That Mysterious Place

Oliver is just about 4 months old. He just had a check-up this morning and is by all accounts a happy healthy baby. In fact, he was all smiles and giggles until his vaccinations, and he returned to a good mood shortly after those.

I thought I'd go into some physical detail about the back of his head – an area he will rarely see for himself, and then only with the help of hair stylists and paparazzi photos.

A: Blond hair coming in! Both Jenny and I were blond babies and the doctor agrees that Oliver seems to be shaping up to be a Blondie too. At least while he's young.

B: "Stork Bites" or vascular birth marks. I've read that those on the back of the neck may not go away with age, but they're usually covered with hair. Maybe Oliver will decide to shave his head some day and show these off.

C: The Tail. This little patch of hair was originally a bit longer than the rest and it has grown the most as he's gotten older. With a little time and effort, this could be a great little mullet.

D: The Bald Spot. This is from laying against the car seat, sleeping, or lying on his play mat. Now that he is holding up his head and developing the strength to sit up on his own, this should disappear. If it doesn't, we'll just have to work on a life-long "comb up" technique to use that tail below for additional cover.

E: The "Faux Hawk". He woke up with this one morning and we thought it was funny. Now I can't help but encourage the look with a little spit and finger combing.
-Keith

An Unexpected Visitor

In this video, Oliver gets a visit that neither of us expected. His reaction is pretty funny.

Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?

I'm constantly amazed at how hi-tech baby toys are. We went shopping a few days ago. Jenny has had her eye out for a certain traditional wooden children's toy -- the kind that's been around for centuries. We had to search it out among aisles and aisles of plastic multi-colored gadgets that blink, vibrate, & play music or animal sounds. We already have several such toys in our house, but the cranky luddite in me always rises when I'm confronted by so much gadgetry. The greatest minds in human history did not hear classical music from their stuffed animals! Lights did not flash on their playmats! Their chairs did not vibrate! Brilliant children once grew up without a single AA battery!

So I had mixed feelings about the lovely stuffed lamb that Oliver's grandmother gave him. It’s about his size and comes with 4 buttons on the back that play synthesizer versions of the following sounds: a heartbeat, whale song, rain falling, and ocean waves crashing (ironically, it makes no lamb sounds). We tried turning it on and setting in on Oliver's lap. He didn't mind, but the thing seemed to smother him, and I thought the whale song sounded a little creepy so the lamb went back on the shelf.

Flash forward to last weekend, where Jenny and I were still contending with our most prolonged parenting dilemma yet -- sleep. You see, from the day he came home from the hospital, we've been practicing the “family bed” plan, with Oliver asleep between the two of us. We're not thrashers, and it was a good way to feel he was safe and close -- not to mention it made frequently feeding him easier those first months. But getting him to sleep has always involved us rocking and bouncing him, and most often, he's ended up asleep ON TOP of one of us, and we'd do our best to sleep beneath him, feeling more and more like letters beneath an ever heavier paperweight.

As time went on, it became clear that none of us was sleeping well and we made the decision to finally move him to the crib. We really expected it to involve a lot of fussing and thrashing, but it didn't. It seems Oliver needed his space, too. We got him to sleep and gently placed him in the crib, in a sleep positioner (which we call “the taco") that keeps him comfortably on his side. And to lull him to sleep, we brought in the lamb, whose gentle synth heartbeat lulled the baby to sleep. It worked surprisingly well!

We're not close to sleeping through the night yet, but this is another step forward for all of us. Thank you, little lamb.

Oliver's giggle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLZNYSsgN_E

This is an experiment with posting video via Youtube.

1-2-3-4 Flip! Better than your average turtle

Last Friday we reached a big milestone; Oliver turned himself over, from his belly to his back.

For most of my life, my reaction to such news from others was to think, "Ummm... So what?" but as we watch each stage of our child's development, this is a biggie. Tummy time has not been his favorite; at most, we'd get 5 minutes of him squirming on his stomach before screaming in rage and frustration. But recently, he's shown the neck strength to pull up his head and look around. He's made it up on one elbow and turned in a half-circle. All this gave him the confidence to keep working on it.

I felt him getting closer and closer and starting videotaping his progress. When he finally got there, he paused for a long time on his side, thinking about where to shift his weight.

This is the first step in a new chapter of having to watch him closer. No longer can we just sit him down and expect him to stay in the same place. This is why the baby seats and changing pad all have restraining belts. Oliver will soon be on the go!
-Keith

Three months old and time for daddy day care

It's been a few weeks since we updated this blog. Mainly we've been in a busy transition. Between the time Jenny returned to work and the time I'm taking off from work, we've had Jenny's mom staying with us and showering Oliver with tons of attention. Today is the first day of my 5 weeks leave, and with Kim here for a few more days, I'm going to take advantage and get a few things done (like update our blog!).

Oliver is growing quickly, both in size and development. We haven't had him on a scale since December, but I'm guessing that he has doubled his birth weight or more. He now spends a lot of time babbling, and a couple times a day we can get a really great giggle out of him by blowing raspberries on his neck or stomach. Sometimes he just laughs when we laugh (see photo above). For a couple weeks there, he was obsessed with blowing spit bubbles (see photo below), but I guess he got tired of that.

He is readily grabbing at toys we dangle in front of him. That started at the beginning of this month when he used a two-handed claw approach to just pinch together whatever was in front of him. Now he's articulating his fingers and grasping. Still leading with his left hand, too. Another thing: when he gets excited he kicks his legs a lot. So when he's propped in his bouncy chair, it looks a lot like he's dancing.

More updates to come!
-Keith

Here is Oliver taking a bath with his mom. He's now smiling (almost) all the time and starting to babble and make baby sounds. His regular cycle is like this: A) wake up B) fuss and cry C) eat D) smile and giggle E) sleep F) repeat. We're working on his grip now, placing a rattle in either hand and seeing how long he'll hold, and maybe shake it. So far, he holds the rattle much longer with his left hand. Today he actually took the rattle out of my hand with his! These little milestones keep us going.

Jenny is going back to work later this month and I will be taking February and the first week of March off. I'm looking forward to it, but as much as I want to make a mental list of all the things I can get done, I've learned from Jenny and my own time babysitting that the baby takes a LOT of attention. I'll be lucky to get the dishes done. His daytime naps are brief. What would we do without our wonderful parents to watch him now and then?

Right now I'm at the computer with him beside me, crying in his little swing. I've just put a CD of baby "nighttime" music on. Maybe if he stops crying for a moment, he can enjoy a little Tchaikovsky played slowly on metal drums. Maybe I'll need to pick him up or sing him a little song. -Keith

A visit from our friends Joel and Kyoko and their daughters Mei (3) and Kaya (7 months).

Oliver dressed up for a walk with his mom and dog on a cold day.

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2006 / January 1, 2007

(Clockwise from left:) Jenny, Oliver, Keith, Danny, Michael, Tony, Maggie, Julia, Sylvia, & William

Christmas 2006

We had a great Christmas holiday with family and we’re looking forward to seeing some old friends for New Years. Oliver seems to love a crowd. He does his best when he’s being passed from person to person, or when he’s sitting facing a crowd.


Just before Christmas, amazingly enough, Santa Claus was just hanging out at a nearby grocery store. We took the opportunity to take a photo with Oliver. If Oliver was asking for anything, it was to get off Santa’s lap RIGHT NOW!

Meeting Santa

Today I took Oliver to Pendleton to meet everyone I work with. It was Pendleton's holiday party and Santa was there handing out gifts. Unfortunately, my pictures of Oliver and Santa are terribly blurry. Looks like I'll have to go to the mall after all. He looked adorable so I took a picture of him in one of his holiday outfits. He was very cooperative and even managed to smile for me. -Jenny

First Smiles and a Christmas Tree

Today we went to a tree farm West of Portland and got a very nice tree. Oliver slept while we were there, and then yelled all the way home.






But when we got home, he treated us to some of his various new smiles. Just recently, he seems to be smiling for reasons other than passing gas. He's responding to our faces and showing a range of expressions. It's a lot of fun to watch!

Birthing Class Reunion

Here's a challenge for you friends and family members (especially you attentive grandmas):

Which of these six babies is Oliver?

Bonus point: Which is neighbor Sophia?

Hit the comments button below this to post your answer!

Baby Sophia

We took a birthing class this last summer with about 8 other couples. We were surprised when we recognized one of the couples, Neil and Sara, as our neighbors who live on the other side of the block! Their daughter Sophia is three days older than Oliver, and today they brought her over to visit. It was the first time Oliver had met another baby, and he was all smiles.

Sophia was exactly the same weight and length as Oliver. She's a real cutie. When we set the two side by side in the crib, we all suddenly realized how much he looks like a boy and she looks like a girl - even at 5 weeks old. It'll be fun to see these two change as they get older.
-Keith

A trip to the grocery store

Keith has been doing all the shopping and cooking since Oliver arrived but Oliver and I decided that today was the day to walk to the store and pick something up for dinner. I also needed to pick up some soy products because I've cut back on dairy to help with Oliver's gas.

It has been pretty cold here in Portland so I took the opportunity to put Oliver in a new hat. -Jenny

Traveling Man

In the car seat on the long drive to visit family in California. He did just fine.

One Month Old

Oliver is a month old today. So far so good. We're so happy to have a healthy burping, wailing, pooping, farting, hand-waving, finger clutching, eating baby boy. Did you notice I didn't mention sleeping? Well, he does sleep, but not for long. Jenny and I are the classic sleep-deprived newborn zombie parents. We're trying to establish a schedule, which involves a bath at a certain time, feeding at a certain time, and a "goin to bed" time when we all settle down in the dark bedroom.

Unfortunately, Oliver is still on his own time, and when he's hungry, bored, or lonely every 30 minutes throughout the night, we do our best to give him what he needs. Because I'm working and Jenny is on maternity leave, I get to play the, "I need my sleep to keep my job" card, which buys me the privilege of turning over and trying to sleep for 70% of his nighttime fussiness. The rest of them, I'm trying the rocking chair, the pacifier, and my new magic weapon, the Baby Bjorn. It straps him to my chest and he settles right down. But only if I'm moving around -- which means that if I want to sooth him, it's also a good time to do the dishes, sweep & vacuum the floor, etc.

Jenny can usually quiet him down by feeding. Now that she's pumping, I can try that too.
-Keith

Catching Up

One of the reasons we started this Blog was to keep family and friends updated on Oliver's progress. I finally have a few moments to catch everyone up on how Oliver is doing.

We left the hospital on October 31st and Oliver weighed 7lbs 6 oz. That Friday, we met with the lactation consultant who informed us that Oliver was already back up to 7lbs 11.5oz. Most babies take two weeks to regain the weight the lose after birth but Oliver was already back up. The consultant checked his sucking reflex and commented that he was like a snapping turtle. I couldn't have agreed with her more.

Last Friday was Oliver's two week check up with the pediatrician. He weighed 7lbs 12.5 oz and had grown one inch. He was very good throughout the check up until the end when he decided he was hungry. I was a little intimidated as I had never nursed him outside the house without all of my pillows. I am happy to report that we were successful! Oliver got his meal and I got a bit of a confidence boost. -Jenny

It seems like it's rained so much since Oliver was born. We just had a mild break in the weather and I took him out in the baby carrier that straps to my chest. Here's Oliver soaking up a sunbeam from a nearby window. -Keith

On Saturday (his 2 week birthday) we took Oliver out for some shopping. We had to get some things at Babies R Us. He's pretty fussy about getting in the car seat, but once he's in there, he mellows out. He even looks kinda happy in one of these photos! -Keith

Tummy Time and First Bath