6 months old!

Well the results our in.... our little nugget's 6 months stats:

Weight: 15lb 9oz (25%)

He is falling off the curve, so it's time to increase to solids 2x day and add olive oil to the cereal!

Height: 27 3/4 inches (90%)

Head: 16 1/2 inches (10%)

Also falling off the curve but rounding out ever so slightly thanks to all of his new 6 month tricks!

Here's what else we've been up to this month!

This boy loves his excersaucer, and he especially loves to suck on the fish he's holding in his hand. This little gem was totally worth the $20 I paid to the woman selling it on Craig's list! He bounces and giggles, and it keeps him off of his flat head! (By the way, we had the appointment at the craniofacial clinic @ Children's hospital and we are just going to monitor until 8 months before we decide for or against the helmet. The 'head' NP said first born boys often have trouble with the shape of their heads because the mother's uterus doesn't accommodate/stretch as well the first time around. Interesting.. he did measure small the whole time, and he was engaged @ 36 weeks. She thinks the engagement + delivery with a vacuum might have contributed to his neck muscle weakness and subsequent 'plagiocephaly'. ie: flat head).

LOOK! I can sit all by myself for about 10 -20 seconds. Then I topple over. I'm a pretty tough guy though, because I don't cry if I hit my head!

As of last Friday 6/24, I can now roll from my tummy- back and back-tummy. I'm pretty impressed with myself, and I much prefer to roll around in my crib than take naps! (This is also making diaper changes a new adventure for mommy!)

Oh I'm so cute!

I still love to put everything in my mouth, and my hands are on absolutely everything I can touch. I wiggle and wiggle, and never sit still!

This is my friend Zander (DOB 3-25-11). We had one sunny day a few weeks ago, and we weren't sure what to do with our eyes!

So mommy bought me a cute cute hat.

I think this might be one of my favorite pictures of the two of them. I just LOVE it! Owen and his daddy are the best of friends. O loves Mike's hats, giggles, stories, songs, etc. They play SO hard!

I love my solid foods!

So what else can we say about the little bug except for that he is just absolutely perfect and we are so in love? He still goos and coos with the best of them, and I think from time to time he throws in a 'p' sound. We haven't heard many other consonants yet though. He also blows raspberries and screeches quite a bit.

Developmentally he seems to be right on track. The only 6 month 'milestone' he hasn't quite yet met is responding to his name, but I think we have some time with that.

He's quite the arm flapper (so much so that I googled '6month old flaps arms, sign of autism?'). You would think with my doctoral degree in nurse practitioning that a) I would know that it's way to early to draw that correlation and b) google answers to those questions aren't worth two cents, but I did it anyway. It's something I'll just keep an eye on.

He is also very in to tactile stimulation. He scratches his fingernails over every surface. Lately he rubs his head back and forth on blankets/sheets, etc. It must scratch or tickle the back of his head. It's pretty funny, too.

Sleep wise we are really making some progress. On 6/17 we started a combo 'cry it out + wean the swaddle'. Most babies don't need the swaddle after a few months, and now that the little man is rolling over, I need him to be able to sleep with his arms out. (He had rolled to his belly while swaddled.. scary!). Also, the swaddle has been a handicap. In the middle of the night he would get out of it which would require Mike or I to go in and re-swaddle. It's time he learned to soothe himself unswaddled. It's going well! We started with one arm out and we've now graduated to two. We still wrap his legs in a blanket because it's still cool here. (It got up to 68 yesterday, and Mike and I felt like we were in heaven.) We are also weaning the 3 am feed. I've fed him in the middle of the night every night since he was born because he's so skinny, but it's time to increase the solids and teach him to sleep through the night with no food. The last several nights have resulted in waking up at 2am, 3am, 4am with several nights of crying from 4am-5am.. but I think this will be better for all of us in the long run. I will do this MUCH earlier than 6 months with baby #2.

Thanks for reading my babbling about the joys, triumphs, and struggles of parenting our little gift from God. We love him SO very much!

solids

Well the little man will be 6 months tomorrow, so we thought it was high time to start solid foods. We wanted to wait until close to 6 months for several reasons: 1. The AAP guidelines recommend that exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is optimal (we've had to supplement a few times with formula, but we've mostly heeded this recommendation). 2. Because he is only in the 25% for weight, our NP wanted us to stick with breastfeeding as long as possible, because the calories in breast milk are the most dense and most likely to put weight on him. At this stage eating is a motor skill activity, not a nutritional gain. So, we waited until a few days ago, but now we are having a BLAST!

Here he is, primed and ready to start. He won't even know what hit him!

 

At first he tried to grab at the spoon (like he does with everything). Once he realized it was food however, he just started opening wide like a little bird! 'I'm ready mama!'. (Oh, and his bib says I'll have a glass of the house white). Ha.

 

Still unsure what to do with his tongue. Do I suck on it? He still pushes quite a bit back out with his tongue, but he's making progress in that department for sure!

Mmmm.... rice cereal!

 

Let's take a moment to pose for the camera

 

Distracted by the dog...

 

I love this close up!

 

The first night, daddy documented while mommy fed. Since then, however, dinner time has been reserved for Owen and Daddy. Mike is so excited that he can finally do something to help with the feeding. They have a great time 'eating' and playing airplane!

 

This is what happened the first time we tried green beans. He was not a fan.

 

He's giving this look like, 'you don't seriously expect me to open my mouth for that stuff again do you?' It was a little better once we mixed some rice cereal with it, but over the course of the 3 days we tried green beans, I think he took a total of 5 bites. Today we tried carrots for the first time, and he probably ate a whole tablespoon! Tomorrow he'll be yellow.  (I'll try to upload a video, but it didn't work today).

We'll post this week about our big Half Birthday party tomorrow! Have a good one. We LOVE you all!

cooper family christmas photo

It is quite rare for my entire family to be together, and it is even more rare to capture these family times with photos. In my opinion, the Coopers are extraordinarily begrudging and impatient when it comes to photos, but I really wanted to capture some of all of us for this year's 'Christmas Card'. Really, I just wanted a good picture of the seven of us! Because it was 'my' weekend, they agreed, and we got some great photos.

I'm sure a photography expert (Chels) would be disappointed with the shadows..maybe we should have gone a different time of day. I was thrilled to catch the hour of sun and two willing smiles!

Kerry Park

The rest of the pictures are just a few candids from the rest of our time together! Enjoy =)

To me this picture screams 'PROUD' glowing grandparents!

Redhook Brewery Tour.

Happy Trails.

Thanks for obliging my camera. Love you all!

Coffee Cupping

Coffee cupping might possibly be one of the most unique events I have ever arranged for my touring guests. My brothers had never been to Seattle before, so of course we stuck to the Market, Space Needle, Fremont Troll, Kerry Park, etc, but I also wanted to find something quintessentially 'Seattle' that was more of a private family affair. 

 

So we went coffee cupping... stay tuned for the definition. I had noticed some beautiful photos (like the one above) posted by my dear friend Rachel on her FB page (yes, I am now a facebook stalker with all of my free time at home). She takes photos for a private coffee roaster, Caffe Lusso in Redmond. She got us a great deal. Phil, the owner, would do a private cupping for us for free as long as we bought a few pounds of coffee and told people about his place! Sold! He started us out with a free espresso drink of our choice (shown above), and gave us pastries stating, 'I expect you to drink a lot of coffee, and I don't want you to float out of here'.

I would love to learn to be an all star barrister and make these beautiful designs. Step out of the way Starbucks, this is some good coffee we are talking about here!  I do have to admit that Starbucks doesn't have the same appeal now that I have access to good drip coffee from Caffe Lusso and Caffe Ladro (which I am delighted to report now has a location in Bellevue.. I just discovered that while looking up the link!)
Just another way the West coast has made me snobby..

So let's get to the cupping. It's essentially like wine tasting, but with coffee. We cupped brews that he recently received from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopia.

The above picture was taken before the caffeine consumption really began.

Step 1: Grind the beans (which are actually harvested from coffee trees that produce a cherry fruit. There are two coffee 'beans' in each cherry, and they actually aren't beans at all).

Step 2: Pour hot water

Step 3- 6: Skim the coffee grinds off the top with two spoons. Once ready, fill your spoon with coffee, sip it quickly as you inhale (this should make a loud noise if done correctly). Let the coffee sit in your mouth (just like wine). Swallow. Next roast please. The brew from Ethiopia actually had a hint of blueberry. Super delicious and so of course I bought some. We also liked the Costa Rican brew which he prepared for us later in his French Press.

(ps: I love that his table had world maps beneath the glass.. I foresee something similar in the Wade house sometime in the future)

Happy Cuppers.

UW School of Nursing Graduation

At last, my time as a Husky has come to end. I have been longing to write those words for some time now. It's amazing how excited I was to get in to the FNP-DNP (Family Nurse Practitioner; Doctorate of Nursing Practice) Program at the UW back in the spring of 2008. Now three years later, I am even more ecstatic for this time to come to  a close. Certainly my priorities have changed, but more than that, I've forgotten how to relax, how to spend free evenings with my husband, and how to single-task. It was time for this program to come to a close, and the celebration was grand!

On Wednesday before graduation, our faculty provided dinner for my class and our families. As you can imagine, Owen was quite popular at the party. Mike and I both got to eat with 2 hands! Here is my class celebrating! (Back: L-R Ari, Me, Rebecca, Ada, Lisa. Front: L-R Amy and Gillian). 

FNP-DNP Class of 2011 with our faculty.

The woman behind me, Mary Ann Draye, was the Chair of my supervisory committee. Her signature has been everything I've worked for the last 3 years. Here she is "conferring my hood", a really special part of the ceremony. She is a fabulous lady who thoroughly supported my pseudo-maternity leave and did everything she could to help me still graduate on time.

Shaking hands with the Dean. I was so nervous to walk across that stage, I don't know why! No worries, though... I didn't fall. I have to be honest, the neatest part of the ceremony for me was watching the BSN students graduate. I taught all of the bachelors students during their first year of nursing school, and it was awesome to see them proudly walk across stage. I remember when they were petrified of bed baths and changing beds. Now they are entering in to the world of nursing, and they will help so many people. I felt like a proud mama!

This day would not have been possible without my right hand man, Mike Wade. I LOVE YOU!

(ps.. Owen loved the tassel on my hat!)

The whole Cooper family came in town to celebrate. It was so awesome to have all of us together as it feels like it's been hit or miss the last few years. There will be future blog posts chronicling our Seattle adventures!

The whole gang in our robes, hoods, and tams. We were joking that we felt very Harry Potter-like. All we need now is a wand, and owl, and Hermoine!

 Celebrating at Rays boathouse with my love after the ceremony!

Love my mama!

That's all for now! The real fun began after the ceremony as Mike and I played host and hostess to the Coopers. They returned the favor by getting Mike and I a hotel room downtown on Saturday night. We went and had drinks with Ryan and Steven downtown and then slept a full 8 hours in a king sized bed on Saturday night. Grandma and Papa kept the baby. I can honestly say it was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

Until next time,

Heather Wade, DNP, ARNP, FNP...who is finally on maternity leave!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to the love of my life. I hope Owen grows up to be just like you, a good, honest, caring, funny, and passionate,Christian man! He is so lucky to have you as his role model. I know you two will be the best of friends!

It's been a relatively relaxing day here at the Wades. Little O has his first cold, complete with a cough and runny nose. It just about breaks my heart. I know he's sick because he is taking his 3rd (hour plus) nap of the day... and he hasn't fussed when we put him down. Poor little love. This just gives us plenty of time to consume calories today. For breakfast we had macadamia nut pancakes with blueberry syrup, mango, and sausage. For dinner (per Mike's request) we are having burgers, fruit salad, corn on the cob, and home made chocolate chip cookies. I like a man who is easy to please!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend brought the most relaxing series of days that Mike and I have seen in over a year. I'm wrapping up my school work (last paper submitted, only one class to go), and Mike had the entire weekend off. He was supposed to fly Sunday, but his boss miraculously flew instead. We see this as divine intervention, as it's very much out of character for this particular boss.

Saturday morning started with a baby sleeping until 9, and me sleeping in a Benadryl induced coma until 8:30. Both of these occurrences are just as uncommon as Mike's boss going to bat for him. By the time I got up at 8:23, Mike had risen, taken the pup for a walk, gone to the grocery, and made macadamia nut pancakes, bacon, and fruit salad. What.a.start.to.the.weekend! ( I should mention that breakfast in bed came after a girls night out. Mike watched the baby so that I could have a margarita and eat dinner with two hands with the PEPS moms!). He and his friend Anil golfed that afternoon, so we both got some fun adult time in!

Sunday we had stuffed french toast and quinoa salad after church with some friends. They have a baby one year and one week older than O, and it's fantastic to watch him run, giggle, eat tomatoes, babble, etc. A sign of what is to come.

Monday we went over to Amity's parents house (otherwise known as Rachel and Sterling) for their Memorial Day tradition, Eggs Benny. In recent years, this has become one of my absolute favorite dishes, and I was thrilled to partake in their tradition. It's my goal to perfect the Wade version of Eggs Benny this summer!

Rachel is a fantastic cook, and we arrived in time so that she taught me the ways of hollandaise and poaching. I must say, I think hollandaise is a two person job. I'm sure she could have conquered it herself, but I'm glad my first attempt was a tag team. Here she is posing with her finished product. 

 

Dear Eggs Benedict, I love you.

Sweet rosy cheeks and her friend Mr. Monster Truck. I love her little dress (and her thighs!)

Amity has some mad semi-crawling skills. She can actually inch forward. Owen can only rotate. Rachel and I find it highly amusing how these two are polar opposite at 5 and 4 months old. Their body types, personalities, and learned skills are on either side of the spectrum. Amity sits pretty in pink as she coos and looks around. Owen screeches and kicks his legs constantly. (No wonder he's a squirt).

 

After brunch we took the kids for a walk in their respective 'Bob' strollers. Owen of course is kicking.

Monday afternoon we swung by the market to pick up from fresh salmon and trout from Pike Place Market. We were having special company Monday night... welcoming a family friend and a new travel nurse to the city. We thought we'd give them a proper Seattle welcome.

The little man loves his tongue as of late, and he sticks it out much of the time. It's a content look anyway.

At the end of the weekend, Mike and I were thrilled with how relaxed we felt. We hope this is a great start to our summer... now if it would just get over 60 degrees, we would be set!

For it's root, root, root for the CARDINALS!

Our little Owen was born to be a Cardinal fan, so much so that he popped out with red hair! Santa buys mlbtv.com for us every year, and we are able to watch 90% of the Cardinal games here in Seattle! Plus, now that I am home most days.. I can even catch the daytime games. Owen is no stranger to the sound of the crack of the bat, and he knows the batting average of Pujols, Holiday, Berckman, and Rasmus. Because he will likely be long and skinny, we are encouraging the use of his South Paw. Mike hits his right hand if it looks like he is favoring it. Just kidding.. but all that to say, we couldn't wait to take O to his first Cardinal game!

This might be one of my favorite pictures of all time. The Easter bunny brought Owen an adorable Cards track suit, and so he was set! This is his favorite outfit, in fact he's wearing it today.

The whole clan (minus Gaga Wade who was taking the picture) including Uncle Rick and Auntie Renee Schuster! The weather was mild, and the company was perfect!

I am a real sucker for the '3 Generations' pictures. Of course we had to get 3 generations of Wade boys @ Busch Stadium. Mike absolutely loves to carry the baby in the Bjorn, and the baby loves to snuggle in and nap when he's next to Daddy.

Wade family photo. Owen @ 4 months old.

Awake and excited! "OH, I'm at the CARDINAL GAME!" Owen was an absolute gem throughout the entire game. He went from person to person just happy as can be. He even saw a Pujols home run! We left in the 7th inning b/c of a rain delay and up to that point we were winning. Things went downhill for the Cards after that rain delay (I mean, after we left), so technically they lost.. but we are pretending we saw a winner. 

We are hoping Westbrook will do a great job in tonight's rubber match against those silly Giants. 

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME! 

Go Cards!