5-6 months old!

Where has half a year gone?? I vividly remember when you were just born. I can't believe it. You are such a fun, smiley, happy boy. You have your moments, but in general you are a very easy baby. You are now sitting up pretty well on your own. You can pull yourself up on your knees and then stand when grabbing onto the crib bars. You have eaten rice cereal, avocado, and this week carrots! I just ordered you a high chair on amazon! We went to Seattle for Kristopher's wedding and you were a wonderful little traveler. We called you our gypsy child since we spent the night in so many places! You met your Italian great grandparents. I can't believe you have FIVE great grandparents in your life right now. You met your Aunt Uncle and cousins from NY. Everyone just adored you. Here are some pictures from 5-6 months.

 Eating rice cereal for the first time

 Meeting your future wife Penny

 You are so proud!

 Mommy circa 1980, you circa 2013!

 You, cousin Kelsey, and dad all decked out for the wedding

 A family of spies

 With bff Jenna at the rehearsal dinner at Salty's

 We rode from the train station to the hotel in one of these bike carriages!

 Silly Moose

 Riding the train!

 Handsome Salerno men

 With your great grandparents at Snoqualmie falls

 Handsome boys

 Grand Mama Kangaroo

 Such a cheeseball!

 Sweet at 6 months

Things I said "I'd never do"

I have to write these down while they are still fresh in my mind.....

Before having my baby, I used to judge. I'd look at my mommy friends and say to myself "Well, I'd never do THAT!" Ha! Here's my list so far of "I'd never" followed by "in reality"...

1. I'd never rock to sleep or let him nap in a baby carrier. I'd put him in his crib for naps. If he chose to scream and cry, well that was his choice. He'd eventually fall asleep. If he was tired, he'd sleep.

In reality....you think you won't get any work done wearing your quiet sleeping baby around the house? Well, you won't get ANY work done due to the stress of hearing him scream and cry from his crib. He won't eventually fall asleep when he's tired. He'll have the world's biggest most epic melt down and be so colicky and cranky the rest of the day you will go insane. What's two hours of wearing him while he sleeps soundly in the ergo compared to an entire day of cranky, sleep deprived, monster baby?

2. I'd never sleep in a different room than my husband.
Reality? What's the point of having two sleep deprived parents in one household? Let the guy get a good night of sleep so he can take care of YOU while you take care of the baby. And now that the baby sleeps through the night? Well that's great. But you still have to get up to pump, to check on him to make sure he's still breathing, to just be close to your infant because you feel much better that way. It's much easier to get up from the guest bed in his room vs going up and down two flights of stairs every night.

3. I'd never breast feed past the age of 6 months.
Reality? I feel like I'm going to have to breastfeed him for the rest of his life because it's the answer to every single problem. He's fussy, stick a boob in his mouth. He's tired, stick a boob in his mouth. He's teething and colicky, stick a boob in his mouth. You want 30 minutes where he's quiet, calm, and not moving so you can just lay down? Stick a boob in his mouth.

4. I'd never be one of those moms who took forever in the bathroom or backing out of a parking stall.
Reality. Mystery solved. I'm sorry, gentleman waiting to use the Starbucks unisex bathroom stall, for taking my sweet old time. If you could see me, you'd see that I was wearing nothing but my socks and underwear while I did an entire load of laundry in the starbucks sink because I managed to get both baby poo and spit up embedded everywhere. And once I'd done doing this laundry, I'm moving right on to doing my dishes in this sink as well. I'm sorry for the wait.

5. I'd never be one of those moms who constantly talks about her baby and posts pictures on facebook.
Reality? This is the most amazing thing you have ever experienced. Your baby is the most beautiful, perfect piece of art you have ever created. Your greatest masterpiece. Totally worth bragging about! I'd brag if I won a nobel peace prize. I'd brag if I won an oscar or a grammy. Why not brag about my baby!

You Crawled today!!

August 26, 2013...we have a crawling man in the house!
It was a long night. My once "sleeping through the night from 6pm-5am" child had suddenly turned into a teething "waking up crying several times in the night" poor sweetie sleeper. You got up at 1am, and then 3am, and by then I just took you into bed with me and nursed you till 6:20am. I thought maybe I could catch a few more zzz's, so I put you in your crib happy and awake. But you were being so cute "talking" that I soon realized I wasn't going to get anymore sleep that morning, so I got up and walked towards your crib. I noticed you were up on your knees doing this wobbly froggy pose, and you lurched forward and bonked your head on the bars (but you didn't cry!) I couldn't believe it! You just crawled in your crib!! So I quickly took you out, put you on your floor mat, and you did it again. I caught it all on camera. It's just amazing what a day difference makes. You didn't show any signs of crawling yesterday. And here you are today crawling. And not only that, but the difference you made throughout the day. Today was my busy day teaching (1-6pm), so by evening time when I was done, you were crawling much better and faster than you were this morning. Such a strong boy!
Today you also had your first modeling gig for Eco Sole Essential organic clothes. You modeled some hats. There will be a photo shoot in her studio in the near future, but today she got an idea of what size head you have. You were the perfect model. And such a cute one too!

20 weeks old!

 We visit our sheepy friends up on our lot quite frequently. You love looking at the chickens, sheep, lambs, and dogs. You love animals!

 Naked on a bear skin rug

 Dada made the front page of the paper! To read his article click HERE

 A big smile with Papa Mike

 My favorite quote from Austin Powers...

Meeting your newest BFF Phoenix Lee. Amazing what a 4 month difference makes!

You are blowing raspberries. You love jumping in your jumperoo and johnny jump up (we always said we would never be those people who filled their house with plastic crap, but somehow we did!) You and I have a new routine where we take a 2 hr nap together in the afternoon. You won't take day time naps very well unless you are worn in the ergo baby carrier or sleeping and nursing with me. So I figure, hey! I could use a 2 hr nap too! I think I like this new routine!

Oh my, is time flying

 June 23, 3 months old!

 So into your toys now

 You found your nose hole when we were out at dinner for Tutu's birthday

 Old enough for Johnny Jump up

 You rediscovered this crib and enjoy hanging out while mama cooks in the kitchen

 The solution to the stroller/carseat aversion....a stroller you can face forward in! You love it!

 July 23, 4 months old!

I'm gunna get you face

I haven't been good about blogging lately! Here are some photos from the past month. You are now 4 months old and ALL about your toys. We just got you a "command center" jumperoo that you love. We have various play mats and stations throughout the house to "mix it up" for you during the day. You talk constantly and I swear the other morning you were singing in your crib. At least, you were "talking" with a more musical tone! You are still my early bird. You like to go to bed by 6pm and you wake up every morning at 5am by talking happily in your crib. I usually pull you into my bed at 5am and nurse you while we snooze till 7am. You LOVE being outside. You get in the zone and just take in all the scenery. You laugh and giggle all the time. You have discovered that your voice has power...you cry, I come right to you, you smile and are thrilled by this power! I bought 48 Berenstain Bear books on ebay (my favorite books as a kid) and we read one or two every day. You are just my little sweetheart and I love you so incredibly much.

Week 15: The latest and greatest

You are now 15 weeks old. You have discovered your voice and you "talk" all day long. Now I have two chatterboxes in my life! You are an early riser (your mama is NOT), but it makes me smile when I hear you wake up and "talk" instead of cry. I sleep in the guest bed in your bedroom for now because I still want to keep a constant eye on you. You can flip from your tummy to your back (although you cry when you do this because it startles you). I have only witnessed this live once in the middle of the night when I was trying to console you. But it was dark and I was half asleep, so please do it again in front of mommy so I can see, ok? You laugh and giggle. You cry when I walk away. You can hold your own bottle at times. You are very interested in your toys. Today was a very very fussy day, but we had a talk before going to bed and you "promised" tomorrow would be easier. Motherhood is the most amazing thing. It's also the most true testament to unconditional love and patience I have ever experienced.
Here are some picture of life at 15 weeks!

Three states in three months

 Never travel light again! This doesn't include the travel crib which we had shipped to Seattle

 First airplane ride! You were sooooo good!

 Meeting Uncle Kris for the first time

 Such great smiles with Grandma Kiss

 Such a strong head! This is the farthest I've seen you lift it!

 Meeting Aunt Kimi for the first time

 Mama's boy

 Being adored by your loving grandparents

First mohawk! My little cupie doll

You went to three states in three months. First stop was Seattle for Grandma Kiss's 60th b-day. You met Aunt Kimi and Uncle Kris and all your cousins and great grandparents up in Camano island. You were so good on the airplane. You slept the entire time and I even got to watch a movie on my ipad! After Seattle, we went to Austin TX for Alex's cousins wedding. You were the hit of the reunion. I didn't want to take away from the bride's special day, but you sure stole the show! It was so HOT in Texas. Too hot for my little heater monkey. During our 2 week vacation you grew and changed so much. You literally woke up June 30th totally different then the day before. You were a little chatterbox on the airplane the ride home. You talk and giggle and smile at everyone. You react to yourself when you see yourself in the mirror. You are so into your toys now and can grab and take a rattle out of my hand now. You are hours away from rolling over on your own. And you are just so so cute Alistair!! I have lots of pictures to post. So stay tuned!