Backyard Picnic with Daddy

 Enjoying the sunshine

 and the new backyard

 and da da

 and a cold brew after a long day

 aahhhh summertime!

Meeting Baby Mia Elaine

 Our besties Chris and Kerry welcomed the most beautiful baby girl into the world on August 6th. Anton was mezmorized! She is such a sweetie pie and I'm glad I grabbed my camera on the way out the door to take some snaps in the hospital. I remember it being such a magical, blissful time full of celebration, confusion, and love. I'm so happy Kerry and I became mamas around the same time. We will be able to support each other and I'm sure our littles will become great pals.

 Anton couldn't keep his hands off baby Mia.

 Happy Mama Kerry.

 Sweet Mia. So much hair!

Proud Grandma Joyce!

Anton's Updates :: 38 weeks

 We're almost completely settled in the new house.

The main living room has been the hardest part to set up for some reason. It's long and narrow and we ended up not liking the color it came in, so this weekend will be filled with some painting activities.

New Favorites:  Feeding himself, bath time, going for walks, daddy, life in general.

Sleeping: Oh my goodness... I feel like pinching myself. This kid is in an excellent sleep phase. He no longer needs to be rocked to sleep at night. Just a bath, a couple of books, a little nursing and boom, he basically asks to be put down in his crib. He rolls around for 5 minutes or so and then he's out until 7 am. It is so nice! We had a rough start with sleeping which is pretty normal for all babies, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just hoping this phase turns into a regular part of his personality.

Milestones: He is really trying to pull up onto furniture and has found a way to get from one side of the room to the other. No crawling yet, but babyproofing is definitely on our to do list.

Mom and Dad: Going on a real date night this weekend! Anton's teacher from daycare is going to babysit. Woo hoo!

Anton's Updates :: 37 Weeks

We're loving all of the crawling(creeping) space in the new house!  I think Anton is gearing up to really start exploring this place. I'm really happy he is taking his time though. It's nice to be able to leave him in one spot and know he'll be there for a while. He is really content to play with one toy for a long period of time. He really gets focused and serious about his beads on a wire toy.

New Favorites: Watching the cats. The cats are constantly walking past him and he gets a big grin on his face when he sees them.

Sleeping: He had a little stretch where he would wake up an hour after he went to sleep at night, but that seems to have passed, for now.

Milestones: Really loving eating his finger foods. His new list is:

Pinto Beans

Blueberries

Puffs

Cherries

Grapes

Plums

Were hoping to figure out some more veggies that he can mash with his toothless gums.

Mom and Dad: Celebrating our 2 year anniversary today! And..... our besties Chris and Kerry are having their baby girl any second!!! 

Anton's Updates :: 36 Weeks

Oh goodness!  I'm soooo behind on these updates. I've got about three weeks to catch up on. I guess the move has taken more time and energy than I had planned. We are feeling pretty settled now and trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer. Glorious summer!

New Favorites: New spaces to explore. Walking up and down stairs with mama.

Eating: Getting really good at picking up all kinds of finger foods. His favorites are blueberries, beans, and little bits of cherries.

Sleeping: He has been such a trooper transitioning to the new house. He sleeps from 7 to 7 most nights. We both caught the sniffles during the move, but he's bouncing back quickly. Naps are still twice a day for 1.5 hours each.

Milestones: Starting to make more progress on his "creeping" skills.

Mom and Dad: Just trying to get the house set up.

*These pictures were the last ones taken in the old house. The new house has so many great spots to snap photos. We get great light and a lot more sunshine......when it's out:)

Anton's Updates :: 35 weeks

Our happy boy is back! Whatever was bothering him last week is long gone and we've got our happy, silly, smiley baby back in action. He is still very serious in new places though. We are packing like mad and Anton has decided the empty boxes are pretty fun to explore. He doesn't quite crawl, but I'd call it a creep. He usually  completes a 360 degree circle and ends up where he started.

New Favorites: Trips to the park for picnics. Feeding himself.

Eating: Eating 3 solid food meals a day. Has mastered picking up puffs and dry cereal. Still a bit confused about slimy finger foods like fruits and veggies. He is really interested in holding the spoon and feeding himself.

Sleeping: Back to his regular schedule. He goes to sleep anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 and usually naps from 9-10:55 and 1:30-3:00 or so. He switches it up a bunch, but I can tell he's liking sleep and seems to be cozy in his crib. I hope he feels the same way when we transition to the new house.

Milestones: Feeding himself. It's nice to be able to eat together as a family and take our own bites instead of constantly feeding him.

Mom and Dad: Dad had several nights this week where he was in charge of Anton while I went out with friends and had appointments. They had a great time together.

A Birthday Celebration

:: Anton was the center of attention as usual ::

 :: Great grandma Marie Francis and a grasshopper ::

 :: Anton was smitten with cousin Rachel ::

 :: She shared some iPhone tricks ::

 :: Birthday boy / Grillmaster / Dad ::

 :: Uncle John entertaining as always ::

 :: Steak instead of Cake ::

 :: Auntie Susan snuggles Anton ::

:: A Grammy Sammie - Anton is so lucky ::

Anton's Updates :: 34 Weeks

 We are up to our ears in packing around here. We are getting really excited about the big move. Anton has had a really fussy week for some reason. Poor little guy just doesn't seem like himself these days. We keep blaming it on teething, but still haven't seen those little white buggers pop through. He has been just very emotional, very happy and giggly one minute and fussy the next. I guess thats babies for ya. Hopefully he will be back to himself soon. He is a very serious baby when we are out and about in public places. He really wants to take a long moment to take it all in when we go anywhere new. I don't blame him I think it's smart. At music class he sits quietly and gazes around at the teacher and students. By the very last song he finally gets into it, just when its time to leave. 

Eating: He has finally started picking up little finger foods and actually making it into his mouth. Big changes with eating are in the near future. It would be nice to have a dog to clean up under the table.

Sleeping: He is doing a great job in his own bed. I am really proud of the way he went from a pretty terrible sleeper to a sleeper in training. We have been really lucky to get so much rest around here.

Milestones: Getting really good at picking up small objects.

Mom and Dad: Finding new ways to entertain Anton every day.

Anton's Updates :: 33 Weeks

  We are having lots of summer fun around here these days. Spending lots of time in the kiddie pool, having playdates with friends, and attending music class twice a week. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE summer. It's one of the best parts of my job. Aside from teaching wonderful teenagers :).

New Favorites: Watching our cats and looking at cars out the window. Splashing! In the pool, and the tub. I think it's time to move to the big bathtub soon.

Eating: Eating 3 solid food meals a day. (purees)  Also practicing with a sippy cup and getting much better at picking up little puffs and cereal. Still not making it into his mouth much. Still nursing about 5 times a day. Working on not nursing to sleep for naps and nighttime. 

Sleeping: One of my least favorite parts of parenting thus far is teaching a baby how to sleep. You'd think babies would just love to snuggle up in their little crib and go right to sleep. We are still doing ok with sleep, but it is a source of stress for me still. I never know if he is going to have a good naps, day or bad naps day. For the most part he is taking two 1.5 hour naps a day, but sheesh, sometimes we just want to go out and play, but if one of those naps is skipped, it's just no fun for anyone.

Milestones: Tummy time movement. He does these full circles on the floor. Kind of an army crawl but not really going anywhere.

Mom and Dad: Packing for the big move next week.

Anton's Updates :: 32 Weeks

It worked! Baby sleep training boot camp was a total and complete success. I should knock on wood and hope it lasts, but this little man is sleeping 11-13 hours a night straight through, no wake ups in his OWN room in his OWN bed! It all started on our visit to Medford two weekends ago. We were all exhausted. We had been rocking, swaddling, bouncing, snuggling Anton to sleep since he was born. It turns out he had never figured out how to put himself to sleep. After a long weekend of feeling like zombie parents we decided when we returned home we would try some new things. We made the decision to try some sleep training and letting him fuss and cry himself to sleep for a night or two. If you had asked me about this a week or two beforehand I would have said "no way" to cry it out methods. But when you get tired enough everything changes. So on Sunday after our trip (also Ivalle's 30th birthday) we did our bedtime routine, bath, book, breastfeed and then put him in his crib with room darkening shades, sound machine, and his blankie. He cried for a long time the first night. We went in an checked on him every 10 minutes or so, and eventually he fell asleep. He woke a couple times that night, but just whimpered a bit and then soothed himself back to sleep. It was amazing. The next couple nights were also a bit rough but eventually he figured it out and is now sleeping like a champion! We are all feeling a lot more rested and Anton is a happy giggly baby each morning when he wakes up. His naps have been longer and consistent too. It was hard for me to give up having him sleeping right next to me at night. I had my eyes glued to the video monitor the first couple of nights, but now I'm enjoying having my bed back.

New Favorites: Kiddie pool, and splashing. It has been hot hot hot this week in Portland and Anton has been having a blast splashing around in the water. We will be taking him to his first official swimming lesson tomorrow. We can't wait to see how he does in the big pool. 

Eating: Still loving his pureed foods. I've been giving him some dry cereal to practice picking up and putting in his mouth. Mostly he just picks it up and drops it on the floor. The putting it in his mouth part will come eventually I suppose.

Milestones: Rolling over intentionally to pick up toys. Standing while propped up on the edge of the couch.

Mom and Dad: Feeling much better about the sleep situation and enjoying the summer sun.