Time Flies...

Eight Months Old

Xavier is eight months old. It is such a fun age! Not that his other ages and stages weren't fun too, but he's really starting to come into his own now.

We've seen signs that his personality is patient and sweet in this month that included way too many illnesses for our taste. He came down with a cold/congestion/cough right as we headed to NY. His cough got croupy and he started wheezing.
These symptoms prompted his doctor to suggest an inhaler for times of wheezing/breathing distress. In case you were wondering, seven and a half month olds don't really like using inhalers with face masks. It took about a week and a half for him to feel completely better - just in time to start day care - and start collecting germs again! We all caught the stomach flu, fevers, and another round of cold/flu illnesses with sore throats, coughs, and congestion. Poor Xavier also added an ear infection to the mix. After a run like that, we are so thankful for Alexander Fleming and his brilliant accidental discovery of antibiotics!

But, throughout it all, Xavier's spirits were fairly high. Some days, he really couldn't do much besides sleep, snuggle and whimper. You could tell he *wanted* to be happy. He *wanted* to laugh, smile and play. What a trooper! Just another reason why I love my patient and happy little man! All of the pictures in this post are from January 22 when he was home sick from daycare.Eating was very unpredictable this month. We introduced a few new solid foods - Applesauce, Squash and Bananas. He liked all three of them - at least at first. Then, he started refusing all solid foods - both at home and at day care. I think he just didn't feel well and didn't understand that solids are actually a food. It probably seems more like a game than a meal to him.

Sleep has continued to improve. Most nights this month Xavier went to sleep right around 7pm and slept through until 6am. Some days, he even "slept in" until 7:00 or 7:30! Twelve consecutive hours of sleep - I thought we'd never get here. But, we did! Go X-man!

Another huge development on the sleep front was that he's not always asleep when we lay him in his crib for the night. But, he doesn't cry or throw a fit anymore. It seems that he has learned to self-soothe and fall asleep on his own! He's also started napping in his crib a little bit. Many days he takes a morning nap and that's it. Other days he takes a morning, afternoon and/or late afternoon nap. It's completely unpredictable - but still SO much better than the zero minute average of yore.

Our first excitement of 2010 was my heading off to work and Xavier going back to daycare at Apple Tree! His old classroom filled up during his absence, so he joined the new infant class. So far, there are only three other babies and they are all younger than he is. Much like before, Xavier seems to enjoy the social aspects of daycare. His teacher, Miss Erin, is always telling us how he spends time flirting and rolling and "reading" books with his new girlfriend Juliette. :)

At home, his favorite activities are jumping in the jumperoo, playing with his stacking cups, playing with his Rock-a-Stack and hitting the piano keys on his Leap Frog musical table. It is excellent that he likes playing with these toys since they are all "strategic." Most of the toys encourage him to practice sitting up. He's pretty much mastered it now. Next step - learning to get into a sitting position on his own.

Dislikes worthy of mention this month include using his inhaler, teething, fevers, coughing and sleeves. Yes, sleeves.

He recently discovered tub toys - which makes it a bit easier for us to rinse shampoo (and sometimes conditioner!) out of his hair without too many tears. Speaking of his hair - Can you believe we have to blow dry his hair sometimes? How many eight month olds have to do that?!
A new trick that Xavier learned this month is coming towards us with open mouth and hands. It's kind of like a cat pouncing, so I call it his "Cat Attack!" Then he bites/open mouth slimes our cheek (or nose or chin...)while holding our face/hugging us. It's his intense version of kissing. He always seems ecstatically happy and affectionate when he is about to "attack." Let's hope these love bites stay friendly as more teeth come in!

Seven Months Old

Today, X-man is seven months old. As usual, we are shocked and amazed by the continual passing of time.

This month was jam packed with exciting baby milestones. It's possible that more "firsts" occurred in the last few weeks than in the first six months combined!

Xavier celebrated his First Thanksgiving. He also "enjoyed" his first set of holiday road trip traffic. It took over eight hours to get to Baltimore! But, it was definitely worth it. We had so much fun staying with Sara, Julian, Catriona and Gareth. During this trip, Xavier also got to see his Rasmussen Grandparents again and meet his Great Grandfather - Pa. Of course, we took some great "Four Generations of Rasmussen Men" photos. On the way back home, we stopped in NY to see my parents and joined in the festivities of the traditional post-Thanksgiving dessert party with my cousins. Sadly, X-man was already asleep by the time guests arrived.

In other seasonal milestones, Xavier witnessed his first few snowfalls this month. Nothing huge, but enough to coat the world in white and be really beautiful for a few days! Plus, it was a great chance to go outside while wearing his super cute snowsuit. (Thanks again Sean and Kerry!)

Xavier had his first introduction to solid foods on 12-1-2009. He had rice cereal and was not all that impressed. Later in the month we also introduced sweet peas (hates them) and sweet potatoes (likes them). We can sometimes fool him into a few more bites by hiding peas inside a spoonful of sweet potatoes.

As you saw in an earlier post, Xavier had his first haircut on 12-5-2009. He did fine and looked so handsome once it was over. With his hair growing skills, I wonder how long the cut will last?
Another milestone moment was the eruption of his First Tooth. The lower right front tooth appeared on 12-15-2009.
Xavier's likes and dislikes this month remain pretty much the same. But, moving teething up to the top of the dislike list is in order. While we wait for teeth 2, 3 and 4 to erupt, poor Xavier and his swollen gums are trying to be patient. He manages the discomfort by pulling on his ear, chewing EVERYTHING in sight, and sticking out his tongue. High energy distracting, especially in the form of silly sounds, songs and dances also seems to help. A new favorite is the vibrating grapes teether shown in the photo above. Its great! He likes playing with the ladybug on the handle and biting it all day. Plus, it doesn't matter if it it loses its chill like other teething rings.

Six Months Old

On November 22 Xavier turned six months old! We're not sure where the time is going, but it is getting there in a fast and very fun manner!

We've made some slow but positive progress this month on the sleeping front. Primarily using the strategies outlined in "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth, we kept moving Xavier's bedtime earlier and earlier until he started to sleep through the night with more consistency. Daylight savings time helped us out nicely with this. We got to make a 90 minute change with only 30 minutes of "effort". Bedtime is between 6:30 and 7:00 these days and X-man wakes up 1-2 times each night while logging 10-12 hours of sleep. Much better than last month! Naps are still a challenge most days, but we're taking things one step at a time.This was his last full month of nursing exclusively. I am both excited and a little apprehensive about introducing his first foods soon. If he likes solids even half as much as he likes milk, we'll have an eating champ on our hands.

Each week our little social butterfly becomes even more interactive. In addition to clearly loving people, he has finally noticed his "brothers" of the feline persuasion. He will laugh and squeal at the cats, and always smiles when Ventura walks into a room or pays attention to him. A Venty sighting will even (temporarily) stop a meltdown. Yeah! His repertoire of sounds has increased a lot this month, but so far, most of the "words" he uses resemble cute pterodactyl noises more than human ones.
At night, we have transitioned from using our beloved Pea Pod swaddle to a fleece sleep sack. Xavier seems very glad to have his hands at his disposal at night. Sometimes, he can grab his paci and successfully put it in his mouth. This is a key skill to have. Other nights, he will find his tiger lovey and snuggle and hug it to soothe himself. It's SO cute!

Getting one last milestone in just under the wire, X-man began rolling in both directions (front to back and back to front) on his six month birthday. And, now there is no stopping him. He constantly rolls to reach toys, to get a better view of us or the cats and to try to sneak a peek at the TV or the computer screen. Illegal activity, mister! :) He is also working on sitting up unassisted. He can sort of sit up for a few seconds and then he either lists to one side, folds in half at the waist (sometimes using his arms to support himself and other times going way beyond "nose to knees") or falls over completely (which can be painful when he topples headfirst onto a toy!)
Pat-a-cake, baths and eating continue to be favorite activities. New favorites are singing "Pop goes the Weasel" (he anticipates the "Pop!"), watching the "Magic Flower" paper toy as we open and shut it, playing with his frog castanet toy from Nadine in Japan, getting "thrown" up in the air, (don't worry - we don't actually let go, we only play this over a soft surface and we are careful to mind his head and neck) and being kissed on his chest/tummy on the count of three. He will usually be laughing by "2" before the kisses land!

He also likes chewing on everything, "standing", being held upside down and watching the leaves when we go for walks. He does not like the wind.His six month stats from his pediatrician appointment on 11/30 were 16 lbs, 14 oz, 28" tall and 45cm in head circumference. (He weighed 16 lbs, 4.6 oz on 11/24 - Can you guess when his growth spurt occurred?)

Five Months Old

Xavier turned 5 months old on October 22nd!

This month was a pretty challenging one as far as sleep goes. For a variety of possible reasons, Xavier's napping right now is quite poor and his night sleeping has regressed. He has been waking up two or three times most nights leaving me exhausted! (That's why the blog has been so quiet lately.) Thankfully, we have many friends who have offered help and dozens of suggestions and theories. I have hope that better, longer nights of sleep will return soon.

X-man also had his first low-grade fever coupled with congestion. So, we went to the pediatrician. Everything checked out ok, but to be safe we were sent to the hospital to have some blood drawn. :( Besides being a bit traumatic, the bloodwork didn't show anything. In the end, it was probably just a virus and it went away pretty quickly. I was very happy to have my parents come and visit while Xavier was under the weather - definitely helped keep us calm while he fought his fever.
Sleeping and sickness aside, Xavier has been pretty busy. We went to a Math Department dinner at Firehouse. X was such a flirt. He went around the table charming everyone as he went. We've also been going on lots of walks in the Indian Hill Cemetery and Haddam Meadows. Gotta get as much fresh air as we can before it gets too cold! Often, we are joined for our walks by friends - especially Jaime & Ryan and Steph & Matty!

We also enjoyed our first "Baby Pictures." It's not a photo shoot. It's a Parents/Baby movie event where the theater has baby-friendly dim lighting and quieter sound. Everyone expects/accepts that there will be crying, nursing and diaper changes throughout the film. Thus, you get to pay a lower price! I saw Couples Retreat (it was so-so) while Xavier spent the whole time playing with his friends.

The highlight of the month was our trip to Virginia for Sarah & Shannon's baby shower. We got to visit with lots of good friends from college as well as Charlie and Erin. Of course, we had a blast!

On Xavier's 5 month day, we attended an Infant Massage class. We learned about the benefits of massage as well as several techniques. We were told that massage may even promote sleep and a healthy immune system. Not so sure about that, but we both did enjoy it!

And, as always, for the statistically inclined - Xavier now weighs 15 lbs, 8.8oz. Looks like he's right on schedule to double his birth weight by six months.

Four Months Old

Xavier is four months old! So, I tried to do a photo shoot with this wiggly little guy. Rather than sitting still in his chair, X-man had fun falling over, smiling, kicking and doing back bends. I might not have gotten any traditional shots, but his sweet personality definitely came through.

This month, as I mentioned earlier, Xavier started daycare. He really enjoyed it! Even though he was the youngest baby in his class, Xavier charmed everyone with his smiles and laughs. Several of the older babies would cry or wave goodbye when I came to pick him up each day. How sweet is that?

X-man's favorite things about daycare were his teachers, Miss Amy and Miss Gina, spending time in the swing and making art projects. His teachers said that he especially liked "painting" with both his hands and his feet.

At home, his favorites include playing with his colorful rattle, cuddling with (or chewing the ears on) his tiger blanket, playing Pat-a-cake, taking baths and eating. Pat-a-cake often results in bunches of giggles - so it's fast becoming our favorite game too!

For the statistically inclined, Xavier's four month stats are: 14 lbs., 12 oz. and 25 inches.

Enjoy yet another set of photos!

Three Months Old

Enjoy these latest photos.

Two Months Old

It's hard to believe how fast time is flying... Xavier is already nine and a half weeks old. And, he's doing great. At his two month well-baby appointment on Monday he weighed in at 12 pounds even and was 23.5 inches tall.

The doctor said he was doing well with all his milestones. We're most excited about his ability to sleep. In this regard, he's definitely a Le Febure! His record is nine hours and fifteen minutes! We're pretty sure that this was his commentary about our recent purchase of a window AC unit for the bedroom. Of course, this doesn't happen every night, but he will usually sleep for somewhere between 5 and 8 hours. We are so grateful for such a good sleeper!

And, because I'm clearly obsessed with uploading photos... enjoy these!

Five Weeks Old

It is amazing how much can happen in just one week. Since our last post, Xavier had many exciting firsts.

He had his first bottle.
He met Grandpa Ras and Grandma Barbara for the first time.
He helped Dad celebrate his first Father's Day.
He stopped by the Community Health Center on Main Street to meet my old co-workers.
He met our friends Sarah and Shannon. We're all looking forward to his first trip out west!
He went on his first outing to a restaurant. He slept peacefully through our entire visit to O'Rourke's Diner, as featured on the Food Network's show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
He went to his 1 month well-baby checkup. He now weighs 9 pounds, 14 ounces and he's 23 inches tall!