Comparing Babies

Of course everyone warns against making comparisons between babies. I don't think this counts when there is only one baby in question, just at different times. Here's Solomon wearing his Reds uniform on opening day in April (left) and now (right and below). I hope it fits through the rest of the season.

Making A Splash

Finally. We took Solomon to the swimming pool across the street. We already knew he loved kicking around in water, but I wondered if the crowd or the cooler water temperature might damper his fun. Nope. He had a blast. The Boy laughed and splashed around. We found that hanging out in the deeper part was preferable to the shallow end where all the young kids played. Swimming definitely wore him out. We made a secret promise that if he slept through the night we'd swim every day. He only slept until 3, which is a fine time for a midnight snack, but doesn't qualify for sleeping through the night. In an unrelated story, I've decided to invent a new game of skill. Akin to the game at the fair in which one attempts to thread a loop over a curved and rotating wire, this game will require the contestant to put pants on a kicking infant.

Details

This is one of Solomon's (and by Solomon's, I mean Mommy's) favorite shirts, and not just because it matches his blanket so well. It recently got even better when Nany monogrammed it with an "S". I think that will drastically reduce it's resale value, unless there is another baby with an "s" name that happens upon it. I haven't actually sold anything yet (or even attempted to, for that matter), but I keep telling myself I'm going to list stuff on eBay or Craig's list. I could probably even make $5 or $6 if I tried.

Underwear Model

We've been testing out cloth diapies. Solomon is modeling his Fuzzi Bunz, as well as his Lovey Bear. I suggested to The Boy that we only needed one photo of him wearing the trial diapy, but he said he just couldn't chose between the two and couldn't I please, just this one time, post an extra picture. Okay, just this once. The diapies are ingenious. And expensive. But I suppose disposable dipes are expensive in their own way. With Fuzzi Bunz, an absorbant insert (hemp, in our case) is placed inside the diapy pocket, between a nice fleece layer against baby's bottom, and the waterproof, colorful outer layer. Depending on which research I believe, the insert holds anywhere from 5 to 11 ounces. Mama H, Fiona's Mommy, loves them and turned us onto the idea. I bought three off eBay. I figure we need about 18 to make a decent go at it. They're about $14 each when bought in bulk. I can get them for $10 used on eBay, but then the inserts are $4 a pop. So what's the dif? Enough about diapies. Here's Solomon upon arriving home after watching Daddy play softball. He had a great time at the ball park, goofed around with Monkey for a minute, then crashed, still holding the toy. It reminded me of a Leave It To Beaver episode in which the Beav found a kitten and fell asleep still stroking it.

The Henry Ford

The main pull for us to visit The Henry Ford this week was an exhibit entitled, "Baseball As America." I was impressed. There are, however, no photos allowed in that exhibit. So, you'll have to take my word for it or go on your own. We putzed around the rest of the museum for a bit. Solomon was enthralled. I don't think I'm projecting when I say he loved it. Of note: Solomon entertaining himself with several things at once while Mommy and Daddy eat lunch. Visiting a diner where, if they had real food, donuts would be two for five cents. They can't actually serve food there because then they'd have to make it handicap accesible, which would apparently ruin the diner. Two shots of us at an "air show". Scott's a bit familiar with the dude in the bleachers, no? I think they transported my college dorm room to the museum. And finally, the famous weiner mobile.

Toes, the Series

I toyed with the idea of calling this post "Christy Brown," but decided that the reference was too obscure. Like the task of putting toys in his mouth, I don't grow tired of the toe-grabbing. I bet they soon make it into his mouth, too.

The Many Faces of Solomon

The pond has needed cleaning for several months. The final straw was a dead frog floating around last week. Today I delved in with both feet. I brought Solomon out to spend some naked time in the yard while I worked. As with many "plans," Solomon had a different agenda. I think the difference between cuddly and needy is more about what I am doing than Solomon. The game went something like this: Mommy puts Solomon on his back and wanders away. Solomon rolls over, looks towards Mommy. When Mommy doesn't run right over, Solomon plants his face in the sheet and starts fussing. So instead of cleaining the pond, I played with The Boy. Needless to say I had the camera out with us just in case. Eventually Daddy came out for some relief (if one considers the opportunity to step knee-deep into an icky pond relief). It was truly gross when I scooped out the frog skeleton. I thought a critter had taken the carcass when I didn't find it to fish out myself, but if a critter did anything, it left the bones behind.

A Taste of Monkey

It's no secret that babies put things in their mouth. Yet I get a kick out of it each time Solomon does it. I guess that's the response of a Mommy. Mili does the same thing. Puts things in her mouth, I mean. In fact, Mili has once again "adopted" one of Solomon's toys. Is this how siblings behave? In this case it was particularly egregious because Lovey Bear is Solomon's sleep lovey. With no time to get it washed before night-night, I wore Lovey Bear in my shirt for our evening walk, hoping to cover up Mili-mouth scent with Mommy smell. I'm not really sure The Boy cares, but it made me feel better.

In A Nutshell

During our stay in Columbus, we stuck to some tried and true activities, such as diapy-free time in the back yard and playing in water. As noted earlier, Solomon learned to grab his toes. His eyes are definitely changing color. They're a brownish hazel in the center and just not really blue at all any more. Nany was happy to have extended play time with The Boy.

For one day we went to visit Aunt Sali at Lost Hollow. Our matching outfits were appreciated by the folks there. Sali took us on a golf cart tour, then a short hike at Ash Cave. She was especially proud that her dogs put their best sides forward for the photo. The day was opressively hot, but we pushed on.

Finally, I took Solomon to meet his great-grandfather, Pappy, at the cemetary in Circleville.

Thanks, Benji

Benji's mom, Christen, lent us a jumperoo while we visited Columbus. Solomon wasn't so sure about the contraption. It took several attempts before he got the idea of bouncing. Benji is a month older than Solomon and is darling. The boys were happy to meet in person after hearing about each other for so long.

Nice Grab

We've got a lot of catching up to do, having been away for a week. Here's the short version. Solomon has learned to reach out and grab toys, then put them into his mouth. Two other new tricks: roll over from back to front and grab toes. The rolling over part has brought with it some anxiety, as we now find Solomon sleeping on his tummy. Even though the books and doctors say it's okay for him to snooze that way once he gets there on his own, the fears instilled by all the "Back To Sleep" campaigns linger. I guess the media works. Don't despair, as soon as I can, I'll get the photo documentaion up so that you can revel in our last week's adventure.

Go Blue

Even though it's not football season yet, Solomon is wearing his Maize and Blue. At his growth rate, he might not still fit into it by the first game. Big Ten rivalries aside, Scott agrees that it's okay for Solomon to root for Michigan, seeing as it's where we live. Should make for an interesting Buckeye vs. Wolverines game this fall. Also, an appropos entry for today as we are in Columbus.

Is This Too Many?

Mostly today's entry is about Mommy using more functions on her camera. But before we get to that, I thought Solomon did a great job of expressing the mood of today, which was really hot and humid. This one's a bit blurry. It's the view I get right after feeding Solomon. Nights are going much better. Last night I returned home after work about 11:00. I decided to "top off" (aka "Dream Feed") The Boy. The point was that since he tends to not eat as well from the bottle, giving him a late bonus would keep him sleeping until such a time that a feeding was acceptable (0300 is ideal, anytime after 2:30 is what I like to see). Want to know how it worked out? Too well. At 4:40am I figured I'd better feed him again or I risked blowing the whole morning schedule, which was not an option due to the next day's commitments. He was dead asleep. In the end it was okay, although I'll be second guessing that one for a while.

Now for the camera fun. I figured out how to take a rapid succession of shots. Here's my cutie caught goofing around. I'm hoping to perfect this approach in time to capture Solomon actually playing with toys and not just laughing and putting his hands in his mouth. Although that's pretty darn adorable, too.

False Modesty

Yeah, I know, more shots of diapy-free time. Well, it's either that or no photos from the day - and we've already missed one day. Easy choice. Plus, this way we can show off (a tiny section of)Solomon's new rug from Ikea. In this set of pix, I got a rare full-body shot with no need for censoring. Solomon insists it was an accident; he's really into exhibitionism. Diapy-free time was supposed to precede a bath in the baby pool this afternoon, but the water turned out to be too cold for The Boy's taste. So of course we just hung out in the yard. I don't really mind how one day so much resembles another. The slower pace of life is far from boring. Instead it affords me the chance to hang out with the most amazing baby ever.