settling in

We recently had some friends over for a little bit of breakfast (pastries from the French bakery on the corner, which Aaron discovered is owned by the family of one of his old students) as well as a music class taught by Miss Marissa. Marissa had been wanting to teach a music class to Marcel, Jones, and Neko for months. Since we were finally able to unpack almost everything, we decided to host. It was really fun. Neko absolutely loved it. He was completely mesmerized by her voice, and it was nice to have people over to the house. It was a sign that things are starting to normalize (just a little).

It was warm enough for a walk today, so we packed up Neko and walked around our new neighborhood. We love looking at all of the cool retro houses that people have fixed up and restored. It's a good reminder that the move was worth it and that we're finally settling into our new life. It's a pretty good one, I must admit.

On a totally random side note, Neko's been sticking out his tongue constantly for the past week. I have no idea what it's about, but it's pretty funny.

firsts and christmas break

In spite of the horrible sleepless nights, we thoroughly enjoyed having two weeks off. Neko experienced a few firsts- his first Christmas, his first crawl, and his first taste of (semi) solid food. For Christmas, we bought him a little white Ikea high chair. He loves it. He likes banging on the tray. He likes the vantage point. It was a hit.

Along with the high chair came his introduction to solids. We started with rice cereal. He seemed to like it. We also tried sweet potatoes and bananas. The sweet potatoes have been his favorite so far. He doesn't seem crazy about bananas, but he'll eat them. We tried green beans and avocados today, which he did not enjoy. He made some grimaces and then started crying. I think Aaron was disappointed. He keeps commenting that he really hopes Neko isn't a picky eater. I'm sure that this experience isn't indicative of his future with food. He had his 6-month vaccines yesterday and wasn't quite himself today. We'll try again with the avocados soon. Who doesn't like avocados?

In addition to the high chair, we also bought Neko a few books for Christmas. I had a Barnes and Noble gift card, so we went on a little outing and picked out three books, including the one above.
I also bought him two Christmas books. I want to make that a tradition. I love buying children's books. I wish I had unlimited funds for that.

 Here are some random photos from the break. You see? We are actually smiling in spite of the sleep deprivation.

**The puppet master.

**In jammies from Grandma Terry.

**In hat and booties from Aunt Christina. We also got a turtle from Aunt Christina. It matches his room, and he likes it.

We listened to a lot of records, finally hung some art on the walls, and tried not to let the sleep deprivation get the best of us.

**Video of Neko eating.

6 months old

Neko turned 6 months old this week! Halfway to a year. Amazing. I had the worst time taking his 6-month photo because he simply wouldn't stay still. Posted below are some of my best attempts. He's just a little roly poly these days.

You may have noticed that his hair no longer stands up straight. It was fun while it lasted. I think it's just gotten too long and too thick to stay up. 

So what else is new at 6 months? Sleep regression and crawling (see below), a big growth spurt (he's already wearing the 9-month jammies he got from Grandma Terry for Christmas), he sticks out his tongue a lot, he's able to stay standing while holding onto something, and he is so much more aware of us and of everything around him. For example, he laughs at the dogs, he squeals when I ask him if he's hungry and make the sign for milk, he enjoys going to the grocery store with Aaron. The other day, his friend Christopher crawled over to him at school, and Neko began giggling wildly. We adore our little 6-month old. If only he'd sleep at night. 

sleep regression and crawling

We just survived a horrible sleep regression. It lasted a little over two weeks. Although Neko's sleep habits aren't completely back to normal, (he's still waking up a few times a night), we are thankful that it's not as bad as it was. Over the break, he was consistently waking up every 15-20 minutes for the first few hours of the night, then every hour or so after that. It was like having a colicky newborn all over again. It was hell. So instead of going back to school well-rested, we went back sick and exhausted. We tried everything, read everything, and our best guess is that it was probably a result of a developmental milestone. We'd find him half awake, up on all fours, rocking back and forth in the middle of the night, trying to crawl. I never knew that milestones could interfere with sleep. I'd always imagined that they'd just be exciting and wonderful...Anyhow, I'm getting over my cold, and finals are upon us. We're praying for more sleep. We're also grateful that, starting next year, finals will happen before the break, as they should. We're thinking it will make for a more relaxing break altogether.

During the vacation, we tried to give Neko as much time on the floor as we could to practice his skill. He started by rocking on all fours. He began pulling his arms and legs into his body and shooting them forward, and he's now able to get himself from point A to point B. It's not very graceful, but it works. His biggest motivator was an iPhone. If I put it on the floor a few feet in front of him, he'd get determined to move forward. He is a very physical and very determined little guy. Who isn't motivated by Apple products?

**Of course, as soon as I posted this, he had a horrible night's sleep. Sigh. I cannot wait to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. It's going to feel amazing.