We've made it a year

Our little boy turned 1 on Saturday. He was a perfect birthday boy, and his party was a great time! Lots of thanks to our friends and family for coming out for his birthday. N had a great time, and we did as well. Unfortunately, all of the pictures taken are on my mom's camera, so I'll have to wait to upload some photos when she visits next. Until then hugs and kisses from the whole crew.

You can have your cake...

So thanks to the joys of the Food Network and TLC, I was inspired to start playing with fondant. I did my first cake around Father's Day...a vanilla cake with nutella creme filling. I used a combination of nutella, cool whip, granulated sugar, and cream cheese. The cake turned out pretty good. I cheated on the actual cake, using boxed. The actual decoration of the cake was pretty bad, but it was my first attempt.

Last week I made cake #2. This too was a boxed vanilla cake, and I made a strawberry filling. The decoration came out a little better this time.

N- 9 months

One of the joys of N getting older is that his doctor's appointments are less frequent. When he was first born, it seemed like we were at the doctor every week. Since he hasn't had a doctor's appointment since he was 6 months old, I was looking forward to this visit to find out how much he has changed.

We arrived to the appointment at 11:30am exactly, as I had misplaced my keys just in time to leave for his appointment. His doctor's office is located in part of Newton-Wellesley Hospital (same hospital where he was born), and parking there is often very difficult. I have taken to scheduling appointments there around lunch time, as parking seems to be much easier. I rushed through the door just to be greeted with paperwork. Once I finished that, N and I checked out the tropical fish tank that the office has and waited to be called in. A few short minutes later his name was called and I brought him into one of the rooms, where N was very excited to see a giant tropical fish (made of metal, of course) hanging on the wall.

The nurse weighed him, measured him, and then left us waiting for the doctor. And waiting. And waiting. Now, his doctor is usually pretty timely, but for whatever reason, he was running behind yesterday. I will tell you that keeping a 9 month old occupied in a 5x7 room for a half hour is not easy....especially since I could not put him on the ground.

The doctor came in and ran through the usual questions and exams. He was very pleased with his development thus far. He was also impressed with the amount and variety of food that N eats. N weighed in at 19lbs 9oz which put him in the 35th percentile for his weight. He was 29 inches (75th percentile), and his head measured in the 97th percentile. Once again confirming our son's melon head. N took the examining well, as he tends to shy away from people he doesn't know right now. The nurse came back in, gave him his one shot, and we were on our way. I scheduled his next appointment, which will be his 1 year appointment.

Food, Fireworks, and the 4th

Friends of our throw a big 4th of July party every year...I mean, they go all out. We arrived at the party around 3pm, and ended up staying until almost midnight. There is a keg, a ton of food, and of course fireworks. They live on a pond, and have built a dock that they use as a barge. N survived the fireworks with no problems...the first few scared him a little bit, but he just snuggled in and watched.

I made a sangria the day before that went over really well. It was the combination of several different recipes, but I simply changed them all until I got the result I wanted. The recipe is as follows:

Katie's Killer Sangria
2 bottles of Charles Shaw Shiraz
2 lemons (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
2 limes (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
2 oranges (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
1/2c pineapple chunks (plus a little bit of the juice)
1/2c sliced strawberries
1/2 apple sliced
1/2c Triple Sec
1/2c Apple Jack brandy

Add all items to big jug or pitcher, and let marinade in fridge. Once ready to serve pour over ice making sure each cup gets plenty of fruit. Pour cups to 3/4 of the way full and top remaining 1/4 with club soda. Stir to mix.

I should have taken some pictures, but I know I'll be making this for any other barbeques this summer so I'll be sure to do it then. After passing out several glasses, people requested more and I was all out. Next year I am tripling the recipe!

February 15, 2009

Hello dear friends and family. I decided to start a blog to help keep everyone updated on N's little life. I cannot promise that I will be perfect about blogging, nor can I even promise that this address will get out to you all. I did one trial post back in December, and this is the first time I have revisited it. That being said, I'll give it a shot.

N is 19 weeks old today...that is roughly 4 and half months. He had his 4 month well child visit at the pediatrician last Wednesday. He weighed in 15 pounds even, measuring 25 inches. Both are in the 60th percentile for his age. I had been calling him a melon-head (I know, mean mommy) prior to his doctor's appointment, and I was right! His head measured 17 1/2 inches, which is in the 90th percentile. The doctor assured me that it's fine, is just big to hold his big brain. He also concurred that N is a melon-head. 

The doctor also gave the go ahead to start N on some solids. We started him immediately with some rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He was unsure of it at first, but as soon as he figured out what to do with the spoon in his mouth, he began to enjoy it. I was told we can begin oatmeal, fruits, and veggies as well, but I was to wait at least 3-5 days between introductions in order to watch for any allergic reactions. I started him on oatmeal on Wednesday by mixing it with some rice cereal. He seems to enjoy that as well. He makes a huge mess...I end up with cereal all over my hands, and he has it all over his hands, clothing, and face. I gave him some squash yesterday and he wasn't a huge fan, but I'll keep trying!

He's a very busy boy nowadays. He plays on his own, but loves attention from anyone at all! He rolled over from his back to his front, and again onto his back from there last Friday. He started up again yesterday...as soon as we put him down he rolls over. He still hates to be on his tummy though, so he rolls from his back to his front, and then just yells. He loves to spend time in his jumperoo, and has learned how to make it bounce. He's very funny- making all sorts of noise all of the time. He lets us know when he's happy, and he let's us know when he's not.

I'll post a few pictures to keep you all up to date. He changes so much every day!

N and cousin A

Squash!

December 16, 2008

Well, I decided that since N is in our lives now, it might be helpful to start a blog to update everyone on our family. I'm sure that most of this will be about N, and the happenings of his little life. It'll also give me an opportunity to be better about sharing recent pictures, as he changes so much daily!

N is 10 1/2 weeks old. C and I are absolutely smitten with him. While he's been smiling on and off since about 6 weeks, he smiles all of the time now. If I walk into the room and say hello, he breaks out into a huge grin. It absolutely melts my heart. We're working on getting him to laugh...it seems to be right around the corner, but he just hasn't figured it out yet! He is very busy and plays a lot more. N is also very vocal baby. At his 2 month doctors appointment, his pediatrician commented that he was "extremely vocal for his age." I keep wondering if we'll need ear plugs when he starts talking.

We've been working on tummy time to strengthen his muscles. He still doesn't like it, but he is much stronger now. He's also batting at everything. It makes it harder to relax close to him! As for sleep, well, I'm not sure I want to comment. I may jinx things. N slept for five hours straight two nights ago, and last night, he slept for 7 1/2 hours straight! I'm hoping he'll keep it up, but I'm not sure if he will. It's my understanding that breast fed babies have a harder time sleeping through the night.

We're excited to go to Syracuse for Christmas, as N has a lot of people that he needs to meet. We'll be leaving sometime on Friday, and will be staying until the 28th. I'm glad to have such a long time. We're fortunate that C has enough time off for us to be able to do this. When we come back to Mass, I'll be going back to work part-time at Babies-R-Us. My management has been awesome...I'll be working Tuesday and Thursday nights after C gets home from work. I'll probably be working all day on Saturdays, and on Sunday I'll be working from 9am-noon. I'll miss my little man while I work, but I'm spoiled in that I get to stay home with him during the day.

Well, I guess I'm going to head to bed...N and C are in bed so it'd better get in as much sleep as possible before I get my 3:00am wake up call. Or maybe later...here's to hoping...