Our Family Tree

In discussing family members and their relationship to our immediate family the following conversation happened:

Mikaela: Who's Daddy's brother?
Donna: Uncle Brad.
M: Who's Uncle Brad?
D:  Remember, The Boy?
M: Oh!  The Boy at Aunt Robin's house?

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Five Months Old

Nicholas is five months old.  The last month has really flown by!  I don't have official stats as this isn't a doctor's visit month, but he was weighed on Thursday for his dermatology appointment and he weighed 14.4 lbs.

Eating:  Nicholas still nurses every 3-4 hours.  He'll begin taking bottles during the day with Mariel on Monday since Mommy goes back to work.  We are hoping the pumping at work thing works because he refuses to eat formula!  He has eating rice cereal (spoon-fed) a few times but isn't a huge fan.  Hopefully next month we'll be able to introduce veggies and that will be more exciting.

Sleeping:  This has improved since my rants on Facebook.  Good (and most) nights are 10 hour sleeps, split almost exactly in two with a feeding.  Not-so-good nights (1-2 nights a week) have 2 or 3 wake-ups.  He seems to be going down a little earlier, closer to 8 the past couple of nights.  That will work in my favor since I'll have to wake him up at 6 to eat starting Monday.  Good nap days are three naps of 45 mins to 1.5 hours.  Other days it's four 30 minute naps throughout the day.

Activities:  He loves his activity mat and rolling over everywhere.  He has mastered rolling back to belly and really wants to crawl, but we're a ways from that.  He also likes sitting up in his bumbo with a tray of toys, or watching Mikaela play.  He has started figuring out bouncing in his bouncing toy as well.  He has really started to enjoy bathtime as well.  He's beginning to kick his feet and splash the water.  He's been able to bathe with Mikaela some too so that's been fun.

Teething:  He doesn't have any teeth yet but he loves to eat his hands (or yours if you'll let him) and drools even more than before.

Heath: We went back to the dermatologist last week to start the oral medication for his hemangioma.  While it was doing better than before, I was continually "chasing ulcers" so we decided it was time to step it up from topical. He is responding well and it looks much better.  His reflux has improved quite a bit, too.

Picture time:

nom nom nom

He was really tired that day...

duck invasion

shut out the world

duet with Graemma

piano prodigy 

Trip to the Dentist

Last Wednesday (8/14) Mikaela had her very first dentist visit.  It didn't go too well.  She got in the chair and they got her all set up with the television and then when the hygienist got ready to brush her teeth, she freaked out and that was it.   But here's pictures before that happened. They were great and we'll give it another go soon.

Meeting MeMe

Last week we took a trip to Wylie to visit Anna "MeMe" Graem, Donna's grandmother.  It was the first time she was able to meet Nicholas.

Parenting Styles

Problem:  The tag in her pajamas is scratching her.
Mom's solution: Get a new shirt.
Dad's solution: Turn it inside out.

Dancing Queen

For as long as we can remember, Mikaela has loved to dance.  Now that she's three, we decided to enroll her in a preschool dance class at the city rec center.  We chose a very low key class where outfits are not required to help us get a feel for her enjoyment of it.  No sense sinking a bunch of money into something she won't enjoy.  The teacher does a fantastic job engaging the kiddos in to music, rhythm, and dance, teaching them basic ballet in the process (first position, etc).  She had a great time.

The pictures aren't great because the camera battery died and my phone didn't do as well, but here you go.  We plan to keep her in it in the fall so we'll have better pictures in the future.

The first of class was stretching on mats using stuffed animals and scarves to help.  She was great about watching the teacher and following as best she could.  At one point she exclaimed, "You're a good teacher!"

After warm-up they moved to the bar for some basic ballet moves.  She wasn't always doing it right, but she was very attentive and mimicked what she saw as best she could.

After bar work, they did some free style movement with scarves and later ribbons, as well as some structured movement.

The last of the class was rhythm work with  instruments.  If she is really paying attention, her rhythm is spot on.  I'm looking forward to the fall and watching her learn more and more.

It's Bumbo Time

The Many Expressions of Nicholas Graem

Dare me to whistle?

First Foods

Nicholas has been intently watching everyone around him eat.  I decided to go ahead and give him some rice Saturday morning just to see how he'd react.  Enjoy!

Oh boy!  I love my high chair.

What is this, Mommy?

Oh Boy!  I'm ready to try it!

Okay... not a fan so far...

What was that?

It did not taste good.

I think I'll just stick to my finger.

You're bringing me more?  Really?

Uggg.  Still not good.  Mikaela's looks much better.  Not fair.

Seriously, Dad.  Put the camera down and help.

Let's try looking down.  Will that help?

Nope.  

Okay.  Eyes close this time.

Still with the camera, Dad?  Really?

Can we find something better next time?