Andi’s exciting life.

Would you believe what I did last week? I went RUNNING! That’s right, me, the sedentary one. The most exercise I have done in a l-o-n-g while is going on walks with Falco, which is better than nothing but is not doing much to counteract my love of food and wine. A friend has a jogging stroller, so we borrowed it while she was out of town last week. I took me a week to motivate, but I finally took Falco out in it on Thursday and Friday. I would say I ran maybe 10 minutes and walked 15 each time, but we’ve all got to start somewhere. We both liked it enough that I am ready to get a stroller of my own and work my way up to running 30 minutes 4-5 days per week.

In order to make this purchase, I need to sell some other Falco transporters to make room for yet another piece of gear. So, the Zippy and the wagon gotsta go. Hopefully they will make a swift departure via Craigslist. I don’t mind getting rid of the wagon, but the Zippy hurts a little because I am sentimental about it. I spent hours and hours researching and test driving strollers while I was pregnant before I finally chose that one. Falco started riding in it when he was only a tiny baby, and he has had many adventures in it.

This is exactly why we still have almost every item he has owned since he was born. I need to choose a few (small) things that are special keepsakes and start cleaning out the rest. It’s easy to hold onto a onesie or stuffed animal as a momento, but strollers and furniture are a different story. I keep thinking we should save everything for a second child, but we’re running out of space in our already packed house. Besides, if we get rid of everything and Falco has a brother or sister later down the road, then I get the fun of shopping all over again!

Allow me to share this excerpt from an email I got about my baby’s twelfth month:

“Your baby’s vocabulary will have a growth spurt. You’ll notice that she responds to questions and commands. Ask, “Where’s your nose?” and she’ll point to her face. Say, “Get your shoes,” and she’ll toddle over to her booties.

It’s normal for your baby to know from three to 100 words. Most 12-month-olds recognize between 20 and 50. Kiss, dog, car, bottle, come, and sleep are examples of common words. Asking your baby to sleep might not get much response. But asking your baby for a kiss is usually a win-win proposition.”

Ask him where his shoes are and he’ll toddle to his booties!? Is this for real? Either I am a horrible parent or my kid is slow or something. That would mean that he not only understood what I was saying but was also capable of following instructions. After reading this, I thought maybe I just wasn’t giving Falco enough credit. I asked him for a kiss (supposedly a win-win proposition…) and couldn’t even get his attention enough to look at me. I asked where his nose or feet or hair were, and he either ignored me completely or just looked at me with a blank face like I was speaking gibberish. I do know that he understands some words like mommy, daddy, water, milk, light, etc. He just doesn’t really do (or not do) much on request. This email would have been more fitting if it said something like:

At eleven months, your baby loves to wreck everything he can reach, and if you tell him “no” he wants to do whatever it is all the more. He is especially drawn to unrolling toilet paper, climbing in the dishwasher, putting fingerprints on the TV screen, and putting shoes and dog toys into his mouth. He manages to be unbelievably cute through it all.

Now THAT sounds like Falco.

Falco drank from a straw today! When he first figured out how to suck water through it, I think it surprised him how fast it came and it all just oozed out of his mouth. He started to get the hang of it after a few tries though, and by the end of lunch he was practically a pro. The only problem is that the straw is so rigid that he can choke or poke himself if he spazzes out while drinking (which he tends to do). It will be a handy skill for when we forget his sippy cup when we go out.

Today was the big day: Falco’s first haircut! He did really well,
with only a little crying in the middle. I can’t decide if I like
his new do or not, but it looks pretty good and will grow long again
fast. Instead of just taking photos of the event, I took this
movie. It’s four minutes long, and if it’s too boring you can just
fast forward to the end to see the finished product. Check out the fancy
fairy princess/Harry Potter smock he got. Nice. There is a gap
of about a minute when he was crying and I stopped recording. During
the crying, he was reaching for me to pick him up — the first time
he has ever done that! I was sad that the first time he reached for
me I couldn’t hold him, but I don’t think he was too traumatized. He
clearly recovered pretty quickly. There are some before and after
photos below too — he looks even more like Matt now that they have
matching haircuts!

After the cut we went to Chili’s for lunch to celebrate. He ate
macaroni and cheese and cinnamon apples, which were basically apple
pie filling. That was surely the sweetest thing he has ever eaten,
and needless to say he liked it a lot. It’s really fun to be able to
order food for him off the kid’s menu now. He is such a big boy!

Here’s my most exciting news: Falco cut a new tooth on the top! I saw it today when I was hanging him upside down, which he loves and is the only way I can get a glimpse of his top gums. It is the tiniest dot of tooth just barely poking through his gum. It is the far left top incisor, and the area over the left center incisor is very swollen, so I think that one will make its appearance soon. Overall he has been doing well, but he did have a very hard time getting to sleep last night. He usually does great at bedtime, so we’re thinking his mouth was probably sore.

In other news today, he got himself to a sitting position by himself three or four times today. This should be bigger news than the tooth I guess, but he hasn’t quite figured out how to do it anytime he wants so it’s still a work in progress. It’s great that he is starting to get the hang of it because until now the only way he could sit was if we plopped him down that way. When he did it today, he looked so proud of himself and got really excited when I cheered for him.

On Friday he went in for his 9-month well-baby visit, and it was good except the doctor was a little concerned about his weight. On his growth chart, his weight went straight across this time instead of curving upwards. She said he looked good on exam but to try to get extra calories in him where possible. So, we’re trying to give him more high-calorie foods like avocado and cheese and add butter to his sandwiches, things like that. He will only eat as much as he feels like though, so we can only do so much. She said that he wasn’t grossly underweight or anything but to just try to increase his caloric intake if possible. He goes back at the end of September for a weight check.

The kitchen project is ticking along slowly but surely. We had inspections yesterday and today, which kind of held up the work. They are out of the way now though, so tomorrow the insulation will be completed and then sheetrock put up. Cabinets should be up by the end of next week and everything done by early the following week. Everything, that is, except the countertops and backsplash. The counters will be installed after all the other work is completed, and the backsplash will be the very last thing to be done. Hopefully it will all be complete by the end of September and then we will be living like kings in our palace of a kitchen.

Now, here’s for the fun stuff if you made it this far. I took this funny video of Falco yesterday. He thought it was hilarious when I put his hairbrush in an empty box and shook it around. Be sure to have your sound on so that you can hear him laughing.

Today Falco played peekaboo for the first time! I sat down with him in his glider, and he grabbed his burp cloth and held it over his face. I asked, “Where’s Falco?” and he pulled it down and looked at me. I said, “Peekaboo” and he looked excited and pulled the cloth over his face to do it again. He did it several times in a row and then played it again tonight before bed. I have only tried playing it with him a few times and didn’t think he really understood, so I was so surprised that he started it on his own today!

He still can’t crawl on his hands and knees, but he is getting pretty good at doing the combat crawl, dragging himself on his belly. He can get across the room if he is motivated to get something he wants. I think he doesn’t always remember that he can do it because he still gets frustrated sometimes when he gets on his hands and knees but can’t crawl properly, but he’s definitely figuring out how to go places.

Two different times today while I was holding him and eating a snack, I looked over at him and he opened his mouth wide, asking for a bite. It was so cute! Until today I don’t think he really noticed if I was eating, but I loved that he not only noticed but wanted me to share. He was just all around very cute and smart today, and I can’t believe how much he is growing up.

I’ve gotten behind on blogging again. I’d like to blame it on the
constant demands of motherhood leaving me no free time to write, but
the truth is Falco goes to bed at 7 p.m. and sleeps all night. I
could be typing away while he is in bed, but I’ve gotten addicted to
a little game called World of Warcraft, which is how I spend most of
my free time these days. Who can blog when there is leveling up to
be done?

Since I last wrote, the biggest change with Falco is in his eating.
I told you last that he was eating jarred baby food and doing OK with
it, but that is so last month. Since he never really took a shine to
baby cereal or baby foods, I tried my hand at making purees for him.
The only thing he liked was the pear/applesauce with cinnamon that I
made, but he was pretty lukewarm on everything else. We decided two
weeks ago to try offering him Gerber puffs, which is like dry cereal
that melts in your mouth. They were a hit! He ate them as fast as
we would give them to him. After that, we tried giving him tiny,
soft bites of food instead of mashed or pureed food. Now he eats
banana, plum, steamed vegetables, rice, and even chicken in small
bites. On Friday we gave him Cheerios for the first time. I was
afraid that he would choke on them because they are crunchy, but he
softens them up before swallowing and really loves them. Cheerios
are now an accompaniment to almost every meal. He seems like such a
big boy now that he can eat real food. I’ve even given him select
things off my plate at restaurants! He can’t feed himself yet
because he hasn’t mastered the pincer grasp, but I think he’ll figure
it out in the next month or so.

In the past few days, he has finally started to sit on his own for a
few minutes at a time. For the past month or so, he would sit
briefly and then arch his back or lean to the side and fall over.
Now he sits and plays with a toy sometimes, though he still needs a
pillow or a person behind him in case he falls. When he is on his
stomach, he can get himself up on his hands and knees and rock back
and forth, and I think he will crawl pretty soon. He seems very
frustrated that he can’t move around and get where he wants to go.
Once he figures out crawling, he will be hard to keep up with!

We also have a lot going on with the house. Anyone who has seen our
backyard knows that it has been a dump as long as we have lived
here. We finally just got a new fence, some concrete removed, the
ground leveled, and ground cover planted for a lawn. I am thrilled
and only hope I can manage to care for the lawn properly so that it
will fill in. We’re going to get a grill this week and hang a baby
swing for Falco from the tree. It will be nice to have a nice space
back there for him to play as he gets bigger. In even bigger house
news, we’re moving forward with our kitchen remodel! It is scheduled
to start August 20. We’re dreading the actual process of the
remodel, but very excited about the finished product. I’ll post
daily photos of the remodel here like I did with the bathroom.

June photos are up. Here are a few of my favorites:

Tuesday Falco had his recheck with the cardiologist to make sure his murmur had gone away. The initial murmur due to narrowing of the pulmonary arteries had gone away, but the doctor heard a new innocent murmur. He said this type of murmur is very common and generally can’t be heard after ten years of age and that it didn’t need any type of followup. Anyway, while we were there I felt Falco’s gums, as I do every few days, to check for any signs of teething. To my surprise, I felt something sharp on his bottom gum! He cut his first tooth! It has just barely made its way through the gum, so it feels like a sharp edge and looks like a silvery line. I was so proud, excited, and sad that he is getting so big. I was also very happy because he hadn’t been fussy at all for the days leading up to the tooth, so I’m hopeful that he won’t have a hard time with teething in general.

First, let me give the bad news. On Monday, Rosco had to have his right eye removed. He has had chronic problems for the past eight months that are painful and caused him to lose most of his vision in that eye, so we decided that the best thing for him would be to just have it removed. I just picked him up today, and he seems to be handling it very well. His vet is in Pacific Heights, AKA the rich neighborhood, so I had to walk my one-eyed dog down the busy streets with all the beautiful people. He was walking proudly, completely oblivious to what a horror show he looks like with one eye stitched close. In a couple of weeks, the stitches will be out and the hair will have grown out a bit, and he’ll just look like he’s winking all the time. We have already fondly started calling him “Lefty” and “Squints.”

Moving on, I have exciting news about Falco that I have been reluctant to share because of the fear of jinxing it. For over a week he has slept through the night almost every night! He first did it three nights in a row on his own, sleeping from about 6:30 p.m. until around 5:30 a.m. He had a night of waking up a couple times again, and I decided that I would try letting him cry (more like moan or fuss) for five minutes before going into his room and feeding him. The first night I tried it, he went back to sleep on his own within the five minutes. I was surprised and shocked and happy. I kept doing it for subsequent nights and it kept working. The past two nights he has woken up at around 4:45 and needed help to get back to sleep, but I bet he’ll be pretty consistently sleeping all night long pretty soon. It feels so luxurious to go to bed and not get up again until morning!

Yesterday was Falco’s four-month well-baby visit. As you know, we had been dreading it because he had to get vaccines and he seemed so uncomfortable and upset after his shots last time. Matt was able to come to the appointment too, and I expected to need the moral support. He was very good for his exam, as usual. He weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces and was 26-1/2 inches tall. (That’s about the 50th percentile for weight and 95th for height.) Eventually, it came time for his shots. Luckily, we had the nice nurse this time, Stella, and not that mean guy from last time. She asked us to let Falco lie on the exam table instead of holding him in my arms, which I ended up liking better. When we layed him down, he was laughing and laughed through the restraining, alcohol, and the first shot! After the second shot he was sort of half laughing and half crying. When she got to his other leg for the other two shots, he cried a little for the third shot and started crying loudly after the final one because it stung. As soon as I picked him up and we gave him the pacifier he calmed down, and he just whimpered a little until we got him in the car. He slept the whole way home and was pretty much back to himself by the time we unloaded him from the car at home. I’m not sure if it went so much better this time because he had Tylenol on board before the shots or just because he is bigger and sturdier, but whatever the reason, he did fabulously and we were very proud of him.

To top off the day yesterday, I put him on a blanket on the floor before his bath last night, and he rolled over! He had been trying to do it for the past week or so but hadn’t been able to get past rolling onto his side. Last night he did it four times, so it wasn’t just a fluke. I was very impressed. Oh, also yesterday, he played with his first truck. We got him this big cement mixer truck that we figured he was too young to play with yet, but when we showed it to him while he was sitting in my lap on the floor, he pushed it back and forth and spun and dumped the back. It was cool to see him play with something besides just a boring rattle that he puts in his mouth, and it made me look forward to sitting on the floor and playing with him when he gets a little bigger. Here’s a teeny video from my phone of the rolling over event:

Our ongoing struggle with Falco is daytime sleep. He apparently thinks naps are for babies and would rather stay up all day, but he gets fussy if he doesn’t nap. I can usually get him to take two naps a day, but they might only be 30-45 minutes long. I have read that babies often get better at napping around 5-6 months of age, so I’m still hopeful it will just improve with time. Even if it doesn’t though, I’m so glad that he sleeps so well at night that I don’t really mind the napping situation that much. Even when he’s fussy, he’s still pretty good and I can deal. If we’re ever really desperate for him to nap, we just go on a long car ride and that does the trick. Speaking of naps, he is actually taking one right now so I need to go get some chores done and end this mega post!

I can’t believe that Falco is already four months old. He is trying to roll over now, though he hasn’t been quite successful yet, and he has become quite the athlete in his Jumperoo. Before long, he is going to be sitting up on his own and eating solid foods. While I don’t really wish he would slow down on growing up because he gets cuter and more fun all the time, I do wish I could record every minute of his babyhood so that I could remember every moment forever. It’s already so hard for me to remember him as a tiny newborn who couldn’t hold his head up and slept all the time. I know the cute little things he does every day will be distant memories soon as he grows out of them. At least he is always replacing old adorable habits with new ones, so that makes it a little easier.