Peas, please!

Seven Months

Upon turning seven months old, Otis has decided that he's a big boy. He's going, going, going all the time! Though he is not quite crawling, he is beginning to be mobile. He can roll across the living room floor. I think it's a bit frustrating for him that he hasn't quite figured out how to go forward, though. When I place a toy in front of him, just out of reach, he goes around in circles instead of forward. I imagine him wondering, "Why is this happening?!"

Otis eats one or two baby food meals per day now. His favorites are the usuals: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pears. The only thing he has completely refused is broccoli. Here he is, eating something green. Maybe peas?


We've had fun during the past month. Otis's grandma and grandpa Lutterbein visited from Ohio in mid-February. We had a great time with them, and Otis was especially cute and lovey toward them. Did he remember them from Christmas? It's hard to tell. But he sure loved them. Grandma Bein (who is a reading teacher) reads to Otis here. She knows what she's doing! He's captivated.


Here are Otis and Grandpa Bein hanging out in the kitchen. Otis thinks Grandpa Bein is the most hilarious and interesting person in the world. They are buddies, for sure!


More grandparent love.


The following weekend, we headed up to the snowy Sierra for a weekend in Ponderosa with Steve's side of the family. What fun! There were eight kids and eight adults packed comfortably into Carie and David's warm and cozy cabin, though most of the kids and half of the adults spent the days outdoors sledding, building forts and having snowball fights. It was pretty darn cute. Steve's mom commented that it could have been the best weekend of her life because all of her grandchildren were together and cute. I agree--I've never seen kids (especially kids who are related) who are so sweet and kind to each other. I'm looking forward to next year when Otis can get in on the sledding action. Here is a photo of all the cousins, with the honorary ninth snowman cousin.



Finally, I love Otis's bottom lip, cheeks, and eyelashes in this picture. Just had to share. Otis's 6-7 month pictures are uploaded now at tootlefam.shutterfly.com.

Six Months

Yep, it's true. Otis turned six months old yesterday! I probably say this in every post, and it's the total parent cliche, but time just seems to be flying by. From time to time (including the past half hour) I pathetically look at photos from the day he was born and blink away tears. He's growing up so fast, already!

Since my last post, Otis has been a very busy boy. Here's some of what he's been up to lately:

First Christmas in Ohio
Otis had his first plane ride in December, and he did a great job. An obnoxious woman eyed Otis as she was boarding and said, "Oh, great, a BABY." I wanted to push her down. Otis barely made a peep the whole way! So there! Otis also did great sleeping in strange places. Over the course of the week he slept in a hotel, in my parents' house and in our family house near Lake Erie. I was worried that we'd have sleepless nights due to all the new surroundings, but he pretty much kept on his schedule. Yay for Otis!

Here are some pictures of Otis with some of the very special people who love and miss him back in the Buckeye State.

Otis and his Grandma Bein.

Otis playing with Grandpa Bein.

Two cuties: Otis and Uncle Wade

Otis and Great Grandma Snyder.

With Great Grandpa Snyder on Christmas Eve.

With Great Grandma Lutterbein.

Happy about lovey relatives and new toys!

Great Grandma Lutterbein on Christmas with her first three great grandchildren--all born in 2009. Erin's daughter Ella was born in November and Marla's son Oliver was born in February.

California Christmas
The day after we got back from our Ohio Christmas adventures, we celebrated Christmas at Carie and David's new house Springville with Steve's side of the family. We had such a fun day watching all the kids (there are eight now!) open and play with their presents. And we discovered that Aunt Carie's walk-in closet doubles as a quiet spot for Otis's nap.

Otis has the coolest cousins! Johnathan is holding him, while Zachary and Harper keep him entertained.

With Uncle David and Aunt Carie

First Cold
A few days later, Otis got his first cold. Poor boy. Perhaps some gross airplane germs got to him. Otis and I are pretty tight, so I got it too. After a couple weeks of coughing, sneezing and large quantities of snot, we were both fine.


Sitting Up
Otis's newest skill is sitting up all by himself. He's really curious about the world around him, and I think he really likes having this new perspective. He does eventually topple, so if I step away I surround him with pillows. If not, he falls to the side and lands face-first! Yes, I let it happen once. Oops.

Playing is hard work!

Teething
Though he still has no pearly whites to show for it, Otis is definitely teething. He's rocking the telltale drool rash around his mouth and chin, and he wants to chew, chew, chew all the time. His favorite things to chew are his parents' fingers, but we're thankful that he has a couple of little teething toys that also suffice. For a while, he had a hard time figuring out how to get the best parts of the teething toys in his mouth for optimal chewing, but he's got it dialed in now.

Chewing on a favorite toy. Look at the determination! You can see some of his drool rash on his upper lip, too. Also notice how much hair he has now!

Foodie
We started feeding Otis some solid food last week. He's just eating a little bit per day, but so far he seems to like it. So far he has tried rice cereal, bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes. He loves the sweet potato best. I wonder why--because it's soooo sweet. I've been making little batches of baby food by steaming extra veggies from our dinners, pureeing them, and freezing them in ice cube trays. Then I pop them out and store them in Ziplocs. My friend Niki told me about this little technique and so far it's very manageable. I'm happy that Otis will be eating fresh and local fruits and veggies from the farmers market!


Stroller Walks
Steve has been taking Otis in long walks in his stroller in the afternoons while I'm at work. Otis loves being outdoors and looking at all the houses, cars and trees. He also likes to sit on the step with Steve and pet the kitties, but we have to be careful because he loves to pull their hair!

First Christmas

Otis had a lovely time celebrating his first Christmas in Ohio then California. For 400+ photos of the fun, go to tootlefam.shutterfly.com!

More updates soon.

Four Months and a Milestone (sort of)

There are new Otis photos at tootlefam.shutterfly.com.

Otis turned four months old on Thursday. Our healthy boy weighs 17 pounds already, and I'm starting to forget what it was like to hold him when he was only seven or eight pounds.

Otis used to hate "tummy time" with a passion. As soon as we would set him down on his tum he would cry, and as soon as we rolled him over he'd stop. When we asked the pediatrician about it, he said not to worry but to keep trying and one day he'd stop hating it. Well, it happened! Yeah! I had him on my lap on the floor last Sunday and he kept leaning forward, so I put him on his tummy and he happily hung out there for a few minutes.

Then he rolled over all by himself.

My heart SWELLED with pride. MY BABY, who I grew in my uterus, can now roll over independently. Our illustrious son did it three more times that day, and each time he seemed to really enjoy this new sense of mobility and control over his situation. Then he put this newly-learned skill in his back pocket for more than a week, refusing to do it again for us (and our video camera.) He rolled again this morning, though, so I think it's safe to record this as a milestone. Right?



I have succumbed to the mom haircut. It's only day three but I'm finding it so much easier to manage! My stylist says it's not a mom haircut, but a sexy mama haircut. I'm going to go ahead and agree with her, whether it's true or not. (Yes, I'm fishing for compliments here.)



I am counting down the days until our Christmas vacation to Ohio. While I'm a little nervous about Otis's first plane ride, I just can't wait for my parents, brother, grandparents, and the rest of my extended family to have time with Otis. Can't wait!

Do you see a resemblance?

The photo on the left is my dad as a baby, and the one on the right is Steve's four-month portrait. I think little Otis looks a lot like both of them!