Extreme Cuteness

I think there's a rule that says babies must be photographed at least once being cute while playing peek-a-boo with a blainkey. So we can cross that one off our list now! Whew.

This was taken after his shower, which I am happy to report is no longer a source of screaming terror for Conan. We switched to showers (held in mama or papa's arms)when he was just a couple months old because they were better than baths. Baths were horrible baby torture. Showers were also pretty awful until recently, but at least they were over quickly so that was an improvement. But just over a week ago he seemed to come to grips with the idea that getting wet wasn't actually the end of the world, and since then he's even started to enjoy shower time a little bit. Which is a very good thing, because now that he's eating solid foods he really needs to be hosed down frequently. :)

Crawling!

After his bath tonight we were having "play on the floor while mommy folds the laundry" time and he just up and started crawling. I ran and got the camera and of course missed the best of it, but got enough that you can see him in action. He's still a bit hesitant and wobbly, but it's a definite CRAWL. He's been scootching pretty well for a while now, but he hadn't been able to combine forward motion with getting up on his hands and knees. Until now! I'm so excited and proud. :)

Chicago & other updates

Whew, it's been quite a week! On Sunday I flew out to Chicago for a conference and learned all about the new canadian national organic standards. (Pretty exciting stuff, really!) It was the first time I'd been away from Conan overnight, he and Papa had two nights and two mornings alone together. They did great, but it was sure hard on me! I missed Conan terribly. And I really can't reccommend a breastpump as a travelling companion, nor airport and airplane restrooms as pumping locations. All in all though, it was a good trip and Chicago had beautiful weather while I was there. The day after I left some big storms came in and they broke the reccord for rainfall - 3 inches in 24 hrs! The highlight of my trip was going up to the 96th floor in the Hancock Tower to look at the night view. It was amazing:

Conan has started eating solid foods, we gave him his first Avocado on Saturday at his "half-birthday" party and he loved it. Since then we have also introduced rice cereal, and yesterday he decided he was ready for watermellon too, so he grabbed a slice off my plate and thoroughly enjoyed sucking the sweet juice out of it. MMM!

He's getting closer to crawling every day. He can scootch along on his tummy pretty well now, and he can get up on his hands and knees and hold it for longer and longer every day. It won't be long before he puts the two together and really takes off.

He's also really good at standing. He can't pull himself up yet, but if he is helped into a standing position next to a chair or something he can hold onto, he can stand there for a long time. He still needs a spotter, though, because sometimes he expiriments with letting go, and then he'll fall.

Speaking of falls, he's had a couple big tumbles and bonked heads already. Poor little guy! I know a lot more of them are in the future, but it still makes me cringe. Learning to walk is scary (for me).

The best new development of all though is that he's sleeping through the night more and more often. We got THREE nights of uninterupted sleep this week - two of them consecutive! I really cannot describe how wonderful that is, but those of you with kids know what I mean. Those of you without kids think you do, but you don't - yet. ;)

Six Months Old!

And cuter than ever.

New Baby Chloe

On Sunday we visited with Brian & Abby and little baby Chloe. She's 7 weeks old now, and starting to really show her parents who is in charge. She seems so calm and tiny compared to my squirmy monster boy!

He was pretty excited to grab her hair and poke her in the eye, which predictably made her cry. It will be a little while before these two can play together, but I'm sure they will be great friends in a year or so.

First Hike

Saturday we went to Squire's Lake just north of Alger. It's a quick easy hike but still a little more "hike-y" than the walks we have taken through Whatcom Falls Park and Seahome Arboritum with Conan in the past. He thought it was pretty neat at first, and was looking around and making happy noises and trying to grab things. Then he fell asleep in the Ergo and snoozed through the Beaver Pond Loop and all the way back to the car.

First Strawberry

I just ate the first ripe strawberry from our berry patch. I probably should have left it until tomorrow, but it was worth it. MMMM! Looks like it's going to be a good crop this year too. They are loving this heat we've been having, I've been giving them water every day and the berries are large and plentiful.

I was getting excited about giving Conan his first taste of strawberry, but then I found out that strawberries are one of the foods you aren't supposed to give babies under 1 year old. They could have a bad allergic reaction. No raspberries or blackberries either! Luckily blueberries are OK so he wont have to wait a whole year for his first berry tasting.

We haven't actually started him on solid food yet, we are waiting until he's six months old. But that isn't very far away now (just about a week! Wow.) and I'm getting really excited. I think he's going to really like food. It would probably be fine to go a little early, but it makes it feel a little more special to wait until his half-year-birthday. I haven't decided yet what to start with - rice cereal, or something more exciting like avocado or yam, both of which are supposed to be good first foods.

I've been spending some time reading about how to make & freeze simple baby foods, and I think it's going to be really fun. I can hardly wait for the peas and carrots in the garden to be ready to harvest so I can cook them and mash them, and then have them smeared all over the place and maybe - maybe - get some in his mouth. :)