GQ Z

The other day, our little panda was being quite interactive with the camera, so we held an impromptu little photo shoot.   He's definitely turning into quite a dashing young man...

swimming & seats

During the first weekend of spring break, we travelled to Bend for Z's cousin J's first birthday party.    While Z didn't actually get to go to the party (because cousin J got sick), the weekend did give us a chance to introduce Z to the swimming pool.    He was a bit tentative at first, but ended up really enjoying the pool, so we're looking forward to taking him to swim classes soon.

Here he is in his first moments in the pool:

In addition to being enough of a "big boy" to try swimming, we also decided that Z has become too big for his infant car seat.   So, right after getting back into town from Bend, we purchased a new, larger car seat for him.    Of course, now that he's not in the infant seat anymore, it's also time for him to start using the stroller in the normal fashion.    Fortunately, it looks like he still has a little bit of room to grow before the stroller is too small:

March Pictures - baby's first foods

So, for the last couple of weeks, we've started to introduce Z to "solid" foods and formula. It's a couple weeks before he's 6 months old, and he's big enough that he's "advanced" for his age and can handle them a little earlier. It has been a relief to have something to supplement his diet, since he's a hungry little guy and it was really stressing his mommy out to have to keep up with his demand.
So, here are a couple pictures documenting our first attempts at feeding him.
The first we tried was avocado - after a couple days trying avocado, it became clear that he just doesn't like it.



The next food we tried was banana, and we've had a lot more success with that. He definitely likes banana. Here he is with banana all over his face:

And our most recent introduction into his diet is oatmeal...he seems to be liking the oatmeal so far too....but, of course, it's not any less messy than the other foods...

5 months.

our little mothra is 5 months old now.  he had two more vaccinations on wednesday, and weighed in at 18 lbs, 2.5 ounces.  he's not a small guy.  clothes that are 9-12 months are the most comfortable on him, at least for pants.  i rarely dress him in anything but sleepers these days because pants really cut into his pudgy middle.  he's quite the little sausage!  he eats like crazy, and still doesn't like to suck very hard -  he likes a strong flow.  this means that he only half empties my breasts when breast feeding, and so i have to pump pretty much after every f#^&(ing feeding, AND i have to wake up every night and pump, separate from any time i have to get up and feed him, just to keep enough milk on hand for when i'm teaching.  on nights where j is on baby duty, it's certainly manageable.  but when i'm on duty, this means an extra waking.  and pumping is not quick.  it can take over a half hour to completely empty the breast.  and if i don't empty everything out, i won't produce as much.  so, it's 5:58am, and i'm finishing this night's pumping.  z has begun waking up earlier to eat.  he used to fuss around 3, and go back to sleep without us getting up, and then wake up at 5 or 6 to eat.  now he cried around midnight or 1, requiring us to actually get up & re-pacify him or re-swaddle him, then wakes up again at 3 needing a serious feeding.  perhaps it's switching to daylight savings time.  dunno.  anyway, i'm sick of the new schedule and my pumping.  some people are telling me to give up and start with formula, others are saying stick with the nursing, it won't last forever, that it's something you just have to endure.  some people say we're feeding him too much - he's so fat, and instead of feeding him, we should find other ways to pacify him.  others say if he's hungry, he should be fed.  i really don't know who to listen to, but i'm exhausted.  my breasts are sore.  my fingers and thumbs are getting cramps from so much compression while pumping.  i'm sick of these extra baby pounds, but being up a million times a night takes a lot of energy, and i'm too tired to exercise (and i barely have any extra time to exercise with all this stupid pumping), because i have to bear this lack of sleep without any caffeine because it affects z.  so i still can't eat any CHOCOLATE, and i can't eat things with onions, garlic, beans, broccoli, etc. during the week, i have to nap whenever z naps just to get through a day of teaching.  spring break is coming up - not this week, but the following week.  we're going to bend this coming weekend for our nephew's first birthday, and it will be our first time staying in a hotel.  aside from introducing z to swimming for the first time, i'm dreading it.  how will he sleep in a pack n' play?  will he wake up every hour?  last time we checked, he didn't like to sleep with us.  how will i pump in the middle of the night without waking him or j up?  will the refrigerator be large enough to store all the milk?  will the sink be large enough in which to wash all the pumping parts?  should i start formula?  i'm trying to wait until april 10, his six month birthday, but i'm sick of pumping.  i'm barely keeping up with him.  just when i think i'm getting ahead, he wakes up an extra time and eats a ton, and i see my bottles lined up in the refrigerator have disappeared.  feels like a kick in the gut.   

And some more pictures from February

Z using Vinny for a pillow - they're about equal in weight now...

Here's a picture of the beef wellington (and scallops wellington) with balsamic roasted vegetables  that j made for valentine's day dinner

Z after getting lotion on his scalp, and before getting a bath....he might not be quite old enough yet to truly appreciate the punk movement...

And here's Z in his high-chair, wishing he was having some of our blueberry pancakes for breakfast:

long overdue pictures

So, we've been bad about getting recent pictures up here on the blog.   Partially that is because our camera was broken for a while, but mostly it is because little Z has been keeping us busy 110% of the time.    It turns out that being parents actually consumes a lot of your time...who knew?!

These first 3 are from a super bowl party that we went to at the home offices of B.S. International.

And this one is at grandma&grandpa's house: