6 Months!

A couple people told me if I updated the blog more often, then it wouldn't take me so long when I finally do do it... so, here's my attempt at staying on top of it! :)

CHECK UP

Eating the paper

Crawling to Mommy

Not too much is going on with us - except Connor has hit the six-month milestone. And boy, that kid grows fast!! His doctor visit, which was exactly on his 6-month birthday, went well. When the nurse came in, Connor was sitting on the table, tearing up the paper and trying to eat it, and crawling all over the place. She said that she normally sees the 9 month old babies doing that. He weights 18 lbs (55th percentile), is 25 1/2" (15th percentile) long, and his head is 45 1/2 centimeters around (95th percentile). I'll take blame for how "short" he is so far (though I know he's going to sprout up soon!), but that head thing is totally his father's fault! :) Oddly enough, I still think he looks perfect. :) He also got one oral vaccine, and then three shots. The first little shot in his leg scared him and he jumped and then cried, and I almost cried with him. But the good news is that the next time we go, for his 9-month check up, there won't be any shots. Yeah!

He definitely is moving a lot more now - his crawling is slowly coming along now. He's managed to make it over my "speedbump" (basically, two pillows and a blanket!) for his "pen" (a bunch of pillows around his blanket), and he'll get all the way to the kitchen or the computer, depending on where we are. Yesterday, Andrew said he "escaped" twice, and then eventually got tired and fell asleep on the pillow. He's so cute. :)

EASTER

We had a super busy Easter weekend. We took Connor to his third Church visit. He actually did quite well - we sat near the inside aisle, so if I needed to, I could make a quick getaway to the hall or the bathroom, but there was no need for me to be an escape artist. :) He woke up shortly after we got there, and then was fascinated by the woman who was sitting behind us. The sit down-stand up process of the Catholic mass actually worked in our advantage, since Connor enjoyed standing (the kneeling part, not so much, so we skipped it). He enjoyed all the singing that we did, as well. He got a little fussy, but I was ready with the bottle, and so the whimpers never quite made it to wails. Afterwards, my dad had to show him off to his friend, Bob, the usher, and Father Bert. Then we went back to my parents for breakfast, where Connor got his first taste of OJ (which he liked!). We hit Andrew's Grandma Lorraine's for first Easter Dinner, where Connor got inundated with presents. Then back to my parents for second dinner, and more presents. :)

Tasting OJ

Easter Presents at GGma's

Chewing on the pacifier

(he plays with it all the time now - and it doesn't always go in the "right" way, because he likes to chew on the outside! Silly baby!)

Auntie Shannon "helping" with the basket

Fun Bathtime toys!

Connor and his Penguin (the coolest weeble!)

A side note - Connor went through three outfits on Easter. We're currently in between the diapers, too big for size 2's, and two small for 3's, and that poop is evil now that he's eating solids. It's annoying because sometimes it happens too quickly for me to get a picture in his cute clothes! His official Easter outfit was victim to a surprise "spray" (Shannon was changing his diaper, when suddenly we heard "May Day! May Day! Help!" - Connor had apparently got her - and his clothes! So then we put on another outfit, which he managed to poop through. Ugh! I love my bottle of Shout.)

ODDS & ENDS

What else... Well, I'm struggling to keep up with clipping those finger nails! If you look closely at some of the pictures, Connor's managed to scratch his face in various spots (right now, he's got an hours old scratch on his little cheek!). I feel like I'm getting them every day, but they just grow so fast. Grr! Anyway, he's also much better at napping - at least the past few days. I think he's going through a growth spurt (again, hoping for some more height!!). We also have given him a little bit of apple juice, and he could not get enough of it! We're going to work on using a sippy cup, but it comes out so fast right now, I'm a bit hesitant to give it to him - I just don't want him to basically pour it on himself! But he does do really well at eating time - he's actually trying to "feed" himself now - he grabs the spoon when I am feeding him, and tries to "help" bring it to his mouth. He's so silly! We've pretty much made it all the way through the fruits and veggies for stage one Gerber, so stage two isn't that far away! No teeth yet, but hopefully soon!

This Saturday is another milestone - my 30th birthday. Whew - it feels weird. I'm actually looking forward to it, which I totally hadn't expected. And though there are definitely days that I feel it, (exhibit one - on Easter, I was holding Connor, turned to my left slightly, and managed to twist my knee so that I hobbled for the next two days, and it still hurts a little bit!), I don't think of myself as "old" - which I always remember 30 being, when I was younger (ends with "teen"). I'm still struggling to figure out what exactly we'll be doing on Saturday, since my initial plan of going to the Zoo isn't going to work (curse you, weather!), but I'm sure it'll be fun. :)

That's it for now. Enjoy the miscellaneous pictures of our adorable baby boy! :)

Go Yankees! (Check out that baby belly!)

Escape from the Baby Pen!

Can I call you?

6 Months and driving! (We're parked, don't worry!)

How's my driving, Nana?

Daddy eating Connor

New Family Photo!

The Adorable Baby Connor!

Growing So Fast

Hello Strangers! I know - it's been a while. But I've finally got some time, and a sleeping baby, so I'm going to try to catch you up on what's been happening at the Zwickl House for the last two months or so. :)

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. :)

CONNOR'S WORLD

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!

(He constantly ends up with his bib backwards like this!)

Playing with Mommy

Sitting by myself

Ready for a walk

ANDREW & 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!!

Time Does Fly!

Hello all! Again, apologies for how long it takes me to update this blog. It's been busy at the Zwickl house! I'm still learning time management - which, let me tell you, is difficult, since Connor seems to think that all of the time is his. :) I imagine one day this will all be easier, however, I'm not sure that it's going to be any time soon. Right now, we just take one day at a time!

To start off with, we've missed a couple holidays. So let's back up and go through everything that's happened in the last couple months. :)

October
Connor's first Halloween was a nice, slow introduction to what I'm sure will become one of his favorite holidays. Connor and I went to lunch with Andrew, so we got to use the stroller for one of the first times (and let me tell you, we love the stroller! It's such a smooth ride!). Andrew was dressed as a Zombie, but I didn't dress up this year. We spent the evening before Halloween looking for a costume for our little guy, though! And let me tell you - there's very little in the costume department for three week old babies. :) But we did manage to find one costume that we figured worked better than anything else (okay, when you see the picture, you can tell that it was still way too big for him!).

Connor, in his primary outfit for the day!

On a walk with Daddy and Mommy

Andrew, the Zombie

Nana & Connor the policeman!

The night of Halloween, Andrew, Connor and I went over with Shannon, Elizabeth, Jim & Marie to Brittany and Peter's to watch them give out candy. We had fun eating pizza and watching the little kids in costume ("I'm a pterodactyl!" and "I got the white web in my white hair!" were the two best comments from some of our kids, and nearly caused Shannon and Elizabeth to wet their pants) . I'm sure next Halloween will be very different! (And hopefully, it will be easier to find Connor a costume!).

November
Andrew and I had our first "date" since Connor's birth - and it was the first time that I'd been away from Connor. The original plan was to go to dinner and a movie, but it was slightly adjusted. My cousin Jenn from NJ was out, and she and Shannon watched Connor while Andrew and I went to see Role Models (which was hilarious, by the way!). While they were watching him, they got one of our favorite pictures.

Baby Connor

Andrew and I ended up coming straight home after the movie, picking up Connor, Shannon and Jenn, and then going to dinner. We missed him too much!

Jenn, Heather, Shannon, Connor, & Maria

Connor had a milestone on his one month birthday - he rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time - and the second. :) Dad, Shannon and I put him down and were playing with him on the carpet, and he started to make the motions like he was thinking about turning over. So we encouraged him, and to our surprise (and his!), he rolled over.

One Month Old Connor James

On the way to rolling over

Getting frustrated

Just after the rolling!

November also ushered in my first large stretch of time from Connor - New Kids on the Block came to town on the 14th. Because there was no way we were going to miss it, Shannon, Maria, Brittany, Elizabeth and I all had to see those Boston boys. We went to dinner and then enjoyed the show. It was an awesome concert - I really had fun, and only missed Connor a little bit... Okay - about half way through the show I was ready to go home, just because I was ready to go to sleep! I did my share of being the 30-ish mom standing and screaming, but the clock seriously hit like 9:30 and I started leaning in the seat... and then sitting... but the concert was still pretty great. The only "thing" missing was Venessa, Jenn and Whitney - but we thought of them and made a pretty sign (but, of course, I don't have any of those pictures! You'll have to go to Brittany's page for some).

Thanksgiving gave us two big meals, as we had our annual dual-Thanksgiving. This year, however, will be the last time we do that, since Andrew's parents are officially retired (at least his Dad is), and they've moved to Arizona. We had "first dinner" in Louisville about noon, watched some football, and then headed back down to Parker for "second dinner" (sometimes I feel like we're hobbits!).

Our First Thanksgiving

December
Connor definitely started smiling - and not the fleeting ones while he was sleeping. I tried several times to get those sleepy smiles, but to no avail. It's so nice to get those little "I know you!" smiles first thing in the morning when he wakes up. And he's a lot more "awake" now - we call him alert baby. Andrew is so good at getting those smiles from Connor, our happy baby. He's even laughing a little here and there, which is too cute!

My attempt to get the sleepy smile... I failed.

Andrew's company had a children's Christmas party on December 2nd, so we took Connor for his first trip to Santa, which I'm happy to say, he handled as a pro. There were no tears from this little guy. To him, it was just another person holding him. :) He's used to being passed around, and as long as he's held, he doesn't care.

Daddy & Connor at the party

Maria had her 28th birthday on December 8th, and we had a nice dinner at my parents (yum - spaghetti!) and celebrated the fact that Maria's getting old. :)

For Connor's two-month birthday, he managed to roll over, again! Two more times, and again, he surprised himself. :)

Two Month Old Connor

Sucking on his fist during tummy time - he loves it!

That next weekend was the "adult" Christmas party, and Connor had his first overnight trip to Nana and Jiaji's, since Andrew and I were staying the night. It was at the Sheraton downtown, and a really nice night. Andrew was busy most of the night, doing his presidential duties, and of course, he's not 100% happy with the way the whole evening turned out, but I think he did well. We also won as a door prize a free night at the hotel, so we're looking forward to another adult night. :) And in the morning, we were definitely ready to go get our little guy, since we missed him! The following Tuesday, we took him along to my Christmas party at Fitness Together, and he was a big hit - every one wanted to play with and hold him. And he was a good baby, and slept in his car seat in some of the weirdest positions.

He also had his first attempt at sleeping through the night on the 13th. It surprised me when I didn't wake up until a little after 6am. It was nice, but he hasn't done it again, since! Close, but not quite. :)

Venessa had her baby on December 23rd, a little boy named Isadore Asher Leffler (Izzy), so Connor will have yet another baby to play and grow up with. His little circle of friends is getting so big!! We haven't got the chance yet to meet the new little Leffler, but hopefully soon!

We had Christmas at my parents (Andrew, Connor, and I slept in my old bedroom), and watched the traditional Muppets Christmas Carol so we could say there was only one more sleep 'til Christmas... day. Christmas morning was fun - although Connor didn't really care about the presents. I held him on my lap and tried to have him "help" open his, but after about the third present, he was done. I'm sure next year will be more fun for him!

Connor in one of his giant Christmas bibs

Connor with all the presents

Shannon's birthday managed to fall on the same day that the Av's were playing the Red Wings, so we got tickets to the game. Shannon, her friends Wendy and Carl, Elizabeth, Mom and Dad, Maria and Jeremy, and Andrew and I all sat in the lower level - and came within inches of getting a puck that went over the glass. Dad did also "win" a t-shirt that came down in a parachute (Shannon got the t-shirt, but Dad is excited about the parachute). Connor stayed with Auntie Brittany and Uncle Peter, since we figured he was still a little too young for his first hockey game.

On the 29th, Andrew and I took Connor on his first plane trip, and we went down to Arizona to visit Andrew's parents, and the other family he has that lives down there. We used the Baby Bjorn in the airport, and it was so much nicer than lugging a car seat or pushing a stroller. And Connor does very well in the carrier - he slept almost the whole time. Andrew did a good job "rocking" him to sleep. :)

Andrew and Connor - in the airport

Sleeping on Daddy

Posing

Connor did well for his first flight - we feed him during take off, and then he slept for most of the flight and the landing. Connor was pretty much held the entire time down there, and loved sleeping on Grandpa Ron and Grandma Judy.

Connor and Grandma

Connor and Grandpa

Arizona was having beautiful December weather while we were there - it was in the 70's pretty much the whole time we were there - and only while we were there! You could tell we were the tourists, since we wore shorts. :) And went swimming on New Year's day. We also managed to finally get the picture of the elusive smile.

The Happy Baby Connor

Andrew and I did catch a cold in Arizona - Andrew got the cough, I got the sneezes. And little Connor got a little of both, but he only a tiny fever one night, and then nothing, so he did fine. Mommy's immune system must be doing him a good job. We came home on the 2nd, and the flight, however, did not go as smoothly (and I never want to have to change him in those tiny bathrooms again! Germ-a-phobe mom had some issues with it!).

January
Not too much has happened so far. Andrew is currently on his way to Vegas for the weekend, and Shannon is hanging out with Connor and me, since I think I'd go crazy without some adult conversation while he's gone. :) Next weekend, we will be having Connor's christening, but that's pretty much the extent of our January plans.

Big news for us, I guess, is that I am not going back to Fitness Together. It definitely wasn't the plan - I was hoping to start back part time next week, but it looks like things are moving slowly in the franchise world, and they apparently cannot justify adding "back" my position (they'll call me if something changes, but I don't see it happening soon). So now I'm spending as much time as I can looking for a job. The part that's a little frustrating was that I was really certain I was going back, and Andrew and I had interviewed a woman who does day care from her home. So, hopefully some things will work out and I'll have a new job soon.

The good part is that I get to still spend each day with Connor, and enjoy his smiles (I wasn't really looking forward to being away from him all day!). I also don't have to worry yet about how I'm going to continue to breast feed him - something that we've been doing pretty well the whole time (well, aside from those first two weeks, that just sucked!). The next challenge that we've got to work on is getting Connor to go to sleep in his crib - so far, he sleeps with us (and it's partly my own selfish desire to be able to nurse him while we're both half asleep), but poor Andrew gets a little sliver of the bed, and I'm sure he'd like a little more space. :)

Okay - I guess that's it for now. :) Talk to you all soon!