Mama's New Wheels

A bittersweet day, we finally replaced Little Red Car. She was my first car when I bought her 12 years ago. And she's still in great shape with only 87,000 miles on her. Alas, with only 2 doors, it was getting more and more difficult to get Munchkin's carseat in and out. (And when he grows into a convertible car seat soon, I will really need 4 doors.)

I came home from work on Thursday, and my new car was in the driveway! Its a hybrid Camry. It has so many bells and whistles that Little Red Car never dreamed of. We got the navigation system so I don't get lost. (And so that I don't need to read a map and drive at the same time.) It has bluetooth so that if my cell phone rings I can push a button on the dashboard and it answers through the car radio. And it has the cool keyless entry/ignition. I just walk up to the car with the keyfob in my pocket, the door unlocks in my hand. Then I literally push a button that says "Start" and the car starts.

It also has all the modern safety features--anti-lock brakes, side curtain and drivers knee airbags, skid control...














I also love the instantaneous gas consumption meter. You can really tell how minor changes in driving habit really affect mileage. It is rated for 33 city/34 Hwy with the new EPA system that is supposed to be relatively accurate. We'll see how I do!

About the color... For years I wanted a red Prius so I could call it what else, but Little Red Car. Well, changed my mind about the Prius as the stroller didn't fit nicely in the trunk. I thought that the Camry was too big to look good in red. And the gray is so pretty!

By the way, yes, I really am wearing shorts in February! Anthony is wearing the airplane shirt that Grandma Donna sent!

Hand-me Downs

Anthony has been scoring some great hand-me down clothes lately. Check out these overalls from his buddy Jack. They're totally cute and barely worn. (I love overalls on little kids.)

We came home from Ercilias house with a nice bag of clothes, too.

(Yes, Anthony's hair does seem to get just a little wilder every day. Mine isn't much better, I really need a haircut.)

"Gag me with a spoon!"

We're getting ready to give Anthony his first meal of "solid" food. I'm not sure either of us are actually ready yet. We did buy Anthony his high chair, the Fisher Price SpaceSaver one. I also went ahead and bought some plastic bowls and baby spoons.

Anthony seemed to enjoy sitting in his chair and of course, the spoon went straight into his mouth. He seemed to like the taste of it just fine. I wonder what he'll think when there's rice cereal on it??

A Good Night's Sleep

Slept through the night last night.

We put him down after his 7:00 bottle. (Well, he probably went down at 8:00). And, our good boy slept until 6:30 am.

It would be nice if it becomes a habit!
(Much better than last week when he woke up at 2 am two nights in a row.)

New Friends

Bob's former housemate Ercilia and her family are in town this month. (E moved to Venice, Italy when she married Michele.) Their son Matthias is 17 months old and was quite fascinated with the baby. I learned a new word in Italian--piano (gentle).

We had a great evening! Ercilia had made a nice dinner and we were able to enjoy it while her mother played with Anthony. (I am always appreciative of a non-fussy dinner.) Then Ercilia and Anthony spent awhile getting to know each other after Matthias went to bed. They had a staring contest to see who could go the longest without blinking. Anthony won by a mile!

(I was disappointed to see that we don't have any pictures of Michele! Generally, Matthias looks like him, but he has Ercilia's eyes.)

Oh yeah, their third roommate John was in town (from New Jersey) also, so we all got to visit briefly.

New Trick!

Anthony is getting so much better at using his hands! His latest trick it to pull his pacifier in and out of his mouth.

Truthfully, he's never been very into the pacifier. When he started sleeping unswaddled, we'd put it in when we put him down at night. He'd suck for a few seconds, sooth himself down, drop it and be good for the night.

Now that he's discovered how fun it is to play with, he'll stay awake playing, stimulated, rather than soothed by his pacifier.

Its pretty fun to watch, though, and he's gotten so good at it! (I sort of wonder if playing will lose its allure and he'll be able to pick up the pacifier and sooth himself with it in the future.)

Just Like Daddy

Anthony has a little bald spot on the back of his head. Just like Daddy! :-)

There's a Fungus Among Us

(as my mother used to say)

Bob has had a really bad cold and Anthony seems to have caught it. (Either that or he caught one of the bugs floating around daycare, adoption group or who knows where.) In any case, he's a pretty miserable little guy. His fever is typically 103 and tylenol will only bring it down to 100 or so. We went to the pediatrician this morning (thank goodness for Saturday hours) and she said that its just a virus. He's generally okay if he's lying on my lap, but he won't sleep in his crib for anything. Bob and I took turns rocking him for a lot of last night and he spent awhile in our bed.

He still likes chewing on my fingers, though!

Added Sunday morning: Anthony is doing a lot better today. He slept through the night. (8 to 7 but I did give him a quick bottle at 10pm). He is eating well, his fever is down to 99.1 and he's acting much healthier.

My Valentines

We had a very nice Valentine's Day with the baby. Bob came home from work early with flowers and we had a nice dinner of take-out Thai food. While Bob was picking up dinner, I set the table with candles. Of course, Anthony decided to wake up in the middle of dinner. Oh well.

Be sure to check out Anthony's red, white and pink striped socks!

Happy Valentine's Day

Will you be my Valentine?

Lab Rat

Not the greatest picture, but I guess its better than nothing.

Today after school we went over to Stanford's Learning Lab to participate in a child development study on object permanance. (For the uninitiated, that's the idea that an object still exists if you can't see it. Its a startling concept for a little guy!) Anthony was in a great mood. Before the study started he charmed the graduate students with his big eyes and bright smile.

For the study, he sat on my lab and watched bright objects float around a screen with sound effects. The objects would periodically disappear, and reappear on the other side of a box. They videotaped him watching the show. They were pretty impressed with his attention span--he made it through the entire test, about 5 minutes, which is pretty good for a four month old.

At the end of the study they gave him a toy to take home and asked if we'd be willing to participate in more studies in the future. I said sure, it was kind of interesting and Anthony seemed to enjoy it.

Baby's First Airplane Ride

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend to take Anthony on his first airplane ride. We weren't sure how he would do, so our goal was to actually get him off the ground, with a secondary goal of going to Watsonville (10 minutes away by plane) for lunch.

One of the main unknowns was how he would handle wearing a headset. Turns out, he did just fine with it, even though it makes me think "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi". He's not wearing an airplane headset, though. These Peltor earmuffs are much lighter with better sound-proofing. The downside, of course, is that they don't have a microphone and he can't really hear us talking to him. When he gets bigger we'll get him a real airplane headset. Anthony didn't seem to mind wearing his headset at all!

The other issue we were worried about was his ears on landing. (Everyone worries about take-off, but eustachian tubes are a one-way valve and should be fine in that direction.) I had a bottle and pacifier ready and neither were needed. Of course, we did only go up to 3500 feet.

As expected, the vibration pretty much knocked him out.

I'm not worried about taking the Bonanza down to visit my parents in Southern California anymore, I'm pretty sure he'll be great. Heck, it may well be better than flying commercial!

And on a fashion note: he is wearing his airplane duds today, of course! His bib says "Pilot in Training".

Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!

This is one of Karin's Favorite games to play with Anthony.
Now caught on Video!

Go Huskers!

Grandpa Vince sent this bib, hoping that Anthony will grow up to be a Huskers fan. I think there might be a number of teams vying for his allegiance, he also has some Texas Rangers shirts that his cousins in Texas sent.

4 Month Check-up

Anthony's 4 month check-up went very well. He weighed in at 17 1/2 pounds and 26 inches long. That's 90th percentile for both height and weight.

About his development: Dr. Babcock was impressed by how well he can stand. She also liked how his social skills were developing--eye contact, smiling, giggling, talking....

She wasn't the slightest bit bothered that he doesn't roll yet. Frankly, he doesn't spend that much time on his tummy and that's the easiest direction to roll.

This month's talk was on starting solids. We'll wait until he's closer to 6 months old, though.

He also got his shots. He didn't like them very much. He woke up with a good fever the next morning, too, but Tylenol brought it down right away.

Our next appointment is a nurse appointment at 6 months.

I Voted!

And boy was it exciting!

Actually, it was kind of exciting. As a Californian, this was the first time that my vote in the primary actually meant anything. Also, I really had a hard time deciding who I wanted to vote for. And who I voted for, well, that's a secret.

Four Months Old

Yep, Anthony is four months old today.

He doesn't really seem to have any brand new tricks to report.

He's getting better at the old ones, though:
1. He giggles. Evidently Mommy is really funny. Especially when I sing and move his arms around.
2. He's getting pretty amazing at standing. He can easily support his whole weight (and balance a good bit) just holding on to a finger in each hand. And, of course, he is gnawing away on that finger.
3. Using his hands. He can easily separate his fingers and choose one to suck or chew on. He's also getting better at grabbing and manipulating his toys. By manipulate I mostly mean to force part of it into his mouth.
4. Head control. He easily controls his head when you pull him to standing. (He tends to not want to stop at sitting; why sit when you can stand??)

Sleeping Update:
We went cold turkey on swaddling last week and it went pretty well. He's still pretty variable on when he wakes at night, but its really only once a night. Well, we wake him for a quick feed at 9:30, but he'll fall right back asleep. He'll wake on his own for one feed and then conks out again. Morning for Anthony starts at 7:30 when I'm dressed and breakfasted. He usually sleeps until then, and we have 15 minutes to get him ready for school. (He doesn't eat breakfast until about 8:30.)**

Teeth Update:
Still drooling. Really drooling. Enormously drooling. We can feel his little tooth trying to come in. Its an upper one, actually. Of course, his favorite thing in the whole wide world is chewing on my finger, which causes slime to run down my arm.

Likes:
1. Blinky star on his play gym (still)
2. The music and lights on his bouncy chair (especially since he can make them go)
3. Standing and looking around.
4. Chewing on Mama's finger.
5. Playing with the fun textures of some of his toys, especially the Firefly that Jayne gave him.

**My mom thinks this is grossly unfair. I was an early bird as a baby and small child; I believe morning routinely started around 5am for years!

New Trick

Anthony learned a new trick last week. Fortunately, he lost interest in it pretty quickly.

I picked him up at daycare and he was wearing his back-up clothes. I said "Uh-oh, what happened". Teacher said that he threw up on himself. Before I had a chance to be concerned, though, she went on to explain that he had stuck his fingers in his mouth and gagged himself. I'd seen him doing it before, though it was the first time he had succeeded in making himself throw up.

Anthony's First Babysitter

Well, his first babysitter that wasn't family.

Bob and I renewed our season tickets to AMTSJ last spring. We sold our tickets to Cabaret as he was only two weeks old for that show.

Saturday night was Little Shop of Horrors and we were determined to go.

I'm not quite ready to hire a teenage babysitter for him. Nor am I ready to pay the going rate of $8-$10 dollars an hour. But, our neighbor Sarah kind of owed me as I did an emergency babysitting for her oldest back in December.

I was a little worried how it would go as I hadn't gotten him into bed when she arrived at 7:15. I had this vision of him fussing all night and her never being willing to sit again. (When I sat for them, it was just her two year old, we had a lovely time at our house for awhile, then I put her to bed and read for a few hours.)

It went perfectly! She bounced him for awhile, he fell asleep, he stayed asleep. She had an evening to read, a break from her two kids, and we had a great night out.

I think we'll need to do it again.

The Triumvirate

While we were waiting for Anthony, I would get together occasionally with some other friends who were also waiting. Thursday was the first day that we got all the little boys together.

Nathan is almost exactly 1 month younger than Anthony (he's on the left) and Ciaran is 3 months younger. Aren't they the cute little trio?

And yes, Anthony does look like a bit of a moose, doesn't he? Nathan is tiny and while Ciaran is big, he's still only 1 month old.

Check out Anthony's Rocket Ship shoes, by the way. He's also wearing his helicopter pilot outfit that Kathryn across the street gave him.