Trying to catch up…

Yikes! It’s been two months since I last really blogged anything substantial. I feel like the days are flying by. I’m back at work now, and the baby is in daycare.

In February, we found that the baby LOVES bathing in the bathtub. We had tried bathing him in this infant tub a couple of times, but he never really took to it. The tub is another story. Bathtime his favorite time of the day. He gets excited even being in the bathroom. There have been times that we’d take him out of the bathroom, triggering cries which we had initially attributed to the sudden chill or water-logged ears, but had soon found out would be mitigated if we walked toward the bathroom with him. If we passed it, he’d cry again! What a silly bean! 😀 At first, there used to be times when he’d cry frantically upon first being in the water, but after the first several times, he really took to it. Either Seppo or I go in with him, holding him carefully in our arms while the other person cleans him. Seppo is confident enough to take him in on his own, but I always feel too nervous to take him in by myself.

Here is him sporting his bath duck towel, a present from our friends J/R/A! 😀

It was really stressful to find daycare. We interviewed a bunch of nannies and visited several daycares, and went with our friends S&H’s daycare for their son T. We liked some of the people we met and disliked some others, but at the end of the day, we wanted to feel confident in our choice. The only way to really feel confident was to hear from friends that we trust that they were happy with the daycare situation for their dear son and intended to stay with them, and that they felt good about recommending it to others like us.

The first few weeks were difficult emotionally because he was not eating from the bottle as much as he should. The first few days when we were transitioning, he only ate between 2-4 ounces during 3-7 hour stretches. The caretakers told us that many babies his size might eat around 12 to 16 ounces in a 7-9 hour day. We experimented with different bottle types and finally found one that he started to eat roughly 6 ounces out of by the middle of the second week. Now, he’s up to 12-14 ounces per 8 hour day. Whew! I was really freaked out because he doesn’t have a double chin anymore and had stalled at just under 16 lbs for about 4 or 5 weeks, whereas he had been gaining weight at a good clip for a while. His ribs also seemed to jut out so much compared to other babies – babies shouldn’t have jutting ribs, period! I would love for him to fatten him up a bit more, but the doctor didn’t seem concerned, so I try not to be as well.

At the last doctor visit, he was up to 95th percentile for height and dropped to 50th percentile for weight. His head is also at 50th percentile. When he was born, he was at 90th percentile for weight! Anyway, as I said, I’m trying to worry less.

At the end of February, the baby finally started to show an interest in Mobi! That was pretty novel, as the baby and the dog had mutually ignored each other for months.

Nowadays, the baby will giggle for long bouts — Seppo reported a 20-minute stretch! — just watching Mobi be Mobi. As the baby is becoming more mobile and more grabby (I’ve lost so much hair to his little fists!), I am both excited and wary of the coming interactions. It’s clear that constant vigilance will be necessary to ensure a healthy, safe relationship between the two. If we are successful in teaching them to coexist, we hope we’ll be creating happy memories for everyone.

March was full of firsts. The baby has gotten proficient at lifting his torso up while on his stomach. Or, as I like to call it, doing the Sphinx.

We took the baby to the local bird sanctuary by Lake Merritt for the first time.

I don’t know where we were headed when we took the next picture. Maybe we were just going for a walk, or even just hanging out at the house. Either way, I think the two guys look adorable.

In March, our friends L&A did the greatest thing anyone could do for us: they came over at something crazy like 6am and took care of the baby while we slept in. They also dressed the baby like a society matron gone wrong.

Oh no! There is more but the baby is crying. Away I go! I will post more updates and pictures later.