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We will be going to Italy in a few months, and we would like him to recognize some faces, mainly grandpa and grandpa. I am sure that he still somewhat remembers them, but a little extra help can’t hurt. So Keegan got his very first photo album: he is looking at the photos and playing with the soft pages. We will see if it works.

Who are these people? They look familiar…

 Oh, I know…it is Grandma and Grandpa

This weekend Matt celebrated his first Father’s Day. The same day, June 15, we were also celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary (Las Vegas wedding), so not to take away from Mattie’s day, we decided to have our romantic celebration the night before. We went on top of Mt. Soledad to enjoy the last of the sunset, and then we had a wonderful steak dinner. It was nice to take some time for ourselves (and Tizi was happy not to wear a nursing top for a change). Matt sent a beautiful, and huge, orchid plant and we exchanged gifts in stainless steel (iron is the actual metal for the 6th anniversary).

The next day, it was all about Matt. Tizi cooked (!!!!) a breakfast of eggs and french toast and we spent the day relaxing and playing with the little one. At daycare, Keegan made a nice card, shaped as a surfboard, with a picture of him “paddling”. Matt got a digital frame to display all the cool pictures of the little one. The best gift, however, came that night, when Keegan slept from 8pm to 4.45 am!!!!! We were actually worried and checked on him a couple of times around 3, but I guess he was just tired. I am sure it is a fluke,but we take what we can. (-:

The weather was great all day, so Keegan tried the pool for the first time. He seems a little perplexed at first, but he seemed not to mind it. He looked great in his new inflatable crab. It was a good test run: I am sure he will get more and more excited about when we will meet Matt’s family in North Carolina, for a holiday on the beach.

I am not too sure about this… 

well, it is not too bad after all. Just chilling… 

Matt is a wonderful dad, and he is awesome at playing with Keegan and making him laugh.

Well, well, well… as we all suspected, Keegan CAN sit on his own…IF he wants to. He still prefers to stand, but today, he sat on his own for a few minutes. He even played with a new toy, a small aquarium with lights and music, an amazing find on Craigslist. Tizi was pleased, especially because we are finally getting some more use out of the very stylish Pack And Play that Keegan has been mostly snubbing so far. He does enjoy lying in it and watching the cool mobile Aunt Sue got him, but that is about it.

Keegan got his 6 months check up on June 5. It was a good thing we had an appointment scheduled that day, because the little guy was really under the weather. We had to pick him up at daycare with a fever. He had developed a bad diaper rash since earlier in the week, and he also had diarrhea. At first we thought he didn’t really tolerate the squash we gave him, but the doctor seems to think he actually got a viral infection that caused the diarrhea, which in turn created the diaper rash, that then turned into a yeast infection, causing fever! She gave us a prescription cream, but it is all we can do…and wait. PATIENTLY. He still not well, even if he is getting better. While you feel bad for the little one, please give mom and dad your “sympathy” too: Keegan not feeling well means Keegan not sleeping (yes, even less than usual) and crying more…On friday night we had a nice marathon wailing, from 2.30 to 4.45. and Keegan was not the only one crying…He finally fell asleep in the car seat, on top of the dryer— a neat trick that only worked once. So, we are EXHAUSTED. However, Keegan is taking it in stride, all considered. During the day, he is the same, smiley, happy self, if a little more clingy (yes, again more than usual).

On happier news, the doctor found him very well. They were again impressed by his strength and development. He gained almost two pounds from last month, which made us happy, even if he is still clinging to his spot on the curve: 5 percentile. His measurements: 13.13 lb (6 Kg), length: 26.5 in (67 cm) and 16 1/4 in (41 cm) head circumference. He is always very alert, and curious, and very social. And he is started growing hair. He got his third round of shots, and did very well. Just a low grade fever, but he had a fever when we walked in.

A couple of other milestones: he is starting to pull himself up, supporting his weight on his straight arms when on his tummy…but he still hates being there. We are trying to help him to propel forward, as a prelude to crawling. For now he is using his head and his feet to inch forward…not a very efficient method. In any case, Tizi especially feels there is no rush: she is not looking forward running around all day chasing after him. Plus the house is still not babyproofed.

He has began trying to roll over again, back to belly. He is doing it mainly when he is reaching for an object: he is half way there. Today he remained seated on his Pack and Play for a few minutes all by himself. He’s still not enjoying sitting, and would rather stand, but, as we had suspected from his sit-ups, he has the strength and control to sit on his own. We will try to encourage sitting as much as possible, and let’s see what happens.

Keegan turned 6 months old on June 3. It is hard to believe it has been so long already! To celebrate, Tizi took him for a nice stroll on the beach. The weather was perfect, sunny and breezy; Keegan slept some and he was awake, enjoying the ocean air, for more than an hour: a record for him. He really doesn’t like to stay in his stroller if he is awake.

cruising in style in Pacific Beach

We took our usual photos later that evening, so we could celebrate with dad too. It wasn’t easy to get him to smile for the camera, because he was really tired and cranky, but we finally got our money shots.

lots of candles… 

Well, not much substance for this post…but the pictures were cute, so here it is. It seems like Keegan has discovered his feet. In the past couple of days, he had been grabbing on hit toes and use them as an entertainment device. Or maybe he is simply beginning practicing yoga…it is never too early! He has also started saying DA-DA, maybe after hearing the Police song we have been playing in preparation for the concert…

How long till he will discover that other parts of his body can also be used for entertainment???

Do those things belong to me ?

one...

two…

three …look Ma, I am double fisting

Keegan has officially started eating solid (?) food: after a couple of weeks of cereals, he had a taste of his first veggie: yummy (??) butternut squash. Mom and dad are planning (or deluding themselves? Only time will tell) on making his baby food themselves, but for now they resorted on buying a few pre-made jars, till they get the hang of it, and find the time to read and make the recipes. At least it is organic baby food. Amazingly enough, Keegan didn’t complain at all. He started his meal with a little breast milk, to take the edge off, and then he ate all his food, without even making a grimace. Beginners’ luck? We will see in the next few days…

I am not sure about this orange stuff…

well, it is not that bad…and they say it is organic

It is hard to believe, but we are slowly starting to have pieces of our old life back. On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to a concert: Elvis Costello and the Police. It felt very good to be, once again, in a concert crowd. It almost felt like the old days…except from the fact that we used to tailgate and drink beer beforehand, and now Tizi was …(Warning: TMI)….expressing breastmilk in the parking lot. But the show was really good: we have both been waiting for this for a long time, and it was the first time for both of us to see the Police perform live. Tizi was even able to get a nice Samuel Adams: it cost $13, but it was well worth it!

Both Elvis Costello and the Police put up a great show, – and a fun duet– if a little short…and you know you are watching middle-aged musicians (to be generous) when the show starts early, it finishes before midnight and you are the younger people in the crowd…But it was all great: the seats were very good, and thanks to one of Tizi’s colleagues, we drove to the arena, notorious for traffic jams, on a shortcut and we were in an out with no trouble. We watched other unlucky concert-goers being stuked in bumper to bumper traffic well into the Police set.

We had a great time but most of all it was wonderful to realize that with some adjustements (and a little extra cash) we could still do some of the things we enjoyed BB (before baby).

Elvis Costello performing at Cricket Wireless Arena (how lame of a name is that???)

Keegan’s room (also our guest room) is getting close to be finished. It only took us 6 months, after all. We applied some cool decals to the wall and to the closet door. The art is by Keith Haring, and awesome artist who died way too young.

I guess we turned into those crazy baby-obsessed parents that think that everything their kid does is super cute…so feel free to skip this one.

Once again, our little guy came back from daycare with a cold. Maybe he never really got over the past ones, who knows? Hopefully, this time, he will not spread the glee: we can’t afford to get sick again. Anyway, we caught him in one of those embarassing, but also hilarious moments this morning. Warning: this may gross you out! With snot flowing out of his nose, he started laughing and a bubble formed from his nostril.

The picture also shows his eye color: still undefined. Gray with a light brown circle around his pupils. It would be kind of cure if they remain this color, but it is still too early to tell.

blackmail photo for when he starts dating

It has been suggested that our little guy looks a lot like Charlie Brown…well, they are both bald, with a round head, and ears sticking out. So maybe they got it right. This means we have already an Halloween costume picked out. What do you think?

Another exciting development: Keegan got his first taste of solid food…well, this is a little of an euphemism, as the consistence of the rice cereal is not much different from milk alone. Still, he had his first taste of eating with a spoon and in a chair. He took it very easily and he seemed to enjoy the experience. We mixed some rice cereal with formula, and we sat him in our new cool space saver booster chair. Tizi liked it because it saves space, has three reclining positions, turns into a toddler booster chair and most of all, it comes in her favorite, earthy tones and modern patterns. It also half the price or more than a regular high chair. Feeding time also allowed her to use all the cool accessories we bought: Boom utensils and plates and Bumkin bibs, which came really handy as it was hard to tell if there was more cereal inside Keegan or ON him…

prima pappa

check out the cool chair, bib and spoon (and they all match)

dad is a natural

Overall, he is doing really good with the eating part, but he still squirms a bit when he is sitting for more than a few minutes. Now, if we could only feed him while he is standing up, he would be happy. Talking of which, he is still enjoys standing quite a bit: he is now lifting himself up from lying down to a sitting position, and immediately after to a standing position. His legs are getting quite muscular and his calves are impressive: is he preparing to be a soccer superstar?

Since he needs to stand all the time, we bought him an exersaucer, hoping we could get a break: so far, no luck. He stays in it a few minutes, but then he still wants us to pick him up. Good thing we got a second hand model…we are not losing hope, though. Maybe he simply needs to get used to it.

trying out the new toy

May 11 was Tizi’s first Mother’s Day. It felt a little weird to be on the receiving end, but definitively it was very nice. Keegan brought home a nice hand-made (or should I say foot-made) “card” from daycare: his feet were dipped in blue paint and stamped on a cloth, as little flowers. Stems and a cute message were added. The cloth was folded inside a heart-shaped envelope, origami style. Mom was really touched (and finally understood why Keegan’s feet were metallic blue).

Tizi’s first Mother’s Day gift

The day was great: Matt made sure Tizi was pampered; he prepared a delicious breakfast, bought some pretty flowers, kept Keegan most of the day, so Tizi could get a break, and cooked an amazing dinner. He also got a nice gift, a pretty necklace. The only gift that was missing was sleep: Keegan didn’t realize it was Mother’s Day, and woke up pretty early.

All in all it was a great day: thank you Mattie for making it so special!

mother and son on mommie’s day

So, the Social Security statistics for 2007 came out, and we had to check it out and see how the name Keegan is stacking up.

Keegan is at number 222 of the most popular names in US in 2007 (up from 226 in 2006), which means that 1,676 baby boy got that name last year. This is equals 0.077 of the total boys.

Not bad at all. A lot of the other names that were on our list were at much higher place on the list. The statistics are quite interesting, and you can definitively see trends. One of those is that the name Sawyer appeared in the top 1000: lots of Lost fans out there.

You can see all those stats at the Social Security site.

One more month… We have been really busy in the past few weeks, and this explains the lack of updates: Tizi went back to work on April 9, and she had been spending every free moment prepping for the new class she was teaching. It went really well, but it was challenging trying to find the time to do everything. Matt has been a huge help, taking care of Keegan in the evening to give Tizi some computer time. Tizi enjoys going back to Platt college, and the adult conversation, and enjoys even more spending the afternoons with the little guy: it is the best of both worlds. We celebrated the 5 month occasion with a weight-in and nice walk on a warm, sunny San Diego weekend.

Keegan is doing well and growing steadily, if not rapidly. He is now 11.9 lb (5.4Kg) and 25 in (64 cm) long. He is still very active, and not a big sleeper. He still wants to stand on his own two feet. In fact, he even held himself up all without support one day. He is trying to roll over (back to belly) but so far he has only made it half way. We are trying to get him to sit down, but it is not easy. Our friend Jennifer lent us a Bumbo seat, and we put him in it a few times. He was at first perplexed, but now he likes it a little more…for a whole 5 minutes at a time. We are not giving up!

Keegan seems to enjoy daycare. He eats and sleeps quite a bit there, and he doesn’t drive everyone crazy (or so they say). We had to add some formula to his diet, which didn’t make Tizi very happy. However, a nasty stomach flue virus that wiped out both Matt and Tizi during a single weekend, in the middle of a heat wave didn’t leave us any choice. I guess this is the first real bug Keegan brought home from daycare (colds don’t count): he got it first, but he was not nearly as affected. Fortunately Keegan didn’t have any problems with the formula, and Mattie quite enjoys being able to do some of the feedings. In the next few weeks we will introduce some rice cereal, and we will see if he likes it.

getting his first formula bottle