Looking preppy

Too Cool

We're having some great weather so Leo and I got out for a walk in the morning and a trip to the park with Cara and Addison in the afternoon.

Here he is ready for some strolling in the morning. He's too cool for school in his new sun glasses and sun hat. We call this his "Father Guido Sarducci" hat.
What a California kid! Out at the park, enjoying the afternoon sun.

A little swinging.



I swear he loves swinging and giggles up a storm except when I get the camera out.

School Spirit

Leo shows some Wildcat pride by sporting his Northwestern gear. He currently doesn't have any banana slug attire. Of course, Leo won't attend Northwestern because it's way too far away from his mom. He'll be at Stanford or maybe UC Berkeley.

Seal Beach

Sorry for the lack of posts. We headed down to Seal Beach to visit family and friends over the weekend. Leo and I flew down Thursday evening. Traveling alone with the baby made me very anxious, but it all went smoothly. Leo is a really great traveler. The only issue was how much stuff I had to juggle, but people were very helpful. Tom joined us Friday night.

The first relative he met (other than my mom and Skip) was Aunt Sheila. Skip's baby-handling skills were very impressive.

When Leo is looking off camera, he's usually fixed on Nana, but this one he chose to look at the camera. Nana loved having Leo visit and made us very comfortable. We pretty much took over the entire house. Meeting Aunt Nancy, who taught him to stick his tongue out (which is now one of his favorite tricks; thanks Nina).
I know my cousin Monica is looking at Leo like he just had a stinky fart (he very possibly did), but she really did adore him and lavished him with attention.

My best friend, Tracy, hasn't seen Leo since he was six weeks old. He's a completely different baby and she fell in love all over again.

My aunt Sheila was so sweet to throw us a little brunch so a whole lot of people got to meet Leo. The food was delicious and everyone was impressed by Leo's girth. He got passed around quite a bit and he handled it like a pro.

Here he is meeting our family friend, Stevie.

Digna, Uncle Gene and Mary Ellen.
Uncle Gene had a calming effect on Leo. Either that or he was in shock from being so far off the ground (Gene is one tall guy).
Leo may have been experiencing a little hair-do envy when he met cousin Dillon.
Hangin' in the airport, on our way home.

Hanging with dad

We had a nice three day weekend. Leo and Tom got to spend a lot of time together. Leo wore these pajamas for two days straight.
When Leo was very little and we were struggling with breastfeeding, he had bottles all the time. Here he is just a week or so old "holding" a bottle. Well, since then, I've been really lazy about giving him bottles and he has no interest. So we decided to go straight to sippy cup. He's not all that jazzed about it, but he's a good sport. Here's Tom trying to convince Leo that a sippy cup is pretty cool.
Leo doesn't like drinking from the cup, but he likes holding the handles.

Happy Valentine's Day

Helloooooo, ladies....

Say Cheese

Leo is an incredibly happy baby, except when he's unhappy. He smiles, giggles and full belly laughs all the time. Unfortunately, this is hard to catch on film because as soon as I pull out the camera, he gives the black eye of the lens a cold stare (not unlike the look he gives me when I set him in the bathtub or try to give him a sippy cup). I got this shot of him smiling by having him look at me and then sneaking the camera around the side (that's why it is quite off-center).

Cuts

Tom has been begging me to let him cut Leo's hair. I resisted, but he pestered me enough to allow it. He just wanted to trim some long hairs sticking up from the top of his head. Most of his hair has fallen out and come back as adorable fuzz. But these long stragglers were really driving Tom nuts. I was teary-eyed, though I can't really articulate why. We saved some of the trimmings for his baby book.

Here's the result.

We also did some major cutting when we made some curtains for Leo's room. This was quite the undertaking. We picked out some really cute fabric and lined it with "block out" fabric. Leo's room is bright during the day, even with the blinds closed. I've convinced myself that he would take a decent nap (longer than twenty minutes) if were only a little darker in there. This is what motivated us to spend a lot of time putting these curtains together. We're happy with how they turned out (just don't look too closely at the stitching).

Four months old

Leo is four months old today. He's getting to be such a big boy.

We had a visit from Addison.

She's not a big fan of tummy time.
Then we went on a playdate at the park. One of the moms suggested we try the swing. Leo really loved it--smiled and giggled, except when I got out the camera.

It would sell a million copies...

The shirt says it all...

Healthy, happy baby

Leo had his four month doctor's appointment today (one week early). He's 15 pounds 13 ounces and 24.5 inches long. She said he looks like a very healthy, happy baby.

She also suggested we start sleep training. We've embarked on it tonight. Tom is doing the hard part--staying in the room with Leo, reassuring him without picking him up. I'm the wimp with the earplugs in, crying harder than Leo. We've known for a while he needs to learn to fall asleep on his own, but I've been resisting doing it. Hopefully, we don't have too many nights like this one. I totally love and admire Tom for doing this because I would cave in and pick him up after just a few minutes, totally reenforcing the crying.