Hike-a-Thon

We are gearing up for the Hike-a-Thon supporting the Washington Trails Association.  Today we hiked in King County Park's Lake Desire and Spring Lake.  Oscar really likes hiking in his backpack carrier.

Oscar loves to hike!

We took a ton of pictures as the staff at the WTA really loved Oscar and wanted to put a picture of him in next month's Signpost magazine.

Happy Hiking Family

If you want to contribute to Team Oscar you can visit our Hike-a-Thon page here

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=1655&PID=224828

And so the food adventure begins



Not so sure.

I absolutely love to cook and sharing food with family and friends.  I look forward to the days of cooking for and with Oscar.  I am so excited that these days are on the horizon.  Oscar is on the path to eating solid foods.  He has had a bit of bananas and sweet potatoes.  Can you imagine trying a banana for the first time again? WOW, what an adventure! 



Sweet potatoes are yummy!



What I find so wonderful about Oscar starting to eat solid foods is the simplicity of food.  It is forcing me to taste things without spices and appreciate the food on its own.  When was the last time I ate a sweet potato without cinnamon or brown sugar or curry or butter? Never is the answer.  Last week I cooked up a sweet potato, pureed it in the food processor and ate it with Oscar.  He made many faces of confusion and disgust, while I smiled and relished the taste and purity of it.  Now Oscar is starting to enjoy eating and actually opens his mouth ready to eat the goodness of this orange puree.



Eating makes me strong!



Don't get me wrong, I am dying to add some cinnamon or curry to the potato for Oscar, but I am listening to pediatric advise to hold off on spices until the 8th month.  Until then we will enjoy the purity of avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas and many other veggies.  Next in the food groups will be fruits and meats.  Oscar gets plenty of carbohydrates from his breast milk and formula.  Right now eating solids is more about textures and learning to eat, than it is about nutrition.  This is an exciting adventure!





Reading with Oscar

Oscar reads a book with mom

We read to Oscar every night before bed.  He often is about to go to sleep when we finish the story.  But, more and more we are reading to him when he is awake and he really enjoys looking at the books.

Oscar likes to help turn the pages

 He is getting more and more curious about images and really enjoys hanging out with mom and dad.  Reading is one of the best things a family can do together!

Oscar sometimes sees himself in the story

Oscar laughs at his silly Daddy

Enjoy!

Visit from Allan and Donna

My aunt Donna and Uncle Allan came down from Bellingham to see Oscar.  It was a great visit and Oscar was very engaging and happy.

Donna and Oscar

Allan and Oscar

We also had the opportunity to Skype in Grandma Jo and Grandpa Frank.  So we had a Buehler get together of sorts.  Our old family friend Linda also got to see Oscar for the first time (at least virtually). Oscar really liked seeing Grandma Jo on the TV and showed her how he can now stick out his tongue.  All in all a great family visit!

Skyping in Jo and Frank (and Linda)

Daycare and making friends

Oscar getting ready for daycare

Oscar is into his second week of daycare. The first day was really tough on Evan and me, I cried a few times and questioned whether we were doing the right thing.  On the first day when the clock struck 4:30pm, I ran out of my office to catch the water taxi and then raced up the hill to get my little bug.  I arrived at 5:02pm, he greeted me with a big smile.  He was completely unharmed.  His caregivers talked about him joyfully and how much they loved him.  With a few days under our belts I am relieved to say that Oscar seems to be in good spirits about daycare and I am pretty sure we are doing the right thing. 

Oscar reading at daycare

Each day we get little notes about his day. They tell us his stats on napping, eating and diaper changing. Sometimes they leave little notes about his day.  Like, "great day today" the most touching note so far was, "Roberto (baby friend) gave Oscar a kiss" LOVE IT!  He is making friends and there is lots of love and affection that comes along with that.  YAY!  Enjoy the pictures of his daycare experiences.

Oscar playing with his friends at daycare



 





Adventures in parenting

We have been parents for just under six months and we have learned many life lessons.  It is a true adventure and I can’t imagine life without Oscar.  This past weekend, I learned that just when you think you love your baby with everything that you are, he will do something that surprises you and your bond and love will deepen.  Some milestones are tiny, others are monumental, but all stir my soul, give me pause and open my heart to love even more.

This past weekend, Oscar began sleeping in his crib for the full night.  We took a leap of faith and tried some sleep training, to our delight he has been sleeping in his crib since Friday and managing to stay in there for elevan to twelve hours, only waking two or three times.  Evan and I had a big hand in getting our little guy to do this and it was very emotional.  We made a commitment to be strong, stay by his side and let him cry for a bit, never longer than 28 minutes.  Emotionally, it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, to all your mommies out there, you know the sort of physical reaction your body goes through when your baby is crying.  We had to commit to this, Oscar was waking up every hour and none of us were sleeping.  We were worried about Oscar’s lack of sleep having a negative affect on his development and we were definitely worried about our health.  With five nights under our belt and a much more alert and happy baby, I know we made the right decision.  I am so proud of the little bug.

Oscar is also finding all sorts of other things out about himself.  This weekend he found his tongue and just loves to show it off.  I can’t explain exactly how this makes me feel, but when you stick out your tongue and your baby sticks his tongue out back at you, I guess the old adage, “imitation is the highest form of flattery” rings true.  (check out the video below)  His tongue discovery is one of the many little things that Oscar has added to his development and it is just absolutely exciting.

We are absolutely smitten over this little guy and the adventure of parenting continues.  Stay tuned....

Rolling Over...Almost

Oscar is getting closer and closer to being able to roll over.  He can do it on the bed if there is a slight incline.  The other day he rolled over and over when I asked him too.  He still cannot roll over on hard ground, but he is oh so close!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__zva6N1xog

Wisconsin Trip

The whole family went on a trip back to Wisconsin for Grandma Mary's 60th birthday.  Oscar went on his first plane ride and did great.  He got some more time with grandma and also got to meet his cousins.  The whole Chiappetti clan was there for the birthday party and Oscar got to meet most of his Wisconsin family as well.

We also took a quick trip to Madison and met up with Ann, Kyle and Sylvan who just moved there.  We walked along the lake and then got ice cream.  It was very warm and it really felt like Summer1

https://picasaweb.google.com/jazzman70/WisconsinTrip2011