January 2016: Orion's 7th month

Looking back on month 7 of Orion's life here is funny because that is the age Ronan was when we moved to Northampton and started this blog.  Just look at this post!  And it keeps going (for years) from there!  I was terrible at keeping a baby book for Ronan (it lasted a few pages max), but now I know Ro got his first tooth in month 6, his second in month 7, and that this is the age at which he started his classic Wallace and Grommit style "cheese" maneuver.  When I see Ro's 7 month old face I remember so vividly, and yet it all feels like a lifetime ago.  His lifetime, to be precise!

I couldn't resist putting together a few pictures from the same age.  Here are Ro and Orion at 6 months, and at the very bottom are shots in the very same chair (in the very same clothes) on the occasion of being 7 months.  Ronan's shot is in CA, just before we departed for this coast!

I can't resist a parallel to that old entry, and so here is a short letter to you, Orion (warning, sappy!)

Dear Orion,

In your seventh month of life you continue to show us who you are, and I am smitten.  It really does make up for the almost unbelievably frequent night wakings.  When you wake from a good nap, you are joyful, and the cooing and smiling is entertainment for me for a good while.  You flash wonderful grins at familiar people, and bashful ones at strangers (grin and duck!). You sway your head side to side like Stevie Wonder, then head butt me when I least expect it.

You got your first two (bottom) teeth this month over two or three particularly rough nights, and they are so sharp I get why it's hard.  You mastered rolling, and now dive forwards and lunge for things, especially iPhones.  You are not quite sure what they are good for, but clearly the grownups want them.  We started signing with you this month, and I get the sense that you recognize some spoken words.  I also started reading to you at bedtime, and Moo Baa LaLaLa (one of Ronan's early favorites) is a huge hit with you.  You laugh so hard at the animal sounds you spit your binkie out.  

I'm gradually working on getting you to fall asleep with less and less intervention so you can hopefully fall back to sleep when you wake between feedings.  You're getting better at that, but you still want to nurse every 2h.  I'm glad to be able to do it, though.  And food!  My goodness.  The moment you are set in your high chair you start hooting.  We have to start feeding you IMMEDIATELY, or at least put a rice puff in your mouth or a spoon in your hand.  You eat enthusiastically (everything we've tried), but sometimes it comes up just like the milk does.

This age is rough on parents, and I'm doing my best to juggle work, life maintenance, parenting you, parenting Ronan, and occasionally sleeping.  While I can't say I'm doing any of it nearly as much as I feel like I need to, I am really enjoying being in these moments with you.  I know how brief and relatively simple they are compared to the (also wonderful and challenging) days to come, and I adore you.

Love,

Mom

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I haven't gone through the pictures for the month, but another day!

November-December 2015

Whoa, all 4 faces in one photo!

So much more is happening than I have time to write about.  Here are a ton of pictures though (even more than usual):
Photos of November/December

Brief Happenings:
We enjoyed the end of a beautiful fall with great weather
Gandalf bonded with Orion
Ronan (and Papa) turned 6 and up
We had our first date night with 0 kids and 1 concert (Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings)
I also advanced a year (and a decade)
We visited family at the lake house in VA for thanksgiving (and met new cousin C)
We visited family and friends in CA over Christmas/New Year
Ronan beat the pants off all of us at Asphalt 8, talked with helium, and started drawing octopi

Ronan!
Ronan has discovered humor, and is slowly amassing a collection of knock-knock jokes, puns, and an impressive array of homonyms (technically homophones).  One is expected to laugh at said jokes repeatedly, but he authentically cracks me up in other ways, including how he ceremoniously fluffs his pillow each night before bed (which, incidentally, he didn't appreciate me thinking was amusing).  

Ronan has become enthralled with watching his dad play Minecraft (and directing him), and he's crazy good at Asphalt 8, which he may have played rather a lot of on vacation.  We are definitely going to be navigating screen-time issues in the coming decade.  In the real world, Ronan has taken a liking to playing soccer in after-school, and is also (much to my delight) coming home singing all kinds of songs this year.  He has taught most of them to me, and we've sung quite a few as rounds now.  He recently enjoyed figuring out how to harmonize with me as we sing.  I think R is quite musical, and he's also surprisingly good at drumming.  One of these days I'll make a proper music post with some of the audio clips I've made (but there isn't an easy way to upload them here).

Orion!
Orion started sitting on his own (just before 6 months), he took his first cross-country flights and we all survived, and he finally figured out how to roll over (just before 7 months).  He is experimenting with sounds, especially dadadadadada (and once even mamamamama).  

I still haven't slept more than 2 hours straight in I don't know how long (and keep getting sick).  I'm pretty sure I still know my name and the capital of Surinam, but that's about it.  Parenting (and nursing) a hungry baby is exhausting.  Perhaps to make up for it, Orion is getting ever more delightful and fun to be around.  He is a loud baby!  Mostly happy, and sometimes shrieky.  We are just starting to use sign language for a few things again.

Orion has a special relationship with our cat Gandalf, who adopted him after he lost his best cat friend.  Gandalf will let Orion pull his tail and ears, smack him, and suck on him -- purring all the while.  We joke that Orion is going to first think the cat's name is "gentle". When O outgrew his bassinet we set up a mini-crib as a sidecar to our bed, and Gandalf is often to be found there (although less now that he has his own heated bed).  

Gandalf loves Orion (and everyone)

Tastes and feels good!

O and Gandalf!  (click to enlarge)

Here is a video compilation of Orion's first 6 months!  (My first ever attempt at video editing).  The password is the kids' last name.

Quotes:

R: Your sweater is so silky, mom.  I'm appreciating it with my hands.

Story: I don't have many quotes recorded this month, but Ronan is fond of telling the following story.  The grossest thing he knows about (that has actually happened) is this:  

Orion spits up a lot--although less so now--and at one point he spit up with his fist in his mouth.  His babysitter Amanda was holding him at the time, and before she could blink, Orion took his spit-uppy fist out of his mouth and put it straight into her mouth.  Gross!

Parent quotes:

D: I know what you meant to mean

A: Your attention span for otters is not as long as mine

[someone at NYE]: Humans are excellent sources of randomness.  You just have to process them correctly 

Family photo in our native state of confusion