Long overdue Baby Update!

Dominic has been doing all kinds of amazing things!!  I'll go month by month.

7 months continued (March)

Welllll, he did NOT start walking at 8 mos -- however he was still quite mobile!  After he mastered pulling up to a stand, he seemed to hit a plateau for a while, and spent some time perfecting his skilz.

aw, yeah, I'm all dat!

Must. Stand.

His new-found mobility meant that he could now Get Into Stuff.  The good news: he can now entertain himself.  The bad news: he can... get into stuff.

hmmm what have we here?

look, Ma, it MOVES!

power tooooools.....

His favorite thing was using big people legs to stand up.

he LURVES my maxi skirt especially -- so many hand holds!

Stairs are also PERFECT for learning how to stand.  They are exactly at the right baby height.

these are awesome!!

 Finally, when you're the youngest of six and you can't run or hit back yet:

life is rough when you have older siblings

 

but I'm so cute they just can't resist!

 8 months (April)

We attempted to introduce Dominic to solids at around 7 months-ish.  For a long while the relationship was shaky -- he much preferred "real" food (i.e., Mom).  However, every once in a while the planets would align and we would find something he didn't turn his little baby nose up at.

sweet potatoes are acceptable

Really well-ground oatmeal with apple sauce or with pureed bananas seemed okay, too.  In tiny doses.  At the right time of day (which varied).  And as long as he was a little hungry, but not too much.  And he had to be sitting in Mommy's lap and holding his own spoon.  #mrpickypants

We were lucky if we could get a teaspoon into him -- meanwhile he wanted to nurse about every 45 minutes.  That was rough.  (Finally at 9 months he learned that eating was all right, and was able to handle more textures so I didn't have to super-puree everything.)

He also popped out six teeth!  The first two came one by one, and then the next FOUR came altogether!  After that we were finally all sleeping better, hallelujah.  Those naughty incisors did not make their appearance painlessly, for him OR for us.

but look how cute my widdle teethies are!

Speaking of Getting Into Stuff:

how thoughtful of them to put in a wall-mounted entertainment device just for me!

9 months (May)

Nicky TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS!  He was so amused by the whole process and giggled hysterically each time -- even though it was more like barely-controlled falling.  His siblings are the best cheerleaders, and loved providing ample opportunities for him to land on his face practice taking steps.

Babies born into large families really have it made.  For one thing, they never have an opportunity to get bored cuz their siblings are always thinking of fun things to do for them:

baby-sized personal ball pit!

Apparently I spent the rest of May gardening because I have tons of pictures of the yards, but only that one for Dominic.

10 months (June)

After a few weeks practicing his controlled falling, Dominic officially started walking!!!1!.  Soon after that he figured out how to go from a squat to a stand without using furniture or conveniently-located big people legs. 

And soon after THAT, he figured that he could actually go UP those magical stairs. Our baby gates were in a sorry state, so this is what we rigged up at first:

so ghetto.  but hey, it works!

as you can see this baby gate doubled as a lemonade stand

Our slightly more permanent solution until we get some new ones (after I scrubbed the dirt and spider webs off -- remind me WHY we were storing the gates outside again??):

not much better -- still held in place with bungee cords

July (11 months!  I KNOW!)

Another entry in the Getting Into Stuff category:

ooh! it's the happy box!

how do I get them out?

success!  om nom nom

Dominic hasn't said any real words yet, but he is experimenting with new sound effects.  His latest are saying "oo" with adorably puckered lips, and a shrieking cackle that he uses when chasing his siblings. 

Even though I'm sad at the thought that someday he will no longer be a baby, we all rejoice with him whenever he masters a new skill!  Every age has been the best age, so far. :)  And he is so, so loved.

Wayyyyyy overdue Baby Update

I have been failing -- FAILING -- utterly in turning this blog into an all-baby-all-the-time love fest.  I'm too busy feeding, changing, holding, feeding, holding -- did I mention holding? -- and of course gazing at, the baby to do any actual blogging about him.  So here you go, a Baby Update Photodump!  Beginning with...

2 months old (October)

40 days

No, I can't believe it's been that long either.

Dominic passed the 40-day mark last week, so technically he isn't considered a newborn anymore -- and I officially have to get off my duff and start pulling my own weight around here (in addition to Dominic's too, of course, since he practically lives in the Moby).  And what better way to get back to work than spending hours taking baby pictures?

good idea, Mom!

There is something about the six-week mark.  His little rhythms become more predictable, he smiles all the time, and all of a sudden we see more of this little person emerging.

loves loves LOVES standing up!

also LOVES being outside

Before Dominic was born, I made this little gown for him from a vintage pattern.  I love it -- WHY did we as a culture ever switch from the ease of baby gowns to onesies and sleepers with millions of snaps??  

what is it about baby yawns that are so dang cute??

and their widdle toesies!

He is also rather turning into... Da Huuuuuudge.  (He already weighs well over 12 lbs. -- I've moved him up to size 2 diapers and 6-mo clothes.)  I need to get a picture of the sight of his belly spilling over his diaper for you.

they make even spit bubbles cute!

Everyone adores him, of course.  They think everything he does is hilarious and adorable (except maybe spitting up -- that usually sends a few of them running from the room gagging).  Youngest children in large families are so lucky -- they are so loved.

milk drunk!

 I blame the blurry pictures on small children -- either they are the photographers, or the lens is covered with greasy fingerprints.

One week old!

Dominic is a big kid.  He doesn't hold the family record, but he's running a close second.

I would just like to take a moment to say thank you to Aunt Katie H. for giving us a jumbo package of size 1 diapers.  Dominic fit into the newborn size I had purchased for him for about... 5 minutes.

Usually 3-month-size clothes are enormous on newborns.  This onesie is a perfect fit.

He is also very strong, and mature.  He figured out nursing right away.  He has some extremely alert times each day, and really focuses hard on his family's faces.  Miriam and I think he might be an early smiler.

aw, yeah, I'm all that

His hiccups are just... massive.  There was no sleeping through these when he was on the inside.

There's no sleeping through them on the outside, for that matter.  It's annoying when he gets them at 3am.

So far he seems to be a fairly relaxed kid (so long as you don't do something horrible like change his diaper).  His cues are easy to read, and he's settling into his own little rhythm.

And here's just some gratuitous newborn cuteness to satisfy the grandparents:

Finally, the package of imaginary Red Vines goes to... Aunt Terri!  Rachel got a point for being closest on time of birth, but A. Terri was closest on both birth weight and date.  No one else possessed a gambling spirit!

Back to reality.

So!  Postpartum!

After that beautiful, amazing birth, the week of recovery was one of peace and delight and happy joyful family times, right?

all riiiiiiight! (4 days old)

Ha.

He's here he's here he's here!!!

Dominic Francis

born at home

Saturday, August 8, 2015

at 9:45 pm

weighing 9 LBS 12 OZ

21 inches long

We are all soooooo glad!!

Place ye bets!

Baby #6 is due in two weeks, so it's high time to place ye bets!  The official due date is Wednesday August 5, which means tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant.

This time around you have the opportunity to choose the birthday, birth weight, and TIME of birth.  All my labors happened during the night, until Andrew, who decided he wanted to come during the day!  That sure threw us for a loop regarding sitters for the rest of the brood.

Anyway, here are all the previous stats so you can work up your mathematical models or whatever (good luck):

Miriam -- born at 37 weeks 5 days (which would have been yesterday), on a Tuesday, at 1:06 pm.  7 lbs. 12 oz.

Katie -- born at 39w 5d, Friday, at 7:30 am.  7 lbs. 5 oz.

Joseph -- born at 39w even, Friday (Good Friday, in fact), at 6:15 am.  7 lbs. 10 oz.

Daniel -- born at 40w 4d (the stinker), Tuesday, at 1:34 am.  10 lbs. 7 oz.

Andrew -- born at 39w 4d, Thursday (he broke the pattern!), at 6:51 pm.  7 lbs. 10 oz.

This one -- ???  birthday & day of week?  time?  weight?

My personal feeling is that this one is also going to come a little early -- but I hope not too soon -- I'm not done lesson planning yet!  (Anyone want to help condense a Shakespeare play into 1 hour?)  And my birth assistant won't come back from her vacation until Sunday.  So hold on, baby!

Also, to add to the fun and possibly bias your guesses, I've been measuring on the large side.  But at my appointment today, the midwife estimated baby's current weight to be somewhere between 7 and 8 lbs., but I had to promise not to hold her to it. :)

THIS time we're upping the ante and offering an imaginary bag of RED VINES to the winner!  Alrighty, have at it!

Best Anniversary Gift Ever

Before I (finally) publish our first post about our Great Western Trek, I realized that I first needed to post about our 14th wedding anniversary last November.

So, Mr. Pickles asked for a cappuccino machine.  At first I balked (what a yuppy appliance!), but now... I'm in love.

Miriam is turning out to be quite the little barista.

So, I gave Mr. Pickles a fancy coffee machine.  Mr. Pickles gave me (ahem)... another sweet gherkin!

Once again, he wins.

Since EVERYONE was hoping for a little girl this time we HAD to find out the gender beforehand.  So we could all find out together (since everyone from Katie down was at a sitter's -- Miriam came with us), we averted our eyes at the critical moment, and asked the sonographer to write the sex down on a piece of paper.  She was very sweet about it -- even including a couple shots of Evidence, and folding everything up carefully so we couldn't cheat. :)

....Aaaaaand the big reveal (along with a certain sassy person's reaction)......

Miriam was incensed by Katie's commentary and erased it soon after. :)

After the initial shock of YET ANOTHER BOY (two sets of bunkbeds!  no food in the house!  all that smelly laundry!), we are now totally excited and having fun debating about names.  Sweet little gherkin is due the first week of August (we'll be taking bets soon!), and there are TONS of awesome feast days around then.

I say this is evidence of God's sense of humor, since I never pictured myself as a mother of boyS, plural.  But I see how having boys has been good for me -- it's made me tougher.  And boys are a little easier to figure out -- everything's on the surface for all to see. :)  I'm happy that the boys have each other to shoot/wrestle/fight with.  AND I'm glad we had the girls first!!

One month old!

That first month went fast.  Andrew is now 9 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 1/2 ins. long.  My little baby's growing up!  *sniff*

soooooo big!

 His new talent is smiling at anything with eyeballs.

Hey!  You're a face!  I love you!

 He is still very floppy, but he's getting stronger.

he makes me think of a baby doll in this old fuzzy sleeper -- probably worn by Uncle Joe :)  (and thanks to Aunt Teresa for the wonderful blankie -- sometimes Mommy uses it for naps!)

 So, as I'm sure you've noticed, Andy has hair.  Like, a lot.  This creates a unique problem for my newborns, when the tonic neck reflex meets the palmar grasp reflex:

Ow ow ow!  Someone's pulling my hair!!

 At one month, Andy's cheeks are starting to round out and we're seeing beginnings of a second chin.  So we've been preparing him for his first meeting with his Aunt Katie:

chub chub chub

There's just something so undeniably right about having a new baby in the house.

all is well when you have a baby to snoogle

Boy: The Sequel update

The Boy: The Sequel (aka Daniel) will be 9 months in a couple days.  He is very mobile now.

He began crawling at 7 months, setting a Pickles record.  (filmed in Confuz-O-Vision by the resident Assistant Cameragirl)

He could crawl before he could sit up. (so we missed those halcyon days of baby sitting surrounded by toys and being entertained for hours without getting into trouble...)

A couple weeks later, he figured out standing.

ta-da!

om nom nom

This shot reminded me of another one of another boy...

Daniel's interests are expanding too.  He LURVES being outside...

How I long to be freeeeee...

...and hockey!

someday I'll be tall enough to use this thing...

but for now I'll do what I do best!

His vocal repertoire now includes lip-smacking, snorting on cue, "der," "mum mum mum," and a raptor-like shriek...

He's recently discovered echoes too.  This makes Sunday Mass even more interesting.

He just gets cuter every day.

you can call me Mr. Scrumptious

His personality is starting to come out a bit too.  So far, he's certifiably nuts, just like the rest of us.  And he loves us.  The appearance of any member of the family into the room causes his face to light up with a huge grin.  When he first wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does after rising to full consciousness is to turn  towards the bedroom door, looking for his siblings.  And when they do, they get full body smiles.

We've coined a word just for Daniel, combining fat and happy to produce...  "fappy."  It perfectly describes him after a meal.

Speaking of meals, the whole Eating Thing is going much better.  He can handle textures now, which opens up a whole new world of culinary possibilities outside baby instant cereal and really runny mashed fruits.  All of a sudden he figured out how to chew and swallow and we've never looked back.  I figured he was ready for Cheerios the day I caught him cleaning up the crumbs in the dining room.  (Ooh!  Floor treats!)  He is thoroughly enjoying finger foods.  He will eat something in pick-uppable form that he won't accept from a spoon, like hard-boiled egg yolk.  And I must take a moment here to point out (or else Mr. Pickles will) that he prefers eating with his LEFT hand.  Mr. Pickles may finally have an ally in the struggle against right-handed oppression!

Yay for Daniel!