More Photos from Mexico

As promised in Sarah's post a week ago, I've uploaded more photos and videos (of Theo in the pool in particular!) from our extended weekend trip to Cabo, Mexico. You can see them all here and don't forget about Sarah's photos as well.

Theo's First Cheerios!

Theo got started eating oatmeal this week, which made him eligible to eat Cheerios. We had previously given him some rice cereal which he could pick up and put in his mouth, but he never quite got the concept of releasing, so it always came back out of his mouth. With Cheerios however, Theo soon discovered that he could let go and eat the O. He had a great time eating maybe 6 of them, and he'll be getting more for sure.

While I have your attention, I'll note that the Rhododendron has started blooming in our front yard; it's been a pretty cool spring so it's quite late -- last year it went off in February.

As usual, click the images above for a gallery of more photos.

Michal's Wishlist

Just in case you needed a link.

Theo in Mexico

We took Theo on his second plane ride, and our first big family vacation, to Cabo, Mexico for the wedding of John and Becca. Theo was already an international traveler with our drive to Whistler back in February, but this time around he got the stamps in his passport to prove it. See more photos here.

Theo did well on three out of four flights. (There were no direct flights from Seattle to Cabo at this time of year. In the future, I don't think we'll be visiting places that require an additional stop.) The second flight on our way down, he popped his second tooth through. He might have been okay at that, too, but our seats were switched to the row in front of the only screaming child (around age 3 years, believe it or not), who woke Theo up after only 15-20 minutes of napping on that flight. Since we left the house at 6 a.m., at least an hour before Theo's normal wake up time, we started the day - and the trip - short on sleep.

Despite all that, Theo managed the travel and the associated changes extremely well. He stuck to his normal eating schedule like glue. He was a little more flexible with sleeping, although that is generally true at home as well.

The infinity swimming pool provided the biggest highlight of the trip. Of course, since my camera isn't waterproof, I have no photos of that part. But the video camera did well in recording every moment of that. Theo floated around in our borrowed inflatable complete with shade canopy. He also enjoyed playing with his toys, especially his duck, while being held. It turns out that holding Theo takes much less effort when you're in the water. He spent some time floating as well. We even dunked him once since he kept trying to dip his face in the water. Theo did not appreciate the dunking. At all.

On Saturday we also took Theo to the beach to let him explore the sand. It took him longer to get around to sampling it than I would have thought. Because of the heat and the presence of ants in the sand, we didn't hang out there long, but it was quite entertaining to everyone involved. Theo was a hit with everyone, joining us for the first part of the rehearsal dinner as well as the beginning of the wedding and reception. He actually cried at the wedding itself, but I can't say I blame him. It was downright hot, with no shade, on the beach in the sand - very pretty, but not Seattle baby friendly. It turns out that lounging around in a resort all day is quite baby friendly, though, so we all managed to have a great time despite the heat.

Theo's best souvenir is the second tooth he now sports. More photos and videos to come as they get uploaded.

Theo at Seven Months

Theo turned seven months old on Friday. We took him to Mexico to celebrate. Actually, we visited Cabo for a wedding, but the trip happened to fall on Theo's seven month birth date on Friday the 13th. We did celebrate by taking him in his first swimming pool that afternoon, and even giving him some non-homemade guacamole for the first time ever. He liked the pool and loved the guacamole, as usual. We missed his monthly photo shoot due to our travel plans, so his seven month photos (which start on photo 148) were actually taken on the 16th instead of the 13th.

Theo, at seven months, has his first two teeth. Neither one is very far along, but both were definitely visible outside the gum line by seven months. He blows raspberries, sometimes for fun and sometimes because he's mad. You can tell he's excited when he makes his usual inhaling noise, but also when he shakes his head back and forth rapidly. He's definitely a charmer, whether it's a stranger or someone he knows, and he prefers to have all the attention of everyone in sight. Going out never fails to entertain him, but he has discovered a preference for mama, especially if she's in sight and particularly if he is hungry or tired.

He still sits like a champ, but has discovered he can reach things by leaning. Theo has no sense of self preservation whatsoever. He can grab objects outside his immediate area by supporting himself with one hand and picking things up with the other. He will also roll three quarters of the way over to acquire things, but if it requires the complete roll to his belly he'd rather complain about it and wait for someone to move it closer. He has also developed the pincer grasp recently, exploring smaller things with his thumb and index finger. He loves to rub any tags he can find this way. He has been thrilled with a host of new things to excite giggles, and you never know what will enthrall him. He still loves anything that's not actually meant to be a toy, especially if he sees us using it. Balls are especially exciting, and that pretty much applies to anything that rolls, from Easter eggs to cars. We celebrated not only his first Easter this month but also my first mother's day. He seemed to enjoy both occasions.

Theo sleeps fairly well during the night, still going to sleep by 7:30 each night and not waking up until somewhere between 4 and 5:20 a.m. He has gotten much better about "sleeping in" and will let us rest until around 7:15 or 7:30 a.m. these days. He spends a lot more time moving around in the crib, sometimes rotating up to 180 degrees. He eats three meals of solid food a day, and is nursing six times a day most days. His favorite solid food is still, by far, avocado, although he does seem to like the mangoes as well. He eats everything else (sweet potato, squash, yogurt, pears, and bananas) with about the same enthusiasm. He drinks water from his sippy cup with some meals. In Mexico, he drank about half a bottle of water from a regular plastic cup. It was hot down there! He also drank water from his red bucket, even though we had just poured it in there for him to play. He picked it up with both hands and tilted it like a pro, and we had to refill it several times before he drank enough.

At his last weigh in almost two weeks ago, he tipped the scales at 17.5 lbs. Theo continues to grow and delight us every day in new and amazing ways.

Entertainment

Entertainment

Theo in His Exersaucer

Theo in his new Exersaucer. He's beginning to get the idea to put his feet down, but he still moves himself around the circle by pulling with his arms. He has a blast though, so it's hard to complain. This video features one of his first times playing in it.

Conversations with Theo

Michal has taught Theo to shake his head. That might not sound remarkable, but it's really entertaining. Theo will shake his head back and forth rapidly now, especially when he's trying to communicate with Michal. He does it sometimes during the day as well, but the frequency definitely picks up when Michal comes home. I caught the two of them having a head shaking conversation on video.

Theo's Birthday Balloon

We also got Theo a balloon for his half birthday in mid April. We choose the reddest one at the store. He's still enjoying it, maybe because it sits on the ground all by itself now.

Theo and His Half Birthday Cars

We broke out a new toy for Theo's six month birthday, since it was labeled six months and up. He enjoys playing with them, in particular, of course, the red one.

Theo with the Pinwheel

Theo at Play in early April

Construction: Exterior Painting Complete

Construction: Exterior Painting

A La Carte A Capella Audition

My a capella group, A La Carte, auditioned for the summer festival, Beacon Rocks, on Saturday night. We got a video of the performance for anyone who's interested that couldn't make it.

Construction: Flooring and Stairs

Our special order hardwood came in on Friday so now we're staining
stair treads and risers to match. I am also racking the floor to
test-fit it and try to minimize the cuts I'll need to make.

Happy Half Birthday Theo!

Theo celebrated his six month birthday by going to the doctor and getting a slew of shots. He did not have a good time. For the first time, he spiked a fever, which got up to 102 in very short order. Overall he was not as miserable as his temperature might indicate, still willing to smile and be distracted. In the future we will remember to do his giraffe photos before we have him shot up with vaccines, though.

At six months, Theo sits without assistance and will put out a hand to steady himself or use his very strong stomach muscles to right himself when he leans. He will still fall over fairly regularly and we are never out of hand's reach when he's sitting. But he's definitely doing it all on his own. He has also rolled from back to front a few times, but he still hates being on his stomach. He can get to his side very easily to reach for something and investigate interesting objects, but if he continues to rotate, he corrects himself very quickly. He passes objects back and forth between his hands so fast that I didn't even know he had mastered that skill - the doctor had to demonstrate for me. Only one toy will hold his attention at a time, and when presented with a second one, the first one is quickly dropped.

Theo eats eight to nine times in a twenty four hour period, with one or two additional meals of solid foods. So far he's had avocados (by far the favorite), sweet potatoes, and bananas, although today we got rice cereal, pears, and yogurt for him with the intention of introducing two new items each week instead of the previous policy of one (usually on weekends). We still offer him a bottle of breast milk , usually 1.5 ounces, after each daytime feeding, with a little extra right before bed.

He sleeps moderately well by our definition, asleep for the night by 7:30 very consistently. He wakes twice during the night to eat, once between 12:30 and 1:30, and the second time roughly three hours later. He wakes up for the day in a good humor and full of babbles between six and seven a.m. To our dismay, it's typically closer to six than seven. He wears out quickly and is back in bed for his first nap an hour and half after waking. Most days require three naps, but he's showing a strong preference for dropping the last one, which occurs around four in the afternoon. Naps these days are hit or miss - sometimes he sleeps for an hour and twenty minutes, but it's much more usual for him to pass out for only 35 or 40 minutes. While we still swaddle him for naps and overnight and give him white noise as well, now his arms are tucked and velcroed inside a sleep sack at night. (We've found he overheats inside the sleep sack during the day, so naps feature only the arm tuck swaddle.)

Theo still loves to go out. Anywhere out of the house, even the backyard to watch the chickens and birds, will do. Inside, he's developing a concern about having us out of sight. The bouncy chair remains one of the most reliable entertainment options, but he's also fine with a rotating selection of toys on his play mat and either of his gyms with hanging toys. His favorite entertainments by far are still Rocket and Tetley and nothing gets him into a laughing fit like the dog sneezing and jingling his tags. Otherwise, his new Oball probably takes first place this month, along with anything that's not actually meant to be a toy: water bottles, keys, phones, etc. Red is still his favorite color and he shows a very clear preference for it. He hates having the sun directly in his eyes but has no problem wearing sunglasses or hats to help with the problem.

Theo will soon make the switch from his bassinet stroller to his upright seat, and he also gets to have company in the form of small blankets and soft items in the crib with him. He spent an hour of supposed-to-be-nap-time today playing with his hedgehog in the crib.

Happy six months to Theo, our bouncing growing blue-eyed baby boy!

Theo's Six Month Check Up

Theo weighs in at 16 lbs 14 oz today. He is 27 inches tall and his head is 17.4 inches. That puts him in the 75th percentile for head size, 70th percentile for height and 40th percentile for weight - up from the 13th weight percentile two months ago. More impressively, his weight gain is a massive 25 percent over his previous check up. Guess all that milk does do a body good (and avocados probably don't hurt any either).

Child Seat Alternatives

Forget your car seat? Try strapping the kiddo down to the trailer instead. He'll love the fresh air and the view!

Theo's March Photos

I finally got around to posting a bunch (over 200) of Theo's photos from March.