Five months later
I got to work extra early this morning, so I'm going to take the time to post a five month update. (This will be a long one, as much for me to record for posterity what our lives look like now as anything else.)
Eddie has survived 5 months breathing oxygen, and it appears to be working for him. He's going to daycare for 15 hours/week, which is just long enough to pick up every little bug and bring it home to share.
He is a very happy baby, as is evidenced from the pictures this month. He is learning more about how to interact with the world around him, mostly by licking it. He has gotten very good with toys, using both hands to bring them to his mouth (to lick.) He will also hold your finger and bring it to his mouth (to lick.) His hands are also by his mouth a lot (to lick.) Just this weekend he started frequently reaching for people - dad when mom is holding him, Nonna when she picks him up from daycare. Rolling over still does not interest him, but he can prop himself up on his forearms when on his tummy, and is working towards scooting across the room on his tummy. He is also making decent progress towards sitting up on his own.
He is still a good sleeper. We lucked out.
In his need to check everything out, he's lost all interest in the bottle. As a result, we're starting to transition him to the sippy cup, hoping that will keep him interested longer (and free our hands!). While formula has apparently gotten boring, he is really enjoying solid foods, though neither of his parents are big fans of messes, so it's a growing experience for us. So far Eddie has tried (and, at least eventually, liked) rice cereal, bananas, carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes. His favorite is probably pearnanas - one part pear, one part banana, with some rice cereal thrown in for good measure. The next food we'll introduce is avocado, then we'll bring in peaches, apples, and who knows what else.
An average day in the life of Eddie: Get up around 8:00 for a sammich (recently, about 5.5 oz.), go back to bed until noon, when he wakes for another sammich. Hang out with dad for a few hours, eat some "solid" food, go to school at 3:30 and hang out with Miss Nima and those other babies. Get picked up by someone at 6:30, go home for another solid meal and to hang out a little bit. Doze off around 7:00, wake up around 8:30, be friendly and happy until 9:30 or so, when you go to bed for the night, ready to start again.
Mark is back at the theater. Rehearsals started yesterday for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Actor's Express. Mark is playing in the band (piano and guitar, as far as I know). The show runs June 19 - July 19, with a possible extension through August 9. This weekend, we found out that Mark is going to have the opportunity to direct Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams at Rosewater Theatre, now in Roswell. That show will run August 15 - September 27. After that will be Big River at Theatrical Outfit. It will run September 10 - October 5.
Outside of the crazy theater schedule, Mark is hanging out with Eddie every day, and doing all the stuff that comes along with that. Eddie thinks his dad is hilarious, and it is so much fun watching them together.
Em really has nothing interesting to report. I work, I go home and hang out with Eddie, I do more work, I do laundry, I go to bed. This week is a unique one in that we have management team visiting from Europe and the rest of the North America studios in our studio for training. Lots of events are planned, and I need to be in the studio at 8:00 every morning. (That makes for pretty long days when there are things going on until 10:30 at night.) But, other than that, it's just more of the same. I officially weigh less than I did at the start of my pregnancy, which is nice, but I still have a long way to go. And, really, that's all I've got!
If you haven't checked them out, the five month pictures are up at mrbaby.shutterfly.com.
Hope everything is well with everyone out there in internet land!
Lots ‘o’ updates
Pensive baby
Whenever I have a lot of stuff to update about, I get overwhelmed and don't update at all. I'll try to do this in chronological order.
Last Thursday, Eddie had his 4 month appointment. Nothing terribly interesting came out of it. He's still small (5th percentile in everything), but he is growing. We got the green light to start on solid foods. He got his shots. At his next appointment, at 6 months, he'll be referred to a pediatric urologist and plastic surgeon, and they will all do their thing in one session so he dosen't have to go under anesthesia twice. That's about all we know.
On Friday, we took Eddie out of the state for the first time, to Maryland for Mark's cousin's wedding. The trip was nice, the wedding (and weather!) were beautiful, and Eddie was, for the most part, well behaved. Firsts covered by this weekend were airplane ride, hotel stay, and wedding.
Since being home, Eddie has been having rice cereal every day, and seems to enjoy it. He still spits it up, though. On the weight front, as of last night, Eddie was up to 12 pounds, 10.5 ounces.
We are very excited that, starting next week, Eddie will be going back to daycare. We were able to work out a schedule with them that makes sense for everyone. While we would have saved a little bit of money with a nanny/sitter, we know and love his teacher at daycare and feel that it really is the best fit for him right now.
I think that's all I've got! Four month pictures, wedding pictures, and solid food eating pictures have all been posted to mrbaby.shutterfly.com. Also, the professional photos can be viewed at andreataylorstudio.com. When you get there, click Portraits, Your Galleries, and enter "EddieSecond" for the password.
Finally, if you're reading what's going on here, I'd love it if you'd comment. It'd be nice to know whether or not anyone other than Ellen and Barb bother to read this. :)
Last day of daycare
Today was the Munchkin's last day of daycare. It was a sad day, because all of us really love this daycare. If only it made sense for him to continue going!
We're getting ready for his baptism tomorrow. I am so thankful to have family in town and willing to help!
The acid reflux medicine seems to be helping Eddie a lot. We're not 100% cured, but are definately making progress.
I feel like there was more that I was going to say, but apparently not. :)
Welcome to the new blog
Eddie in his stroller
I have really been meaning to keep everyone updated on what's been going on, but the format I had used at the old blog just wasn't efficient enough for regular updating. Hopefully this new system will work better, and both Mark and I can stay a little more on top of things.
A lot has happened since the last post on the baby's website. I just realized that update was right after his 1 month well baby appointment, and he's now very quickly nearing his 4 month appointment! Oops.
I'll start with what I know you're here for: Baby Update. As of today, he's 3.5 months old. He smiles his little lopsided grin all the time, and he's gotten to be a pretty frequent laugher, though the laughs are still a bit awkward. He has been going to daycare for more than a month, and loves it, though he'll only need to go for one more week. He's been sick for several weeks now, and the last week was particularly bad. But, he's eating better again and not spitting up (quite) as much. When we weighed him today, he was up to 12 pounds, 2 ounces - right at the 10th percentile for his age. (I'm going to try to get a length on him tonight.)
Since he's about to be done with daycare, we are in the process of looking for a part-time nanny to watch him during those few hours where Mark's and my schedules overlap. I am optimistic that we'll find someone that everyone likes, and that can hopefully become an extension of our family.
Mark is very quickly nearing the end of his apprenticeship at the Shakespeare Tavern. It was a great experience, and very worthwhile, but I think we'll all be ready for him to have a more regular schedule. Right now, he has two shows lined up: Hedwig and the Angry Inch from June 19 - July 19 (with possible extensions through August 10) and Big River from September 10 - October 5. He got three callbacks after his Unified Audition last month, and though he had to turn two of them down due to scheduling conflicts, he will be attending one at Georgia Shakespeare.
I have been back at work since March 17, and am loving it. I enjoy my job, and I love having such a fun baby to come home to every night! I have also been doing a good deal of contract work, and am doing my best to keep up with school.
I guess that's it for us, for now. My goal will be to update this space at least once a week, so check back and give me a hard time if I fail!
And remember, for pictures go to mrbaby.shutterfly.com. We just had the second round of professional pictures taken today, and I'll be sure to let you know when they're posted!