To begin with, we have a FIVE MONTH old baby! :) Connor is making so much progress with his development. It's amazing to watch him suddenly do something new one day, and by the next, it's a common occurrence. Most recently, he's taken to rocking on all fours. We know that crawling is not that far away (and boy, do we have some baby-proofing we'll need to get done!). But, let's start at the beginning. :)
On January 18th, Connor was baptised. Shannon and Adam were the Godparents. We had a nice ceremony at St. Therese Church (I was hoping that Father Bert, the priest who performed our Wedding Ceremony, would be able to baptise him, but unfortunately, he was sick). Connor wore the christening gown that Andrew, Adam, and Ellen wore, as well as Ron. So it was quite a Zwickl family tradition. :) He did okay during the ceremony - just a little bit of crying, but nothing that was too bad. He did, however, let out a nice big poop during the tail end of the ceremony, which was loud enough for anyone standing close by to hear. Ahh - that's our precious baby. :) Afterwards, we all headed to my parents house for a nice party and some good food.
Grandma and Nana getting Connor Ready
Connor and Mommy
Baptism
Daddy, Mommy, Connor, Uncle Adam, Aunt Shannon
The Yummy Cake
We also have hit the milestone of 3, 4, and 5 months. Connor's mastered the art of rolling over, from both tummy and back. The tummy thing moved slowly - he started doing it occasionally from about 1 month, but then was doing it all the time when he hit about 3 months. The back thing, though, moved much quicker. He did it once or twice on separate occasions, but then at about four months, it was go time. Now he spends almost all his time on his tummy. We'll put him down on his blanket on his back, and unless he's decided that he wants to play with his feet (which he does a good percent of the time), he's on his tummy, scooting around on the blanket looking for his toys (he's really good a grabbing them and bringing it to his mouth - he does that with everthing! Fingers included!). His current loves, by the way, are the catapillar that sings colors, numbers, and classical music, as well as any of the rattles he can work into his mouth. We think he's still working on some teeth - though nothing has broken the gum yet. He was drooling quite abit about two months ago, but things have slowed down a little on that front (thankfully!).
He's all smiles and giggles - and loves to see his reflection in the mirror (yesterday, he even tried to "eat" his reflection - because, you know, all things go in your mouth!). Whenever he's really unhappy about something (usually, being put down when he'd rather be held!), and we've picked him up to try to comfort him, we can usually take him over to see himself, and suddenly he'll just stare at himself. If we hold him close enough, he'll just start patting the glass to try to get to the baby on the other side. :) He talks all the time now, but nothing distinguishable yet. He's just practicing his sounds. He's so cute - he'll just sit there and start babbling. Andrew and I are each attempting to teach him dada and mama, but I think it'll be some time before he manages those. He's still really strong, and we "work" on walking all the time - sometimes he tries to take a step with the same foot he just moved. He's too cute. :) He also loves being tossed up in the air - he gets the biggest smiles and giggles out of that. And he's so inquisitive - if there's a new sound, he has to know what it is.
Connor has also been introduced to the joys of food - we started giving him two ounces of formula and cereal every morning in a bottle at a little over four months. I did try mixing it with breast milk, but then it got difficult to throw it away if he didn't want it, since I hate wasting it. So, the formula combo works the best. Apparently, we were supposed to be giving it to him on a spoon so he'd get used to eating that way, but it was just too liquidy to really manage, so the bottle won. He got the extra nutrition that he needed, and then I would just nurse him after the two ounces until he was full. On his 5-month birthday, we started with the "real" food - peas!! Yum. He did okay - the first couple spoonfuls went okay, since he's so used to opening his mouth for everything, but then he caught on, and decided he didn't like this thing called food. But he's caught on. So far, we've tried peas, pears, sweet potatoes, bannanas, and squash. It seems like the bannana's are his favorite, but there are still so many other's he needs to try. :) And he's still doing really well with nursing, so we'll keep that up for a while more.
Last month, Connor also got to meet his great-grandparents, my grandma and grandpa on my dad's side. I was 9 months old before they met me, but they managed to meet Connor just before he was 4 months. I believe that it was love at first site. :) Grandma did kiss dad before she got to Connor (because 29 years ago, when she met me, she walked right past my dad, and he's never gotten over it!). The great-grandparents and Connor had some nice time together - Connor kept telling Great-Grandma all these little secrets. :)
Bathtime is a newfound playtime for Connor. He has certainly mastered the art of splashing and kicking up the water. He loves it. It's funny that when we first gave him a bath, we couldn't get him out of there fast enough, but now, we let it stretch a bit before we pull him out. There's no tears or anything like that when we end bathtime, so at least that's nice. :) He doesn't have much hair to shampoo, but he's getting more than he had (of course, still nowhere near how much he had when he was born!). Although he can sit a little if he's supported, and sometimes he'll make it a minute by himself, he hasn't begun sitting up by himself yet (though not from lack of trying - he's using those stomach muscles a lot lately, and if you have laying down, he's trying to see what else is going on!). Since he's still a bit of a wriggler, bathing Connor is still a two person job - and, I think we both just enjoy it so much that it'll be a two-person job for a while. :)
Connor is growing so fast that I constantly have to go through his drawers and take out what's too small - he "tries on" a lot of the clothes, too! He's generally a good sport about, until I try on the fifth onesie in a row or so. :) He's also still getting over a cold - mostly over, just a little of the sniffles still - that Andrew brought home one day (we're actually all still trying to get over it!). The first couple nights were tough because he was so stuffed up, but he's gotten much better.
3 Months
Wearing Auntie Shannon's Shades
Peeking out
Standing with Mommy
4 Months
Sitting with Great-Grandpa
The man in the mirror
4 Generations!
Sleeping with Daddy
Staying warm at Softball 
Playing with the Catapillar
5 Months
First Taste
Lounging in the bath
All Clean!
Super Baby! 
Playing with Mommy
Sitting by myself
Ready for a walkANDREW & HEATHER
So what's been going on with us? Well, softball started up again at the end of February, so we're back on the field every Tuesday. So far, we're a very frustrated 1-4, but we've got three games left, so we'll see how we end it. This season is a bit unusual for us, since we normally finish in the top three, but there are only four teams total in our league. Hopefully summer will go a lot better. Connor has made it to most of the games so far, as well - he's a big fan. :) My parents normally watch him on the sidelines, and make sure he stays warm, since it's still a little cold. We've also had the mixed blessing that the majority of our games have been at 6pm, so the sun is still sometimes out. Of course, we have like three players who have a hard time making those early games, so we've been short once. In other news, Maria stumbled down the stairs last weekend and managed to break her toe, so she's out of the line up until, at the earliest, the beginning of the summer league.
Andrew is still working on his MBA, so he's gone until about 10pm or so on Monday's and Thursday's. He lives for those flex days, since he gets a three-day weekend every other weekend (although they fly by so quickly!). But the goal is December of 2010, and then he should be done. Neither of us can wait. :) Silly, but the part that I miss most is being able to plan dinner for the week. Since he's gone on Monday and Thursday, and we've got softball on Tuesday, we're ususally just down to Wednesday and Friday for nights that we can make and have dinner together (Sunday's are my parents, and Saturday is never a guarantee). He's not planning on taking classes this summer, which will be nice, so we'll look forward to having dinner time then. :)
I'm still looking for a job, though I'm enjoying my time with Connor immensly. I've found out that I'm eligible for unemployment benefits, which help a great deal, so it makes the stress of having to find a job, and care for Connor, a bit less. We've gotten a great routine down, as well. Each morning he sits in his bouncy chair (strapped in!) while I shower. Then we have cereal, watch Price Is Right, and then take a nap (he does, anyway!). It varies between 30 minutes to 2 hours, but usually I can work lunch in there and some time to catch up on a billion things, like laundry. The rest of the day changes, but with the weather, we've been able to work some walks in, which have been nice. I keep hoping the weather gets better because I want to take Connor to the Zoo! :)
Let's see... what's upcoming? Not too much. We're tentatively planning a trip to Las Vegas in May/June for the World Series of Poker, and we got Connor some little swimming trunks in anticipation of being in the pool (with how much he loves bathtime, we've high expectations of swim time!). Then there's Adam and Jamie's wedding in July - and we'll see if Connor's able to walk down the aisle since he's the ring bear! :) I'm also still hopeful about our big family trip to Florida in November, but we'll see how that plays out. Guess that's it for now... Connor's done a great job sitting content in his swing until right now, so I'll talk to you all later. :) Happy Spring!!
