This Past Week...

We've had a busy and fun first week of Jared's vacation. Last weekend, we kicked things off with a visit from the Hardy family. It was the first time that all seven of us hung out together! And the three little people (a.k.a. Kaelyn, Madelyn and Kyle) were very well-behaved and allowed us adults to catch-up. The best line of the afternoon was when Kaelyn said that she wants to be a mommy when she grows up :) And judging by the skilled way that she fed Kyle his puffs, I think she'll be a really good one!
Then Wednesday night, Jared and I had our first night out together since before Kyle was born! We went to Mohegan Sun and had a fabulous Mexican dinner follwed by some blackjack. After being down over $100, we ended up "in the black", which is always a great feeling. It was a really fun night...thanks Grammy!

Yesterday, we had a fun visit at the Toscanos. As usual, we were spoiled with a delicious dinner, followed by a yummy birthday cake for Jared!

And today, we trekked up to southern NH to visit Nonnie and her friends. Bob prepared a fabulous meal for us and we had a fun visit. Kyle dunked his little feet in a pool for the first time and seemed to like it (as much as he could like anything at that point in his sleep-deprived state). As usual, Kye didn't nap on the drive up, so he went over 8 hrs without sleeping...yikes! He slept for the first half hour on the way home, and then just screamed for the rest of the ride (not fun when you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Pike!). As you can see, Kyle liked grabbing Nonnie's hat...
Whew, I think that about covers it! Looking forward to a "down day" tomorrow, with lots of naps (for Kyle and maybe us!).

Surprise!

Kyle and I surprised Jared today with a visit at work during his lunch break! Kyle got to meet lots of his coworkers, and they all really liked him (one even offered him a job!). Unfortunately, the only time he cried was when the owner of the company held him (c'mon Kyle, don't you know that you're supposed to kiss up to the head honchos?!). I had never been to his office before, so I like that I can now put a face to all the names. And the best part about today is that Jared doesn't go back to work until August 3rd (combination of vacation and company shutdown)...YIPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

If you look closely...

...you can see Kyle's tooth! This was his 40 week picture yesterday...another 10 days and he will have been alive for as long as I was pregnant! A part of me can't believe that he's already 9 months old, yet another part of me thinks that our pre-Kyle days seem like sooo long ago. And I can honestly say that there is absolutely nothing I miss about the pre-Kyle days.

Nine Months Old!

Kyle celebrated his 9 month birthday by attempting his very first finger food..."puffs". This photo pretty much sums it up. Instead of trying to put them in his mouth, he prefers to move them around with his index finger, and sometimes flicks them like he's playing tiddlywinks. He is now getting the hang of gumming them when we put them in his mouth. But he actually gagged on the first few (even though they were no where near his throat). The puff would just sit on his tongue and he didn't know what to do with it. So for now, puffs are more of an "activity" than a source of nourishment (especially since a serving size of 75 puffs equals a measly 25 calories, and he's currently only eating about 5 puffs per sitting). But hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things! And just today, we gave him his first yogurt and he loved it. So in addition to nursing, he's up to 3 meals a day...a Stage 2 jar, a bowl of oat/barley cereal, and now a yogurt. He's such a good little eater...he eats everything that we give him and is very tidy (doesn't try to grab the spoon or spit anything out). Sometimes I don't even put a bib on him.

He had a great 9 month checkup on Tuesday. He weighed just over 22 lbs and measured a little over 29 inches. So he's right around the 70th percentile for both height and weight. It was cute, when we were sitting in the waiting room, a friendly little toddler named Benjamin asked Kyle if he wanted to play with him (and he directed the question at Kyle, not me). I explained that Kyle was too little and can't talk but was enjoying watching the "big boy" play.

Just within the last couple days, Kyle has started making "mama" sounds...yay!! And he's also had some slithering forward motion (when he desperately wants something that is out of his reach...where there's a will, there's a way!). Each new little thing he does is just so fun and exciting...being a parent is the best!

Happy First Father's Day Daddy!!

Jared enjoyed his first Father's Day today. Kyle and I were extra quiet when we got up at 5:45am this morning (too early Kyle!!), so that Daddy could sleep late. Then, I made a spinach/mushroom/ tomato/cheddar omelette (I give up...I've tried about 8 different spellings of "omelette" and it keeps underlining it, soI guess I have no idea how to spell it). The omelette turned out really good and was probably the first normal looking one that I have ever made (I usually have issues with the flip/fold). Then, for our "main meal", I made spaghetti and meatballs (first time I have ever made meatballs!) with brocolli and breadsticks, and "blueberry funny cake" for dessert. So we ate well and enjoyed a relaxing day at home. Kyle and I feel very blessed to have Jared as our daddy/husband :)

Index Finger and Teeth

Okay, I'll start with the latter...teeth (or really just "tooth"). Yes, Kyle has finally popped his very first tooth! You can barely see it, because it's just starting to poke through (front lower left). But I felt it with my finger and it's definitely there. So far (knock on wood), he appears to be one of those babies who is unfazed by teething...he's sleeping fine with no real change in mood (maybe making more dragon sounds than usual). I must say that I'm a little sad that the "gummy grin" days are now numbered...

Moving on to the other completed unrelated topic...Kyle has become quite fascinated with using his index fingers lately. He loves touching, spinning, flipping and pushing things (including Jared's ear) with his index fingers. It's cute and just seems so deliberate (unlike many of his other flailing, spastic motions). I guess he's starting to work on his fine motor control!

New Look

Yes, I think I've nailed the whole "being a mommy" thing, so it was time for a name change. And I'd like to spruce up the look of the blog too, but I'm realizing that I am quite blog-design illiterate. Perhaps I'll consult with the Grammy's Gazette designer...

Kyle Goes to School

Kyle and I took a road trip up to Maine today to visit Nonnie at her school. Kyle was excited to see Nonnie and enjoyed meeting all of her nice teacher friends. We went from one end of the school to the other, making stops in lots of classrooms, the library, the cafeteria and even the principal's office! It was a very fun visit. And Kyle was a very well-behaved little fellow...no fussing or crying while we were in the school.

The car ride? Well that was another story. Kyle spent most of the ride "reminding" me that he does not like being trapped in a car seat. He did sleep for a half hour on both the drive up and back...unfortunatley that still left almost 5 waking hours! Funny how the car used to be the one thing that would stop his crying (as a newborn). Now, an hour seems to be about his "happy limit" for car rides, but I'm sure that could all change tomorrow!

It was a very fun and memorable day, and Kyle and I are so glad that we went. I think we'll both sleep like rocks tonight!

Visit with Aunt Ca!

Kyle and I were treated to a visit from Aunt Ca yesterday afternoon! She came bearing yummy Mexican food and a crib aquarium...what more could we ask for?! What a thoughtful sister/aunt :)

New and Improved Oat Mush

Basically since day 1, "oat mush" has been Kyle's favorite food. And up until about a week ago, I was pumping every night to get milk to mix with the oat powder, to create this wonderful concoction. This nightly ritual was REALLY becoming a drag, because the whole pumping process takes about 30 minutes, plus washing all the little components...it just felt like a lot of work for not much benefit. So we decided to try mixing the oat powder with warm water instead, but Kyle hated that! So we then tried mixing it with formula, which had been sitting in our cabinet "just in case" for a while now. And he loves it, almost as much as the "old recipe". So I feel very liberated now to only have to pump when I'm away from him for about 6 hrs or more (which is only about once every other week when I go to work suppliers that are far from home). I'm curious if he'd take formula "straight up" in a bottle...we'll have to try that soon, because that would be also be liberating, to not have to worry about maintaining a milk supply in the freezer for when I'm out.

Kyle has had a runny nose for well over a week now. It definitely started as a cold, but I'm wondering now if it could be related to teeth. Nothing has poked through yet, but he seems to be chewing on things even more than usual, and not napping well at all. But he's still sleeping well at night, which hopefully doesn't change when these teeth finally make their grand entrance. I'm not surprised that he's late in getting his teeth though, seeing how I had 3 baby teeth pulled after they hadn't fallen out by the end of 7th grade!!

This is over a week late, but Kyle had a fun visit up in NH with his Grandpa and especially his Aunt Jayne. He only napped about 30 minutes that entire day (because he refused to sleep during the 2+ hr car ride both there and back!), but he held up surprisingly well. A little fussy, but very manageable. Those days of him falling asleep instantly (or even at all!!) in the car are long gone now. Things change so quickly with babies, but it's all good.