Better now!

Sean seems like he's feeling better these days - he's alert, social, and as wiggly as ever. We took a trip up to see his (Corcoran) grandparents yesterday and Sean rolled, inchwormed, and wiggled all over the living room and showed us that even though he isn't crawling, he's mobile!

8 months!

Sean! You're eight months old today! We celebrated at home since you're too sick to go to daycare. We brought the party to the pediatrician's office, who told us that you are battling bronchiolitis and a mild ear infection. This nasty virus gives you a wheezing, hacking cough, so you have to use a nebulizer for a couple of days and then we'll go to the pediatrician again to hopefully get the all-clear.

Besides all this, here are some notes on this past month:

-Seany, you are sweet as pie. Even when you're fighting a nasty virus and have all sorts of goop all over your face, you are just the cutest, happiest little thing. The doctor even remarked that you are a "happy wheezer."

-Just in the last week you've started to babble in earnest, using consonants and making up your own words. It's pretty entertaining to try to interpret what you say to us, like: "hi dada" and "hi dog".

-You've got all the elements together for crawling, but haven't quite put them in motion yet and that's okay since we need to put up and Pepper-test the new babygates we got. Babyproofing has begun - daddy attached all the tall bookcases in the house to the walls this weekend in case you get any Spiderman-like inclinations soon.

-You no longer use the infant carrier carseat! You now use a big boy carseat! This is a huge deal for us because it's one less piece of equipment we need to lug around. The only downside so far is that if you fall asleep in the car, we usually wake you up while getting you out of the car.

-You had a great first Christmas, visiting with family and friends and had a fun first road trip up to Massachusetts to visit with the Sooys.

Cough-cough

Sean's got his second big cold - runny nose, clingy-cuddliness, hacking cough, pink cheeks, and fever - the works. And this time Sean is sharing the wealth - Thom John and I are ailing, too. Since Sean's not welcome back at daycare tomorrow, we'll swing by the pediatrician's and see if something can be done. Poor little babybear - add this to a night of hardcore teething!

Moose Feet!

. . . because puppies hibernate in the winter:

Crawling?

Not yet. Almost. Maybe. We're trying!

Got 'em!

Two New Teeth!

Sean is working on the two front teeth on his top gums - as of this morning, both have broken through and they seem to be causing the babe a bit of distress. I'm trying to capture a picture of these elusive new additions, but Sean will only let chewable objects near his mouth for now.

Bathing beauty

Remember this little guy? He used to lounge in the newborn-sized sling in his little bathtub and tacitly let me give his skinny little limbs a good scrubbing.


Now he sits like a big boy in his little tub and is too busy playing and chewing on his washcloths to let me near him!

Happy New Year!

The Stent

On Wednesday, Sean and I headed to the outpatient surgical center next to the hospital. He was due to have the stent that was left in after his November surgery removed. The biggest challenge was keeping the little bugger happy - he was not allowed to eat after midnight and his procedure was scheduled for 11 AM. It was touch-and-go in the morning at home and in the car ride to the surgical center, but once we got there, Sean was dazzled by all the new faces, including a new little friend he made - a two year-old-girl who was getting a procedure done to remove an earring backing stuck in her ear canal.

After lots of flirting with the nurses, it was time for Sean to go into the operating room. My heart leapt when Sean showed a little stranger anxiety, clinging to my shirt and burying his face in my neck when they came to get him, but he was a brave little trooper and went without a whimper. And forty short minutes later, I was called back to the recovery room and the babe downed 12 ounces of formula. Whew. The stent removal went perfectly and the doctor was pleased with how Sean's kidney looked. We'll go in six weeks to get a follow-up ultrasound and hopefully things will still be progressing as expected.

Merry Merry!

First snow!

Sean saw his first snowstorm this weekend and it was a doozy!

We did our best to keep up with shoveling on Saturday, but by Sunday morning it was like we were never out there!

On Sunday morning, we found the snow was taller than the PepperDog:

Our (smothered) Christmas lights:

The new must-have toy

An empty oatmeal tub with a handful of uncooked rice inside!

Seven months

Sean turned seven months old yesterday. He's growing so fast and seems to be doing something new everyday. Here are some of his new tricks:
-he can get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth . . . an alarming precursor to crawling for this un-babyproofed household
-he works so hard to get to a toy that's out of reach
-he's added bananas, carrots, pears, and potatoes to his menu
-he can munch on rice crackers to hold him over between bottles
-he waves!
-he can stand for a good amount of time as long as he's holding onto something
-he's a noisy little man: he blows raspberries, sings, giggles, shrieks, and babbles
-he is teething in full force
And his 7-month photos with Winnie (who apparently was feeling pretty lazy on this dreary day):

Bumped down

We bumped down Sean's crib last weekend since he's showing signs of trying to pull himself up.

Before:

After:

And to drive home the comparison, here's my teeny-tiny babybear and how he looked in his big ol' crib waaaaaay back in May:

Whoa mama.

That was a tough week! But now both Nora and Thom John are done with school until January!! Yippee! The next few posts will be catch-up on the events of our past week which has felt like a month - Sean's cold is better, he has a new style of sleeping, and the most important event of the past week:

Pepper turned 4! We celebrated with cookies and a new toy which Pepper has already torn to pieces. That's okay - it means he liked it. :-) Happy Birthday, old man.

2006: He was just a pup - a mere nine-pound ball of fur, snuggles, and chewing.

On his first day home, he couldn't be bothered to sit still for a photo. Coincidentally, that was the last day we had towels hanging from the oven door. The PepperDog loves towels.

2009: A stately, sophisticated, man-about-town, Pepper still enjoys snuggling and chewing - and sitting on the couch when we're not home (we know you do it, Pepper! you leave your fur everywhere you go!!!)

Sicky

It seems that little baby Seanybear has his first cold. He has a temperature of 101* and some other symptoms, too. Plus, he is a tad cranky and super-clingy. And I can hear him snoring on the baby monitor. We'll try to get into the pediatrician's for an appointment tomorrow since Sean isn't going to school tomorrow. At his daycare, kids can't go to school unless they've been "fever-free" for 24 hours or they have a doctor's note stating that they are not contagious.

Either way, I hope the little bugger feels better soon - he's just not himself.