had become much more social just in the last week-and-a-half or so. If you're with a little one every day, it's sometimes hard to notice how they're changing.

But several times a day I stop and watch something he's doing and think, "when he was a month old or two months old, I couldn't imagine him doing this." Reaching for things, laughing at things, rolling, scooting, playing. I tell you, babies are incredible.

It's just amazing that Everett's been with us for five months! It seems like just yesterday that he was born, but it also feels like he's been a part of our family forever.

Halloween Costume

We started thinking about what Everett would be for Halloween before he was born, that's just the kind of parents we are.

We'd love to avoid the ever-popular cute costumes for something a little more, well, humorous. He'll be 5-months-old. He won't care!

The thought of dressing him up like a little dictator made us giggle--baby Pol Pot, baby Kim Jong Il--but that just seems a bit . . . uh . . . tasteless.

So here are a few ideas. Please help me brainstorm. And I'll throw Kim Jung Il back in, just for funsies.

It's a little frustrating that almost all my ideas would include a wig or glasses or something. Everett's a really good sport, but I'm not sure how a wig would go over.

An Ode to My Baby

It has to be nearly impossible to blog about your life without beginning to psychoanalyze yourself. So recently, it's come to my attention that I'm fairly superstitious, which is strange since I'm generally such a non-believer.

I tend to avoid talking about the good things that are happening in my life for fear that the simple act of uttering these truths will cause a one-hundred-and-eighty degree change in circumstances.

But no more! Simply mentioning how little my baby cries will not cause him to become colicky. And rejoicing in the fact that my boy slept through the night for a whole week will not result in him beginning to wake up every two hours like a newborn.

So I'm doing it! Everett is an awesome baby! He's a little sweetheart. He's easy. He's beautiful. He's a good eater, a good sleeper. He's just amazing.

Don't get me wrong, taking care of him is not easy for me. He still nurses every two to three hours. He needs changing almost that often. He rarely sleeps through the night--waking once or twice to eat. And he needs near constant attention. But that's just what babies do.

I want to brag a little, and I know some of you might read this and say, "big woop, all babies do that." But I try to avoid the baby books. I'm not being neglectful. I have the Dr. Sears and some others, but I only consult them when I have a question like: can avocado be his first food? Answer: maybe. I learned a lesson from my pregnancy, and I don't want his development to be full of anticipation. "Ooo! He rolled over like he's supposed to at 2 months!" "Oh no, here come the four month crankies . . ." No thanks! I want to be amazed by him when he does something new for him and deal with trouble as it arises.

So here are some things that amaze me.

He's, almost from the beginning, seemed to know that nighttime is when we sleep for longer periods. When he was super little, he'd nurse every 1 to 2 hours in the day, but sleep for 3 or 4 hours at-a-time at night. And it didn't take long till he could sleep 6 hours at-a-time. Which sounds like it'd be great for me, but really wasn't because he'd go to sleep at 9 and I wouldn't get to bed till 11. I still have problems with that.

He doesn't pee when he sleeps!! Is this weird or totally normal? He can be asleep for 6 hours, I'll think, "he must be soaked, and I don't want him sleeping longer in a soaked diaper." I'll open his diaper, and he's dry! This also goes for naps at home or in the car seat. Of course, if you let him whine for a little bit in the morning, or if I bring him into bed with me to nurse in the morning, he'll soak through the diaper before too long--having obviously held it all night and needing to release.

He's not a big cryer. He usually only cries when he's hungry or tired. Hardly any of that "you're crying but I don't know why!?!" kind of crying. And even when he's hungry or tired, he can usually be distracted, which is kind of bad because we'll go out shopping or to visit with people, and he'll be completely content, then you realize he hasn't eaten in four hours and his whole schedule is messed up.

I'm not sure he ever cried at night as a newborn. He slept in the co-sleeper next to me so he'd whine, Brian or I would change him, I would nurse him, then back to sleep. He's more likely to get a little cry goin' now that he's in his own room. But even now, I don't let him fuss too long before he's eating.

Since the beginning, his normal facial expression is this eyebrows furrowed deep-in-thought look. But give him a smile, and he'll get the sweetest smile on his face. Sometimes he does that smile then bury-his-face-in-a-shoulder shy thing. Sweetie.

He's always been quite dexterous. I'd almost call his hands delicate in their movements. When he was little, it was just a flourish here and there. Now he's able to use them much more. He likes to scratch everything to learn about the texture and feeling. Unfortunately, lately he's been using his hands to pull out the hair on the right side of his head. He scratches his head when he's tired, and that new baby hair just sloughs right off. It shouldn't be a problem in the future, but I kind of miss him having hair.

Speaking of hands, He has the biggest hands and feet!! He's like a puppy that needs to grow into its paws.

But he's a big boy anyway. On July 19th, at his 2 month doctor visit, he weighed 13 pounds 8 ounces and was 25 inches long. I'm excited to find out what his stats are now. He's fitting very comfortably in 6 to 9 month clothes, I know that.

He has my ears! It's so weird to see one of your body parts replicated in miniature. So far I think he looks like me when I was a baby. But that might be because Brian was such a skinny baby. We'll see who he looks like when he gets older.

Well, I'll stop blathering about my little sweetie. He's really amazing, and I know we're going to have the most fun watching him grow.