rolling babies gather no moss

So yesterday Victor accomplished the big roll from back to front! He likes that one much better than the front to back roll, even considering that he doesn't like being on his tummy as much as his back. He's been practicing his rolling all yesterday and today and is getting pretty good at it. My dad even caught him going from back to front to back again!

Oh yeah, so we're in Ohio now. Victor and I stayed with Damian's mom Carrie until Friday morning, when we went down to Cicero, NY. (Victor had lots of fun sleeping on top of his grandparents!) He was a great baby all through the rehearsal and the wedding even with all the friends and relatives who wanted to hold him! Friday at the rehearsal dinner it was extremely loud in the restaurant, but Victor managed to fall asleep and we put him down on the dinner table for a brief rest. Saturday he sat on my lap for the outdoor wedding ceremony and was very good--hardly a peep out of him! Then back inside the restaurant he fell asleep again and took a nap first on the table with the seating assignments, then later on top of friend Kristin and Opa Jurgen. He got to meet so many people who all loved him!

Saturday night my parents drove out to the wedding site, and Sunday morning Damian, Victor and I went home with them. We've been in Ohio ever since, seeing people and getting ready for my grandfather's funeral on Saturday. Busy busy times!

Water baby II

He's bending over because he's trying to suck all the water out of the towel around him.

Water baby

At this point we turned him around so he faced the seat so he could suck on that and still remain somewhat upright.

Family fun

So now we're in the North Country in New York instead of North County in San Diego. Victor was a fantastic little traveler, despite a delay that landed us in a hotel in Newark over night. Even other passengers remarked on how quiet he was! One benefit of the delay was that our plane was not full on the leg from San Diego to Newark, so Damian and I got three seats to ourselves and could spread Victor out on the seat between us. Our morning flight to Burlington, VT, was not full either, but we had another delay--an hour and a half of sitting on the tarmac for a 45 minute flight, hooray! It was worth it, though. We've been having a wonderful time with Damian's parents Carrie and Jurgen, enjoying their hospitality and the clean Adirondack environment. With trees!! And grass!! And allergies, I forgot about the allergies. Victor has been enjoying all the attention, and Damian and I have been busy relaxing.

Victor got to spend some time in the pool! Carrie found a little floaty for babies, and even though it's a bit too big for him we've been having fun pushing him around in the water. Victor likes it too! He kicks his little legs around and tries to lick the floaty, the towels holding him upright, and the water, then spits most of it back up. It also tires him out!! I'm going to post some video of him in the pool, but first, a picture of Victor sleeping in the airport :)

Missing Grandpa

My grandfather, Richard Wills, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last Friday. He was a wonderful man and I am lucky to have had 29 years with him in my life. I wish he could have met Victor, but when he died he was surrounded by his loving family. Calling hours will be on Friday July 23 and the memorial service will be on July 24th.

4 months

Time flies! Victor had his four month checkup today. He gained a pound since the last time the doctor saw him two weeks ago, so he's back to the regular levels of weight gain. I'm pretty sure the slow down was because of going on and off his tummy medicine, poor baby. We're going to keep him on it at least until we're back from our trip.

Vital stats look good: just over 14 pounds (38th percentile), just under 26 inches (78th percentile), and completely average head circumference. I know the tall babies take after my side, I'm not sure what Damian's side was like (though Damian was definitely a long one when he was born at 24 inches!) Once again, the doctor made remarks about how strong he is, which she's done every time she's seen him!

He took his shots like a man! He only had two today plus one oral vaccine. He cried when the needles went in, but quieted down quickly. I already knew he was hungry, so the nurse let us stay in the room and I fed him right away. By the time he was done he was even smiling at the nurses on the way out (he's such a flirt--all the little girl babies better watch out!)! He fell asleep as soon as he got into the car seat, but didn't stay that way for long once we got home. He's just been playing like normal! We're still going to take it easy today, though, just in case. Last time I think I took it worse than he did, but he did have a couple of incidents where he randomly panicked and started crying, so we're going to stay home today just in case.

This time the doctor said they usually don't recommend starting foods until they're 5 1/2 or 6 months old; well, too late! Mr. Victor is a hungry man and he's been eying us when we eat like he wants to know what all the fuss is. So last night I got some rice cereal and mixed it with his favorite drink and he gobbled it down like he's been waiting for it! Well, not really. He took the spoon really well, even opened his mouth when he saw it coming, but had that contemplative look on his face like "it tastes the same but what is this new texture and delivery method, hmmm..." Then he figured out that not only can he grab the spoon but he can also gnaw on it, so he lost interest in eating. He got down about a tablespoon, though! I think we'll bring the cereal along with us and use that once in a while or if he's too hungry for me to keep up with instead of supplementing with formula. We had to do the formula thing a little bit a couple of weeks ago, but I've since caught up. Hungry little man, like I said!

Sleepy day

Yesterday Victor was soooo sleepy! Slept on Damian all day, then crashed early (around 9:30) and without his bedtime ritual, woke up once at 1 a.m. and went straight back to bed after a snack, then slept in until about 9 a.m.! Looks to be similar today, as he went back down for a nap at 11. Not that I can blame him, it's gray and rainy out today, perfect for being lazy! Too bad I have to get ready to be gone for three months or I'd be lazing around, too. Well, unless you count blogging and facebooking as being lazy ;)

Grammy had to leave on the 4th of July, but we'll be seeing her again in two weeks, plus numerous other relatives in less than a week, so it wasn't as hard to see her off this time. Victor noticed, though, he got a bit fussy after she left. We didn't go anywhere to see fireworks, but we had an excellent view of the Legoland fireworks from our deck--with the extra bonus that they were far enough away that we could barely hear the booms! His four month shots will be traumatic enough, we don't need to add firework noises on top of that.

He's been sticking his tongue out more and more. I'm not sure why, but it is kind of hilarious, especially when he smiles at the same time or when he's zeroing in for a snack attack.

Before my mom left we found a perfect place to take family photos--Swami's meditation garden in Encinitas--so we corralled Damian and went there Saturday for some shooting. love love love those pictures! Victor still isn't smiling for pictures but he sure does look adorable.

Lab Rat

Victor has been a good little shopper this week as my mom and I have been checking out all the stores in the area. Hey, it's good cardio! ;) Thursday, though, we did something a little different (and then went shopping afterwards). I signed Victor up for the babylab at UCSD in La Jolla about a month ago, and they finally called us in. They are testing four month olds (I know, he's going to be four months old on Tuesday!!!) for vision preferences. They've already tested adults for how they associate the colors black and white with the shapes x and o, and they found divisions along racial lines. This is most likely learned behavior, so they're testing babies of different races as well. Mr. Victor was a very good test subject, despite his initial reluctance to wake up on time. The grad student in charge, Katie, held Victor up to a TV screen and watched his face on a monitor above him. I got to sit at the keyboard and bring up the next screen for him to see and record his results. The monitor was split into halves, left and right, and different combinations of x's and o's in different colors (black and white on a gray background) were shown on each half. Katie watched his eyes to see which way he looked as soon as a new image popped up. He was a good boy and finished all the testing at a nice pace, and flirted with Katie and her two minions before and after. At the end, Victor earned $5 and a shiny new piggy bank to put it in!

We got Victor's prescription refilled on time this time. No more messing about putting him on and off and back on again, especially with the plane trip coming up! I can't believe we're leaving a week from tomorrow--we're so excited! First, though, Victor has to get his 4 month shots on Wednesday. Poor baby! I hope he takes them as well as he did his 2 month shots, but with his new lung capacity and maximum volume upgrade, somehow I doubt it. In the meantime, I'm going to be making lists and lists of all the stuff we could possibly take, then cut it down depending on what Victor's grandparents have already eagerly stocked up on. :) Can't wait!