New footage

Crawling video from the day before yesterday. He is been getting a lot of practice since then and making a lot of forward progress, so I'd say he is now, officially, a crawler.

UPDATED footage here , as of 3/28 8:00am. Side note, this video is posted on YouTube, and alongside of it are "suggested videos" that the viewer might also be interested in. Most of the videos are of this or that baby REALLY crawling or really crawling, but there also a video of Wayne Rooney doing a "man of the match" interview after the West Ham v Man U game last week, hmm...what's the connection.

Guest blog from Grandma

Twenty one days in Steamboat!
How the days the flew by
like horses galloping down the street
taking my breath away.
Immersed in the lives of our children and theirs
sharing a special time.
A snow rabbit with big ears and carrots made his smile
Audrey is a big girl now with such a busy life.
Julian is my snugglie boy, the sweetest you could find.
Music class. my bonnie lies over the ocean
I couldn't sing the last lines on our last class.
tears got in my way.
Valentine craft at the library, how many eyes we had!
Audrey skis and swims and sings I like flowers
and has her brother in her room now to watch over.
Chris and Ellen are such wonderful parents
My heart is full of love.








And some video footage.

Trying to move

I want the tiger, if I avoid eye contact maybe I can sneak up on him


or I could launch an attack from plank position


hands and knees is how Audrey does it when she's coaching me


but I just can't seem to get anywhere this way



Oh I'm so close!


Hmm, there are interesting things behind me too...



Check out some Video of Julian trying to crawl.

Six Months

Julian had his six month check up a few weeks ago. He weighed in at 16 lbs, 2'2", which is around the 25th percentile for both height and weight, he's no pipsqueak though. He loves to eat and has been mowing down all sorts of new foods, he loves oatmeal and butternut squash, banana is the only thing he has been turning his nose up at.


At the check up the doctor and I were talking about how he is growing well and is healthy enough that he can now go through the night without a feed and how we can start to facilitate sleep independence, Julian had a lot to say during this discussion too. At first I thought maybe he was protesting, but a few days later after he slept throughout the night for the first time I realized he was just voicing concerns and asking questions, like any well informed patient must do.

After he demonstrated a solid habit of sleeping through the night we transitioned him to sharing a room with his big sister. They are so sweet together.






And now as Julian's sixth month is coming to a close he is scooting around a ton and occasionally getting himself into crawl position and launching forward to grab something in front of him. And another milestone is well in view just underneath his gums, cutting its way to the surface.

First foods

We commerated Julian's five month birthday with rice cereal, he was all over it and seemed to be saying "what have you been waiting for?!" Since then he has had carrots, bananas, apple sauce and butternut squash and he seems to like the veggies best.

Tremendous Two

Irrational, demanding, willful, and volatile
Independent, creative, curious, and energetic.

Audrey jumping on bubble wrap while dressed in nothing but leg warmers.

Precious, peaceful, and growing.
Restless, irritable, and needy.

Julian checking out toys and practicing push-ups.

Mama had a crazy-making week last week, luckily I made it through and this week has been a thousand times better. I made it thanks to supportive and empathic friends, the help of my rock star co-parent, some therapeutic self-help (published on my other blog), and seeing I'm not the only parent muttering obscenities as I read a funny blog post about a wild preschooler.


In Audrey's search for independence and identity she has created a proclamation that she has stated a handful of times: "I am Audrey Kai. I am two. I eat cupcakes...with my mouth!"

Sitting up

Julian is starting to get good at sitting.

Here he is at the library a few days after Christmas (okay, I'll tell the truth I was in the teepee propping him up).



But here he is less than a week later clearly doing it on his own.


He is still tippy, but able to keep himself up long enough for me to admire his strength and balance, grab the camera, and snap a couple pictures.


He hasn't been doing a whole lot of rolling around since he figured that out. He spends a fair chunk of time on his belly before protesting and while there he can rotate himself a bit and push his chest way off the ground with straight arms.