october??

not exactly sure how it's october. that puts us so much closer to the end of the year...and into 2011...and into february. when i will have a one year old. i try not to get ahead of myself, but can we please slow down?!

in honor of fall, we visited a pumpkin patch, where finn saw a bunch of animals, too a hay ride, and gnawed on some pumpkin stems. he was afraid of goats in september and after only one bout of screaming, touched one at the petting zoo. (i'll have to post the goat screaming video. hilarious!)

he is, quite possibly, the cutest boy alive, and can often be sweet and charming. he usually saves those moments for when we're with friends and makes me look like a liar when i say he's temperamental and needy at home. but it's true. he's in a hold me stage and turns to me to cuddle close and peer at things around my shoulder. it's adorable and i love that he trusts me and wants to be near me. it's also difficult to get anything done.

at the same time, he's becoming more adventurous. he lunges for objects, rolls over (yes, he rolls all of the time now!), pushes up to hands and knees, and has recently started pulling himself up using the edge of his crib (from sitting). he seems to have no fear, which he often regrets when he bumps his chin or head during his gymnastics.

i'm happy to have fall. i look forward to the layers of clothes (my never ending quest to find cute, affordable options for boys without words and puppies/trucks on every shirt), crisp walks with friends , hot cider, and babies in strollers, and watching my peanut experience halloween and thanksgiving for the first time.

 finley is happy to have fall, too. more things to side eye and chew on ;)

want free shipping on green goods?

if you've seen my nursery, you know i found a number of great items at pacifier, a store in minneapolis with a great selection of modern goods (tea collection, for one!). because the manager is a friend (relative? through mr. h3b.), i've got the scoop on a free shipping deal! to be honest, i knew in advance because i designed the flier, but i had to wait to share ;)

so go ahead, check out their online offerings of some local (to minneapolis) goods and green toys. use the code SHOPLOCAL for free shipping on orders over $49. love green, love local, love FREE!

don't you want one of these for your little one??

or maybe this (i'm getting one for finley!), made in mr. h3b's home town of big lake, mn!

 

you might also notice a certain peanut in the woobie knit hats ;)

if you're in minneapolis, check out the store in person, otherwise enjoy online shopping :)

7 months!?!

i'm told by the calendar that my baby turned 7 months this past sunday. he is more than a half a year old! i watched some videos of his tiny, newborn self and could hardly believe it's the same little being. but i know he's changed. i can look back at his monthly photos and see how different he is...and where he used ot sit and stare, he now does this:

i don't have a stats update, but he remains peanut sized. today, in fact, he wore a 0-3 month onesie. the long sleeved one in his picture is the same that he's been wearing for at least the last few months. he's long and lean, just like i was as a baby. but we're watching him grow in other ways.

while he still doesn't want to roll over, i've seen him do it (just this evening) more and more. he can, he just has little interest in doing so. he does scoot on his belly (backwards) and can turn a full circle. today he let me tip his hips up and he sat and rocked on his hands and knees. just a few hours later he managed to pull himself up on his own (!) and sit in a crawling position for just a little bit. he really want to move, so i think it might be soon...

he continues to eat like a champ. he still nurses 5 times a day and now eats solid purees at lunch and dinner. i've been making all of his baby food (let me know if you want details, i might write up a post if anyone's interested in one way of doing it) and he's rejected only one food for one day. we fed him green beans and watched as he (fake) choked, gagged and made dramatic sighing sounds, but by day three he was eating them just fine.

he continues to have separation anxiety and cries/screams if we leave the room without him. i try to play peek a boo and while he enjoys that, he is not easily tricked if i leave for too long. this behavior carries into his naps, as he has recently only slept for more than 15 minutes or so while being held or pushed (constantly) in a stroller. while the naps get worse, the nights get better. he goes down and sleeps with infrequent wakings until 5:30 or 6:30, when he feeds and goes back down for another 2 or 3 hours. when he wakes in the night, he cries briefly but we do not go to him (our presence escalates the crying rather than calms). i have never let him cry for more than 20-30 minutes (and it's typically about 5 or less) and this works for us. i know he's ok, not hungry, not wet and just needs more sleep, so i feel good about the night now. (finally!)

6 month mini shoot

he sits. he has cute little shoes. he smiles and charms with his big blue eyes. he melts my heart (and mr. h3b's) and i am so lucky to be his mama!

i took these in our yard on sunday. 6 and a half months old.

he sits!

finn started to sit up a few weeks ago, but he wasn't very stable and was mostly doing a tripod. his favorite place to practice was on the changing pad after a clean diaper, reaching for all of the goodies on the table.

he's since progressed into full fledged sitting, but he still falls down consistently. he is strongest in the tripod position and will sit to play like that for a few minutes at a time.

he easily reach for things to bring to his lap and it is so cute to watch him consider which toys he'd prefer holding.

most of the time the reaching results in toppling forward, so we have to be near him at all times. i learned my lesson when i was just a few inches to far and couldn't catch him. of course, that same time he was just a few inches past the layered quilt and managed to hit his head on the wood floor. crying resulted, but i'm sure that's not the last time he'll bonk his head.

for now, he's safer on his tummy. he's just started to lift his body up off the floor, but he hasn't been able to move or bring his knees up under himself yet. so many things mastered, so many yet to come!

sir sleeps-a-lot. not.

for how many pictures i have of finn sleeping, you'd think he does it all the time. alas, no. he struggles before every nap. i know he's tired when he fusses and rubs his eyes with tiny clenched fists. where i used to be able to lay him in his crib or pack and play at this early tired point and he'd fall fast asleep, that now results in a screaming fit. rocking him gently with a pacifier and silky also results in a screams. standing and bouncing with a paci and silky results in screams as well. he fights to take naps and sleeps between 15 and 30 minutes. it is a daily chore to get him much needed sleep.

i've resorted to the back carry in the ergo as a go to sleep inducer. aside from one major meltdown, he falls asleep quite easily when accompanying me in my household chores. now that it's not so hot, i can handle walking and carrying and working. sometimes i'll keep him there, but often i'll drop him onto the bed. he clearly does not mind the transition from back to bed.

for now, i continue to rock him through the tears and hope that i can get him to sleep 3 times a day. once in the crib, once on the go, and once in the pack and play.

today he slept for almost 2 hours during one nap, but i never get my hopes up. he's slept for 4 minutes before, so our sleep troubles do not end with the night time.

small fry - 6 month stats

i forgot to update in my 6 month post finley's current stats. we took him to his well baby on his 6 month birthday, so this was a few weeks ago.

weight: 15lb 3oz (10th percentile)
height: 27" (75th percentile)

he is just a skinny, long little guy. his dr. didn't seem concerned that his weight hadn't continue to increase much in 2 months (he gained less than 2 pounds). she was pleased with his development overall. more tummy time, more sitting up practice (more on that in another post) to help with his strength for both rolling and crawling (of which he does neither). he can roll. i found him on his stomach in bed once and when he's pushed up far onto his arms and off his belly a bit, he topples over and rolls by accident. but he will not purposely go from tummy to back or from back to tummy.

we are also concerned about plagiocephaly/brachycephaly. he has an extremely flat head (to me) and a moderate case, according to the dr. we have to make an appointment with a specialist to see if he might need to wear a band/helmet and what the pros/cons are to something like that. everyone kept telling me the flatness would "pop out" as he was off his head more, but it hasn't. so we'll have to see what happens next.

in the meantime, we're feeding this boy to keep him growing. he is so into dinnertime. he's eaten rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato, and pears and he loves every single one. can't get enough of those organic, mom-made purees :)