August 28: Momma's gonna buy you a bottle of wine...wait. What?

Ok, ok. It's been a long time since I've sung nursery songs. I often find myself making up my own lyrics after one verse. Poor Ethan...the boy has no chance of inheriting any musical ability from us (well, from me at least, I won't speak for Jon). Not only do I mumble through the basic songs, I really cannot carry a tune to save my life. I've looked up a couple of lyrics on line, but, really, my brain is mush these days, and I forget them by the next day. So, I wing it. The other night after finishing up a long day of work and letting Miriam go, I catch myself singing the song "Momma's gonna buy you a Mockingbird" (is that really the name? I don't know). I actually know 2 verses to that. I get to "Momma's going to buy you a diamond ring, if that diamond ring don't shine, Momma's gonna buy you a bottle of wine" Wait, what? That can't be right... I had to think about it and re-sing it in my head. Nope, definitely not right...oops. I'm probably not going to win mother of the year anytime soon, but really, at that moment, I could have used a bottle of wine. :)

We've had a very busy couple of weeks. A lot of firsts for the little guy. Not only has he settled into a new schedule with Miriam, he started cereal AND, drum roll, please... is now sporting the very tip of a tooth! Yes, 4 months adjusted age and there you go... a tooth poking through. My sister wonders if I took growth hormones or something when I was pregnant. Shelly thinks that Ethan will be forever playing catch up without realizing he doesn't need to. Or maybe, Nancy, he may just be a one-upper, just like his mother :). At first I was elated and had to call the Grandparents. Then soon after found out it's not all that great. He doesn't have the motor skills to hold a teething ring, so he needs help to keep things to his mouth to chew and has been quite uncomfortable. It is what it is. And I'm sure once it's completely in, it'll be very cute.

He had a doctors appointment this week. 14lbs 2 oz & 24 1/4 in long. Getting SO big. His face is really starting to round out and so are his li'l legs and tummy. The doctor had all good things to say and is now viewing him as a normal infant, no longer a preemie. Of course, we still have to worry about his kidney. We have an ultrasound next month to see if there are any changes. But it's nice to know that his growth is going so well and he's on track.

Did I mention that he is now back to sleeping through the night? That's the best part :) Jon and I are getting (for the most part) uninterrupted sleep now and things feel like they are back to normal. Normal except that I am up at 6am every morning. That that will never be normal. But I have to say, I may grumble all the way to his room with one eye open, the moment I step over his crib and he gives me one of those toothless grins, it's not so bad all of a sudden.

August 11: Mmmm mmm good

Today Ethan had his first 'solid' meal, rice cereal. It was a very fun, but messy moment and of course, in true new parent fashion, we caught it all in pictures and in video.

To get to this point, we had to bring Ethan to the doctor today. He hasn't been eating well and is in fact, eating less currently than he was 6 weeks ago. After talking to the nurse practitioner on the phone, she said it may be cause for concern and to bring him in for a check. The first thing they did was weigh him, and surprisingly enough, he had gained 12 oz in 2 weeks, which is really good. I was relieved. Obviously, the decrease in quantity isn't affecting his growth. This took some of the urgency out of the situation. There, of course, could be several reasons for his loss of appetite. A few mentioned were: the heat; he could have hit a growth plateau or could be reacting to my going back to work. Or it could simply boredom of straight up formula. Based on my answers to her various questions, the NP thougth this may be the reason and since they were planning on putting him on rice cereal at our next appt, suggested we try it now and then we can evaluate his eating habits at our regularly scheduled appt in 2 weeks.

So, that is how we got to tonight. :) Ethan only took 3 1/2 oz out of his 6 oz bottle, so I busted out the cereal and BAM! (a little Emeril insert here) he didn't miss a beat. He was ready and he seemed to love it (although, I have no idea why, I tasted it...ack!). He even ate more than I had originally anticipated giving him as I made up more than I was supposed. I spilled extra cereal in when pouring ...oops. But he finished it all... Very fun, memorable night.

Behold, Ethan's first meal:

Note: I realized after the fact that Jon recorded the video vertically from my camera and now I can't figure out how to turn it. And it's sorta long. So, the video may be only for those hard core Ethan fans out there...or if you're really bored at work and need to break up the day. :)

Not anticipating a doctors visit today, Ethan was rockin one of his mohawk hair do's today. The ladies in the office ate it up. I guess that's what I get when it's dad's turn at bath night. He does sport a cute spike (curl) 'tho, doesn't he?

In other fun Ethan news, he is laughing now and it is hysterical. He sounds like a little donkey. The first time he did it, I didn't know what he was doing. When I figured it out, I busted up laughing myself. This made him laugh even more. I was dying. He's also rolling both back to front AND front to back now on a regular basis and this has now become his transport of choice. We have to watch him closer these days as he likes to roll off of his blankets, then off the rug, onto the hardwoods. I wasn't thinking that we would have a 'mobile' child so soon. Well, sorta mobile :) He definitely keeps us entertained and on our toes these days. And we're having so much fun with it.