Eating Machine!

Our little man is a eating machine!  We have been off babyfood for over a month now and O is eating all adult food.  Well, I do cook him specail foods so they are softer and not as spiced.  But for the most part he eats what we eat and more!  He loves everything, there isn't one thing that we haven't given him that he hasn't liked.  He loves fish, chicken, pasta, veggies, sweet potato pancakes, waffles, potato, meatballs, fruit, yogurt, cheese and more!  These are just a few of his favorites but he will pretty much eat anything.

We take a trip to Whole Foods every Sunday to get O some yummy foods for the week and man is he expensive!  Well partly because we buy all natural and organic food for him but still, if he's eating this much now, how much is he going to cost us when he's bigger...ha!  We love that he's eating so much and a healthy boy.  This his new favorite food...A+ Cinnamon All Natural Whole Grain Sweet Potato Pancakes.  He practically cheers and claps when he sees them...ha!

We have cut out one bottle so he's down to 4 bottles a day and are decreasing the amount of milk in each bottle now because he is eating a lot more solid foods.  He's still getting 24+ ounces a day which Dr. Chris says is perfect for his age.  Also by next month he will probably drop one more bottle and be down to 16-18ozs a day. 

Owen is doing great with a sippy cup and has water with each meal.  He has his favorite brand now, thank goodness!  It took a while to find "the one" but he seems to love the sport Nuby's.  We are going to work to switch his lunchtime bottle to a sippy cup in the next few weeks.  But one change at a time and as soon as we see that he's taking in enough from the sippy, then we'll switch it. This weekend I filed his sippy with 5ozs of water at snack time and he drank 3ozs and wasn't too wet so hopefully he's taking some of that in :)  He totes his sippy every where...such a big boy!

I still can't believe our boy will be one in less than 2 months and off bottles all together!  Time sure does fly and we love every minute with our little guy!

Sleep

Well, since I am on a roll I thought I would do a short post about O's sleeping.  O has been sleeping through the night random nights and then will have a few where he is up every few hours.  We finally decided to let him cry a bit alone because we knew he could put himself back to sleep.  Some nights he doesn't cry at all and then others, he cries for a bit.  But he does eventually fall asleep and most of the time within a few minutes.  We're still working on getting through the night and lately we have had good nights (knock on wood) so we're hopeful that in the next few weeks we'll be on a schedule and all sleeping.

Our little man however has decided not to nap. On the weekends he usually takes a 2 hour nap in the morning and then a 1 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon and at school he takes a longer nap around 11:30am then a short afternoon nap.  Well the past 2 weekends he has decided to fight naps and the only way we can get him to sleep is to stroll him around.  Something about the fresh air and the movement of the stoller put him to sleep immediately. Oh well, guess we'll take screwed up naps over not sleeping at night anytime!

We're hopeful that his sleep will improve and we'll have naps and night time figured out!

Hide and Seek

This has to be the cutest thing ever and as soon as I figure how to load video's I will post one :)

Chris has taught Owen to play hide and seek.  When he told me that they played it with O while I was running errands, I thought, Ok Chris is exaggerating but it's sweet that they are playing new games.  Well, I was wrong :)

I came home to find not only Owen finding Chris when he hides but Owen will go hide by himself and wait for Chris to find him.  It's the cutest thing ever!  Owen crawls beside the couch, bed or whatever he is hiding behind and sits up really straight with his back against the furniture and is super quite.  When Chris finds him he makes a little noise almost if he's trying to say "boo"  :-) 

This made my day watching my boys play hide and seek.  Can't wait to see what other games our little guy figures out!

Climbing, Walking and More Climbing!

Well, it's safe to say that Owen is on the move!  He has been crawling and cruising the furniture for several months but now he is really moving.  This weekend he climbed upstairs, yes up the whole flight of stairs from our main level to our bedroom, including 2 landings by himself.  Of course as soon as we saw him climbing we quickly ran behind him to make sure he didn't fall.  But Mr. Independent wanted to do it himself.  We are in trouble!  I worked with him this weekend and taught him how to go back down on his butt and he was able to do a few steps on his own but he's still a little wobbly so we will continue to chase him and hold our breath that he doesn't fall...and that we get to him quick enough :)

Crusing...O has been walking back and forth on furniture for a while but just the past week he has learned to walk to things.  Meaning that if he wants something near the windback chair at the end of the couch, he will walk the length of the couch, take a step or two to his next object that he will cruise around until he gets to what he wants.  He made it from the family room almost to the dining room by holding on to pieces of furniture...OH BOY! 

This little man is smart!  He copies us and figures out how to do almost everything.  Chris and I decided that we are going to crawl every where we go from now on...ha :)

30th Birthday...WHOA...Reality Check, I am OLD!

My 30th Birthday was perfect, small and simple just as I wished :)  Although I did have to intervine as Chris was planning a surprise party.  He tried his best to keep it a secret but I knew all along.  He's not the best at keeping secrets, his face tells it all. 

My very bestest Lil and Neal came into town to celebrate and all my close friends went out to dinner to celebrate.  Chris knows my love for fish and took us all to GrillFish in DC.  He had bought several bottles of champagne and wine for everyone which was a nice treat.  I think at one point I was sitting with 5 drinks in front of me...maybe not such a great idea :) 

Mel brought my favorite, Georgetown Cupcakes for dessert...Yumm! 

And we finished off the night at Fly Lounge, yes this momma who hasn't been out in almost 2 years due to being pregnant and breastfeeding went clubbing...ha!  We had a great time!  I felt like my young pre-mom self again.   We decided we definitely need to have more nights like that to keep us young...ha!

Owen made me another sweet card with the help of his teacher Miss Katie...she is the sweetest!  And Chris and Owen got me the Nook...I was soooooo excited!  I am obsessed with it and it's so easy to use!  Also, Chris got me a hanging basket and and took me to dinner at Rio Grande, gotta have a litle Mexican in the b-day weekend :)

And my big gift, which I was completely surprised and still in shock...Chris is taking me to pick out a diamond and sapphire band to wear with my wedding rings.  I have wanted one to remind me of sweet little O and I can't believe Chris is getting it for me.  I am so excited to go and pick it out :)

I had a great birthday and looking forward to many more with my sweet hubby and little man! 

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was very special as it's my first to celebrate with my little man!  We had a great day, doing really nothing but spending some family time together.  We enjoyed a lunch out and did a little shopping.  It was such a beautiful day to walk around the town center. 

Owen made me the sweetest Mother's Day card with finger paint and he also got me a spa certificate to Red Door.  Much needed!  Chris gave me money (I know that sounds weird) but he wanted me to buy a fun new dress for my birthday dinner and didn't know what I wanted.  Cash Money!!!  Although I wasn't able to get out and get a dress in time for my birthday, it was a sweet thought. 

Lunch was at The Counter for custom built burgers...my choice :)  They have the best burgers and sweet potato fries...yumm!  Here's a pic of my HUGE custom burger (note sweet baby boy napped the whole lunch...so not like him).

Where did April go???

This month has flown by so fast mainly because of travel and that we have a VERY BUSY boy and have no time to sit down.  We love his little independence but O is into everything and crawling everywhere! 

Here's what we have been doing this month...

Owen took his first airplane trip to Lake Tahoe for Matt and Heather's Wedding.  He did great on the way out and slept 75% of the time.  The rest of the flight he spent talking to everyone around us and flirting with the girls seated behind us.  The flight back however, different story...O decided that he wanted to be awake the whole time and walk and play.  Thank goodness we had a whole row to ourselves and O had his own seat (which he was very excited about!).  The wedding was beautiful and the weather was nice, a little cold but what can you expect for Tahoe in April.  Owen also went in the big pool for the first time with Chris and Matt and he loved it!  Don't worry, the outdoor pool was heated so it was perfect for our little guy to be in. He cried when we took him out but I didn't want him to be out in the cool air for too long. 

The very next weekend I went to Miami for Crystal and Dean's wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony and my first Jewish wedding and I have to say I really enjoyed it.  I love how there is meaning to everything they do.  I was there for 24 hours so it was a very quick trip but I was so happy to be able to spend the day with them and then hit South Beach with everyone after.  I will admit I put up a fight to stay in, it was 1:30am and we were just heading out and I prefered to sleep instead AND we had a morning flight.  Let's just say I didn't win that battle and we ended staying out until close to 5am.  New Mommy+Partying in South Beach=ZOMBIE!  But it was fun :)

On to the worst part of April, NO SLEEP!  Owen has never slept throught he night, well that's a lie he did sleep for 4 weeks.  Now his sleep has gone from bad to worse.  We have been struggling to get his Reflux meds working and finally saw a GI specialist who got O on the right combo of meds and they seem to be working.  We also took him off formula b/c the Similac was giving him excema.  So yes, I am still bfeeding even though I planned to be done by all these trips and by 9 months.  So everything with his reflux meds are working but now we are struggling with Separation Anxiety in a bad way!  Owen is standing, climbing and jumping in his crib in the middle of the night for us.  We know he's not in pain so we have been doing a bit of tough love.  It's so hard to hear him cry but we have to teach him that he will be ok without us.  Also, we learned from our 9 month appt that b/c I nursed Owen to sleep at night that he has associated bfeeding with sleeping.  So when he wakes at night he wants to bfeed to get back to sleep.  It's not his fault but that's what he has learned and he doesn't know how else to get back to sleep.  I am reading Good night, sleep tight which teaches you how babies get attached to objects, actions etc and associate them with sleep.  Oh why couldn't O get attached to his lovey more :)  It also teaches you that sleep is a learned behavior so we have to teach O how to go to sleep and stay asleep on his own.  This has not been easy and we are still working on it.  More updates to come :)  Praying for sleep...9 months with less than a few hours a night is not looking good on me!

9 Month Appt - Owen did great and this was an appt with no shots!  We love those :)  He did get his finger pricked but that was nothing.  He was more upset over the band-aid than anything.  But then saw it had elmo and cookie monster on it and then he was excited :)  Oh the little things...ha!

Stats:
Weight 19lbs 25th%-tile
Height 30in 75th%-tile
Head 19in 90th%-tile (Yep, still has a huge head)

What Owen is doing...
-Crawling, crawling and crawling...and very fast now too!  He is into everything and has figured out how to open cabinets, drawers, etc.  We def have to baby proof our house soon.

-Pulling-up to stand and standing alone for 3-4 secs.  O has been pulling up to stand for a while but now he is standing alone for a bit until he realizes he is not holding onto anything then he plops on his butt. 

-Taking steps - O walks with holding our hands and also walks back and forth holding the sofa and in his crib (which is a slight nightmare when trying to get him to sleep).  My mom bought him a little car that he can stand up with and walk and I think this has helped him with taking steps and with balance.  Oh boy!

-O has 8 teeth, looks more like a little man now more than ever.

-Talking, Talking and Talking...O says Mama, Dada, Baba, SaSa (we think he's trying to say Sadie), YaYa (not sure where that came from) and Hi all the time.  And some other things that we can't understand.

-Imitating...this is the cutest thing ever!  He does, or tries to do everything we do.  He has learned to do air kisses and constantly puckers his lips.  I am trying to get him to put his hand to his mouth to "blow" kisses but no luck so far.  He tries to wave byebye but does it backward and with his hand down.  He's still working on it.

-Temper, Temper, Temper!  Can you tell O has learned to throw a fit when he wants something or something displeases him :)  He knows the word NO now but gives us the sweetest smile when we try to disipline him...ha!

-Eating, Owen still will eat a few baby foods but now prefers everything we are eating.  We are cooking organic foods for him and trying to season things so that we like them and so far so good.  Although we made turkey meatballs over the weekend and seasoned with oregano and found out that O doesn't really like it.  He loves most herbs but I guess Oregano isn't his fave.  He does a great job at feeding himself and will sometimes feed himself with a spoon.  He is also drinking water from a sippy cup for lunch, afternoon snack and dinner and he's doing great with it.  We hope to slowly move his evening bottle from before bed to dinner.  He's a big boy now!

-Banging toys (and everything) together!  His favorite thing is to bang everything on the table, floor, our heads.  Guess he's learning sounds and loves making noise!  He also has learned to throw things and loves to see how far he can throw his toys.  Oh boy!  Makes it hard to tell Sadie no when he's constantly throwing things to her.  We need to get some dog friendly toys for them both to play with.

-Favorite things for Owen right now - baths, wagon rides looking at Us Weekly :)  Yep, he loves magazines and it never fails that he wants to destroy my Us Weekly.  He also loves playing peek-a-boo and has learned to put his lovey over his face and play with us. 

-Things O absolutely hates right now - his room (we think b/c he associates it with sleep so he hates being in there), having his diaper or clothes changed.  He would much rather be naked...but who wouldn't :)

-And last and the worst part of his 9 months is SEPARATION ANXIETY!  He has now learned that when we are out of his sight, that we are not there and he gets so upset.  We are working with him to teach him that we are just around the corner but as soon as he realizes he is alone, he crawls at super speed to get to us.  Hoping this passes soon!

Hope to post more updates soon!  Here's a pic from Matt & Heather's Wedding weekend of our little guy in his Tie t-shirt :)