we're moving!

Kind of. We'll be in California for at least another year, but the blog is moving to:

http://familydavisross.typepad.com/blog/

Please update accordingly.

home again!

the reason for the visit: family

I hope everyone endured their 10 days or so of radio silence. For his part, Peter was furiously at work growing and changing and developing new skills.

air travel
Peter was a complete champ on the airplane. It certainly helped that we managed to find direct flights from San Francisco to Indianapolis, and that he had his own seat. He slept almost the entire way out to Indiana, awake only during take-off and landing. This is particularly noteworthy since he really doesn't like his carseat very much.

On the return trip, Peter managed to handle the 80 minute delay with just a little frustration. Mostly, he was hungry and we were waiting to feed him until we were taking off. Peter never really waits to eat and is impatient if it's delayed for the length of a diaper change. This might be the only time I'll write this, but luckily the flight was quite delayed, so that he was hungry again by the time we took off. In the end, the only damage was done to the psyches of our fellow passengers, who had to be certain that they were about to spend a 4 hour flight with a screaming baby.

After we boarded the flight, Peter was a regular Baby Alive. He enjoyed flirting with all of the passengers around him and playing with Kevin and me, until he finally fell asleep. However, all attempts to put him in his carseat were fruitless. Oh, well.

telling stories
Peter's really babbling up a storm. Lately, he's taken to waking up two or three hours before his real wake-up time, apparently only with the need to talk. Seriously. He'll wake up, all smiles and grins, and just babble his little head off. This lasts for 30 to 45 minutes, until he's said all he needs to say, and goes back to sleep.

He also really enjoys talking to Busy Bee, who we suspect is his girlfriend.

One of his favorite noises to make is "aaah," which he will do over and over and over again at the same pitch and length.

And, once again, he enjoyed participating in church, although his latest contribution seemed to be trying to out-homilize the priest. But, as Kevin rightly pointed out, Peter's homily was better.

growing
Like a weed. Someone went through a growth spurt while we were gone, and it was oh-so-obvious when we put him in the bassinet last night. He really takes up almost the entire bed, proving to us that it is time to move to the crib.

I also think he's plumping back up! We love fat babies.

so big!

almost - but not quite - flipping over
He's working hard on the second phase of flipping over - back-to-stomach. Today, he managed to do it, with a little help from the sides of his crib.

hand-and-mouth
He's grabbing for everything. And putting it into his mouth.

He grabbed it himself

medical emergency
Let's just say that I now know how to take Peter to see a doctor when we're out of the state.

And he's fine.

playing the keyboard
We dug out my childhood keyboard for Peter to play. He loved it!
fingerpainting
Falling asleep one night, I had what can only be called a stroke of insane brilliance.

It was surprisingly unmessy, none of it ended up in his mouth, and he really enjoyed it.

Clean-up was surprisingly easy

explosions
Inexplicably, diapers have now failed us. It's gross, but sometimes funny, like when Kimberly was holding him, noted, "he's pooping," and then added, "and it's warm." Upon further inspection we discovered that his diaper remained clean, while my sister's new jeans became quite dirty. My suggestion that it could be much worse (at least he's not eating solid foods!) fell on deaf ears.

10 hours
One night, he gave me 10 hours, a feat that he's not even hinted at repeating.

There's a lot to look at here!

We enjoyed our trip in Indiana, and even managed to cajole Kevin in returning a night early to hang out with us. Peter definitely enjoyed being able to see his grandparents again, and loved meeting his other aunt and cousins.

Abby, Scott, Peter

Me, Grandpa, Peter, and GG

cleared for takeoff

wait...we're going up in the sky? for real?

Peter's off to take his first plane ride ever, to visit my family in Indiana while Kevin attends a conference at the University of Illinois.

Per Dr. Soriano's recommendation, we brought Peter in for a pre-flight check-up. Mostly, we wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear infection, but really, it takes very little encouragement for me to take him to the doctor. Did I mention I'm a bit of a hypochondriac?

Peter is, as we could have predicted, in perfect health. When Dr. Soriano sees Peter, she invariably begins with, "what a big boy!" and then follows up with, "but I don't think he's obese or anything." We also usually get a couple of "you're so strong"s thrown in as well, with a few "your eyes are so blue"s thrown in for good measure. Yep, he's our big, strong blue-eyed baby boy.

Is it good or bad luck that Peter's heading into his 13th week weighing 13 pounds and 13 ounces? Let's hope it's good, at least for the sake of our fellow passengers tonight.

new days, new games

looking good isn't my ONLY pastime!

Some of Peter's new favorite games include:

"King Peter"
Kevin holds Peter up on his knees and asks "King Peter" if he has "any proclamations to make throughout the land." Sometimes, King Peter gets nicknames - King Peter the Just, King Peter the Merciful, King Peter the Governator.

Blankets
Peter sticks his fingers in the blankets that have been made for him. Endless fun, especially now that he's discovered that he can jam the blanket in his mouth as well.

yum...acrylic

Rolling the Ball
Peter balances atop my exercise ball. (This was recommended by the Week-by-Week book, and is surprisingly fun.)

he's days away from signing with the circus

Storytelling
Sometimes, he tells stories. Usually they are happy, but they always end on a sad note.

Sunday best

Argh! Sea dogs!

Peter doesn't really have many "dress-up" clothes. I'm sure this would be different if he were a little girl, but we aren't complaining. He really has very few reasons or opportunities to dress up, and the few times we have tried, he has rewarded our efforts with prolific "splounching," Davis-Ross family nomenclature for baby spit-up.

But it seems appropriate that Peter actually makes an effort when going to church, especially if he's going to be an active participant.

So, we pulled out this completely adorable and just-starting-to-fit outfit from Kevin's cousin Marcie and her family. Along with this outfit came a gorgeous and personalized blanket for Peter. And with the blanket? This note, which I opened before opening the package:

My first thought: Oh, no! They sent the wrong package to us!
My second thought: Oh, sweet. I can totally use some new wineglasses. Or maybe camping gear. Or travel gear. Who knows, but Barry and Jana sound like our kind of people.
My third thought (after opening the package): Yeah, I definitely wanted the wineglasses.

Just kidding! The blanket is really quite special, and will get a serious workout when our evening walks start turning chilly.

But, back to the outfit: adorable, right? Even though I buttoned Peter's top button, an action to which Kevin "strenuously objected," and caused him great regret when he realized we snapped all of these shots of Peter looking, as he put it, "like a dork."

I say, "like father, like son."

Note: Yes, I buttoned his top button.

Check out that nice drool-pool on the front of Peter's outfit.

RIP, swaddle

Slowly we've been crossing off Peter's use of Dr. Harvey Karp's 5 S's.

Tonight, it was the swaddle.

This one was out of necessity rather than need, though: Mr. Big Boy is just a little too strong for his swaddlers, and for the past three nights has completely broken free within an hour of being put to bed.

We'll see how it works. Early results suggest it's no worse than the past few broken-free-from-swaddling nights.

Really, the kid just needs to find a finger or a thumb and he'll be set. It's amazingly how much he enjoys sucking.

Anyway, the only reason I feel remotely comfortable doing this is because Kevin comes home tonight! Single parenthood is over...for a week, at least.

Amy and Peter adventure: day 2

Peter's shirt says it all...

Yay for:

Sleeping until 9:30. It feels good to wake up at 9:30 a.m.
Showers.
Our coffee shop: I can have a treat and read the news, and Peter loves the banquette seating and lights. (And the women! Man, he's a charmer.)
The fish store.
Mid-day, 40-minute, crib-based naps.
Books!

You're (Not) So Vain: Peter's not a big fan of mirrors

Boo for:

Sleep problems. Both last night and tonight, Peter's been uncharacteristically unsleepy.
Back-breaking Bjorning. Ouch! I think someone needs a massage, pronto.
Static. Our old station crashed out, leaving us with a new one - possibly one we'd had before - that was the 60's rock/Death Cab for Cutie station. (Seriously, I heard "Watchtower" as often as I heard "Company Calls," which is to say once a night for the past week or so.) Tonight, that transitioned to Operation Air Raid. After Peter was asleep. Did I mention it was kind of tough to get him down?
Ice Cream Hogging Husbands.

Amy and Peter adventure: day 1

Peter always has his thumb tucked into his other fingers like this.

Mr. Happy, about to laugh?

It should surprise no one that my first order of business, on my first morning of erstwhile single-parenthood, was to call Peter's doctor.

Yes, yes, I am a bit of a hypochondriac. But, he did have a fairly high fever for a newborn (100.1), and parts of him were...missing. I'd be more specific, but that level of specificity may raise red flags. Let's just say it wasn't easy trying to research his symptoms on the Internet.

I'll save the suspense lest you think Peter really was ill. He wasn't. But, today's visit with the doctor brought these factoids/events:

(1) Peter now weighs 13 pounds, 11 ounces. His furious rate of growth has slowed, for now, which means we might be able to eek a few more weeks out of his bassinet. (This is good news as we've not really done anything toward showing him that his new crib is for sleeping and not only for playing.
(2) Peter looks like Kevin in the brow region.
(3) Peter is a "big boy" and a "strong boy" and "is very vocal" and is "as happy as can be."
(4) Peter pulled out several strands of Dr. Soriano's hair.
(5) Peter also peed all over Dr. Soriano, breaking her 6-year pee-free streak. I'm ashamed to admit I'm a little proud of the booger.

Clearly nothing could top that, and we didn't even try. I took Peter past all of his favorite stops on Castro Street, including the fish store. He really likes to look at the fish and the lights in the tanks. I also took Peter to the park by the library for a little photo shoot, where he might have laughed for the first time. I have to wait for Kevin's confirmation to be sure, but I really think it was a laugh.

Peter's development is so funny for me to watch, because it's so - for lack of a better word - spurty. He'll be hard at work on finding his fingers, only to be distracted by a new talent, like talking. Or, he'll go a day or two without saying anything, mostly because his hands are jammed into his mouth. I guess it's pretty normal for babies, and who can blame them? They have the whole world to explore, and their whole lives ahead of them. I just hope I can be patient enough to let Peter find it all - his fingers, his words, his homework, his college major - on his own.

His new "Kevin's away so the baby will play" trick is to be a wee bit more difficult to put down. (Note: Kevin hates it when I say "put the baby down" in reference to putting the baby to bed; it makes him think of rabid dogs. He also doesn't really like it when I call Peter "the baby," which I kind of do a lot.) But, n=2 does not a good sample make, so I will reserve judgement until I have additional observations.

funny faces

I think (or, rather, hope) one of Peter's favorite games is "photo shoot." (I also hope it's one of his Grandparents' favorites, since the photos really are for their benefit!)

Lately, he's been showing us so many hilarious faces. Like today:

Seriously, how can you not love this face?

pious Peter

Peter's been a good baby in church since his second visit. Mostly, he's been asleep during mass - a sleep we helped to induce by walking him the 20-minutes to St. Joseph.

Today, though, he was Baby Alive during all of mass. Cause for concern? Not for our little Rock! He was very attentive throughout mass, and even said the Our Father along with the rest of us.

Seriously. He started babbling when it started and stopped when it was over. As Kevin said, he's praying in his own language.

It was, as they say, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty cute.