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We had a little growth spurt right at the end of 7 months, and today I sat FFM on the electronic scale in the grocery store checkout so our 8 month weight guess is more accurate than our 7 month one. He came in at 12.1kg which is appx 26.5lbs. Length is 29.5 and I think we overestimated last month because he's defintely gotten longer, his shirts all are showing his belly button now.
Favorite foods include homemade beef stew (I know it's summer here but he really likes it!), chicken and peas, and blueberries. Just this past week he got good enough at chewing, still with no teeth, that he can eat whole blueberries. Earlier this month I would puree them with pears but now I get them frozen and thaw them so they're pretty squishy and it's fun for both of us. He's also getting good at toast fingers, although they're better if they've sat out for a few hours and gotten good and hard.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Rollin' rollin' rollin'
8 months is literally around the corner and FFM is mobile! No, not crawling yet but that kid can roll like a west Texas tumbleweed. To and fro and all over the place. Lickety split, too. Here's a diagram of where he rolled yesterday, it took him about 90 seconds to roll around the room, with some stops to inspect interesting things along the way. He ended up between the legs of the desk chair, and from that point he couldn't roll himself out (I'm not sure how he rolled himself in, but it must have involved pulling up his legs at some point), so after taking a few moments to laugh to myself at the silly pickle he'd gotten himself into and then crawling up onto the couch to take a photo, I bailed him out.
This new mobility reminded me of a link to some videos that I stumbled across when I was in Dublin. It's a New Zealand outfit that does some nice informational videos for new moms about how to encourage active movement and healthy motor development. Click here if you're interested - Active Movement. I'll also put it on the sidebar under Active Baby.
PS: if you're interested in what my MIL Penny is up to check out her new blog! Penny's Larks and Yarns.
This new mobility reminded me of a link to some videos that I stumbled across when I was in Dublin. It's a New Zealand outfit that does some nice informational videos for new moms about how to encourage active movement and healthy motor development. Click here if you're interested - Active Movement. I'll also put it on the sidebar under Active Baby.PS: if you're interested in what my MIL Penny is up to check out her new blog! Penny's Larks and Yarns.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Mooloolaba
Say that three times fast. Mooloolaba Mooloolaba Mooloolaba.
Sunday was beach day, we'd thought about it for Saturday but it was really just too hot for FFM to be outside for any period of time. Here we are at the beach. Note the lingering Irish suntan. With the high UV here I'll likely just burn so don't expect anything less than fluorescent white skin when you get to see it. FFM's in his full body rashy aka 'stinger suit.
Mooloolaba's just over an hour from Brisbane so a lot of people came up just for the day. Traffic home on weekends like this one can be similar to traffic about on I-70 after a light ski weekend. Swap the skis for surf boards and snowmobiles for boats and you get the picture. We feel right at home.
Off to the Sunshine Coast this weekend! North of Brisbane = Sunshine Coast, South of Brisbane = Gold Coast. Mooloolaba was our destination for another weekend beach getaway. Saturday was toasty, somewhere in the 97F range, so we went to Queensland's largest aquarium, cleverly named Underwater World. It was actually pretty good, better than I expected. We melted through most of a seal show (outdoors under a shaded area) but soon retreated back to hotel pool.
Sunday was beach day, we'd thought about it for Saturday but it was really just too hot for FFM to be outside for any period of time. Here we are at the beach. Note the lingering Irish suntan. With the high UV here I'll likely just burn so don't expect anything less than fluorescent white skin when you get to see it. FFM's in his full body rashy aka 'stinger suit.We also did a little side trip to the Glass House mountains on our way home. The plan was to have a picnic but when we arrived at the picnic area the only tables available were in the sun. Even though it was cooler today (in the 80s) we can't take our baby-that-turns-into-a-lobster on a picnic when it's that warm unless there's shade. Poor FFM turns into a little tomato head (his little round head turns all red) and it's so sad to watch the sweat drip down his nose so we do our best as parents to do what's good for him and keep him as cool as we can. So we had our picnic in the car.
WHEEEE, step on the gas!
WHEEEE, step on the gas!
BRAKE, Daddy, BRAKE!
beepbeep, move it Mr.
Hey, that's fun!
No babies were harmed in the taking of these photos. The car was in park, we were NOT driving Britney style with FFM loose. With the back car seat full of piles of maps, heaps of baby bags bottles toys blankets etc, we really didn't want to join FFM back there for our picnic. So Travis sat him in his lap so we could eat.
But we probably are terrible parents for thinking these are funny pictures :)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Bla La La
FFM's been much more vocal these days, in all kinds of ranges. Used to be it was all fairly low, now he's reaching pitches I swear could nearly break glass. Experimenting with the ENTIRE range a la Mariah Carey...
Anyway, when he babbles it's great fun, and often he babbles away and then turns to look at you expecting you to respond. I'm sure this will get more and more deliberate, I remember cousin Ryan (now almost 5) as a toddler babbling away with great concentration and direct eye contact, and he'd get very impatient when you didn't respond.
And the kicking and flapping! This is partly why people who pass us by on the street all get the giggles. When I was pregnant FFM moved around so much that I was worried I'd never get any sleep. True to prenatal predictions he continues his frantic workout every day, all the time. Note, this film is NOT sped up and it's blurry because he's moving really fast! I apologize for the really shaky camera work, I was trying really hard not to laugh and it wasn't working!
My mom and brothers will totally get the following pictures. No matter what we do these days FFM rolls over to sleep on his tummy. I'm a die hard tummy sleeper (pregnancy sucked) as are my brothers. Must be genetic...FFM really is related to me!
And finally, a picture from last week. We had some company and FFM learned that older girls, especially ones that can crawl when you can't, can be tough when it comes to sharing. Even if they are smaller. He did recover. The other baby that came over was even younger than FFM and as he's just barely sitting (still needs a little help from mom) he didn't stand a chance in toy wars! 
Anyway, when he babbles it's great fun, and often he babbles away and then turns to look at you expecting you to respond. I'm sure this will get more and more deliberate, I remember cousin Ryan (now almost 5) as a toddler babbling away with great concentration and direct eye contact, and he'd get very impatient when you didn't respond.
And the kicking and flapping! This is partly why people who pass us by on the street all get the giggles. When I was pregnant FFM moved around so much that I was worried I'd never get any sleep. True to prenatal predictions he continues his frantic workout every day, all the time. Note, this film is NOT sped up and it's blurry because he's moving really fast! I apologize for the really shaky camera work, I was trying really hard not to laugh and it wasn't working!
My mom and brothers will totally get the following pictures. No matter what we do these days FFM rolls over to sleep on his tummy. I'm a die hard tummy sleeper (pregnancy sucked) as are my brothers. Must be genetic...FFM really is related to me!
And finally, a picture from last week. We had some company and FFM learned that older girls, especially ones that can crawl when you can't, can be tough when it comes to sharing. Even if they are smaller. He did recover. The other baby that came over was even younger than FFM and as he's just barely sitting (still needs a little help from mom) he didn't stand a chance in toy wars!
Monday, February 11, 2008
What goes in must come out
We made it to the real beach this weekend. Brisbane isn't right on the Pacific, it's very slightly inland so we went for a little drive. There are beaches very close by, but we decided to make a weekend of it and we drove down (south) the Gold Coast to Byron Bay, about 2.5 hours south of here. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights and did fun things like shop for rashies, tour the eastern most point of mainland Australia, and hit the beach. (below: Tallow Beach)
This was FFM's first trip to a true beach, one where we let him sit and play in the sand. Just like most everything these days he puts whatever he can reach directly into his mouth, this includes sand. I don't think he ate too much as I haven't changed any diapers full of sand, and it has to come out the way it goes in. We had a great time, the water was pleasant, a little cool which felt good after the hot day, and we stayed in the shallow water and watched the surfers play out in the big waves. 
FFM in his rashy. Everyone here wears these. It's not a wetsuit, it's more like an all over swim suit that protects you from the sun. In surfing, a rashy (rash guard) offers protection not only from the sun, but also from irritation and rash caused by sliding up on the board. Travis is wearing his, it's just a shirt.
FFM is a great water baby, he and I play in the pool all the time and he's comfortable going completely under. Today we had our first official swim lesson and he 'swam' through a hoop placed underwater. 'Swimming' is simply the instructor giving him a healthy shove in my direction and me catching him underwater while he kicks and wiggles like mad. We'd never done that before, but he came up out of it with a big grin on his little face. I'm so glad he likes the water, I'll admit it would be hard for me (who surely is part fish) if he didn't.
This was FFM's first trip to a true beach, one where we let him sit and play in the sand. Just like most everything these days he puts whatever he can reach directly into his mouth, this includes sand. I don't think he ate too much as I haven't changed any diapers full of sand, and it has to come out the way it goes in. We had a great time, the water was pleasant, a little cool which felt good after the hot day, and we stayed in the shallow water and watched the surfers play out in the big waves. FFM in his rashy. Everyone here wears these. It's not a wetsuit, it's more like an all over swim suit that protects you from the sun. In surfing, a rashy (rash guard) offers protection not only from the sun, but also from irritation and rash caused by sliding up on the board. Travis is wearing his, it's just a shirt. FFM is a great water baby, he and I play in the pool all the time and he's comfortable going completely under. Today we had our first official swim lesson and he 'swam' through a hoop placed underwater. 'Swimming' is simply the instructor giving him a healthy shove in my direction and me catching him underwater while he kicks and wiggles like mad. We'd never done that before, but he came up out of it with a big grin on his little face. I'm so glad he likes the water, I'll admit it would be hard for me (who surely is part fish) if he didn't.
