Nick Is Finally Crawling!

Nick Playing Catch!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Thirty-Eight Weeks!

Today Nick is thirty-eight weeks old! Merry Christmas to us - we gave ourselves a family :) We know this Christmas isn't a big deal to Nick, but it's a big deal to us. Our first Christmas with our own child! He's old enough to participate to a certain extent - sit up, hold presents, play with wrapping paper - but we don't expect him to actively participate. Hopefully we'll just get some cute pictures out of it! :) We put him in his special "My 1st Christmas" 'jams last night - so cute! Reindeer feet and everything :) More about last night later . . .

This week was busy! Last Saturday was the Pingle family Christmas party. It didn't start until 7 pm, which is after Nick's self-imposed bedtime of 6:30, so we went to Aunt Cindi's during the day to visit with Great Grandma Pingle and exchange presents. We headed out during Nick's usual naptime, so he napped in the car. He didn't fall asleep until we were halfway there, so to let him keep napping we stopped at Sonic to eat. He slept right through! We arrived at Aunt Cindi's house around 3 pm. Great Grandma Pingle was already there. We gave her the gift Nick bought her - a special ornament commemorating Grandma Juarez - and she gave Nick a cute personalized ornament and a turtle tambourine/washboard toy. It was so cute - he loved both and both immediately went in his mouth (well, one at a time) :) We hung out until Nick started to get fussy for bedtime - around 6 pm. Nick was very intrigued by their two dogs, Tigger and Deuce - two pretty big dogs. He hasn't been around pets very much at all, let alone two huge dogs. He wasn't scared at all! We put him on top of Tigger and took pictures, and even took a video of him fake-riding Tigger. He was laughing and smiling the whole time. At one point, he was sitting on the floor, and the dogs were walking back and forth around him - not touching him, just going by him - and he was just laughing and smiling the whole time. While he was sitting down they were about twice his height! We were shocked that he wasn't scared.

Over Friday, Saturday and Sunday Grandpa was working on Nick's playroom. He put on three coats of magnetic primer and two coats of chalkboard paint. We tested the magnetic primer - it works pretty good! It won't hold up heavy stuff, of course, but it will serve its purpose of holding up magnetic ABCs and 123s and some pictures Nick makes. We are really happy with it and so grateful that Grandpa was willing to take the time to do it for us. It would have taken us WEEKS to do, since we could only work on it while Nick was sleeping.

Sunday Melissa and Jim Madden came over for a visit and lunch. They got here around 12:30, and Nick went down for a nap around 1, so there wasn't much time to visit with him. He slept a long time - until about 3 pm. We read that between 9 and 12 months, babies will drop their morning nap - we've noticed that his morning nap is getting shorter and shorter, and his afternoon nap is getting a little earlier and much longer. When we woke up, he visited with Melissa and Jim, showed them his gymini and some other toys, and generally acted cute :) After Melissa and Jim left, Grandpa came over to do a coat of chalkboard paint. While it was drying, he sat with Nick while we ran up to Home Depot and bought the paint for the rest of the playroom. We selected Russian blue by Behr. By the time we got home, it was just about Nick's bedtime.

Monday was back to work and daycare. This week we started sending two solids, homemade cheerios and 14 ounces of milk. We quickly saw that with solids, 14 ounces of milk was too much, so by Wednesday I was only sending 12 ounces. I think more like 10 ounces will be sufficient. Nick ate sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado, and broccoli this week. He also drank some of his milk from a sippy cup instead of a bottle while at daycare. Still nursing the same amount at home. Monday Grandpa finished the chalkboard wall, and Tuesday he painted the rest of the walls. Wednesday was clean up and touch up day. And here's the finished product! We are so happy with it. The blue is the perfect shade of blue - not too masculine, not too feminine, not too young, not too bright, not too light.

Yesterday Nick was acting normally. We hung out at home pretty much all day. Grammie and Grandpa came over for lunch - unfortunately, they came over right when Nick went down for his afternoon nap, so Grammie didn't get to see him at all. Grandpa stayed longer and got to see him when he got up. They brought Nick a Christmas Eve present - two pictures to hang up in his room or his playroom. Jeff took Grandpa home, and by the time he got back, Nick had nursed, ate a solid food snack, thrown up, and was nursing again. He nursed to sleep this time, even though it was pretty early - before 6 pm. We thought maybe he was just extra-tired, so we let him sleep. But he was up within 2 hours. I nursed him back to sleep, then he was up within 2 hours. This time he was crying. This went on and on all night :( Poor guy, we don't know if it was his teeth or what, but he woke up crying several times and sometimes he wouldn't go back to sleep.

So, needless to say, this Christmas is starting out pretty roughly! We hope he has a better day and that whatever was going on last night has resolved itself. We want him to have a great 1st Christmas!

Later on we're going to Grammie and Grandpa's house. Tomorrow we're cleaning the house and shopping, getting ready for the Bradley reunion at our house on Sunday. Monday we're back to daycare and work for another short week. Thursday we're having a playdate with Nick's friend Emily, and then we're hosting a family-friendly New Year's party for all of our friends with kids. Friday we're taking Nick to his first New Year's celebration at the farm - we're a little anxious about the car ride. The other two times he's been to the farm he was much smaller so he pretty much slept the whole way. We don't think that'll happen this time :( But we'll see!

Nick is almost 9 months old, and he is busy acquiring new skills. He has mastered pulling up, and is proficient at going from his tummy to sitting up. He's working on standing on his own - he's holding on with only one hand when he pulls up now. Hard to believe he was a tiny lump just 8 months ago! Jeff and I always joke about how we thought he was so cute when he was first born, but he's way cuter now! He has so much personality and is so curious and loves doing new things. It's very exciting to see the whole world through the eyes of a baby, experiencing everything for the first time. We bought him a snowsuit, so we're hoping to take him out in a sled in February or March maybe.

Thirty-Seven Weeks!

Today Nick is thirty seven weeks old! Wow! It's going by so fast.

Last weekend we went to a Christmas tree ceremony for my mom at the cemetery. It was very nice - a lot of my family came. Nick stayed in the Moby during the service and barely made a peep! He is very observant and I think he just enjoyed looking around at all the different people and taking everything in. After the service we came home and just hung out.

Sunday we went to Baby Baby, a consignment store in Northville, and found Nick a snowsuit. It's a 9-12 months snowsuit - we don't anticipate letting him play in the snow until he's closer to a year old. Then we all trekked to 12 Oaks to try to get my MacBook fixed. They did not fix it, but Nick was hanging out in the Moby and got a lot of attention :) After he was asleep that night, Grammie Lundberg stopped by to watch him while Jeff and I ran out to Home Depot to get the chalkboard paint for his playroom! We got there only 20 minutes before closing time though, so we just grabbed the paint, a cord we need to make the diaper sprayer work on our toilet, and came home.

Monday was back to work and daycare. Tuesday night Nick didn't sleep very well - he was up a couple times, we think because of his teeth. Wednesday we had a bad surprise - our furnace went out :( We put a space heater in the bedroom and all snuggled together under the covers for the night. It didn't get that cold, thankfully. Jeff worked from home Thursday and a service was able to come out and get it fixed - just in time for Jeff to make it to TLE for their holiday concert! He held Nick while Grandpa recorded the concert - it was so cute. Then Nick got to see Santa for a second time - this time he didn't like him though, he started to do "the lip" so Jeff picked him back up pretty quickly :)

Thursday night was interesting. I put Nick to sleep at his usual time of 6:30, and around 7:30 I ran out to Trader Joe's and to pick up a toy I bought for Nick on Craig's List. Around 8:30 Jeff texted me that Nick was up. I didn't get back until 15 minutes later - and Nick was wide awake. I tried to nurse him back to sleep twice, rocked him, walked him - nothing worked. He didn't go back to sleep until almost midnight :( I felt terrible - he was obviously overtired. I think if Jeff had tried to give him a bottle, he might have gone back to sleep right away, but I guess we'll never really know.

Today during the day Grandpa started on the chalkboard wall, and he found the greatest thing - magnetic primer! So Nick's chalkboard wall will also be magnetic. Jeff and I were so excited - we were just talking about how we could get something metal into the playroom to put ABC magnets on, etc., and this magnetic primer solved that problem for us!

Tonight we went to a surprise 30th birthday party for a friend of Jeff's, and Nick's primary caregiver at TLE came over to baby-sit. It was so amazing to know that someone who watches Nick every day when I'm at work was with him while we were out. He didn't even nurse to sleep before we left - he wanted to stay up and play :) It did make me a little sad - does that mean we're too boring?

Tomorrow is my family Christmas party. We're going to stop by Aunt Cindi's in the afternoon to exchange gifts with Great Grandma Pingle. Sunday we are working on the playroom, cleaning up around the house, and possibly having lunch with Melissa and Jim. This week is a short week - I only work through Wednesday. Jeff has to work on Christmas Eve, but I'll be home with Nick :) TLE is open until noon but I'm going to spend the day with him. Christmas Day we'll wake up and hang out here, and then go over to Grammie and Grandpa's for dinner in the afternoon.

Next weekend should be fun - we're having a Bradley reunion here at the house on Sunday. One of the couples from our class is in town over the holidays, so we thought it would be fun to try to get everyone together.

Jeff and I have decided to start giving Nick solids on a regular basis. We think he is trying to tell us that's what he wants. I hope that he will continue nursing when we are together, but with giving him solids I anticipate him drinking less milk while at daycare. I am concerned about keeping up my supply though - only 3.5 months to go until he's a year old and I can put away the pump until the next baby! I hope I can make it!! :)

Thirty-Six Weeks!

Today Nick is thirty-six weeks old. He cut his seventh tooth this week! His eighth probably won't be too far behind - he's been cutting them two at a time.

Last weekend wasn't terribly exciting. Saturday I went to a LAA retreat at the Law School while Jeff and Nick stayed home. Grandpa came over to play with Nick and help dad out a little. When I got home, Nick was ready for a nap. After he woke up, we decided to go do some Christmas shopping at 12 Oaks. Bad idea! The mall was PACKED (um, I thought we were in the middle of a giant recession?) and we struggled to get in and out of the stores. By the time we left, I should have known Nick would be hungry and I should have nursed him before we left - he cried almost the whole way home, poor little guy. Once home, we nursed and he went calmly to sleep. I love that babies are so forgiving of our poor planning! Sunday we just hung out at home.

Monday it was back to work and daycare. Tuesday night Nick had a rough night, and a rough day Wednesday too. We weren't sure what was going on, until that 7th tooth popped through :) Nick had an exciting day at daycare this week - something happened to the sprinkler system, causing a flood, and the daycare had to be evacuated to the local coffee shop! They wheeled the babies out in their rolling cribs, three to a crib. Miss Amanda said Nick took it all in stride, enjoying the ride and looking all around at the coffee shop :)

Tonight we did parents' night out again. Nick stayed at daycare and we went out to dinner at Mexican Fiesta in Canton. Then we stopped at Target to buy a Christmas ornament for my mom and then we went to Lowe's to check out the chalkboard paint. When we went to pick Nick up, he was fast asleep - we felt so bad, of course he woke up when we put him in the car. He was a little fussy but nursed back to sleep at home.

Tomorrow is the Christmas tree ceremony at Grandma Juarez's cemetery. The three of us are meeting my Grandma and some other family there. Sunday we are meeting Azita for lunch in Dearborn, and then hopefully taking my Mac in to the Apple store to get checked out and to finish up some Christmas shopping.

Nothing exciting happening this week, until Thursday - Nick's daycare is giving a Christmas concert, where the preschoolers will sing, and then all the kids get to visit with Santa. Jeff and his parents will be attending. Saturday is my family Christmas party, so we're going to Aunt Cindi's during the day to give Great-Grandma Pingle her present and visit a little - the party is officially at 7 pm, which is too late for us, since Nick has a self-imposed bedtime of 6:30 and he doesn't sleep well outside of daycare and home.

Nick's legs are getting so strong, and he is taking guided steps. He climbs all over us and pulls up constantly. He still hasn't crawled on his hands and knees yet, so maybe he'll just skip that and go straight to walking in a few months. We are trying to figure out how we can set up some stuff for him to cruise on - our house isn't really cruise-able right now. We want to think of some stuff to set up for him in his playroom, because as soon as we have that set up, we'll probably be spending 90% of Nick's awake time at home down there. So that's what we're working on now!

Thirty-Five Weeks

Today Nick is thirty-five weeks old! We can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by. He is getting bigger and stronger and has more personality every day! As you can see from the video I posted earlier - he's now pulling up! He will even take some tentative guided steps on his tip-toes - so cute!

Last weekend was full of fun. Aunt Krystyn was still visiting. Saturday we all went to Somerset for Nick's first visit with Santa. What a great Santa experience they give you there! You have a private setting with Santa - there's no big huge line snaking out behind you. Instead of getting prints, you get a disc of pictures and then you can print as many as you like - although a couple prints of each picture from Ritz are included in the price. Then, after your visit is over, they give you three silver coins to "spend" at a certain list of stores. We had our visit with Santa, and they let us do what we wanted - so we each had an individual picture with Santa and Nick, then we had a picture of Nick and parents and Santa, then Nick had two pictures with Santa alone. He didn't cry or anything - but he didn't smile either :) With his coins he got a koala finger puppet from Pottery Barn Kids, a compass from North Face and an elf pass (whatever that is) from Build-a-Bear. Afterwards we want and visited Great Grandma Pingle for a little while. She was shocked at how big Nick is getting! Then we drove out to visit Grandma Juarez's grave. Nick napped while Aunt Krystyn and I had a good visit/cry with our mom. Sunday Aunt Krystyn left bright and early for North Carolina. The rest of us spent a lazy day at home. That day Nick got a lot of practice pulling up, but his legs were very wobbly and sometimes his knees would seem to buckle. That night we took Nick to see the Wayne County Lightfest - but he fell asleep about five minutes into it. Maybe next year he'll enjoy it :)

Monday was back to work and daycare - always tough after such a long weekend! Monday we stuck with the 4 oz - 6 oz - 4 oz feeding pattern for Nick. This week was definitely hit or miss with Nick and bottles - sometimes he ate a lot and sometimes he didn't. Tuesday was the six month anniversary of Nick starting daycare/me going back to work/pumping. I can't believe it's been six months! And so far so good - so hopefully we can make it another four :) Wednesday we received the disc of Nick's pro pics from Mod4 - they were take on Halloween. I wanted to include some in our holiday cards so I sent them to Costco to be printed. Nick got progressively better at pulling up all week, so Thursday night Jeff made the video of him pulling up - as you can see, he stands tall and strong! Amazing what a difference a few days makes to a baby. After Nick went to sleep Jeff and I signed, stuffed and stamped all of our holiday cards. Of course I did not print enough pictures - so if you want a printed picture of Nick and didn't get one, just let me know :)

Today I put the cards in the mail after dropping Nick off at daycare. I got home a little late from work today, so Nick nursed right to sleep as soon as I got home.

Tomorrow morning I'll be at my LAA retreat, so dad and Nick will have some alone time. The rest of the day we don't have any plans. Sunday we don't have any plans - maybe we'll get some Christmas shopping done. This week is a normal week too - nothing exciting going on. Next weekend there is a Christmas tree ceremony at Grandma Juarez's cemetery, and then we might go to the Greenfield Village Christmas display. Sunday I am hoping to have lunch with our friend Azita and her daughter Lucy.

Only three weeks until Nick's first Christmas! We actually have no special plans for Christmas Eve. Nick will be asleep by 6:30-7, so Jeff and I will probably just spend some quiet time at home. We did agree not to buy Nick presents, but I think I'll buy him some stock stuffers at least - he'll probably like playing with his stocking :) Christmas morning we'll wake up and hang out at home, then later on we'll go to Grammie and Grandpa's for the gift exchange and dinner. Nick is big enough to sit up and kind of participate, but we're sure next Christmas will be much more exciting for him :)

Nick Pulling Up!