Autumn Fun

Wow, October has been an exciting month for my little man--first tooth, almost crawling, solid foods... The other day, he experienced his first ridiculous Halloween costume.  I came home to him half-dressed in what was going to be his Halloween costume (a hand-me-down bonus):

Bat Boy

Unfortunately, like so many other clothing items that Weston has, it's too small.  He's almost outgrown his 9 months pajamas, and I'm going to have to do another round of putting clothes away and pulling bigger ones out.  It amazes me how fast babies grow.

Here he is earlier in the day, rocking a few downward dogs and babbling about ma-ma and ba-ba:


Today we went to Devou Park in Covington and snapped a bunch of pictures of our baby boy.

First swing ride at the park

Ready for a nap after the fresh air

Like father, like son

Overlooking Cincinnati

Adios, Breast Milk Poo

Hello, sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocados!  We started Weston on solids a few days ago and, wow...it really was nice changing simple diapers for the past 5 and 1/2 months.  Now they're a lot more--shall we say--complicated?  And stinkier?

He absolutely loved the sweet potatoes I gave him (and that I made!).  It wasn't that difficult to feed him from a spoon, either.  He opened up, made a few "What the *@$# is this?" faces, and then swallowed like a champ.  Then he promptly opened up for more.

Steaming Honeycrisp apples

Puree on!

Ready to go in the freezer

Loving the sweet potatoes, but a bit confused about the food source 

Such a big boy!

Why do they always grab at the spoon?

I was really, really hoping that feeding him solid foods would help him sleep through the night, but, nope.  No such luck.  He's still waking up at least once to be fed.  He sometimes wakes up twice, but I've been letting him cry himself back to sleep.  Two weekends ago he slept from 7pm to 5am, woke up, fed, and then went back to bed until 7:30am.  That's the longest stretch we've ever had.

Dear Tooth Fairy...

Somebody cut his first tooth today!!  I noticed the bud on Tuesday after what was a unusually difficult day--weird naps, diaper rash, crabbiness.  And 48 hours later--viola!--we have our first tooth.  It's the lower left one.  I hope the rest of his teeth are as easy as this first one was.

Can you see it?

Can you see it now?

Rocking the sippy cup

HappyBabyJumpingTimes

Our little spaz loves his bouncy seat, a gift from his "aunties" back in Milwaukee.  We're training Weston to capitalize on his nearly off-the-charts height percentile by working on his vertical jump, complete with a little Adidas warm up outfit from Grandma.  Doesn't he look like Ari and Uzi from The Royal Tenenbaums?

My Dirty Belly Button

My body has changed in ways that I couldn't really have predicted a year ago.  Yes, one of them has to do with my belly button.  However, none of the changes are so horrid that I can't come to grips with my body post-baby.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1. I never did get the full-on outie belly button, but it was definitely stretched out.  It's got a bigger diameter and I think it's slightly deeper.  That's why I mentioned my dirty belly button.  I never really had issues with things in my belly button before because it wasn't big enough to collect anything.  Now, it seems as though I have to pay special attention to cleaning this "new" body part.
2. Hair, hair everywhere...  I think my hair loss has finally calmed down--just in enough time for Weston to rip the remaining locks out of my head with his hands.  Some report that their hair gets thicker, curlier, straighter, or thinner.  I think mine is pretty much the same--there's just less of it right now.
3. Baby's got back...and hips!  I am within 5 pounds of my pre-preggo weight (can I get an AMEN for breastfeeding?).  However, I don't think that my weight is distributed in the same way that it was before baby.  Most of my pants fit, but they just fit differently.  A round of applause for my son's 95th percentile head circumference that shifted ligaments in my pelvis and altered my anatomy.
4. I'm not one to wear make up, but I think I need to invest in something that will lighten up the ever-darkening circles under my sleep-deprived eyes.
5. The muffin top that feels like a bowl of Jello...  This is the one that bothers me the most.  It's shrunk a little bit, but it's still there, like an artifact left over from a previous civilization.
6. Boobs...I am simply amazed at what the female body is capable of.  I've been the sole provider of food for my little man for over five months now and he's just about doubled his weight.  That's a lot of breast milk that's been produced, but at a price to the "factories."  It's okay--I wouldn't change the bond that he and I have for anything.  In fact, the only time that I think everything's okay with the world is when I'm nursing.

Weston the Geek

Weston,

I promise we're laughing with you and not at you.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Geeked out with Dad in the workshop

Sporting Dad's safety glasses (from the 1940s?) 

I'm the one who looks like a weirdo here

Listening to Dad explain how the particle collector works (post diaper change)

This is the funniest picture we have of him yet.  Not quite sure why he wouldn't relax in the swing...

Already?

As is becoming our little custom, I came home from work this afternoon to a smiling baby boy sitting with Dad on the porch.  I kissed both of them hello, and as soon as Nate ended his phone call, he told me to "Come see this."

He put Weston on the bed, and he helped him get his legs tucked under his body.  Of course, Weston wasn't interested in showing off his new trick, so Nate had to fill me in on the details...He pushed himself up onto all fours and rocked back and forth a bit before he toppled over.

Already?  He's not even five months old (although he will be in a couple of days).

I did get to see this amazing feat this evening before bath time.  I was quite impressed.  Nate was able to capture it this afternoon: