10 months

Peter is 10 (almost 10.5) months now and he is a mover and a shaker!  He started crawling about a month ago and he cannot sit still.  Can't change his diaper, can't leave him alone for even a second.  We are even more exhausted, but it's so fun!  Below are some of the latest pics from the month.

My Great Grandma is a Tough ol' Swede

This past weekend we went up to Tacoma to visit my grandma (and Peter's great grandma) Millie.  She had open heart surgery exactly 1mo. ago.  She is back at home and working with her PT on exercises and building back her endurance and energy.  Peter and my mom cheered her on all day Saturday while I went to my first cont. ed PT class (since having Peter) on Saturday.  Keep up the good work Grandma - go go go!  We also got to meet up with my friend Abbie and Cyrus from Univ. of Puget Sound and their son Henry.  It was so nice to catch up with them.  Then Uncle Skip and Aunt Janice came over too!

Go Great Grandma!

Hanging out with my UPS buddy Abbie and her son Henry (believe it or not, Peter is 3mo younger than Henry - but he looks like a tank compared to H!)

Playing with Uncle Skip

Taking a car/driving break (Tacoma-->Eugene)

Damn that diaper

Today I had three funny mishaps.

1) This morning when I picked Peter up out of his crib, I noticed that he had soaked through his diaper and his PJs were wet. I undressed him, took off his diaper and set him on the ground for a second.  Seriously, just a few seconds!  I turned to grab a new diaper to put him in and I heard the sound of water pouring on the carpet.  Sure enough, Peter was sitting there peeing on the carpet.  At first I didn't realize what happened b/c the spot where he was sitting was perfectly dry when I lifted him up.  Alas - he is a boy and his wet spot was about 2ft in front of him.  Hah!  Cracked me up. 

2) Peter is so wiggly and squirmy right now that it is nearly impossible to change his diaper. We have been trying to use mostly cloth diapers, including a mix of indian pre-fold cotton classic diapers and covers, bumgenious fleecy cool stuffable diapers (love these, 4.0 series I think) and some Flip diaper/covers.  Today I officially gave up on the indian pre-fold cotton diapers.  There is no way I can get that babe to sit still long enough to get one on! I'm all about the easy stuffable Bumgenius diapers these days.

"Come on Peter!" 

"What mom?"

Impossible.  I'm done with the pre-folds

Hahahahahaha

3) Speaking of cloth diapers........So we bought this "sprayer' that you hook up to the toilet and then you can spray the solid poop off into the toilet and keep most of it there vs. in your washing machine.  This sprayer has turned into the most ridiculous, messiest device.  Instead of it making life cleaner and easier, it just sprays the crap all over the wall b/c the water pressure is so hard!  I don't know if we are doing something wrong or don't have it set up right, but I will barely turn the knob to turn it on and the second I touch the button - boom/spray!!  All over the wall (no picture ;o).  And so my morning began...........

Baby Proofing

Baby Proofing: Our house and Peter's head!

This is a cabinet filled with fun baby safe things to play with, but we didn't want him to smash his fingers when he closed it. Hence the thread spool that is velcro'd to the wall.

Peter's first helmet (not for inside the house, seriously people).

So far he doesn't seem to hate it. 

We got a new Burley bike trailer!  It works as a stroller too

Poor Pete Monster

That's what we kept saying all last week and through the weekend.  After a fun filled weekend with his girlfriends, Peter came down with a cold.  The night we got back he slept terribly.  I thought it was just teething until he woke up the next morning all sniffly/snotty and coughing.  That evening he conked out snortingly slept hard. The next morning he was still miserable and was super clingy.  He didn't have a fever yet and wasn't obviously pulling at his ears a ton, but I just felt like something wasn't right.  We took him to the pediatrician that evening and sure enough - double ear infection.  I felt so bad for Peter, he was so uncomfortable.  That night we got him started on antibiotics and gave him some tylenol, but it didn't seem to do anything for his discomfort.  We finally got him to sleep in the BOB stroller and then brought the stroller into his room so he could sleep.  We even took him for another walk at midnight to help him fall asleep.  Thank you BOB, you saved our life and helped Pete monster sleep - even if it was only in 2-3hr chunks.  I ended up sleeping with him lying on my chest in the recliner and propped up in our bed for the remainder of the night and the following night as well.  Any time I tried to lie him flat he woke up screaming (fluid in the ears I imagine?)

Thank goodness for Amoxicillin.  It is nasty, pink, thick and gross, but I am very grateful.  I know antibiotics are often over prescribed and lead the development of super bugs.  But I am still really grateful that we put PEter on them.  He is a different kid today.  Much much better.  Still snotty and coughing, but MUCH happier.  He is back to sleeping in bed and is sleeping better.  Still not through the night, but I can actually console him now and get him back to sleep vs. last week.  I do look forward to not having to syringe it into his mouth 2x a day.  A few more to go!  I'm also so thankful for Jake - he was such a rockstar dad and helped me stay calm when I was freaking out not being able to console Peter.  Jake is so calm with him and always gets him to relax.

This is the saddest picture - poor Peter!

Napping inclined in the BOB - the elevation of his head made it easier/more comfortable to sleep I imagine

Sleeping/napping in the recliner with Grandma

Another nap in the BOB - the expression on his face just makes me cringe!

I'm feeling better!!

And eating again!  Dad made banana pancakes

Snotty but happy!

Still taking my antibiotics, but much better.

WR 2013

We did it! Husbands and babies in tow, and we had a really good time.  This weekend was the 9th annual gathering/"women's retreat" for my best girlfriends from UPS.  We typically get together and have a girl's weekend, but this year we brought our spouses and babies. We met in Hood River, OR and stayed in a 6 bedroom house. Did I mention we had 5 babies spanning from 2mo to 14mo? It really was remarkable. I can't speak for anyone else, but it really was an incredibly fun weekend.The only   person missing was Kathleen.  It wasn't the same without you Kathl! 

It was so great to meet everyone's babies and share stories. We got out on some walks/hikes/runs....some went skiing, played golf, explored the local brew pubs...and we ate very well. However mostly we sat around and chatted, which us what we do best. Such a blast! Joanna even made our kiddos matching UPS Logger outfits. Priceless. 

Highchair heritage

Peter's great great grandfather, Knut Clifton (1884-1970), was a woodworker who built this highchair for his son (Peter's great grandfather). It doesn't meet modern safety standards, but Peter wanted a chance to be the 4th generation of his family to sit in it!