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So here it is: Keegan finally decided to roll over, from his back to his belly. We noticed on Saturday he could roll over with a little help, and on Sunday morning, July 6, he did it on his own. of course Tizi missed it, because she was trying to get some ZZZZZ in the morning, but Mattie came and got her up, and we some coaxing he did it again, for mommie (and the camera) to see. it was exciting, at least for us: he didn’t seem that excited about it…until we clapped and told him how good he was.

He also seems to recognize his name. We called his name out loud when he was on his exersaucer with his back to us, and he turned every time we called him. Yes, we tried ther words, and using the same intonation…it really seems he knows who he is.

In other news, we are trying to get Keegan to sleep on his own with some crying out…we will see if this helps. It is very HARD, especially for Tizi: seeing Keegan smiling the morning after our first crying out night, reassured her a little, though. In the past couple of months, it has been harder and harder to get him to sleep, and we felt it was getting worse instead of better, so we are hoping this will solve the problem. We will give it a week, and see the results. We are at day two right now. Once he can sleep on his 0wn, we will eliminate at least a night feeding.

One more month: Keegan is now closer to being 1 year than to being born…scary thought. The day itself was not the best. Maybe it was the jet lag, but Keegan was cranky and couldn’t sleep much of the day. He went to daycare, though, while Matt and Tizi, still on vacation, rested a little at home. In the afternoon, we played and took pictures as always, and we did our usual weight check. Still, a slow, steady growth: 15lb and 1 ounce. It is a good gain from 14lb 4 ounces June 24. He feels a lot heavier than before, but we may just be tired.

He is changing very quickly. In fact, in this week away he seemed to have grown quite a bit. He is now a lot more comfortable on his belly, as he can easily do push ups. He even started creeping, or moving backwards when on his belly. He has his feet in position and starts understanding he can use his hands and arms to move forward. We are “fearing” he will crawl soon. It is probably a good time to baby proof the house.

Still not a total rollover yet, but he is more than half way there. He can even rotate 180 degrees in his crib on his back: we noticed when we left him there for a few minutes, hoping, he would go to sleep; in his crying fit he completely rotated himself. He has been also chewing on his gums quite a bit: he seems an old men, babbling to himself. And talking about babbling, he has been doing quite a bit of that also. The drooling also seem to indicate a tooth is coming.

an expression it has become very common

He is now a lot more comfortable sitting, and spend more time playing with his toys sitting up. We discovered he can also hold his own bottle when we feed him and his own spoon, for that matter. He is even coordinated enough to be able to put most of the food content into his mouth.

One thing hasn’t changed, though: his beautiful smile (except for when we are trying to put him to sleep: ironically, as I am typing this sentence, he started crying from his crib). Everyone always comments on how happy, and how “flirty” he is. He does smile to everyone: he is definitively a people person: where did he take from is a mystery! Not from dad nor mom, maybe grandma? Finally, he is now making even more clear when he wants to be picked up: he extends his arms up, and he is throwing his arms around our neck, as a reward for being held. he is also trying to kiss mommy… he just can’t understand he needs to close his mouth first, so he ends up slobbering and sucking on mommie’s face instead. He is definitively a very sweet ( and cute, if I can say so myself) boy: if he could only sleep….

At the end of our great family reunion we had the chance to visit some old friends that live in Virginia, Abby and Carter. Carter has been a good friend of Matt since his time in Virginia, and he recently moved back there, after many years in California. Abby was our maid of honor and in fact she is the one who introduced us, a cold evening at the end of 2000. Matt had just moved to San Diego, and Abby organized an evening out at the Maloney’s Pub in the Gaslamp district with a few friends. Tizi and Matt hit it off right away, even if we didn’t start dating till a few months later.

Abby has a daughter, Nina, born only 10 days after Keegan, so it was good to let the babies meet. It was interesting: Keegan, probably showing his Italian blood, immediately smiled at her and tried to touch her. Nina, on the other hand, showing her Norwegian blood, was a lot more reserved. They did get along well, and Nina even shared her toys with Keegan.

how YOU doing?

she can’t resist my latin lover charm

It was great to see them: we missed them. Keegan didn’t behave as good as he could have, and gave us a completely sleepless night, but we still had a good time. Hopefully they will come visit us soon. At the very least, we will see them again in October, at Carter’s wedding.

with Abby

with Carter

We just got back from a wonderful week in North Carolina, to visit with Matt’s family. They have been getting together for a week on the beaches of North Carolina for the past few years, and it has always been a lot of fun. Tizi had missed the past couple of trips because of her work schedule, but this year, we were all able to make, Keegan included. We were very excited about introducing our new addition to the rest of the family. Despite our fears, Keegan was very good on the plane. We were lucky: neither flight was sold out, so we were able to bring our car seat on board, and Keegan slept in it quite a bit. For the rest of the time he was smiling and flirting with every woman around him. We received quite a few compliments on his behavior.

I forgot my laptop…oh well, I can play with my toy giraffe instead

this flying thing is kind of fun

It was great to see everyone: Keegan met Uncle Mike and Aunt Karol, and cousin Ella; Uncle Rob and cousins Cailynn, Bryan, Sean and Erin; Aunt Mary and cousins Josh and Bridget; Aunt Beth and Uncle Wayne and cousins Colin and Shawn; and he was happy to see again Aunt Sue and Uncle Dan and cousins Rachel and Hannah. Everyone loved to play with him, especially cousins Ella and Erin.

sitting with cousin Ella

Keegan also got his first taste — literally — of the ocean. I know we live in California, but, believe it or not, we never took him to the shore. We went walking on the beach and boardwalk, but he never felt the ocean. The first day we tried to get his feet wet, a large wave caught us all by surprise, and we all got drenched. Keegan got scared, more from the surprise screams that Tizi and the girls let out than from the water getting in his face. The next day it went better, and he got to put his feet in the frigid water: who said the Atlantic ocean is warmer than the Pacific?

one, two, three…COLD

He seemed more perplexed than anything else, but he was fascinated by the crashing waves: a future surfer boy? He was wearing some very stylish board shorts, a gift from Grandma in Italy.

The house Matt’s family rented, just a few blocks from the beach, also had a nice pool, and we spent some time there as well, playing with Keegan’s inflatable crab. He seemed to enjoy the pool a little more, and loved his hooded robe, again a gift from Italy, arrived only a couple of days before we left.

Sadly the week went by too fast: the weather was great, most of the time not too hot, and even if we didn’t have the chance to spend too much time outdoors, we had a wonderful time hanging out with family. It was the first time that Tizi and Matt could actually see anyone in the morning: on all other trips, we used to sleep in late and get to the beach when everyone else was going back home for lunch. Oh, how life changes with a baby: this time around we were always the first up! It was sad to leave: hopefully we will get to see everyone real soon.

Aunt Sue

Aunt Karol

Aunt Mary

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.

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

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

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

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