8 Months!

Thats right, somehow Eirik is now 8 months old!

In the past month hes mastered crawling and standing. He now pulls up on EVERYTHING and wants to play with everything he's not supposed to! He's even started to take a few tentative steps while holding on to things. The other big thing I have really noticed is now when I say his name he instantly turns his head! Before it was hit or miss, but now the second I say "Eirik" he turns and looks at me and usually gives me a large grin. I also have obviously been taking too many pictures of him because the second he sees the camera come out and aim at him he gets a huge cheesy smile.

He has 2 teeth now officially. I can't get a good picture of them because the little stinker loves to stick his tongue out at me! Foodwise we are still trying new things and reoffering old ones that he didn't take to at first. He still hasn't quite mastered the pincher grip so our food offerings are still a bit limited to things he can grab. I did buy some of those puffs and while he couldn't pick them up himself he quite enjoyed me feeding them to him!

I have to say here I think we are also doing better with sleep! Some nights are better then others, but we haven't had the night time battles like before in a LONG time. I think it helps that we are more focused on getting his naps in the day. He does still get up about every 2 - 3 hours at night... but honestly it seems like thats sort of normal for a breastfed baby of his age. I'm going to do another formal sleep log in a week or so... it'll be interesting to compare it to the last one! We have tried to attach him to a lovey but he has shown absolutely no interest in that what soever. I'm still trying though!

And just because no day is complete without baby laughter, here is a short video. Why he finds this toy so funny I still don't understand!

Technology Today

Close your eyes, relax, and think back to a time... a time when you yourself were a child. Computers? Few and far between. Cell phones? Who had those?! Cable TV didn't have millions of channels with still nothing on and the closet you could get to reality TV was an episode of Cops! Video games were a new thing and hardly anyone had them. Phone calls weren't cheap and and all correspondence was done by old fashioned mail.

Today I have found myself thinking about just how much has changed since I was a child. In Elementary school I remember how special our school was to have a computer lab! There weren't enough for each of us to use a computer so we had to share. I still remember our teachers telling us over and over "do not stick your finger in the hold of the floppy!" My dad had a laptop computer with a black and white screen because his job had something to do with computers (to this day I still couldn't tell you what he did). I remember watching him one night installing a new version of windows... sticking disk after disk into the computer. There were no cell phones. The internet? Well, I'd heard of it, but we didn't have it. It was expensive to get connected! We had a Nintendo, but not a ton of games for it. I remember talking to my relatives in England only on birthdays or Christmas because it was so expensive to make a call. I remember having a boom box with a cassette player and thinking how cool it was. Sometimes my dad would take me to the record shop with him... yes, the store sold vinyl!

Just how much things have changed!

I realized today Eirik will never know a world where computers are a luxury item. I'm embarrassed to confess here my household currently has 5 computers.. My husband and I each have a desktop and a laptop and my husband has an additional music computer built especially for that purpose. He will never know life without being connected. At the age of 8 months old he already has a pretty impressive digital "footprint". By the time he is a teenager I can't even begin to imagine the sort of technology that will be available to him. In just 10 years look how far cell phones have come! What was once a device used to make calls can now surf the web, post facebook updates, make calls, and even tell you how to get from point A to point B!

When I was a child photographs took a week to develop and were picked up at the grocery store. You could get copies and mail those to your relatives. Now I can instantly take a photograph of Eirik, put it on the computer, and e-mail it to my parents. Video? I still vividly remember the big bulky video camera my friends dad owned. Today my cell phone can record videos and upload them directly to a webpage.

Today however I got to experience one of the best aspects of all of this new technology. This afternoon I sat in my living room and had a video chat with my entire family in England. What was impossible to do when I was a child is now commonplace. I could see the look of happiness and joy on my relatives face as they sat watching Eirik playing with his toys on the floor. No longer do they have to wait to see updated pictures and hear about what he is doing. No, now they can watch. I smiled because even though today he doesn't understand who the people on the screen are, I know as he grows up we can continue to have these video chats. It will give him a relationship with his grandparents and great grandparents that I never had.

I can't begin to imagine what sort of technology will be coming out in 10 years time. Really, its amazing how far we've come.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So it seems like the theme this Thanksgiving is sickness. I can think of 4 families who are all sick at the moment, and that's just off the top of my head! There is something nasty going around at the moment I guess! I was feeling worse this morning instead of better. Thankfully Eirik decided to sleep in a little so I got some much needed extra sleep. As the day went on however I slowly began to feel better. It gives me hope that maybe by Saturday i'll be good as new!

Eirik enjoyed his first Thanksgiving!



He even ate some thanksgiving food!



Despite the look on his face he did really enjoy the turkey! The carrots not so much and I don't think he even touched the brussel sprouts. Unfortunately he woke up early from his second nap which meant by the time we all sat down to eat dinner he was starting to get a little tired and fussy. I've noticed the more tired he is the less interested he is in eating.

He even did okay with my father in law! For some reason Eirik always cries when my father in law comes over. We have no clue as to why... it must just be one of those weird baby quirks. It started when he was about 3 months old and has only gotten worse instead of better. Of course as soon as my father in law came over he started to get upset and unsure, but by the end of the evening he had crawled over to him and sat on his lap!

So I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now I am off to get some much needed sleep!

Lots of Sickness

My appologies for my lack of updates recently but it seems everyone in the house has been or is sick! First my husband got sick last weekend and then last Sunday night Eirik woke up at 2am with a fever. Thankfully he doesn't seem too worse for the wear now.. but sunday night and monday were rough and then, go figure, I got the cold so now I am sick! I can't win! I really miss my awesome immune system. Before having Eirik I hardly ever had a major cold yet in the past 4 months I think I have had 3! Its going to be a long winter if this keeps up!

Here are a few photos to tide you over. Between being sick and preping for Thanksgiving tomorrow I'm beat!

I'm one of those women...

I wanted to post this last weekend but one thing led to another and an entire week has gone by.

Last weekend I became one of those women. Those women who you hear about on the news who breastfeed anywhere. Thankfully unlike the people on the news no one said anything to me. I find this funny in a way because I am a very modest person and a very non confrontational person. I tend to go with the flow, keep the peace, and not do anything extra to draw attention to myself. Before having Eirik my friend and I had an in depth conversation about breastfeeding in public and I always said "oh, i'd probably find somewhere quiet to go".

I know I posted about the first time I nursed in public. A terrifying experience! But with my parents visiting and us being on the go so much I quickly got used to it. However even so I still always tried to find a quiet area to feed him. If there was a nursing room I would use it or sometimes I would simply wait until I got to the car. Eirik has never been one for the covers and honestly neither have I. I have one sitting on a shelf that has never been used... not once.

Then last weekend I was in Barns and Noble with my husband. I was walking around with Eirik and he was fussing... I knew he was hungry but honestly there is no where in Barns and Nobel thats out of the way. They used to have big chairs in quiet places but since people used the bookstore as a library they centralized all the chairs... right next to a window and the checkout area.

I thought about it for about 5 minutes. Do I go back to the car or do I simply sit down and feed him in the big comfy chairs? I went back and forth in my head before finally realizing I was being stupid and sat down and fed him. And nothing happened. No one flinched. I don't think most people even realized what I was doing in all honesty. They probably thought I was just cuddling with my child.

I am always paranoid when I feed Eirik in public that people can see what I am doing and I'm flashing people left and right. But as this picture shows thats not the case.



And to think, all this time i've been nervous and paranoid for nothing!

The Payoff

I am frequently asked when I go out with Eirik if he's my first. My response is yes which is quickly followed by some sort of comment about "is it harder then you imagined?" People are always shocked when I respond No. I had no grand illusions of parenthood being easy. I never dreamed that it would be a walk in the park. I anticipated sleepless nights, uncontrollable crying, and moments of sheer frustration. When I decided I wanted to have a baby I knew all of these things would occur. They happen to every parent no matter how wonderful their child is. You can have the baby that sleeps through the night from day one and is an "easy baby" and still have days where you want to pull your hair out. I never had any sort of romanticized visions about having a baby.

But while there are moments of sheer frustration they are followed by moments that make it all worth while. Nothing can compare with the first real smile... when they look at you and give you a huge grin with those wide innocent eyes. When you hold them as they sleep and they nuzzle their head in closer to you. Their tiny hands gripping yours so tightly. The uncontrollable laughter as you blow raspberries on their stomach. These are the moments that make you forget all the frustrations of the day.

Tonight I had one of those moments. I came home from work and walked in the door to find Eirik sitting on the floor. As soon as I came in, as usual, he got a huge grin on his face. Today however he crawled as fast as he could over towards me, grabbed my pants, and pulled himself up to a standing position waiting for me to pick him up.

That is the payoff that makes it all worth while.

Food Updates!

So we're still sticking with the baby led solids and I have to say I am sort of getting in a rut! I've been scouring other baby led solid websites for ideas on new foods to give Eirik. He still doesn't have the pincher grasp and gets easily frustrated when he can't get his food! It doesn't help we do dinner when he's already a little grumpy. Starting tomorrow we are going to start giving him lunch and dinner!

In new food adventures we've tried cauliflower, tofu, and chicken. The tofu he ate a bit of both times, but quickly decided against it. Not that I can blame him too much... i'm not a huge fan of tofu either! The cauliflower fell apart in his hands and he got frustrated with it... so we'll have to try that one again. Chicken was a hit, but i didn't cook it soft enough so he sucked on it more then he actually ate it! Oh, he also tried some butternut squash mash! That he enjoyed. He even fed himself using a spoon! Well ... mostly. He did get excited and started to wave his spoon around and globs of squash went flying around as well. The dangers of baby led solids!!

From 0 to 60!

Holy crap babies master this crawling thing quick! Just days ago I could put Eirik down and he would stay there... now the second he hits the floor he's all over the place! Needless to say this weekend has been spent rushing around moving objects out of his way and doing a serious round of baby proofing. Things I didn't think he could reach I suddenly found myself pushing out of his grasp! Its not just the crawling, its the standing too! He wants to pull up and stand on EVERYTHING. Of course this standing means he can reach things that I assumed he couldn't!

For example... he can now play the piano!



Other then that we've actually had a very busy weekend! Yesterday we went to Ikea where I saw tons of items I wanted to purchase but didn't need. I often forget how much I love Ikea until I go there! Sometimes I wish I could get my house remade into an Ikea house... organization and all! The models are so amazingly organized... i want my house like that! Today Eirik and I went shopping. I had lots of coupons and we have an outlet mall near us so off we went. Of course silly me didn't check the opening time and I showed up almost an hour early! Eirik and I power walked around the mall twice (its a mile around) and then got some starbucks while waiting for the stores to open. I got some much needed winter clothing (none of my pre pregnancy shirts fit still thanks to my larger chest size) and Eirik got an adorable hat.




I've rambled on enough for today. Tomorrow I have a food update! But i'll leave you with an amusing story, pictures included. This afternoon I was playing with Eirik and brushing his hair. He decided he wanted to hold the brush AKA eat it:



When he realized it wasn't tasty he decided to try adn play with it. The face he made whenever he touched the bristles was hysterical!



I was laughing so hard at him he ended up laughing too.

Not me singing...

but a video none the less! Enjoy! =)

No video yet...

But here are some cute photos! Due to some technical issues... aka, i can't get the video to shink to a decent size and keep the sound intact, the much requested video of me singing twinkle twinkle little star will be delayed. So, until then, enjoy these cute photos!

First up, Eirik and Daddy



Next we have him generally being cute



and lastly I was trying to get a nicer posed picture for a christmas card so i dressed him up in a nice sweater and put him on the couch against a black backdrop only to realize that now it looked like he had no legs! We'll have to have a redo session...



I promise the video of me singing will appear!

My Favorite Things at 7 months!

So I haven't done one of these in a few months now... and while Eirik still loves some of the same things there are some new additions!

1. Fisher Price Bat and Wobble Penguin - this is STILL a favorite! He LOVES it. In fact he loves it so much sometimes I get the annoying little musical ditty stuck in my head. Now hes big enough that he tries to body slam it to the floor... its quite amusing to watch!

2. Fisher Price Baby's First Blocks - I picked these up at Target about a month ago because they were on sale and Eirik didn't have many older toys. They were an INSANT hit! At first all he did was take the lid off and play with it... then he started to dump the blocks, and now he enjoys taking each block out one by one! They mostly get gnawed on at this point, but it keeps him entertained for a LONG time!

3. The cats. He LOVES the cats. Thankfully they seem to like him too!

4. Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. These two books are his favorite!!

5. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - whenever i sing it he gets the biggest grin. If you're lucky maybe i'll post the video of me singing to him later. =)

6. Drinking from my water glass. We're still working on sippy's and straw cups but he still absolutely LOVES drinking water from a glass.

7. Broccoli. This is a hands down favorite food. He also at the moment enjoys banana, baby mum mum, toast with hummus, and squash.

I think my child is a borg...

Okay, I am aware that the title to this post is odd and many of you may not even get the reference. To start with I am a sci fi/fantasy geek and when I was younger I watched a LOT of star trek. I wouldn't say I was a Trekkie by any means, but I know more then the average person. Anyway... there are a species called the borg and what makes them hard to defeat is that they can adapt so that they are immune to your weapons. How does this relate to Eirik? He can adapt to whatever sleep technique and then ignore it!

So I have to say we haven't been too great about the whole sleeping schedule simply because hes had a cold and its hard to start something like that when he's sick. But whenever we find some trick that seems to help him get to sleep for naps and night time it seems that the method works for 2, maybe 3 days before it doesn't work anymore. Its as if Eirik knows we're trying to put him to sleep and goes "AH HA! NO!".

First rocking him worked. I would hold him on my chest upright and pat his back and rock him. Then that stopped working so I would hold him in the cradle hold and rock him. Then THAT stopped working so we're now bouncing and swaying while I stand. This is only in the past two weeks... the list of other things that used to help him fall asleep but don't is long... for a while I could lay down with him and he'd fall asleep. That didn't last long... then we went back to swaddling. That worked the longest out of them all but before too long that as well stopped working. I tried just sitting still and patting his back and doing rhythmic sushing... yea.... that doesn't work either anymore. I've tried the whole "put them in the crib drowsy" thing and that has NEVER worked. Even when he was 2 months old the second I put him down he would be wide eyed and trying to play.

I told him I was going to trade him in for one of those babies that sleeps. He smiled at me. He's lucky he's so darn cute sometimes...

Crawling and Pulling Up!

As I said in my 7 month post, Eirik was on the verge of crawling and pulling up. Well, he has now accomplished both!

For so long now hes been doing this sit scott crawl... and while it was mobility it wasn't really what I would call crawling. Well, this evening he actually crawled... arms and legs were moving! He still sits a lot but I have to admit he is fully mobile now. let the babyproofing begin!

He also finally figured out how to pull up on the furniture! Not only that he took a tentative step which means cruising is going to be starting soon!!

I'm not ready for him to grow up!!

Another Favorite Food!

So we have discovered a new favorite food... Hummus!! I was inspired by other baby led solid blogs and thought "hummus on toast, why not?". I have to add here I LOVE hummus. I could eat it with a spoon! My husband however HATES hummus with a passion. After I eat it he always makes a comment of some sort! While I know hummus is easy to make I typically buy mine because I don't have a good food processor to make it with. The hummus in the house at the moment is trader joes. I actually looked through all their various flavors (they have a LOT of hummus!) to find the one with the least extra stuff in it. Well, it was a hit!



We've done it twice more... and now he just licks the hummus off the toast as opposed to eating the toast! Its really amusing to watch. My husband of course just rolled his eyes when I said I was giving him hummus. The fact he enjoys hummus has also motivated me to make foods with seasoning and give it to him!

In other food news I think we have hit sort of a wall with solids. he likes food, but dinner is rough because he's tired and grumpy and gets frustrated with his food. I think I am going to start having my husband offer him food for lunch as well. I know he doesn't need the food right now for nutrition (I actually saw a chart somewhere on how much nutrition babies need from solids before 1 year... its not a lot!) but I want him to get more used to eating food. So, next week we're going to do lunch and dinner every day! Right now he only gets lunch and dinner on the weekends.

Eirik and the cats

About half way through my pregnancy I started to freak out about having cats. I LOVE my cats... they are more then just pets to me. My husband always makes comments about how Caligula is my baby (he was my first cat!) and how I spoil the cats.

Freakout number one was sleeping arrangements. I've always had the cats in my room and yet here I was reading about how cats and babies shouldn't sleep in the same room together. How was this going to work? I ordered a tent to go over the cosleeper... but that didn't last because I kept freaking out it was going to collapse (can we say new mommy nerves??) so instead the cats were kicked out of the bedroom. I spent 2 nights listening to them paw at the door before one night my husband put them in the basement. I cried and told him to let them out and we'd just see what happened. (new mommy hormones + no sleep caused this reaction!). Imagine my delight to find the cats... ignored Eirik! They didn't go anywhere near the cosleeper. No, they were quite content to sleep at the foot of the bed. They did however think the cosleeper was their new bed when Eirik wasn't in it. I got in the habbit of tossing a pillow in to prevent cats from sleeping there. In fact his sheets got changed more because of cat fluff then because he made them dirty.

In fact at first the cats stayed as far away from Eirik as possible. Slowly most of them came around (Sebastian is still not sure of him) and while they didn't want to be with him they simply watched him from afar and ignored him. This worked great at first but now Eirik has reached the more mobile stage... bring on fear number two. Claws.

Yes, all my cats have their claws. I have by no means encouraged biting or scratching but... they're cats! If they get wound up or upset then they are going to react. I've always been super careful about Eirik's interaction with the cats.. making sure that he doesn't tug on their fur or pull their tails. However I have to say I am very surprised about how gentle my cats are with him! Even on the few occasions where Eirik has gotten a fistful of fur they haven't scratched or bitten. In fact my one cat loves to come and rub up against Eirik while I nurse him at night.

I have to say I am very releaved that so far the cats have been accepting of him. My one cat Caligula has actually mellowed out a LOT since Eirik was born. He is no where near as nippy as he used to be and is much more cuddly and wanting to be held and hugged.

Cats and babies can get along!





Note: No cats or babies were harmed in the taking of the photos. One cat did end up with drool on it and Eirik ingested some cat fluff.