7 1/2 Months Old and Counting

This baby is growing up! We were amazed at 5/6 months, when he started seeming like a real baby to us (not just a little squirmy thing), and now at 7 months he seems significantly more of...a person, I guess! His watchful gaze seems much more focused and inquisitive, he continues to love eating, and watching others eat, he LOVES bouncing in the hanging chair, and has very predictable tickle spots, making it easy, and fun, for us! 

Fat and happy enough to graduate from Children's Hospital?! A-yup. 

Jumping is the BEST thing. 

Road trip to CT for...

...1st Thanksgiving!

In RI for Hanukkah & Cool Kid lessons. 

Eating a 'mum mum' cracker, mostly naked, is nice. 

Snuggles with Mina the cat. 

Looking awfully cute in his winter-wear.  

Watching the snowfall from Parker's Maple Barn with Aunt Sharon. 

Happy in snow, in his new snowsuit. 

Fascinated by Josh vacuuming.

Just being a big kid, hanging out. 

xoxoxo

Unimpressive Parent Brain

...is when it takes me 2+ hours to put together a highchair with fairly clear ilkea-like directions. Spanning from hsppy-baby mood, to cranky, to naptime, through naptiime, to a few minutes before he wakes up. Mostly because I practically finish it and then practically totally disassemble when I realize I've missed a step. At least 4 times. 

...is when Josh changes the baby (diaper/out of pjs), taking an extraordinary amount of time to do so, and upon completion realizes the baby had peed on himself very early in the process, and has to start over from scratch. And then manages to take even longer than the first time for this redo. So much for the morning! Hello, afternoon! 

Ollie B is 5 months old!

One perk of being 5 months old, is that over the last month his sleeping got WAY better (thus no blog-writing during one of his many nightly nursing sessions) - though that seems to be taking a few steps backwards these days...aye... I am extremely reticent to try out the sleep training (he just seems so little still, to be left alone to cry!!), so before we go there, next up is trying to get him to not only nap, but also sleep all night in his CRIB. Next weekend we try. :-/

Below are some 'catch up' photos of stuff that's been going on the past month:

Laughing hysterically at the sound of fingers on a balloon! (Also have a fabulous video of this :-)

Using his stroller with the 'big kid' seat, graduating from the bassinet!

Becoming friends with Jack, just a couple weeks younger than himself. 

Trying applesauce for the first time - he liked it! Has also tried avocado now, too. 

New carseat(!) which I excitedly installed and used for less than a day, once I realized this one doesn't have a sun shade OR recline well, meaning a slumped sleeping neck, and me freaking out he'll stop breathing...

First walk in the woods, enjoying some quality leaf-play time. 

Looking like the big kid(!) on a hangout with my friend Alesha's boy, Camden (just 9 weeks old!)

Daddy discovered Ollie loved this standing activity!

Hanging with big cousin Max at the Decordova Museum, during Aunt Susan's visit. 

Showing off the fabulous double chin on his first try in a swing!

For the Love of Sleep

Oliver may be many wonderful things, but one that he has not been is a solid sleeper. From the get go, it took us MONTHS to get him to sleep somewhere other than directly on our chests/in our arms. Then came the many sleep swaddles. The muslin blanket...the pod....the swaddleme...and finally the truly miracle Miracle Blanket. As close to a baby straight jacket as I can imagine, Ollie has loved the comfort of being bound up in this for months! Alas, the time has come to both experiment with him sleeping out of this swaddle, as well as out of the swing (with a now burned out motor!). 

Stage 1 = trying to replicate the comforting shape of the swing, but in the crib:

Success!! He now takes all his naps like this! (As viewed from our video monitor:)

Stage 2: Move from the Miracle Blanket to a Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit. (I now understand why these names are not absurd, but rather completely accurate - only miracles and magic could make a baby sleep!!!!)

Today will be our first test run of this sleep suit - fingers crossed!!! 

VT Vacation

Our wonderful friends Michael and Ya'ara with their awesome 2 year old Adam are visiting from Israel for several weeks and we have escaped all together to VT for a 3 night trip. So wonderful! A not so wonderful part, despite the wonderful visits to King Arthur Flour, The Pelkey-McLanes, and Michael's brother (specifically on his Burlington sail boat!), is the stomach bug being passed around. :-/ On our last full day both dads were taken out of the game with it. Booo. Ya'ara and I managed to escape the house with the little boys mid-afternoon and toured quaint and pretty Middlebury. One last night here, and hoping for a miracle in the morning with everyone back to healthy! ...and fingers crossed Ollie and I manage to escape the hand-me-down germs....!!!

Here Ollie gets outfitted for our sailing trip. Happy for this moment, at least, before the fussing began!

Here, Ollie and I take in the rural road sights (ie corn...yellow jackets overrunning a vacant mailbox....) while the rest of the crew naps the morning away. 

Here is a relaxing Ollie on our first day here at this beautiful B&B on Lake Champlain. 

And here are Ya'ara and Adam exploring Middlebury's Otter Creek with us. 

Musical Toes

In one of our car trjps recently, in attempts to quiet a restless baby, we learned he could push his feet against the little keyboard to make music. Hilarious! 

Alas, this blog won't take video! 

Enjoying Gifts

Ollie is currently in "super speed growth," since we added formula into his daily diet about a month ago. Instead of 1 pound a month, as was his norm, he is now gaining 1 pound a week! Besides looking comically fat in the face in comparison to not that long ago, he is able to fit into new outfits! Here he is sporting the cute outfit given to him by Jill and Stu Ward. 

In addition, as he is 4 months tomorrow(!), he has been trying out new skills, mainly two-handed feats, like grasping toys and his feet. Here, he has recently discovered the greatness of So
phie. Thank you, Godseys!! The squeak makes him smile every time. :-)

Grocery Store, at last!

It has taken until now, with a 16 week old Oliver, to feel confident enough in his tendencies to brave the supermarket. We had tried once WITH Josh, at maybe week 8 or 9, and the horror with which I wheeled his red faced screaming little stroller out of the aisles kept us away from there until now! 

This time, the car ride there and back only had minimal fussing. Success! And he fell asleep in the Bjorn about 5 minutes into the shopping. Success! And a helpful couple in line helped me load my groceries for check out as he began to wake up. Friendly success! And I managed to load the groceries, nurse him the car, get me into a bathroom and then get home before any semblance of that horrible first grocery store attempt. Success!!! Thanks, little guy! 

Smiles

We purchased an SLR camera just in time to capture Oliver's erupting smiles.  At 10 weeks, he is full of wide, happy smiles for us!

Ollie in Photos: First Month

wrapped up in Hanna Andersson and a hand knit blanket in the hospital

                  snuggled up close and cozy

    serenely sleeping in Jen Hirtle's hand knit hat

only minutes old!

loving the 'podster' c/o Laura Curran

                  

rocking the eggplant hat and one of those silly sleep smiles

  

lambswool rug + cute baby = so pretty!

         

snug in the Ergo infant insert and some sun shade, and ready for a walk!

getting bigger and looking fabulous in baby leggings

         

  big blue eyes

          

          discovering his arms = disco moves

     






           

magically asleep in the MamaRoo

           

sporting a rare smile and his great great grandma's baptismal gown (this is at 3 weeks old, the same age mommy was pictured in it!)