9 Months

Ahh.....I feel like a broken record. Where is the time going? I am running so behind! Seriously! Anderson has grown up SO much since the last time I posted. Somehow in there is turned 9 months!!!! At his appointment last week we learned he is long a lean. At the 95%, he is clocking in at 29 inches. Yup - that means it is time to upgrade out of the infant carrier car seat! His weight, on the other hand, is in the 10% area, at 16 lbs and 8 ounces. If you are keeping track he only gained 2 and a half pounds in the last 3 months.

The doctor isn't worried, though, because he is eating great - he just cannot stop moving!! He is everywhere. I have a whole embarrassing story about being in the bathroom, but I will spare you the details. The funniest is when he takes off when you are coming after him. Granted, he is still just doing the army crawl, but I think he is going to go from that to standing. He is starting to pull himself up when I am on the floor.

Did I mention food? He is willing to try anything. Vegetables. Fruits. French fries. Avocado. He is a great eater!! Yeah!

In the last couple of months we also travelled to Maine for Jessica & Jeff's wedding ceremony. It was SO beautiful, meaningful, romantic - just wonderful. It even featured a hurricane --- and beautiful blue sky! It was great getting to see their new house and tons of the family finally got to meet Little Dude.

Oh - and Anderson has his cranial reshaping band. He doesn't seem to have any issues with it.

Sporting Iowa State gear to start the season

Love happy couple at their rehearsal dinner (9/3/10)

Silly Sisters

Too cute! 09/04/10

Hmmm cake

With Great Auntie Melanie (9/4/10)

Chilling with dad while everyone was decorating.

The fashion plate bride arriving.

With the parents. Smile people.

Looking adoringly.....

Time to eat yet? Oh - shh, it's the ceremony.

Playing with Nana.

Anderson with the Decke-Alflen Grandparents

We are all smiling!

Four generations!

Yes - it's a mini Viking's helmet (9/26/10)

I am SO cute!

There are a million more stories, but I wanted to post something. So.......

This Summer

Anyone who thinks that folks who work in education have it easy over the summer, clearly never worked for our department. That's okay. It was good to be busy - still is. Anderson has been growing and changing so quickly it is hard to keep up. Literally. Overnight this week it seems he mastered the army crawl. Gone are the days of just putting him on the floor and relaxing on the couch. You turn away for a second and he has moved on to somewhere else. He did have some other adventures this summer and it is more fun to show it in pictures.....

Mackenzie's 1st Birthday Party 7/17/10

Does this party hat make me look stupid?

1st time testing feet in a pool

Dave grew watermelon! 7/27/10

They didn't taste as good as they looked.

Standing is a new favorite past time. 7/28/10

What do you mean babies don't smile all the time?

8/8/10

So many toys!

Peas are good. Can I feed myself?

8/8/10

Friends 8/14/10

Believe it or not he arranged himself and the stuff animals. I went in to check on him and that is how they were all arranged. Very cute!

Anderson is 6 Months Old

Where did the last 6 months go? Six months ago I was wrapping up my two month hospital stay and Anderson was about half a week into his 21 day stay. I don't think you can tell by looking at us now! True he is a little on the small size when it comes to weight, but otherwise - he is a total rock star! At his 6 month visit this week he clocked in at 14 pounds (25%) and 26.5 inches (90%). He is long and lean! Dave & Anderson both got shots while we were there. It was kinda cute.

I am going to start with pictures from Father's Day. This is Anderson's first artwork. He made it with chocolate pudding. We decided a picture was needed because we do not know if it will eventually grow mold.....

6/19/10 Looking like Grandpa Butch

Playing.... Anderson really likes to play.

7/4/10

7/5/10 - A happy baby

Do you think he has grown over the last 6 months?

1/28/10

7/5/10 - now he won't even sit still for the pic!

7/5/10 - yup - he has grown.

You can barely see Dave's hands now!

Over Five Months

We hit the five month mark a few weeks back. Since there were no doctor's visits at that point we have to go with his weight from the Wii Fit Plus - which was 12 pounds 8 ounces. Anderson is eating more and taking much longer on the breast when he is really hungry. Just now he ate for almost an hour - and he was sucking almost that whole time!

Enough talk. I know you want pictures. Last weekend we took Anderson to the Phoenix Zoo. It was actually his second trip, but as you can see, what a difference a couple of months make. Jessica and I took him the first week in April. Even his view was different!

3/31/10

6/12/10

I think he enjoyed the 2nd trip more.

Anderson is starting to hit some more milestones as we move closer to the half year mark! For the record it was last Father's Day that we found out we were pregnant. Anyway. He has found his feet. Rolling over is a new favorite past time.  Tummy time is super fun. It is getting harder to take pictures because he is always moving!

6/6/10

6/6/10 - rest time

6/13/10

And maybe the best milestone is he is trying really hard to laugh!!

Daycare

I should start off by saying that this post has no pictures. I really should see if I can get a picture of Anderson at daycare.... I am very pleased to report that we have survived our first two weeks - my being back at work and Anderson going to TutorTime.

The ladies at TutorTime are just in love with Anderson. They have repeatedly told us that they cannot believe he had never been to daycare before. I guess that first week he didn't show any of the usual signs of distress that a baby normally has early on in their stay. This week Mis Kathy, who works in the mornings, told Dave & I that we must be the most laid back, relaxed couple because Anderson is so calm! The first afternoon I picked him up, every baby in the room (about 8) were screaming their little lungs off. What was Anderson doing? He was sound asleep.

I will admit that when I start thinking about how long he is there - about 10 hours a day - I get a little upset. That is a lot of time. Then I think about everything he is gaining by being there. They really are great! Dave & I drop him off together most mornings around 6:45. Anderson is usually smiling and talking around this time. He talks to us while we are getting ready. Thus far I have been able to make it to pick him up by 5 in the evening.

On a side note - Anderson is rolling from his side to his belly, and he can go belly to back. He just hasn't mastered putting it all together yet. He also loves his floor activity mat. He kicks the crossbars over it to activate the music box - which lights up. Then he just laughs! We really need to get video of him doing it!

Motto

This post is for my friend Tanya! Most of you who read this know that when I sign my name I almost always put the symbols for peace, love, happiness, and music (it is a dotted-eighth-sixteenth note). I consider this to be my life's motto and what I wish for others. They have been used to describe me in professional interviews (I really did at my first ACPA); and even tattooed on my back.


Anyway - I do not remember the particulars, but sometime in junior high (Tanya & I met at the now closed Powell Junior High) Tanya and I began using the symbols. I believe it started around a teacher's discussion of nirvana (the state of mind, not the band). We started to sign our names with the four symbols, then draw an equal sign and the little sign for nirvana. Who knew that something started so long ago would stick with us? As a side note, I decided to get my tattoo after the birth of Tanya’s first child, her son Alex. All I can say is at the time I felt that it was the ‘sign’ I needed to finally go forward with the tattoo that I had been thinking about for years.

As a gift to Anderson, Tanya made him these adorable oneies with each of the symbols. Her work is fantastic – and they are so cute! When I realized earlier this month that Anderson was quickly outgrowing them, I made sure that when he wore them I took a picture to have as a keepsake. You will notice a fifth symbol added to the mix. Tanya added recycling – which is perfect. Enjoy. And thank you Tanya!

Peace

Love

Happiness

Music (eighth notes)

Recycling

Four Months

5/6/2010

I have become a slacker when it comes to posting messages. At least I can sneak in one a month! Anderson is now 4 months old!! Since I am running a little behind, his four month appointment was actually almost 2 weeks ago. At that appointment he weighed in at 11 pounds, 5 ounces and was 24 and a quarter inches long! He is only a quarter of an inch shorter than I was at that age!!!

Month four was very exciting! He had many experiences that most people do not have ever!! In one week he attended a doctoral thesis defense and Relay For Life. Oh, and he went to the retirement party of a dean of student affairs! Does he have a parent in higher education or what??

4/22/10 with Dr. Lisa Cahill!!

Now, the time has come for me to go back to work after being off for 6 months!!! Where does the time go? I am scared, excited, nervous, sad... I am everything all at once. I am sad to have to leave Anderson at daycare. Yet, I am also really excited about the new things he will learn while there! I think it is going to be great, once I get over the fact that I will not have him with me all day.

Part of my excitement also comes from my having a new position at ASU. I still work for the same department (University Academic Success Programs), but now I will be working more administratively - and out of our Tempe office! I will miss the easy commute to the Poly campus, though in terms of mileage it is closer to Tempe. There are also a lot of people I am going to miss as well. Such is the nature of moving. My new position has me overseeing the Supplemental Instruction program for all the campuses and working on other projects for the good of the whole department - versus just doing work for one campus. I am still an assistant director. Yes it is more responsibility. No it is not more pay.

Anderson and I worked very hard over the last week to pack up the old office and move all my crap to the new office. We were too tired to get much unpacking done. At least that means I have busy work to do to keep my mind off of the fact that he is not sleeping on the floor right beside me!!

4/11/10 - Look at the slippers!

The outfit on the right is the one he came home from the hospital in, and it was too big. The one on the left is what he is sleeping in now, and he is just about too big for it!!!

4/42/10 - An Arizona baby!

Three Months

4/2/10 - 3 months old

Tada! Anderson is 3 months old! The time has gone by so quickly. I go back to work in a month. Sigh. Anyway - last week we had an appointment with a developmental specialist. The hospital made the appointment for us as a part of our discharge plan with them. It was a really interesting appointment!

First, Dr. Ellis was going to plot where Anderson is in terms of size on a special preemie growth chart. Surprise surprise, he is off the preemie chart! He has doubled his weight since birth - now coming in at 9 pounds, 15 ounces. He is also 22.5 inches long!!! She estimates that he will be 6 feet 3 inches tall. I'm writing that down in his baby book.

It is funny. Overall people still look at him and say how small he is, not believing he is 3 months old. Yet, 3 month clothes fit him. They are a little baggy around the middle, but we need them for length. He is just long and thin. I wonder where he gets that?

As you can see he is smiling! He has also started to talk. Dave bought him this stuffed monkey that is hanging at the end of his bassinet. The morning after he got it, we heard these little crys that were not "I'm upset" crys. We both peak into the bassinet and Anderson is totally having a conversation with the monkey. He was waving his arms around being very expressive with his body language. I wonder where he gets that?

Overall Dr. Ellis had a lot of really great information about skeletal/muscular development and had recommendations for exercises we need to be doing with Anderson. Unfortunately his skull is very flat on one side. So flat, in fact, that his ears do not line up. You cannot tell from the front, but you can from every other angle! The long & the short of it is if we do not see changes in the next few months, Anderson will have to wear a helmet for a little while. Sigh.

4/2/10

He is just so cute!!