Summer-ising the Nursery

Yes, that is tin foil you see all over Milo's window!

The thing is, it stays light out for about 16 hours a day here this time of year, so I have been meaning to put up the tin foil to block out the light for a couple weeks now, and now that it is HOT too and the sunlight was heating up the room like crazy I finally got around to it. So why tin foil, you ask? Why not black out shades or curtains? Because tin foil is totally opaque and CHEAP, and we don't plan to stay in the house beyond another year if things go as we hope. So there you go. Ghetto? Yes. Effective? Yes.

Oh and how do you like that lovely fan in the window? Turns out, air conditioners for windows that open that way are hard to find, and really expensive, so we got one of these fans hoping that it will blow in the cool night air. It seems to be working so far (in that his room is like 79 degrees instead of 82, which is a start!)

Go ahead, you can applaud my ingenuity now. (And of course by ingenuity, I mean copying something I read on the internet!)

Belly Laughs

Peas....

Need we say more?

We have a sitter!

Seriously, overnight he went from toppling after about 2 seconds to full on sitting, no hands needed, for a few minutes at a time! What a big man!

Don't let that pillow fool you, he's sitting all on his own! Its just there to slow the head to floor topple factor since he has a habit of getting a little cocky and reaching too far to the for something.

What I Learned Today

Did you know that a baby can get a yeast infection under their chin (in their chubby neck rolls) from all the drool and spit-up that can get caught under there?!

And did you also know that the cure for this is Lotramin - a men's jock itch cream? Yeah neither did I.

Although, I learned today (via a Twitter conversation with 5 moms) that Lotramin is some sort of magic baby cure all practically. How had I not heard of it before?

Some of that adorable neck chub for your viewing pleasure...

5 Months Old!

Dear Milo:

You turned 5 months old this weekend and it has been quite a month! You are so incredibly interactive now and you absolutely have your own personality. You're pretty easy going many times, unless you're tired or hungry - then you make sure we know it!

You have become such a grabby guy now, anyone who has anything near your hands had better watch out for you! You love to play with your lighted toys, your current favorite being your cell phone because you can push all the buttons. You just love to get raspberries on your tummy and now let out a really big laugh sometimes, especially when your Grandpa S does it - maybe its his facial hair!

I think you are just days from mastering being able to sit on your own. You've got the stance right, and you have the desire, but you still topple forward or to the side after a second or two. Daddy thinks you are going to crawl soon too. You no longer scream when you are on your tummy usually, instead you move your arms and legs like crazy. You have all the crawling movements going, you just have to figure out how to lift your belly off the floor! I have a feeling that once you become mobile we will be chasing after you all over the place. You are such a big boy that you have grown out of your infant bathtub and now you take baths in the big tub, sometimes with Daddy. You guys have a great time together in there!

This month I think you realized Bella is here and you interact with her now - petting her and reaching for her when she is next to you. She still loves to lick you and it usually makes you laugh. I had thought Bella would try to steal your toys, but actually its you that is stealing her toys if they are by you. Luckily she doesn't seem to mind and just waits for you to be done before she tries to hide it from you! I am so happy everyday to see you guys get along so well - you truly are buddies already!

We seem to be right in the midst of teething right now and it can be rough. It can make you a bit cranky during the day and there are some nights where you are up so many times it reminds of when you first came home from the hospital! I can see a bump in your gums so I think that tooth will be anytime now.

Also, this month we started you on solids and they have been a big hit overall. I've made all your food (except for the cereal) and its going great.

You have eaten:

• rice cereal
• avocado
• green beans
• butternut squash
• bananas

Bananas are your most favorite, with the avocado and squash coming in second. You don't love green beans but you'll eat them just fine when I sneak them in between bites of something else. Right now you are up to 3 meals a day, with 3-4 cubes of food each meal. (And I think 1 cube is about 1 ounce or so.)

Thank goodness its getting warm out because between the spitting up (which is still going strong) and the messy solids you spend a lot of time when we are in the house without clothes on! You love to be naked though so I think its a win win for us both - happy guy and slightly less laundry for mamma! (And a win for Bella too since that gives her more chance to lick your legs!)

Time seems to be flying the bigger you get but you are also so much fun! I can't wait to see what next month brings!

My First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day and it was a great day. Milo had a normal nights sleep beforehand for starters and then after he got up Doug let me get a few extra minutes sleep while he fed Milo his solids breakfast and made me a great breakfast sandwhich.

I got some very cute presents from Milo, Bella, and Doug:

Did you even know Ugg made regular shoes?! They are really comfortable, and I was in serious need of shoes since my feet are still bigger since pregnancy, and seem like they will stay that way!

I also got pretty much this outfit (but black pants) so I could be as stylish as the other moms in my Stroller Strides class once in awhile!

We all went to the lake in the afternoon to walk around and enjoy the sun for a little while.

Then, in the evening we went to a new pizza restaurant for dinner that was awesome, even if we had to eat fast and box the extras because Milo was a little cranky from not wanting to nap. They had this appetizer which was a galric bread with mozz and brown sugar on it. Sounds crazy but it is amazing. And the pizza is some of the best I've had on the West Coast!

Oh, and I didn't have to change a single poopy diaper! :-)

OMGWTF!

So Milo has been sleeping through the night (8-12 hour stretch) since he was roughly 6 weeks old. And yes, I might have been a tiny bit smug about it, but I don't think I deserve this! The past couple nights he has decided that it would be fun to wake up every hour (or sometimes more often) and truly, I was not ready for this at all! We think its teething. I hate teething.

Since we're talking about sleeping, here is a picture my mom caught of him sleeping with his eyes part way open. He is totally asleep here! Isn't he cute when he decides to sleep though?

Bananas!

I think we found his favorite so far! i couldn't shovel them in fast enough. And when he was done he kept opening his mouth anyways waiting for more!

Start 'em early!

Milo went to his first wine tasting at Momma's favorite winery while Grandma and Grandpa S were in town. (And for the record, the bathroom there had a changing table in it, so I must not be the first one to bring their baby with them!)