Baby's First Christmas

Our first Christmas as a family was nice. Mom made egg sandwiches and coffee while Dad and Brendan read and played. We opened gifts together and Brendan was especially into the paper. As you will see in the video he was jazzed to open gifts and he and Daddy did a little Christmas dance.

This was toward the end of opening gifts at home and Brendan enjoyed playing with the new toys Santa Claus brought him.

December Events

We finally have figured out how to eat solids and we are becoming more and more mobile by the day. Brendan has successfully mastered rice cereal, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, and loves loves loves oranges. His Great Grandpa sent us home with some cutie oranges (the small ones) and Lou has been letting him suck on them. They are his favorite. We have also tried banana, but he's not crazy about it.

Brendan is rolling, rolling, rolling all over the place. He actually can move quite a ways from where he starts by rolling. Earlier this week he rolled himself off of the kitchen counter and it was such a horrible experience. He was not seriously hurt and we will never let it happen again. I'm still feeling urber guilty as I write about it.

On a more positive note, we are still reading at least one book a day, sometimes more. His favorite book now is Goodnight Moon. We have also been reading lots of Dr. Seuss, and Christmas/Winter themed books lately.



This month he has got to spend time with both Grandma's and both Great-Grandmas. My Mom had us over for dinner with Bill, Nabeel, Moostafa, and Irene and we also went out to Via Delosantos too.


We had the Grandma's and Aunt Paula over to play cards and Great Grandma Go-Go spent the night and let Lou and I go on a date. We found out good news too. My cousin Paul and his wife Andrea are expecting. We couldn't be more thrilled for them!



Last weekend we went to visit Mama Sue in Tucson. Poor thing broke her leg badly putting up Christmas lights, but she has the most positive attitude! Brendan helped to cheer her up. Daddy Lou has been taking good care of her.

Finally, just this morning Brendan sent his first email to my friend Candace. Guess I better start baby proofing!

Thanksgiving in Sedona

We drove up to Sedona for Thanksgiving the day before despite Brendan's cold. He did just fine and we had a wonderful time spending time with the family, playing cards, talking trash, playing with Brendan, and of course eating a fabulous meal. We also went shopping on black Friday and got some Christmas presents.

Brendan ate rice cereal for the first time on Thanksgiving afternoon and he actually ate it instead of spitting most of it out. We were excited for him. Today he tried sweet potatoes for the first time but didn't eat much of it.

Suns Game

We had a blast at the Phoenix Suns game last weekend. Daddy was so proud carrying Brendan around! He did so good.

Daddy's Birthday

We went bowling and had a poker party for Daddy's birthday. Here are a couple of photos of the fun.

Brendan's Four 1/2 mo. photos

I took these of Brendan on Nov. 5, almost a month ago but just finally got them on the computer. Reese also wanted to be a part of the photo shoot.

Sick

Brendan woke up super congested this morning. We could hear the phlem in his throat and I was worried about his breathing. The nurse on call advised us to go to the hospital but Dr. Aunt Paula said not to run in right away. He had no fever, ate fine, and was still generally happy. We pumped the humidifier up to full blast- though it is on each night while he sleeps. We also tried some steam showers and nursed a lot to make sure he was eating enough and getting antibodies.

The congestion comes and goes, but when it is on it sounds serious and I couldn't sit by and just watch. We got him an appointment with Dr. Lichtsinn as soon as we could get in. She said it could be the start of a cold or croop. She wasn't sure which and warned us sometimes it gets worse before it gets better and is usually worse at night. She also gave him a breathing treatment and some pumped up saline drops. So, no more working on luxury home leads for me this week. My focus is 100% on baby's health and well being until he's all better. I just hope we can still make it to Sedona as planned, but then again I don't have a crystal ball so time will tell!

Also, he is at or an ounce or two under 20 lbs at just over 5 months! We are getting strong arm muscles carrying him!

Yes, it has been a while!

Life sure is keeping us on our toes these days. Our little guy is now five months old. We have had an awesome month this month, starting with Lou's birthday. We went bowling with Sue, Lou, and Patrice and I tried to throw him a surprise party. I say tried because he heard all of the details over the baby monitor the morning of the party.

Brendan is getting so big and heavy. (We are so proud.) At some point this month Daddy put on a 3 month outfit on him and we actually had to cut him out of it! Brendan was screaming and it was way too tight. Lou was ready to me to protest, but I got out the scissors. Poor kid! It was pretty funny though.

He is rolling around, grabbing stuff like crazy, and able to sit and stand with help in case he topples over. We've got a semi-routine down these days and everybody seems to be happy. The weather here has been warm and we like to go out with the Pack and Play and sit under the big tree out in front and play. Brendan does this cute little 'hi' when he sees people now too.

I think my favorite time with him is in the morning. He is all cuddly and talkative. Always happy too. It is complete goodness and I can't get enough.

We started some solids here and there. So far only organic oatmeal cereal and a banana. I don't think he's really actually ate much, more tasting, making a mess, and feeling the texture. We will keep trying though.

Everything goes in the mouth now and drool is all over the place. We still don't have any teeth yet. I recently went and got him some more teething toys to chew on and he seems to like them, although he doesn't discriminate. He will put anything in his mouth- I cringe when it is something with germs! (I am a total germ-a-phobe!)

Friday Brendan came with me to teach kids about going Green. We went to dinner with the Rotiers Sat. and Brendan and 1 year old Addison were holding hands. It was adorable. Tonight we went to the Phoenix Suns game and he was proudly strapped to Daddy's chest most of the night. They were so sweet walking around together. He had on an I love Daddy outfit too.

I will try to get some pictures up soon. Daddy got a new operating system and loading photos onto the computer is now quite a challenge.

My First Halloween

Brendan's first Halloween was action packed and the start of some Camp family traditions. We started the day by going to a Farm in Glendale. We saw many animals at the farm, including goats, horses, cows, chickens, roosters, piglets, and ostrich. That ostrich sure was intimidating. I'm not going to lie, I got scared especially when it raised it wings up and started pacing around.

Did we mention we brought Reese? Well, all the farm animals seemed to be eyeing him and just as we were about to leave Daddy accidentally lost a hold of the leash. All hell broke loose! Reese darted after a loose chicken. Poor chicken really could move fast. Reese chased it in a couple of circles around people and picnic tables but we got a hold of him before he got a hold of it. We made a quick exit after that. Brendan had picked a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and it was getting hot.

That afternoon we carved our pumpkin together and roasted the seeds. Daddy can take credit for most of the carving of the pumpkin. Brendan wasn't so into it yet but next year I think he will be more aware.

After we got our jack-o'lantern all lit up we put on our costume and got ready to hit the pavement. We went trick-or-treating to our favorite 8 neighbors, only 4 of which were home and/or came to the door. Everyone thought he was the cutest little monkey they had ever seen. He got a little bit of candy and was pretty exhausted by then. It was a day filled with lot of Halloween activities and traditions!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Last week Brendan's Granparents and Aunt and Uncle came over to visit. He had fun playing with them as did our other child- Reese. We had crab legs and steak and played games too.

Roll Baby Roll

Brendan rolled over all by himself for the first time today. We celebrated and Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud. He didn't roll a whole 360 degrees, but more like 180; he rolled from his back to his belly while playing on a blankie. It was sweet!


At his 4 month appointment he weighed in at 17.4 lbs and 25 inches long. That puts him in the 90% percentile for weight and 75-90% for height. He's one big healthy baby. His 6-9 month clothes are most comfortable for him now. My arms are getting strong fast!


Brendan is quite coordinated and grabs anything within reach with accuracy. He could even grab my pearl earring right out of my ear. He loves kisses too. He lights up when we kiss him and we get him every time when we blow raspberries on his belly. Speaking of raspberries- Brendan figured out how to blow them over the weekend and it is hilarious!


Lately he has been staring me down when I am eating and I think that he may be ready to try some solid foods. I'm not really ready, but I think that he is and don't want to hold him back. I think I'm going to try a couple different organic rice and oatmeal cereals and see which works best for him. The doctor said we could start anytime between 4 and 6 months. We will see what happens.
The cloth diapers have been leaking almost every time he wears them- even when I double the liners up. Yesterday I changed 17 cloth diapers, 6 outfits for Brendan, 4 outfits for me, plus sheet savers, sheets, boppy pillows/covers, and blankets. I felt so bad every time I would pick him up from his crib his clothing and bedding was soaked. Most messes were related to the cloth diapers leaking and at least a couple from spitting up. So, we are going to be using Nature Care compostable, chlorine-free, bleach-free diapers. At least they aren't petroleum based and don't take 200 years to degrade. I may give cloth a try again in a week, but I'm exhausted from all of the changing, messes, and laundry.