Five Months

Graeme turned five months today. He is growing so much. He had a busy 5/12ths birthday. We started out by going to church where Graeme was told that he was very well behaved, that he was really cute, and that he was able to "stand" as good as a random lady's nine month nephew.

After church, Graeme had his five month photo shoot. Here's Mr. Personality:

After his photo shoot, we had some play time where Graeme figured out that the hat on his sock monkey was detachable. He decided he needed one more photo, with his new hat:

We finished off the day with some floor time and a new accomplishment that Graeme achieved twice today, warning world - Graeme is going mobile:



Happy "birthday" Graemers!

Learning

Graeme has been mastering loads of new talents in the past few weeks. He has mastered the fine motor skill of transferring objects from one hand to another:

He has mastered eating rice cereal (the pictures of this mastery wouldn't be as fun as those when he didn't succeed would they?):

Finally, (many of us saw this from the beginning) he has mastered the art of watching TV, sometimes from a sitting position:

Thankfully he hasn't mastered the art of movement yet. He is trying really hard to rollover (particularly at six in the morning - which mom and dad don't find so fun), but so far to no success.

A package

Graeme received a package in the mail a few days ago from Great Aunt Pam and Uncle Dean in Iowa.
The anticipation


New shirts!


Mr. Sims assessing the situation


A new barn shape sorter! Dean is a farmer and they always find the cutest farm themed gifts!


Proper Bumbo seat posture.


Thanks Pam and Dean!

Like father, like son

Graeme has hives! As if he wasn't already a lot like Matt, he has an Augmentin allergy like him too! Augmentin is the scientific name for Penicillin. Penicillin comes in many forms, one of those being Amoxicillin. Graeme was on Amoxicillin for his ear infection. See where this is going?! Yes. The Amoxicillin gave Graeme hives. Gross. Here's how it went down yesterday:

Being the naive first-time parents that we are, we sent Graeme to school yesterday after discovering red welts on his legs. Because they were contained to just around his diaper, we assumed that his skin was just irritated, slathered some cream on it and sent him on his way. Not an hour after Matt dropped him off, the school called to ask if we knew that Graeme had hives. They really have a way of making us feel like delinquent parents. Matt explained we had noticed them, but weren't horribly concerned because Graeme wasn't showing any other symptoms or acting out of sorts. They informed us that they were certain it was hives (apparently office manager=doctor these days) and that they would keep an eye on it until we decided what to do and if it got worse they would let is know. Not to be ones to miss a hint, we got Graeme in with the doctor at 9am.

Shoutout to Southdale Pediatrics for getting us in for same-day appointments (even on Saturdays!) with the doctor of our choice all but one time we've gone in.

The doctor called it a classic case, although Graeme was one of the younger kids he's seen with a reaction like this. We've since suspended the amoxicillin -it turned out Graeme's ear infection is gone! So, with a stretch of three doctor appointments in as many weeks, we're hoping to put together a stretch of good health!

4 months old!

Graeme at 4 months

The moment of impact

Graeme is 4 months old. We can't believe it! He's getting bigger and stronger and smarter every day. His checkup went well (minus the 10 seconds where he was shackled and attacked with needles). Here are his current stats:

Height: 25 inches
Weight: 15lbs 9 oz.
Head: 16.5inches

He is in the 50th percentile across the board now. A huge deviation from the 70/90/25 that was his 2-month checkup.

Here are some 4 month highlights..

Look Ma! Hands and Feet!

• Discovered both hands and feet! Graeme uses his hands to manhandle anything he can get in them including, but not limited to: books, toys, blankets, feet, stuffed animals and Mr. Sims.

• Tongues aren't just for eating. When he is in a silly mood it's spends a lot of time poking out of his mouth. Perhaps he is mimicking Sims - note the resemblance...

• Graduated to size two diapers. We've been trying to use up some 1-2s we got before he was born and just are glad to be done with them, they were no match for the amount of 'stuff' that comes outta this guy.

Trouble

• Started on rice cereal. Graeme has been eating a few tablespoons of cereal in the morning and is slowly getting the hang of it. He is pretty distracted by what is going on around him along with his bib so getting his attention and the food directly in his mouth is a challenge. We have accepted that it's a process and are confident he'll be eating bowls full in no time.

• Another ear infection. Well, it's undetermined whether it was a new one or the resurgence of the old one, but Graeme is on Amoxicilin for the second time in 3 weeks. He's on a stronger dosage this time in efforts to knock out the infection for good. Ha!

Happy 6th birthday!

Mr. Sims, our faithful, flighty and furry friend turns six today!



For a little something special we baked him a batch of apple cheddar cakes. Somehow I think he knew they were for him.



Sims has had a pretty good year as far as dog years go. Here are some highlights:



He watched his first television show in 3-d.




He slept in his first hotel room.




He practiced being a big brother.




Now he is a big brother.




He enjoyed several afternoons napping in the sun,




on the couch,



and on the floor.

This is probably a good time to draw attention to the tabs at the top of the page. Once we get our act together, we hope to have a running album of Sims (petables), favorite recipes (edibles), our travels and some design work available for your viewing pleasure.

More posts coming soon!