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It has been quite warm here in San Diego, even in usually breezy Clairemont, Upper West Side, so we are trying to find ways to stay cool, and especially to keep the little guy cool. He seems to be dealing with the heat a lot better, but he still get hot. So we have been trying a little inflatable pool in the front yard. He seemed perplexed at first, but he got quickly more comfortable. He enjoyed playing in the water, but he still seemed more interested in the surrounding grass, leaning over the edges and making dad’s job of keeping him safe quie difficult.

Well, well well: it looks like Tizi was right. Mr “antsy pants” is moving forward. Saturday (8 months 7 days) was the first time we noticed. Of course, it is not an unorthodox crawling, but he is moving forward, and getting faster and faster every day. Instead of a traditional hands and knees crawl, he is using his belly quite a bit, rocking on it, in an old school, breakdancing kind of way. He is pretty funny to look at! I guess now would be a good time to baby proof the house. (-:

He is stretching to reach quite a bit as well, and he also figured out that if he is on a blanket and there is a toy he wants on it, but it is out of his reach, there is no point trying to crawl towards it: he can simply pull the blanket and the toy will come to him. Smart or lazy????????

He has also mastered the rotation move and he can do a 360 turn, still on his stomach, in less than a minute. You just need to put in front of him some enticing object and he will rotate; lately that would be:

1) newpapers and/or magazine, preferably if mom or dad are trying to read them
2)  ANYTHING colorful that is out of reach. As soon as the object is reached, it is NOT interesting anymore
3) ANYTHING  dangerous, such as cables, wires, etc
4) electronic devices, such as phones, remote controls, etc.

ready, set…

GO!!!!!!

Almost there

It is within my reach

Got it! I can crumple it as much as I like

What a miracle: last night, Tizi had an unprecedented 8 hours sleep! Keegan went to sleep at 7.30 pm, without a peep, and slept all the way till 6.40 am (mom went to bed around 10pm). It couldn’t have come at a better time, since Matt was out of town, for business…or so he said 🙂

We are still holding our breath, knocking on wood, crossing our fingers and doing all sort of Italian good-luck things, such as Toccare ferro (touching something made of iron), fare le corna (making a fist with the index and pinky finger sticking out), or, and I let Matt do that, touching male genitals, to make sure we are not jinxing it, but let me tell you: it feels GREAT!

So, we made it to another month: Keegan is now 8 months old. It was another beautiful, sunny day in San Diego, and since it happened to be a Sunday, we went for a pic-nic and a short walk at lake Miramar: not really a lake, but an artificial damn. It is quite nice, though, and quite pleasant to walk.

Keegan has grown a lot in the past month: he gained 1.5 lb, topping off at 16lb 9 0z. Still holding on his spot at 5% of the curve, but he does not seem quite as small anymore, and he has plenty of fat rolls, especially on his legs. According to our imprecise measurements, he is now about 70cm long or 27.5 inches.

He looked smashing in his Armani baby shirt that grandma sent from Italy.

It is getting harder and harder to get him to pose for his monthly pictures: he moves and squirms and flip himself on his belly.

check out my acrobatics!

We have more milestones to report. He is getting closer and closer to crawl: he is moving backwards quite a bit, and he usually positions himself in the “backward dog” position: will be be a young Yoga master? He has, however, learned to bend his knees and he now stays on his hands and knees a little more every day: Tizi’s betting he will be doing a full forward crawling within two weeks. He did move somewhat forward once, but not in a coordinated manner: he used his head !

He is also learning to get up from sitting, by holding onto something. He is usually doing in his portable crib that we have positioned in the sun room as a sort of play area. We obviously can’t leave him there by himself anymore. He is also pulling himself up somewhat by holding on mom’s and dad’s clothing.

More than ever is on the move: he can’t stay still a second…and Tizi is usually blamed for passing this characteristic on. It is quite exahusting. So, even if we are now sleeping more ( knocking on wood) we are as tired as before, because he really wears us down…and he takes shorter and less frequent naps. Tizi  is constantly trying to come up with new ways to keep him entertained. The latest trick: a small tent we can put up in the gated front yard, so he can enjoy some fresh air. He seems to enjoy it.

Finally, he is really attracted to tags and paper in general: another thing he has learned from mom. Lucky for Keegan, paper is definitively something that is NOT lacking in this house.

Keegan has also tried a larger variety of foods: apples, pears, bananas, peaches, avocado (NOT his favorite so far), peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes and zucchini. We even started preparing some homemade food: nothing extravagant, but just to add some variety. Keegan has been a good sport about it. He tries everything, but he is also very clear and determined when he DOES not want to eat something: he makes a funny face, and refuses to open his mouth. He even forcefully pushes the spoon away: fortunately, he doesn’t spit anything out, so far. Tizi’s hoping he has inherited dad’s sense of adventure and love of new and different foods. We already have one picky eater in the family.

We have more progress to report. We don’t want to jinx it, but we are definitively doing better. Keegan slept through the night pretty much most of the week. Can you believe it???? What is even more unbelievable, is that we are still feeling VERY tired.

We started our “sleep training” last weekend. On Friday night, he woke up at 1.30am. We tried to let him cry but after 30 minutes we gave in, and fed him. He then slept the rest of the night. On Saturday, he woke up at 10.30pm: this time we were undeterred. We knew that he didn’t need to eat, as he ate at 7pm. We did let him cry (while periodically checking on him). He cried for 45 minutes. It was excruciating…but then he fell asleep and slept till 7 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We, of course, woke up earlier, and went in to check on him to see if he was still breathing. Tizi was actually in major pain: the breast was really full and the back ached: she was not used to sleep this long anymore.But man, ,was it worth the pain!

The next night, he woke up at 11.30, cried 15 minutes, and slept past 6am. And the third night, he didn’t wake up till 5.30am. The next days, he has been sleeping through. Occasionally he wakes up around 3am or 4am and goes back to sleep by himself in a few minutes.

Again, we are not saying we are out of the woods yet, but we are VERY grateful for the extra sleep. Finally!!!!

As an added bonus, he seems to sleep a little easier in the daytime even if his naps are shorter. So he compensate for the extra sleep at nighttime by totally wearing us down during the day. He has not calmed down at all.

Now we only have to buy some kind of crib bumper, as he moves quite a bit. He usually sleep on his belly, and we have found him with his legs sticking out of the crib on more than one occasion. Ouch!