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.

Baby's First Cold

Anthony had his first cold and seemed to get through it okay.

My first week back at work, I got the cold. Next week, Bob had it. The week after that... I think it was Bob's fault.

While his nose was runny and he was sneezy, Anthony was in amazingly good shape. He was eating well, sleeping well, and generally in a good mood.

Then came Saturday night, he was FUSSY and wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms. I was worried we'd have to bring him into our bed, which I really don't like doing. Fortunately, I managed to get him to sleep and moved him into the crib.

Then Sunday morning he was running a very slight fever. (1/2 degree into fever range). Between the fussiness and the slight fever I was worried he was getting an ear infection. But, by Sunday night he was chipper again, so off to daycare he went!

I really enjoyed my bath!

Anthony really seemed to enjoy his bath today. It started slowly, he looked pretty startled (as always) when he discovered he was wet. But, he warmed up to it pretty quickly, smiling and kicking his feet in the water.

My New Friend

Anthony made a new friend last week. My girlfriend Elly came home from Florida with her son Ciaran. We went over for a visit, and I got to hold Ciaran while Elly made his bottle. Fortunately, Anthony didn't seem to mind hanging out. It was double-decker babies!

Its funny, while Ciaran is certainly a big boy (he was born at 10 pounds!), he is soooo much lighter than Anthony.

Of course, he also just feels like a younger baby, too. He is 3 months and 1 day younger.

Dinner Guests

My former housemate (she hates it when I say old roommate) Janet and her husband Dick came for dinner last night. Bob made rotisserie chicken on the grill. (Santa Claus brought him the rotisserie attachment for Christmas.) It came out astonishingly well! Fortunately we made two chickens so we have one for leftovers!

Oh yeah, Anthony was pretty good that night, though not as good as he sometimes is.

Chubby Little Boy

Anthony has some of the most delightful little rolls of fat. He's got the little crease at his wrists and each of his fingers has a dimple at the base. His thighs are enormous, too!

I weighed him a few days after he turned 3 months and he came in at 16 pounds even! That's right, he doubled his birthweight in just over 3 months.

His weight gain is starting to slow, though. He's actually drinking slightly less formula than he had been--30 ounces instead of 34-36. And, since he weighs more, his gain would have slowed even if he was sticking to his hearty meal schedule.

I'm looking forward to seeing how big he is at his 4 month check-up in two weeks!

Back to Work

Obviously this photo has nothing to do with my return to work. I love the smile though. And that same smile greets me every day when I pick up Mr. Anthony from daycare.

So far, work has been going very smoothly. I've dropped down to 80% time (and unfortunately 80% pay) so I can have more time with Anthony. I am enjoying being back, I enjoy my work!

Day care is going pretty well, too. Anthony smiles at his teachers every morning and appears to be getting settled in. Its been 2 1/2 weeks and he's still healthy. I got sick two weeks ago, and Bob caught my cold last week, so we're really, really hoping that Anthony doesn't get it. So far, so good, though.

Favorite Games

Anthony's current favorite way to play is to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Of course, the real fun in the game is Mommy making his hands wave around. The singing is fun, too!

Not a Newborn Anymore!

Well, clearly he's not a newborn, he's three and a half months old!

I found myself pondering some of the changes I miss:
The way his whole body would fit when he lay in my lap
How he would desperately root into my elbow looking for dinner while his bottle was poking him in the other cheek.

But then, there are things I don't miss:
The SCREAMING that accompanied every diaper change (being naked was really, really awful)
Rocking and rocking in the middle of the night as he had to be sound asleep before being put back down. (He outgrew that one by two months, fortunately. Now its bottle, diaper and back in the crib.)
Waking up multiple times a night. Technically, Anthony is sleeping through the night as he can go 7 hours. But, that's not literally STTN. He'll be there soon enough, though.

Playtime

Is this fun or what???

Got my Bear Blanket

Anthony is in the habit of clutching and playing with his burp cloth when he's done with his bottle. While its kind of fun to watch, I really don't want his "transitional object" to be a burp cloth. We're getting in the habit of swapping in the bear blanket that Jayne gave him instead. The edges and the backside are satin, so it should feel good in his hands.

Three Months Old!

Can you believe he is three months old already??

How has he changed?
Truthfully, I don't think he looks that much different than he did at two months. I'll try to weigh him on Monday, but I don't think he's gained too much more than a pound. (Its about time that his growth slows, otherwise he'll be an elephant when he starts kindergarden.)

But, he can do so much more...
1. Smiling. He loves to smile. He will return your smiles and he will spontaneously smile when something amuses him. (Daddy singing the Rubber Ducky song, for example.)
2. He can purposefully grab things. He has no interest in grabbing rattles, but he will absolutely grab someones hand. He can also grab some of his toys.
3. He's figured out how to make some of his toys go. That was fun watching him go. Anthony's favorite toy for over a month has been his play gym with the blinking star that plays music. Its motion activated and he just figured out that he can kick it and make it play. That is exciting! He can also grab the hanging toys on his Jungle Bouncy Seat and make the music and lights go there, too.
4. Squeal in delight. (I hadn't realized that was a separate milestone.) That blinky star makes him sooo happy!
5. He's got pretty amazing head control. We started riding him front facing in the Bjorn and he did great.
6. He can support his own weight standing, he's gotten really good at that.
7. He thinks the baby in the mirror is absolutely fascinating. If he smiles at the baby, the baby even smiles back.

What he's on the verge of doing:
1. Giggling, he does it once in a while but not consistantly. Either that, or maybe I'm not funny enough.
2. Pushing himself up with his hands. He'll do it occasionally, but not consistantly. Generally, if I put him on his tummy he'll stick his fist in his mouth. (Its much easier to do that on your tummy, the fist is limited to where it flies.) Then when he gets tired of sucking his fist he'll start screaming that its time to flip over.
3. Sleep unswaddled.

What he might be considering:
1. Teething. He is drooling up a storm!

First Day of School

Anthony has his first day of school this week. We have him enrolled at a daycare center not too far from the house. He's slowly getting settled in. First day he didn't nap well, second day he didn't eat well. He should adapt pretty quickly, though.

The teachers all seem really nice and they greet him by name every morning when he arrives. He's pretty much the youngest kid there. Everyone else we've met are girls, so he should have a girlfriend soon.

Visiting Friends

On our way back home from visiting Anthony's grandparents we stopped to visit our friends Jeff and Charlotte in Arroyo Grande. (We seem them every year, some years in Omaha, others in California.) The kids were just fascinated with the baby. They all took turns holding and feeding him. Kelly even helped him get dressed in the morning.

It was nice spending New Years Eve with friends, even though we didn't make it 'til midnight. We decided that celebrating East Coast time was just fine with us!

We've got a great picture here of Anthony sitting on Charlotte's mother's lap. Isn't his smile sweet!

Happy New Year!

I am awake and ready to see the New Year! I may have slept through midnight, but here I am ready to have fun!