Busy Mornings

Unfortunately, Anthony has been getting up pretty early. In addition to making us wake before we would like, it means that he requires lots of attention while we're trying to get ready.

Janet gave us an Exersaucer that still keeps him reasonably well entertained. Sometimes though, there's nothing quite like a wooden spoon or two.

Baby's First Airplane

Bob was looking forward to buying Anthony his first airplane well before there was an Anthony.

(There were even multiple discussions about how to ensure that a girl would like airplanes, just in case.)

Our area had a Yahoo group for buying/selling kids stuff. Last week someone posted that they were selling a Radio Flyer Retro Rocket and I pounced!

Its pretty much in mint condition and works beautifully. The nosecone spins, the taillight lights up and there are neat buttons to push to make "blast-off" sound effects.

Of course, its actually a rocket ship and not an airplane, but we're conveniently ignoring that. Rocket ships are pretty darn cool, too!

Anthony's First Haircut

I admit it, it was time. Probably long overdue even. Anyway, we finally got Anthony's haircut. The first picture is our "before", of course. It isn't nearly as wild as it sometimes is!

We went to Cubby Cuts, a children's salon. The two kids ahead of Anthony were screaming bloody murder. He didn't seem to notice, maybe because the tv was LOUD!

Then when it was his turn to sit in the chair, Anthony was totally cooperative. He didn't even seem to mind getting his hair cut. I wonder if it helped that she used scissors and not the clippers.

I had her cut it pretty long. My boy started out with a full head of hair and I don't intend to make him a baldy anytime soon. Depending on how his curls end up, though, I may end up cutting it pretty short when he gets bigger.

Are my boys handsome or what?

Nine Month Check-up

Clearly this picture is not from Anthony's doctor appointment, but rather from our flight down to San Luis Obispo last week. He wasn't the greatest passenger as he didn't really nap on the plane.

Anyway, about today's check-up....

22 pounds, 4 ounces and 29 1/4 inches long.
That makes him 75% for both height and weight. (His little head is still off the charts).

His doctor was pleased with his development, didn't seem at all concerned about his hatred of tummy-time and seemed relatively impressed with his cruising ability. She was also pretty impressed with his ability to drink a glass of water. I think she was more impressed with his extreme enthusiasm than the execution.

Anthony only got one shot--the last Hepatitis B vaccination. He was on my lap when the nurse gave it to him and he didn't even cry!

Fun at the Beach

We went down to visit our friends in Pismo Beach for the 4th of July again this year. There was a whole crew of children who thought that Anthony was the neatest thing, he had quite the entourage.

Saturday we took the whole gang to the beach to play.

At first Anthony wasn't quite sure what he thought of the sand. (He was definitely intimidated by the ocean.) He warmed up to it pretty quickly, though. He liked kicking it and feeling it in his hands. (And playing with the bucket.) Unfortunately, at one point he decided to taste the sand and was clearly shocked that it really wasn't that pleasant to eat. (Picture coming soon.)

Unfortunately, Anthony really wouldn't keep his hat on, despite my frequent admonishons that "Babies Wear Hats". He was mostly in the shade, though.

Doesn't he look adorable in his little swim trunks???

Mommy's Messy Eater

Anthony still isn't interested in finger food like cheerioes. He has developed a taste for Gerber teething biscuits, though. They're kind of gross--they dissolve and leave a little film on his hands and everything he touches.

Unfortunately, Anthony is starting to lose interest in his pureed food. A month ago he'd be EXCITED at the side of a spoon--arms and legs waving in delight. Now he'll still eat but with a lot less vigor.

While he isn't into finger-feeding he has started to show interest in feeding himself with the spoon. Disgusting! He has his own spoon and of course smears food everywhere!!!

(This may sound like normal baby behavior, but for the last few months he was so intent on eating that he wouldn't interfere with the spoon and would finish a meal essentially clean.)

Nine Months Old!

Yep, our little Firecracker is 9 months old.

At his check-up on Wednesday we'll get new vital stats.

This months accomplishments:

1. He's added ba-ba-ba-ba-ba to his vocabulary. He is also a pro at blowing raspberries

2. He's generally been playing with his tongue a lot lately. Sticking it out, twisting it around in his mouth, etc.

3. Bob taught him to hand a toy back to us. We'll give him a toy, and then hold our hand out and he'll give the toy back to us. (He seems to get a kick out of it when we say "Thank you".

4. Not much progress on crawling, but he'll certainly rotate around and tummy-scoot backwards. He's starting to push his little tushy up in the air but has a way to go. Still hates tummy time. (We're trying to get serious about it, though.)

5. He's gotten REALLY good at walking holding on to our hands.

6. He's starting to roll a ball back to us.

7. When we build towers of blocks, he LOVES to knock them down.

8. Not much progress on eating solid foods, but he will gnaw a teething biscuit down. (I'll post a picture soon.)

9. I think he understands Peek-a-boo, but its not a hit.

10. Separation anxiety is definitely rearing its ugly head--definitely likes Mama best.

11. Can physically indicate wants--he'll hold his arms up for up (or down for down), and clearly indicate whether he wants to "go" to someone.

12. He's really trying to pull to standing. Hasn't quite figured it out, but he will certainly try.

Sorry this picture is sideways, I was having computer issues!

Nature versus Nurture

As an adoptive parent, I find nature versus nurture studies to be particularly interesting.

We were asked to participate in an infant growth and development through the University of Minnesota and I was happy to participate. We'll be interviewed at 9 months, 18 months and two years.

It was a LONG 3 hours, they put all of us through our paces.

As part of it, they gave him a new toy to play with to see how he'd respond.
The BumbleBall was a hit!

Sorry I got so behind

We were traveling and Bob had to finish setting up the new computer.

Here's a picture of Anthony and Grandpa Vince.

(My sister sent some pictures of Anthony with my parents, I'll get them up soon.)

Minnesota Zoo

Our last day in Minnesota we went to the zoo. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. Anthony slept through the morning part, including a beautiful butterfly garden. They had a lot of animal pelts that he got to pet. (Always pet the kitty nicely!) Bob got to be nose to nose with a grizzly bear.

He did get to see the bird show. At one point a white bird was cruising around overhead and totally got Anthony's attention.

Vince loves Eagles, so we were sure to get a picture of Anthony with one.

Trip to Walnut Grove

I've had a fascination for "Little House on the Prairie" for YEARS and YEARS. (I vaguely remember being disappointed by Minnesota winters as my years there were nothing like "The Long Winter".) I hated the tv show, though, it was not true to the books.

Grandpa Vince came up and joined us after reunion and we went on an excursion to Walnut Grove. Some of the historic artifacts were pretty darn neat. My favorite was actually a letter written from one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's elementary school friends to her after the books came out. She reminisces about their time in Walnut Grove.

It was a LONG drive on country roads, but I'm glad we went.

Class of 2030

Last weekend we went back to Minnesota for my college reunion.

You can't tell in the picture, but Anthony is wearing his "Future Carleton Graduate" duds. He also has a Carleton hat that he wasn't wearing at the time.

Unfortunately, Anthony had a cold, so he was far from his best. The real issue was eating and sleeping. He still had plenty of energy to flirt it up.

Friday night I took him outside for his bottle (it was cooler) and rather than eating, he "toddled" around in his diaper smiling at everyone he could find. He got to play in the sandbox a bit (our dorm had TWO sandboxes), but I declared the bouncy house too much fun for a little guy.

Visiting our cousins

We went down to Orange County Father's Day weekend to visit Anthony's new cousin Erik. It was a great visit!
We arrived Friday night and Anthony was ready to party! He spent awhile visiting with his grandparents and then we finally got him to bed.

Saturday we had a nice visit with my sister and her family. Unfortunately, Kurt really wouldn't give Anthony the time of day. Unclear if he was jealous of his grandparents playing with this strange baby or if he objected to Anthony playing with his toys. (Or if he objected to the existence of another baby.) Erik slept most of the time we were there, but he did wake up and let me give him a bottle.

Its funny how fast they change. Anthony was only 8 months old, but I had totally forgotten what the teeny little ones were like. (Erik was about 6 weeks old.)

Sunday they all came over for brunch at my parents house and we took pictures of the cousins. You can't tell, but in the bottom picture Anthony is totally pulling on poor Kurt's shirt collar. (A few seconds later Erik tried to nurse on Kurt's other arm.)

Unfortunately, while we took plenty of pictures of the boys, we didn't get any of Anthony with his grandparents.**

**Anthony certainly had lots of time playing with his grandparents--went left him with Grandma to take my Dad to the ball game, left him behind so we could see the Terra Cotta Warriors at the Bowers Museum, not to mention plenty of morning playtime so we could sleep!

Eoin's Finalization Party

This weekend was the party to celebrate Anthony's friend Eoin's adoption finalization.

Poor Eoin was sick this morning. They still had the party but Eoin didn't get to play with any of his friends! Around mid-afternoon he had some food and water and that perked him up a bit.

Anthony enjoyed playing with some of Eoin's friends, though! Eoin's mommy Saran bought a bubble machine that churned out enormous quantities of bubbles. I'm not sure Anthony quite knew what to think of them.

Teeth are growing in!

Here's a better picture of Anthony's teeth.

(It still helps to click on the photo to make it fill the screen.)

Eight Months Old!

Can you believe it????

Let's see, how has our little guy grown.

Well, to begin with, he is just over 21 pounds. I can't remember how tall he is, but he's well balanced for height and weight. He has nearly outgrown is 6-9 month sized clothes. He has some 6-12/9-12 that fit nicely and we are buying him 12-18 month currently.

He's got all sorts of new tricks, too. The biggest is that he's figured out object permanance. (The idea that even though something hides, it still exists.) Last weekend when I hid his little crab toy under a cloth he knew immediately where it was. (Unlike the previous months when he was utterly confused about what happened.)

Anthony also started babbling this month. He'll happily roll out a long stream of da-da-da-da-da. He will sort of blow raspberries, too, but those aren't quite as fun.

He's also started using body language to indicate what he wants--down is the big one, but sometimes he'll reach out to go to someone.

He LOVES water out of a real glass. I'll need to post video on it, its pretty fun to watch. He really will drink it.

And, of course, Anthony has two beautiful little teeth.

On the down side, transition to new daycare this last week has been pretty rough. He's gotten a little discriminating about who his people are. Basically, he's been screaming if he's not being held. We've had a few good moments--Thursday afternoon he was happy to play nicely, and Friday he went to Maria. (And then demanded to be held the rest of the day.) Generally Anthony is such an easy-going guy that I really hope that he'll adapt fast.



















Sorry I'm a little late posting, I was waiting to get a fresh set of pictures.

Our Little Sea Anenome

Today was Anthony's first day of swim "lessons". Anthony did really well, especially since it was his first time in a swimming pool. It took him a few minutes to decide how he felt about the water, but he took to it pretty quickly. They played "Ring Around the Rosie" and a motorboat game. And there was some general splashing. One funny thing--in the bathtub he's all about kicking and splashing, its like the Shamu show at Seaworld. Today he didn't do too much kicking.

I just love his little swim trunks with the surfboards. They go down practically to his ankles when he stands up.

A few more picnic pictures

Anthony and Caden checking each other out. They're both still learning about being gentle with their friends!






A few seconds ago Anthony was chewing on the giraffe's feet while Eoin had the head. Sophie the giraffe is Eoin's favorite toy and it was very nice of him to share.

(Everyone had a good chew on Anthony's crab, so he's learning to share, too.)

IAC Picnic

Today was our adoption agency's annual picnic. It was a LOT of fun. Most of our friends from our monthly support group were there. It was fun seeing how much all the babies have grown and watching them play together.

We mostly hung out with Caden's and Eoin's families. (We were all in group together for quite awhile, but they've finalized so we don't seem them anymore.) The boys seemed to enjoy each other. They stole (and chewed on) each others toys. They're grabby little creatures!

Everyone seemed impressed with Anthony's "walking trick". He's getting pretty darn good at it. He also wore his new sandals for the first time today. They're pretty big but he'll grow into them soon enough.

The picture on bottom is ordered youngest to oldest, but you'd never know it by size. Caden is almost 4 months older than the other two! (But, Anthony is a moose and Eoin is even bigger)

Unlike his other pals, Anthony still enjoys wearing his hat! Too bad it covers up all his beautiful hair!!!













I brought Brown Sugar Cookies to the picnic, a new recipe that is sure to be a keeper:
1. Brown 10 T butter over medium-high heat. Transfer to a bowl and mix in 4 T butter to melt. Let cool 15 min.
2. Add 1 3/4 c brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. salt, beat until no sugar lumps remain.
3. Add 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and 1 T vanilla extract, mix until thoroughly incorporated
4. Add 2 cups + 2 T flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp baking powder, mix until just combined.
5. Roll into balls (approx 2T/ball) and roll in a mixture of (1/4 c granulated sugar and 1/4 c brown sugar)
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-14 minutes until cookies are browned and still puffy. Edges will have begun to set but centers are still soft. 7. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.