Fen and his Great Grand"Pa Curt"...

Fen & his late Great Grand"Pa Curt", the first one was a couple of weeks after Fen was born and the second one was taken the weekend before Pa Curt died. Treasure the time we all have together each day.

It's Saturday night...

Bath time and play time...

Finally some pictures...

Here's our growing boy. One tooth has pushed its way through the gums and he is cutting a second tooth right next to it. Both are the bottom front two teeth. Exciting times. :)

No time...

Not much time these days for updates and I do this one quick just so you all know I haven't abandoned this project of keeping far away friends and family updated. We had an unexpected death last weekend and buried Fender's Great Grand "PaCurt" on President's Day. Thankfully we had just spent time with him the weekend before, but unfortunately it makes it all the more surprising and difficult to realize. I want to write more, but no time at the moment. Suffice to say I am truly grateful that PaCurt got to know Fender, if only briefly.

And Fender continues to thrive. We started him on a small bit of rice cereal, which he is handling well and now he eats a whole jar of squash in the evening. (Whole jar is very teeny, but a full baby serving, none-the-less.) We're so proud. I will update with pictures when I have a chance...hopefully sometime this weekend.

Fender & Pa Pa...

Playing with our food...

First few feedings Fen wore more of his food than he ate. We took a few nights off and now and our latest two evening attempts at getting a couple of tablespoons of rice cereal down Fender's hatch is going well. Thanks in part to Grandma who was over helping out last night. By the end of the feedings he is slurping the food down until it all gone. I have learned that the key is having the mixture slightly warm (or near room temp), and wait after mixing a few minutes to let the cereal water down a bit (which it does on its own). But I think I have it down now. This morning, I poured some cold milk in and wondered why every bite came with an "icky" face attached. I quickly ended that feeding and then it dawned on me that it was a very cold meal. He was much more receptive tonight, even opening his mouth a bit for each bite.

I am excited to think that we should be able to make it to our goal of 6 months breastfeeding. In fact, I am truly entertaining the idea of trying for the first year since, at 6 months, he will require less milk than before. I'm not committing to that plan just yet, but really thinking about it. I would think it would be easier to keep up than the first 6 months where it has been his only source of nutrition. We'll see. He is very healthy, nicely proportioned, not overweight, yet he is in the 90th percentile in both weight and length at his 4-month check up. So basically...he's doing great. And we are enjoying every moment with our happy boy.

4 month update

Fender's official 4-month stats...he weighed in at 17lbs. You may recall he was 7lbs 10oz at birth. He stands a stout size of 26 1/2 inches. Both put him well above average for whatever that is worth at this age. I think the key point is that he is healthy and growing strong, both physically and mentally. He is also teething, according to the doctor, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I haven't noticed any extra drooling...he has drooled a lot since 2 months. :) He has a few teething toys that he loves puttig in his mouth, but then he likes trying to put anything in his mouth at this point. :) The doc also suggested we start spoon feeding him solids to get him used to it. So we've given it a shot. He seems to like the taste of rice cereal and now squash, just fine, but is still learning the proper art of getting food from spoon into mouth and swalling. He wears lots of his food most nights, but we'll keep trying. He still doesn't sleep through the night...well, did one night, but the dog was up sick that night so I didn't get any sleep. Ugh. He is sleeping better though, feeds once about 3AM, sometimes 4AM. And then will go back to sleep until about 7:30AM. Doc said it is normal for a nursing baby not to sleep through the night until 4-6 months. So we'll keep hoping and praying he will do that soon. So nursing apparently has its many pros and some cons. Oh well. Life is super fun with the kiddo. Here are some pictures to prove it.


Fender's first calculator experience...

Cute as can be...

Looking sharp and too smart for school. TGIF. :)

Accomplishments...

Fender was holding his own bottle for some of the time while daddy was feeding him last night. And he is much more interactive with his playcircle now. I have great video, but no idea how to get the video online for all to see. The last photo below, is Fender at daycare this morning.

Family visits...

Sunday before last, Fender had lots of visitors. His Great YiaYia, Papa and Grandma, and Auntie L all came to see him. :)

16 weeks...

Our Fender turned 16 weeks old this past week. He has his 4-month check-up scheduled for next week. Drew and I plan to start him on a bit of solids after the appointment. No particular reason, just to get him going on it. He's doing just great so far on breastmilk alone. In fact, when we saw the doctor earlier this week for his cold, he weighed in at 17lbs. I suspect it will be the same for next week. Doc said he looked great and was a very happy baby.

Thankfully, Fender is about recovered. He has a lingering nighttime cough and some nasal congestion, but even that wasn't much of an issue last night. I finally got some rest yesterday and again today, so with the antibiotics and sleep I am feeling much better. My throat is still hoarse and hurts, but we're mending. Drew is bringing up the rear, having gotten into the bad part of the illness later than the rest. He is taking my antibiotics, since he can't get to a doctor with his new job and all. Not sure how that will work out. I probably need to call and see if our doctor can give me more. Wish us luck. Thankfully, Drew should be feeling much better soon and hopefully we'll all be back to near normal for Super Bowl Sunday. Go Bears. (Drew is pulling for Colts). I don't really care either way. It would be nice for Peyton to get a SB win too.

I digress...here are a few old (week or two) shots of our big boy. He is surprising me more everyday. He spins himself around in his play circle thingy now and can reach out and touch everything. He is a very contented little boy and he makes us smile everyday. His Auntie L put him in the "very comfy" sleeping position surrounded by pillows and covered in a blanket. Aw...so precious. I decided to take a nap with him. :)

One last note for the day...Today is Sebastian's Birthday. He is one year old!