Christmas

We had a great first Christmas with Christopher. We decided to do our big dinner on Christmas Eve so we could just relax on Christmas day. Sarah came over and we cooked a goose (Sarah obviously did not partake in the bird).  It was great to have a good friend here to celebrate Christmas with and Christopher always has a blast with Sarah. 

I don't think Little Guy knew what hit him when he woke up and the first thing we did was put him in his new bouncy pony. We thought he was going to be terrified of it. Every time it bounces it "Neighs"- which is hilarious. Christopher actually liked it a lot and he's figured out to bounce super high now. Christmas present opening lasted all day long, which was really fun. We'd open a couple with Christopher and then it would be time for him to eat or take a nap. Christopher started feeling sick on Christmas Eve, so he was a little droopy during the day. Of course, he liked the bows on all of his presents the best.

This was Christopher's first real time to get sick, so Conan and I weren't quite sure to do. We spent a couple nights up all night with him because he couldn't sleep without us holding him (there goes the sleep training : ) ). On Monday we thought he was doing better, but then he started wheezing. Everything I read said you need to take them to the MD as soon as possible after that, so we all hopped in a cab to the pediatrician. Once we were in the cab he started breathing rapidly, and tears were just rolling down his face. Conan and I were terrified, so we redirected the driver to the ER. As soon as we walked in we could tell he was doing better, and by the time we saw the doctor he was fine. He diagnosed him with the croup, which actually gets better in the cold air- probably why his breathing improved as soon as we got him out of the cab. Who knew? Christopher is feeling way better now and is almost back to 100%. He just has a little cough ever once in a while, but it's not slowing him down too much. We definitely will never forget this Christmas!

Big Week!

Little guy had his 6 month appointment with Dr. Julie last Wednesday. It went well. He's 16# 14 oz and 28 1/2 inches long. He's in the 97% for length, but only the 25% for weight. Dr. Julie was a little concerned since he dropped percentiles in weight, but said he should be fine once he starts solid. I was worried until I started reading La Leche info and remembered from back in the day about exclusively breast fed baby's growth slowing down a bit after 3 months, so I  felt some better. We have a weight check in a month just to be sure. 

Dr. Julie gave us the okay for solids and we were so excited. We started on Saturday so Dad could be there. Christopher has been grabbing at out food for so long that we thought he would be thrilled to have some of his own. We were wrong! Poor kiddo was a little confused why we were sticking a spoon in his face. We finally got one bite down and were so excited we yelled a big "Yay" and that made him start bawling. So the first time didn't go exactly how we pictured, but he did much better the next day. Conan set him on his lap and we pretended to eat the rice cereal for a while until Little Guy couldn't stand it anymore and needed some for himself. We got a few bites down and he's doing better every day. Since he's such a terrible bottle drinker we decided we were going to go straight to the sippy cup. He's doing pretty well holding it and can chew on the top. We have the no spill cup, so he hasn't really figured out how to suck on it to get liquid out. I think if we put a little juice in there instead of water he'll get it pretty quick :-). 

Christopher is also sleeping through the night now!! It had gotten really bad. All of the yoga mom's babies were getting better and better on their sleep and Christopher kept getting worse. I was happy if he would sleep more than an hour at a time. So, I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby (best library borrow EVER) and we started implementing some of the things he recommended. We started with naps and got him on a pretty good schedule during the day. We both knew we had to do "extinction" (crying it out) but were just dreading it. We finally decided on a day to do it, but then a few nights before Little Guy just wanted to be held all night. I tried feeding him and he wasn't hungry, we tried rocking him, changing him, nothing. So we knew it was time. We had a horrid 20 minutes and then he stopped. The rest of the night he did some short cries, but nothing too terrible. Dr. Julie said it would be about a week before he figured it out, but the next night he did amazing. We had the baby monitor and you could hear him start to wimper a little, and then just go back to sleep. I could not believe that was all it took. He seems so much happier now that he's getting a good night's sleep and I can't tell you how relieved Mom and Dad are. I think he just gave us the best Christmas present we could ever get!

As if sleeping through the night and eating solids aren't enough, we just saw that Christopher is getting a tooth! He's been acting like he was teething for months (chewing on things, drooling, biting), so I just assumed it was a baby thing and we weren't going to see a tooth for a long time. But, he was chewing on my finger today and I felt it. We saw a little baby white spot on his lower gum. We got so excited, which made him laugh really hard. Hopefully it's not going to hurt him too bad. I'm so excited Dad has this whole week off to witness all of the fun things Christopher is doing! We can't wait until Christmas!

Happy Half Birthday!

I can't believe our baby is 6 months old today! Over the weekend, Conan and I were watching video that we took of him right after he was born. It's amazing to see how much he's changed. Since I'm around him all of the time I don't see the differences as much, so it's fun to see the contrast in the video. He's gotten so much bigger, but his personality is very different also. I had forgotten how he used to just lay there. Now, he's all over the place. He gets way up on his hands and now he can lift most of his body up too. I think he'll be crawling any day. He can sit by himself for a couple of seconds, but then kind of topples over. He "talks" all of the time. We haven't gotten any real words, but he's got his own little baby language that he uses- it's super cute. He doesn't understand why Mom and Dad need to sleep, he wants to just be held all night long- we're working on that : ). He thinks yawns are hilarious, but sneezes really scare him. He loves to laugh and thinks Dad is too funny. Every time Christopher sees Conan after he's been at work for a while he does the biggest grin. He's so much fun. He grabs for everything now. When I was taking his picture by the tree before I knew it he had a branch in his hand. The pictures at the top are from this afternoon. It started snowing harder than I've ever seen. I took him downstairs in his snow suit and set him on a blanket. He wasn't a big fan of the snow hitting his face, but it was fun to see him react to the snow for the very first time. We had a great half birthday today. Happy 6 months, Little Guy!

Santa!

Our apartment complex had Santa visit all of the kids in our neighborhood on Friday. Conan took a well deserved day off and we took Christopher. We were a little late due to a diaper incident (I won't go into details, but it involved cutting a onsie off of the poor kid). We weren't sure how Christopher was going to do with Santa, but we definitely did not predict how he would react- completely indifferent. Don't let the picture fool you. There was a TV behind santa that had a fireplace scene going and Christopher did everything he could to look at the screen. It was like the big guy in the red suit with the huge white beard wasn't even there. It was actually pretty funny. I don't think Santa was too offended- at least he wasn't screaming like some of the other kids. 

That's not where I left you...

Christopher has gotten really good at scootching around. This morning I put him under the gym on his back and went into the kitchen to make coffee. When I came out a couple of minutes later he was on his stomach and not even under the gym. I think he may be crawling when Conan and I leave the room. I'm onto you Little Guy. 

Party Time

I recently read that you can help baby's socialization skills by making up scenarios where their toys interact. I decided his favorite toys needed to have a party today. Conan predicted exactly how this would turn out. The poor party "guests". Red bird got slammed into the Bumbo multiple times. When Christopher was finished with him he tried to stuff Ms. M&M all the way in his mouth. The "party" ended abruptly when Little Guy got tired of the pretend food and needed milk immediately. I'm just glad he's not invited to any real parties in the near future. What a horrible host!

Weekend with the Sisters

Conan's sister, Chevon had an information session for NYU grad school, so she and Mariko came to see us this week. Mariko hadn't seen Christopher since he was first born and they both couldn't believe how big he's gotten. It was so nice to have family in town and Christopher had a great time with them. 

The crazy girls took the red eye on Wednesday and got here early Thursday morning. After short naps we went to Curly's for lunch. It's a great vegetarian restaurant that will probably never let me back in : ). It's a tiny place and my stroller took up most of the restaurant. About half way through lunch I realized I was wearing a rabbit fur vest (don't judge... it's freezing here). If that wasn't bad enough I didn't realize how terribly inappropriate my conversation about the pig shoulder I had just cooked was until the vegetarian guy turned around and gave me the worst look. Luckily we had Christopher there to redeem us. He was quiet and adorable, so I think people forgot how ridiculous his mom is. After lunch the girls shopped at Union Square and I (of course) fed Christopher at Babies R Us. 

Conan took Friday off and we all went to Midtown. We walked around Times Square. It was really cold so we had to take a few indoor breaks at the M&M store and St. Patrick's Cathedral. I can't believe how gorgeous the church is. We also got to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center lit up. The decorations around town are amazing. The cold weather really makes it feel like Christmas. On Saturday we all went downtown. We got to see Trinity church, which is amazing. Conan also gave the girls the Wall Street tour. The stock exchange is even decorated for Christmas! We were trying to get a picture of the three of us for our Christmas card, but Christopher kept falling asleep. He literally fell asleep for one picture as Mariko took it. 

We got breakfast at our favorite diner on Sunday before Mariko and Chevon left. It was the first time since we've been here that it snowed. We didn't take Christopher outside since it was so cold, but we videotaped him by the window. That afternoon we got a Christmas tree. I had never gotten a real tree before, so it was fun to pick it out. Christopher was asleep during the whole thing, but this afternoon when it was delivered he was very intrigued. He just stared at the guy who brought it in and then the rest of the evening he would stop what he was doing and look at it. We are so excited for Little Guy's first Christmas!

November Recap

What a crazy month! We had lots of visitors during November and so much fun. My mom came at the beginning of the month. The weather was really nice, so we got to do lots around the city. The little guy is in the carrier in lots of the pictures because it's so easy to go on the subway with it instead of the stroller. He doesn't seem to mind too much, he just normally gets pretty sleepy with all of the walking. My mom and I went to the Museum of Modern Art after she got here. They have the most amazing art there- Van Gogh, Monet, Andy Warhol all over. Apparently we overstimulated Christopher, because he was up all night afterwards. It was one of the roughest nights since he was born. I know what we will not be doing again for a very long time. We also went to Crumb's Bakery and got cupcakes. I thought it was so neat to have a bakery with our name, but Conan wasn't too impressed since it had a "b" in it. Over the weekend we rented a car and Conan drove all of us out to Terry Town to see the fall leaves. I realized I had never seen a real fall before. It was gorgeous. It was raining pretty hard but we got out and ate at a fun little local restaurant and saw the Rockefeller estate from afar. My mom and I also did lots of shopping that week, went to Central Park, ate chocolate pizza at the Bald Man's chocolate, and walked all over. We had a great week. 

The next weekend Lauren came into town. She's done all of the touristy things here already, so we mainly focused on shopping. Conan stayed with Christopher on Saturday and Lauren and I went to the original Macy's. Who knew you could spend all day in one store? We ate lunch there and did lots of shopping. It was great to spend time with her.

We stayed here for Thanksgiving and my Uncle Steve, Aunt Karen and cousins Matt and Michelle came to town. Michelle was cheering in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We watched her dance on TV (so neat!) and then we went to the parade for a little while with Christopher. It was great to see all of the floats in person. Christopher slept through the whole thing, which was probably for the best. I can't imagine how much that would freak a baby out. There were so many people there. After the parade the fam came over to our place for dinner. It was great to have a bunch of family here for the holidays. Christopher is definitely wanting to eat now. He was sitting in my lap during the meal and tried to grab everything on my plate. We may have to start feeding him a little sooner than 6 months (sorry Dr. Julie!). Over the weekend we did lots sightseeing. The girls and I went shopping and Conan took the boys to Wall Street and down town. Christopher got stuck eating and getting changed in dressing rooms all over the city.

Christopher is such a big kid now. When he does tummy time he gets all of the way up on his hands. He's started moving his legs a little too- just not going anywhere yet. I have to watch him very closely now. I had him in his gym the other day and when I turned around he had somehow gotten himself off of it and into the middle of the doorway (on the very hard, wood floors). The other day he was supposed to be taking a nap and I went to check on him. I couldn't open the door. After I squeezed my way in I realized he had been kicking so hard his crib was pushed in front of the door. When I walked in he looked at me and started laughing! He's hilarious. He likes to chew on everything. I could never figure out why he couldn't sit straight in his Bumbo seat. Conan was watching him in it last week and realized that he leans all of the way over so he can gnaw on the side of the chair. When he called him out on it, little guy just looked up and smiled. Christopher also likes to get really close to your face and look at you. The funniest is when he gets super close and then opens up his mouth really big... and tries to put your whole nose in it. 

Halloween

Christopher had a great first Halloween. We dressed him up like a fish and we went as fishermen. I dressed him up that morning to take pictures and our memory card ran out of space. We had to take a trip to the Circuit City in Union Square. The weather was gorgeous that day, so it was a nice outing. We went to the Farmer's Market while we were down there and saw lots pumpkins and Halloween costumes. There was a tie for my two favorite costumes. The Asian Colonel Sanders was good, but the drag Wonder Woman was awesome because he was walking around like it was a completely normal to be a burly man wearing yellow tights and a leotard. 

When Conan got off of work we went down to the fountain in our complex. We saw some people dressed up and got to show off our little fishie. We only got one set of trick-or-treaters, but it was a good set for out first NY Halloween. We gave them candy and then they had these little boxes and asked for money for UNICEF. Conan didn't hear the UNICEF part and thought they just wanted some cash along with their candy. Right when he was about to say no I told him to go get some change. He gave me this surprised look and went to get some.  He thought I was just going to give these crazy city kids our money. After they left we figured out the misunderstanding and had a good laugh. I posted pictures of our pumpkin cake because Christopher helped me decorate it. He wouldn't let me set him down, so I put him in the carrier and made him help ice it. That'll teach him : ). I hope little guy had a fun Halloween. We sure had a good time with him.

Weekend with Rachon

We had lots of visitors last weekend. Rachel and Jason came up from Georgia. This was their first time to meet Christopher and he loved hanging out with them. It was nice for him to get a little more redhead exposure : ).  

Tim was here for a business trip, so he and his brother and his brother's girlfriend came over for dinner on Thursday. Christopher slept through most of it, so it was nice for me to have a whole block of adult conversation at one time. We had a great evening. 

Saturday was pretty rainy and 

windy, so we didn't want to take the little guy outside. Rachel and Jason went and explored the city. Apparently they found a fishing store, which I have a feeling we will be checking out in the near future. That evening we got barbeque take-out. It was actually pretty tasty (although maybe I shouldn't be the judge, Rachel and I just got salads). On Sunday the boys went out fishing. Rachel and I walked over to the Magnolia bakery. Sarah joined us for the most delicious cupcakes. I'm sure if Christopher could talk he would be very upset that he had to be at the girl's day. He'll be out fishing with Dad soon enough, I'm glad he hung out with us. There was a Halloween festival going on, so we got to see lots of kids in really cute Halloween costumes. We went back to Sarah's apartment for a little while. Rachel saw a TV star in Sarah's complex (someone on 30 Rock- I can't remember who it it- sorry Rachel). Christopher got to play Rock Band. It was a fun visit. After that Rachel and I went to a little deli and got some delicious sandwiches before we took the subway over to Central Park. It was a gorgeous day out and everyone was a the park. We saw a strange Halloween themed skating party, a fancy band playing for peo

ple to dance to, wedding pictures being taken and gorgeous fall leaves. I can't get over how pretty fall is here! That evening Conan's Aunt Nancy, and cousin Charity came over. The were in town for a conference and wanted to see Christopher. He had just woken up and he was a bit of a pout-face, but I think they still enjoyed seeing him. It was nice to get to visit with family for a while. 

Christopher's newest thing is grabbing everything. His favorite is to grab your face when you are close to him. He really likes it when he can stick his hand in your mouth. When I was changing him in the park he reached over and grabbed a chunk of grass and dirt. I think I'm going to need to start child proofing soon! He can now stick his foot in his mouth. This one caught me off guard. He chews on his toes. At first I thought it was disgusting, but he's not walking so his feet aren't on the ground, so it's okay- right? Silly kid. He also gives hugs now. I know it's not a real hug, but when you hold him close he puts both of his arms around you really tight. It's great.