Biker Babe

We have had some awesome weather lately, and we just needed to try out our baby bike seat that was "handed down" to us from some friends here. So, last Sunday afternoon, we strapped on the seat and DS's bike helmet. (All children on a bike under the age of 16 are required to wear helmets here...I didn't know they made helmets this small. Fortunately, it is adjustable so he won't grow out of it right away.) We had a nice ride around the block and down to the river. He seemed to enjoy the ride so much that it put him right to sleep.
Since our first bike-outing, we have had several others including a few trips to pop in and visit some friends around town. I have contemplated riding out to the store to do some grocery shopping, but unfortunately, bikes don't come with trunks to bring the groceries home. I did invest in a pretty nice wire basket for the front of my bike, but that just isn't big enough for a cart-load of food.

The most challenging part when commuting by bike, I have found, is holding the bike up while strapping the baby in. With lots of practice, I'm sure it will get easier.

Rounding Out

I took DS to the Physical Therapist for his follow-up visit on Friday, a week and a half ago. I apologize for the tardiness of this report. The purpose of this visit was to check his progress with the neck stretches we had been assigned to do...in order to stretch out his tight neck muscles...so he can look to the left easier...to help work out the flat spot on the right side of his head...indirectly. We did the stretches faithfully (most days) and she was pleased with the progress. His muscles were much more even this time and the flat spot on his head is even starting to round out a little. She instructed us to continue keeping the weight on the left side of his head by lying him down on his left side to continue helping it to get better, not worse. And, she discharged him from PT and does not need to see him again!! Our next visit to the doctor for his 6-month checkup is on Monday, so we are looking forward to that.

I took some time off to go skiing. I left Noah with some competent babysitters and headed out for a "Mom Date" the other evening. (This is my friend Leslie, striking an adtion pose, who's daughter Lucy is just a few months older than Noah.) We went skiing (well, I skied and she snowboarded) for a few hours at a place on Mount Hood that has discounted tickets on Tuesday nights for "Ladies Night." That's right, only the ladies get discounted tickets!! It was fun to get out to get some fresh air!!

New Tricks

Trick Number 1: Eating with a spoon!!
DS began eating rice cereal last Saturday. Our original plan was to start at 6 months, as 4-6 months is typically recommended. However, as his 5 month mark was upon us, he was showing all the signs of being ready! I'm not sure if any of it was actually swallowed, or if all of it landed on his bib. In any case, he seemed to enjoy it and now is eating like a pro...almost.

Trick Number 2: Sitting!!
DS has begun sitting up. Over the past week or so, his balance was beginning to improve so he could sit for 30 seconds or so, but today when I let go, he stayed up!! Today was the first day he was able to sit up on his own for a 10 minute stretch before losing it and rolling backward. His new favorite activity seems to be sitting up and reaching out to the dogs so they can lick his hands. Every now and then, when they run by, he loses track and starts to teeter, but so far, so good!

Trick Number 3: Being cute.
Actually, this is not at all a new trick, but he has definitely been hamming it up these days. During his play time, he will look up to see if we are watching, then, with a big smile, bury his face in his blanket. He LOVES getting his clothes and/or diaper changed. The changing table is apparently his "happy place". And, of course, there is peek-a-boo. He just laughs when I poke my head around the door and say, "Peek-a-boo!" Then he waits for me to do it again....and when I don't, he definitely lets me know that our game was NOT over! Not to mention, his new amusement with sticking his fingers in my mouth...

Meet Finn. Finn is one of DS's buddies who happens to be just 2 days older...and every bit as big. They have started socializing in their native baby tongue.

We had a blizzard...well, maybe not a blizzard exactly... We had so much snow that it shut down our little town for a couple hours. Apparently this is about as much snow as we will ever get here...but the mountains are about 1 1/2-2 hours away, and they get PLENTY of snow. The children around enjoyed having the schools delayed and made snowmen...or should I say mud-men.

Baby's Getting Around

DS rolled over today!! He had done it once before, probably about a month ago or so, but he had been lying on the bed, which was not completely flat because I was sitting next to him, squishing the mattress down. Today it was legit. He was lying on his belly on the floor and over he went!!

DS had a visit with the Physical Therapist on Friday morning, as was recommended by the pediatrician to evaluate his head and neck. Indeed, he has a little muscle imbalance in his neck that probably started from the way he was lying in utero. His flat spot on his head is most likely linked to the muscle imbalance in his neck, as was suspected. So, we are doing some stretching with him to help loosen up the tight muscles. The PT didn't seem to think it was that severe, but the sooner we "fix" it, the better. I have already noticed a bit of an improvement after just a couple days, so we will keep plugging away.

Ollie and Beau have been enjoying the sun we are having (which is rare for this time of year here)...and fighting over our one sunny spot on the floor. They keep sliding over as the sun spot moves across the floor. It is really quite amusing to watch.

Growing by the Minute

We had our 4-month trip to the pediatrician the other day. Report is as follows:
Weight: 17 lbs., 7 1/2 oz, 90th percentile
Length: 26 3/4 in., 95th percentile
Head Circumference: 41 1/2 cm, 25th percentile
Conclusion: Still small head, but bigger than last time. Still growing quite (almost ridiculously) fast. Wearing 9 month clothes at 4 months...what kind of babies do they base these sizes on!?!

He got his shots. As expected, he did not appreciate being stuck. But, one day, he will appreciate being immunized and protected from various horrible diseases. Therefore, we press on. It didn't take him long to settle down and fall asleep in his stroller, indicating that he wasn't too incredibly traumatized.

Doctor was still a little concerned by the flat spot on his head. He still favors looking to the right and, as I had noticed one day in December, seems to have a slightly limited range of motion looking to the left. Doctor felt his neck muscles and confirmed that indeed, his muscles on the left side of his neck were less developed on the left and tighter on the right. She suggested we talk with the Physical Therapist to discuss exercises to help develop, strengthen and stretch the muscles. In the meantime, we keep him looking to the left as much as possible as he continues to favor the right. I have even started trying to get him to sleep on his left side some. Doctor suggested that we really want this to correct itself in the next 2 months or we may need to consider a "helmet" to help his head round out. Naturally, the earlier this problem is corrected, the better.

Happy New Year

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks and it is high time I record some of it. We headed back to PA for the holidays on December 17. It was a very long day. We stopped in Detroit before heading on to Philly. DS did very well for a majority of the day, but he did have trouble settling down and getting the rest he needed because of all the sound, people, etc. By the second flight, he was getting pretty cranky...and loud. I felt bad for the people around us that were trying to rest. We were THOSE people with the crying baby that everyone secretly (or not so secretly) despises. I suppose they all have gotten over it by now.

We had a very nice time visiting with lots of family and friends. We didn't get to see nearly everyone that we would have liked to meet up with, but I suppose that is to be expected for a 3 week whirlwind trip. The holidays actually helped, though, because of all the Christmas dinners and a New Years Eve party we went to...which were all great fun!...we got to hit larger groups of people all at one time.

DS enjoyed his first Christmas. He napped during some of the present opening...as was expected. However, he will certainly enjoy all of the toys and books he received.

Amidst our travels, DH and I both somehow found time to catch a stomach virus that was going around, which put us out of commission for a day or so, forcing us to cancel our plans in the interest of not spreading the horrible bug on to the next unsuspecting victim.

I also did a bit of business while in town...allowing at least some of my traveling expenses to become tax deductible. That is always a plus!

DH spent some time working on his lectures to prepare for the upcoming semester. He is looking forward to another challenging semester with a whole new batch of classes.

We also found the time to visit my former place of work to see some of the people I worked with and to allow them to meet Noah. He was a big hit! And, it was so refreshing to walk through the halls of the community again after being away nearly 6 months. All was the same...except the carpet that miraculously changed from blue to red at some point during my absence.

We also had various breakfast and lunch dates. How wonderful it is to catch up with old friends.

We traveled back home to our corner of the country Friday, January 4. I had a friend that informed me of the existence of a beautiful thing called Herbal Teething Tablets made by Hyland's. Now, Noah really is starting to do some teething, so it wasn't completely unwarranted, but our main reason for using them was to just help Noah relax on the plane in order to get us all (and the rest of the travelers on the plane) back sanely. The tablets have some chamomile and some other herbal stuff in them that just help babies to relax. Noah did very well for the first leg of our journey without any extra help, but again he had trouble relaxing enough to get the rest he really needed. So, as we headed out form Minneapolis to Portland, he began getting extra fussy again...that was when we decided to break out the teething tablets. He did indeed relax and sleep some. When he was awake, he just sat on our laps and chilled out most of the time...aside from a short time at the beginning of our descent when the pressure was quite obviously bothering his ears. After we had landed, we had several of the surrounding people comment on how great of a traveler he is. We just smiled and thanked them while being silently oh, so grateful for our beautiful herbal teething tablets!

Also, during our flight, as we headed into Portland, we grew a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to land due to the storm that was creating severely heavy crosswinds. But, our pilot pulled up and swung around to attempt a landing on a different runway and amidst heavy turbulence, was able to land the plane smoothly. He got an applause from a plane-full of relieved travelers once we were safe and sound on the ground as we taxied back to the terminal.

Now, here we are, back in Oregon with lots of stuff piled around waiting to be put away. And I am once again out of commission with another bug that I have come to find out is Strep. That explains the horrible sore throat I'd been experiencing. What a way to start a brand new year.

Noah is getting caught up on Pacific Time again and is back to his 10 hour nights and 7:30 wake-up time and his happy and content self during the day. Hooray for being well-rested!!

We are looking forward to our next trip to PA in May for my brother's wedding...not so much looking forward to the actual traveling, but definitely looking forward to the family, friends, festivities, and fun!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Well, we got our tree out...yes, it is a fake tree, but it looks quite pretty with all of our special ornaments. One of our traditions is to buy an ornament when we go on vacation, so when we decorate the tree each year we can remember all the places we've been and all the fun we had. After debating with myself about weather or not to put up the tree this year since we will be away visiting family and friends in PA for most of the holiday season, I decided there was no point in even having a tree if we didn't put it up once per year, so here it is in all its glory!

And to celebrate the season that is now upon us, DH's university held a Campus Candlelight Ceremony the other evening with wagon rides, refreshments, and caroling fun. One particular station had reindeer antlers to decorate. DS didn't know what hit him; although, he was quite a hit all bundled up with his antlers on. He also had his first experience sitting on Santa's lap. I decided that all the fun this year is more for us as parents since Noah won't remember these days...but boy, is it fun to get pictures for him to look back at when he is older. I can just hear him now, "Oh, Mom...what were you thinking? That's so embarrassing." :)