Halloween, Baby Style

When Arlo was just a bun in the oven, Ryan and I participated in a Centering Pregnancy group operated by a local midwifery practice. Centering Pregnancy merges prenatal care with education on childbirth and other parenting information, and the group consisted of parents expecting babies in the same month (August, in this case, with a couple of babies born in late July/early September).

We've enjoyed getting to know other first time parents, and last night, we hosted a Halloween party for the parents and kiddos. Needless to say, it was chuck full of cuteness.

Mark, Myla, and baby Jude get the "Best Dressed" award for coming in matching bumblebee costumes!

Kristin and baby Meadow (dressed in scrubs) enjoy good company.

Bryan (official party photographer) and Meadow chillaxin'.

Wade, Missy, and baby Vivian (a ghost) strike a family pose.

Jennifer and Lucy (Lucy from Charlie Brown/Peanuts) mingling in the crowd. Lucy is the oldest and most mature baby from our group.

Gretchen, Andre, and baby Milo (a frog) in a fabulous family portrait.

Ryan and Arlo (Frankenbaby) hangin' with the Centering crew.

Diablo Dan feeds baby August (Charlie Brown) to keep August happy during the party.

Gretchen, Amy (mom of August), and Myla enjoy a bite.

Beware of Frankenbaby!

A close up of Jude, Milo, and Arlo.

The complete baby lineup.

Happy Halloween!

Showering Amy and Grover

Last weekend was fantastic! We enjoyed a visit from a dear friend and hosted a shower for another close friend. The visitor was Bonnie, who flew in from D.C. to attend the baby shower for our friend, Amy. Bonnie and Amy are like family to us. We went to law school together, and during our third year we started a weekly "family dinner" tradition.

After graduation, Bonnie and her husband moved to D.C. to start new careers: Bonnie as a kick-ass patent attorney and Joe transitioned from a career in science to a position with the government. We treasure any time we get to spend together, but we're waiting for the day when we can lease a private jet to start a new tradition of going on family vacations together. Okay, we don't need a private jet to go on family vacations but a private jet helps.

Anyway, Amy is expecting a little boy due on 1/1/11, which we think is pretty cool. Amy and her husband, Byron, are calling the baby "Grover" while he's in utero, and Grover and Arlo are already hanging out together on a regular basis. In fact, when Amy holds Arlo, Grover likes to kick Arlo in the butt.

Amy holding Arlo while Grover kicks Arlo in the butt.

The shower was a lot of fun largely because of the great people who came. Of course, the unusual Halloween theme helped provide a fun atmosphere. To make things easy, we got a lot of help with cooking, gift bags, decorating, etc. In my experience, having friends who like to help makes everything better.

We put Bonnie to work when she arrived, and she also took some great photos. Check it out!

Amy and a geeky math onesie from Ryan and Joe to Byron.

Sara (frittata cook and helper extraordinaire) enjoying some quality time with Arlo.

Game time!

Good company and good conversation

The woman of the hour catching up with friends.

Sara's amazing mini frittatas.

The spread

Sugar coated glasses for drinks

Savory pumpkin pastries (recipe from Martha Stewart's website)

Dessert and gift bar

Chocolate cupcakes with ganache and marshmallow skulls

Ryan, Arlo, and I are so lucky to have such great friends, and we can't wait for the arrival of Amy and Byron's little guy. Arlo is eager to play with Grover and teach him all he's learned in his time as a Nonerick.

Tummy Time!

Arlo gets a little tummy time everyday to help increase his neck strength and head control. We started tummy time soon after he was born, but he hated it because it meant that his head was buried in a bed, blanket, or chest. In fact, he would roll over from his belly to his back -- a trick usually performed by babies that are a couple of months old.

To help Arlo, we started doing tummy time on a Boppy pillow, which helped but Arlo seems to like tummy time on Ryan's chest best. Thanks to my obsession with taking videos, I was able to capture one of the best tummy time episodes yet.

After taking a quick break to grab a burp cloth, I recorded the rest of the tummy time session.

Arlo is developing rapidly. Every now and then I look at him a see a little boy instead of a baby. For example, I put Arlo in his new BOB stroller last week (see picture below), and for some reason, I think his face resembles a little boy more than a 5 week old baby. Yikes!

Just so you don't think we're bad parents, we have a car seat adapter that we use with the stroller since Arlo can barely hold his head up and clearly doesn't fit in the straps.

Ryan and I are savoring every fast flying minute with Arlo before he discovers that we're not as cool as he thinks we are right now.

Daily Changes and Surprises

As cliche as it sounds, one of the coolest things about having a baby is seeing a little person change and develop everyday. Arlo is now 6 weeks old and weighs in at 10 pounds, 1.5 ounces, two pounds heavier than he was at his 2 week check in. He's starting to feel like a more substantial baby in our arms -- a happy feeling for a neurotic mother.

Last week, Arlo started cooing and smiling intentionally. With each passing day, he's showing more and more personality. Ryan and I think it's pretty darn cool, but we are a little biased.

Another surprise is that Arlo loves his changing table. It's one of the few places in the house that make him smile and coo like crazy. See for yourself...

Now if we could just get him to sleep through the night.

G'ma Micki

This weekend, my mom came to meet Arlo for the first time. For now, her grandparent name is G'ma (gee maw). I don't know what she did exactly, but G'ma Micki has a magic touch that puts Arlo to sleep in seconds. Needless to say, her magic is already missed.

A touching photo of G'ma and Arlo.
Notice how Arlo is fast asleep in G'ma's arms.

Monday, Monday

By popular demand, here's a video of Arlo on a Monday morning.

To be clear, the demand was for a video of Arlo, and the day of the week wasn't stipulated by the masses.