Om Nom Nom Rice Cereal

Our big ole boy is, like, the biggest milk pig evaar. He drinks a ton a day. He's also close to 16 lbs., and he seems to get the whole food thing. He watches us eat like a hawk, mimics us when we have dinner. And, well, considering the whole milk pig thing... I figured it might be time to start to expand his diet. He's like a week away from being 4 months, but I think he might be ready.

Just to be safe, we started with rice cereal (hypoallergenic, so if he's not ready at least we aren't screwing him up permanently).


Um - while he had the obvious reaction to the first bite or two (the 'WTF are you doing to me' face), he figured out really quickly that MAN he loves the cereal!


So, we'll see how the tummy takes it (so far so good) and maybe a teeny bit of cereal will be in his diet from here on out. Hopefully this is a good sign that we'll have a little gastronome in our house :)


Before the first try, he has no idea what's coming...



Totally not into what's going on at first:

And then? He changes his mind.

It got to the point where he became pretty darn impatient in-between spoonfuls...

Weekend Update 9.20.09

Oh my gosh, busy week my friends.

The week: Scott bottled a beer (Festivus ale) on Wednesday, and I headed to the JBF Sale in Lawrence Thursday night. It was... okay. The JoCo one is much much bigger, therefore much superior. Leah and I have a pact to consign and shop the next JoCo one, which should be in March. While the Lawrence one was smaller I was still able to get some good deals. Found tons of slacks and pants for Peter, and some cool PJs and onesies. Found him a cute pair of Robeez. And a sweeeet black velvet blazer. On top of that, some foam floor mats, toys, and a costume for our dear Mahni. So, there were still deals to be found!

Friday night we just made deep dish pizza at home (I have THE BEST recipe compliments of Leslie @ Blog Soup, just like the Real Thing) and watched some TV while we tried to ignore the musical stylings of... our screaming little Peter.

Yup, we're giving the whole "cry it out" thing a try. Peter went from a Really Good Sleeper (only getting up every 3 hours, all business, then back to bed) to Bad Bad Awful Sleeper - up several times a night, sometimes for an hour or more, up for the day as early as 4am... For the past several weeks we've been the walking dead around here, all three of us.

I got a lot of information from my girlfriends, and a pattern that emerged was: (1) get the boy to bed earlier, and (2) don't end the "bedtime routine" with his feeding. Then he only will go back to bed with a feeding.

I've also been reading this book which was recommended by several friends, and the main bits I got out of it were (1) try the "cry it out" to see if it works for you, as it can be very helpful for some families, and (2) never let a baby under 6 months of age go more than 2 hours without a nap. Even if he only naps for 15 minutes, he'll need something.

So Friday, armed with our advice, Peter was in bed by 6:30pm, and went to bed sleepy after some book reading (feeding came earlier in the night). He cried for, oh, a good hour. Then off and on for another 30 minutes. Was any of that easy for us? Uh, no. But he finally put himself to sleep, and while it's probably premature (we've only had a handful of naps and one more nighttime since Friday) it appears to have helped things tremendously. Friday night he only got up twice, and for 10 minutes a pop. Saturday night he only got up ONCE, and was back in bed after only FIVE MINUTES. Oh my gosh! I feel like a new woman, it was amazing.

Anyhoo. Sad, but that is one of the biggest highlights of the past 4 months for me...

Saturday we took it easy. Peter and I made a grocery list and did some shopping. We stopped by downtown first and took a nice walk (the weather was PERFECT again, we've had a fantastic summer here). We also picked up these shoes, because I've been dreaming about them for a month now... Then got some groceries, and headed back home in time to watch KU pummel the Dookies into the ground.

While all that was going on, Scott brewed a new batch of beer (this time a Weisenboch). That evening, we headed to Toe Pee Kah to see Kate and her new house. Such a pretty house, too! She has a gorgeous Craftsman bungalow in the cutest neighborhood. We are officially jealous over here. We stayed there longer than we anticipated, but that happens in good company with good food and a gorgeous setting :) Before heading home we had some Bobo's Drive In for dinner, and I will say it is worth the hype. Yummy yum burgers and rings/fries.

Sunday we took it a bit easier. Got up a little later, as the church schedule was very different this week. Our church is celebrating their 150th year in 2009, so Sunday was their Sesquecentennial Mass. Since they wanted one mass with the entire parish, they held it at KU's Lied Center at 11am. Oh, my goodness.

I just want to say that as much as it would make my dad give me the side eye, I am going to admit that we had a big breakfast and copious amounts of coffee beforehand and I AM GLAD. We got to the Lied Center at 10:50am to get seated and such, Peter in his Sunday finest. And we scooted out a little after 1:00pm, right after Communion, with a little dude minus his hat, shoes, and his happy personality. The mass was cool, lots of stuff going on, but given the HUGE crowd, and the English + Spanish versions of everything, and the choir... It took awhile, longer than even a mellow little baby can take.

So we skipped the church lunch afterwards, instead heading home. We spent the rest of the day catching up on household chores, going through Peter's clothes yet again (oh my, but he grows so fast). Oh, yes - and Peter and I took a 3-hour nap. THREE HOURS. It was as glorious as it sounds. And yet I'm still tired, ironically...

In the evening: Peter tried some rice cereal. The results... well, check in here to see. And that's it, folks! Next week we have lots going on, so it should be a big update post as well.

Have a good week!

Weekend Update 9.14.09

I’m writing this update as well as the 9/07/09 update a few weeks after they both occurred, so they’ll be a bit more to-the-point compared to the usual Weekly Updates…

Grandpa and Grandma Mueller came up for a visit on Saturday. We went to the Indian Art Fair at Haskell, which was a lot of fun. There is always so much to see, lots of jewelry and pottery being sold and Pow Wow dances on the west side of the field. We enjoyed some Indian tacos for lunch while we were there.

That night Scott met up with Paulo to see Murder By Death at The Bottleneck and grab a bite to eat at Free State. They seemed to have a good time. Meanwhile I stayed home with the baby and had my own little good time, making the grocery list and watching movies while eating sushi delivery. Spicy tuna roll, yum! And yes sadly that is not sarcasm; I actually enjoy planning the weekly menu and making the grocery list each week…

Sunday my boys took me out for a day of shopping and a nice dinner, in honor of my birthday. I got a new winter coat and shoes, and tried to find a handbag (couldn’t find one I liked, so we’re still looking for that). Peter (as usual) got some new duds as well. It’s that time of year where all the stores are clearing out their summer apparel, so we got him plenty to wear next summer. Apparently I didn’t get enough raw tuna the night before with my sushi, so I ordered the tuna poke stack for my birthday dinner at The Yard House. Oh my goodness, it was as fabulous as I had remembered (haven’t had that dish in over a year).

So, our birthdays are over for another year. We are thinking of getting a sitter and having a nice birthday dinner Date Night in the near future. Now to just find a good sitter in town…

Weekend Update 9.07.09

Busy holiday weekend! We headed to Pittsburg, as evidenced in the post above. Lots of visiting with family and made a stop to see our dear Nikki on the way out of town. Baby Peter enjoyed the company of his cousins, especially Miss Mahni. She is his favorite, he told us. Even if she is a big old stalker.

We headed back to Lawrence Sunday night, so we could have a day to recuperate. Monday was a nice lazy day of relaxing and enjoying not only Scottie’s birthday but also Peter’s 3 month birthday. How is it our birthday season again so soon? And how is our little boy already 3 months old already?? They are not kidding when they tell you that time goes by much more quickly the older you get…

Morning Person

This past weekend's update to come soon, promise. PROMISE.

For now, let's marvel at the fact that 2 extreme night owls could have a happy, chirpy little early bird for a child. Yeah. Well, on the bright side at least someone in this house is cheery in the morningtime.

Observe photographic evidence below. All taken in a 2-minute period, no joking. Pass the coffee.

Carnival!

We traveled to Pittsburg for Labor Day, spent some time with family and friends. It was lovely as usual. It also happened to be Little Balkans Days in Pittsburg, so there was a Carnival down the main street. Leah, Tin, Scott, and I took the kiddos down to play. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves (as did our dear Tinnie). Check it out!