Five months!

Wow, I knew it had been a while since I updated, but didn't realize I'd let another month go by. Sorry for being such a bad blogger. In the meantime, we are at another month birthday for Mr. Bean. Actually, I am tired of calling him Mr. Bean, as that is so "in-utero". I am now going to call him what we often call him at home - the J-dog. Because that is his first initial, though he is not named for his dad. (And it is a reference to The Flight of the Conch.ords, a silly show we love.)

So, we had a great first family vacation in Cape Cod. We survived the hurricane with very little problem (it was mostly a lot of wind and we lost power for about 4 hours, but that's it). The J-dog seemed to really like the beach and the waves, though he did not enjoy having his toes dipped in the cold water.

Since returning from vacation, he has graduated from sleeping in a bassinet in our room to sleeping in his own big crib in his own room. He made the transition with no problem whatsoever - it was Mom and Dad who missed having him with them and were very sad. We have become pretty obsessive about watching him on our video monitor, to see what adorable sleep position he has assumed.

It's a good thing that we do have that video monitor, because we are able to see when he has rolled himself over onto his belly and gotten stuck. He can only roll one way, and then gets upset when he can't get himself back over to his back. He kept me on my toes for several hours on Friday night - continuously rolling back onto his tummy every time I left the room. It might be some sort of ploy to get me to come in for a visit! I will say that he has gotten better at doing his tummy time during the day though, because he has been practicing in his crib at night.

The J-dog has started eating some "solid" foods. So far it is more an exercise of practicing swallowing and getting used to a spoon, as well as exploring some new flavors. He just has one "snack" a day for now, and still gets all his real meals from nursing. We didn't really mean to start him on banana first, but it is often recommended as a natural first choice for baby food because it can just be mashed up without cooking. So last weekend on a lark I gave him a little taste when I was having my own breakfast and it was love at first bite. Since then we have introduced whole grain brown rice cereal, which he likes ok, and avocado which he likes more than the cereal but not as much as the banana. Next step will be to try some steamed and pureed veggies - I just hope that I haven't spoiled him by giving him the sweet fruit first. I plan to buy a baby food maker - I wasn't going to initially, but our kitchen is really small and I think I'd rather have a small appliance on the counter than have to deal with a pot with a steamer and then also a blender or food processor, both of which live high up on a shelf and rarely come down. I'm thinking of getting the Br.ezza - any thoughts?

So, as for the next adventure - the J-dog and I are headed to Italy this week. Yes, Italy. And yes, we are going without J. I will be flying over there on my own with the baby, but will be met at the airport by an old friend. We will stay with him for 3 days, and then will meet up with my parents who will be at a villa on Lake Como that belongs to a friend of my dad's. I just couldn't pass up this opportunity for a free trip (thanks to my parents) to Italy with the J-dog, since I am not teaching this semester. Fortunately we will all fly back to NYC together so they can help me with the J-dog on that portion of the trip. The flight over is at night, so he should sleep the whole way (please, please, please!), but the return is during the day so there will be lots of passing the baby around and entertaining him. I just hope he'll have some nice long naps.

I really do need to get better at the shorter, more frequent posts - I know it would be easier for me to find the time to write them, as well as for you guys to read. Thanks for your patience!