Words!

At 17 months, here are the following words Leo says (and their English translations):

Mama
Mommy
Mummy (Yummy)
Dada
Daddy
Goggie (Doggie)
Guck (Stuck)
Uck (Yuck)
Bee (Bird)
Diggie (Small animal, ie gerbil)
I (Hi)
Bye
No
Da/Ya (Yes)
Baba (Bottle, sippie, cup)
Bah-baaah (Baseball)
Ba-ga-baaah (Basketball)
Ba (ball)
Cah/Cah-cah (Car)
Bee-bee (Beep, beep!)
Okay
Peetey (Pretty, ie flowers, trees, clouds)
Beebee (Baby)
Up
Dahn (Down)
Uppies (Up, please!)
Mo-ah (More)
I. K. (I'm okay)
Wa go? (Where'd it go?)
Ooh-kay? (Are you okay?)
Mow-ee (Mauri)
Kay-kee (Blankie)
Ah-dah! (All done!)
Abby (Abby, Elmo, Sesame Street in general)
Bubbies (Bubbles)
Cah-kee (Cookie, not to be confused with Blankie)
Wah-wah (Water)
Uh-oh
Kee (Kitty, also not to be confused with Cookie or Blankie)
At (Hat)
Pee-pee (This can mean someone is in the bathroom, penis, or a flushing sound)
Geeeee (Cheese - the food, or for the camera)

He knows the following body parts:
Head
Belly (half of the time)
Penis

And he can do these animal sounds (I will get a video up soon):
Cat
Cow
Duck

Leo's walking!

Leo shows off his new skill at the park today.

Guess who's crawling?!

Today at 8 months 1 week Leo started crawling!

We made bets earlier this month, and my mom won - she guessed it, to the day!

First finger foods!

Leo has shown all the readiness signs for finger foods. I give him puffs, but they get stuck to his palm and very rarely actually make it to his mouth. So we tried some steamed baby carrots today. I coated them in ground Cheerios to make them a little less slippery. I think he liked them, don't you?

One Hit Wonder

Alas, Leo is our One Hit Wonder. Since this day, I haven't gotten him to get back up on his hands and knees. To be honest, I'm relieved. Crawling is one milestone I can wait for! Anyway, here's the video to go with the nakey hands and knees photos.

Reunited and it feels so good!

After a month apart, Leo and his girlfriend Ella (and their mommies!) were reunited at Sloan's Lake Park. We did 2 laps - 6 miles - around, and guess who forgot to put sunblock on? Oops. Oh well, at least I remembered to put it on Leo. Here are the babies in their big boy and girl strollers.

In other news, Leo got his bottom right tooth on June 28th and his bottom left tooth today, July 1st! They are barely visible (mostly because he blows raspberries and screams bloody murder if you try to look at them), but they are there!

He is a big fan of the following: yogurt, peaches, blueberries, apples, pears, mangoes, bananas, and sweet potatoes. He kinda likes squash, and after several tries I got him to like peas. Turkey is still a no-go.

Today - about an hour ago - he said "mama." He was in his high chair and I was in the kitchen getting him a teething "cookie," and when I walked back over to his high chair he looked at me and said "mama"! I couldn't get him to re-create it, but he did it.

A lil ketchup...

Oh my goodness! I apologize for being the world's worst blogger! We went to New York, and while there I found out I got a part-time job, which led us to start searching for a nanny, so as soon as we got home from NYC I spent all of my free time interviewing nannies, meanwhile sleep training Leo.... whew!

Needless to say - today we hired an AWESOME nanny and Leo is now sleeping through the night for the first time EVER, so hopefully I'll have a spare second or two to get back on here.

Leo had his 6 month well baby exam on Tuesday. He weighs 16 lbs 15 oz (33rd percentile) is 27.5 inches long (79th percentile) and ready for 2 meals of solids a day!

So far his favorites are pears and mangoes. He absolutely HATES anything green.

I will update a bit more soon, and leave you with these photos of today's semi-milestone: Leo on his hands and knees for the first time, rocking back and forth! Babyproofing here we come!

Guess who started sitting up all by himself yesterday?!

Pears!

After squash came pears! Here's Leo trying pears for the first time.

More squash!

It's so fun that Laura & Mike were in town and able to witness Leo's first (and very successful) taste of something other than cereal.

Squash!

Leo tried a solid other than cereal today - squash. I think it was a hit!

Happy Mother's Day!

Despite the cold, rainy weather, we went to our Zoo Members Mother's Day brunch and enjoyed a tasty, hasty breakfast.




After the zoo, Leo was dedicated at our church. The ceremony was very nice. He was presented with a red rose with the thorns removed, to symbolize his innocence. The congregation promised to protect him on his spiritual journey, and the minister dipped the rose into water and touched it to his forehead while presenting him to the church. He was given a certificate and a book, and the children's choir sang "What a Wonderful World." It was so touching.

Take 1...


Take 2...


Third time's a charm!


We had some lunch, and Leo and I took a nap while Vinny prepared dinner. Leo had cereal and a bath and we put him to bed, and then we enjoyed shrimp and scallop scampi and strawberry shortcake.

Leo and his daddy got me a spa treatment - all in all, a lovely day.

Leo remembered how to roll over again today! Of course, as soon as I ran downstairs to get the video camera, he refused to do it anymore. His new trick is getting into "crawl position" and moving around in a circle. It's very cute.




Getting ready...

What just happened?!

I tried to get him to roll over again this afternoon for Vin, but he just did his spin-in-a-circle trick. Oh well.

Leo rolled over unassisted for the first time today! Of course, he wouldn't re-create it for Daddy when he got home, but it happened. Twice! He also found his feet, and then promptly forgot about them. Probably too much for one day, huh?

Baby sitting!

Leo has enough head control now to try out his Bumbo Baby Sitter!

Other than our fantastic weight loss this week, today was a good day for lots of reasons.

#1 - Leo finally graduated from sleeping at night in his bouncy chair to his bassinet! We thought we'd have trouble making the switch, but nope! He took right to the bassinet! I love having him sleeping right next to me so that getting up for midnight (or wee hours of the morning) feedings is easy.

#2 - Leo's 6 week growth spurt seems to be coming to a close. This means no more eating every 90 minutes (or, as yesterday from 3 pm - 9 pm was, constantly!) and no more waking every 90 minutes all night. In fact, he was very sweet to mommy last night by giving me 3 and 4 hours of sleep between feedings, and he was amazingly generous to his daddy - Vin didn't have to wake up once last night - his shift for feeding Leo is 12-3:30, and Leo slept through the entire thing! Actually, he cried out of hunger at - you guessed it - 3:31 am! I had to laugh.

#3 - My Beaba baby food maker arrived! Leo says thank you to his Nonna for sending it. I can't wait to experiment with it this summer using the books Aunt Neenee got us. (PS - How cute is it?!)



We celebrated our weight loss by having a nice lunch at one of our faves - good ol' Ruby Tuesday's - and strolling through Babies R Us. We ended up getting a few things: diapers, Nuks for Leo, and size 3 month pants, since his other pants are shorts on him. Here is is resting after a long day (and a loooong growth spurt) on daddy. Note that he has his cell phone in the cargo pocket of his new pants in case one of his friends wants to call him - this could mean any one of his grandparents, his friend Ella, whom he may or may not know exists but he'll see again (to notice or not notice her) tomorrow in Mommy & Me yoga, Mauri, or, his BFF, the ceiling fan.

Smiles!

Leo is so happy to welcome Barack Obama to the White House!

Baby Center says...

Our 5 week old

Head's up!

Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger, which allows her to hold her head up for short periods. She can support it for a few moments while lying on her stomach, for example, and she can probably turn it from side to side. She may be able to hold her head up when she's in a car seat or front carrier.

Okay...not to brag, but Leo could lift his head basically from birth. We like to think it's those extra 9 days baking in Mommy's oven. He's also able to hold it while on his tummy, and turn it from side to side a full 180 degrees. I mean... he's pretty much a superstar.

The first real smiles

Smiling happens at about the same time in all cultures, so get ready for your baby to reward all your loving care with a beaming, toothless, just-for-you smile. This will probably make your heart melt, even if you've just had your worst night yet.

For Ron Heckman, a new father in Piedmont, California, that first smile from his 6-week-old daughter, Hadley, brought tears to his eyes. "It was a lousy day at work," he recalls. "I was sleep-deprived and the commute traffic that day was incredibly thick. When I finally got home and my wife handed me the baby, who looked straight at me and smiled this gorgeous all-gums grin, I remember thinking, 'She knows me' — and nothing else mattered."

Awwww! We have gotten a couple absolutely perfect, just-for-mommy-and-daddy, definitely-not-gas smiles, but we have yet to capture them on film (or, digital memory card). As soon as we do, you better believe we'll post them!

Sound asleep

Your baby may start sleeping longer at night (maybe four to six hours) sometime between 6 weeks and 6 months of age. It's a broad range, and much depends on your baby's development and your behavior.

Most sleep experts suggest putting your baby to bed while she's still awake, but drowsy. This will help her learn to fall asleep on her own, a skill that will come in handy for you both when she wakes in the wee hours of the night. You can help your baby reach that milestone sooner rather than later by establishing healthy sleep habits from the start, such as a bedtime routine with a calming bath, a baby massage, or a bedtime story.

This is our next goal. Leo is still figuring out his bedtime, but it seems to be about 8:00 or so. The past couple nights, he's been literally fighting his droopy eyelids to stay up with us and party! I put him to bed before he was asleep for the first time yesterday, and it worked, until an hour later he woke up hungry. We were up for hours last night because the poor guy had gas. We'll get to a bedtime routine soon, though!

Remember, your baby is an individual

All babies are unique and meet milestones at their own pace. Developmental guidelines simply show what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then soon. If your baby was premature, keep in mind that kids born early usually need a bit more time to meet their milestones. If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, ask your healthcare provider.